Page 18 of Revenant (Spirit Realm #2)
ELLIS
A s guards escort us to our new accommodations, I remain glued to Rue’s side, never straying more than a step away. While I might be the slimmest of the group, that often leads to others underestimating me.
The rest of the guys are tucked close, but they maintain their distance in case they need to fight. If anything happens, it’s my job to whisk her away while they cover our retreat. I mentally map our route, memorizing the face of each guard we pass, noting the dozens of cameras covering every angle, and casing the exits at the same time.
From the lack of windows and the heavy hum of the furnace, we must be underground. Chilled air permeates the space, something that seems to radiate from every surface. No matter how advanced, nothing can disguise the smell of dust and musty dirt that lives only beneath the earth.
I am on edge, unable to place my unease. My system is flooded with adrenaline that usually hits right before a fight, but my body feels uncalibrated. I can’t seem to regulate my heartbeat. My chest feels too tight, my head too small, while the lights seem a little too bright.
It’s not claustrophobia, panic attacks, or even a migraine.
Which leaves only one option—I’ve been drugged.
I grit my teeth in annoyance, cursing myself for not realizing before now that they must have put something inside our IVs. I mentally run through the signs, hoping to pinpoint what type of drug they administered.
My muscles tremble and spasm, sweat slicks my hairline, and my mouth is so dry that my tongue feels clumsy and two sizes too big. No amount of swallowing produces any extra saliva. Sharp electrical jolts spark under my skin, the prickling sensation just shy of pain.
None of the symptoms add up.
The only reason I recognize the signs of being drugged is because my parents diagnosed me with ADHD at an early age. They used to slip pills into my food, claiming they wanted to help me focus on my studies. My focus wasn’t the problem—it was me they wanted to change. They wanted me to follow in their footsteps and become a surgeon, like everyone else in my family.
According to them, my dream of becoming a computer programmer was completely unacceptable. It didn’t matter that my skill level bordered on genius or that the top colleges across the country were trying to recruit me at the age of fifteen.
When I refused to take the drugs they prescribed, they discussed sending me to a private school, determined to bend me to their will by shipping me off to somewhere I could be hidden away like an embarrassment.
It was the last straw.
I disappeared the next day. They virtually disowned me, forbidding me from returning unless I came to my senses.
I cut ties that day and never looked back.
It took months for my body to acclimate without the drugs, and I’m pissed that I have to go through the hell of detoxing again.
I observe the others and recognize the same symptoms.
A muscle in my jaw ticks as I struggle to hold back the curses threatening to blister my tongue. If Rue discovers that the doctor didn’t keep his word, I fear how she will react.
She won’t hesitate to throw herself in danger if she thinks it would keep us safe.
No, we must make a plan.
Reacting blindly will only lead to disaster.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard I concentrate, it’s a struggle to think when my skull feels like it’s being split open.
The guards lead us up another level of stairs, and we emerge into a hallway that could have come from any cheap motel dated thirty years ago. Hicks brings up the rear, and I’m surprised the assholes don’t hurry him along with a well-placed shove, but they’re careful not to touch us.
Following orders?
Or something more?
The soldiers are on high alert, their shoulders rigid as their hard gazes follow our every move. The grip they have on the guns in their holsters says they are expecting trouble. An itchy trigger finger never bodes well for anyone, but I can’t say I blame them after reading some of the reports about what they allow to happen in this place.
They’re afraid, not only of us, but the doctor as well. They were selected for this job specifically because they don’t give a shit about the atrocities they witness. I suspect anyone who protested vanished long ago.
How the fuck did we miss the signs?
The guards don’t follow us onto the floor, the one holding the door speaking for the first time. “The whole floor has been reassigned to your group.” Then he releases the door, the metal slamming shut with a heavy thump as the locks engage.
None of us bother to check the door. Instead, Jaceson grabs Rue’s hand before hustling us down the hallway to the last room. Gunner and Jameson follow quickly on their heels, while Hicks and I remain behind to guard the rear.
