Chapter Fifteen Pax

Chapter Fifteen

Pax

Night hedged me in where I was hidden at the edge of the woods that grew up on the far side of the facility, concealed in the darkened shadows that hovered over me like phantoms.

I watched out the windshield of the car through the pattering rain that fell onto the pitted pavement. It gathered in soiled, polluted puddles, the droplets glinting as they hit in the diffuse light that shone from the industrial fixture above the single door that led into the side of the building.

The sign it illuminated read Admissions .

I’d been here for hours, watching the few people who came and went.

Cataloging.

Categorizing.

Plotting.

Well, I’d been plotting for two days. Ever since the night when Aria had confessed the power she held and Timothy had heard the thoughts the Ghorl had been feeding into the monster’s mind.

I didn’t care how many warnings Ellis had given me—there was no way I was going to sit idle and let something happen to her.

She was in danger.

I knew it.

Knew it all the way to my twisted, fucked-up soul.

My soul that recognized her across the miles and space. The connection was the only thing that had kept me from going completely mad over the years. What had kept me from becoming exactly the kind of freak my father had thought me to be.

Two mornings ago, after I’d found the Kruen and thrown myself on it, knowing it’d burn me so that I’d be awakened, I’d tossed necessities into a bag and left my shithole apartment in Las Vegas. I’d driven straight through because there wasn’t a thing that could keep me away from her.

Yeah, I knew what city she lived in. I’d gleaned the information through the years and tucked it away. Maybe it was just the comfort in having an idea of where she lived. Knowing she wasn’t that far. That her home was real.

That she was real.

Or maybe I’d known somewhere in the back of my mind that one day I would have to use that information.

That it would come to this.

I think I’d probably known it since the first time she was hospitalized, the day after she’d turned sixteen. She’d come crying and trembling into Tearsith that night, terrified that she’d been locked away.

She’d always been too trusting of her family, but I got that it was just her heart. She loved fully and without restraint, when in reality, she should have been skeptical of any asshole who came into her space.

Maybe I was just jaded. But I’d learned the hard way that people couldn’t be trusted. Hell, I saw the proof of it in their thoughts every fucking night.

Rage held me as I sat in the car and waited for the right opportunity to make my move.

The double doors at the front of the facility had long since been locked for the night, and the only way in was the Admissions door a hundred yards in front of me.

I knew firsthand. I had slunk around the perimeter, masked by the gloom, checking windows and doors and looking for an access point, while my spirit screamed in awareness.

Howled with the knowledge that Aria was inside.

I could feel her in a way that Nols weren’t supposed to be able to.

As if we shared a greater connection than any Laven before us.

I could sense her like hot, fiery tendrils that twisted through the night and wrapped me in shackles.

I wasn’t exactly prone to following laws and common decency. Not when it came to the monsters who roamed this Earth and were every bit as sick and twisted as the demons we fought while asleep.

But this?

Anxiety rattled through my being.

This was an entirely different story. I was about to commit the type of crime I’d never embarked upon.

My soul thrashed in determination, leaving no question that she was worth it.

My eyes scanned the drenched lot. Freezing-cold air rose in vapors from the vents that were cut at the base of the brick walls, sending plumes of white curling into the dense, deep night.

I froze when the door opened for the first time in more than two hours. A young girl and someone who was likely her mother stepped out. The older woman popped open an umbrella and held it up to shield them as they darted to a car parked in one of the spots that ran alongside the building.

After a moment, they backed out and drove away, red taillights disappearing down the road.

The rest of the lot was dotted with random cars. I gauged that most belonged to employees, their number fewer at this time of night.

Which was why I had to strike now.

When the hour was long and the atmosphere was held in a silence that whispered of wickedness and ill-kept dreams.

A feigned solace that would not last.

Inhaling a fortifying breath, I cracked open the car door and climbed out. My leather jacket wasn’t enough to stop the frigid air from sinking into my bones.

Chills rolled down my spine in a frisson of disquiet, and I crept up to a large dumpster ten feet in front of the car, checking that my gun was loaded before I peered around the metal to the entrance.

I swallowed the knot in my throat before I strode that way as if I had a different purpose than the one that pounded in my chest.

My boots thundered across the pavement, splashing through the puddles, blood careening through my veins, haphazard and wild as I hauled open the Admissions door and stepped into the blinding light of the waiting room.

Awareness impaled me.

Sharp and distinct.

She was here.

Trying to regain my bearings, I blinked, scanning the small lobby. There were three chairs on each short wall to the left and right of me, and straight ahead was a large sliding-glass reception window with a counter below it.

Metal doors flanked it on both sides.

