Haeven (40 page)

"You'll find out soon enough," he assured me
as we all made our way into the living area.

This time I sat in the middle of the sofa
with Avery on my right and Daemon on my left. Rather than sitting
on the arm like he had before Colin fetched a chair from the
kitchen area and placed it well out of Avery's reach. Everyone
looked expectant as their eyes shifted from Daemon to Avery
wonderingly."

"I found Emily's brother. Obviously you were
aware that he was missing and you may or may not know why," Avery
was speaking to Daemon but spoke loud and clear indicating that we
were all meant to hear.

Daemon nodded, "Emily told us that Carah has
him."

"Had," Avery corrected. "He's in the compound
now," Avery looked down at his hands.

"What?!" I cried.

"I found her, Carah. She was hiding out in an
abandoned school. It was late and I had to rest so I knew I
couldn't do anything right away. I learned the layout of the
building in the short time I had then found a safe place to spend
the day. She must have woken before I did because I saw her leaving
just as I returned. She had Evan bound and blindfolded and she
forced him into the trunk before I could stop her."

Avery looked at me, "I'm so sorry, Emily. He
was still alive, though and he didn't look hurt. I had her! I had
her for a moment but somehow Carah wrested one of our guns from
wherever she had it hidden and before I realized what had happened
I went down. I saw it though, I saw where she was going. She plans
to give Evan to Freya with assurances that once you find out you
will give your life for his."

Avery's voice trailed off and the room grew
unpleasantly quiet.

"I'll go. I'll do it. I'll exchange myself
for Evan. Avery can take me,” I said without hesitation.

"Absolutely not!" Avery leapt off the
couch.

"That is not the answer, Emily. No...we won't
let you," Daemon confidently stated.

"But maybe..." Merry's voice trembled.

Wyatt looked at her, "What did you say?"

Merry shook her head, "No, it was nothing,"
she recoiled nervously.

"It was, though, I think you're on to
something," Wyatt persisted.

Daemon eyed them both from where he was
sitting, "What are you two mumbling over there?"

"Merry has an idea," Wyatt spoke loud enough
for everyone to hear and she anxiously clutched at his hand as
though she was begging him not to say anything more.

Everyone grew quiet again with curiosity.

"Well, I was just thinking...Avery knows the
compound...its layout, its defenses. And I thought that if we did
give Emily to Freya we could get someone or maybe even a few of us
inside, enough to disable some of the alarms and take care of some
of the guards. We don't have the numbers to overwhelm them but with
the element of surprise on our side," Merry cautiously conveyed her
thoughts.

"It's too dangerous. It will never work,"
Avery dismissed the idea.

"No, she's right. It could. If we planned it
well. Freya...she...she would want to show off. She wouldn't want
to celebrate her victory alone. She would want everyone to know.
She'd keep me...at least for a day or two. Daemon...Daemon should
be the one to bring me. He never took the pledge so she'll never
know the real reason he's there. He'll have to convince her...make
her believe that he wants to see Herrik suffer. His father
prevented him from being with the woman he loved and banished
Daemon from the compound when he tried to thwart his father's will.
Why wouldn't he want his father to suffer a similar fate! Think
what Daemon could do on the inside! He could find followers, undo
Freya's pledge..." I was speaking with a frenzied fervor.

"For Christ's sake, Emily! Are you mad?"

Avery's outburst shocked me back to my senses
and my insides seemed to wither as I suddenly realized what I was
saying and the futility of it all. I stood up, my eyes full of
tears intending to walk away and hide from all the shame I suddenly
felt.

"Wait, Emily. I think you're right. I think
we can do this," Daemon bit his lip, "I know we can do this...but
you'll have to give me one more night. There's one more person
we'll need if this plan has any chance of succeeding," Daemon
turned his gaze on Avery. "You're going to have to tell me where
Artur is."

"But I don't know," Avery shook his head.

Daemon smiled, "Oh, but you do," he raised
his hands, "it's buried somewhere in there and I intend to dig it
out!"

