Darkness Divides (Sensor #3) (24 page)

Chapter Twenty-seven

“Your what?” he and Derrick asked at the same time.

I hadn’t exactly said much about the sensors I’d met during my time in Juneau. Nik and Derrick knew they’d wanted to breed me to make more of our kind. I’d even mentioned my father was part of it, but I’d also told them most of the sensors had died during the final battle. With Lucas gone and me being sworn to secrecy about so much, I hadn’t divulged many of the details. Such as there being one survivor from the sensor group—my father.

“He’s still alive and apparently at your house, Nik. There were two other sensors there as well, but I didn’t recognize their signatures.” Probably because all the others I knew aside from Emily were dead.

He ran a hand over his face. “Did you sense any others who shouldn’t be there?”

“About a dozen vamps and werewolves I didn’t recognize. Some of your people are there too, including Kariann. They’re all in one part of the house so I’m guessing they’re being held against their will. No one was at my place and I didn’t sense Emily.” My house was within a few minutes walking distance of his so it had been easy to check as well.

I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. Whoever had pulled off this coup had to be very powerful. The ones at Nik’s were strong, but not strong enough to be the leader.

Derrick leaned forward in his seat. “Did the sensors pick us up?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Ulric turned the plane fast enough that we didn’t get too close to them.”

Female sensors had twice the range of their male counterparts. With us being in a plane up in the sky, it hadn’t taken much for Ulric to divert the aircraft before the guys could pick us up on their radar. That was the one advantage we had. There weren’t a lot of female sensors and it was unlikely the group had brought any with them. It gave us a small edge, but an important one.

“Where to now?” I asked Nik.

“Charlie has a small landing strip near his house. He’s far enough outside of Fairbanks that it should be safe to go there.” He gave the directions to Ulric.

It only took a few minutes to fly there at our current speed. We traveled parallel to the house so I could check to see who might be there without risking detection if enemy sensors had taken root at his place.

I let out a sigh of relief. “We can land. Emily is there and it looks like Charlie has several other guests we know.”

Ulric turned the plane back around and brought it in for a landing. It was a little bumpy coming in since the field wasn’t used much, but at least we’d found a safe place to touch ground. Charlie’s house was about a mile away. I hoped Emily’s senses had fully returned so she could alert the others of our arrival. Of course, the shaman probably knew anyway with his odd abilities—especially if people were arriving on his land.

After we climbed out of the plane, Nik pulled Ulric off to the side. Being nosy, I kicked up my hearing a notch to listen in on them while pretending to kneel down and check over my pack.

“Would you mind staying for awhile?” he asked. “We may need your help if the situation is as dire as it looks.”

“I was hopin’ you’d ask,” Ulric replied. “Still feelin’ bad 'bout not helping out last time against that witch-vamp. Didn’t have my own ride back then to get there in time.” He slapped a hand on the side of his plane.

Nik had been under a dark magic sleep spell for five years. The witch-vamp in question, Variola, had used a massive amount of power—with the help of her witch friends—to pull it off. I’d been the one to find him and wake him up.

We’d had to gather a large force to take back Fairbanks, but many of Nik’s people had scattered throughout the state in his absence. It wasn’t easy reaching them all on short notice. Ulric must have been one of those people who couldn’t get here before the battle took place. Apparently, he’d grown to like living out in
the bush
of northern Alaska if he was still living there.

“I appreciate it,” Nik said, patting the werewolf on the back.

I finished drinking water I didn’t need from my canteen and put it back in my pack. Emily, Charlie, and Hunter were pulling up the dirt road in the shaman’s rickety truck. His headlights flickered through the trees, alerting the others of their arrival. I found it interesting that the younger werewolf had ended up here too, but supposed I’d find out how that had happened soon enough.

I looked over at Josslyn and saw her clutching her bag tightly. Anxiety was pouring off her in waves. Nik pulled her close to him and she reclined her head against his chest. There was something so fragile about her in that moment that I couldn’t help feeling a little sympathy for her. Maybe she was just shy or something.

