LAILAH
EIGHTEEN
Even with the main lights out, the emergency strobes helped light the way even if I thought I was going to have a seizure.
Parker had intentionally set off some sort of alarm so sirens were blaring, making my ears hurt.
If his goal was to make it a horribly disorienting atmosphere, then he did the job.
If I didn’t have him to anchor me, I don’t know what I would have done or if I’d be able to make sense of anything going on.
He pushed forward, leading us back down two flights of stairs, then down a winding hall to a third set of stairs that only went down.
Here, the place was pitch black with only the flashing lights from above giving us any light to see.
Parker let go of my hand and light bloomed into existence.
On the gun he had in his hand was a flashlight which I was extremely thankful for as we moved through the unfamiliar layout.
“I didn’t get the door open like I hoped but I disabled the secondary handprint lock on each of the doors.
Shorting out the keypad will be easy enough so we shouldn’t have too much trouble getting them out.
The only problem I have is there are ten rooms and only four of them.
I have no idea who or what could be behind the other six doors,” Parker informed me as we stopped in front of one of the doors.
“Do you think he would keep a demon down here? This seems rather specific to dealing with the Elementi,” I reasoned. “Either way, it’s worth checking all the rooms. One of them could have Jay’s mom in it.”
Parker’s brows shot up at this idea. “Fuck, you might be right. Alright, as I work on getting the doors open, I need you to use the flashlight on your gun and watch my back. This hall is a dead end that way, so if you stand shining the light on what I’m doing and facing the stairs, we should be good. ”
Nodding, I did as he asked, watching for a moment as he pulled out a knife and got to work prying open the keypad.
Pulling my attention, I watched the shadows and listened the best I could with the alarms going off.
The reality of my life right now made me want to shake my head.
No one would have ever pegged me as the warrior princess type.
I was more of the goofy sidekick but here I was with a gun in hand ready to break out the men I loved.
That was only the beginning. Once that happened, we still had a dark overlord to kill and then had to save the planet.
Maybe I should have taken Cami’s advice and read more of those fantasy books she kept pushing on me, then I might have a clue how to end this all.
“Got it!” Parker exclaimed as the door lock clicked.
Tucking away the knife, he pulled his gun back out and stood to the side of the door before he pushed it open.
Peering around the corner, I let out a sigh of relief that it was just empty and nothing was trying to kill us.
“On to the next one. Now that I’ve done one of these, the others should be easier. ”
Three more rooms were empty and if our theory was correct, then the next set of doors should hold the people we were looking for. When the lock clicked on the next door, it came bursting open and Jay tackled Parker, slamming him to the floor.
“Jay, wait, it’s us!” I yelled, reaching out to stop Jay from pummeling Parker in the face.
Jay paused hearing my voice and looked up but the flashlight was shining right in his face, making him wince before I lowered it. “Lailah, what are you doing here?” Jay demanded, getting to his feet and stalking over to me. “Why are you and Parker running around while the alarms are going off?”
The angry energy that was coming off him had me backing up until I was pinned against the wall. “Ah, well, that’s a bit of a story that we don’t really have time for.”
“No, I think now is the perfect time for you to fill me in on what’s happening, or are you going to be a bad girl and disobey me?” Jay whispered. He slid a hand up my arm to my neck, gently gripping it. “Good girls get rewarded, bad girls get punished.”
I gulped at the fierceness in Jay’s silver eyes.
“Dirty cops came and kidnapped the three of us, claiming we were involved in the bombing at Pride. We got away and Brayden came up with the idea you might be here, so we drove to Paarl. Once we got there, they were blasting our pictures all over the news and we knew we couldn’t get out of the city without someone noticing us.
I called Cami, and she reached out to the base and they came to get us.
It wasn’t until that moment I figured it all out. ”
“What did you figure out?” Jay asked even though I was pretty sure he knew.
“Your father is a traitor working for the Dark Lord, running his army and is trying to kill us,” I blurted, not really sure how to tell a man I loved that his father was an asshole.
Jay narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean he’s trying to kill us?”
“Well...” I started but Parker got another door open and Micah came out swinging.
Parker got socked right in the mouth before Micah took a moment to figure out what was going on. “Lailah, what the fuck are you doing here with him?”
I let out a frustrated growl and attempted to shove Jay away from me.
He let me move him, his hand sliding off my neck as I headed for Micah.
“Can we cover that in a moment? We need to get the last few rooms open to see if Jay’s mom is in one of them along with Brayden and Hudson.
Then we need to get the fuck out of this goddamn nightmare of a prison.
” This outburst had both Jay and Micah looking stunned.
“It’s been one hell of an experience since you guys went off to your meeting.
The next time I tell you guys we don’t split up, you better fucking listen! ”
Thankfully, none of them took the risk of arguing with me as I went to help Parker with the next keypad.
Clearly, he didn’t need it since he got the previous one open on his own but it gave me a purpose.
He’d been right. Now that he got the hang of it, he was opening the doors much faster.
Thankfully, this time when the door was opened no one came out swinging.
No one came to the door at all. Sneaking a look around the doorframe, I saw a woman on her side, sleeping on a cot.
She was stunning, dressed in a simple green dress with her long black hair flowing out behind her.
This woman had to be Jay’s mother. There was no other reason she would be here.
“Jay,” I called to him. He was in a heated discussion with Micah. “You’re gonna want to handle this, I think.”
