Fire's Touch (The Enlightened Species Book Three) (33 page)

The door started to open. Mick quickly moved the floor section back and dove onto his sleeping palette, the glow stick beneath him, plunging the room back into darkness. Twelve and Nine entered, closing the door behind them. Twelve checked the room. He must have seen the tunnel Stacey had made between their cells to get in, but he said nothing.

Nine handed Mick a length of rope. “Don’t tell me anything.”

Hawk set a second glow stick on the palette at Mick’s feet. “Keep her safe or I’ll whip your ass personally,” he grumbled. Mick gave his brothers a single nod and watched them leave the room.

Mick opened the crawl space and fed the rope down the slick shaft till he felt a tug. He pulled Stacey back up and out. Incredibly she was covered in sweat, her exhaustion visible.

“I can’t believe my brothers are helping you.” Mick leaned back against the wall beside her.

Stacey took deep breaths. He could still feel heat from her. “They aren’t. I mentioned that you wouldn’t hang yourself if you had some rope.”

Mick couldn’t believe she’d trusted his brothers with her life like that. “I’m surprised they did it.”

“I had a backup plan. I tied all my clothes together. They are under your bed.” She grinned.

Mick chuckled. “You’re crazy.”

She shook her head. “I’m a mother. We will get our son out of this place, Mick. Do you know how to swim?”

“A little.”

“Good. I grew up swimming. The water is going to be far warmer than the air.” She crawled back and ducked under his sleeping platform.

Mick wanted to argue. No way could they swim to safety. It was too far, too cold. As Stacey disappeared into her cell, he heard Johnny’s baby voice echo through the hole before she sealed it with something. Better they try to escape and survive out there than remain in here.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Stacey lay silently in the ice, the rope tied at her waist chaffing her skin. Tears streamed down her face at the echo of a whip striking Mick’s flesh mercilessly over and over. Osiris had resumed his effort to break the father of her child, and she was helpless to stop it.

Kelly had been able to warn them of people approaching by the movement of the berg … until now. She’d told Stacey a few hours ago she couldn’t feel movement anymore.

By taking quick naps between ice-melts, she’d made progress. The first time she’d gone back in without the rope tied on. She slid the entire way, gaining momentum till she slammed against the rods and bruised her hip. After that Mick lowered her in slowly and tied off the rope to one of the pipes under the floor, giving her plenty of slack.

That had only been one of the mishaps. The first lead rod she heated too fast. It turned molted and melted into her hand. Mick had scraped it out, but Stacey knew it would be scarred forever. With the metal out of the way, the path through the ice had gone quickly but she still had yet to reach the outside.

With Kelly as an early warning device, the few times Osiris sent that weasel of a healer in to take vials of blood, she’d been there. She knew what they were waiting for—her ovulation; gauging from her last menstruation, that should be happening any time. Osiris wouldn’t be content to simply force her and Mick to have sex if he found they were bloodmate compatible.

Stacey knew without a question she wanted to spend her life with Conlon. Every minute her yearning for him grew. The ache of separation made breathing painful. Her dreams were filled with his smile, his laugh, his passion.

Mick loved Mattie just as much as Stacey loved Conlon. An eternal bond with Mick would destroy Conlon. Plus, Stacey would never want Conlon to have to settle for less than all of her. He deserved better than that.

The room above fell silent. Stacey could hear the drip of Mick’s blood splash on the wood slates. Finally his shaky voice came to her. “They’re gone.”

Without a word Stacey opened her psyche and infused her body with heat. Within a few feet a chunk of ice cracked, splintered and slipped away. Icy wind hit her body, sliding out of control through the dark open hole. With a mottled scream Stacey tried futily to stop her descent. Thank the Fates Mick must have heard. The rope jerked and tightened painfully around her waist as she shot out the hole on her belly, feet first.

Stacey looked over her shoulder at the open sea far below—frozen solid. That explained Kelly’s inability to still feel motion. Without access to the warmer water, Johnny, Mick, and Kelly would freeze to death in minutes. A sob tore through her as Mick started pulling her back into hell.

“I was wrong, Mick.” Stacey couldn’t contain her tears as Mick carefully untied the rope and tossed it back into the hole.

He replaced the flooring and pulled her head to his shoulder. “How so?”

