Chapter 18

MARISSA HAD TO be saved.

That was the only thought in Firbin’s mind.

“I can’t go on without finding her.” He turned to Niail. “She’s been captured, but she is still alive. There is a chance I may be able to save her.”

Niail nodded. “Understood. We have all vowed to protect our brother’s mates. There is no doubt that you have bonded with her.”

“Do you know where she is?” Thero asked.

“Our ability to communicate is not fully developed.” Firbin strained to reach Marissa through mind connect, but all he received was an overwhelming sense of fear. “I will try and see if I can sense more details of where she is.”

“That is normal in the early stages of the bonding.” Niail frowned. “We must return to the surface if we are to find her.”

They started to walk back to the access point.

Firbin’s stomach churned again.

He stopped and looked back to the area they had been heading. He took a few steps toward it and everything settled down. He realized that he was connecting to Marissa on a level that didn’t require a mind communication. The farther he went away from her, the worse his pain.

“We need to continue in the direction we were going.”

“Are you certain?” Thero’s voice held doubt.

Firbin nodded. “It feels as if I’m going farther away when we turned back.”

“Then we will continue.” Niail started to run. “Let us know if we need to change direction.”

Firbin followed the other two. They’d been moving fast before, but now they picked up their pace to a run. Time was important. He knew it in his heart. Marissa was frantic and that could only mean one thing. Something had gone wrong when she’d met up with her brother.

All he could do now was try and reach her as soon as possible. He opened his mind to her, sending out waves and waves of hope. If she could sense him at any level, then she should be able to let him know where she was being held. Then, he would have a chance of saving her.

Within fifteen minutes, they had reached an access point that led to an elevator. This is where they had originally planned to ascend and find the Albireons and the weapons they were experimenting with.

“Are we good to go up?” Niail put his hands on his hips and eased his breathing.

Firbin reached out again to Marissa.

There was no answer, but his neck tingled as if there was a brush of a connection.

“Yes.”

“Thero, see what you can do to hack into this elevator.”

It took Thero about ten minutes to rip open the control panel and rewire it.

“It is set for my command. The cameras and audio have been turned off also.” He put the panel cover back on and pushed the door open. “We have complete control, so no one should be able to escape.”

“We now have three missions.” Niail stepped into the elevator. “Kill the Albireons who are hiding here, find the Ancient’s Staff, and rescue Marissa.”

Firbin shifted the pack of explosives on his back. He knew his duty as a Hunter, but he would not risk any harm coming to Marissa. He could only hope that he wouldn’t have to make a decision between duty and Marissa. Without a doubt, Marissa would win.

The first floor the elevator reached was labeled level five. When it stopped, Firbin stood on the side with the controls and Niail and Thero were on the opposite side of the doors. It opened with a swish. Firbin eased his breathing and sent his energy outward. He was searching for Marissa, extending his mind in the hopes of picking up something from her.

Images floated back to him.

A locked room.

Military men surrounding her.

It was vivid and clear. That could only mean one thing.

“She is near.” He mind connected with the others before stepping off the elevator. His pistol with a silencer was in one hand and his assault rifle was strapped to his back and ready for battle.

Two men stood guard on either side of the elevator. Firbin shot the first in the head before he even realized there was anyone on the elevator. The second he hit with the butt of his rifle and then shot him dead. The soft thudding sound of the bullets went no further than the elevator.

Firbin moved forward, waiting for Niail and Thero to take their position on either side of him. This was a smaller structure than they had encountered at Nellis. There were only two hallways, both of them ending at the bank of elevators. They started down the first hall on their left. It was empty, and held about twenty doors.

“Kill any Albireons,” Niail ordered. “I will ensure they’re dead with Norcott’s small weapon.”

The first three doors led into empty rooms.

The fourth door was locked.

Firbin moved away and let Niail use Norcott’s disruptor to destroy the lock.

Thero kicked the door open.

There were five Albireons and two uniformed guards. Thero and Firbin had shot and killed the occupants before the first guard had his gun out of its holster. Niail followed and disintegrated the Albireons. There would be no chance of them regenerating.

The next five rooms were empty.

The tenth room had two Albireons that they killed just as efficiently as the previous ones. Room by room they went down the hall, killing everyone they encountered. In total, thirty Albireons were destroyed. The hall ended and their only recourse was to turn around and make their way back to the elevators.

Firbin held back his frustration.

They hadn’t found Marissa.

They had one more hall to explore. Again, it appeared empty like the previous one. One by one they cleared the rooms of any Albireons or guards, but they didn’t find Marissa. She wasn’t on this level. Firbin clenched his fingers around his pistol and followed the others back to the elevator. They would have to go through this process all over again.

There was one thing certain about this structure.

It housed Albireons.

“Norcott’s information was correct.” Niail mind connected with them. “Somewhere in this structure, they must be assembling the Ancient’s Staff.”

“I would have expected it at the lower level.” Firbin pushed the button for the elevator and the door opened immediately. “It should have been the most heavily defended.”

“That concerns me.” Niail pushed the button for level four. “Either they were expecting us, or they are lax.”

“This may be a trap.” Thero snapped in a new magazine for his pistol.

“We have to assume that.” Firbin reloaded his gun and then readied himself for the next round of fighting.

The next two levels were exactly the same as level five. Albireons were definitely occupying all floors of this structure. They were not hiding anything, but there was no evidence of a weapon’s manufacturing operation. Either Norcott had been lying, or they hadn’t found it yet.

On the second floor, everything changed.

This was a highly militarized and secure floor.

The elevator door pinged open and immediately a guard with an assault rifle pushed inside. Firbin shot him in the head before the man had a chance to signal anyone else. Three other guards were waiting behind the first guard. Niail and Thero dealt with them. Firbin exited the elevator and surveyed the area.

A tingle went up his spine.

A whisper of his name flitted through his mind.

Every nerve in his body was on alert. Marissa was here. He took a deep breath and eased around the edge of the corner of one of the two hallways. It was empty. He turned to Niail who had done the same on the other hallway.

“Three guards are waiting outside one room.”

“She is here.” Firbin had no doubt.

Niail raised his rifle. “I will shoot two, you reach the third so we can gain access to the room.”

Firbin was already speeding down the hallway before the first guard was shot. The second landed at his feet just as he raised his gun to the remaining guard’s forehead. He eased the trigger back and pushed the man away from the door. He kept him pinned against the wall until the others joined him.

Niail and Thero made a quick sweep of the other rooms in the hall.

“They are empty.” Niail said in a low voice. “This is a detention area.”

Firbin pushed his gun closer to his prisoner. “Who is inside this room?”

The man swallowed nervously. “Two prisoners and Colonel Marks and Lieutenant Thompson.”

“Open the door.” Niail moved to the side of the entryway.

“I can’t.” The guard’s voice was a squeak. “They have locked it from the inside.”

Firbin reached out with his mind searching for Marissa. Fear and determination reached him in a wave. Every nerve in his body tingled and he was certain she was behind that door. His chest constricted. All he wanted to do was blast his way through the door. It wouldn’t do. The noise from such an explosion would alert the whole base to their intrusion.

He needed to focus.

The guard was the only bargaining tool they had.

Firbin grabbed the man’s collar and twisted it close to his throat. “Make them open it.”