Blood Bond (The Stones of Terrene Chronicles Book 4), page 13
Pamela nodded without hesitation. “I’ll be out of sight until you return.” She smoothed one hand over her uniform and rested the other lightly on her dagger hilt, smirking. “After I get Klaus out of the way, that is. I don’t want to be a danger to you.”
“Klaus?” Raine echoed.
“The guard that will be a hindrance to your mission.” Pamela’s voice betrayed no hesitation or sorrow over helping them. And at her own risk, no less.
Just what kind of history did they have?
Christopher agreed with a short nod.
Raine swallowed hard, her palms moist. One step complete, a new ally gained, and hopefully no regrets to be had.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ben
“Someone’s coming!”
Geist’s hissed warning had Ben ducking behind the thin bramble and gripping his steam pistol. A quiet crunch of snow was all the sound Zak and Finn made as they presumably hid as well. Ben’s jaw popped, and he had to focus to relax his clenched teeth. Was it Raine and Christopher? Serena? Had they been discovered? He slowly started to crank the dial on his pistol.
“It’s Raine and Christopher.” Geist appeared from where he’d been hiding in the trees.
A soft sigh of relief slipped out of Ben as he straightened from his crouch. Good. And if they actually got the disguises, then they could check off step one of this mission.
Serena would be back as soon as she sabotaged the airships. She’d be fine.
Raine came into view, her arms laden with burgundy, gray, black, and dark-green clothing. The tip of her nose was pink from the cold, and while she didn’t look stressed, neither did she look triumphant. She lifted her arms slightly, and Zak stepped in, dividing her load by half. She flashed him a brief, tight grin. “Thanks.”
“Any problems in there?” Zak asked, his gaze sweeping over her and Christopher.
“No, sir.” Christopher replied. He draped a gray coat, pants, and a shirt over the side of Finn’s horse. Christopher glanced at Raine askance. “We had some unexpected help, though.”
Zak’s head whipped around at the same time that Ben froze, mid-reach for the shirt Raine held out for him. Raine’s lips thinned as she nodded. She nudged Ben’s hand with the black clothing and his fingers automatically closed around it.
“Come again?” Zak’s wide-eyed gaze darted to the building beyond the thick of the evergreen trees and back at Christopher. Zak’s voice dropped low, a strange mix between dangerous and hopeful. “What kind of help?”
Christopher hesitated, and Raine spoke up. “Good help, for the moment at least.” She chucked a pair of burgundy pants at Geist without looking at him, her attention focused on Zak. “Christopher’s contact confirmed that Victor and Jade are here.”
Zak’s entire body trembled as if he’d just been hit. He fumbled in his haste to pull off his coat and switch out his clothes. “Then let’s get going.”
Raine made a small noise in the back of her throat and pivoted to dodge behind the horses.
Ben made fast work of unbuttoning his button-up and pulling the thick uniform shirt over his undershirt while Raine was out of sight. “This contact. Are they trustworthy?”
Christopher had somehow already switched his pants where he stood. He hesitated, balancing on one leg while pulling his boot back on. “She’ll do everything she can to help us, so long as her orders don’t contradict.”
“And if the orders are contradictory?” The intonation on Zak’s words were cooler than the cold air zinging in Ben’s lungs.
Christopher grimaced. “Then it depends on the compulsion she’s under.” He ran a hand over his hair and his cheeks puffed. “I want to save her.” He directed his words at Finn. “I want to bring her back to the king, have Brandon free her.”
Finn moved away from the horse and saddlebags that he’d folded and tucked his spare clothes into. “And what is this young woman’s name?” Finn asked neutrally.
“Pamela.” The way that Christopher said her name made it abundantly clear what he felt for her. “I’ve known her for years. Pammy’s…” he trailed off and shook his head, as if lost for words. Then, quietly, “I want her to be free.”
“We understand that desire.” Finn held out his arms, inviting inspection of his gray coat and pants. “Do I look like I can blend in?”
