Darker (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 6) Read online

  “The chance of getting in there undetected is slim to none,” I warned, but I could see the determination in her eyes. She was set on this.

  “Then let’s not go in undetected. They want you to become an informant so use that to get us in. Tell them you’re willing to negotiate.”

  “That would be a lot more believable if I hadn’t attacked one of their agents.”

  “Your sister is there. That gives you some leeway.”

  Jez wasn’t having a hard time convincing me. Perhaps I didn’t need much encouragement. I wanted to believe Kale was alive. Going into FPA headquarters was dangerous. No matter what I told Briggs to get in the place, he still wasn’t going to let me search the building.

  “Fine,” I relented. “I’ll try to get us in there, but let’s not do anything rash. I don’t want to give the FPA any more reasons to keep me on their watch list.” After my last experience inside the haunted old hospital that the FPA used as their local headquarters, I was reluctant to go back.

  I reached for the bag containing my laptop, itching to get cozy with Veryl’s secrets. Butterflies beat a steady nervous rhythm against my ribcage as the computer went through the start-up process. I looked longingly at the bar. Having a whiskey in hand would be nice. Staying alert meant staying alive, so I dismissed the thought immediately.

  “The moment of truth, huh?” Jez fidgeted in her seat. “Think there’s anything on there about me?”

  “We’ll find out in a matter of minutes.”

  I stared at the list of files, unsure where to start. So, I started at the top. Most of the folder names were random letters and numbers. Others had a name mixed into the mess. Kale’s, Jez’s and mine all jumped out at me right away. My palms grew moist as the first one opened.

  It was a brief bio on Falon, of all people. I was intrigued. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as juicy as I’d have liked. Falon took his leap of disgrace long after Lucifer’s exile. There was much speculation as to what drove Falon to it. Some believed it was a human woman. Other studies concluded that he’d strayed on the promise of power and glory. Regardless, his reputation had always been shady. Nobody but Falon knew why he fell. Whatever it was, it had made him a nasty thing alright.

  “Can’t say I’m surprised Falon is documented as an asshole,” I commented after both Jez and I had read it.

  “He makes my skin crawl.” She visibly shuddered and made a sour face. “There’s something really not right about him.”

  “There’s something wrong with anyone that willingly chooses to embrace darkness after once being light.” The words left a bitter taste in my mouth; they hit a little too close to home.

  “Open mine next,” Jez said in a hushed tone. “Wait, one sec.” She slipped out of her seat and went to the bar where she proceeded to pour white rum into a glass of ice. I’d never seen her go for a drink that wasn’t sparkly or fruity. She returned to the couch, took a long sip of rum and nodded. “Ok, open it.”

  With a small laugh, I clicked on the file. Like Falon’s, it was a rundown on Jez. For the most part, there was nothing in there I didn’t already know. Then, I reached the paragraph regarding her parentage. My eyes widened, and I quickly looked to her for a reaction.

  Another silent nod and then she drained the entire glass of its contents. “Looks like my mother’s dirty little secret isn’t really a secret at all.”

  “So it’s true?”

  “Yep. My father is a demon.” Her emerald green eyes downcast, Jez gazed longingly into the empty glass. “My mother was terrified I’d turn out just like him. She did her best to beat the demon out of me. I’m still not sure it worked.”

  I was stunned. Falon had referred to Jez being of mixed blood, but I never would have guessed what he meant. I’d known Jez had experienced abuse in her past, but the raw truth of it was horrifying.

  “Jez, I’m sorry. I can’t imagine.”

  “No, it’s cool. I’ve had years to get over it. I didn’t even know him. Sometimes though, I wonder how much of him is in me.” She met my eyes then and forced a smile. Raising her glass she added, “I hope that’s all Veryl had on me. I’m not sure there’s enough rum here for me to face anymore of my past. How about you? What does yours say?”

  I laughed nervously. “I’m afraid to look. I’m tempted to leave it for last.”

  “Just get it over with. It’s going to drive you nuts until you do.”

