Chapter 99 Nico
NICO
My stomach was doing backflips. I was about to teleport for the third time in a day.
Sinthy didn’t seem worried, but I couldn’t shake the internal fear that human and shifter bodies weren’t designed for this.
Luis was working on pulling up a live feed of the facility to see if we were successful, but he was having no luck.
He sighed. “Best I can do is this five-minute delay. That software isn’t able to crack that last firewall.”
“Not a problem,” Sinthy said. “You won’t be able to see us anyway.”
That sounded foreboding. “Huh?” I asked.
“I’m going to cast a cloaking spell on us before we teleport.
It’s something my mother developed a couple of decades ago when security cameras started becoming more prolific.
It cloaks us from all electronic monitoring.
You won’t be able to see us in the cameras.
That also means whatever security team monitoring them in the building won’t either. ”
“Well, holy shit,” Tiago muttered.
“Um, is that gonna hurt or anything?” I asked. Teleporting was uncomfortable, and the idea of more spells being cast over me was a little disconcerting.
“You may feel a little tingle, like static electricity running over your body. The spell only lasts about ten minutes. After that, it’ll dissipate, and you won’t know anything happened.”
Luis walked over to a printer and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Here,” he said, handing the printout to me.
“What’s this?”
“Blueprints. Basically a map. I found them on an old municipal server for that region. It’s from when it was built about twenty years ago, but it should be accurate.
In case you guys don’t end up right where you want to be, I circled the area that looks like where Gabriella is being held.
You can find your way if you get into a snag. ”
“No faith in the witch?” Sinthy asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
Luis rolled his eyes. “I have faith, but like the Boy Scouts say, be prepared.”
Sinthy tilted her head to the side. “Fair enough.”
Sinthy and I stepped away from everyone.
Maddy released my hand at the last moment.
I wished I could take her with us, but it really was too dangerous.
Sinthy draped an arm over my shoulder and started murmuring to herself.
After a few seconds, I felt a weird tingle going across my skin.
The cloaking spell must have been complete. Sinthy took my hand. “Ready?”
“I think—”
Before I could finish speaking, we vanished.
The same disorientation overwhelmed me, and in an instant, we were standing in a bright white hallway.
Fluorescent lights above gave the passage a cold, sterile feeling.
I gasped and swallowed back the bile that tried to rise in my throat. I was never going to get used to that.
Sinthy, unfazed, tugged me to the side. “Over here,” she hissed into my ear.
Blinking, I pressed myself against the wall. Through the haze of my discomfort, I became aware of the clomp of boots. Someone was walking down the hall toward us. Fuck. Already?
Sinthy pressed her hand to a door and murmured a spell, and the door clicked open.
She dragged me inside and closed it right as the footsteps turned the corner into the hallway.
My heart was thrumming inside my chest. I hadn’t anticipated something like this happening the moment we appeared.
Christ, if we’d left even five seconds later, whoever this was would have probably actually seen us appear out of thin air.
The footsteps receded down the hall, and Sinthy opened the door a crack to peer out. Whispering, almost low enough that I couldn’t hear her, she said, “A guard. Armed. He didn’t see us. Come on. I can feel her. We’re close.”
I followed her out the door and walked behind her as she led the way.
The map seemed pointless at this point. Sinthy took turn after turn with perfect confidence.
I was already lost, but she seemed to know exactly where we were going.
At one intersection of hallways, I heard the murmur of conversation.
We stood at the corner, hidden from sight, praying that no one would come this way.
Whether it was God or fate, our prayers were answered, and the voices and footsteps disappeared down an adjacent passage.
“This is it,” Sinthy whispered as we rounded a final corner.
There was a long hallway, longer than any we’d seen thus far. It was lined with doors. Each one was numbered and had a small panel at eye level. It was the exact same setup as I’d seen in the video feed. Sinthy walked toward the door labeled #1.
I crept up beside her and watched as the confident look on her face evaporated when she placed a hand on the door. It was replaced with a look of confusion and slight fear. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I… this is strange,” Sinthy said, running a hand across the metal of the door.
“What’s strange? What are you talking about?” Was something wrong? What was happening?
“Step back. I need to check something.”
I did as she asked, taking two full steps away.
My head swiveled back and forth, looking and listening for anyone who might stumble upon us.
Sinthy pressed both hands to the door and whispered something to herself.
A second later, a weird crackle filled the air, and my ears tried to pop. “What the hell is that?” I asked.
“The door is enchanted?” Her words came out almost like a question instead of a statement.
“What? I thought you said the royals didn’t have witches.
” This was bad. If there was a witch inside this facility helping the royals, our one trump card had been rendered useless.
My God, what if they’d already cast some spell that would prevent us from teleporting out?
Things had rapidly gotten worse if that was the case.
Sinthy shook her head. “This isn’t the work of a witch.
This spell is too weak. This is…” She frowned as if she was trying to work out some riddle in her head.
“It’s almost like someone is pretending to be a witch.
Casting a spell they didn’t really understand.
