Chapter 7
Chapter seven
Dane
“I’ve completely redone our network, so if Vera left any trackers or back door access, they’re gone with our old one. The cameras and security system have been moved to the new network.”
Aiden leans one hand on the desk next to me, peering at my screen. “Good. We can finally use all the measures we’d originally installed to protect the Guild.”
Technology we can now use because Vera... she’s gone.
Something in my chest twists painfully, squeezing my lungs until there’s no air left.
I shut my eyes and force myself to breathe in through my nose.
To stop the annoying tremble that keeps trying to take control of me.
I’ve kept myself focused on the Guild. On hoping for Raegan and Aiden’s recovery.
On anything and everything else because I can’t lose my shit now.
Not when they need me. I’ll have all the time in the world to grieve after we’ve killed Charles.
I can’t fall apart—frozen in grief like last time.
I won’t. Rae needs me. The others need me.
Aiden squeezes my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Dane.”
Swallowing thickly, I nod. “I know. Cibrina cremated them—Vera and Harvey. Even if Royce is dead, there could be someone else out there like him. And I don’t want anyone to fuck with them anymore.”
He nods, releasing me. “That’s a good call. We can hold a funeral for her here. Where do you want her buried?”
“Close to my parents, so they can visit her after this is all over.”
There’s a long pause. “What are you going to tell them?”
“The truth.” Aiden’s face tightens, and I turn in my chair to face him. “They won’t tell anyone about it. Or about people like us. I know they’ll be happier knowing what happened. They’re good people, Aiden.”
“It puts them in just as much danger knowing about us. That’s why most of the friends and family of the Guild members who know about gifted are working for us. So we can help make sure they aren’t targeted, too.”
I grip my hair, trying to purge the stress that’s building into a headache. “I know, I just...”
Aiden sighs. “Don’t worry about it right now. Let’s focus on killing Charles and destroying Gifted Enterprise first. What countermeasures do we have for teleporting and portals?”
A few keystrokes bring up the various tabs I have open to research those very gifts.
At least, the science fiction and fantasy versions talked about online.
“I’ve been trying to find any useful ideas for how those gifts might work so we can somehow track them or at least identify them to give us a warning, but it’s all over the place. ”
“All the security in the world isn’t going to make a difference unless we find a way to block those two gifts.”
“Cibrina’s been doing her own research and working with Reid and Tinsley.”
Aiden taps a message into his phone. A few seconds later, he states, “Cibrina’s with them in their apartment. We’ll go check on their progress.”
The door to Raegan’s room opens. I turn to look on instinct, and Aiden does the same.
She strolls down the hallway, followed by Kellan and Jack.
Aiden had suggested that she empty her bag into the dresser drawers after breakfast. Even though the bathroom’s not finished yet, I think he wants to see her feel more at home here with her own space.
“I knew that wouldn’t take long,” she says, running her fingers through the tangles in her hair now that it’s dried.
“She only filled two drawers,” Kellan remarks, crossing his arms and giving Aiden a look. “Workout clothes in one, and everything else in the other.”
“Don’t forget the dresses,” she points out. “I had a few of those that went in the closet. I think that’s plenty. The rest of my stuff is still in Aiden’s bathroom until mine’s done.” She casts her ocean gaze over my screens, then looks between me and Aiden. “What did we miss?”
“We’re going to Reid’s apartment to see what we can do about Charles being able to teleport here whenever he wants,” I answer first, folding my arms behind my head and leaning back.
Her brow furrows, nose scrunching with displeasure. “I guess it’s too easy to hope he’ll ignore us for three weeks and we’ll kill him before then?”
“Yes,” Aiden immediately responds. “Hope all you like, but we’ll prepare for the worst. He’s already been a step ahead of us with the zombie attack at the beach house and sneaking into the Tower for Harvey.
” Rae’s expression falls at the reminder of her half-brother.
“Keeping him out of the Tower and away from Guild members at this point is our top priority.”
“Does the rest of the Guild know? About Harvey?” she asks tentatively.
Kellan clears his throat, shifting on his feet. “Cibrina told them this morning. We’ve just finished cleaning up from the attack, so everyone’s taking a break today to process it all.”
Raegan nods slowly. “Can I see his apartment?”