I don’t know if it was the look on my face or the tone I was using but horror crossed his face as he dashed into the room and knelt beside his mother.
He started to whisper to her in Japanese as he lifted her out of the bed, her head falling to rest on his shoulder.
None of this woke her and I had to wonder what Makoto did to her, and why.
There was no reason to keep her locked away like this if the plan was to turn her into one of those mindless demon-possessed people.
Unless he was hiding her from the Dark Lord to keep her from that fate—but why?
Parker had moved on to the last two doors, freeing both Hudson and Brayden in quick succession. Now that we were all out, it was time to get moving.
“I don’t have time to explain everything but here’s what you need to know.
Makoto is working with the Dark Lord. He’s trying to get me to show off all the powers that I have by having demon-possessed people attack me.
Somehow, he figured out that me working alone wasn’t all I could do, so he pulled Parker into the mix.
I’m guessing because he isn’t bonded to me.
If he died, he wouldn’t take me down with him.
Makoto unleashed a massive amount of them on us but we got out of there and did what we needed to set you guys free.
Now that we’re all up to speed, can we please leave before something else happens? ” I asked, talking as fast as I could.
“Why can’t I feel my powers?” Micah asked, staring at his hand as if he was trying to do something with it.
“Makoto gave us all a drug laced with demon venom, blocking us off from our powers. Before he sent me to fight, he gave me an antidote,” Parker answered.
That did not make Micah’s mood any better as he spluttered at the information. “How the fuck do you expect us to get out of here if we don’t have our powers to use?”
“If you’d given me a moment, I would have told you,” I grumbled as I walked up to him and grabbed his face with my hands to pull him into a kiss.
Clearly, I didn’t need to kiss him for this to work but right now I wasn’t going to take the chance that I might never get to again.
Letting my power flow through him, I searched for anything that shouldn’t be inside him.
When I came across the demon venom, I was able to burn it away, making him whimper as he held onto me for dear life.
I knew this didn’t feel good, but it was what needed to happen if they wanted their powers back.
As soon as I felt the last vestiges of the venom were gone, I pulled back my power, giving him one more brush of my lips before looking him in the eyes.
“Holy shit, why did that have to hurt so bad?” he wheezed as he rested his head on my shoulder.
I let my hand comb through his long hair for a moment as he collected himself. “I’m sorry, I know just how awful that is, but it was the fastest way to get your powers back.” Nodding, he let me go, and I faced the others. “Who wants to go next?”
None of them looked thrilled but Hudson stepped up to the plate, resting his forehead against mine. “Let’s save the kiss for a reward after you do whatever it is that made Micah sweat.”
“Fair enough,” I said, letting my hands wrap around his neck so I had more contact with his skin.
Now more comfortable with this new trick, I could manipulate the process faster.
But no matter how fast I went, it would still hurt like a bitch.
Yeah, it was a cleansing fire, but fires still burn and blister whatever it touched.
The moment he was free from the venom, his lips descended upon mine as if it would give him life. “Thank you, Sunshine.”
Hudson moved and let Brayden take his place.
He wrapped me up in a hug, tucking my head under his chin as I completed the process.
He let out a grunt as I got to the venom and his arms pulled me tighter against him as if he was going to draw me into his body.
When the deed was done, he peppered my face with kisses before landing on my lips in a quick but searing kiss.
“Go help Jay so we can get out of this hellhole.”
Jay only had eyes for his mother at this moment, worry creasing his brow. “Can you check her too? She shouldn’t be like this. Even if she was drugged with something normal, she’s too quiet.”
“I’ll see what I can do but no promises,” I warned as I clasped one of his mother’s hands in my own.
Closing my eyes, I let my power trickle into her through our physical connection.
This was the first time I’d done anything like this to a person who wasn’t possessed or one of my men, and I was scared to hurt her.
Instead of filling her with my power, I just let a small wisp float through her body, exploring to see if there was anything there to deal with.
When I got to the area around her heart, I knew we were in trouble.
It felt like it was enveloped in something dark and oozing, as if it was slowly strangling the life out of her.
My eyes snapped open and met Jay’s concerned gaze.
“I can help her but I can’t do it here. The amount of power I’m going to extend will knock me out of commission. We have to hurry though, she doesn’t have a whole lot of time,” I said, keeping my voice soft for only us to hear. “Will you let me heal you so you can protect her?”
Jay nodded his agreement, and I saw him set his jaw, ready for the pain he knew was coming. “Don’t go easy on me. Get it out of me.”
Biting my lip, I let go of his mother and grasped his arm.
Doing as he requested, I slammed my power into him, hunting down the venom so I could purge it from him.
Jay dropped to his knees, clutching his mother to him as he endured what I was putting him through.
Moments later, he was cleansed, and we both gasped as I pulled my power back from him.
Tiredness swept through me and I knew healing all of them after the battle Parker and I fought was putting me close to being useless.
Taking a deep breath, I reached out to all the men I was bonded to and pulled some of their power to me, giving me temporary strength to make it through this.
“I’ve done the best I can for all of you right now but we need to get out of this place if we plan on seeing tomorrow,” I shared, feeling my body sag even with the pick-me-up I’d given myself.
An arm slid around my shoulders and a kiss was pressed to the side of my head. A sense of peace enveloped me and I knew that Parker was influencing my emotions to help get me through this. “Come on, Trouble, let’s give ’em hell.”