Boreal and John Grey Season 1 (53 page)

Sarah’s eyes narrowed. “You swear Finn’s on our side?”

“Yes.”

“Cross your heart and hope to die?”

“Fuck this,” Ella muttered. “I’m not in a good mood, okay? I haven’t slept all night, have been worried sick about Finn and Norma, and I’m not sure whether you’re about to put a bullet through me or if you’re just having fun.”

“Yeah, I’m having a blast,” Sarah snapped. “What do you think?”

“Just say what you want me to do.”

Sarah lowered her gun. “I swear, if you’re keeping anything else from me...” She let the threat hang in the air. “Run along now, go check on cutie-pie. I’ll keep an eye out for Dave Holborn.”

Leery of Sarah’s sudden acquiescence, Ella nodded. “Don’t shoot me in the back, okay? I hate that.”

Sarah sighed. “Look, my family has belonged to the Organization for generations. I’m sworn to protecting the Gates at any cost. Perhaps you don’t realize what an elven invasion is like, but I assure you it won’t be pretty.” She ran her fingers through her fringe. “If you’re telling me the truth about where your loyalty lies, I’m on your side.”

“You have a funny way of showing it,” Ella muttered, too exhausted to care about pissing Sarah off more. She turned around and headed toward Finn’s room. “Next time try asking without pulling a gun on me.”

***

“Here is the culprit,” the doctor said, words muffled behind the surgical mask. The bullet clanked into the metal bowl the nurse offered him, amidst the bone shards he’d already pulled out. He wiped his hands on a paper towel and picked up a curved needle, threaded with black. “Almost done now.”

Ella shifted her hold on Finn’s shoulder to get a better look at his face. The tightness around his eyes and mouth told her he was uncomfortable, but for all she knew he could be in agonizing pain or feeling the merest of twinges.

Finn the Sphinx
.

The doctor bent over Finn’s chest. It was a map of battles: the long scar from his heart to his abdomen, the pink, fresh scars in his side, old white scars and new, dark bruises mottling his ribs. He looked strong even lying on the surgery table covered to his hips, a bleeding slice under his heart which the doctor was now stitching. Strong and yet drained, thin and exhausted.

Meanwhile, outside the surgery room, Sarah was an unknown factor, Norma barely hung onto life, and Mike thought he knew what Finn was, but really he didn’t, while Dave roamed the city, searching for them.

How far and how fast could they run like this? Where would they go? How long until Finn couldn’t keep awake any longer — and she was sure he’d done his best to keep awake until now — and opened another Gate, bringing the Organization and the army on their asses, not to mention the elves?

“All done,” the doctor said, his voice jolting her. The nurse was taping gauze over Finn’s chest and wiping the blood that had run down the sides.

She didn’t want to see any more of Finn’s blood. Didn’t want to see him hurt or unconscious ever again. She didn’t think her heart could take it.

The nurse wheeled Finn out and Ella hastened to follow, pulling the mask off her face and taking a deep breath of stale air, heavy with antiseptic. At least Finn was out of immediate danger, but she should check on Norma. Finn’s sanity seemed linked to her well-being. 

Ella padded barefoot behind the stretcher, ignoring the stares from nurses they came across. God, what she wouldn’t give for a shower and a bed. She’d scrubbed down in order to be let into the surgery, but hadn’t had time for anything else.

After Finn had been transferred to a bed and made comfortable, she waited until the nurse had replaced the needle pumping painkillers into him, checked the bandage over the wound, and left the room. The door closed.

“Finn.” Ella touched his face and his gaze found her. His eyes were clouded with the drugs. “Stay awake. Please try. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He licked his lips; they were cracked and dry. He blinked at her sleepily. His breathing was easing out.

Shit
.

“Did you hear me?” She stroked a strand of silky hair off his face and he leaned into her touch. The knot in her throat made it hard to breathe. “I’ll just check on Norma and get my clothes and hiking boots from the car.”

She practically ran out of the room. Outside she found Mike waiting. He was shifting from foot to foot, a worried expression on his face. “How is he?”