Avery batted Daemon's hands away. "I’m sorry,
I can't let you do that."

"Why not?"

"It's too...it's too...there are
things..."

I thought I understood why Avery was so
reluctant, he had feelings, emotions that he couldn't possibly
bring himself to share with Daemon.

"I'm sure there are things that Herrik has
shared with him out of necessity that it would be best if no one
else were to know."

Avery tossed me a look of gratitude but
Daemon looked skeptical, "Colin then?"

Avery took that as a worse affront than
sharing his thoughts with Daemon, "Not a chance!"

"Well you haven't got much choice! We're
rather limited on people with that particular gift..."

"I'll do it," Merry interrupted. "If Avery
feels comfortable with me and is willing to let me try."

Daemon turned expectantly towards Avery and
waited for his answer. "Yes," he nodded, "but I would prefer to do
it without an audience."

"Fair enough. We'll wait here. Merry, you can
use my office if you'd like."

"Sure. We'll be back as soon as we find what
we are looking for."

We watched the two of them leave.  Wyatt
seemed a little nervous and was the last to turn back once they
were finally out of sight.

"So what are you plans if you do actually
find Artur?" I turned to Daemon.

"That is the plan – finding Artur. Once we
release him from Herr...Freya's pledge he'll be able to help us
figure out the best way to go about saving Evan, Herrik and the
others."

"And if we don't find him?" Colin asked the
obvious question that was on everyone's mind.

"Then we'll do whatever we must. Emily
sacrificed everything for me – her friends, her family, her home.
With or without Artur, with or without any of you I intend to pay
her back."

"Daemon," I shook my head.

"Yeah, Daemon! As if any of us would let you
try and do this alone!" Colin's brow furrowed in anger and
disbelief. Ares got up sensing the sudden hostility and laid his
head in Colin's lap. "It's alright, buddy! No one is gonna leave us
out! We're all in this together aren't we? High five!" Colin held
his hand up and much to my surprise Ares gave it a happy slap.

"Alright...how are you getting him to do
these things? He can't possibly understand you...but"

"It's a gift," Colin chuckled.

I rolled my eyes.

"No really...it's a gift...one of my gifts. I
talk to animals," he laughed at the ridiculousness of his own
statement.

"He doesn't talk to animals," Daemon called
to Ares and he obediently went to Daemon's side. "He's showing Ares
images and pictures of what he wants him to do and Ares is just
following the suggestion. To Ares it's his own idea. He sees the
picture and imagines that he thought of it all by himself and acts
out whatever he visualizes."

"Huh," I sat back as I considered the
explanation. After a moment I realized that I had overlooked
something Colin had just said. "Oh, and just so we're clear, we are
leaving Ares out. There's no reason to make him take part in any of
this."

"I think we should let him make his own
decision, right Buddy!"

Ares yipped as if in agreement.

I started to interject again but my eyes
caught Merry and Avery returning and we all stood up anxious to
hear what they had to say. Merry came and resumed her seat by Wyatt
but Avery stopped at the edge of the living area and motioned to
Daemon. Together they went off for a number of minutes and though
we could all see them their conversation was completely inaudible
to any of us.

"Alright," Daemon nodded agreement to
whatever Avery had said. Their conversation apparently over Daemon
looked our way, "Wyatt," he called, "Davit," the lanky blonde stood
up and they both made their way toward the group.

Once they joined Daemon and Avery there was
another silent conversation between the four of them. A few moments
later Wyatt and Davit led Avery away while Daemon approached the
rest of us where we were still standing in the living area.

"I think we have the information we need but
we don't have much time. Colin, Merry, I want you to stay behind
and look after Emily. She is not to leave the building and neither
are either of you. If there is anything you need that we don't have
here you'll have go without or if it is an absolute," Daemon put
extra emphasis on absolute, "necessity send someone for it. Make
sure they are discreet! The last thing we want is someone following
them back and leading them here."