Kell and I share a look as I lower my arms. “Most of it’s been cleaned,” I tell her softly.
“What are you looking for?” Aiden questions.
“I’m not sure exactly. Maybe something left behind by Charles or Harvey. Didn't his personal things get moved to that apartment? He could have something from his time before the Guild.”
She’s leaving something out, but none of us pushes for it.
The guilt of his death is sitting with each of us.
We’d promised to protect him. He was still a Guild member.
Still a part of this family we’ve been building, even if he had made some wrong choices to spy on the Guild for Charles.
Hell, he’d been part of the Guild longer than any of us, coming from Thorne’s time.
Aiden swipes his thumb across his phone. “We’ll go with you, and then to Reid’s after.” He types something out—probably letting Cibrina know—then pockets it.
Harvey’s temporary apartment is on the thirty-third floor. When we arrive, Aiden plugs in the master key information into his phone to unlock the door.
“Brawn before beauty.” Kellan shoves his way to the front, flashing Rae a grin and a wink. He always does that—acts like a clown to distract her. But the way his shoulders tighten tells me he’s already slipped into his protective mode for her.
I feel the same way as we walk down the dark corridor toward the living area.
Kell and Fabian cleaned it as much as they could with the supplies we have, but.
.. there was no getting the deeper stains out.
The smell of blood and death is still here, lurking beneath the harsher chemical scents from the cleaning supplies.
Raegan’s sandwiched between Aiden and Jackson as we file down the hallway, and part of me is tempted to take her hand and drag her out. She doesn’t need to see this. I’ll search the apartment for clues or anything left behind if that’s what she wants.
The room opens to the kitchen and living area and, before I can act on that impulse, we all spread out to see the area clearly.
Red stains the carpet in faded blotches, moving in a clear path to the couches, and then to the kitchen, where even the grout is crimson in one area.
I look at Raegan. Her gaze follows the evidence of the fight, her face pinched with set determination while her eyes tell a different story.
It’s that sorrow that has me reaching for her hand to squeeze it.
She turns a sad smile to me, squeezing my hand back and letting go. “I'll start in that room.” Rae points to the doorway on the other side of the kitchen and leaves without another word. I debate following her to help, but Jack’s already on her heels.
Damn.
“I’ll go through the bedroom,” Aiden says, striding to another room.
Kell goes into the kitchen, leaving me with the living area.
Great.
I step around the blood spots while moving through the room.
I’m not squeamish when it comes to blood.
It just seems wrong for me to step on it.
Disrespectful to Harvey or something like that.
Fuck knows why, but I avoid it anyway, moving closer to the entertainment unit.
He’s got a decent set of video games, but unsurprisingly they’re all low stakes or family-friendly types.
One of the games on the other side of the unit falls. Did I bump it?
A random breeze sweeps through the room, and a few more cases drop. Jackson waves his arm toward the open door into the apartment. There’s an immediate relief from the stagnant smells in the room, and I take my first large breath since coming inside.
Before I’ve finished exhaling, something squeezes around my throat—cutting off my air at the same time as something sharp presses along my cheek, ending right below my eye.
Another weight pushes into my lower back.
I grab at my throat and whatever’s there, when an unfamiliar voice whispers in my ear, “Don’t. Move.”
Fuck.
Did I miss a portal opening somewhere? The voice isn’t Charles or anyone else I recognize.
“What are you doing?” Kellan calls from the kitchen. I glare at him, waiting for him to fucking do something about this, but he’s just looking at me, confused.
The arm around my throat presses harder, and black spots appear in my vision.
Fuck staying still. I pull and shove back, trying to loosen their grip so I can do more than this gasping wheeze.
Kellan finally gets the hint that something’s off and leaps over the kitchen island to rush toward me.
“Dane!” Raegan shouts, running into the room before Jackson bands an arm over her chest and yanks her against him. “Jack, what—”
He pulls a handful of throwing knives free and they fly toward us.
“I’ll shoot!” a young, feminine voice screeches behind me. The knives and Kell freeze. “Move another step, and I’ll shoot him!”
I’m the only one who knows she’s bluffing, but her arm’s still trapping my throat.
Grabbing the wrist holding the knife, I push and hold it away and then throw all my strength forward, flipping the person over my head. The glass coffee table shatters as she crashes through it to the floor.