King Cave (5 page)

Mind churning after what felt like forever, I peered behind me. “How long’s it been?”

Instant from Felix. “An hour.” He didn’t sound anxious, only factual.

“Anyone know how many miles it is across the Sound to Connecticut, going directly north from where we entered?”

Ross, one of Pearl’s two elite, stated, “I believe it’s somewhere around fifteen miles.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly, keeping my voice low and my focus steady.

“At this speed, it’s going to take us four more hours,” Ezra whispered. “Jack, can we move faster and not risk the dome?”

Gradually, Jack nodded. “Yes, but not much.”

“The elderly and children won’t be able to go much faster,” Pearl murmured. “And most of the Shifters already have their hands full with the injured.”

Jack debated silently, then he accelerated our pace only the barest bit, possibly cutting our journey by only fifteen minutes.

Lips thin, I was beginning to feel caged in. “Felix, as each hour passes, tell me.”

There was a quiet pause behind me, and then he stated efficiently, “Will do.”

“Felix?”

“Yes?”

I knew what that pause had meant. “What is your opinion on the likelihood of the Shifters becoming hostile?” I felt Ezra and Jack stiffen at my words.

Another pause. “It’s…a possibility.”

Shaking the rising tension out of my left arm, I sighed. “Send Aros back to keep an eye on them. Have him report if it becomes a problem he can’t handle.”

I heard him murmur to Aros, and then he confirmed, “Done.”

“Hostile?” Pearl asked on a whisper, her tone vexed.

Already a tiny bit irritable, I snapped, “It’s fucking claustrophobic down here.” A bitty growl erupted; my wolf hated this something fierce. “Shifters need open space.”

“Jesus,” Jack muttered, and quickly rested his hand on top of mine on his shoulder, rubbing soothingly. He glanced back once. “Little help here.”

“I’m on it,” Ezra murmured. Because of the dome, he was unable to refocus any of his power, which could be used to sooth, directly on me. Instead, he began prattling softly, talking about summer days in California, where he had grown up. He spoke of the sun: its
pounding heat. He spoke of the breeze: its harsh rustling. The rain: its damp coolness. The fog: its morning dew. The hillsides: their scenic view. The smells: their inviting hunger.

Two more hours lugged by and Ezra was still speaking unobtrusively, his voice becoming slightly hoarse, while I trembled inside his hold. I focused my will on the dome but listened to his words, his tone. I could tell that he really loved certain aspects of his home town while despising others, such as the traffic. With the following hour heaving by sluggishly, he began speaking about his parents, regaling with tales of his adolescence, such as his dad and him watching football on Sundays or how his mom would drag him and his dad away from the television on the occasional Sunday to attend church. It was obvious he adored both his parents.

Speaking for the first time in hours, I murmured quietly, “That sounds like my family, except substitute it with watching Saturday morning cartoons with Antonio, and then my mom hauling us to a park or out shopping afterward.”

Ezra chuckled gently, his voice very soft and hoarse now. “I can’t imagine Elder Farrar being led around by anyone.” He grunted. “Or watching cartoons.”

I shook my legs out as I hiked the harsh bottom of the Sound. “He and my mom got along well, so I don’t think he opposed it too much.” I rolled my shoulders. “And don’t discount cartoons. There’s some pretty violence there. He liked all the fighting ones; he found them amusing.” I know I had. “Speaking of not imagining a person being led around,” I snorted, “I’d pay good money to see your dad sitting in church.”

“He slept most of the time,” Ezra barely breathed, probably because of his mom nearby.

I nodded. “So did Antonio whenever we went.” A wheeze, half of which was my wolf growling, escaped my throat, and I murmured quickly, “Keep talking.”

He did. Even though his voice was nearly shot to hell, he spoke of his home. His room growing up. His teachers at his previous school. His combat training from the age of four with his father, which explained why he was such a fierce fighter.

“It’s lighter up ahead,” Jack stated, interrupting Ezra.