“It went well, I think,” Ella muttered, exhausted. “Will you stay with him? I need to change clothes.”

“Sure.”

“Don’t let him sleep. Can you handle that?”

Mike flinched, and she sighed. Yeah, she was angry with him for letting slip what Finn’s was, and she was too tired to hide it. “Sorry, buddy. Of course you can. I won’t be gone long.”

Down the hall, she found Sarah leaning against the wall, arms folded.
Finn’s favorite position
. She quirked a brow at Ella and followed her toward the stairs.

“What do you want?” Ella snapped.

“How’s cutie-pie?”

“Fine.”

“You don’t look relieved.”

Ella whirled on her. “What do you want? Are we best buddies now, because you didn’t give us in? Or is it because you spared my life?” God, her arm hurt and she felt light-headed. A shiver shook her.

“I came when you called,” Sarah said. “Isn’t that what a friend would do?”

Ella lifted her hands, exasperated, and continued toward the intensive-care unit. “Remember I want to stop the elves from invading as much as you do.”

“Pillow talk is the best way to get insider information, I’ll bet.”

“Is this supposed to be funny? Aren’t you supposed to be still in mourning over Simon?” Ella stomped down the stairs. “What’s with the chipper mood?”

“Hey, life goes on. Right now I’ve got an invasion to worry about. That doesn’t mean I’m not sad Simon’s gone.”

“I didn’t know sorrow was so easy to hide.”

“And I didn’t know one could lie for so long with such a straight face,” Sarah said. “Living with an elf, working with him. I’m impressed.” Sarah skipped down the steps and turned, cornering her. Her eyes blazed. “You’ve told me the whole truth, right?”

“Yes.” Dammit, she was tired.

“Nobody else can help you, you know that, right? Your boss, the police and the army are after you. You say you want to stop the invasion. I could make a difference if only you’d tell me what you know.”

“And what it is you think I know?” Ella muttered, defeated.

“Look, I’ve locked this building, made sure nobody walks out of here without me knowing, no phones or internet or smoke signals can be sent out.” Sarah gestured at the staircase. “Simon trusted you with his life.”

“And I failed him.”

“Nonsense.” Sarah sighed. “Simon was no oracle, but he could read people well. He trusted you, so you must be a good person. And a good person wouldn’t open the Gates to the elves.”

Ella pressed her lips thin. “You sound like a shrink.”

“Is it working?” Sarah leaned back on the rail, lifting a dark brow. “Be straight with me. Is there anything else I should know?”

Just like Dave always asked her. And she always lied, as she was about to do now. “No, there’s nothing else.”

“Right.” Sarah shrugged. “Just so you know, this was your last chance. If I catch cute-pie aiding his fellow elves in any way...” She raised an imaginary gun and pulled the trigger.

Ella shuddered and swallowed hard.
Right
. Dave’s way of dealing with it. “Gotcha. Now get out of my way.”

Chapter Six

Time

Norma’s condition was the same: still critical. Ella couldn’t tell Finn that, not now. More lies. Always more, a whole damn web ensnaring her.

Sarah brought up Ella’s clothes and hiking boots from Norma’s car. All helpful and friendly, but Ella couldn’t forget she’d threatened to kill Finn.

If she knew...

Ella tied the laces, trying not to worry about it. She had no choice but to accept Sarah’s help. Hey, nobody else was offering.

“Have you found anything on your boss?” Sarah was checking a painted fingernail for any chipping. “This Bran Hoodvild or whatever his name was, is it really David Holborn? And have you managed to get a DNA sample?”

“No, I...” Ella started toward the stairs. She had to get back to Finn, make sure he was awake. “I saw it, though.”

“Saw what?” Sarah hurried along, her heels clicking.

“The seam. The cogs and spirals.” Ella climbed the steps, her legs heavy. “He’s a Guardian alright, a stinking robot.”

“Are you serious?”

From the incredulity in Sarah’s voice, Ella realized the woman had been playing along without really believing any of it.

Probably still didn’t.

“Look, I know what I saw,” she said as she reached the landing. Her head swam. “Believe what you want.”