Determination skittered across my skin, and I lifted my chin and strode across the confined space. I planted my hands on the elevated counter and peered through the closed window. To the right was a row of what looked like intake rooms. A woman was in the first one with her back to me, pulling something from a file.

Feeling the weight of my presence, she called, “Give me one moment, and I’ll be right with you. You can go ahead and fill out the information on the iPad to your right—that will get you started.”

Teeth grating through my frenzied nerves, I turned to the iPad and began to fill out the information requested. I prayed this would earn me access to the back. Prayed it didn’t come to violence. Prayed I’d have her out of here without much incident before anyone realized she was gone.

I didn’t hold on to much hope of that, though.

Not with the way grimness shivered in the air.

Ominous.

Evil cloaking the atmosphere in greed.

I could taste it.

The wickedness that emanated through the cracks in the walls.

It made me itch. Made me want to say, Fuck the plan, and crash through this window to get to her.

I went through the questions on the iPad, filling them out with bogus information.

A fake name and birth date and a completed mental health questionnaire.

I ran an agitated hand through my hair when the woman finally shut the file cabinet and began to weave back my way.

At least I looked the part.

Unhinged.

Disturbed.

Destruction whipping around me like a coming storm.

She stumbled a fraction when she saw me through the glass. No doubt, my appearance instantly set her on edge. I was used to it, but still, I ground my molars as she took me in like I was a monster staring back at her.

She was probably in her early sixties, her hair a salt-and-pepper gray, the mass of it in a thick bun at the back of her head.

Trepidation crawled over her spirit, though she straightened her spine, watching me with a wary gaze as she edged the rest of the way to the glass. “Are you an immediate danger to yourself or others?”

Oh, I was most definitely a danger.

“I’m just having a rough night, and think I need to talk to someone. Think my meds might be off.” The words were gravel, and I yanked at a tuft of my short, white hair to add emphasis.

She exhaled a strained breath from her nose. “All right. I’ll page a nurse and security so we can get you checked in.”

“Thank you,” I managed to say while my mind spun through every scenario.

The gun at my side burned a fucking hole in my pocket.

No question, the guard was going to pat me down.

A bolt of chaos ricocheted through me as I calculated the actions I might have to take.

I didn’t hurt innocents.

But I would do whatever it took to get Aria out of here.

To my left, the door buzzed, and a woman poked her head out. She sported a short bob of brown, curly hair and a warm, concerned smile on her face.

That was, until she saw me raging where I stood.

Fear flashed through her eyes, which had gone wide.

But that fear was different from usual.

Different from the natural warning people got that I was different.

Her attention dropped to her iPad, taking in the false information I had given.

“James Aragon?” The question wheezed from her mouth, confusion in her tone, like she already knew that wasn’t my real name.

Every nerve ending in my body stood on end, and flames lapped at the edges of my sight.

“That’s right.”

The woman’s brow twisted. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah?” I said it like she was the one who was losing it.

She cleared her throat and gave her head a harsh shake, as if she were trying to shun whatever had tripped her up.

“I’m Jill, the RN on staff tonight. Come on back, and we’ll get your intake questionnaire filled out.” She widened the door, and I could feel her frazzled nerves as I slipped by her and into the next room.

Here, it was sectioned off. There were three small holding rooms on the left and three rooms with desks on the right.

But the only thing that mattered was the second locked door at the very back. Heavy, reinforced metal.

The door that led to Aria.

My chest tightened into a fist, and the chaos spun and banged against the walls, fighting for a way to get out.

Clawing its way to her.

I came to a stop in the middle of the room, my gaze sweeping the area, gauging my next steps.

The nurse rounded on me, her brow furrowed as she looked at my face.

Eyes roving.

Searching.

“Sir, I’m afraid you might be in the wrong place.” She kept her voice a whisper. Riddled with questions. “The adult facilities are on the property behind this to the north. You can gain access on Morris Street. I can have someone escort you, if you’d like.”

Her words were weighted, and an awareness was seeping in.

The way she looked at me.

Like she knew me.

But I still had to play this right. I couldn’t get careless.

“Not in the wrong place.” The words were gruff, scraping like dull razors at the back of my throat.

My fingers itched to grab her key card.

“I’m seventeen,” I forced out.

Bullshit, yeah.

I silently begged her to accept it.

“What is your name?” she suddenly asked beneath her breath, like she was trying to keep it from the woman who currently was tapping at a computer in one of the rooms on the right.

Urgency radiated from her, and alarm gusted through my senses.

“I already filled the information out.” I gestured at the iPad she held in her hand. “James Aragon. Date of birth, May 17, 2005.”

