The Carnelian Fox Read online

  “I’ll escort you to a room to wait in peace, you may have one Gem to accompany you for companionship. Not the psychic. If you use their abilities to escape, we’ll subdue you and you’ll return alone. There are sensors on the door so if it’s attacked or opened by any other means than the correct key card, an alarm will sound. Several of my Primes will be there within seconds. Oh, and you won’t be getting the stag back. You’ll transfer ownership over to my aide.”

  “Are you insane?” I had the strength to lurch upright then, battling my jelly limbs and propped on the wall, but I was up and had that dude in my sights. “You touch a single one of my Gems and I won’t need any of them to hunt you down and make you pay.”

  The hint of a smirk appeared on Eli’s face, he quashed it, but it got my back up. What, this was funny to him?

  “That Gem should never have found its way to you, Miss Wentworth. Everything Elias Green thinks he owns belongs to us. He has a rather large debt to repay and nothing his girly little fingers land on will ever be his to give away.”

  “Vortex is my Gem,” I said, taking a shuddering step away from the wall. If this guy threatened my team, I’d show him I could be a threat too. “And you will not be getting him from me.”

  “You won’t,” Eli said, the most confident he’d been since I woke up here, “He never belonged to me. Sure, my Veil sired him, but I didn’t register that Gem to me. Kimiko’s doe birthed him, and the first registration went to Sam, he’s nothing to do with me.”

  “You think you’re clever?” The man dipped his head, so his snarling lips were a hair’s breadth from Eli’s ear. Both men’s fingers sat a millimetre above their capsules.

  “If I was, I wouldn’t be here answering to you, would I?” Eli raised his hands up in front of himself and looked away.

  “Good boy. Don’t withhold from us ever again. We can take other things instead.”

  Eli screwed his eyes shut and his throat rippled with a nervous swallow.

  “Give me Finn,” I said, breaking the little moment the men were having. “Red capsule in the centre. And if there’s anyone missing when I get that wristlet back…”

  “It looks like there won’t be. Well done on the only miniscule, pathetic victory you’ll ever get, lad.”

  The man took me through the complex I’d ended up in. It was built like a military bunker - so was he. There were no windows, and everything had that ugly wash from the dim lighting. When we saw other people, they turned aside and didn’t make eye contact. Those jerks were accomplices even if they refused to acknowledge me.

  We reached a row of rooms with glass walls. I wondered at the thickness of the plexiglass, and the heavyset tables with reinforced legs within. They were protecting something. Shelves of paperwork, pieces of equipment, boxes, and racks of stoppered vials rested against the far wall.

  The man marched me past everything, hand clenching my shoulder as if I’d make a break for it. I wouldn’t be going anywhere without my team.

  We reached another corridor, this time all the walls were solid. Spaced out along its length were several doors, each with a panel and integrated card reader fixed next to the frame.

  The man opened the closest one and nudged me inside. As the door closed behind me, I wrestled with the handle. I already guessed it wouldn’t budge.

  “You bring me Finn; do you hear me?” I slammed on the metal panels with the flat of my palms, my futile strikes almost soundless on the solid structure.

  I let my hands fall, my heart sank with them. How did I keep ending up in these crazy situations? Wasn’t travelling the world with a team of superpowered animals exciting enough?

  I looked around, taking stock and trying to figure out if there was anything to use to my advantage. Between the bed that seemed like a second-hand army bunk and a metal chair bolted to the floor, I didn’t see many options. The closest thing I got to an idea was putting the scratchy looking khaki blanket over my head and pretending to be a ghost to scare my way out. I decided to leave that as a Plan B and work on something else.

  The walls and ceiling were smooth, did that mean there was no camera here? Good because the toilet was just behind a partition with no door. A tiny, recessed sink in the wall didn’t help either.

  I groaned and was about to flop onto the bed in defeat when I heard a clunk from the entrance. It opened. I half hoped it was Eli and I could try to talk him into letting me go if I promised to keep a bodyguard and stay up to date with my movements. When I’d ignored Mrs Capshaw’s request, I hadn’t realised she operated something of this scale.

