Riding the Veil Page 5
They discovered yet another elevator on the other side, and all quietly piled inside, with the colonel once again palming a box on the inside of the enclosure. “Hey, rookies—remember you are also cleared to palm the elevators should you need to chase up an escapee.”
Okay, Jacie thought. That answered that question.
The elevator landed with a heavy thump and once again, the door slid into a pocket wall. They hesitated before stepping out of the enclosure and Dog cautioned, “Prepare yourself, kid, my nose has kicked in and I can smell blood.”
This was really happening, Jacie told herself. She was actually going to see where Retaal and the others were being contained. Her sense of smell was not as good as Dog’s, but she, too, got a whiff of the metallic scent of blood.
This was bad. This was really bad. If they both could already smell blood…?
They stepped onto a concrete platform, also dimly lit, and as Jacie looked around, she realized this was not part of a forgotten subway system, as Apollo and they had assumed. This was too deep beneath the surface. This had been dug out and built for one purpose only…as a prison for supernaturals. The public had no knowledge and no oversight here.
One rumor was now absolutely true…the Lower Planet was a place of horror.
Indeed, how were the humans able to prevent the supernaturals from using their magical skills to open portals, or shift out and away? How was it that Cumas/demigods and other supernaturals were unable to break in…and several had tried?
The colonel silently sent his team in different directions, pairing them off, and Jacie was so happy that she was paired with Dog.
She and Dog moved forward and found a set of concrete stairs that led further below. They took the stairs side by side to what appeared to be a solid concrete wall.
“Dog…something is bothering me. Where is the scent of blood coming from? My nose will never be as good as yours, but it is getting stronger?”
“Sorry to tell you, kid, I’m thinking they dragged wounded supernaturals down through the elevator…to the prison, and evidently they don’t bother to clean up very well. The scent isn’t just of blood, but of supernatural blood and recent…it’s fresh,” he said grimly.
Jacie bolstered herself. She knew what she was about to see would be horrendous. She had heard that Cumas and supernaturals were being tortured for information.
As they entered a wide corridor, Jacie became concerned. “Where is everyone? Shouldn’t there be guards?”
“Yeah, I don’t like this,” Dog agreed.
Jacie steeled herself to be prepared for the worst as they turned a corner of the wide corridor.
She knew that Retaal had the power to heal himself, as well as others, but if he had somehow been contained and restrained…unable to use any of his powers—what then would she find?
She couldn’t allow emotion to be displayed on her face. The colonel would immediately be suspicious. She had watched the team interact with one another and the colonel wasn’t the only one that despised supernaturals.
Dog held her arm and stalled her. “Listen, kid, maybe we should wait here for the colonel and the rest of the team.”
“No, let’s just go in,” Jacie insisted. “Now.”
He eyed her and said, “Brace yourself, kid. I don’t know any more than you do about what we are going to find, but I do know…it won’t be good.”
“I know, I’m ready…” she said.
“Are you?” He shook his head. “They don’t call this section of the Lower Planet the Dank without cause. It is gonna be bad, real bad.”
“Dank,” she said grimacing. “I am ready, Dog. Let’s go in and scan out the place before the others arrive.”
“That’s what is weirding me out, kid. We should have heard from one of the others if not from the colonel,” Dog said, looking behind himself.
“Never mind, we were sent on our own by the colonel…so in we go,” Jacie said.
“Yeah…right, but I’m thinking that cameras will be on us, so remember, just remember they are watching…somewhere, someone is watching.”
“Well then, let’s put on a show,” she said, and smiled at him.
He grinned. “I probably will get caught in the end. Sooner or later someone will notice and follow me when I go off to warn our own about a raid.” He shrugged. “But I’ll manage. Learned a few tricks working for these creeps.”
“They are creeps, aren’t they? They have no compassion whatsoever. They work outside the law and have become lawless,” Jacie said.
“Exactly, kid. Always the problem when someone designs a secret unit…they begin to think of themselves…” he grinned, “as Gods. They think it is their right to go off script, and the problem is that humans don’t care as long as their lives are running smoothly.”
They turned the corner and found yet another long dark corridor. This one ramped downward as it stretched out before them.
Footsteps at their backs made them turn to find the colonel and the others filing through.
“Anything?” the colonel asked sharply.
“Not a sound or a sight,” Dog answered.
The colonel stepped close to Jacie but was followed by Beth, a dark-haired woman, both slinky and graceful. She looked more like a ballerina than a soldier. However, Jacie had seen her at training sessions and learned the little woman was both agile and strong, strong enough to take the colonel himself down to the mat.
The colonel and Beth exchanged a glare and Beth snorted.
Jacie hid a smile, thinking the colonel had met his match.
“Jacie,” he said. “You and Dog stick close. This is your first time in the Dank.”
“That’s right, you and Dog,” Beth said provocatively, still glaring at the colonel.
Dog moved in closer to Jacie as they waited for orders. The colonel led the team while she and Dog filed in last, bringing up the rear.
They arrived at a metal gate, six by eight, at the end of the corridor. Jacie wrinkled her nose. “Iron,” she whispered to Dog.