  That was an understatement. It had been driving me nuts since I swiped the files from Veryl’s computer the night I’d killed him. Putting this off might be for the best since I had yet to process the events of the past two nights. Of course, it might be best just to get it over with no matter how harsh.

  Screw it. I clicked on my file before I could change my mind. I held my breath as I read through it. Jez leaned in close, reading along with me.

  At first, nothing immediately stood out as unusual or unexpected. Once I got past the basics, that started to change. Apparently, Veryl had reason to believe my parents were not the people I thought they were. Instead of good ol’ hard working, taxpaying Mom and Dad, Veryl had them listed as FPA agents.

  I sucked in my breath, holding it until I was sure my lungs would burst. I scanned the rest of the document with growing trepidation. The FPA had recruited my parents shortly after my birth. The government organization was after me from the start, somehow knowing I’d been born with a link to dark power. My father was against allowing them access to me while my mother saw no problem with it. This was when their marriage began to break down.

  Soon after Katie O’Brien became the lover of werewolf, Raoul Roberts. This turn of events allowed us the opportunity to prevent the FPA’s claiming of the first-born O’Brien girl. By manipulating Roberts’s emotions, the FPA were successful in eliminating the O’Briens. The girls were injured and turned in the process. Alexa fled, certain her family was dead. The FPA took the youngest girl into custody from the hospital. We approached Roberts and succeeded in convincing him to take Alexa into his home, protecting her until she was ready to join us.

  There was more, details that jumbled together. I blinked a few times, but the words on the screen remained. My mind was a mess as several thoughts struck me. My parents were FPA. Raoul had been a pawn in Shya and Veryl’s plan to keep me from the secret organization. My mother had been willing to hand me over to be groomed into a good little government weapon. Dumbstruck didn’t even begin to cover it.

  “Wow,” Jez said softly. “Our mothers could go head-to-head for the worst parent ever award. I’m sorry, Alexa. Judging by the look on your face, you didn’t already know this.”

  “No, I didn’t. I’m not sure if I should be grateful to Veryl for keeping me from the FPA or pissed because I don’t know why he did it.”

  “I’m willing to bet the answer is in here somewhere.” Jez gestured to the computer.

  I closed the file, going so far as to close the laptop. “It has something to do with whatever Shya’s up to. He’s been collecting people like me for years. People like you.”

  We shared a look. There was nobody else quite like us. Even Gabriel and the dreamwalker Shya sought, we all had something to offer that almost nobody else had. What the hell did he want with us? It had to be bigger than merely helping him control the supernatural community. And, if Shya was targeting those with specific abilities, what did Kale have to offer that set him apart from any other vampire?

  “My brain hurts.” I rubbed my temples, unable to read through the rest of the files just yet. “I’ll finish going through these at home with a stiff drink in hand.”

  “Did someone say stiff drink?” A husky male voice rang out behind me. “Don’t mind if I do.”

  Willow appeared behind me with a ripple of air and the sound of feathers being tucked away from sight. He dropped into a nearby chair and promptly offered a hand to Jez in greeting. She eyed him suspiciously while I made the obligatory introductions.

  Another fallen angel, Willow was nothing l
ike Falon. Willow had fallen because of his forbidden love for a human woman, a prostitute. His love story didn’t have a happy ending.

  “Help yourself,” I told him, pointing to the unmanned bar.

  He paused, a pensive expression on his face. “What happened? Where are all the spooky kids tonight?”

  I chuckled at his choice of words despite my dark mood. “We’re closed tonight. No spooky kids allowed. Other than the ones with fangs fucking and feeding in the back rooms.”

  I caught him up on Lilah’s unwelcome gift as well as Shya’s insistence that I was better off partnering with him. Willow listened closely while relieving the bar of some of its tequila supply.

  “Never take anything a demon says as truth. Even if it is the truth, they only use it to manipulate.” Willow chewed on a slice of lemon. “Lilah has a weakness. Forget about Shya and find it.”

  “It might be in those files,” Jez said with a shrug. “If I were you, I’d read them sooner than later.”

