Everlost (The Night Watchmen Series Book 3) (9 page)

No one laughs except Weldon, and the sound is uncomfortably brittle.

I drop my head and squeeze my eyes shut, not knowing if I want to laugh or scream at him. He’s the only person I’ve ever met that makes me feel such contradicting emotions at the exact same time.

Tillman’s tone is solidly neutral when he finally speaks. Almost pleasantly even. He could be granting us safe passage with the ease and comfort at which he delivers his next sentence with a steady smile. “We’ve been given the go ahead to secure your presence however necessary. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“Faye, I’m serious. You both need to leave,”
Jaxen says sharply.

“Jaxen, I know you’re worried, but I need you to trust me, okay? I can handle this.”

He doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t leave my mind either, and I’m grateful for his trust.

Tillman and Weldon are still bantering, but I tune them out, closing my eyes. I inhale deeply. One by one, the energy of everyone in the room forms in front of me, just waiting to be harvested. I zero in on Tillman and the five men he brought with him. With one hard, swift tug, I bring them to their knees.

I open my eyes and, slowly, I stand. Every gun in the room focuses on me.

“Faye, no!”
Jaxen says.

“This is what’s going to happen,” I say, squeezing my fist, which makes a loud cry erupt from every Elite under my grip. “You’re going to hold your fire and let us pass.”

Weldon stands up next to me, unsteady at first.

“Neve—” Tillman tries to mutter out, but I squeeze harder and he falls flat against his face, unable to mutter another word.

“If you don’t let us pass, you will all end up like him.” I connect eyes with as many Elites as I can, ensuring that they hear my threat through and through.

They don’t lower their weapons. They’re brainwashed. They’re warped, seeing me as an enemy. Seeing me as a threat.

And maybe I am.

Weldon’s head jerks to the window. “Faye, we have to move. Hundreds are approaching outside,” he says under his breath.

It only takes me a split-second to decide what needs to happen next. There’s no time for second-guessing. No time to question what’s wrong or what’s right. Without an apology, I grab a hold of all the energy around me and tug hard, smiling as their power slams into me and levels them.

Every Elite in sight falls face-first against the ground, unconscious. Weldon doesn’t waste a second. “Let’s go,” he says, moving around the desk. He’s hopping over bodies, searching for ground to step on. “Did you kill them?” he asks, looking me right in the eye.

Shock slams against my skull. “No. Just knocked them out.”

“Good.”

We reach the glass elevator as the Elites from outside storm through the entrance. Weldon’s face pales a little as he presses the button. The metal doors slide open and we rush in, pressing the button for the third floor. Sterling’s floor. Bullets race through the air in our direction, all trying to get ahead of the other. All seeking a body to penetrate.

“Faye, use your magic. Don’t just rely on your Hunter skills. Magic can transform anything,”
Jezi says through our connection. Her voice almost startles me.

“I tried using magic. The shield didn’t work.”

“Magic isn’t just for shields. You have to be smarter than their spells. Think defense, not offense,”
she says.
“We’re Witches, Faye. We make water from thin air. We turn toads into princes.”

Weldon grabs my arm and shakes me one good time. “Are you listening? The bodies will stall them long enough to get us to his room,” he says, pulling the bag from my shoulders. He digs through the contents, loading up on guns and fluxes. “Once on the floor, we make two rights and a left, okay?”

I nod. Bullets pierce through the glass, shattering it. We both drop and cover our heads. Jezi’s words crowd every open space in my mind, almost as if she’s really here.
Toads into princes,
I think to myself, and in a flash of a second, I say a spell, turning the glass into tiny butterflies and the bullets into flies.

“Quick thinking. I like it,” Weldon says, throwing me a swift smile before spitting off a fly that had landed on the outside of his lips.

“Thanks.” I’m surprised by how calm my voice sounds. How in control I am despite the small shudders of panic pulsing in the depths of me.

An ear-piercing alarm rings through the air. The elevator stops, the lights switch off, and emergency lighting flashes in and out. The robotic woman’s voice pelts out through the small speakers. “All Coven members, please exit the building at this time. This is not a drill. An armed threat has breached the parameters. Please find the nearest exit and proceed with caution.” There’s a short pause, and then the alarm resumes. “All Coven members…”

“We stop for nothing,” Weldon shouts over the alarm, his face coming in and out with the vanishing light. He stands and points to the service hatch. I send a small blast of magic up, knocking it open. He smiles at me, and then continues, “Take out any in the way by whatever means necessary. Clara has to be close by now.”

“If I see her, I’m taking her out,” I say, gripping my flux as he braces my waist to lift me up.

