Page 15 of Blood Skye (Skye Druids #6)

Chapter Fifteen

Song clasped Carlyle’s hand, hiding her surprise that he actually agreed to join forces. They released each other at the same time. Both seemed suddenly uncomfortable and edgy.

“ We can’t stay here,” Carlyle said. “ Finn will find us. He’s like a dog with a bone. Especially now that I’ve cut off contact.”

She wondered what it was like to have a friend who would go to such lengths. It wasn’t something she had experience with. And it made her long to have someone like that. “ Do we know if the team is still at the lodge?”

“ If Shane added cameras, I don’t know how to access them. We won’t know what’s waiting for us until we leave the bunker. It’s night now, which gives us more cover.”

“ The team will have heat sensors.”

Carlyle considered that as he rubbed his hand along his jaw, rasping his whiskers. “ The estate is twenty acres. We’re still approximately five miles from the nearest road. We need the SUV at the lodge.”

“ What’s the closest city to us?” When he didn’t immediately answer, Song said, “ I have various ways to get in and out of London that the organization doesn’t know about.”

“ Why ?”

She didn’t take offense at the question. It was a fair one, especially since he knew how loyal she had been. Had been . Things had changed when they came after her. “ Because I didn’t intend to spend my life in service to them. As long as they have my sister, I will be forced to do their bidding. I’ve been waiting for the right time to get her out. Despite what you might think, I didn’t spend all my time doing evil. I’ve spent years setting up multiple stashes of clothes, money, travel documents, and transportation all around England . So , I’ll ask again. What’s the closest city?”

“ Nottingham .”

She smiled. “ Seems luck is smiling on us.”

“ Care to elaborate?” he asked tersely.

“ What is the one thing in abundance in the UK ? Water .”

One side of his lips tilted up in a grin. “ You’re talking about the canals and rivers.”

“ That’s exactly what I’m talking about. I have a narrowboat docked there.”

“ Why there?”

She dismissed his suspicions because she would have the same. “ I own three narrowboats. Nottingham was the first one I purchased. Another is in Bridgewater down south, and the third in Darlington up north.”

“ We still need a car to get from here to Nottingham .”

“ As you said, yours is at the lodge.”

His turquoise eyes crinkled at the corners. “ You think they left it?”

“ They don’t care about the vehicle. They’re after us. There will probably be four guards stationed around the house on the lookout in case we return.”

“ Only four?”

She lifted her right shoulder. “ Should be easy for us to take out.”

“ Incapacitate . Not kill,” he stated.

“ Whatever you say.” Song knew it was only a matter of time before he realized it was kill or be killed. It always came down to that with the organization.

Carlyle got to his feet and paced the narrow section before them slowly. He stopped and looked at her. “ Do we chance night vision or go during the day?”

“ Daytime .”

“ Agreed . That gives us a few hours to get some rest. I suggest we do that while we can.”

Song looked at the mobile before she slid her gaze to Carlyle . “ May I ?”

He had already said she could, but she still asked. Their truce was too new. The ground they walked on together was still too shaky. He didn’t even know her real name. Trust was virtually nonexistent.

But building.

Finally , Carlyle nodded. “ Go ahead.”

She didn’t leave the room as she picked up the phone. She opened an internet window and did a search for Jane Does in London with her sister’s coloring and height. Her heart skipped a beat when one response popped up. Song’s finger shook as she tapped on the news brief. It didn’t tell her much. She used a login she’d created after an assignment forced her to get close to a deputy assistant commissioner. Once inside the police database, she looked up the date and time the body had been discovered in the Thames River .

Song hovered the cursor over the file before finally selecting it. A picture of the woman taken from the river popped up. She closed her eyes as relief filled her. It wasn’t Lauren . That didn’t mean the elders weren’t hurting her sister, though. It just meant she wasn’t dead yet.

Song set the mobile on the bed and walked out, returning to the main bedroom and the soundscape before crawling into bed. She needed the relaxation now more than ever going up against London .

Song groggily opened her eyes. She hadn’t expected to fall asleep. The myriad pillows allowed her to feel cocooned without putting pressure on her wound. She hated to leave the comfort of the bed, but they had a big day ahead of them. She needed to be on top of her game, which would be difficult enough with her injury.

She turned off the soundscape before climbing out of bed and then made her way to the ensuite bathroom. After carefully removing the sweats, she put on the camisole and jeans. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. Once that was done, she slid the sweatshirt back on. Song brushed her hair and attempted to put it up, but the movements pulled at the injury too much. With no other option, she left it down.

After a quick fluff of the pillows and some straightening of the comforter, she made her way upstairs. Her boots were sitting by the sofa with a clean pair of socks. Movement caught her attention as she sat. She glanced up as Carlyle came out of the kitchen. He didn’t look at her as he disappeared into his bedroom.

