Genesis Read online

  “Can you contact him and find out?”

  “When we return to the surface.”

  “We aren’t going to go back the same way. I have a trail through here that will take us to the other side. Hopefully, this way I can see where the damage is.”

  His eyes lit with understanding. “Smart.”

  She stopped and studied the multiple tunnels that appeared in front of them. “Interesting.”

  He stepped up and studied the faint tracks through the green fog. “Others have been here.”

  “Apparently.” And that was not good. This area should always be deserted. She knew of no one else that would come this way. Unless Matt had sent them.

  “We need to approach the Paranormal Council in private.” And boy, did she have something to say to them.

  “Private?” he asked. “Are you asking to meet Matt?”

  “That might be the best avenue forward.” Talking to Matt might be the only way to get to the bottom of this. She didn’t know him personally, but Granny had believed in him. That meant a lot to Genesis. Granny had always been spot-on with people. She could only hope that once she placed her trust in Matt, he’d not let her down like he had her sister. And she certainly didn’t trust the rest of the council. She didn’t know any of them.

  “The annual meeting is happening today. So Matt will be a little busy.” Right. The two men she’d seen in her shop yesterday. “Who all is here for the meeting?” she asked.

  “Everyone who matters. The Portmans, father and son, are here. The Coulsons. McDermidts.” He shrugged. “Like I said, everyone.”

  She nodded, trying to keep her feelings buried. The men in her shop had been the Portmans. Granny had always liked Portman Senior.

  Remembering the older man’s stern countenance, she had to wonder why.

  Still, that wasn’t today’s issue.

  She studied the three paths in front of her. The energy was the strongest on the left and the faintest in the center. “Let’s take the center passage. It’s shorter and less widely travelled.”

  Silence reigned as they hurried down the tunnel. The energy here was flat, still. The color should be almost thigh-high here, circulating as it met up and mixed with hers and Connor’s energies. Instead, it lay around their ankles, almost lifeless.

  And that was bad news. Genesis couldn’t help the fear building inside of her. She hadn’t even made it to the main caves yet and there were other energies here. Other people. Non-energy people, and a few energy people. None she recognized. None she liked the look of. She couldn’t see the same negative energy down in the caves as she’d seen up top, but regardless, this energy didn’t look good. Yet it wasn’t anything she could explain.

  She had a horrible feeling she wasn’t going to like what she’d find up ahead. And despite her caution, she started to run.

  As quickly as they’d raced forward, she came to a grinding halt. She threw out both arms to the side to stop Connor from moving past.

  In a harsh, shocked whisper, she said, “Look.”

  *

  Connor quickly assessed the situation and stepped in front of her, carefully keeping her hidden from view.

  Several men lay collapsed on the cave floor in front of them. Instinctively, he pulled on his damaged abilities, feeling them ineffectively spout and jump. While it wasn’t anywhere near what his abilities used to be like, it was the first time he’d felt even that much in a long time. With relief and hope surging through him, he narrowed his gaze as he studied each body, their condition, their features.

  “We have to try and help them.” Genesis tried to step around him. He moved in front again, effectively blocking the way.

  “What are you doing?” she hissed. “They need our help.”

  “They’re dead.” Hard and cool, he had no doubts. Blood pooled on the one side of the closest man. He couldn’t see an obvious injury from where he stood but was inclined to presume a small caliber gun had been responsible. Or one of the new stunners on the market. But then, there was a lot of blood on the ground for it to have been one of those.

  “Are you sure?” He looked down to see Genesis peering around his arms. She glared up at him. “If they are dead, there is nothing I can do to help, but at least let me make sure.”

  Having already determined that the assailants had died several hours ago and that it was safe now, he lowered his arm so she could pass.

  “Thank you,” she muttered. Dropping down beside the first man, she reached out to check for a pulse.

  There was no way she was going to find one. The man’s skin had a bleached, chilled look to it.

  “His skin is cold,” she said in surprise.

  Connor didn’t bother answering; he stepped over to check out the second man. “Yes. This likely happened hours ago.” He lifted a corner of the man’s jacket and studied the nice neat hole through the chest area. “Shot to death.”

  “But nobody uses blasters.”

  “I do,” he said, his voice coming out hard and cold, despite his best efforts. “When there is no other way.” He felt her hot, questioning gaze on his back, but he was focused on the contents of the man’s wallet he’d found. “Jeb Burrows.” He turned to look at her. “Do you know that name?”

  She frowned. “No, I don’t think so.” She walked closer and stared down at the man at her feet. “I’m not sure, but I think I’ve seen him before.”

  “Where?”

  She shrugged. “Or maybe not.”

  “Where?” He took a deep breath and told himself to be patient.

  “It almost looks like the man from the cave yesterday. The man who attacked you.”

  Chapter 11

  Genesis walked back to the first man, her mind churning, trying to pluck the one or two fragments from her memories. Was it only yesterday she’d seen him? Now look at him.

  This couldn’t be a coincidence. Could it?

  “Well? Is it him?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t be sure.”