The softness in Christopher’s eyes drained away, replaced with the sharp astuteness of a soldier. He circled around Finn once before nodding. “Good.” Christopher motioned for Geist, then Zak, to come closer for him to oversee their changes. He pointed at Zak’s black belt of vials and weapons. “That goes against regulations, but we do have a few specialty commandos. If any ask about it, say you just got back from a mission and haven’t had an opportunity to return your items to the armory.”
Zak ran his hand over the leather of his belt and nodded once. He faced the building. “Where do you think they are?”
Christopher shrugged behind Zak’s back. “I don’t know. I can only guess, and hope that Pammy knows.” He nodded approval at Ben’s uniform.
Raine stepped out from where she’d changed out of sight, hidden by the horses. She adjusted her sword belt and motioned to her hair. “Any regulations for women in this regard?”
Christopher shrugged. “Braided or a wolf’s tail, it doesn’t matter.”
She nodded and started to deftly braid it back. She glanced around. “We good to go?”
Zak didn’t acknowledge her words, but he jolted forward and pushed through the thicket.
Geist and Finn immediately started after the Monomi, leaving Raine, Ben, and Christopher to hurry and catch up.
The pastel-mustard building loomed out of the woods. Ben had never seen a more hideous color in his life, like a bizarre haunted house from a demented clown’s nightmares. Deep rectangular windows dotted the outside, and several spires reached for the cloudless sky above, as if claws scratching to be free of whatever held it back.
Ben shuddered. Grand time for his imagination to get the better of him.
Christopher took the lead and angled toward what looked like a side door. He stopped, his hand on the handle, and turned his head, hair obscuring his face as he spoke lowly. “Watch out for Coven Leader Sephirn. He’s the most powerful one here. But we also need to avoid Master Enforcer Fulton, who made me forget who I was, all that I loved. My family, my friends, everyone.” He shook his head. “Part of me hopes I run into him. The other part hopes I never see him again.” He looked back at their group, and now Ben could see the tension in how Christopher held himself. “Remember. If you see a man in a red coat, go the other way.”
They all murmured their agreement to his order, then Christopher opened the door, the first to go inside.
Ben waited, taking up the rear as they filed in, one by one. He cast one last glance outside, to the snow-dusted trees, the white mountains, the blue sky –– then he walked into the darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Raine
Raine’s senses stayed on high alert as she followed the gray-and-yellow coat that Papa now wore. Pamela had met them at the side door and stayed by Christopher’s side through the quick introductions, her nonchalant attitude both soothing and grating Raine’s nerves. Did the woman have no respect for the danger they were all in here? Or was she purposefully so calm, because she didn’t want anyone panicking?
Christopher had no hesitation or qualms about working with his friend, but Raine didn’t share the same confidence. Not when they were both bonded, and Pamela didn’t have the reassurance of Brandon’s counter-orders. She could still have some sort of command to turn them in. There was no way of knowing.
The odds of being betrayed, even if against Pamela’s will, were too high. Raine had learned her lesson. Trust in the wrong person would be costly. And the stakes were too steep to allow for error.
They’d split up after getting in. Pamela was to lead Zak, Ben, Geist, and Christopher to where Jade was supposed to be with Victor.
Raine and Papa were to raid the research rooms for anything that could help with the war effort and anything that could possibly destroy the blood bond. According to Christopher, Sephirn and Fulton had a fascination with experimentation with the blood bond and the darker elements of manipulation. They’d been the ones to scientifically discover a Void Born could pass through the barrier, and had capitalized on gathering as many Void Born as possible for the mission of taking it down.
If there was a way to destroy the bond, odds were good that they’d find clues, if not answers, here.
And then they’d meet at the horses, get back to the Phoenix, and decide on their next step. Easy.
Papa opened the door to one of the research rooms that Pamela had pointed out to Raine earlier. Pamela had also given the warning that she didn’t know who would be working right now, if anyone. They were walking in blind.