  Willow raised an inquisitive brow, his gold-flecked green eyes filled with interest. “You got into the files?”

  “Yes, she did.” The leopard cut me off before I could speak. “We found some dirt on the FPA that makes me even more confident they have Kale. We need to go in there and find him.” She turned to me with stone cold seriousness. “Tonight.”

  “No way. You don’t want to go in there, Jez. Trust me.”

  “Why not?” Willow’s curiosity was piqued. “I’m up for making a little trouble for the FPA.”

  “Really?” I was skeptical. Could the three of us achieve anything by sniffing around the old haunted hospital?

  “Come on, Alexa,” chided Jez. “I know you’re thinking the same thing. It must be driving you nuts. I’ll bet you haven’t slept since you heard Kale was dead. You probably paced the day away, bottling up your feelings. Like usual.”

  “I don’t bottle,” I insisted with a glower.

  “Like hell you don’t. You bottle until the pressure blows the lid and bathes everyone around you in a fiery explosion. If we go in there, we’ll know for sure. Then, you can mourn him. Or, save him. He would do it for you.”

  Ouch. That stung. Jez was hitting below the belt now.

  “Fine,” I relented, albeit grudgingly. “But, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  I was letting Jez and Willow call the shots, something that didn’t come naturally to me as a control freak. The fallen angel was eager for some mischief. I hadn’t known him long, but he’d proven to be a loud-mouthed, booze-swilling, self-deprecating yet fun-loving soul. He’d also saved me from a beating that would have left me a bloody pulp. He’d earned my trust. If he wanted to accompany me into the FPA’s house of hell, I’d be grateful for it.

  Twenty minutes later, we sat parked in Jez’s beat up Jeep Liberty a block away from the Charles Camsell Hospital. It loomed in the distance, a dark mass against the night sky. I suppressed a shudder.

  “I can feel them watching already.” Jez’s voice was hushed, as if she feared the disembodied spirits within the hospital could hear us.

  “Just wait until you get inside.” I laughed, bitterness creeping in. “If we can get in without being swarmed by agents that is.”

  Willow’s gaze stayed on the haunted building. “That’s where I come in. I shouldn’t have a problem freezing their security system. They won’t even know we’re in there.”

  “Until we run into someone,” I added. If Briggs caught me in there, I’d never hear the end of it. “Of course, the scariest thing in that place is far from human.”

  “It feels heavy. Evil. Something that isn’t new to any of us. No worries.” With a mischievous grin, Willow swung his door open and hopped out.

  With an inward groan, I followed suit. This was easily one of the most terrifying places in the city. As we walked down the street, drawing closer, I felt the ghosts of so many who had died horrific deaths, watching us with eagerness. The hospital had many floors, each of them occupied by the dead. From soldiers to children to the insane, the hospital was home to many unable to find rest.

  “Where do we start?” Jez asked. “Where did they have Kale last time you saw him?”

  An image sprang to mind, one that brought with it a rush of fury. The last I’d seen of Kale, he had been a tortured, naked mess, held captive by humans who had no idea how large the forces they tried to command were. I should never have left him.

  Briggs had struck a deal with me. He would free Kale, and I would give the FPA access to Veryl’s files. Instead, Briggs called to tell me Kale escaped and the deal was off. Lies. Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise; those files should never be in human hands.

  “He was in a torture room that could be viewed through one-way glass. It’s on the top floor. Heavy agent presence. But, that’s not where I want to go.” A trickle of fear slithered through me. “I have this feeling we need to go down. Into the basement.”

  The basement held the morgue, which was creepy enough in its own right. However, the basement also held something sinister, something that had driven Arys crazy. Having to be saved from my vampire’s attack by Falon wasn’t a fond memory.

  We reached the perimeter where a twenty-foot fence topped with razor wire stopped us. That was new. Large signs warning of prosecution for trespassers decorated the fence in various places. Ignoring them, Jez had little trouble peeling back the fence near the bottom. We slipped through with ease.

