Connected: Chapter 10 (Patreon)

Chapter 10

Abby

I hung up the call with Camille and sat there on her bed, staring across the room and trying to swallow down my panic so Kyla wouldn’t see it the moment she walked in, but I was scared. We weren’t any closer to finding Camille than we had been last night, and even if Silmond produced valuable information, it still might be too late by the time we got there. The idea of losing her… I didn’t even want to think about it. I resisted the urge to go to the bathroom and tell Kyla to hurry. That would only let her know that something was wrong, and Camille hadn’t wanted to worry her.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait too long. Kyla returned a couple of minutes later wrapped in a towel, and I turned my eyes toward the door she’d closed behind her while she dug clothes out of the dresser and got dressed.

“You feel better?” I asked.

“Better as I can be…” she said as she pulled her shirt on over her head. It was her last article of clothing, and she watched me after she finished, taking in the look on my face and the tapping of my hand against my thigh – I hadn’t even realized I was doing it. “Are you alright?”

I nodded, holding myself as still as I could. “Just anxious to see what Silmond knows.”

She ran a brush through her wet hair and then tossed it onto the bed. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

We left her room, calling for Luna as we headed down the stairs and out the front door of the Pack house. The plan was that we’d pick up Silmond and take him to the Council office, where it’d be easier for my dad to work because he had all his magic supplies there. It didn’t take us too long to get to the Council’s holding cells: a massive concrete and steel building in the woods that masqueraded as an electric power plant. When the guards at the gate saw it was me, they waved us through, and I parked outside the main entrance.

We strode through into the dark, concrete building, to the reception desk where the receptionist was sitting behind a steel-meshed glass barrier. There was silver in it too, and various warding runes hidden all over the reception area in art and decorations.

The man at the desk smiled at me as we reached him. “Miss Johnson.”

“Hey,” I greeted. “I left a prisoner for holding last night. I’m here to pick him up.”

“What was his name?”

“Brian Silmond.”

He nodded and picked up the phone beside him, dialing an extension to the inside. “It’s Pedro at the front desk,” he said when someone answered, “I need a prisoner brought down.” A pause. “Brian Silmond.”

He waited some more, and reading his thoughts let me hear it loud and clear when the person he was talking to came back and said, “Yeah, there’s no Brian Silmond here.”

“What do you mean?” Pedro asked.

The voice on the other end said, “He was released early this morning.”

My heart sank, and I reached out. “Give me the phone.” Pedro passed it through the small gap in the glass. “Who released him?” I demanded.

The voice paused, hesitating before it answered, “Director Johnson.”

I pulled the phone away from my ear, inhaling a deep breath to keep from releasing all the rage that had suddenly built in my chest. Managing not to slam the phone down, I passed it back through to Pedro and mumbled, “Thank you.” I turned and left, Kyla and Luna on my heels.

“What happened?” Luna asked.

“He was released this morning,” I said, my fists clenched at my sides as I stomped toward my car.

“By who?” Kyla asked.

“My father.”

I stopped at the hood of my car, squeezing my eyes shut and scrambling for some composure as I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. But I was about to lose it. Camille was in mortal danger – if she wasn’t already fighting for her life – and my father had just undercut my case and released the only lead we had to finding her. I was panicking, and I was furious. I dialed my dad’s number at the office, and he answered knowing it was me.

“Abby,” he said, “when are you coming into work?”

“I’m out working a case,” I muttered through clenched teeth.

“The case with the wolves,” he sighed. “That’s not Council-”

“Where’s Brian Silmond?” I interrupted, unable to keep it in any longer.

“I let him go.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s a Council employee,” he answered, already sounding irritated. I didn’t care. I was in the mood to fight with him. “You have no authority to make arrests on your peers on behalf of the Pack. Not to mention how he was treated.”

“Oh my god,” I laughed humorlessly. It was all I could do to keep from screaming. “Silmond is a mole. He’s using Council resources to kidnap supernaturals who are being experimented on in an underground lab.”

“Do you have proof?” he asked calmly.

“He was my proof!” I shouted. “And you let him go!”

“I want you to stop what you’re doing and come to work. I have a case for you.”

“I’m on a case,” I growled. He inhaled to argue with me, but I didn’t let him. “Admit it,” I demanded. “Admit that you don’t give a shit about what’s going on because the Pack is involved.”

He let out an annoyed breath. “The Pack is not our concern.”