When we finally slip into the room, Gunner snaps the door shut, planting himself in front of it. The twins split up and begin searching the room. The space isn’t large, so it doesn’t take long to locate the cameras.
Jace doesn’t hesitate to tear them out of the walls, punching a hole in the drywall to yank out the cords. James follows behind him, smashing the cameras to the ground, then stomping on them for good measure.
When Hicks opens his mouth to speak, I hold up my hand. The scratchy sound of static creeps along my senses, and I slowly stalk the sound until I find three more hidden cameras disguised in the furniture.
It’s only when we’ve destroyed the electronics that the static vanishes, and the headache wrapping around my skull like a vise abates a fraction. When I look up, the others are watching me curiously. “We’re safe now.”
I debate for a second if I should tell them my suspicions. Gunner twitches like he’s strung out. Hicks remains as stoic as always, so I doubt I would see any outward symptoms. The twins don’t appear to be affected, but again, they are usually so manic that I’m uncertain if I would be able to tell the difference.
“Ellis.” Rue touches my arm to gain my attention, and sparks snap under my skin at the contact. My dick snaps to attention at her nearness, and I can’t stop the blush that heats my cheeks.
Sure, that’s my normal reaction around her, but something about her touch feels different, more intimate. It’s like she wrapped her dainty little hands around my cock and squeezed. I inhale sharply and clench my eyes shut in the hopes that I don’t come in my pants.
While the last thing I want to do is break the connection, I can’t concentrate with her touching me. I slip from her touch, and my gut clenches when every expression on her face vanishes at the rejection.
I feel like a fucking ass, and it’s all I can do not to sweep her up in my arms and show her just how much she means to me.
Unfortunately, now is not the time or the place.
All logical thought disappears from my mind as I desperately attempt to explain myself. “They put something in our IVs when we were unconscious. I don’t feel high, but when you touch me, I can’t concentrate.” Swearing that my brains are seconds away from oozing out of my skull, I cradle my head in my hands and squeeze in an effort to relieve the pressure.
Rue looks like I slapped her in the face, hastily stepping away from us, and I follow her without thought, needing to be close to her like I need air to breathe.
“But he promised…” Her hoarse voice shatters. Tears glisten in her eyes, and her shoulders slump in defeat. Her gaze drops to the floor, like she can’t bear to look at us. She is so forlorn that my resolve to keep my distance vanishes.
I gently pull her against my chest, my insides aching when she doesn’t struggle, and my grip reflexively tightens. “He never had any intention of keeping his promise.”
She rears back with a scowl. Though her eyes are red, I relax slightly when I see the raging fire for vengeance burning in them. When she opens her mouth to protest, I speak quickly, pushing home my point. “The only alternative would be to kill us.”
Her mouth snaps shut so fast that her teeth click together. A shudder goes through her, and she burrows closer, as though she can prevent that from happening by will alone. My whole body lights up like I’m hugging a sparkler. It’s not painful, more like my body is waking up from a long slumber. With her in my arms, the pain is dulled…or maybe the pleasure just overwhelms it so completely that I no longer feel it.
My cock jolts at having her near, the fucker trying to gain her attention, and I cut that thought off before it can form. I grit my teeth as I struggle to keep myself in check, but I can’t seem to force myself to release her, not when she’s been gone for so long.
Tucking her against my side, I glance at the rest of the guys. “Do any of you feel different?”
Gunner’s eyes widen, then he grimaces and rubs a hand against the dark stubble on his chin. “Yes.”
Rue trembles, a shuddering breath leaving her, as if her worst fears were confirmed.
The twins glance at each other, then they both shake their heads.
Everyone turns toward Hicks and waits.
His eyes narrow, and he tilts his head, his expression contemplative as he assesses himself, much like he does after a fight. He lifts a hand, a furrow forming between his brows when he rubs his fingertips together. A moment later, he runs his tongue over his teeth, and his expression darkens.