White walls and long benches covered in beakers, vials, papers, and books stretched through the room. Black soot stained the ceiling in a few patchy areas. Two gray-garbed researchers glanced up at them, saw Finn’s researcher coat, then resumed working. They ignored Raine completely.
There was no relief from Raine’s anxiety. Not yet. Not until they were out of here. Was it this normal for soldiers––no, wait, commandos was what Christopher had said––to be in the research room? Was this again the lazy compliance and trust in the blood bond to protect them from outsiders?
A new thought struck. Would they question Papa, a supposed researcher they’ve never seen, if he was to start looking through their records?
Papa hesitated for less than a heartbeat before calmly walking past the closest researcher, acting for all the world like he belonged there. Raine trailed after him, hoping desperately that it wasn’t odd for a researcher to have a guard, that she wouldn’t stand out horribly.
She tried to imitate how Geist had looked before they’d parted ways, his expression all of disinterested boredom. Ben had brushed the back of her hand with his, whispering, “We belong here. Don’t let them see that you don’t.”
So she raised her chin and dragged her former casual confidence out of the little ball of fear in her chest and mentally draped that assurance over herself as an unseen second skin.
Being caught, being bonded, she’d already survived that. She was a survivor.
And while this was distinctly Papa’s realm of prowess, she knew enough to be of vague help. And if the researchers in this facility were going to ignore her, lulled into passivity because of her uniform, then she wasn’t going to give them a hint of anything to be suspicious about.
Whales, it would’ve been nice to have Ben with her and Papa. But this was a side quest on their mission to save Jade.
A cold box the size of the bunks on the Phoenix took up one section of wall, and to the right, multiple shelves lined with books caught Raine’s eye. Her pulse quickened. They could be meaningless, or they could have something of importance. But Papa already angled toward them, his pace still relaxed.
He started to pass an open door, then stopped dead-still, staring inside the other room. She came up behind him as he moved into the doorway, utterly riveted, as if in a trance.
The hairs on Raine’s arms stood on end as she trailed after him, casting a quick glance back at the two researchers who still ignored them. She looked around the room Papa had found: sparse, bright lanterns, the air humming with a slight energy that she could feel in her bones, and a white marble dais that looked almost familiar. She bit the inside of her lip. What was this place?
Papa rushed forward to the dais, his shoulders rising and falling as if he was out of breath, and he reached out, his hand hovering just a hairsbreadth above the stone. He looked back at her. “Do you recognize it?”
She shook her head. “I feel like I should know it, but—”
“This is the same stone as the keystones, Raine.” Papa’s voice trembled, and he sank to his knees. “This must have something to do with the blood bond.”
She glanced back at the door, then knelt beside him, studying the white stone, the tiny black flecks in it. “How do you figure that?”
“Because the keystones were powered through a combination of magicks that involved the Void, time, and death.” He cautiously touched a finger to the dais. “This type of stone has the ability to harness elements of the Void.” He gave her a significant look, letting her take the pieces of the puzzle and fit them together.
“Void Born,” Raine breathed. She honestly didn’t fully grasp it all, but she caught his excitement nonetheless. “How can we confirm it?”
“I need to look through what materials, notes, books, anything they have.” He stood, still staring at the dais. “We’ll both look in there. Anything related to Void Born, to this, or the blood bond, we need it.” He gave her a small smirk. “And if questioned, we’ll say we need it for Victor.”
Raine returned the smug grin. “After you.”
He turned and surveyed the rest of the dais chamber, his gaze settling on a small box with an unlocked padlock on it.
His brow quirked. “What do you think they have here?”
Raine shot a quick glance at the open doorway, then moved to Papa’s side as he opened the lid. Four polished, reddish-orange stones gleamed on a black bed of silk.
Papa sucked in a sharp breath. “Activation stones.” He snatched two out, dropped them into his satchel, and then grabbed the other two. “They don’t need these. Nor do we, but I’d rather us have these than the Elph.”
