Darkness Splintered

As much as I hated that he’d taken away my right to die as I was destined, it seemed very wrong that he’d also suffer the loss of his own dreams. Becoming a Mijai had been a punishment for him, and it wasn’t something he’d wanted to spend eternity doing.



So when he’d put the mission first and dragged me back to life, had the cost been as great to him as it had been for me?



God, I hope not. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep, shuddery breath. It was time, I thought, I not only started acting like a rational adult, but thinking like one.



And that meant putting on my big girl knickers to not only confront the man I’d banished, but sit down to discuss where the hell we now went relationship-wise.



Or even if we had a relationship.



But I couldn’t do that here. It would have to wait until later, after I’d gotten home and contacted Hunter.



I tugged on the dress, finger-combed my hair, then went in search of Jak. I found him in the study.



“Did you find out where those coordinates were?” I asked.



His gaze skimmed my body as he swiveled around in his chair. “Always did like you in that dress. The lilac matches your eyes. And yeah, it’s smack bang in the middle of an old Department of Defense site in Maribyrnong. They sold it off thirty years ago for development.”



I frowned. “That’s nowhere near the other warehouse.”



“No, but it is on a ley line.”



My eyebrows rose. “Since when did you become an expert on ley-line location?”



“Since you dragged me into this goddamn quest. I thought it might benefit the story if I actually knew what I was writing about.” His expression was somewhat wry. “That’s presuming I’m actually allowed to write about it once it’s all over.”



“Uncle Rhoan said you could.”



“Yeah, but I’m betting they’ll vet it before it goes to print.”



Undoubtedly. “Being on a ley line could suggest it’s hiding another transport gate.”



The first one certainly had – we’d witnessed a Razan using it, right before hellhounds had attacked us. What it wasn’t was the gate they were using to get onto the gray fields. But that had to be somewhere near the first warehouse, because that was where the intersection was. I guess it wasn’t all that surprising we were having trouble finding it, though – it wasn’t like they’d want anyone accidentally stumbling onto it.



“Well,” Jak said, rising. “There’s only one way we’re going to find out what’s out there.”



“As long as it doesn’t take all day. I have to be back home by five.” It was just after two, so that gave me a couple of free hours before I had to contact Hunter. “And you might want to grab that knife Ilianna gave you, just in case.”



“It’s stashed in the car.” He hesitated. “I haven’t heard any whispers about weird things happening out that way. No reports of dogs with red eyes, like the first one.”



He touched my back, guiding me out of the house and into his car.



“That doesn’t mean they’re not there,” I said, once he’d climbed into the driver’s seat.



“I know. It would be nice, however, if just once we could enter a building without getting attacked.”



“Amen to that,” I muttered. Hell, it would be nice if just once we caught a decent break. Maybe even a decent clue or two.



Mirri’s life might just depend on it.



It took us just over half an hour to scoot across to Maribyrnong. The old defense site was easy enough to find, although much of it was now warehouses in various states of ill repair. Jak wound his way through the estate until we’d reached the coordinates, and parked up the road from a line of boxlike concrete buildings. There were no cars other than Jak’s in this immediate area, and all the warehouses seemed empty of movement or life.



“It’s the unmarked one in the middle.” Jak crossed his arms on the steering wheel and studied the building through the windshield. “It looks harmless.”



“So did the first one.”



“True that.”



I opened the door and climbed out of the car. The air swirled around me, rich with the scent of humanity. There was no one close, though. These warehouses were definitely as empty as they looked.



Jak came around the back of the car and halted beside me, the sheathed knife gripped firmly in his right hand. “The lady with the psychic skills may lead the way.”



I smiled and walked down to the warehouse. It was a two-story structure, with small, evenly spaced windows lining both levels. The bottom ones were protected by metal bars, but not the top. I couldn’t see anything unusual or out of place, yet tension crawled through me. Maybe it was just the expectation of trouble rather than the sense that anything lay in wait.



The double gates were padlocked but there didn’t seem to be any other security measures in place. No cameras or sensors, anyway. Amaya could have dealt with the padlock easily enough, but that would tell whoever owned the building someone had been here.