Instantly, I peered around Jack’s shoulder. He was right. Sighing heavily, my whole body shook, and I muttered, “Oh, thank God.”

With a wee bite to his tone, Ezra grumbled, “I’m sorry. Was I boring you?”

My gaze shot to his. Narrowed green lights met my wide blue ones. “No. Not at all.” I shook my head. “I didn’t mean it that way.” It probably had sounded discourteous after he had saved my ass from going insane down here. “I liked hearing all of it. Promise.”

Haughtily, he sniffed once and looked away, clearly still irritated.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one affected down here. Needing my left hand, I finally tucked my gun away in the waistband of my cargos and rested my newly freed hand against his hard stomach, feeling his muscles flexing with each step he took. My hand was still trembling, but I rubbed his stomach soothingly and rested my head against him, listening to his heart beat strongly and healthily.

It took a few minutes, but I eventually heard him sigh, and he rested his cheek on top of my head once more, mumbling, “Sorry.”

I shrugged. I knew he was. Had known for a good minute when his heart rate changed and his body increasingly relaxed against mine. It had taken him that long to say he was sorry for snapping at me, which I thought was pretty humorous. “So am I, since it did sound ill-mannered. I really did like listening to you.”

He hummed deep in his throat, his vocal cords already healed. “Well then, I’ll tell you about the third car I wrecked.”

I blinked. “Third? How many cars have you wrecked?”

“Seven,” Vivian stated loudly, sounding miffed, unable to hold her tongue. “He’s a damn menace behind the wheel. Also, and
not to be forgotten
, three different insurance agencies have dropped us.”

A chuckle bubbled inside my throat when I heard Ezra’s heart rate speed up. “Seven?”

“Whatever,” he mumbled, ignoring my question. “Do you want to hear about the third car or not? It involves Com police. And it fits our current situation.”

“Oh, do tell,” I murmured, snuggling against him and sliding my hand across his stomach to his hip, holding snugly. “Does it involve a high-speed chase?”

Vivian’s chuckling wasn’t quiet.

Ezra grunted. “Only because I didn’t realize they were behind me.” His nose crinkled, and then he added quietly, “It made the news.”

Pearl, Jack, and I started laughing.

Over our racket, Ezra grumbled, “After I realized the Com police were there, I tried to pull over. But there wasn’t enough room on the side of the highway, so I,” he chuckled quietly, “made my own road.” He paused, and I glanced up. His eyes held mine. “You see, it was one of those two-lane highways: real thin, but with a steady stream of traffic. When I pulled off the main road onto a field, I didn’t take into account it had rained recently.” His features turned thoughtful. “It probably didn’t help much that I was driving a sports car.”

Vivian snorted, mumbling, “A hundred grand down the drain.”

“
Anyway
,” Ezra stated loudly, then detailed more quietly, obviously trying to stay focused on our will, “there was this tiny,” he paused, then, “it really was tiny,” his head shook, “hill that I went over. I didn’t think much of it at the time because I was trying to stop, and the tires were skidding and holding no traction on the soaked ground.” He snorted, chuckling. “And I went straight into a pond.” I snickered hard, imagining it as he continued. “I had to crawl out the window. The water was over waist-deep where my car had landed. I went to Com jail soaking wet.”

My lips curved. I had to ask. “How fast were you going that you didn’t know you were being chased by Com police with their sirens blaring?”

“I had the radio up too loud to hear them,” he muttered. Didn’t answer my question.

Vivian did. “One hundred and sixty-three miles per hour.”

“Fuck yeah,” Jack mumbled quietly. “That must have been sweet.”

Ezra’s lips twitched, and then he leaned forward, whispering air, “Not as sweet as the sixth car I wrecked. Remind me later to tell you about that.”

Jack chuckled, lifting his chin once in confirmation.

I smacked Ezra’s stomach, muttering harshly, “That’s dangerous.”

His chest puffed, and he rumbled, “I breathe danger.”

“Oh, good God, he did not just say that,” Pearl muttered.

“He did,” I snorted.