  “We need to get a hold of Matt.” He tugged her back and pulled her up against him. “We need someone to cart these men out of here.”

  “Do you think the men were involved in something down here, or were their bodies just dumped here?”

  “If that were the case, then they’d have come down here willingly, and then been shot,” he said, staring down the tunnel. “No one is going to carry these men this far from the surface. They’re just too big and heavy. The only question remaining is if the assailants have left.”

  “Only one way to find out.” She walked over to the cave wall and made a notation on the stone with her finger; a weird, softly glowing green ball formed and stayed on the wall in that same spot. “This will give us the location of the men so they can be found.”

  “Right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone do that.” He marked the location on his navigator.

  As she stepped back to study the light green glowing mark, she said, “Tricks from Granny.”

  “Ah.”

  She waited for him to say more, but he never did. “Right. Let’s get moving, then.”

  He took the lead, setting a fast pace. She smiled. Interesting.

  “What are you smiling at?” he tossed back at her without turning around.

  She gasped and hurried to catch up. “How did you know I was smiling?”

  He snorted but didn’t slow down. “I know you.”

  Apparently. For some stupid reason, that brightened her mood. He reached out, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and tugged her up closer to his side. She wanted to laugh but knew it was hardly appropriate. But maybe, just maybe…he did care.

  And if so, how did that change anything?

  They turned the next corner when Connor shoved her behind him again. “Stop doing that,” she hissed.

  Then she heard it.

  Voices. Shit.

  “We can’t just leave them down here.” A young male with a whiny voice said. “It’s not right.”


  “It was the job. Remember?”

  “I know,” said the first man. “But that doesn’t make it right.”

  “You idiot. We agreed to do this. If we don’t, we’re going to end up lying right there beside them.”

  “No way. We did the job, now I want to get paid and get the hell out of here. We came a long way for what was supposed to be big money. Like hell I’m sticking around here.”

  “I thought you were worried about leaving the bodies here.”

  “Well, now I’m worried about my body. And anyone who would leave bodies lying around like this has no respect for anyone. That means they have no respect for us or our work. And that means…”

  “That we’re likely to end up buried down here ourselves.”

  “That’s right. Dead men don’t talk.”

  At that moment, Connor stepped casually out of the shadows, a gun in his hand. “But live men can talk, so talk. Who hired you to kill those men?”

  Genesis’s jaw dropped. Where had Connor gotten that gun from? She was sure he hadn’t had it on him when he’d been injured. But neither had she checked his clothes to make sure.

  The two men stared at Connor in shock. Their gazes shifted to her, immediately dismissing her, and returned to Connor. “Hey, who are you? What the hell are you doing down here?”

  “I could ask you the same question.” Connor held the gun low, his body vibrating with readiness. His aura, deep blue of the protector, was snug against his body. Ready for action.

  She shifted her gaze to the other two men. Their energy had scattered. They hadn’t expected to see anyone here and didn’t like the sudden turn of events. She waited to see who was the dominant of the pair.

  The bigger, barrel-chested male, only slightly older than his cohort, grinned. “But I’m not answering.” He started backing up.

  The second man was a skinny stretch beside his buddy, but there was power in those long, lean arms. She studied his energy, looking for signs of what his talent actually was, and she couldn’t understand what she was seeing.

  Could drugs be the reason for the sluggishness, the darkness she was seeing? She hadn’t spent much time in the last many years healing, an area in which her grandmother told her she would excel at with more practice, but from the looks of the second man, he was almost past her assistance. To her, that made him more dangerous than his aggressive partner.

  “Where do you think you are going?” Connor said, his voice sharp.

  “Anywhere we want.” And he turned and bolted, his skinny partner hard on his heels. Connor raced after them. Genesis didn’t bother. As the skinny male had run, he’d thrown out an arm and sent out a black cloud of energy. She heard a small pinging sound but couldn’t see what was responsible. It effectively blocked their energy trail. Genesis figured she could go through it and find the other traces of where they’d gone, but chances were he had a way of dissipating his personal trail in the meantime. Not that it would stop her.

  Connor burst through the blackness, coming to a stop in front of her. Frustrated anger twisted his features. “Damn, we’ve lost them.”

  She looked at him quickly. He ran his fingers through his hair as he glared into the darkness.

  How had he lost his abilities? She wished now she’d been around at the time. She didn’t try fooling herself into thinking that she could have done something about his loss back then, but the possibility had been there.

  And even if she couldn’t have done anything to help, even a stay in her pools would have prevented a complete loss. That no one had thought to help him in such a way bothered her. A lot.

  “What do you know that I don’t?” Connor stood in front of her, his hands fisted on his hips.

  “I know that the second man is either very sick or is under the influence of something that is hurting him. He threw out black energy to hide his tracks, but I doubt he has the strength to do much more.”

  “But that black stuff was thick.”

  “No, it only appeared to be that way. It was just dark.” She stepped through the darkness to the other side and stopped to search the tunnel. The other man’s wisps of black clouds dotted the area. “I won’t have any trouble following him.”