  The same man from before entered, holding out a red capsule towards me. It was Finn!

  I grabbed it and hugged him to my chest. This was the only time anything had separated us since I got my first Gem.

  “Thanks,” I said, dragging out the word. “Wasn’t sure you would come through for me for a minute there.”

  “Don’t screw around. Keep him docile.” With that, he headed for the exit.

  “Wait,” I said. “How long am I going to be here? What happens after I see her? Where even is this crazy place?”

  “Either I don’t have those answers, or I’m not allowed to tell you. I’ll let you figure out which is which.” He turned his muscular back to me again.

  “Can you answer some other questions?” I needed something to go on. Being stuck here made a ball of claustrophobia grip my stomach.

  “Like what?” He snapped each word but gave me his full attention.

  “What’s your name? Are you in charge until Mrs Capshaw gets here?” Hey, they were the first things that popped into my head. Maybe if I kept him talking, I’d come up with something more useful to ask.

  “You can call me Davies, I’m in charge of you until she gets here. That’s all you need to know. Any more questions?”

  “Can I talk to Eli?”

  “No.”

  “What do you all do here?”

  “Do you honestly think I’ll answer that? If that’s all?”

  “So, I’m stuck here for however long you want to keep me, even if I promise good behaviour?” I tried to make myself look as unthreatening and well behaved as possible. I think my eyelash flutters just made the guy believe I was flirting with him, ugh gross.

  “Now you’re getting it.” He gave me a predatory grin and tilted my chin up with a fingertip.

  I let out a shaky breath and unclenched myself from a fighting stance as he left the room without another word. Then I slammed Finn’s capsule and buried my face in his fur, curled around him as I sat on the bare, chilly floor. He emanated heat. The tears evaporated from my cheeks as they leaked out onto him. Finn nuzzled me, his slender muzzle pressed against my hand as I stroked him, more for my comfort than his.

  “I got us into something stupid again, I’m sorry,” I mumbled against him. “We can’t try to escape, if you melt the door an alarm will go off. The only way out is one of the key cards the guys here have. And they’ve got the rest of the team and my gear. I don’t know what to do, I don’t, and I’m freaking out big time. I don’t even know how long we’ll be here or what they’re planning to do with us. They already tried to get me to give them Vortex, I wouldn’t let them have him though. I would never let anything happen to you guys. You’re the only ones that are always there for me.”

  His face shot up to lock gazes with me. His beautiful eyes glimmered with that same spark of care and intelligence they’d had since the first time I’d met him. Then Finn stepped back, ducking my hand when I reached out for him. I battled the surge of pain at his reaction, searching for what had startled him.

  A bright glow erupted through the room. It came from Finn.

  As I lowered my hands from my face, I took in the sight in absolute wonder. Finn was black and red now. As tall as a wolf but with his same slender build and wide eyes. His ruff, tail, and the back of his legs flickered with shadowflame.

  He’d reached his mature form, evolved to protect me.

  “Y
ou are incredible, I hope you realise that, buddy.”

  His eyes were still deep and beautiful, the same Finn in a new, more powerful body. But when he blinked up at me, it was slow and purposeful and full of determination. He wasn’t a little cub that needed looking after anymore.

  Muscles rippled beneath the darker coat he now wore. Finn trotted to the door, then dispersed. His new shadow typing gave him the ability to move through darkness as an insubstantial blur.

  He was through the crack at the bottom before I could tell him it was a bad idea.

  And yeah, turns out I was right for once.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I waited, terrified to move or breathe. What would these psychos do to my Gem if they found him wandering around? Was I ever getting out of this prison? I understood why Mrs Capshaw was nervous about Alfie’s Saviours, but everything she’d told me was guesswork. They might not even care I existed. And it sure didn’t give anyone the right to keep me locked up here. If they dared lay a finger on my fox…

  Then what? What could I do, really? I was an ordinary, defenceless girl without my team. Less than ordinary to be honest. And if they had other Primes as strong as Eli working here, I didn’t stand a chance even with my Gems.

