I took Sierra’s other hand and looked up at the guys as we completed the circle. I felt a riot of butterflies’ release in my stomach. It had been some time since I had been on a real mission. The last one we went on, we lost Steven. I was filled with dread. I couldn’t lose anyone else.
Jace must have felt my anxiety, because he stepped beside me and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. My anger and hurt were forgotten in that moment. I had no clue what situation we were transporting into, and I didn’t want our argument and disagreements to cloud our minds and throw us off our game.
I closed my eyes in preparation. I couldn’t even describe the feeling of teleportation without doing it justice. It was the most indescribable feeling. It was an out-of-body experience, for sure. When I opened my eyes, we were standing in some kind of opulent library, a private one. I could see the confusion and wariness I felt reflected in everyone else’s expressions.
“Can you let Kade know we’re here?” Jace instructed Alex as he went to the windows in the room.
Remy took a spot next to the only door in the room. He cracked it open and peered out into the hallway. I made my way to the desk, understanding that they were trying to get any clues as to our location and if we were in imminent danger.
It was moments later that Alex opened his eyes. “He’s on his way but they’re looking for him.”
“Where is he?” Micah asked urgently. “I can just go get him.”
“He’ll be here any-” Alex started to say as the door opened and my brother stepped into the room. My eyes eagerly examined him. He looked tired, and the bags around his eyes were dark. He also looked like he had lost weight since I last saw him.
Standing next to Micah, I noticed how drastically different they looked. Kade was older than Micah but he was a full head shorter than him and they couldn’t look more different. Micah had to be mixed with a Hispanic heritage with his dark skin and dark eyes. Micah, on the other hand, was fair skin, he shared my green eyes, and his hair was a bright red.
“We need to get Mr. Moore and Herman,” Kade grabbed Micah’s hand. “They’re in the basement.”
I balked for a moment. The Mr. Moore and Herman, as in Rachel’s dad and brother. She would never forgive us if she knew we were so close to her family and left them. Although I wanted to get out of there ASAP, I understood the need to go get them.
“Let’s go,” Micah stated resolutely. I was proud of him for the fearless look in his eyes. He didn’t show any of the panic I felt radiating from him.
“Time out,” Jace said. “You can’t go alone.”
I could see the war behind his eyes as well. The silent alarm bells that were going off in our head, telling us to run, and our hearts knowing we needed to at least try.
“We need to hurry,” Kade said urgently. “It’s shift change and they won’t be guarded for five minutes. We need to leave now.”
We all grasped onto Micah, and soon we were teleported into another room. This one was much smaller. It smelled like mold and the walls were made up of cinder block. An older man was lying on a bare, stained mattress. His clothes hung off his skinny frame. His hair was greasy and hung down to his shoulders. He had a dark beard laced with gray that grew in wild disarray.
“Kade?” He looked over at us, blinking slowly like he didn’t believe we could be here. We were all crammed into the little room. “What are you doing here, Bud? You’re going to get yourself in trouble again.”
“We’re getting you out of here, Mr. Moore.” Kade hurried to his side and tried to remove the shackles on his ankles.
“I’ll get these,” Troy stated quietly as he moved to the bed.
“Kade, Sierra, Micah,” Remy spoke quietly his eyes filled with anger at the conditions we found Mr. Moore in. “Let’s go get Herman.”
“You can’t,” Mr. Moore said in a near panic. “We can’t leave here. Horatio will come after us again.”
Remy gave Micah a pointed look, and soon all four of them were no longer there. I rushed into action.
I put a reassuring hand on Mr. Moore’s wrist. “He won’t be able to get ahold of you again,” I stated resolutely.
I grasped his shackles and imagined the fire within. A small ball of flame hovered from my palms as I began to melt the thick metal chain links away. The metal wristbands were still there. There was no way for us to remove them with our fire without burning them.
“We’ll remove the rest when we return to base,” Troy stated as he stood up.
“Who are you guys?” Mr. Moore asked as he sat up. I could see that he struggled to do the simplest task. He was scrutinizing me to the point I almost squirmed. He cursed under his breath. “You’re Randy’s girl. You have no business here. You need to leave!”
“We will once we have your son,” I stated resolutely.
“Let’s go,” Remy stated with a determined look in his eyes as Micah, Sierra, and Kade reappeared with a younger man that didn’t look much better than his father. I could see his resemblance to Rachel immediately.
He, too, looked like he needed a good meal. His face was marred with bruises and cuts. His dirty blond hair was greasy and hung around his face. His beard was dirty blond with red patches of hair in it. Blood clung to some of its strands. I could smell his body odor from where I stood. His blue eyes were glazed over, and he didn’t look like he knew where he was at.
We all grasped onto Micah and…nothing. Even with Sierra boosting him, Micah was unable to transport all of us. The door burst opened, and several armed guards came piling in. Loud sirens made me flinch as they went off.