“It should be!” I yelled. My patience was gone. “What the hell is wrong with you? When did you stop caring about people who needed help, huh? Or maybe you never cared and were always this much of a goddamn asshole, and I was too naïve and stupid to see it.”

“Abby,” he growled in warning.

“I’m not working until everyone in that lab is free,” I told him. “You don’t care about the Pack, fine. But I care, and if you loved me at all, you’d help me.”

"Ab-"

I hung up on him, so frustrated and angry and scared that I raised my hand, aiming to throw my phone down on the asphalt. Kyla rushed forward, catching my arm and bringing it down gently. “Don’t, Abs, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” I said. What if we never got to Camille now? What if our one shot at getting her out before they killed her was gone? Tears welled in my eyes as I searched Kyla’s gaze, reading her. She was trying so hard to be calm for me, and she wasn’t mad, but she knew as well as I did that Silmond was our only lead. “I’m sorry.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me into a hug. “It’s not your fault.”

“We’ll find another way,” Luna added.

I let Kyla hug me for a few more seconds before backing away from her. “Yeah, we will,” I said. “Get in the car.”

“Where are we going?” Luna asked.

I started for the driver’s side as I said, “End Mountain.” My research into End Mountain hadn’t turned up anything useful, but they were our only remaining lead, and I intended to follow it.

Kyla caught my wrist. “We can’t go to End Mountain. You said so.”

“You can’t go to End Mountain,” I clarified. “But I’m Council, they at least have to talk to me.”

“I’m not letting you go in alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” I told her. “They’re subject to Council laws.”

“And if they’re behind the lab,” she said, folding her arms across her chest, “they’re beyond caring about Council laws. You ain’t going in alone.”

I glanced from her to Luna, considering how much trouble I’d get in when my dad found out I’d confronted End Mountain with Pack wolves at my side. But you know what? Screw it. He wasn’t helping me solve this case, so I was going to do what I had to do to get it done. To get Camille back.

I nodded. “Get in.”

As we all climbed into my car, I searched Kyla’s thoughts for anything out of the ordinary in her connection with Camille. It had been weak and muted, but nothing about it had alarmed her enough to be thinking about it, which was something of a relief. So far, Camille was still alive.

We wound back through the woods to the highway, driving for a silent twenty minutes before turning onto a long, single lane road. It took us through the gate of an iron fence that surrounded the property, past a small graveyard, a large vegetable and herb garden, and to circular driveway. It wasn’t the first time I’d been to the End Mountain Coven’s mansion, but Kyla and Luna both sat forward in their seats, staring out the window in awe.

The Pack house was big and beautiful, but it was humble compared to the End Mountain estate. The circular driveway we parked on was paved with clean, bright cement. The white house that loomed before us was lined from end to end with a raised deck, overlooked from any room inside by the big picture windows along the first floor. Massive white pillars along the deck supported a second outdoor balcony up above, presenting a view of the driveway, garden, and the forest that surrounded us.

We got out of the car and hiked up the stairs, and then to the dark red double front doors. I glanced side to side to make sure Kyla and Luna were ready for this, and that they were calm and not likely to do anything that would make the situation worse, but they seemed calmer than I was. I pressed the doorbell, listening to the echo of it inside the house. It took half a minute, but then the door swung open, and we were greeted by a middle-aged man in a black suit.

“How can I help you?” he asked politely, his thoughts solely on his duty. He was a servant, mindless and under complete control, serving out some debt owed to the coven.

“I’m here to see Mina,” I told him. Mina Malum was the coven’s High Priestess, if anyone in this house knew about the lab, it was her.

“Come in.” The man gestured us into the foyer and closed the door behind us. “Wait here, please.” He disappeared up a set of stairs to our right.

Kyla and Luna were staring in every direction, taking in our surroundings. Where the Pack house was homely and filled with dark, rich, natural colors and textures, the End Mountain mansion was bright and crisp, with only a few accenting colors. It was contemporary, and slightly uncomfortable. I couldn’t smell anything, but Kyla and Luna were picking up various scents like herbs and a cat wandering around and the people who lived here.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Luna murmured, poking at a painting on the wall of one of the coven’s previous Priests.

“That’s because the house doesn’t like you here,” said a somewhat familiar voice. A young female rounded the corner of a nearby doorway, stepping into the foyer where we were waiting and taking a bite out of the apple in her hand. Alexa. I’d met her last school year when we were working a different case – she was arrogant and had harassed Camille. I didn’t like her. Her brown eyes landed on me, and she smirked. “Look who it is.” She went on to scan Kyla and Luna, and though she wasn’t entirely sure, she suspected them of being werewolves based solely on my reputation. “And you brought company.”