“Well, if you’re right, your boss is protecting the Gates, and if he shot Finn, that would mean Finn is helping open the Gates.”

“No,” Ella bit out the word, hurrying along the corridor. “Dave’s an idiot and this is all a misunderstanding.” Damn, she had to change the topic.

Then a woman screamed from the direction of Finn’s room, and Ella ran, drawing her gun.

She burst inside, gun pointed. Familiar darkness writhed in one side of the room, and the coppery smell of fresh blood hit her before she saw the body. A bleeding nurse, a goblin bent over her, while a troll was pulling Finn from the bed. She shot the creature in the head and bared her teeth in a savage grin when it shook and petered out, leaving Finn to fall back on the bed.

Mike had backed into a corner, holding out a chair as if that would stop the Shades, his eyes flicking around at the sounds of creatures he couldn’t see.

A Shade stirred on the floor, and she put a bullet through it, waited until it vanished back into the Veil.
Iron, my man. Rusts your insides
. When she was sure nothing else was lurking, she returned to Finn’s side.

He was hanging over the bed, his eyes wild. She holstered the gun and hauled him back against the pillows.

“Are you all right?” She checked that the needle hadn’t come out and that he wasn’t bleeding. He wasn’t looking at her; though. He was staring at something over her shoulder, his hands twisting in the covers.

She turned her head. The air rippled like glittering glass. A form floated in it, familiar by now — an elven lady with flowing silver hair, beckoning. White moths flitted around her, catching in her hair, and as Ella watched, three butterflies flew out of the Gate and danced in circles in the room. They glowed like stars.

“
Faen
,” Finn swore with feeling and his hands twitched, as if seeking his knives.

He’d fallen asleep. She knew it might happen, and hadn’t been there, and now...

“Holy shit,” Sarah said from behind and Ella whirled, drawing her gun, but too late, always too late — Sarah had her semi-automatic trained on Finn.

Freaking hell
.

“Drop your gun,” Sarah said coolly. “I told you I’d kill him if he worked for the other side, and this... goddamn, that’s a Gate, isn’t it?”

Ella’s finger shivered on the trigger. No way could she shoot Sarah before she shot Finn, and she really didn’t think Finn could survive another bullet. Her mouth was dry with fear. “Don’t,” she whispered. “I have a plan. There’s no need for this.”

The Gate flickered but didn’t fade. The lady in its shining mirror reached out a hand, beckoning. “Isthelfinn,” she called, her voice like music. 

Finn grimaced. White, glowing patterns writhed on his skin, and the air around him shimmered. Fear caused the lines; fear caused the Gates. Remove the fear and maybe the Gates would close.

Or make a mistake and get Finn killed.

“I have a plan,” Ella repeated, desperate. “Please, don’t shoot him.”

“I’m sorry,” Sarah said, and the terrible thing was that she did look contrite. “I like your cutie-pie. But he’s John Grey and I can’t let him destroy the world.”

She sighted down the barrel.

“No!” Ella threw herself at Sarah, sure she’d die and not caring. Finn was yelling her name, and the room spun as she crashed into the other woman, sending her stumbling backward.

But no shot cracked.

They both staggered to a stop, Ella pressing her gun into Sarah’s side.

Sarah lifted her hands, her eyes round. A blade shone, pressed flat to her neck. One of Finn’s Bowie knives, Ella realized — but the man behind her wasn’t Finn.

“If you as much as twitch your finger on the trigger,” Mike said, face white and voice shaky but his hand steady on the grip of the knife, “I’ll kill you, I swear to god.”

Ella gaped as she pulled back, although she had the presence of mind to reach up and pluck the semi-automatic from Sarah’s fingers. She cocked the safety back on and breathed a long sigh of relief, scanning the room.

The Gate had vanished, thank god. The butterflies had perched on the white bed sheets, wings fluttering.

“Right, and what will you do now?” Sarah snapped. “Let him bring the elves into our world and make us their slaves? Is he worth it?”

“I said I have a plan,” Ella said. She’d underestimated Mike, but so had Sarah, thank god. “Nobody needs to die.”