“The entire ocean is fr-frozen. If we slide out, we’ll never have time to extend our wings before we hit the ground. Even if we could … I can’t keep everyone from freezing to death. It’s hopeless.” Stacey felt utterly defeated.

“Stacey, get over here.” The sound of Osiris’s high-pitched voice came from the tunnel between the rooms. Fear for her son gripped her as Mick’s door burst open and Seven strolled in, his lip curled at the sight of them together.

“Go. Protect our boy.” Mick pushed her toward the sleeping platform and faced his brother with fists clenched at his sides.

Stacey shimmied through. From under the bed she could see Kelly crouched in the opposite corner with Johnny clutched to her chest. Her flamed checks and bloody lip showed the nanny had been struck. Three sets of feet waited for her to emerge, two by the open door and one at the side of her bed. Osiris’s punch to her jaw sent her flying into the supply table before she’d even been able to stand fully upright. Wind rushed from her chest on impact. Hands grasped her shoulders hard and she sailed thru the air to slam into the wall beside the door, crumbling to the ground at Hawk and Scotty’s feet.

They stared at her wide-eyed. Their jaws ticked as both looked at her with concern. Then Johnny let out a howl and her blood ran cold. Kelly struggled to keep hold of Johnny as Osiris pulled him brutally by the arms. “Release the child.” Kelly shook her head and her arms locked Johnny’s body to her chest.

Osiris let Johnny go and pulled a white-bladed dagger from his waist sheath. He bent over and gripped a fistful of Johnny’s hair, pulled him forward to create a space between Johnny and the nanny. The blade slit through Kelly’s throat so fast it seemed a blur. Blood sprayed out, covering Johnny. Stacey turned her head and vomited. Osiris held Johnny up by one arm like he’d won a fucking prize.

The sound of fighting came from Mick’s room.
Protect our son.
Stacey rose to her feet. “Give him to me.”

Osiris shifted Johnny, holding her baby’s back against his chest, anchored by one arm, the blood-soaked blade in his other hand. “Ma.” Johnny squirmed, reaching for her.

“Restrain her.” Osiris ordered, growling when
Hawk and Scotty didn’t move fast enough from their position in front of the open door. “Now!”

Hawk and Scotty grabbed her arms.
Oh, hell no.
She hated hurting the brothers as much as they hated having to do their father’s bidding. Like them, she had no choice. Stacey focused on their hands. She’d worked so hard to learn to block others’ energy from seeping in and adding to hers. Now she gave that dynamic within her free rein, purposely drawing from Hawk and Scotty, intentionally weakening them for her gain. Flames erupted along her arms. They howled and released her. Osiris’s mouth gaped.
Surprise, fucker!

With Osiris’s focus on his sons patting the flames from their hands, Stacey balled heat into her palms. Miguel had shown her much about her ability during the few moments he’d spent in her mind, but she’d never tried this before.
Please don’t let me harm my son.
With a throwing motion she visualized the ball leaving her hand. Osiris roared with pain as a welt rose at his temple and his hair was singed. Johnny dropped to the ground, thankfully landing on his diaper-padded bottom next to her bed. His shocked cry made Stacey angrier. She hurled another ball. Osiris grunted, his hand to the center of his chest. Then he shimmered and vanished.

She lunged toward Johnny, hitting something … or someone … hard enough to send her back to the floor. Stacey sent a mental image to Johnny through the maternal bond of the thick ice hole between her room and Mick’s.
Hide, baby
. She saw Johnny crawl beneath the bed. A foot kicked her hard in the side, fracturing ribs, followed by a blow to the ear and darkness.

****

Trapped underwater by a thick layer of ice, Conlon felt a moment of panic. Greycia and one of Roark’s warriors pressed against his sides his arms around their backs. They warmed the water surrounding him as they raced along, further propelled by the currents. The gills along Greycia’s ribcage expanded, signaling it was time for a breath. Conlon released the one he held. Bubbles blurred his vision. Then Greycia’s mouth sealed to his and his lungs filled again.

Time ceased to exist, replaced by the infinite water, the abundance of marine life they passed, an urgent need to find Stacey, and the next breath. He replayed every moment they spent together in his mind. Without her, his life held no meaning anymore.

Greycia and the male warrior slowed. Conlon looked around. Others were circling a huge piece of solid ice stretched from the surface toward the sea floor. They joined the procession and Conlon studied the bottom of the iceberg closely. No doubt the Aquaties sought an access.

