Destiny Forgiven (Shadows of Destiny) (20 page)

_{“I’ll go get those clothes,” he
said as he turned and left.}

_{With a deep breath, she stared at the door to the place where it all began. She’d changed so much since she’d first bounded through that door, young and idealistic. She’d had no knowledge of the real dangers of the world. Today she felt tired and world-weary. She wasn’t the naïve
twenty-year-old wanting to change the world anymore, standing up for truth and justice and all that shit. Now she knew some things would never change. There’d always be greed and people who thought they were better than everyone else, power-hungry tyrants and evil manipulators. She used to think big action by a lot of people was the key to change. Now she knew that sometimes altering the course of just one person triggered a riptide of events that led to big change. And sometimes, the only action one could take was to hope.}

_{She turned the knob and opened the door. Salvatore was just on the other side.}

_{As soon as she walked in, he scooped her up into a big hug, careful of Keyon at her side. “I thought we’d never see you again,” he whispered in her ear.}

_{Since her parents had died, Salvatore had been her boss but also kept an extra eye on her – like Ezra. He’d paired her with Dalton, knowing she’d be safe with him. Not only was Dalton a strategic mastermind but he was an amazing fighter – especially in his predatory form, a grizzly bear.}

_{“Ow.” She squirmed in his grip. “I love you too but you’re crushing me.”}

_{“I’m sorry.” He stepped back and looked her over. “You need to see a doctor.”}

_{“It’s okay.” She gave him a shaky smile. “I’m just a little sore. Where’s Dalton? Is he okay?”}

_{“Medic. Now. And that’s an order.” Though his tone sounded stern, his eyes were teasing. “I’ll fill you in on the way there. Dalton is fine.”}

_{A rush of relief swept over her. She couldn’t wait to see him, feel him, hear his voice so she’d know for sure he was alive and in one piece.}

_{“He should be back in a few days.” Salvatore motioned to the door but Jax opened it before she could.}

_{He held out a bundle of clothes. “Here. It’s the best I could do for now.”}

_{“Perfect.” She placed Keyon on the floor. Both men watched with curiosity. “Shift, Keyon. You’re safe.”}

_{Fur faded as the figure changed from the small rabbit to a scrawny, naked boy. She handed him the clothes and he slipped them on. As he dressed, he didn’t take his eyes off the two men watching him.}

_{“This is Keyon,” she told them once he’d dressed. He took a protective stance in front of her. She hid her amusement, as did Salvatore and Jax. In English, she told her friends, “I found him by Adfer Falls. He lives there by himself. He can’t be more than eight years old.”}

_{Keyon jumped in, giving the men a fierce glare. “I go back when bad men leave,” he said in accented English.}

_{Salvatore nodded solemnly. “If that’s what you’d like,” he replied in Shifter. “But wouldn’t you like to learn to shift into a bigger animal while you’re here? You could learn to fight bad guys instead of having to hide.”}

_{It was clear Keyon found this desirable though he tried to keep up the tough exterior. He looked up at Felicity with questioning eyes.}

_{“These are my friends,” she told him. “You can trust them. They’ll give you food to make you stronger and teach you how use weapons.” She pointed to Jax. “This is Jax. He’ll take you to eat
and find a bed for you to sleep. I’ll come check on you tomorrow.”}

_{He gave Jax an assessing glare then shook his head and clutched Felicity’s arm.}

_{Jax chuckled. “Am I that ugly?”}

_{“I guess he’s coming with me.”}

_{“All right then. I’m headed back to work,” Jax said. They said their goodbyes and he disappeared around the corner.}

_{Salvatore escorted Felicity down three blocks toward the small medical building.}

_{As they walked, she told him everything that had happened the night she’d been caught. Ezra and a few friends had provided a distraction outside the camp while she flew in. River and several other young boys were inside a tent, bound with rope and with arm bands locked on by the time she got there. After shifting into human form, she started to untie them but she didn’t notice the guard in a dark corner of the tent until it was too late.}

_{Salvatore tossed her a disapproving look. “You didn’t even clear the plan with me. You just ran off haphazardly without any help.”}

_{“I know. I’m sorry. But the next day they’d have brought them to
Marwolaeth Du
and they wouldn’t have returned. Nobody ever does.” She looked down at the ground. “Well, except me.”}

_{“How did you escape?” he asked, as they rounded the corner. The brick building stuck out compared to the wood cabins that took up the rest of the town.}

_{She hadn’t thought through what she would tell people about her time in prison. How would they take it when they learned she was literally sleeping with the enemy? Nobody knew about Maddox. When she’d first joined the rebellion, she’d mentioned a friend she wanted to help, but when the letters had stopped and her own search efforts had come up empty, she hadn’t found it important to discuss.}

_{She stared silently at the ground as they walked up the cement path. At the door, Salvatore stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Felicity.”}

_{His eyes warmed as she looked up at them.}

_{“When you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here.”}

_{She sighed in relief. He was always good at seeing more than what people said. But before he’d get the chance to ask her again, she’d be gone. With that thought, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.}