“No,” he says firmly, piercing me with his sharp, golden gaze. “We need her alive. She knows the whereabouts of your parents and Claire.”

His truth is like the searing side of a pan pressed against my face. It’s like having my hands, my feet, my face, and my heart submerged in fiery coals.

I exhale forcefully. Bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep from cursing.

The force in his eyes dissolves. “I know,” he says, reading me so well. “It pisses me off too.” He grips my waist again, and then lifts me into the air. I plant my hands firmly around the edges of the small hole and push up, pulling myself through. When I’m lying flat against the top of the elevator, I extend my hand to him. He grabs my bag and takes my hand. I pull him up, using every last ounce of strength. I call on my volation, but there’s nothing to pull from. Nothing but Weldon’s energy, and we can’t afford that right now.

“Use your volation,” he says on a groan, dangling halfway in the air.

“Can’t,” I strain out. “They did something to the air.” I feel the fibers in my muscles stretching past their limits and, still, I pull.

“Use your magic, Faye,”
Jezi whispers in the back of my mind.

Right. Magic.

With one last, deep inhale, I spell him to be as light as a feather and lift, pulling him the rest of the way up.

He rolls onto his back. “You’re getting better with the spells.”

“It’s not my go-to, but it does make it easier. Thank, Jezi.”

He looks at me funny, and then says, “Oh, right. The connection.” He points to my forehead. “Jaxen in there too?”

I nod and he grins, making kissy faces near my eyeballs.

I shove him back. “Knock it off,” I say, laughing despite not wanting to. The heaters have flicked on in my cheeks.

“Oh, look, there you go, getting all embarrassed on me again,” he says, chuckling to himself as he stands. He offers me a hand. “Ready?”

I nod, and then he turns for the makeshift ladder.

“Good thing our floor is right above us.” He climbs the three steps, and then makes quick work of pulling apart the metal doors of the elevator to the third floor. By the time I’m beside him, he slides the doors all the way open. Two Elites are aimed at Weldon. He ducks and rams one, while I aim for the other, my flux striking him in the thigh. The Elite slams back against the wall, aiming for me, but I’m quicker, and tug on his energy hard enough to knock him out.

Weldon stands from the other Elite he punched to sleep. “Let’s go.”

We head down the hallway that flashes in and out under the emergency lighting and make our first right. Immediately, we notice something off. There are no Elites. Not a single soul nearby. We take the other right and head down the long stretch of hallway, passing room after room, which were the same rooms I was placed in to be studied. To be tortured.

We’re feet away from the left turn when I make my first mistake. I look into the viewing window to one of the rooms.

Long, brown hair is splayed out against a cold, metal table. High-pitched screams that I’ve only ever heard once before—the night the Werewolves attacked all the novices in the Enchanted Forest during the Trial back at the Academy.

The head on the table turns toward the window, almost as if she knew I was there, and the pink scar clawed across her face nearly drops me to my knees.

“Katie?”

NO.

My insides slam against the side of my body from the impact of this realization. My guts shred into nothing. I can’t catch a breath. Not a single one. I’m not sure I ever even knew how to breathe as my lungs wheeze, fighting for air.

Not Katie. Not Katie. She can’t have Katie.

“Faye, remember where you are,”
Jaxen says to me through our connection, his tone like a whip snapping me back in place.
“Stay on task.”

I lean against the wall, using my hand to hold me up, scared my knees will collapse as the earth shudders and sways beneath my feet.

“I’m not leaving her here!”

“You can’t leave her,”
Jezi says. Four words pour liquid gratitude into my tear ducts. Cripple my heart with appreciation.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Reach for the door handle. Someone’s hand wraps around my arm, and my eyes shoot open. Weldon. He yanks hard enough to force me to look at him. His golden eyes are hard and firm, squaring on me with discipline.

“We have to keep moving, Faye. We don’t have time. This is a trap.”

I can’t make sense of his words. I don’t understand how anyone could possibly think I’d ever even consider leaving her in that room. There’s a fire building inside of me. It’s spreading through my veins, coursing through my blood, ready to take out anyone who tries to stop me.

I yank away from him and scowl, ensuring he sees my disappointment before turning the handle.

“Damn it all to hell,” I hear him mutter as he hurries in behind me.

“Please! Someone! Help me!” she’s screaming out, over and over again.

“Katie,” I say again as I rush over to her, dropping my bag to the floor. She’s wearing a paper-thin, ashen gown. Blood coats the edges of her mouth and above her eyebrow. Marks the color of coffee and plums litter the outside of her body. Some in the shape of fingers, and others the size of half-dollars. She looks thinner than I remember. Paler.