  I would have expected higher security from a government agency. Except their goal was to appear as if they weren’t housed within the abandoned hospital, so the real security didn’t begin until one was already inside.

  I led the way to the far end of the structure, opposite the entrance used by agents. That left us with little more than a broken window to enter through. I wanted to come in close to the stairwell since the FPA had no surveillance on the stairs.

  “I’m not sure what’s in the basement, but it unhinged Arys,” I paused, looking from Willow to Jez. “I think the FPA has something really shady going on down there. Be ready for anything.”

  Willow didn’t seem concerned. If anything, he was excited. Being immortal clearly had its advantages.

  The second I dropped through the busted out window into the hall, I was frozen with fear. My heart pounded so loud in my ears I could barely hear Jez’s soft whisper.

  “What the fuck is that?”

  I followed her gaze to the shadow creeping along the wall behind me. In the nearly non-existent lighting I watched it morph as it moved, taking on different shapes. It grew and stretched, becoming a heavily muscled cat. It continued to writhe and ripple, changing into a wolf with bared fangs. Wings sprouted from the wolf’s back moments before it shifted into the form of a man.

  “It’s mocking us,” I said in both awe and apprehension.

  “It’s a shadow weaver,” Willow announced, utterly fearless next to us two fidgety mortals. “A demonic force that preys on restless spirits. Harmless to the living, for the most part.”

  I edged toward the stairwell. Debris littered the floor. From broken boards with nails jutting through to drug paraphernalia and broken glass, the place was a hazard. It hadn’t changed in the month since I’d last been inside.

  Several ghosts drifted over to check us out. I couldn’t see them, but I could feel them darting out to grab my clothing or tug my hair. It wasn’t as startling this time around.

  “I knew it would be like a horror movie in here,” Jez stated, her voice loud in the silence.

  “On the bright side, you don’t have to see the psych ward upstairs.” I picked my way through the graffiti-riddled hall, stepping carefully to avoid rubble.

  I kept expecting an alarm to sound as agents surrounded us. So, when we reached the basement door and nobody had stopped us, I started to get an ill feeling.

  Willow came to an abrupt halt. “There aren’t many places that hold this kind of darkness. It could be dangerous for you.”

  “Oh God
, Lex, please tell me you’re not going to vamp out on us.” Her tone was light, but Jez wasn’t kidding. “Make that me. Tell me you’re not going to vamp out on me. I’m sure the angel will survive it.”

  I was conflicted. Last time, the basement had done a hell of a number on Arys. If Falon hadn’t shown up when he did, Arys might have killed Shaz or me. The place might do something similar to me.

  “I feel fine, Jez. I’ll let you know if that changes.”

  She nodded, but I noticed she was careful not to have me at her back. I couldn’t say I blamed her. She’d survived one of Kale’s attacks, so she had every right to be wary.

  The basement door was secured with a heavy-duty deadbolt and a security-card clearance slot. Before I could wonder aloud how to get by it, Willow vanished; within seconds, he opened the door from the other side. I waited for some evidence of a security breach to ring out, but again, silence. It was too strange, as if something wasn’t right.

  “Hot damn you are a handy thing to have around,” Jez commented with a smile. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

  The light in Willow’s eyes faltered for just a moment. “There are many things I cannot do.”

  The stairs were cold, hard concrete. Dimly lit by a dusty, low-watt bulb, it was impossible to see the bottom due to the slight spiral in the staircase. Stone walls lined each side, giving it a small, claustrophobic sensation.

  Willow took the lead, which was fine with me. Feeling a curious blend of fear and anticipation, I descended slowly behind him. I shielded tightly, afraid to allow any of the energy down there too close. In my mind, I kept seeing what it had done to Arys.

  He’d be livid if he knew I was here without him, but I’d never allow him inside the old hospital again. Never. I had thought for sure he would kill me that night. Stripped of all self-control, he had been reduced to the essence of the vampire without the man, a killing machine.

  In all honesty, I had been hoping to avoid Arys. I wasn’t in the mood to continue our conversation about Shya from last night. It was far from over. Of that, I was certain.