Stolen magic, maybe? I don’t like this. We need to move fast. Hang on. ”
Sinthy swept her hand across the door a second time, this time muttering a different set of incomprehensible words. The electronic latch inside the door clicked open with an audible clack. The door swung open a single inch, and a massive blaring alarm began to sound.
“Shit,” Sinthy hissed. “Hurry. I was too worried about the enchantment, and I forgot to disable the alarm when I unlocked it. They’ll be here any second.”
I yanked the door open and sprinted inside.
Maddy’s mother sat on the floor—her knees hugged to her chest like I’d seen in the video.
She was still staring blankly into space.
She hadn’t even moved or reacted at all when the alarm sounded.
I looked into her vacant eyes and gently patted her cheek.
“Gabriella? Hey? Are you there?” Nothing.
It was like she was comatose, except her eyes were open.
“Anything?” Sinthy asked.
I shook my head. “Gabriella. We’re going to get you out of here, okay?”
“Nico? I hear footsteps. They’re coming. We have to go!”
I took Gabriella’s hand. “I’m gonna take you back to Maddy. You’ll see her soon.”
Finally, a small flicker of acknowledgment came into her eyes at the mention of Maddy’s name.
Gabriella’s eyes flitted to my face for the barest instant before going lifeless again.
I reached up and grabbed Sinthy’s hand. An instant later, the door of the cell burst open.
The two guards froze, shocked to see Sinthy and me inside the cell.
From down the hall behind the guards, the sound of a familiar female voice screeched at them. “If she gets away, you’re all fucking dead. You hear me?”
Sinthy winked at the guards. “Screw you. Have fun with that, bitch.” A blink of an eye later, the three of us vanished.
I collapsed onto the floor of my living room, Maddy’s mother in my arms. Sinthy stood above us, brushing her clothes off as if she’d only come in from the garden rather than five thousand miles away.
Sinthy turned toward the stairs. “We’re back,” she called.
Shouts of surprise and the sound of stampeding feet met her words.
Within seconds, the others were rushing down the stairs toward us.
Maddy grabbed me and kissed me before turning to her mother.
She gathered her mother in her arms. Gabriella didn’t lift her arms to hug her back.
All she did was sit there like a zombie.
Maddy cupped Gabriella’s face in her hands and stared deep into her eyes. “It’s like she’s not there. What’s wrong with her?” Maddy sounded like she was on the verge of a full freak-out.
I moved up next to her and looked into Gabriella’s eyes.
Maddy was right. Nothing was there. She’d reacted for a second when I mentioned Maddy’s name back in the lab.
I’d hoped actually seeing her daughter would bring her around.
I turned to Sinthy. “Do I need to call Doc? Or is there something you can do for her?”
The young woman frowned and kneeled beside us. She gently nudged Maddy over. “Let me see what I can find. They used some shitty spell on that door. Maybe their wannabe spellcaster did something to her. If so, it should be easily fixable.”
Sinthy took a deep breath and placed her fingers on the side of Gabriella’s head, right at her temples.
I pulled Maddy away and stood with Tiago and Luis, watching the witch at work.
Sinthy closed her eyes and lowered her head.
A few moments later, the familiar crackling sensations filled my head.
I still wasn’t sure if the sound was actually real or only in my head.
It increased as Sinthy breathed out hard.
It was like she was straining against something or searching for something.
I wished I could tell what was happening.
Then Sinthy gasped and yanked her fingers away from Gabriella’s head. The young woman collapsed onto her butt, putting a hand to her mouth. The look of terror and confusion in her eyes made my blood run cold. Something was wrong. “What’s the matter?” I asked.
Sinthy shook her head, still gazing at Gabriella in wonder. “I didn’t think it was possible,” she murmured to herself.
“What?” Maddy asked, falling to her knees again beside Sinthy. “You didn’t think what was possible?”
Sinthy slowly got to her feet and took a step away from Gabriella before looking at Maddy. “Her wolf is lost.”
“What do you mean lost?” Luis asked. “Like it’s asleep? Or suppressed like Maddy’s was?”
Sinthy turned to him and shook her head once. “No. I mean it is lost. Gone. Not inside her at all.”
The world seemed to stand still. The look of surprise and terror on Tiago and Luis’s faces matched the fear I felt.
It was like an ice cube had been slowly dragged up my spine.
That shouldn’t be possible. The wolf was part of you as much as your heart or brain was part of you.
There shouldn’t be any way that a wolf could disappear like that.
“What does that mean?” Maddy asked. “Will she be okay?”
Sinthy shook her head again. “I can’t feel the wolf anywhere. It’s like it’s gone. Completely. For now, this means your mother is a human. I’ll have to think about it. Maybe there’s something I can do, but…” She trailed off and gave a confused shake of her head.
A glance toward Gabriella showed the same vacant stare.
Was this what happened if your animal was ripped from your soul?
Your body kept going, but your mind was too broken to continue.
I shivered again. An existential fear unlike any I’d ever encountered before fell on me, draping me in terror and shock. This was almost worse than death.