Her Mortal Mate

Chapter Ten: Nefarious Plans Unfold

Jadea

My dreams were dark and disturbing and set all in grey. I had been running, following aqueducts across all kinds of terrain. Flat. Hilly. Rocky, difficult mountain terrain. It alternated at every turn. I was tracking Adam, and every time I thought I was getting closer to him, every time I thought I saw something on the horizon, it ended up being nothing other than shadows. I was getting frustrated. Anxious. On the wind I heard him calling out to me, begging me for help, but I didn't know where he was. I picked up my pace. I felt my lungs screaming for air. My legs burned. As I ran up another hill, I caught a whiff of something different... The ocean? I heard water breaking, waves crashing. The grass under my paws changed to sand. This had to be it! I would see them the moment I broke over the hill. My heart leapt, and renewed my energy. I would be able to save him. Finally!

But the instant I crested the hill, I came to a grinding halt at the edge of a sheer drop. The waves crashed viciously against the rocks below. The ocean disappearing on the horizon. Adam's scent ended here.

No! I howled my agony. No! This couldn't be it!

I could still hear his voice on the wind. Where was he?

I desperately looked over the ledge, but there was no one. When I turned to run alongside the cliff's edge, to see if I couldn't pick up on another trail, a black ghostly figure appeared and shoved me off the side of the cliff.

It felt so real. The fall. I could feel the air whooshing past my face. That lost stomach feeling. I knew the sharp rocks were approaching, but there was nothing I could do--

I was startled out of my nightmares as my face met the hardwood floor.

"Ouch," I groaned as I came to realize I had fallen out of the bed. My legs were tangled in the sheets still and were somewhat suspended in the air while my torso and head were on the ground.

It was then I also noticed my phone was ringing.

"Jay, you ok?" Garret's voice drifted from the bed, his head popped over the edge and he was having a hard time keeping the amusement from his expression. We had decided to share a room instead of being separated through the house. That way, if Briar or Sargent Moore called and we all needed to reconvene and talk, we wouldn't hopefully wake up the household.

"I got it," Blade said when he realized my predicament. He was up and off his little cot on the floor and grabbed the phone as I was struggling to get out of the sheets. I was at such an odd angle I couldn't have reached my phone in time.

"What are you smirking about?" I growled as Garret helped get my legs undone.

He started laughing and I felt my frustration ease as I saw the humor in my situation. As much as it had been a terrible way to wake up, I knew I had to look ridiculous like this. And, if it had happened to one of them, I knew I would be in hysterics. My laughter joined his.

"Just get me out of here will you?" I groused.

"I'm trying, but you've got yourself tangled pretty nicely," he grunted, pulling and twisting the sheets. When I was finally free, I turned to Blade and noticed his guarded expression. He had been waiting for me to get untangled.

"Blade?" I asked, worry sitting in my stomach like a lead bomb.

"Here she is Briar," he handed me the phone.

What had they learned? "Briar?" I asked a bit breathlessly. I knew I needed to hear what she had to say, but I was afraid.

"You're mate is smart and resourceful," Briar said softly. "I'll give him that. Sargent Moore and I have made it through the remaining recordings, and Adam had been able to catch part of a damning conversation. Jadea, are you sitting down?"

I hadn't gotten up off the floor yet. Blade had sunk onto his haunches before me, waiting for the news to hit. Garret stared over the edge of the bed. He was resting his head on his forearm, listening in on the phone conversation. My heart thudded in my chest so hard I was afraid it would burst out of my rib cage. My hands started shaking. I could hear the blood rushing through my ears. Blade's hand closed around my ankle and I felt his powers resonating in the air as he helped calm me down. It took several heartbeats before I was calm enough to be able to listen to her. "Yes, I am."

"As was mentioned in an earlier recording, they are expecting you to follow their scent. They are making it easy for you to follow because they want you recklessly rushing into the fray. They have some kind of big trap set for the pack, but not to kill us. Initially, they will ask for an obscene amount of money because they have somehow figured out you are stacked. They will use Adam's release as an incentive, but he will not be present or even nearby--which I'll come back around to this in a minute. Once you have given them the money with the intent to safely retrieve Adam, they will then continue to use you by using Adam as leverage. They will force you to back out of the race still, because your competitor is someone they know and can control.

"They are planning on using the money you give to ensure their contestant wins and, once he has been given the council position, they will force us to hunt for them. We will be given jobs and the money will go directly to them so they can get rich off of our work. They aren't planning on returning Adam to you, Jadea. Honestly, I don't know how long he has before they kill him. I'm sorry," Briar said gently. "There was some mention of keeping him alive until after you agreed to being their hunting pawn, but after that all bets were off."

I felt the debilitating panic consume me. It made me angry. Furious. Sad. I felt helpless. This situation felt hopeless. But, what Adam's captors didn't know was that I now had a few tricks up my sleeve, along with this information.

I breathed deeply.

We had a little bit of time before it was too late. Even if I had to give in to their first demand or two, I was confident we would be able to find Adam and take away their leverage.

I knew Nikolai would do everything in his power to keep a corrupted individual from winning the councilor position. And, because we didn't know exactly who was behind Adam's capture, he would be more inclined to help me recover him and find out who exactly was behind this reprehensible scheme.

"Briar, great work! Thank you for the update." I looked down at my phone. Only a few hours had passed. It was getting close to the time when Sargent Moore's crew would be able to start their real investigation. Hopefully, we would be able to get some faces and more names.

"You're taking this far better than I thought you would," she said a little hesitantly.

"I think I have your brother to thank for that," I admitted, my gaze meeting Blade’s. He winked, a small reassuring smile spreading across his face.

"Ah, yes. That makes sense."

Blade's superpower was an emotional manipulator. While it could be used for good in instances like this, it was scary to know the depths his powers could go. I knew it wasn't something he liked to talk about, but he had saved him and his sister from abuse and servitude by forcing their guard--and many of their abusers--to commit suicide based off of emotions alone.

"Do me a favor? Send me the piece of the recording that has that particular conversation on it."

"Will do, Jadea. The littles are still asleep, but Mrs. Lindsay is up and about. She's ordered everyone donuts and coffee."

"She's an amazing woman. Give them all a hug for me."

"I will, Jay. I'm sending the recording now." My phone pinged. "I got it. Thank you."

"I'll call you when we have more."

"I don't know if I'll be able to answer. We will be going to the underground city in LA."

"Oh?"

I filled her in on everything. The soft plan we had come up with by asking for Nikolai's help.

"After Lucien picks up the packages, what would you like Derrick and I to do?" Briar asked.

"Start heading our way. Sargent Moore will be able to manage on his own well enough, and if he needs help with anything we will have our own resources."

There was a little more generic conversation before I hung up. I reached out and wrapped my hand around Blade's wrist, his fingers still loosely holding onto my ankle. "Thank you," I said genuinely, holding his gaze. I knew it was hard for him to use his powers, even for good. It brought up painful memories from the past.

"For you Jadea, always," he responded, slowly retracting himself.

"Well, looks like y'all are bright eyed and bushy tailed," Lance stated loudly from the door. All of us started because we hadn't heard him open the door. He looked completely refreshed and ready to take on the world.

"Did you even sleep?" I snapped, annoyed we had been caught off our guard.

He chuckled. "Yep!" he grinned so wide I was afraid his face would split in two. "Don't be jelly. It's not a good look on you," he teased. "C'mon. It's best to get on the road, especially with the information you seem to have acquired. My uncle will want to know about this sooner rather than later."

"And I thought you were a morning person," Garret grumbled at me as we all moved to start getting ready.