Oblivion

Kat nodded. “What about the whole you die, I die thing?”

“What about it?” I kept my eyes on the road. “There isn’t anything we can do about that other than not get ourselves killed.”

“There’s more to it than that,” she said. “We’re really joined together, you know. Like, forever…”

“I know,” I said quietly.

Neither of us really spoke after that, because what else could be said? We were joined together. Forever. And knowing that didn’t send me screaming off into the night.

We arrived at the abandoned industrial park near midnight. We did a drive-by to make sure there were no cars around. There were three buildings nestled together near a field covered in white. One was a squat, one-story brick building and one in the middle was several stories high, and that was the one I wanted in. I pulled behind one of the buildings, parking the SUV between two large sheds with the front facing the only entrance.

Killing the engine, I turned to her. “I need to get in that building.” I gestured at the tall one. “But you need to stay in the car while I do this. I need eyes on the road and I don’t know what’s waiting in there.”

“What if someone is in there? I want to go with you.”

Bringing her here was one thing, but I drew the line. “I can take care of myself. You need to stay in here, where it’s safe.”

“But—”

“No, Kat, stay here. Text me if anyone comes in.” I reached for the door. “Please.”

She stared at me a moment and then nodded curtly. I hesitated, wanting to kiss her before I got out of the SUV, but figured I better not push my luck. Quietly closing the door behind me, I darted around the side of the building, past the padlocked, windowless steel bay doors, keeping an eye out for security cameras, and found none. I reached another door, the entrance I’d seen Vaughn head in and out of. This door would be way easier to manipulate than the others. Placing my hands on the door near the lock, I willed the internal gears to turn. The click was like learning a whole new season of Paranormal Hunters was starting sooner than expected.

As I opened the door, I noticed something reddish-black, glossy and smooth, embedded in the center of the threshold. Having no idea what that was, I closed the door behind me. I quickly sca

I passed empty offices, following the scent of recently smoked cigarettes that hung thick in the air. I moved farther in, finding an office where metal folding chairs were spaced out. Full ashtrays sat on one of the metal tables, next to used coffee cups. There was nothing else. No paperwork or computers, not even a printer or a landline phone.

Weird.

Darting out of the office, I raced down a wide hall faintly lit by dull yellow light. A set of double doors was at the end, and when I pushed on them, they opened easily. I stepped into a large room and my heart nearly stopped in my chest.

“Holy shit,” I murmured, feeling my cell vibrate in my pocket.

Cages. There were cages in this room.

There were about ten of them. All of the cages were empty. For a moment, I was frozen as I stared at them. Anger and horror swirled inside me. They kept people in those cages. They could’ve kept Bethany or my brother in one of these cages. Energy stirred inside me, and I wanted to let it go, blowing this building off the face of Earth.

I finally moved to the cages and saw the chains. Chains. The same strange material I’d seen over the door encased the chains. In here, it looked like some reddish-black stone I’d never seen before. The cage in the middle looked recently used. A red rusty substance covered the cuffs. Blood. It took me a moment to realize it was blood, probably from someone pulling against the metal. The shackles were also covered with the same reddish-black material. In another cage, liquid had dried in the middle. It wasn’t blood—human at least. It looked sort of transparent. Luxen blood.

Stepping back, I lifted my gaze. At the end of the room there was a door marked Stairs. God only knew what I’d find on the second floor. Maybe cages that weren’t empty. Purpose filled me. I prowled toward the door, stopping short when I remembered my phone had vibrated.

I reached into my pocketed and pulled it out. It was a text from Kat. One word. Company. I spun around. “Shit.”

Not going upstairs pissed me off, but if the officers or Vaughn had shown up, Kat was at risk. Whatever was up there had to wait. I raced through the building, and when I neared the entrance, my heart rate jumped erratically. Kat. It was due to Kat. Something was wrong. Her heart was beating way too fast.

At the door, I heard an unfamiliar voice. “Christ. You’re right. She’s one of them.”

“Told you,” another responded. “What’s in this barrel will do far worse. So you better think carefully before you answer the next question. Who are you?”

I made a split decision. Holding the image of Vaughn in my mind, I mirrored his appearance. It wasn’t perfect. If anyone knew him well or got too close, they’d see that I didn’t look exactly like him. Stepping outside, my jaw locked down as I saw Kat on her knees, a man holding her arm with one hand and pointing a gun at her forehead with the other. Rage as potent as the Source exploded inside me. My hands curled into fists as I willed my voice to answer.

“What’s going on out here?” I demanded.

The one with the gun stepped aside, and he was still holding her arm. I did not like that, either. “We found her sneaking around back here. She’s one of them.”

I frowned as I moved closer, not liking the grimace of pain tightening Kat’s face or the panic crowding her gaze as she stared up at me. “Good job. I’ll take this one.”

“Are you sure?” asked the other officer, a shorter one.

Nodding, I reached down and grasped her arm, hauling her to her feet. “I’ve had my eye on this one for a while.”

“The cages should be prepped,” the one with the gun said, letting go of my other arm reluctantly. “It took a while for it to work on her. You might want to double it up.”

My jaw ached.

“Since we caught this one, shouldn’t we get a reward?” the shorter one asked.

“Reward?” I repeated, voice low.

The one with the gun laughed, and I felt Kat shudder. “Yeah, like with the other one. That was one hell of a reward. Husher won’t know any different as long as we don’t mess her up.”

Like the other one? As long as they didn’t mess her up?

I didn’t even stop to think.

The rage inside me turned deadly. These people…these horrible human beings did not deserve to live. I pushed Kat aside as I lifted my hand. Lightning crackled around my arm, flaring red-white as it surrounded my body.

“Dammit!” The one with the gun yelled, “It’s a trick!”

Too late.

The pulsing white light struck that bastard first, sending him several feet in the air. The light arched, smacking into the shorter officer. He flew into the side of the building with enough impact that it left a dent. Clothing smoked. Skin burned.

A moment passed, and the Source pulled back into me. Both men, sprawled a few feet from each other, shuddered once and then turned to ash.

“Oh my God,” Kat whispered.

A cold breeze whipped down the building, stirring the piles of ashes, picking the flecks up and spreading them along the snow-covered ground. Within seconds, nothing remained of them.

I returned to my human form and faced Kat. She was crouched on the ground, eyes wide. I reached down and took her hand, gently pulling her to her feet. “We need to get of here.”

Before we could head back home, I needed to destroy the evidence. I had driven the officers’ car to the woods and then fried it. Eventually, questions would be asked about them, but with no car and no…no bodies, it would be hard to link back to us.