The truck pulled to a stop in front of our group. Emily didn’t show her usual exuberance when she came over and gave me a hug. It was sort of like she was just going through the motions. I was so happy to see her safe, I tried not to worry about it.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

“Better.” She pasted on a fake smile. “Just wish those guys didn’t show up and force us to run. Charlie’s been making me do chores since I got here a few days ago.”

“Chores?” I looked over at the shaman. “What’s going on?”

He gave me a toothy grin. “Don’t worry about her. She’s back to full health and needed something to keep her busy until you returned.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Get in the back of the truck.” Charlie waved a hand at his vehicle. “We’ll discuss it once you’re settled at the house.”

Nik’s jaw tightened and he gave an impatient look at the shaman, but said nothing. I gave up on my protests and jumped into the back of the truck. Everyone else followed, except Emily, who got in the front. The teens were keeping quiet so I had to assume the shaman had told them to wait before saying anything. He had his own way of handling things that was rather annoying, but you couldn’t do much about it.

I looked up in surprise when we reached his house. There’d never been a reason for me to visit before—and maybe I’d avoided it, too—so this was my first chance to see the place. It was a big two-story cabin with a wraparound porch, large windows, and a small garden nearby. Piles of neatly cut logs leaned against one side of the house.

We pulled up to the front of a detached garage that stood about fifty meters away. Several other vehicles were parked there as well.

I gave Emily an inquiring look when she hopped out of the truck. “Who brought my Jeep here?”

“Lisette drove it.” She put her hands up. “Hunter was at our house when those sensors showed up so I rode with him. I was just following your instructions to get out of there as fast as possible if they ever came.”

“Did they get close enough to sense you?” I asked.

She gave a sly smile. “Nope. We got out of there just in time.”

The fact that we maintained to-go bags by the door had probably helped. She would have had a few changes of clothes in them and some basic toiletry items. I was nothing if not a little paranoid, but it paid off when things like this happened. Getting a teenage girl to quickly flee her house—possibly for a long time or even permanently—wasn’t easy. If she had some things ready to grab fast it helped speed up the process.

“Good girl.” I gave her a high five.

Hunter came up alongside us.

“Where’s your Dad?” I asked. I’d seen the man a few times at Nik’s house to know his signature, but didn’t sense him now.

His face tightened. “He was taken. A lot of people were.”

“Let’s get inside,” Charlie ordered in a gruff voice. “You’ll catch up on things soon enough.”

Keeping my impatient thoughts to myself, I walked with the others as we followed Charlie at a snail’s pace to his front door. He knew damn well what had happened, but didn’t seem inclined to rush and tell us. Aniya, Lisette, and a few sups I only knew in passing sat in the living room. It was a large space that took up half the first floor. My two best friends rushed up and greeted me with the enthusiasm I’d expected from Emily. Once we pulled away, I sat down with them and settled into glaring at the shaman.

“You all should have some tea first,” he announced, then nodded at Emily.

The teenager gave him a sullen look and headed for what I assumed was the kitchen. I lost sight of her as she rounded the corner on the other side of the stairs.

“Seriously, Charlie?” I stood back up. “Apparently Fairbanks has been taken over by some radical group of supernaturals and you’re putting a priority on tea. We need answers.”

“All in good time,” he said, folding his hands in front of him. He was sitting on an old leather recliner and it appeared that he could stay that way as long as he wanted without talking.

“Maybe I’ll just go find out for myself.” I headed for the door.

“It’s Zoe, Melena.”

His words stopped me in my tracks.

“She brought your father, most of his people, and a large group of her supporters with her. There’s nothing you can do to stop her at the moment. Now sit down.”

I sighed and went back to the sofa. My gut instinct had told me it was her all along, but part of me had hoped we were dealing with someone a little less powerful. We couldn’t kill her and I couldn’t summon the angels to bust her for stealing the fae device—which had to be her doing. If heaven had a hotline, I didn’t know how to call it.

“When exactly did she show up?” Nik asked.

The shaman leaned forward. “Three days ago. It was very well-planned.”