When he lowers his hand, his attention snaps toward Rue. His head lifts in the air, and he inhales deeply, his chest expanding impressively. I swear his eyes dilate at whatever scent he catches. He remains perfectly still, but a quiver goes through him as he battles against the urge to pounce. “Yes.”
Though his tone is calm, his voice is a low rumble that abrades my nerves like sandpaper, and everything inside me screams to run while I have the chance.
It’s not until our surroundings become hazy that I realize the room is dimming. A dark fog skims across the floor, spilling closer and closer to us, like it’s searching for prey. The twins stiffen, the two of them going back-to-back, as if expecting an attack.
We inch closer together until we’re huddled in the middle of the room. Our breaths emerge like a white cloud in the air, and it’s not until I shiver, my teeth chattering together, that I recognize the signs.
Our discovery is too much for Rue.
She is triggered by the knowledge she couldn’t protect us. She probably thinks she failed us in some way, but nothing could be further from the truth. We decided to come, no matter the consequences.
If whatever they did to us can help keep her safe, I’m all for it.
Eyeing the darkness warily, I turn my back to it and let the others guard us while I try to figure out how to help Rue. I shift until I’m standing only inches from her. My heart clenches when I see her unfocused eyes and shallow breathing. I snap my fingers right in her face, but she doesn’t even blink.
She is staring into the darkness, trapped in some horror only she can see. Refusing to let her face it alone, I cup her jaw and press my forehead against hers. Her skin almost burns at the contact, and I grunt when it feels like I’m touching the surface of the sun. It’s not that she’s warm, it’s just that the rest of the room is that cold. She is the only source of heat. “Rue. Can you hear me?”
The darkness shifts, becomes a little transparent, and I swear things are moving in the shadows. Nothing distinct, almost like my brain shies away from witnessing the nightmares.
“Jace…” James’ voice is low as he gazes into the darkness. “Are you seeing this shit too?”
Jace shuffles closer until their shoulders are touching, and he nods grimly. “The dead that haunt this place. I could see them before, like peering into a clouded mirror. Whatever they injected me with is boosting that ability. They look so real that I swear I could touch them.”
When James does that very thing, because the fucker has no sense of self-preservation, Rue’s hand snaps out and captures his wrist, stopping him from touching something I can’t quite see. I’m not sure how she did it, since she never once looked away from whatever captured her attention. I didn’t think she was even aware of what was happening around her.
Then she turns her head, still not looking away from the darkness, like she’s staring down a wild animal that might attack at any second. “Touching bad. Don’t ever touch them.”
James blinks once, forcing his attention away from the darkness. His eyes are so wide that the whites gleam in the dim room. If he is that freaked out, then whatever he saw must really be disturbing. He swallows once, his throat bobbing, before shuffling closer to Rue until he’s tucked behind her.
Rue relaxes at the contact, the stiffness bleeding out from her shoulders, and she leans into him. I purse my lips, tilting my head to the side, and prod Jace. “Touch Rue.”
Jace doesn’t even hesitate to turn his back on the threat and focus on our girl. He nudges his brother, then slips his arm around the front of her waist until she’s pressed against both brothers. He hunches down, resting his chin on her shoulder.
Rue inhales, blinking her eyes slowly, like they’re too heavy to lift.
Following a hunch, I call out to the last two, “Gunner and Hicks, hands on Rue.”
Neither hesitates, no one even blinking that we’re all huddled around the small slip of a girl in our midst. Rightness settles over me. When I peer down at Rue, she is looking directly at me, awareness returning to her eyes, and the anxiety crushing my insides relaxes slightly.
I lean over and press my forehead against hers again, the dread in my gut since she was taken finally easing. Now that we have her back, I’m never letting her go.
Done battling myself, the need to stake my claim like a compulsion, I lower my head and kiss her, uncaring that we have an audience. All that matters is her.
The first touch of her lips is like diving into a clear pool of water—it’s invigorating, something fresh and untouched, where one taste will never be enough. When she leans into me, her hands clutching me close, the rest of the world ceases to exist.