∞ The Tethered Ones ∞

Chapter 44

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• Luna •

The mood was tense when Luna and both groups piled into the available vehicles and began the drive to Ramsey Sanitarium. And for once, no one was arguing with Ethan about what he'd done.

The men exchanged curses and bursts of laughter, but everyone else seemed nervous.

Dominique was getting into the passenger seat of Owen's SUV. She was dressed entirely in black, including black tights, black sneakers, and a skintight black turtleneck. She reminded Luna of a ninja. Zoe sat right next to her and was dressed in red. She must have gotten the memo about staying back and not running into the facility with them. Luna had no idea why Zoe had dressed so casually unless she was trying to blend in with the seat cushions.

Either way, she thought Zoe was stunning.

Luna, on the other hand, was dressed in dark sweatpants and a black sweater that was too small for Owen. It had to be from his younger years because it wouldn't even fit over his head now, and she appeared to be going to the gym.

Faisal, Vikram, and Cami wore the same clothes they had worn when they arrived: a regular gray tee shirt and blue jeans.

Ethan and Cami were riding with Luna and Amir while Connor drove the Diesel truck, and the rest were with Owen in an SUV. Her gaze was glued to the wall as they passed through the gate until it faded out of sight. The few days she'd spent there had been nice . . . truly amazing.

The first twenty minutes of the journey were not bad. Ethan kept quiet at first, but once he started talking, things went downhill and he was getting on everyone's nerves. Connor threatened to stop the vehicle and throttle him several times. And she didn't think anyone would stop him if he did.

Connor shifted lanes, then ran his hand through his hair. "Do you ever stop talking, Ethan?"

"When I'm sleeping," he replied.

"And when you're dead," Cami retorted. "You'll stop talking when someone snaps your neck."

Ethan smirked. "Whatever."

Luna turned and hid her frown. She was trying to hold the sympathy she felt for him. "What are you going to do when you see your family?"

Ethan shook his head slowly as awe crept across his features. "Oh, man, I'm not sure. Breathe. They'll be out of there."

Luna, overcome with emotion, gave Ethan a tearful smile. "I'm sure they'll feel the same way." She'd never met them, but she was familiar with how the organization operated. Nobody deserved to be in those facilities.

Amir's lips tipped up at the corners of her eyes, and her heart fluttered.

She took a deep breath and focused on Cami, who was leaning against the window. "How are you, Cam?"

Cami's gaze shifted to her. She responded with a soft smile. "I'm just going with the flow here. I'm going to stay back with the others in case anything happens."

"I think that's a good idea," said Connor. "We're taking a risk, but we need to get everyone out. That is the goal."

Amir nodded and held Luna's hand.

"It's so weird to see you, Connor," Cami murmured. "You're Chase's twin. It's freaky, no offense."

He chuckled. "That's all right. He and I had a falling out over business. Well, mostly business. Because our father owns Marquette Banking, Gabriel was named CEO because he is the eldest. But Chase wasn't having it. He wanted more control over the family shares. He began acting aggressively and ruthlessly toward Zoe. Long story short, I left my family alone and disowned Chase from being my brother. He's a controlling and narcissistic jerk."

Luna turned around and looked at her hands. Hearing about Connor's family feud made her uneasy, and she didn't want to feel that way. Not with a different goal they all had this evening.

After Connor's story, none of them spoke, and the mood was somber and heavy with memories and probably a thousand what ifs and a dozen scenarios of what tonight would be like for Dominique, Ethan, and Amir, but the mood changed as they passed Covington and continued driving toward Lake Ramsey and could see the darker shades of the park up ahead.

The guys were tense and releasing a lot of testosterone. She looked at the time, antsy and ready to get this done. Nine-fifty p. m.

"How much longer?" Connor inquired.

"We've got time," Ethan replied.

As they began down the path, the truck shifted into a lower gear. Owen was close behind them since he was familiar with the instructions. The access road was supposedly about a half mile before the back entrance. Connor had typed it into their GPS, but it essentially stopped working properly.

Ethan's phone dinged, and he took it out. "It's from Titus. He wants to make sure we're on time."

"We are," Connor responded.