“Faye?”

My throat is crammed full of pointy feathers. My heart constricts. I grab her hand and squeeze. “I’m here,” I say, reaching for the straps fastened across her chest and waist. Weldon moves swiftly to the other side and makes quick work of releasing the other end for me.

When she’s free, I help her up to a sitting position, and then she throws her arms around my neck, squeezing me tighter than she ever has before. “I’ve missed you so much, Faye. I thought—they told me you were gone. They told me so many things. So many horrible, horrible things, and I didn’t tell them anything.” She pulls back, her eyes wild and watery. “I swear. I never broke, Faye. I swear it.”

I pull her tighter against me as both our tears pour freely. Run my hand down the back of her hair. “I know you didn’t. You’re too strong.”

“Faye,” Weldon says. I know what he wants. To keep moving.

I pull back. “Can you walk?”

Katie nods.

I say a quick healing spell, watching the marks slowly leave her body. Wishing my magic had the power to heal the marks that have surely been placed on her soul.

“They have Chett,” she says the moment her feet touch the ground. “He’s here, but he’s out of my reach. I can’t use my magic.”

I manifest a pair of sweatpants and a sweater for her. Weldon turns around as she makes quick work of dressing.

When she’s finished, Weldon walks back around and stops in front of her. “Katie, isn’t it?” She nods. “Look,” he says, resting a hand on her shoulder and leveling his gaze on her. “We can’t risk saving him too. As it is, this is probably a trap.”

Katie eyes his hand on her shoulder, and then looks back up at him. Her face slowly shifts from scared to fearless. To the Katie I know. “Weldon, isn’t it?”

He smirks.

“I don’t know about you, but where I come from, we leave no one behind. Clara has my parents too. She has most everyone who’s involved in the rebellion led by Mack.”

Without even looking, I sense more Elites heading toward us. I can see their energy.

“Four Witches and four Hunters, heading our way,” I say, looking over at Weldon. I weave a barrier along the front wall. “We have to move. The barrier I threw up won’t hold against all of their magic.”

Gunshots slam against the glass. The Elite Witches are already tearing at my barrier.

Weldon curses under his breath, and I sense what comes next. The heartbreak my friend will have to endure. “Sorry, but you’re already one too many, Katie,” he says, seriously this time. He grabs my shoulder, and when the lights flicker back off, he pulls us into a shadow.

Katie isn’t prepared for it. She’s screaming and punching, and she doesn’t stop until we emerge on the other side, just feet away from General Sterling’s private quarters. I grab her fists to steady her, using my magic to seal off her cries. Elites are everywhere. Gunshots and shouts of magic hurl through the air toward us, and panic has shaken me awake.

No.

The lights flicker again, and Weldon pulls us back into a shadow. “Use your magic to hide us,” he says inside the shadow.

“They’re using counter spells, Weldon. They’re expecting that.”

“Damn it. I told you! I told you saving her was a bad idea.” He pinches his forehead.

“Please,” Katie says, looking all around, tucking herself against me. “Get us out of here.”

“I’m trying to get us out of this whole damn city alive!” Weldon shouts. He takes a few steps forward, and then looks to the right. “I think I can get us right outside of his door. Make them see us somewhere else. Can you do that?”

Jezi pushes a spell through my mind and I nod, knowing that I can hold it for at least a few seconds. I close my eyes, quickly say the words, and wait two seconds before telling him to move. If I did it right, the Elites should be moving to the hallway across from us. If I did it wrong, we’re screwed.

“Go,” I say, hoping against all hope.

We appear on the other side of the hall, right across from Sterling’s door.

The bullets have stopped. The footsteps are retreating.

“Good job,” Weldon says, smiling at me. He takes a step and, without warning, a door opens from behind us. The edge of it slams against my shoulder and I stumble back, trying to catch my footing as sharp, shooting pains slice up my neck and into my temples.

“Don’t move,”
Jaxen says.
“Whoever it is probably isn’t even aware of hitting you.”

I freeze in place, pressing myself against the wall. Weldon does the same, holding Katie in place. The sound of heels curve around the door. The blood slowly drains from my whole body as I realize who it is.

Clara.

My mind deserts me and my heart hardens into a steel fist that wants to reach right out to strike her down on the spot.

She has an Elite on either side of her, decked out in all black with guns at the ready. She’s in the same white suit with her raven hair pinned back in her usual fashion. An aura of black circles around her being, mixing with every menacing color imaginable.