A gray line caught his attention. He squeezed Greycia using his chin to point. He could hear the low tones of the Aquatie songs underwater but couldn’t understand the language. Greycia maneuvered close to the mark while others gathered around. The water heated significantly. She put her hand to the mark to thermodynamically melt the ice. Another hand joined Greycia’s, then another, and another. Slowly the thick ice retreated under the cumulative energy of the school to reveal a rod of some kind with several more trapped behind it. Greycia turned to him and smiled.

Chunks of ice started bobbing down and floating away across the underside of the surrounding layer of ocean ice. Conlon looked up to see a group of Aquaties making a hole above him. Greycia gave him another breath before she too watched the work in progress.

He gasped as his head broke through the newly formed hole. Greycia yanked him back down. A huge mass of the berg crashed down, barely missing him. It vibrated the layer of ice. Together he and Greycia peeked out carefully. Conlon looked up to see long steaming legs, the tattoo on her hip and the curve of Stacey’s bare ass an instant before they vanished into the ice. He loved her ass … right now he worshiped it. She was alive. A few minutes later the end of a rope emerged and dangled with invitation. Conlon got a mental image of Stacey on the other end tapping her foot, hands on her luscious hips, barking at him, “get me the hell out of here.”

“How did you know where she was?” he asked.

Greycia shrugged. “This side of the ocean is being warmed by the iceberg rather than chilled. Stacey generates heat and fire. It was pretty obvious she was responsible.”

Holes were erupting along the perimeter of the iceberg. Within minutes a long trench had been carved out by the school. The rope above called to him. Antarctic wind ripped through him as he climbed from the water. Determined, he extended his wings, cold and sluggish, gritted his teeth, and flew against the battering wind to the rope. Holding the rope tightly to keep from being blown against the sharp mountain of ice, he gauged the hole it protruded from and then let go and plunged back into the comparative warmth of the ocean.

When his head broke the surface, Enlil, Sargon, Eros, Mattie, and Jacob were waiting. “It’s tight, but I think Enlil, Jacob, and I can fit through.” Sargon and Eros were huge males; they nodded in understanding.

“We’ll catch whoever comes out.” Sargon added.

“What about me?” Mattie asked.

Conlon nodded. “Monkey up, partner.”

“My mother will kill me for this.” Mattie climbed from the water, her modesty surrendered to the cause, and placed both palms to the berg. The hair on Conlon’s head stood straight on end with the surge of electromagnetic energy racing toward her. Though it was invisible to the eye, Conlon felt a surge of adrenalin quicken his pulse the moment Mattie unleashed the electromagnetic pulse into the ice. To unleash the Tellus ultimate weapon meant Mattie had seized her bloodline and colony’s power without her mother condoning it. That was a big no-no. Every electronic or battery-powered device Osiris might be using had just been rendered useless.

“Why did you risk it?” Conlon asked her

Mattie shrugged with glistening tears in her eyes. “If I were Osiris, I would have some way to escape. He can’t fly, and the South Pole magnetic field will make porting impossible. That leaves something of man-made power—submarine, helicopter, airboat. Just because we don’t see a hatch doesn’t mean there isn’t one. That bastard is not getting away. Not this time.”

Greycia, Greyton, Roark, and Reesa joined them. Roark’s voice whispered through the wind with a hiss. “We found the main access and an anomaly far beneath the sea. Our people are melting through the frozen seals. We’ll be in shortly.”

Jacob hooked a shadow conductive chain around Enlil’s throat letting it hang. Eros handed a second chain to Conlon. “Give this to Mick. He’ll know what to do. Trade me.” Eros held out a different sword to Conlon.

Conlon took it with a nod, swapping the shadow-conductive sword for the one at his thighs before he hit the air with Enlil and Jacob behind him. Sargon trailed them with Mattie clinging to his neck. Using the rope, Conlon pulled himself hand over hand through the narrow passageway quickly to give Enlil, Jacob, and Mattie room behind him. Stacey’s scent lingered as he intermittently slid over indentations of her nude body revealing the extent she’d gone to in her quest to escape. Her ingenuity and grit filled him with pride.

Lines of green glowing light signaled the end. Conlon rolled to his back and peered up through a wood-slat floor. He could see Mick fighting with another male but no sign of Stacey. In one move he shoved the floor up, sending it crashing against the wall as he jumped from the hole and drew his sword.