  A faint beep and a dull click reached my ears, the door slid open. Finn wagged his tail as he trotted in, I was still in awe at his new appearance. He dropped a plastic rectangle at my feet. A key card.

  “How did you get this?” I picked it up and pocketed it, not yet convinced leaving was a good tactic.

  Finn shifted to pure shadow for a second, and back to his solid form.

  “Well, you’re amazing. And I won’t let your hard work go to waste. Did you find where the others are?”

  He spun in a circle then pointed his nose towards the door, he wanted me to follow him. I bundled up the bedding to make it look like I was curled up under the blanket before I left. The illusion wouldn’t hold up for a long time, but it might convince someone that popped in to check on me I was sleeping.

  I peeped around the doorframe, petrified they’d catch us straight away. Finn gave me a disapproving glance and inclined his head. To be fair, his hearing would alert him to a patrol way before I picked up on them.

  We crept along the dingy corridor, my heart slamming so loud that I swear they could hear it from the other side of the complex. I followed Finn as close as possible without tripping him over, my anxiety flared higher with every millimetre I strayed away from him. What would I do without him?

  Finn stopped. Tail rigid and muzzle low, his ears twitched, and he sunk to a crouch. I ducked down behind him, much difference that would make. Swift footsteps stomped in the distance. Should we go back?

  Hugging the wall, wrestling every instinct to run or fight, I forced myself to stay calm. Finn didn’t move. The steps got closer. I needed to do something, anything. No way I’d go back to that room alone. I stood, not knowing if I planned to bolt back to my room and pretend we’d never left or dash in for a surprise attack. Fortunately, I never had to find out. Finn’s nose pressed against my arm, the only cool part of his body. His stance told me to wait, be still.

  The familiar beep of a key card rang out, followed by the soft rumble of a door opening. Once the door closed, the footsteps disappeared altogether.

  I gave Finn a quick hug around his now much larger neck. We continued.

  At the end of the corridor, things started to get tricky. This was where multiple routes criss-crossed. I heard small groups of people chatting before I rounded the last bend that led out into the space connected to the glass walled labs.

  When I was certain the route was empty, I chanced a glance around the corner. Finn dispersed at my side and the only reason I noticed the faint ripple of his insubstantial form was because I’d seen him phase. He returned seconds later with a confident nudge to my hand, then led the way forward.

  I was getting desperate now. We were moving closer to the room I woke up in, which I hoped was near the exit somewhere. The problem was, I didn’t have the rest of my team. And I didn’t have a clue where to find them. I had to hope that Finn had scouted enough of the complex to know where to lead me.

  “Go on,” I whispered, “I trust you.”

  Finn dipped his nose at me and led on. We passed halfway along the glass walled rooms when he stopped stock still. Ears twitching, he turned to me with wide eyes.

  I pointed towards each end of the corridor, begging him to pick a direction. Instead he padded over to a door set into the plexiglass, scratching at the handle. He didn’t need to tell me twice. I scanned the card key, wincing at the beep, then let us both in being as quiet as I could.

  Yeah, anyone walking past might look through, but there was a space behind the line of tables and drawers at the back. We hunkered down, me wrapped around Finn to stop my trembling. I couldn’t sense what was happening outside, the walls must be soundproof, maybe even bulletproof. I’m not sure how long I sat there, heart tripping over while I pulled in every deliberate breath. But it was too long.

  “Sam, come out,” a voice crackled out above me. I jumped before I realised the sound came from a speaker set into the ceiling. It was broadcasting through the base. They didn’t know where I was yet.

  Drawers rattled as I pulled them open, rummaging through to find a weapon. I wasn’t going back to that room, and I wasn’t giving Finn up to them. If it came to that, I’d recall him and fight them myself first.