I swear her aura alone sucks the light from around me. Steals the air from my lungs.

I’m holding my breath. Clenching every muscle. Biting down on my tongue until I taste blood. Fighting back the urge to pounce on her.

“Faye, no!”
Jaxen says desperately. I can almost see him running with nowhere to go. No way to stop me.

I can’t make my eyes leave her form as she walks past me. Hatred flushes my skin, warming my muscles. I should kill her. Drop her and her guards right here, right now. I could. Easily.

I step forward, hands out at my sides. Energy builds within my palms, reaching out for her soul. Starving for stolen power. Itching to finish what I was unable to back in the courtroom barely a week ago.

She stops. Turns. I swear she sees me, but it doesn’t scare me like it should. I feel alive in her blind curiosity and in knowing that I could end her life at any moment. I think her lavender eyes are on mine when she lifts her head as if she’s sniffing.

“Do you smell magic?” she asks, her eyebrows creasing.

Both guards follow her, sniffing the air, looking around them.

“No,” the one on the right says.

“Maybe,” the one on the left says. The one closest to me. It’s a Witch.

I smile as the rage continues to build in me, ready to lash out, but then Weldon locks his arm around mine, squeezing so tight it burns. His darkness enters my veins, paralyzing me. Preventing me from doing anything. I turn just enough to see the shadows in his eyes. To see the monstrous form his demon-half takes. 

“Don’t do anything, Faye. You kill her, and you kill our chance at finding out what happened to your parents. She’s the only one that knows,”
Jaxen says.

I shake my head against his words as my heart rips violently in half. I hear the blood pumping through my veins, crowding out his voice, filling with the screams of the damned. Why does he have to be right? Why can’t I give in just this once and have my revenge?

She takes a step in my direction, and Weldon pulls harder against the wall, as if he’s trying to tuck us into it. She keeps moving forward and I have to shut my eyes against the harsh, powdery scent of her perfume that causes my stomach to roll in waves.

“I swear I smell the Everlasting,” she says, her eyes moving all around me. She lifts her hands. Reaches out. Weldon’s grip tightens as I prepare myself to take action. To kill if need be.

But then a familiar voice sounds behind us, and her hand retreats. “Are we still on for the meeting?” Sterling asks from outside his doorway.

The three of us are statue still, listening to the deafening sound of our beating hearts.

“Noon,” Clara says, looking in his direction. She straightens her jacket. “I suggest you be on time this time. The others are beginning to think that you’re a double agent.”

Sterling snorts. “Anything to stir up gossip.”

She stares at him for a moment and, in her eyes, I know she sees him as a threat. It’s the same way she looks at everyone who isn’t nestled comfortably under her thumb. “Mmhm,” she says under her breath. “The Everlasting is here. She’s with that pestering half-breed. Have you seen her?”

“Last I heard, they were stuck in the elevator shaft,” the general replies coolly.

“They broke into one of my facilities and took a prisoner of war from me. They were just spotted a hallway across from us. Do you have any idea where they might be headed?”

“Home, I would assume,” the general says. “Sounds to me like they got what they wanted.”

She doesn’t say anything for a moment. Just stares at him. “She’s still in this building. Alert me if you see her.”

He nods.

“Good day, General.” She turns back to her men, and they fall back in line.

Air rushes out of me as soon as she disappears around the corner. Seconds tick by as my legs try to regain feeling. They’re heavy. Solid. Filled with every pent-up emotion. That was easy. Almost too easy, but I don’t have time to digest it because the general unlocks his door and Weldon rushes us through it before it slides shut behind us.

His room is the total opposite of what I thought it’d be. It’s messy. Lived in. Clothes are strewn everywhere. Pictures of a woman who I assume was his partner fill every blank space on the walls. Her skin is the color of mocha. Her long, dark hair trails down past her waist. A large corkboard with photos of unfamiliar faces and maps hangs above his small desk.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Sterling says with his back facing us, fiddling with something in his hands.

“How did you—” Weldon begins to say.

The general turns around and sets his gun down on the desk, aimed at the door. “I told you,” he says, staring right in my direction, “having lost powers makes your senses stronger. I smelled the blood from your lunch on you. I smelled the charge in the air from her. It has a distinct scent. Power unlike anything I’ve ever smelt before.”

He sits on a chair at his desk and reaches for a rolled-up paper. “You came.”

“You told me to find you,” I say, stepping forward, dropping the spell.

“I did,” he agrees. “I’m glad you came. And I’m glad you’re all right.” He looks over my shoulder at Katie. “And I see you’ve managed to save one.”