“Yeah, idiots think Cumas, like Dark Fae, are affected by iron,” Dog snorted.
The gate was relocked at their backs and Jacie and Dog stared down a wide, dimly lit corridor. On either side of the aisle, they got their first view of the prison cells that held the supernaturals.
There were about ten cells on each side of the aisle, and damn, but Dank didn’t even come close to describing the depressing and damp foul aroma both in and out of the cells.
It looked as though most units each held two prisoners…so roughly forty prisoners in all. The cells were made of some kind of glass. Inside each of the prison cells Jacie could see Cumas and demigods, but what struck her was how very lethargic they were. They seemed only half alive and unable to move easily.
First time in a long time, Jacie wanted to cry!
~ Three ~
AT THE FAR END OF the corridor, that held the glass prison cells, Jacie could see lights, which she realized were inside a huge office space. Inside, there were guards at computers and monitors.
She looked around and took note of all the working cameras.
Inside the office, she saw uniformed men talking into their earbuds. Two of them lifted their heads and when they spotted the team, they left the office and rushed towards them.
Jacie wanted to go into immediate action. She wanted to use her magic and freeze all of the guards, break open the cages and transport the supernaturals to Devos. Boom! Done. However, as she made a silent plan, and pushed outward, she realized there were two things going on in the Lower Planet. One—magic. An extremely powerful magic spell, one that was drawn from one of the witch’s ancestors, which kept all supernaturals within the prison because the spell was woven into the walls.
The other thing keeping the supernaturals almost cripple was something she had not yet figured out.
She would have to discover the answer to the second question while she researched how to break the spell keeping the supernatur
als within the prison walls.
Unexpectedly, the colonel began explaining, “Here is where we keep the half-breeds…I call them Kurs.” Thomas sneered. “We keep them separate from other supernaturals, for good reason. We don’t need them conferring and organizing,” Thomas said this last over his shoulder to Dog. He inclined his head towards a narrow aisle and said, “Down that corridor and up one level is where we keep the filth…werewolves and vampires.”
She felt Dog tense at her side and nudged him ever so slightly. He glanced at her and restrained himself.
Amongst their own, demigods were known as the Anunns. Jacie hated that humans called them half-breeds, but she controlled herself and asked, “And the witches?” It was a bold question.
The colonel eyed her for a moment and then smirked. “Witches were burned at the stake during the Purge, and then forgotten.” He shrugged. “Some got away and we haven’t been able to capture many of them. They always seem to be a step ahead of us. However, we do have three witches working for us, and we keep those three in a very special place.”
“A hellhole,” Beth stuck in, and stood between Thomas and Jacie.
Thomas gave Beth a hard look, but she gave him one right back, and he suddenly grinned and looked away as he said, “These three witches are important. Beth is wrong. They are kept in relative comfort…”
“I don’t understand.” Jacie wanted as much information as she could get. “How do you contain their magic?”
“Salt and fire. Their prison cell is surrounded by both,” Beth answered. “That much I know for sure.” She eyed Jacie and added, “Also, their drinking water is laced with a very special drug that curtails their ability to use magic unless we need them to. We have given them an invitation—they work with us, they get some freedom, they don’t…they suffer.”
“Smart,” Jacie said as her mind worked furiously, absorbing everything she had learned and filing it away.
“Now, if school is over?” Thomas snapped.
The two soldiers who had charged at them were intercepted by a highly decorated officer, who marched towards them and nodded as he came to stand in front of Thomas.
“Sir,” the officer said. “We believe we have the situation nearly under control, but are damned glad you got here so quickly, as with the Kurs, you never know.”
“Where are the escapees?” Thomas asked.
“One Kur and the only full-blooded Cuma in the Lower Planet escaped from their cell and managed to get to the second floor. We have them trapped there now…although they managed to free lesser beings, we have gathered those up. Just these last two are loose, but trapped,” he said, trying not to show concern, Jacie thought.
“How did they get out of their cell without anyone seeing them do so?” the colonel snapped.
“Sorry, sir, we haven’t a clue. There are no breaks in the glass…nothing about the steel door to indicate they somehow managed to get it opened…and they weren’t seen on camera escaping. One minute, they were in their cell, the next, they were opening doors to the other cages,” the officer reported anxiously.
“Hell, someone wasn’t watching. You know that is the only answer.” The colonel’s fists clenched and unclenched as Jacie looked on and looked around.
“Well, yes, sir, but Agent Kilber, who is highly skilled, never saw a thing, and he says he had his eye on the monitors at all times. One minute, they were inside the cell, and the next, they were out,” the officer said.
“And surveillance now on the second floor? Are they avoiding the cameras?”
“We aren’t quite sure. The monitor indicates they are on the loose…but it has been going haywire and we can’t be certain it is working, and, sir. You see, the problem is, well…Retaal is the Cuma who escaped.” The officer shook his head. “He was scheduled to be taken to the lab for…” The man looked at Jacie. “And well, the next thing we knew, he escaped.”
Retaal was free. Retaal was somewhere on the second floor. She had to help him, but how?