Ethan had wedged himself between the seats. "He is ready, and he wanted to remind us that we only have fifteen minutes. If something goes wrong, we get out and try again in a few days."

"We can't try again," Amir protested. "Once we get in, we have to keep going."

Ethan frowned. "I want them out as much as you do, but we only have so much time. That's it."

"We stick to the plan." Connor's gaze met theirs in the rearview mirror. "That's it, guys. We can't lose anyone on this trip."

"Nothing's going to go wrong," Luna said before the car devolved into a royal rumble. "We have to have faith."

"I have faith, if that helps," Cami stated.

Luna smiled at her before looking ahead. The back area was two lanes, with dense trees crowding the roads on both ends. It was a jumble of shadows. She had no idea how Connor would find this road, but he began to slow down and merge into the left lane.

As he turned onto a barely visible street, pressure built up in her chest. There were no signs that there was even a road there. Two headlights trailed them up the narrow opening, which was more dirt and gravel than pavement. An old factory sat to the right about two hundred feet in, under the pale moonlight. Half of the roof was missing. Weeds choked the front and sides.

"Eerie," Luna murmured. "I'm sure everyone says this place is haunted."

Amir chuckled. "They say every place in the South is haunted. I'm growing fond of this area."

"Ain't that the truth, and I'm not from Louisiana," Connor said as they parked and Owen followed.

Both cars turned off their lights and engines, leaving the area as dark as oil. Her stomach churned. Five to ten. There's no turning back now.

Ethan's cell phone beeped again. "Titus is just checking to see if we're ready."

"God, he's such an annoying teen," Connor grumbled.

"Actually, he isn't really a silver-haired 'teen' per se," Ethan stated unexpectedly. "Because most people don't take him seriously, Titus chooses that image. He can transform into anyone at any time. He's an illusionist."

"So that's how he stays off the grid," Amir said. "Clever."

Connor turned and began walking toward where Owen had parked. "We're getting ready to do this. Does everyone remember the game plan?"

Vikram and Faisal both slipped out, murmuring something to Dominique and Zoe. Then they turned and flashed what looked like gang signals. "We got this, yo," Faisal said, causing the others to chuckle.

"Geez," Amir muttered.

"Party pooper," whispered Luna.

"We stick to the plan. At no time do any of us deviate from the plan." Owen directed that toward the group. "All of us are coming back tonight. No one is left behind."

There were whispers of agreement. She clutched the side of the car, her pulse racing into cardiac arrest territory.

Amir put his hand on her arm. "Stay close to me."

"Just to be clear," Owen addressed to everyone. "Cami, Dominique, and Zoe are staying behind with Connor. Amir, Luna, Ethan, Faisal, Vikram, and I are on this mission to rescue six adults and two children. Ethan's children are under the age of five and will be on the first floor near the back of the building."

"So, you're in charge of this mission, right?" Vikram asked.

"We don't have to have a leader, do we?" muttered Ethan.

"No, we don't," Owen said. "But I know what I'm doing. This isn't Dominique and my first rodeo. We've infiltrated numerous facilities."

Luna's vocal cords seemed to have failed, so she nodded. Everyone was out of the vehicles and breathed in the cool southern air. Everything was dark, with moonlight slicing across the access road. She was most likely standing next to a Rougarou and didn't even know it.

She walked around the front of the car to stand next to Amir. When someone moved beside her, she realized it was Cami.

"It's time," Owen said.

"One minute," Ethan said after a quick flash of his cell phone light.

Luna drew in a shallow gasp, but it became stuck. She could feel her heartbeat in every part of her body. Amir reached out of the darkness and squeezed her shoulder.

She told herself, "We can do it. We'll be fine. We will accomplish this."

"Eighteen seconds."

She breathed slowly, focusing on the trees in front of them.

"Twelve seconds."

Amir squeezed her again, and she realized he wasn't going to let go. She'd slow him down, but there was no time to argue. A shudder rolled down her spine. She felt her abilities' energy rattle and awaken. Her weight shifted.

Ethan leaned forward beside her. "Three, two, go!"

She took off, allowing the energy to rush through her, filling each cell with light. None of the guys were glowing, but they were all running, almost flying. Her shoes skidded over the rough patches of the path between the trees, avoiding the streams of light.

