Chapter Fifteen
Nyx woke in a panic. Something wasn’t right.
She felt around the bed, but the other side was already cold. She hopped out of bed and flipped on the light.
Nero’s pack was missing.
Still naked she raced into the living room. His boots should have been by the door. They weren’t.
He’d left.
In the midst of her sleepy state, he’d asked her if she’d thought about leaving. She dropped to her knees. It must have been his way of asking if she would leave with him.
She was so stupid. He was all but begging for a discussion. All she had to do was convince him to stay and instead nearly pushed him out the door. Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned everyone, but instead explained to him why them staying there was for the best.
This couldn’t happen. Not today. There were many things she could deal with, but this wasn’t one. The choice was obvious: she’d have to find him.
Nyx raced around the room, gathering her garments.
Once dressed she hurried to his closet. She’d need a coat, and his would just have to do.
Nyx pulled the coat from the closet and let it dwarf her. She inhaled deeply, loving the smell of him around her.
Not wanting to waste any more time, she raced out the door and into the dark.
His faint scent lingered in the area. She breathed in deeply and followed as well as she could manage.
* * *
There was a part of Nyx that wondered if their bonded scent was something she’d be able to pick out from anywhere. It almost seemed to call to her, pulling her to where her other half was.
Fast as she could, Nyx moved through the woods, ignoring the ache in her side. She wasn’t sure if it was adrenaline or love keeping her pain under control.
She didn’t care what else she might meet out there. Any animal would be stupid to cross her path tonight, and any human had better to be ready to have their ass handed to them.
Her heart thumped hard in her chest as his scent grew stronger. His rich woodsy scent was now so close she could taste it.
A firm hand wrapped around her body as the other clapped over his mouth. She struggled for half a second before her body caught up with her mind. Nero.
She turned in his arms and pressed her mouth hard against his. He kissed her back, and she let the tears slip down her face as he did. She pulled back to stare at him.
“Don’t leave,” she rushed to get out. “I need you. Don’t leave.”
Nero frowned, and she started to shake. She wasn’t enough. Her heart belonged to him, and still she wasn’t enough.
She watched in horror as he opened his mouth to tell her he was leaving. His words died before they even made it out. Lights cut through the darkness.
Nero pulled them both between two trees before they were spotted.
The same white van they had seen the other day pulled up to a small wooden shack. In her haste to tell him her feelings, she hadn’t even noticed they were not far from the place they had been when the van had disappeared.
“What are we—” Nyx said.
Nero held a hand up as two brown-robed men opened the back of the van. Ten women stepped out in long, white robes. They made their way to the shack and disappeared inside. The men followed after. A faint rumble and squeak reached her ears after a few more seconds.
She turned to Nero. “What the hell is going on?”
He sighed loudly. “You’re supposed to be sleeping.”
Nyx frowned. “Yeah, well, I’m not.”
He stared down at her. “I can see that,” he said and placed his pack on the ground. He pulled out a gun and handed it to her. “It’s the only spare I have.”
She slid the gun into the pocket of the over-sized coat she wore.
“I thought you left,” she said quietly.
Nero stared at her for a moment and leaned down to place a tender kiss on her lips.
“No,” he said. “I just had to make sure we’re safe.”
Nyx nodded to the shed. “Is this what you saw the other day?”
She could see the hesitation in his eyes before he nodded. She frowned.
“And you didn’t tell anyone?”
Nero grimaced. “I couldn’t,” he said. “That idiot Marcus would just go charging in and get himself and other people killed. The Azilians are going to be on high alert for a while because of our little recent visit.”
Nyx stared at the gun on his belt. “Isn’t that what we’re about to do?”
He shook his head. “We’re just here to see what’s going on. A little look and we’re done. That fool would want to knock some heads around.”
She nibbled her lip. Nero’s logic sounded valid, but if something went wrong, they’d be in a lot of trouble. Her still aching side suggested taking on another large group of Azilian guards wasn’t a great idea.
“We should call it in,” she said.
“By the time they got here, it would be all over. We need to know what’s going on, and this is our best chance.” He furrowed his brow and sighed. “I’m not going to leave, and because I’m not going to leave, I need to make sure we’re not going to be surprised by something dangerous.” He inclined his head toward the shack. “Isn’t that what trust and loyalty are about?” He stared at her for a moment. She could feel the weight of the meaning.
Nyx sighed and nodded. “I trust you,” she said. “Tell me what we need to do.”
Her words knocked around inside his head. Knowing that he had her trust was everything. Still he’d hoped to do this without her. Putting Nyx at risk was the last thing he wanted, and going solo was a normal experience for him. Maybe he didn’t really have the ability to work with anyone.
Nero glanced over at her as they made their way to the shack. He would make this work. There was no way in hell he was going to let anyone hurt her again. They reached the outskirts of the shack and peered inside. He narrowed his eyes.
“Where are they?” Nyx whispered.
It was as he’d suspected. He turned to her.
“Below us,” he said.
Nyx frowned. “Like they have some creepy basement they are taking those women?” She glanced around. “I don’t see any stairs.”
Nero shook his head. This was far too organized for that.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “Like this is a front for some sort of facility.”
He could see the fear in her eyes once the words left his mouth. The word facility to them meant so many things, but it was far too associated with their greatest enemy: the Horatius Group.
“Is it them?” she said, her expression darkening.
He’d thought this over for some time. He’d never heard of a facility in this area, but there were tons of places the Group just didn’t talk about, especially to a grunt like him. Still, this didn’t have the same feeling.
He breathed in deeply, a mix of familiar and unfamiliar scents.
“Do you smell that?” he said.
She shook her head. “What?”
He didn’t let his surprise show. “The scent… those women must be Vestals.”
She smirked. “Well, women don’t do anything for me, so I guess I can’t recognize the scent.”
He nodded and thought the situation over. The women didn’t seem to be in any discomfort from what he had seen. They obviously weren’t being coerced. But they might have been drugged. He shook his head.
“I don’t think this is the Group. It just feels different. I’ve never seen a Vestal look so happy when working with the Group. Plus, if those women are Vestals, that would be a lot for the Group to have in one place. More than I’ve ever heard of in one place.” He scrubbed a face over his hand. “We need to get inside if we’re going to have any idea what is really going on.”
She nodded.
They slowly made their way to the front. Part of him kept waiting for the trap to spring. Surely, they wouldn’t make it so easy to find a place like this. Still, it didn’t even seem like they had any cameras up. Maybe they never expected someone would actually want in the shack. Or maybe their stone was even more powerful than the hybrids realized. Considering what the Azilians had already done with it, the thought chilled Nero.
They crept inside. It was a simple shack just like it looked from the outside. One room. Tools hung on wall like any other shed. There was nothing out of ordinary and nothing indicating that there was some sort of secret door.
“Look around,” he whispered. “It has to be here somewhere.”
He searched the floor, sliding his hand along the seams of the wood and hoping there would be some sort of notch somewhere.
He looked up after a moment and frowned. Nyx was staring at the wall of tools.
“What?” he asked.
She stared at it for a moment longer before looking down to him. “This wall isn’t right.”
He looked the wall over. It seemed normal enough to him with holes with pegs where the tools hung. A few poked through the holes.
He watched as she stepped forward and stared at the wall from the side.
She looked back to him and grinned.
Nyx walked over and turned three screws in the wall. Gears squeaked as the panel slid open to reveal a stairwell. Bright lights illuminated it as it dipped deep into the ground and turned right.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said.