Jacie stared at the glass cells and studied the occupants. Most of them were Anunns (demigods—the children of Gods and humans). They appeared to be weighted down as they attempted to walk around their cell. She watched them closely and saw that their breathing was laborious.
She had to do something. They were being treated worse than animals. By all that she was, by all that she had learned from her guardian, by the Goddess of Magic, for Apollo, she vowed in that moment to free them all and turn her magic onto the humans who had done this to them.
Her lip curled as fury invaded her blood.
Dog touched her elbow and whispered, “Steady, kid.”
The demigods in the glass cages were all stirring, but she could see that it was costing them a great deal to move. Why? What was wrong with them?
And then it dawned on her. They couldn’t breathe. All their efforts were being thwarted because using up the oxygen in their individual cells cost them so much.
Damn, so that was how the humans were keeping the supernaturals in check!
Think, Jacie, think! She had to find a way to free them, but if they didn’t have the energy to escape…what then?
They were being controlled by the supply of oxygen. No doubt they were being given enough to survive, but just barely.
Deprived of oxygen, they would not be able to call on their skills, as they would need every bit of their energy to breathe—just to breathe.
Although many of the Cumas could do without a great deal of air for a given period, they could not do so indefinitely. She knew of very few supernaturals that could do without air.
Next step? What should she do?
Jacie moved towards one of the glass cages.
Beth reached out to stop her, but Thomas, who had been issuing orders to his men and who seemed to see everything at once, restrained Beth and said, “No…let her take a good look. That one is a Kur, Jacie, a half-breed! Hardly worth keeping alive, but,” he shrugged, and added with some irritation, “The Big Man thinks we might need him for an experiment his scientists are working on.”
“Experiment? Meaning, we…” she was careful to include herself, “use their blood…or their…organs?” Inwardly, she felt bile reach her throat.
“That’s right, something like that, though I’m not sure exactly what kind of experiments they are conducting. Right now, The Big Man is using their blood…though I have heard rumors about The Big Man cutting up one of ‘em just to see how they tick. Yeah, so when necessary…body parts.” Thomas turned negligently as he directed another of their team to get to the hidden level and talk to the three witches imprisoned there.
The Anunn he was talking about was some ten feet away from where Jacie stood. The cell held three beds, a sink, and a toilet. It was no more than 12 feet x 12 feet.
One of the three occupants, a large dark-skinned male, unknown to Jacie, dragged himself into a sitting position and stared at her. She knew she shouldn’t take the chance, she knew it, but there was such sadness in his big, beautiful dark eyes, and she couldn’t just look away and leave him looking so depressed and hopeless.
She had to make contact, make him aware that help was coming. Humans had absolutely no way of detecting her brand of telepathy. She could get a message to him without anyone the wiser.
She had to send him a telepathic message. She simply had to.
Jacie began by finding and meeting his gaze, bringing it to herself. Something clicked in his expression. He realized at once what she was. He knew she was a witch. Did he know she was working with ACE undercover? He would be cautious. After all, she wore the ACE uniform.
His gaze narrowed and he made a very good attempt at shutting her out of his head.
She tried again. Her magic was undeniable and she got through, telling him…Witch here and on your side. My partner and I are getting a lay of the land so we can break Retaal and all of you out of here.
She had practically shouted into his head to break the barrier he had put up.
Jacie’s eyebrows went up. Okay, she had given him hope.
Now, please, oh, please, by all that was the magical goddess, let him be safe. She eyed the Anunn and said, Don’t give up, we are going to free you soon.
The handsome male gave her an odd smile and stretched to put his hands on the glass.
“Wipe that smile off your face, freak!” the colonel bellowed harshly, and touched a switch on the wall next to the glass cage. Electric currents of blue zapped the entire floor of the cage and the handsome Anunn and the other two male inmates gritted their teeth as bolts of electricity were sent sharply through their bodies.
Jacie saw pain ravage the Cumas’ faces and felt sick as she watched them collapse into themselves and onto their knees. That was on her. She shouldn’t have interacted with any one of them.
Dog nudged her and whispered, “Careful. You aren’t supposed to show concern for these guys, remember that. No matter what you feel…you don’t show it. The monitors—remember, we will be scrutinized later for body language. They are always checking for a traitor.”
Jacie eyed Dog and her lashes brushed her cheek. Could she do this? How could she do this? The colonel was a mean spirited, bitter man. How could she hide the fact that she despised him and everything he stood for? How could she hide the fact that she wanted to kill him, no, not just kill him, but tear him apart while he breathed?
She had no choice. For the sake of the prisoners, she simply had to find a way to control her feelings. Damn, but she and Dog simply had to free them, Apollo’s rules or not. Soon, soon she would find a way to dissemble the witch’s spell and come back here and blast her magic through the place and…
“Jacie…kid…easy,” Dog cautioned again.
Right, she needed to buy some time and Dog was right. She couldn’t show emotion or it would interfere with her goals.
Damn, but humans were contemptable. She felt that old welling of hate start to take over and had to quiet her mind. What kind of human would design and build such an awful place? One day she would find Crawly and destroy him. He was the reason her parents were dead. He was the reason for all this pain and suffering in this ugly place.