Amir's hand remained in hers, and he was guiding her through the night, around gaps in the ground that were the size of craters, and through the scattered forest.

"This isn't so bad, cousin," Faisal said somewhere nearby. "I'm running circles around you."

"You wish," Amir remarked.

Because she counted, a twenty-foot-tall fence appeared under spotlights sixty-five seconds later. They slowed to a halt behind the last strand of bushes.

She dragged in the air with her eyes wide open. The electrical fence was marked with red and white signs. Beyond them was a football field's worth of open space, followed by a massive structure.

"Time?" Owen inquired.

"Ten." Ethan stroked his spikey hair. "I see only one guard stationed at the gate."

"Same here," Vikram said.

They waited another minute to see if any were patrolling, but it was a holiday. The only thing that was guarded was the gate. They couldn't stay still anymore.

"Give me a second," Vikram said, moving away from the wall and toward the black-clad guard.

She was about to ask him what the hell he was doing when she noticed him dip his hand and place it on the ground. The guard began to twist toward him as red sparks flew, but the surge of electricity reached him.

The man's body trembled violently, and he dropped the gun. He was lying beside it a second later. She followed the guys, sneaking a look at the guard. His chest moved and fell, but he was no longer conscious.

"He won't wake up until morning." Vikram smiled as he blew his fingers. "His body is going to hurt."

"Nice," Faisal commented. "If I had tried that, I would have fried his brain."

Luna's eyes widened.

Owen moved toward the gate. The white keypad appeared unassuming, but it was the first test. They could only hope Titus had taken the cameras down and given them the correct codes.

He raised his arm and slammed his elbow down on the keypad, causing red sparks to fly.

Owen's shoulders tensed as he held onto the wall with his pale fingers, nodding. The gate shuddered after a mechanical click and a low hum. It swung open, calling them like a garage door.

Owen motioned them forward. They sped across the field, arriving at the doors Titus and Ethan had confirmed. They approached him from behind, searching the wall.

"Where's the damn keypad?" Amir demanded, pacing between the doors.

Luna took a step back, forcing her gaze to move slowly from left to right. “There.” She motioned to the right. The pad was small and hidden behind the overlay.

Ethan jogged over to it, looking over his shoulder. "Ready?"

Owen looked down at Luna, then at the door in front of them. “Yes.”

"Invictus," Amir murmured. "And, please, God, spell it correctly."

Owen chuckled and entered the code. Luna wanted to squeeze her eyes shut just in case they ended up with a dozen guns pointed at their heads. The door in front of them slid open, revealing the space beyond inch by inch.

No guns. No bodyguards.

She exhaled the breath she had been holding.

Beyond the door was a large lobby with elevators at the far end. All they had to do was walk a hundred feet to the desk and get the key card for a secured door. Then proceed to their people by taking the stairs. Owen and Ethan knew their cells.

They were really going to do this.

The door was wide enough for two people to pass through at the same time, but Ethan took the lead. Understandable, given what he stood to gain at the end of the night. She trailed him. There was a small puffing noise as he moved under the doorframe.

Faisal collapsed as if he'd been shot, but there was no blast. He was standing in the doorway one second, and the next he was on the other side, shaking profusely on the floor, his mouth open in a silent scream.

"Everyone stay where you are," Owen ordered.

Time stood still. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She looked above her. A row of tiny nozzles, barely visible, faced down. Too late, she realized in horror. The puffing noise returned, and a thick cloud of smoke emerged.

As if a thousand tiny needles were sticking to every part of her body, attacking every cell, red-hot pain seared through her skin. Her entire body erupted as she inhaled a scorching breath. Her legs gave way and she fell, unable to even brace herself. Her cheek smacked against the floor, but the pain was nothing compared to the fire raging through her body.

Brain cells were twisted and scrambled. Muscles clenched in fear and pain. Her eyes were open. The air scalded her mouth and throat as her lungs tried to gasp and drag in the air. Her stomach dropped as one of the nozzles moved, revealing what came out of it.

Her world grew darker.

Chemnisol—the poisonous gas designed to kill instantly.

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