Her head shook, and she suddenly reached out and grabbed me by the wrist. Emphasis underscored the words. “No. What is your name? ”

I felt like her stare was searing into me. Burning through the rubble. Like she might have a tap into the otherworlds.

I didn’t have time to answer before the door behind us buzzed and a security guard pushed through, his words rushing out ahead of him. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Jill.”

He’d been fully at ease when he’d come through. The second he caught sight of me, he was instantly on guard.

His free hand moved to the Taser at his side while he stood frozen in the doorway.

Darkness spilled in from behind him and into the bright lights that shone above, the silence so acute I heard the foreboding woven in its fibers.

“Is there a problem here?” His attention swung between us, gauging the situation.

The man was tall and too thin. I’d peg him in his midfifties. He was doing his best to appear fierce. Confident. Though I didn’t miss the tremors that rolled through his body.

Irritation beat a path through my senses, the lure coming from behind that door growing intense.

Severe.

Overpowering.

It was almost impossible not to listen to it and force my way through. I shifted on my feet, trying to keep the turmoil at bay.

The echo of her spirit.

The shout of her soul.

Pax. Pax. Pax.

I swore I could hear her pleading my name.

Jill turned to wave him off. “No, we just need a moment of privacy, Will. Thank you. If you’d step out for a second.”

The frown he developed promised it went against protocol. “Are you sure? I’ll be—”

A crash suddenly echoed from somewhere in the recess of the facility. Metal clattered against a hard floor, reverberating off the walls and traveling the hall in a flurry of desperation.

One second later, a scream pierced the air. “Help!”

Her spirit pierced and slayed, and the sparks glinting beneath my skin burst into flames.

At the commotion, the security guard whirled around.

I didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity.

I acted.

Grabbing the edge of the door he had propped open with his body, I swung it open wider and shoved him out of the way.

It took him the flash of a second to realize that I was pushing around him, and a hand darted out to try to grab me by the arm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t go in there.”

I didn’t have time for wavering.

Spinning around to face him, I cracked my elbow down on the top of his shoulder in the same motion, hoping it would incapacitate him enough to buy me some time.

It dropped him straight to his knees.

“Oh my God.” Shock gasped out of the nurse, and her hands flew to her mouth. The iPad she’d been holding toppled to the ground just as there was another crash reverberating from somewhere down the hall.

My eyes met hers for one knowing beat before I swiveled and ran.

Ran toward the one person on Earth who’d ever meant anything.

My boots pounded on the hard floor, driving the mayhem higher.

A thud, thud, thud racing in time with the battering of my heart.

Aria’s terror rode a sharp edge, cutting through the suffocating atmosphere like razors dragging across my flesh.

Footsteps clattered behind me.

“Hey, you can’t go in there! Stop!”

Fuck.

The security guard had gotten to his feet, footfalls slamming against linoleum as he began to chase me.

Energy screamed.

Dark and alive.

Frantic, I pushed myself as hard as I could go, skidding around a corner as I hooked a left down a second hall, intuitively knowing she was in that direction.

My heart thrashed. A violent battering against my ribs. Fear and determination clotted out all other senses.

Up ahead, a man stumbled out from a door on the left.

“You bitch whore,” he wheezed as he clutched his face. He was bent in half, hissing at the presence that glowed from inside the room.

In the bare light, I could see he wore blue scrubs, was short and thick, his blond hair buzzed.

Recognition slammed me.

I’d seen him before. Through Aria’s eyes when I’d found her in the Ghorl’s vile, nefarious mind. I had seen her huddled in fear, witnessing it through this bastard’s eyes.

I didn’t hesitate.

I pulled out my gun.

As much as I wanted to scatter his brains across the floor, there were a few too many witnesses for that, so I clocked him with the butt of it on the back of his head instead.

A roar of agony and rage tore from him, the bastard caught unaware, so held in his depravity he didn’t have the first clue what was coming for him.

It flattened him on the floor, the piece of shit writhing where he moaned.

Orders rained from behind: “Get down! On your knees! I’m warning you, young man, if you don’t get to the floor, you will suffer the consequences.”

The security guard shouted it through chattering teeth.

In my periphery, I could see he had his Taser out.

I was only vaguely aware of his voice.

A voice that grew louder with the commands he kept issuing.

Because I was held.

Caught in the shattered gasp that rode on the thrumming atmosphere.

Volatile.

Flammable.

Explosive.

Because a girl stood just inside the room.

Frozen.

Eyes the same color as mine stared back.

Jet-black hair and pale-white skin, and a face forever imprinted in my dreams.

“Aria.”