  “Those clouds aren’t normal, are they?” He groaned, his hands clenching.

  “No. Not at all.” She didn’t add that seeing them wasn’t normal either. So were his abilities coming back, or did they still flicker slightly? It appeared that something was changing. Maybe being in her pool had helped, or this could be the result of the latest head injury.

  They walked steadily for another ten minutes, listening carefully, but the only sound was their soft-soled footsteps.

  “I assume you weren’t expecting to see anyone down here?”

  She glanced over at him in surprise. “I didn’t expect to see dead men or their killers, that’s for sure, but I was just thinking that it was awfully quiet with only the three of us down here.” She flushed and instantly corrected her mistake. “Two of us.”

  And she walked away from him, hoping he wouldn’t ask her about her error. If he could see the black energy, why the hell couldn’t he see Remi?

  As if she’d spoken his name aloud, Remi raced over and climbed up her leg to ride on her shoulder. He chattered quietly in her ear. She hadn’t seen him around the dead men, but then he’d been smarter than her; he’d taken off and disappeared. She’d have liked to do the same.

  With him back, she relaxed a little more.

  A split-second later, the cave shifted into complete blackness.

  Not a gloomy dark of night, but a blackness that allowed for no light whatsoever. They were completely surrounded.

  *

  Connor reached out to grab Genesis’s arm. He tugged her close against him. “What the hell just happened?” he whispered.

  “I’m not sure,” she murmured. “I’ve never seen this before.”

  “Could it be from the caves themselves?”

  She paused; he could almost hear the wheels turning in her mind. Then he sensed her shaking her head. “I don’t think so. Even if the pools were completely dried up, there should still be enough light from the walls and the energy itself to give us some light.”

  “So that one male is potentially causing this?”

  “Possibly. But that would be incredibly strong energy.”

  “But not impossible,” he persisted. He studied the absolute blackness, never having seen anything like it in his entire life. Even outside on a moonless night there were shades to the night, degrees of darkness. Here, there wasn’t even that. So how could that be? His analytical mind kicked in. It couldn’t exist. Therefore, it wasn’t real. He stepped forward, tugging Genesis with him, knowing that this blackness was an illusion.

  Three steps forward and the tunnel cleared completely.

  And they stood, staring at the same two men as before.

  “Jesus, Bernie. You said they couldn’t come through that.”

  “I didn’t expect them to.” Bernie scratched his chin. “I told you I wasn’t feeling well. I need to recharge.”

  “Well, if you can’t recharge down here, there’s something wrong with your recharger.”

  Bernie slid him a sideways glance. “You don’t mean that, do you, Charlie?”

  Charlie growled. “Shut up! Don’t use my name, you fool.”

  Connor slid his phone out of his pocket. Even though it wouldn’t get any reception down here, it would take pictures of the two men just fine. But he had to get close enough. And that was a different story.

  “Give it to me.” Genesis slipped it from his hand.

  He waited. But there were no flashes. Did she know how to use the camera? They’d only have one chance. When that flash went off, the men were going to run after them to get the photos.

  Just as he was about to ask for it back, the flash came, followed by several more. From opposite sides of the room. As the men spun around, the flash kept going off, always from different directions.<
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  What the hell?

  He looked down at Genesis to find her grinning. In a low voice, he said, “Care to explain what’s going on?”

  “It’s Remi. He loves toys.”

  Remi? Oh. Right. The invisible pet.

  Chapter 12

  Well. It wasn’t the way she’d planned to have Connor acknowledge Remi’s existence, but as far as being effective, she couldn’t have come up with anything better.

  Dare he doubt her now?

  She couldn’t stop grinning. The two men were trying to find the source of the flashes, but they were just too slow. Each time the flash had stopped blinding them, Remi had already moved.

  Finally the men stopped, chests heaving, to stare at the two of them.

  “What kind of trickery is this?” Bernie asked, wiping his brow.

  Sweat beaded on his forehead, too heavily to just be the result of exertion. Genesis studied him with concern. He did not look good. The caves were not the place for a sick man. Now they had several dead and one needing medical attention.

  Remi returned to Genesis’s side.

  “Camera, please.”

  Remi chattered at her.

  “Remi, now.”

  With a disgusted sound, he dropped the phone into her open hand.

  Silently, one eyebrow raised, she held it out to Connor.

  He took it silently and then peered down where her hand had been before shrugging and pocketing the phone.

  She turned back to face the men, only to catch a glimpse of them racing away into a tunnel gone black.

  “Do we go after them?”

  “No. I’ll send the photos to Matt. He can take care of it from there.” He turned to study her. “I’d like to get you out of here though. It’s too dangerous down here right now.”

  “It’s always dangerous,” she said, absently studying the space where the men had stood. “It’s just different now.”

  “Different in any other way beside the obvious?”

  She shrugged. “I can’t explain it. Let’s keep going.”

  With a quick glance at him, she led the way into the next tunnel. It appeared deserted and untouched. As did the next and the next. When she came to the last, a wave of wrongness hit her. She stopped and held up her hand to Connor.