Ezra chuckled deeply. “I just like the adrenaline rush.”

I rolled my eyes grandly. “Never would have guessed.”

Jack wiggled his shoulders, grabbing our attention. “We’re almost there.”

We instantly quieted.

We watched with barely contained elation as the water around us began shimmering with the sun’s light; our trek was now on an incline. It was more slippery than before, so we had to slow our pace, but within twenty minutes the water was just above eye-level.

As I panted shallow intakes of air, relief poured through me, and my frame trembled spastically every so often. The water receded with every forward step we took. I almost shouted with pure elation when my bare feet touched dry sand. Fortunately for us, this part of the beach was exclusive, with long stretches of prime real estate reserved only for mansions of the wealthy. It was currently deserted.

Cheers erupted from behind as we stopped, the Mysticals animated.

Still needing us to focus, Jack turned his head so we could hear him and stated clearly, “Same as before, but in reverse. Start lifting the edges of the dome until it’s level.
Push
.” The four of us were exhausted from our journey, not only physically, but also mentally, so this process wasn’t going to be as easy as in training.

Plus, we had a distraction.

But not from the Mysticals behind us.

As the dome’s edges began lifting, the smell of burning wood began to drift inside, floating on the breeze. Sniffing the air, I squinted toward the left. Roughly a mile away, one of the mansions was ablaze, the tentacles of the flames reaching far into the air and the billowing cloud of dark smoke tainted with death. No one was stopping the fire. Instead, a mass of people watched it burn where they stood on the grassy turf.

“The attacks weren’t only at King Hall.” Ezra’s alert gaze turned to one of his two elite Vampire guards. “Alex, spread the word. They need to shut the fuck up back there.”

“Understood,” Alex replied promptly, and I felt a breeze at my back as he blurred away.

“I can’t count their numbers,” I scented the air, “but they have silver bullets.”

“There are enough on that lawn to hinder us,” Ezra muttered with a slight narrowing of his eyes. “And Elder Farrar said to stop for nothing and no one.”

Quickly, the crowd began quieting behind us.

We worked as swiftly as we could until the dome was finally flat above us.

Jack explained, “We have no time for pretty. Just move it to our right.”

We
pushed
our will.

The sun began shining down on us, the floating stagnant pond twenty yards to our right.

Jack ordered, “Stop.”

Staying centered, we followed his order.

He pointed. “Lower it to the ground.”

We immediately obeyed.

He rolled his shoulders under our grip. “Stop
pushing
and drop your hands.”

We did.

The pond instantly slackened, and the spout flowed downward with a smashing crash.

I glanced to the left, eyeing the Com horde with their hands now in the air, cheering as the fire consumed the entire mansion. It appeared that the explosion of water hadn’t been quite loud enough to attract their attention, the harsh waves making just as much noise. The dirty water and dead fish spread on the sand for a moment, then rushed down the beach into the Sound.

Well…that was that.

On to the next stage.

Turning to the crowd, I jumped a few times in place, shaking my arms and legs out, suddenly consumed with bountiful energy; I was no longer trapped or focusing. The battered Mysticals, fearful and silent, waited for orders. Loudly, I expounded, “We’re moving again. There will be cars ahead. The keys are in the ignitions.”
Hopefully, there will be enough cars for all of us.
“We’ll be traveling east, so follow us closely and keep your heads down.” I paused before an afterthought. “Drive safely and don’t stop for anyone or anything.”

Slight murmurs erupted again, but I turned — no time for questions — to my besties in the slowly dying sunset and nodded toward the blue manor house in front of us, which appeared to be deserted as there were no lights on inside. “Let’s go. The cars have to be there somewhere.”

The four of us moved quickly, and the throng of fatigued Mysticals followed instantaneously, even if they didn’t wholly understand. Leading our people away from the open beach, we hiked the sand dune barrier to the tall grass that was harsh on our already bruised, shoeless feet. My best friends and I watched the manor closely, but we swiftly identified no sounds or movements coming from within.