Page 83 of Blue Embers
“We can’t give her to you,” Draven stepped in. “Haera going to be looking for her body. We’re putting her somewhere where she can’t get to her.”
There was silence on the other end as if Aethyn was contemplating the matter. Everyone in the room exchanged brief glances, waiting.
“Is she safe?” Aethyn said, the sarcastic tones in his voice suddenly gone.
“She will be,” Draven said calmly.
“Then keep her. I’m sure I’ll find her eventually. So? What’s on the agenda now?”
“Why do you ask?” I inquired. “Planning to lend another hand?”
“Maybe. Depends on whether or not you guys keep my interest. Speaking of interests. What’s the news on Ares?”
“Still missing,” I said vaguely.
“Well, that’s a shame,” Aethyn sighed. “Alright. I guess I’ll leave you all to it. Uh, be sure to check out the photos I sent. You should have received them by now.”
“Come out of the shadows,” Draven added. “Meet us face to face.”
“Nah. I like being the one without a face. If I feel like it, I’ll set up a meeting.”
Before anyone could keep him on the phone longer, Aethyn had hung up. I pressed my lips together, sliding my phone back onto the coffee table before leaning back into the couch cushions.
Draven glared at my cell. “I hate him.”
“I love him,” Malice said with a grin. “Mysterious,” he emphasized, waving his fingers around. “I’d love to know what else he’s got up his sleeves. That and I’d like to deck him with my fist and leave a print of my ring right on his jaw.” He gestured, balling his hand tight and holding it up. “Maybe then he’ll know who I am.”
“He’s gotta be a Pike,” Everly said, looking to Draven. “If the woman is his sister, he’s a Pike, right?”
“We can’t know for sure until we do some blood tests,” I explained. “She doesn’t quite look the part to be honest. And female Pikes have never existed. Not to our knowledge.”
“What about the photos he was talking about?” Persephone reminded us.
I nodded, standing from the sofa to head to an office on the other end of the villa. Draven, Everly and Persephone followed, all overly curious about what Aethyn had sent over from that facility. When we came to the room, I walked over to a large computer setup behind a rustic, red desk. The others filed in behind me as I sat down and booted it up. In less than a minute, I was staring at the screen where a notification had popped up telling me I had something in my inbox.
Everyone was silent with anticipation. I pulled up the file, letting it fill the screen, and began sifting through photos one by one. The first two were blurry, but once I reached the third, I stopped, trying to figure out what I was looking at. Draven leaned in, one hand propped on the edge of the desk.
The image was of a large, concrete room without windows. A basement, most likely, like Draven and I had suspected. Fluorescent lights lit up the chamber with an almost greenish hue. Along one wall, there were four metal tables, atop which I saw what looked like bodies.
“Go to the next one,” Draven said.
Skipping to the next photo, we saw the same room, only this time the image was taken closer to the tables to confirm that there were bodies on them. Living bodies, I suspected, judging from the tubes and equipment hooked up to each one. They were barely covered save for thin, white sheets that were draped over their midsections and each one appeared unconscious. For how long, though, none of us could tell.
“What the hell is that?” Everly pointed at the screen, her finger landing on something in the top corner of the photo.
I zoomed in, trying to make out a blurred image of what looked like a separate holding cell on the other side of the room. I skipped to the next image again to see my suspicions confirmed. It was a separate cell. It was empty, small, and had a glass wall peering out into the rest of the chamber. Going to the next photo, it was the same cell only this time there were small drawings on the image pointing to the glass barrier. With it, there was some sloppy writing that said,This glass is really thick,followed by a “wow” emoji. Everyone tossed around brief, awkward glances before I continued on.
The next few photos showed each individual on the tables. Two women and two men, all of their heads shaved bald and their bodies strapped to the platforms on which they were lying. The last photo in that room was of the underside of one woman’s wrist where a small, red tattoo was printed on her skin.
“That’s Draakonian,” Persephone pointed out. “Isn’t it?”
“It’s the number nine,” Draven answered her, narrowing his eyes at the photo.
I kept going, now coming to a dark room. So dark I questioned why it was included in the photos at all. Then we came to the next picture. It was the same image, only this time with more drawings that circled the center of the dark room in yellow.
Couldn’t use flash or they’d see, but there’s a HUGE Draak here on a table hooked up to tubes. I mean huge, as in big...but maybe not by Draak standards? I dunno. He’s a big Draak with burn scars on one side of his face.
“Burn scars?” Everly voiced. “Draak can get burned?”