Always friendly and inviting, Kyla stepped forward and held out her hand. “I’m Kyla.”

But the last time I’d seen her, Alexa had used magic to nearly force a Change on Camille, in public, and she was already scheming ways she could have her own kind of fun with Kyla and Luna. I didn’t trust her one bit, and I wasn’t in the best position to protect either of them in this house. So I grabbed Kyla’s hand before Alexa could take it, pulling her halfway behind me.

“We’re just waiting for Mina,” I said.

Alexa ignored that and glanced between my companions, and then at the front door. “Where’s your other friend? The one with the mean growl.”

“She’s not here.”

“Oh, that’s right,” she seemed to recall. She took another bite of her apple and said through a full mouth, “How’s she like sentry training?”

A low growl rumbled in Kyla’s chest, and I took a fast step forward, asking, “What do you know about it?”

Alexa grinned, but her mind couldn’t hide it. She didn’t know shit. All she had was an idea – vague talk she’d overheard about werewolves serving as protection. As sentries. She didn’t know about the lab, or if End Mountain was really behind it, but the fact that she even knew about the idea told me we were on the right track.

“That’s enough, Alexa,” called a female voice, and its owner stopped at the top of the stairs.

Mina Malum. She was the figure of poise as she stared down at us in her black pinstripe blazer and pencil skirt. Her dark brown hair was done up in an elegantly braided bun, her pale beige skin shone with a youthful vigor that was betrayed only by the light lines at the corners of her eyes and one corner of her bright red lips, and her brown eyes were sharp and watchful. She looked like she could kill us with a glance. Maybe she could.

“Miss Malum,” I greeted as friendlily as I could manage. Alexa sidled away down the hall.

“Miss Johnson,” she returned, painted red lips pulling into a smile. Her tone bordered on patronizing. She descended the stairs until she was close enough for me to smell her elegant perfume. Her watchful eyes made a quick study of Kyla and Luna, and though I couldn’t be sure, I was almost certain she knew who they were. I couldn’t read her, but that was nothing new – she’d been protected against telepaths as long as I’d been around. “Mina Malum,” she introduced herself, holding a stiff hand out to Kyla.

Kyla took her hand in a gentle shake, saying her name out loud. Luna did the same, but she purposefully shook Mina’s offered hand so hard the tremors went up to her shoulder. “Luna, nice to meet you,” Luna said with exaggerated enthusiasm, still shaking.

Mina cringed, struggling to maintain her composed smile as she hauled her hand out of Luna’s grip, and I tried my hardest not to laugh. “If you’ll join me in the parlor,” Mina offered, folding her hands safely behind her back, “Vernon has set out some tea.”

I nodded, and as we turned to follow her, I whispered to Luna, “You passive aggressive little shit.” She flashed her teeth in a beaming grin, and Kyla let out a quiet laugh.

The parlor was a bright room on the western side of the house, filled with sunlight from the floor to ceiling windows all around. Books lined the non-widowed walls, a darkly stained grand piano stood in one corner, and white couches sat on opposite sides of a short coffee table, on top of which was a ceramic tea set. Vernon, the same man who’d answered the front door, poised himself motionlessly to the side of the room, awaiting instruction. I hadn’t even seen him come down the stairs…

The three of us sat on the couch across from Mina, Kyla dropping down between Luna and me. Mina poured four cups of tea before saying anything, sliding three of them across the table to us, and then placing a cube of sugar into her own. Kyla said a thank you, but Luna picked hers up and raised it, doing nothing to try and hide the fact that she sniffed it suspiciously before taking a drink.

“What can I do for you and your friends, Miss Johnson?” Mina finally asked.

"I'm working a case,” I told her. “I was hoping you might be able to help.”

She set her cup of tea down and sat straight, crossing her legs and gesturing her hands in consent. “I’ve always done what I can to aid the Council.”

I pursed my lips in a grateful smile. “There’s a lab, probably underground, that’s kidnapping supernaturals and experimenting on them.”

“I see.”

I couldn’t tell or ask much. If I outright accused her of having something to do with it, that would only ensure we got nothing out of this. Nor could I give away details like we had Council employees helping the lab, because if Mina didn’t have anything to do with it, it’d make the Council look weak.

When I said nothing more, Mina asked, “Your question was?”

“Have you heard anything about it?” I asked. “Anything you might know could be a huge help.”