“How so?” I was wondering how she’d managed it without word spreading.

“She has built up quite the little army. My guess is she’s been plotting this for some time. She knew where every supernatural in and around the city lived and sent her people after them as soon as they arrived. Her host of vampires spent the next twenty-four hours compelling most of the humans not to question anything. If they knew any of us, they were compelled to ignore us. The entire area is locked down tight and most of Nik’s people are under guard or have been threatened should they try to fight. Every avenue into the city is guarded as well.”

“Why didn’t she come here?” Josslyn asked, looking around nervously.

Charlie gave her a reassuring smile. “No one gets on my land unless I allow it—no matter how powerful they are.”

Well, that was reassuring. I was glad Emily had made the decision to come here.

“She didn’t take Fairbanks because of me, did she?” That was the one thing that bugged me. Zoe’s reasons for this whole operation.

“No.” He shook his head. “It’s just convenient that you’re nearby what she wants.”

“And what does she want?” I asked.

“That is a good question.” The look in his eyes said he knew, and that I should too.

It took me a moment to put things together. The device Zoe had Yarrow steal, taking Micah away—that had to be her doing—and now occupying Fairbanks. Then it dawned on me.

“It has to do with the fae device she took, doesn’t it? The whole reason she attacked the fae city was to get the thing.” Charlie knew about Purgatory and was even friendly with the archangels. It didn’t surprise me he’d figured all this out already.

The whole sequence of events played through my mind. With everything in chaos after the explosion, it had made it easier for Yarrow to take the device from the vault without anyone discovering it missing right away. Then they took Micah to keep him from interfering. Zoe must have counted on Nik and me getting drawn away from Fairbanks to help the fae, minimizing the resistance she’d face in Alaska. How she’d stacked all those dominoes just right I didn’t know, but that woman was crafty.

Emily came in with a tray holding the tea pot and cups. Charlie refused to answer my latest question as he poured some for himself and urged the rest of us to do the same. I got mine and forced myself to take a few sips.

He set his cup down on the wooden end table next to his chair. “It is, but the device won’t do her any good.”

“Why not?” I leaned forward.

“She’ll never be able to use it. She thinks her sensors can help her locate the place to use the device, but they cannot do any more than she can.”

Charlie was being deliberately vague so that only I could catch his meaning. I felt some of my enthusiasm at possibly getting the fae device from Zoe deflate. If she and her sensors wouldn’t be able to find the portal, then neither could I.

“Wait.” Nik put a hand up. “What does this device do and why does she need to be here to use it?”

Charlie shrugged. “I’m certain she’s been searching for the right location for some time without success and continues to suspect it’s here. As for its use, that’s not for me to say.”

“What do you mean it’s not for you to say?” the master vampire asked. “This is my city and I need to know everything if I’m to handle this situation.”

The shaman looked at him patiently. “Trust that there are some things you are not meant to know. The fact that Zoe is violating the rules regarding them will get her in trouble soon enough.”

Nik threw his hands up. “That doesn’t tell me anything.”

I had to hold back a smile. For once I wasn’t on the receiving end of Charlie’s enigmatic responses and understood exactly why he couldn’t explain things more clearly. Most of the time I hated it when he held back information, but now I was starting to feel bad about how much flak I’d given him because of it.

“Why didn’t you contact us when all this started?” Derrick asked.

Trust him to move the topic to something else that needed to be discussed. I’d been wondering the same thing myself.

“She’s got a team of trained humans who are monitoring all communications in and out of the Fairbanks area. I ordered everyone here to stop using their phones and email as soon as I became aware of it. She’s also got several witches who put up a spell to render fae devices useless. There was no way to safely contact you or allow the others to do so. As I said, she’s well-prepared.”

I might have questioned how he’d put this much together, but I’d seen for myself that Charlie had a way of moving around that even sensors couldn’t pick up—when he chose to use that ability. He could discover what he wanted without anyone being the wiser. I’d asked him about it once, but he’d simply said there must be balance in nature. Sensors had to have one race who could keep them in check just like they did for all the others.