Sleep invaded me at some point, bringing with it haunting dreams that were all different, yet the same.
Haylie hurt, screaming in agony. Haylie dead, lying in a pool of blood. Haylie comatose as some faceless motherfuckers raped her in front of my eyes. Haylie with a vicious grin on her face, siding with Dorian and breaking my heart. Haylie crying and accusing me that everything was my fault.
In all of them, I watched from afar, my screams soundless, and my feet anchored to the ground, keeping me from running to her.
Each time I woke with a garbled cry, my eyes flashing to the spot next to me where Haylie had slept—afraid she might lie there bruised and bloody, and devastated when realizing the spot was still empty.
The lack of female skin under my touch made me edgy. My body craved the Connection, craved any kind of physical proximity. I wasn’t used to going without sex more than seventy-two hours, and it was only now I realized that my last time was months ago with a nameless whore. I’d been so engrossed with Haylie that touching another woman hadn’t even crossed my mind.
How could I? After I’d had a taste of the most beautiful, hottest, and strongest woman I’d ever met? She was the only one I cared about. The only one who could give me salvation. The only woman I’d ever come to love with all my heart and soul. And damn, I’d make sure never to let her go when I finally had her in my arms again.
A look at my watch told me it was too early to get up, but there was no way I could go back to sleep. A lot of preparation awaited me for our Rescue Haylie mission.
The compound was eerily quiet, which wasn’t unusual at this hour, but now that most of the students had left, the place had a strange, lonely feel. When I arrived at the control room, Chris already stood brooding over a map while Lauren sat in front of the monitors, looking half asleep.
Chris lifted his head at my entry. “I see you got as much sleep as we did.”
I scoffed, taking an energy drink from the refrigerator. “Are the new guards in position?” I asked, glancing over Lauren’s shoulder at the monitor.
“Yeah,” Lauren replied tiredly. “Everything’s taken care of.”
“Good. You look like you’ll pass out any minute. Go get some rest. I’ll take over,” I offered, but Lauren shook her head.
“Can’t. Not until she’s back…” she muttered in despair.
I clapped her on the shoulder knowing exactly how she felt. Striding over to Chris, I had a look at the map in front of him. It was a print-out of a vast area in Philadelphia. A red circle was drawn in the middle marking our spot of interest.
“This could get difficult,” Chris muttered.
“What do you mean?”
“The address you got from the doctor wasn’t an exact address with a street name. There’s nothing there.” Chris pointed to the red circle centered around a few miles of vast space, far away from civilization. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from Dorian. He didn’t want to be found. “No building, no company, no property, nada. And the terrain is a total nightmare. I don’t know which routes are doable for traveling by car.”
“It’s underground, I’m sure of it.”
“If this is the case, we could run in circles for hours before we’ll find it.”
Just as I was about to answer, the door swung open, and the last person I expected to see slid in. She took a tentative step forward, her eyes roaming over the room and seeing things only she could see.
“Lisa,” I uttered in surprise. I’d never seen her in the control room as long as I had been here. “Is everything okay?”
She smiled at hearing my alarming voice and took some graceful steps toward me. “Everything’s fine. I felt you were awake and thought I might join you here.”
“Can we help you with something?” Chris asked.
“On the contrary. I want to help you find Haylie.” I frowned, not knowing how she could be of any help. “Wherever Haylie is, the Hunters will make sure she’s not easy to find. I can sense her from afar.” Chris and I looked at each other considering our options.
“Lisa has a point. It would save us time. She might detect the exact location,” Chris mused, gesturing with a finger to the red circle on the map.
I bit my lip, contemplating Lisa’s offer. She was an exceptional Watcher, but she was useless at fighting. It would be stupid to drag her into this, defenseless as she was. When I found Haylie, I’d need to focus solely on her and couldn’t afford to worry about the others’ safety. “I don’t know… If something happens to you, Jimmy would—”
“Jimmy’s not here,” Lisa interrupted, her tone firm. “This is my decision. I may not be able to fight, but I can sense the enemy, their movements, their intentions. I’m not as defenseless as I may seem.”
“Let her come. We need all the help we can get,” Chris tried to convince me.
I huffed. “All right. Then it’s Lisa, Scott, Cole, Chris, and me.”
“What about me?” Lauren exclaimed, jumping out of her seat. “I want to come, too. I don’t have any super cool abilities, but I can certainly kick some ass.”
Before I could reject, Chris beat me to it. “No way. You have no idea what these guys are capable of. Besides, we don’t know how many will await us. We could very well be outnumbered.”
“But you just said you needed—”
“You need to stay, Lauren,” I interjected in a more authoritative tone. “You and Sarah have to look after the compound, and I need people here to coordinate the guards. Jimmy, Josh, and Jared will come home soon. Someone should be here when they arrive.”
“But Haylie…” Lauren muttered, lips quivering and eyes shining with fresh tears. Chris rushed over to her, wrapping his arms around her in comfort. I hung my head, not wanting to pay witness to their affectionate exchange. It made me crave for the woman who belonged in my arms.
Lisa put a hand on my shoulder, apparently sensing my distress. “Your vibes of love warm my heart, boy. It’s good to see you finally opening up to someone.”
Vibes of love? Jeez, that sounded corny. “I don’t know. It’s a weakness I can’t afford.”
“Wrong. It’s a strength. Haylie makes you stronger, and weaknesses make us human. Without them, we’re just shells of ourselves. Don’t you ever forget that.” Her gaze turned hard as her pale eyes bore into mine, willing me to understand.
“Are you sure you don’t want to take Sarah with us instead of Scott?” Chris asked after convincing Lauren that she was more help to us down here than out there. “Chances are high we’ll need a Regenerator.”
“Sarah’s not up to it. She’s completely drained from yesterday. I need her to be fit when we arrive back here with Haylie.” I hated leaving without a Regenerator, especially after our last mission turned out to be a complete disaster, but except for Sarah, there was no one else available.
I turned when the door swung open again. Cole breezed in, clapping his hands in his usual annoying good mood. “All right guys, time for playing ‘Find the Natural.’”
Scott trailed in behind him with a sour look on his face. He’d never been a morning person. His eyes were puffy and his dreadlocks ruffled. “Damn, man, drop it down a notch. I’m usually going to sleep at this ungodly hour, not waking up.”
Cole ignored him as he walked over to the coffee machine to pour himself a cup. “So, what’s the plan?”
Sticking our heads together, we went through every possible scenario, marking the fastest routes on the map and trying to narrow down the area where the institution could be hidden. Two hours later, we were fully armed and as prepared as we could be.
“What are we going to do if we encounter Cassie?” Cole asked, followed by a smack of his lips.
His question made me hesitate. Granted, I hadn’t thought about anything else other than grabbing Haylie, and maybe crushing Dorian’s skull until his brain squeezed out and dropped to the floor.
“What do you think?” Chris snapped, clearly aggravated. “That bitch deceived us from the beginning. I certainly won’t let her slip through my fingers should I get my hands on her.”
I dragged a hand over my face in frustration, secretly hoping Cassie wouldn’t be there when we raided the building. “Don’t let her distract you.”
Every time I thought about her snatching Haylie away under my nose and breaking my heart, lying to me for God knew how long, it fed a fury inside me I could barely control. Then again, killing or harming her in any way was not an option for me. No way.
“Come on, let’s do this.”