In the descending silence, she heard wheezing breaths behind her. She whipped around.

Finn knelt on the floor next to the bed, his face a mask of pain. He had trouble breathing, his gasps loud in the small room. His lips had a blue tinge.

Shit
.

Heart hammering in her chest, she gave Mike the gun. “Take Sarah to another room, bind her and gag her, for Christ’s sake. I’ll find the doctor.”

***

Finn was back on the bed, his face drawn, his breathing shallow but even. A hollow needle attached to a tube had been inserted between his ribs, and that seemed to help him breathe again.

“What happened?” Ella asked the doctor, her fingers tight around Finn’s. She brushed a strand of silky hair off his cheek, then tucked the bandana more securely over his ears.

“He must have made a sudden movement,” Dr. Evans said as he removed the needle from Finn’s side. “One of the broken ribs shifted and punctured the lung. He was lucky it happened here. The air leaking in the chest cavity was crushing his lung, not letting him breathe. We have aspirated the air, so he should be all right.”

Ella took all this in without lifting her eyes off Finn’s sweaty face. Her plans of moving him out of there immediately were useless, unless she kidnapped nurses to carry him on a stretcher and an ambulance.

Dammit
.

“Where’s Miss Williams?” The doctor took a note on his clipboard and glanced around the room. The ichor had stained the linoleum floor and the doctor frowned, clearly wondering what had happened.

“Sarah?” Ella licked her lips. “She had some phone calls to make. She went out for a moment.”

The young doctor’s lips pressed together in a flat line. Ella tightened her hold on Finn’s hand, hoping he was relaxed and that no Gate would be opening with the doctor there to see it.

“I’ll stay here while he rests,” she said, her voice strangely firm and authoritative despite the dread churning inside. Finn needed her to be strong. She could do this.

“Fine. I’ll come back later to check on him.” He tapped the pen on his clipboard, still frowning, and left.

Ella sank into the chair by the bed and bent over Finn’s hand, resting her forehead on his fingers.

“Ella?” Finn rasped.

“Shush, everything’s okay,” she whispered and pulled on a smile for him as she raised her head. “Rest.”

“I fell asleep,” he murmured.

“Yeah. I know you’re tired. At least you didn’t dream of dragons this time.”

“Is that how he opens the Gates?” Mike asked, entering and closing the door behind him.

Finn stiffened and glanced up.

“With his nightmares,” Ella said. Her fault this had happened. She should have told Mike everything from the start. “His memories.”

“So what’s this plan of yours?” Mike approached the bed. “Maybe it’s time to start implementing it.”

Ella swallowed a sigh. “Thanks for taking care of Sarah. You saved our lives.”

“I told you you’re family to me,” Mike said. No winking, no teasing. Serious and somber. “Although I’m not sure what help that is if Dave finds us, and I doubt it’ll take him long to sniff us out.”

“And Scott?”

“The less he knows the better.” Mike avoided her eyes. He obviously felt guilty for leaving Scott out, for temporarily abandoning him, but he was right to keep him away from this mess. “He should be out of hospital later today.” He looked down at the knife he still held and put it down carefully on the metal table by the bed. He had Sarah’s gun tucked in his belt. “Ella, you do have a plan, right?”

“I said I do.” Fear made her palms clammy but she refused to wipe them and give herself away.
Think, Ella, dammit, use that grey matter
. Some hours of sleep would have helped clear her mind, but that wasn’t an option. She had to scrape up a plan, right here, right now, before Sarah freed herself and finished off what Dave had started.

Before she finished off Finn. She looked at him, lying there defenseless, trusting her to find a way out of this hell.

Mike cleared his throat.

Oh right. The plan
.

“The Gates open when Finn has nightmares.” Ella licked dry lips. “When he’s afraid.”

Finn glared at her, his sharp cheekbones coloring.

That was how it worked, right?
Though
, a small voice in the back of her head piped in,
he crossed over when he’d been wide awake
— and what about the first time she’d found him with a Gate wide open, his mother talking to him?