  The contents were a disappointing mess of useless equipment. I rummaged through beakers, paper, measuring devices, and plastic gloves. But then I came across a treasure.

  “Oh, my life…” I lifted out the metallic cylinder, it was as long as my forearm and covered in a black and gold engraved pattern. “What do you reckon, buddy?”

  Finn pressed his nose against it and pawed at the twist cap.

  “We’d be stronger, but I doubt they’d be happy.”

  Finn grabbed the top with his teeth, trying to prise it open.

  “You’ve only just reached mature stage, you’re up for this?”

  His eyes locked onto mine. He nodded. Not much clearer signal he could give me.

  I twisted.

  Finn pressed his forehead against the open cylinder, eyes closed. I wasn’t sure if this would work while I didn’t have my eBand, guess we were about to find out.

  A ripple flooded across Finn’s fur, golden and pulsating with a blinding glare.

  Here we go.

  My fox’s entire body shone again, the same way as back in that holding room. When it settled, I almost cried. Maybe from the raw power I saw in his new form, or because this time, evolution had replaced all the vestiges of my baby.

  More of his new shadow typing had become prominent. I could see a constant, vague outline of the table through his black fur, with flashes of scarlet and orange flickering throughout. His ruff of shadowflame poured from the back of his neck, over his shoulders and down between his front legs like a waterfall of smouldering darkness. His legs faded away to blurs midway between his knees and paws, ending in tattered embers that transitioned to such immaterial blackness he seemed to float a hand span above the floor. Four fireballs formed a half circle behind his head, a weapon ready to unleash.

  It was his eyes that got to me. Filled in so dark the pupil blended in, they were made of the same hazy mix of unstable shadow and fire.

  I had an elder Gem now.

  Not sure what I was expecting, but when I reached out a tentative hand to stroke his fur, it surprised me it felt no different. Except a little thicker. When he nudged my fingers with his nose how he had a million times before I realised I was being stupid to think of him as anything other than my first Gem.

  “You’re even more amazing, you know? Still my best boy. Remember that when you get loads of cool people wanting to hang out with you now you look so badass.”

  After another pet, Finn poked his muzzle around the corner of the drawers that hid us. He dropped into a crouch
. The rumble of his irritated growl was an octave or two lower now. His floating orbs crept out from his body by an extra handbreadth.

  “Damn it.”

  Another shadowy Gem stood nose to nose with him. A cougar with a pair of horns.

  “Go away, Lyle.” I tried to shoo him off. “Don’t tell them we’re here.”

  Eli’s elder narrowed his eyes at me, tilting his head to one side. I swear there was an apology on that whiskery face. Too bad his Prime wasn’t as loyal as him.

  The beep from the door made me drop my forehead to my palms. It was over already?

  “You really thought no one would see that evolution glow?” Disappointment filled Eli’s voice. “How did you get out and what are you planning to do next, Sam?”

  “Finn turned shadow and got us out and you’re not taking him away from me. We can fight you off if we need to. Now, where’s the rest of my team?” My words came out brash but my taste for combat drained as I imagined Finn trying to take on all six of Eli’s monsters.

  “Finn? But if he just evolved now…?”

  “If you aren’t helping you can get out of our way. He’s as powerful as Lyle now.” I stood up from my hiding spot, determined to face him down with a shred of dignity at least.

  The sudden movement of Eli scanning Finn made me flinch, ready to jump for him if he tried to summon any more of his Gems.

  “No, Sam.” Eli dropped with his back against the unit I’d been behind and folded into himself. Was he crying? “No, no, no. Not from here. You found that kit here, didn’t you? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  “No. No, I don’t, because no one tells me anything! You all say you know what’s best for me but locking me away and taking my team is not what I need, okay? I just want to be out there, being a normal Prime.”

  “That can’t happen.” Eli recalled Lyle, tapping the capsule on his holster before crossing his arms on his knees and resting his forehead on top.