“Looks like we’re climbing over,” I said. “And no looking up the dress.”



His grin was decidedly cheeky. “Would I do something like that?”



“In a heartbeat.”



“I’m mortified you think me so uncouth.”



I rolled my eyes. “Will you just get over the fucking gate?”



He grinned and leapt up, grabbing the top of the gate and hauling himself over. I was right on his tail, landing beside him in a half crouch as I scanned the building again. Still no sense of anything untoward.



I rose and padded forward. There were pigeons strutting about on the roof, but little else moved.



The main entrance was on the side of the building, near the large loading bay. The door was locked, as were the bay doors.



“Now what?” Jak said.



I studied the side of the building, then said, “Maybe we should check the windows around the back.”



He frowned. “The windows are barred, and not even you’re skinny enough to squeeze through them.”



“The top ones aren’t. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find one open.”



He snorted. “Since when has luck been on our side?”



There was that. We checked anyway and, as it turned out, lady luck had obviously decided to throw us a small morsel. One of the rear top windows was open an inch or so.



Jak eyed it dubiously. “I’m gathering you’re going to use your magic trick to get up there?”



“Yeah.” I hauled off my dress and handed it to him. I’d already destroyed one set of clothes today – I wasn’t about to destroy another. “I’ll get you in if I can.”



His gaze skimmed me; then he sighed. “As lovely as ever. I really am an idiot, aren’t I?”



I grinned, but didn’t answer. I simply called to the Aedh, then whisked upward, slipping in through the small gap and cautiously looking around. The room appeared to be some sort of storeroom – metal shelving lined the walls, but there was little else here other than dust. I scooted under the small gap between the door and the concrete floor, then checked out the various rooms – all of which were empty – before making my way downstairs. Other than the offices that lined the road side of the building, it was a vast, empty space. Once I’d checked there were no hidden security cams, I shifted back to human form.



The madmen in my head went a little crazy with their knives, making my eyes water and my stomach twist alarmingly. But that was to be expected. Not only had I changed shape a fair bit so far today, but I’d yet to eat anything other than a few mouthfuls of bread. I waited until the ache eased and my stomach seemed less inclined to jump up my throat, then slowly rose. The chill air caressed my body, hardening my nipples and sending goose bumps skittering across my skin. But there was no sense of magic in its touch, nothing that suggested anything or anyone had been in here for some time.



“Jak? You there?”



“Right outside the loading bay door. You see anything?”



“No.” I spun around, my gaze sweeping the area. There was nothing here that prickled my psychic senses, either. “The place is empty.”



“The warehouse near Stane’s that we searched a few days ago looked empty,” he pointed out. “Until we fell through the damn floor and almost ended up a hellhound’s dinner.”



“Yeah, but we knew something had to be there because of the hellhound reports.”



“Lucian wouldn’t have hidden the coordinates of this place for no reason,” Jak said. “There has to be something – you just can’t see it.”



“Well, I certainly don’t want to find it by falling into it.”



But the truth was that might be the only way we would uncover what secrets this place might hold. I walked over and opened the window, but the bars were welded securely in place. As werewolves, we could have ripped them off easily enough, but again, that would only announce our presence to whoever owned this place. “How high can you jump?”



He raised an eyebrow. “Fairly high, especially with a run up.”



“Then go around the back. I’ll open that top window wider for you.”



He nodded, and disappeared. I ran back upstairs, and five seconds later he was scrambling in – sans my dress. I peered out the window. It was neatly folded next to the wall. “Why the hell did you leave it there?”



He grinned. “I may not be able to touch these days, but no wolf in his right mind is going to pass on the chance to look. Besides, we have to leave this place as we found it, and that means you closing the window and slipping back out in that other form of yours.”



“It’s bloody cold in this building, you know.”



He sighed dramatically, and proceeded to take off his cotton sweater. “You do spoil all my fun.”



“Sorry. But thanks.” I pulled it on. It was long enough to cover my butt, and was filled with the warm spicy scent of him. As I rolled up the sleeves, I added, “We do this the old-fashioned way – search every room carefully and see if we spring any traps.”