Then Daemon turned to me and took my hands,
"Wish me luck!" he smiled and pecked me on the cheek. "We'll be
back before dawn." As he finished the statement we saw the others
making their way down the hallway towards the elevator. They all
looked very grave as they glanced back to where Daemon and I were
standing saying goodbye. I had a hundred questions but Daemon cut
me off, "Gotta go!" and before I could protest he had joined the
others.

They all had their backs to us as they piled
into the elevator and the door closed behind them. I slumped down
onto the sofa and wondered how I would make it through the night
knowing they were all walking into a situation that they might not
be fully prepared for.

"There's worse to come if they succeed,"
Colin interrupted my thoughts. "Maybe you should save your
concern."

It sounded harsh but I knew he was being
sincere.

"Well, it will be a long night if we just sit
here worrying about them. Maybe we should try and make the most of
it," Merry looked from me to Colin and Finn. "You haven't said
anything since any of this happened, Finn. I know you are worried
about Davit but there's something else going on in there, too," she
sounded teasing, "do share!"

I noticed Finn earlier when he came and sat
down with Davit after I first arrived. He was so still and quiet
though that I felt like I had overlooked him ever since. When he
answered it wasn't with the same buoyant expression that Merry was
wearing and my heart shrank when I heard his response.

"I'm sure Daemon will find
this 
Artur
 and I understand what he expects us to
do once he does. I'm not sure any of us are fully aware of what we
are getting into though," he waved his hand to indicate more than
just the handful of us sitting in the living area.
"This...
Haeven
..." he cocked his head and met my eyes,
"Daemon hasn't told us much about it but I suspect that it is more
than just an oasis for 
lost
 souls."

I felt terribly offended by what he was
saying and how he said it but he was absolutely right. The compound
was a beautiful refuge for both our kinds but a well-guarded one,
too. I had always thought of it simply as my home and with Herrik,
Avery and Artur looking after both me and Penny I hardly knew a
moment of fear the entire time that I had lived there. It was more,
much more than that, though. In reality it was a virtual fortress
and many of the people who called it home were well-trained and if
necessary merciless killers.

Finn started to say something but Merry
quickly moved to hush him.

"No. He's right. Haeven is as dangerous as it
is beautiful and under Freya..." I bit my lip.

"You need to tell us what you know," Finn
insisted.

"It's been more than a year since I've been
there and really I kept to the lowest levels. I'm not sure what I
can tell you about other than the garden and some of the common
areas that I have been to."

"You may not think it much but I'm sure
you've seen a lot more than you imagine. Maybe you should let us be
the judges of what you know and what you don't know!"

"Finn!" Merry gasped.

Again I recoiled at the accusation in Finn's
voice but as I studied the three of them I honestly didn't see any
harm in telling them what I could remember. I took a deep breath,
"Haeven is...it's carved, I guess, into the hillside overlooking
the canyon. That I know of there is only one access road and it is
the only way in or out of the compound. The road is...it's
disguised somehow and even though I travelled it dozens of times it
was always with Herrik. I never once saw it or was able to
recognize it on my own."

Colin, Merry and Finn all looked at me
expectantly while they waited for me to go on. I was still
gathering my thoughts though and it took a while for me to begin
speaking again but once I did I found my memories came quicker and
more precise with the telling. Haeven had been my home for seven
years and I realized that Finn was right and that I did seem to
know much more about the layout and dynamics of it than I would
have guessed.

As I continued to speak though, the more I
missed it and the more personal my tale became. Soon I began
telling them not only about the compound and its layout but about
the people who lived there, the ones I knew, the ones I cared for
and the ones I loved.

Eventually I realized that I had gone
off-topic and hastily apologized for the lapse.

"No...this is good," Colin quickly
interrupted. "Knowing who you cared for is going to give us the
best indication of who cared for you and who is most likely to
rally to our cause once we get inside."

"I agree with Colin," Finn clenched his jaw
as he said it. "Maybe you should show us some of these people so
we'll be able to recognize friend from foe."