Once her boots were on, she found a bottle of water and drank it. A package of crackers sat out with an open jar of peanut butter that had a butter knife resting on the lid. She set the water down and walked to the food. She hesitated for only a moment before spreading a layer of peanut butter on the round cracker and biting into it.

The wafer crumbled in her mouth, making her hastily try to catch the crumbs that fell. She popped the last of the cracker into her mouth, and because it tasted so good, made another. The gooey goodness of the peanut butter she hadn’t enjoyed in years was too good to stop at just one.

She leaned back against the counter and chewed her fourth cracker with her eyes closed to savor the moment. Right now, she was safe, fed, and dry. It might be the last time she ever experienced those three things at once. Once she and Carlyle left the bunker, anything could—and likely would—happen.

Song opened her eyes to find Carlyle standing a few feet from her. She finished the last cracker and grabbed her water.

“ Take as much as you want,” Carlyle said.

She shook her head and lowered the bottle. “ I’m done, thanks.”

He continued staring at her, then pointed. “ You have…ah…something…” He used his index finger to touch the side of his mouth.

Song reached up to her lips, and her finger came away with a dab of peanut butter. She used a napkin to wipe her entire mouth to make sure nothing else was there.

“ It’s a hike back to the lodge,” Carlyle told her.

She was about to tell him she’d be fine when she recalled that he had carried her. “ Are we going back through the course?”

“ We’ll go around it.”

That was a relief, at least. She didn’t relish repeating that experience anytime soon.

Carlyle put away the food and said, “ We’ll move fast and light. Dawn is coming.”

“ You don’t think we should wait until then?”

“ It’ll be more difficult for them to see during that time.”

She pointedly said, “ As well as us.”

“ As well as us,” he said with a nod and faced her. “ But we know what to look for. They don’t.”

Song’s hunting grounds were cities or houses, not nature. She would have to trust Carlyle’s decision. It was a hard pill to swallow.

“ Ready ?”

She nodded once and followed him into the living area to a door. While Carlyle unlocked it, Song spotted a flat cap hanging on a hook. She put it on her head, happy to find that it fit and would keep the bulk of her hair from falling into her face. Carlyle watched her but said nothing.

He held the door open and waited for her to go through before closing it behind them. They walked along a passage that led to a set of stairs. The ascent wasn’t just one long climb. There were twelve grated aluminum steps that met a three-foot landing. It repeated until they reached the door that led outside. Carlyle paused there, waiting for her to look away. She did, staring at the steps they had just taken. He whispered her name to get her attention. Song turned to find him motioning her toward him.

She came up behind him, and only then did he press a button to turn off the lights in the tunnel. He cracked the door open and looked out. It was still dark, and her eyes hadn’t adjusted yet. The fact that Carlyle didn’t move said his were adjusting, too.

He touched her arm and slipped through the crack in the door. She waited, her ears straining to hear anything. Finally , he returned and tapped her arm again, letting her know it was clear. She exited the bunker and plastered herself against the side of the hill while Carlyle closed and locked the door once more.

She watched his silhouette move in the darkness. Then they were off. Carlyle kept the pace slow as they climbed the next hill and hurried down the other side. Devon wasn’t a runner, but she did enough cardio to keep up. Just like when they’d gone through the course, she kept behind him, following his footsteps while keeping a lookout behind her so no one crept up on them. They both wore dark clothing, which helped them blend into the night.

It wasn’t long before she wanted to remove her sweatshirt after such activity. The jarring movements also aggravated the stitches and made her wound throb. Carlyle paused, and she used the time to brace her right hand on her knee, bending over to draw in some deep breaths. She straightened to find his gaze on her.

He said nothing before he turned and took off again. She had always been bad at guessing distances. It felt as if they had already run a marathon. What bothered her was that she hadn’t seen anyone. The team wouldn’t have given up on the area. They would have started in a circle around the lodge and widened it steadily until they found their quarry.

And she and Carlyle were headed right back to them.

She kept her legs pumping. Her breathing was loud, and that, mixed with the wind in her ears, made it difficult to hear anything else. She kept her head on a swivel because of that, but it was still too dark, and every shadow was after her. Carlyle had said it was a hike. And he had carried her the entire distance?

Song had a stitch in her side and longed to ask him to stop, but she didn’t. Not even when he sped up. She had stayed with Carlyle for as long as she could. She tried to pump her legs faster, but he was gaining ground. Song didn’t stop, though. She kept going. One moment, she was running. The next, someone grabbed her and yanked her against a hard chest.

“ It’s me,” Carlyle whispered.

His voice reached her just before her elbow connected with his ribs. She halted the momentum and basked in the fact that she wasn’t running anymore. It didn’t take her brain long to realize why.