Instead of answering that, she posed another question of her own. “How do you know such a lab exists?”

“A friend of ours was taken… we’ve done some digging.”

Mina inhaled, thinking for a moment before shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I haven’t heard anything.”

I sat forward, unwilling to believe it. “There’s a prisoner there, Marion Presley. I was told she was in your custody before being held at the lab.”

Mina’s head cocked with interest. “And your source for this tidbit?”

“My father.”

The crooked smile she gave was the last thing I expected. “Nigel,” she murmured with a hint of amusement. “Nigel. Nigel. I’m afraid your father is… misinformed.”

I scoffed. “He’s misinformed about the transfer of an entire living person?”

“It would appear so.”

“So she wasn’t transferred to you for,” how did my dad put it, “retribution?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

Luna set her half-empty cup down and said, “Maybe you’re unaware.”

Mina cast her a sharp stare, but said to me, “Human trafficking is beyond the activities of this household.”

“And the trafficking of non-humans?” I asked, knowing End Mountain subscribed to the idea that supernaturals like werewolves and vampires weren’t just unhuman, they were less than human. “Beyond your activities?”

Her lips pulled into a disdainful half-smile. “Beyond our care.”

Okay, that avenue was a dead end, and I really wished people would stop finding ways to avoid being read. I gave it one last try and said, “Alexa seemed to know something about it.”

Mina sighed to express her growing disinterest in this conversation. “Alexa enjoys getting reactions out of people.”

That was it, that was all I had connecting End Mountain to the lab. Kyla scooted forward on her seat, preparing to be a bit more forceful with some questions of her own, but I set my hand on her thigh to stop her. We’d nearly overstayed our welcome, and challenging Mina was dangerous.

“Thanks for your time,” I said.

We stood, and she stood with us, motioning to the exit of the parlor. “Vernon will see you out. Please let me know if the Council needs anything more.”

Without saying anything else, Vernon ushered us to the front door and closed it behind us. Luna waited until we were in the car to ask, “Was she lying? Did she know anything?”

I let out a heavy breath, but Kyla looked over from the passenger seat and said knowingly, “You couldn’t read her.” She knew because of the look on my face, and because my questions had been desperate grasps instead of my usual steer toward information I could read. I shook my head.

“Great,” Luna complained from the back seat. “Now what do we do?”

I shrugged as I steered around the circular driveway and away from the house. There was nothing to do. We couldn’t track Camille, we didn’t know if the lab was underground, or if it was in the city or hidden in the hundreds of miles of forest around us. We didn’t know who was responsible, or who to ask for help.

“I’m gonna call Julian,” Kyla volunteered. “See if he can track Silmond’s cell phone.”

“He’ll have ditched it,” I said.

"I know,” she murmured, but she called anyway, adding a check for use of credit and ATM cards even though we knew Silmond would be too smart to use those too.

I didn’t even know where I was taking us. We sat there in pensive silence while I drove, thinking about what we could possibly do to find Camille, or what would happen if we couldn’t, and what it would be like to lose her. Both Luna and Kyla thought it, but they didn’t know how real that possibility was, and keeping it from them was a crushing weight on my chest.

We drove for a while, long enough for Julian to call back and say he couldn’t locate Silmond’s phone, and long enough for Luna to complain about being hungry. So I drove us into town and we sat in the booth of a pizza joint to eat, still not saying much. Still worried. My dad called at one point, but it was probably because he heard I’d gone to End Mountain, and I wasn’t in the mood to fight with him anymore. Hours passed after leaving the End Mountain estate, and it was early afternoon as we sat in the pizza place and Kyla’s phone rang. It was a blocked number, and Kyla’s heart skipped with the thought that it was Camille, and everything in me hoped it was.

“Hey,” she answered, voice full of hope as she put the phone to her ear.

But it wasn’t Camille. An unfamiliar, male voice said, “Grab a pen.” Kyla’s eyebrows furrowed with confusion, but I pulled out my own phone to jot down whatever would come next as she put the call on speaker. “Pick up the wolf at Grandheart Trailhead,” he said, and went on to list the GPS coordinates.

The line disconnected, but I’d already opened my map application and typed in Grandheart Trailhead. It was only an hour away. All three of us exchanged glances, staring for one long second in disbelief before scrambling out of the booth and bolting to the car. The man was talking about Camille, he had to be, and it didn’t make sense why they’d be letting her go, but we didn’t care. We tore out of the parking lot to speed to the trail.