Raine returned his wry expression. “What else are we going to encounter in this place of horrors, I wonder.”
“Let’s find out.” Papa hustled back into the research room, Raine trailing behind him.
She hesitated, uncertain where to begin, and especially with two witnesses in the room. Even if they seemed to be oblivious to them, the two had to be aware, had to be silently making note of everything she and Papa did.
The clothes that she and Christopher stole marked her as a soldier of this place. That should be enough. It’d been enough, thus far.
A low desk on the other side of the room had some papers strewn about it. She casually walked over and leaned on the furniture while secretly skimming over the sloppy writing.
Strengthen the bond? Need more Void Born.
A few sentences were crossed out, then––
Void Born blood negates some magickal effects. But Void Born blood is also used to create blood stones, activation stones, and the bond. What more can we use it for?
More notes were scrawled on the page, including several on the other side. Revulsion slithered through her stomach, winding like an eel out of water. Though, perhaps Papa would be interested in this information. She shifted slightly, so he would come into view.
Papa had already pulled three books to an unused workstation directly behind the desk of the male researcher, and now Papa held a file folder in one hand, sifting through it with the other.
He pointed at another folder without looking up at Raine. “Look in there.”
“Yes, sir.” Raine tapped her finger against the notes twice, and Papa’s gaze flicked to the papers she stood by. He nodded imperceptibly, and she reached over to pick up the portfolio he’d pointed out to her. She began thumbing through it.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” A nasally male voice asked, shredding through Raine’s paper-thin concentration. She jumped slightly and had to resist the urge to snap the folder shut and hide it, like a guilty child. One of the researchers had turned in his chair, eyebrow arched at her. He ran his hand through sandy-colored hair as he watched Raine, annoyance radiating off him.
I’m dressed as a soldier. I’m allowed to be here.
Papa answered, strength and certainty flowing out through his straight spine and calm tone. “Yes. I’m looking for the information needed regarding the dais.” He gestured to the other room, punctuating his words.
The second researcher stopped writing and turned slowly to look at them. Angular cheekbones, a thin nose, and sharp eyes took in the two of them.
The woman stood, her chair sliding back noiselessly. “And what division are you from?”
Raine’s free hand dropped to rest on the hilt of her sword, her pulse picking up as she waited for Papa to answer. This didn’t bode well.
Finn’s smile held a veiled threat. “That’s on a need-to-know basis.”
The man’s eyes narrowed, looking at Finn, then Raine. “I need to know.”
“No, you really don’t,” Papa replied mildly, returning his attention back to the book at hand.
Raine tried to hide the shiver of frustration that racked her body. What was Papa doing? Hadn’t he just said to use Victor’s name to stop questions?
The man pursed his lips, his gaze sliding from Papa, to her, to the door, then back to Papa. Raine shifted, and the researcher’s gaze fell to her hand, still resting on her hilt. His eyes widened, and he started side-stepping slowly, his focus fully on her.
Papa struck with the coiled energy of a sandslider. Completely still one moment, then hitting his prey the next. Papa’s thumbs pressed into the researcher’s neck, pushing against the pressure points that would make the man sleep. The man’s gray coat crumpled in a pile of loose limbs.
The woman bolted from her desk, and Raine burst forward, using the hilt of her sword to slam into the woman’s abdomen. Air whumped out of her, and Raine drew back to crack her hilt against the lady’s skull. Brown eyes rolled back into her head before she too fell to the floor.
Raine’s hands tingled as she stared down at the two fallen researchers. She didn’t know if they were Elph, or bonded. And she wouldn’t kill them. Not when there was a chance they were working under orders and against their wishes.
“Raine.”
Papa’s voice broke her harried thoughts, and she bolted back to the desk, snatching up the papers she’d wanted Papa to look at. She quickly folded them and tucked them into the inner pocket of her overcoat.