_{“Thanks for everything,” she said, squeezing back tears.}

_{He chuckled. “Well it’s not like I’m not going to see you again.”}

_{Smiling, she nodded her head.
Liar.}

_{“I’ll come check on you tomorrow afternoon. We’ll figure out where to go from here.”}

_{She knew where she was going already. If she told Salvatore, he’d have more questions and he’d want to take over the whole mission. It was hard enough for her to direct Maddox – she had a feeling he wasn’t the “works well with others” type.}

_{There was a new doctor working at medic. A young man – kind but a little nervous. Keyon nipped at him when he tried to steer him into a separate room. When it was clear
she and the boy were both in decent condition, the doctor let them crash in an empty room. Instead of taking the second bed, Keyon curled up in a ball at the end of hers like a pet kitten.}

_{She tucked her feet up so she wouldn’t kick him and made her plans for the following day. Ditching Keyon would break her heart but it had to be done. Now that she knew her team was safe, and Keyon would be too, she could focus on her task.}

_{Find James and Sage. Burn down
Marwolaeth Du.}

_{I
n the early morning, barely past dawn, Felicity slipped out of the hospital room. Just before she left, she gave Keyon – still sleeping at the end of the bed – a kiss goodbye. Even though she was leaving him in good hands, it felt a little like she was betraying him. Hopefully he’d forgive her.}

_{Cool morning air hit her face when she walked outside and she wished she’d had Jax bring her a coat. Rubbing her arms with her hands didn’t help much so she sped up to a jog, hoping that would warm her up. Maybe she should’ve stopped somewhere for breakfast and coffee. It’d be a long trip to Caerwyn.}

_{“Hey!” someone called behind her.}

_{Shit. She didn’t have time to deal with nosy neighbors.}

_{“Felicity!”}

_{She slowed to a stop and spun around. She knew that voice. A man jogged toward her – black hair, tall lithe body, wicked smile. “Dalton!”}

_{When he was close enough, she threw herself into his arms.}

_{How many nights had she spent wondering if he was alive, afraid she’d never see him again? In her head, she’d apologized over and over for convincing him to help rescue River, knowing they hadn’t been adequately prepared. She’d rehearsed the perfect speech to express how deeply sorry she was, and now she couldn’t remember a single line of it.}

_{He held her tight in his arms for a long while, as if he couldn’t believe she was real. “Salvatore told me you were here. I traveled all night to see you.”}

_{“I’m sorry,” she cried into his shirt, overwhelmed with emotion – relief but also guilt. “I’m so, so sorry.” Though her feelings were platonic, it felt good being in his arms. His smell, the warmth of his body, even his bony shoulder under her cheek was comforting.}

_{“It’s okay,” he said in her ear.}

_{“I’m sorry.”}

_{“I know. Shh…” After she’d calmed down, he released her and looked her over. “I’ve been trying to get to you, Felicity. I’ve been all over the country, looking for someone powerful enough to get me in. I even contemplated giving myself up just to find you in there.”}

_{“That would’ve been stupid.”}

_{“I know. I didn’t do it, but I wanted to. I just felt so helpless.” He sighed, then grabbed her in a hug again.}

_{She chuckled and hugged him
back. He released her again.}

_{The night Maddox had visited as Dalton, she’d wondered if it would be awkward when she saw him again. But now that she was standing in front of him, in the daylight, Maddox hadn’t captured the true essence of her partner. His high
cheekbones, his jet black hair that always looked like he’d just rolled out of bed, the way his eyes seemed to see into her mind. People used to say they were soul mates. Not in the romantic sense but in the way that they understood each other better than anybody. They could communicate a thought in a single look and often finished each other’s sentences. During a mission, their teammates swore up and down she and Dalton could read each other’s minds.}

_{“How the hell did you get out, Houdini?” he asked, his eyes wide and eager.}

_{“It’s a long story. And I’ll tell you someday. But right now, I need your help.”}

_{Dalton wasn’t one to give up control easily. Would he help her or hinder her? His brows drew together. “Whatever it is, we do it together. I’m not letting you out there alone again.”}

_{Of course it wouldn’t be easy. “I have a plan to take down the prison. And I have someone working on the inside, but I don’t have a lot of time for explanations. You have to trust me, Dalton.”}

_{He started shaking his head.}

_{“This is big. This could be the end of
Marwolaeth Du.
Don’t be an obstacle.” She gave him a stern look. “I’ve been in there for weeks. Who else has ever escaped from there?”}

_{“Nobody,” he murmured.}

_{“Right. What I’m about to do is nothing in comparison.”}

_{He frowned at her. “We’ve always confided in each other. After years of working together, trusting each other, you can’t spare a few minutes to fill me in?” His face drooped and he actually looked hurt.}

_{Years ago when she was near the end of her training and Salvatore was ready to give her a partner, she’d worked so hard to impress Dalton. Every day she practiced shifting, over and over, not just to her two main forms, but to every kind of animal she could find. She wanted to be the best, the fastest. The hard work had paid off. She was the fastest changing shifter in the colony. He watched her spar one day, and she knew he was sizing her up. She was so nervous and his face was unreadable. Afterward, she overheard Salvatore tell him she was the most passionate recruit he’d seen in a long time. Over the next few years, they’d learned to read each other, trust each other, and even love each other as friends and teammates.}