Chapter 9

Arin was seething when they walked in. Anna stared at him. He looked like hell. His golden hair was mussed and oily from lack of showering. He looked grimy from where he sat. Plus he was behind bars. When she had last left him, he had been in the nap room. The others must have moved him when she was at home.

He watched her through the bars. For some reason she thought of him as a wild animal. Just by his look she thought he was going to pounce on any of them if they got close. She couldn't read his mind, but if she could she was certain he would have things running through it that she didn't want to hear. As it was she didn't want to ask him the question everyone was dying to know.

"Your Majesties," he said. He spoke like it was normal for him to be addressing them.

Anna spared a glance over her shoulder. Aiden was leaning against the bars of another cell with her eyes half-lidded. Something about them wasn't right. They were pearlescent with hints of silver swirling in them. Mikey was standing a little in front of her acting as if he were her guard.

Paycen was buzzing behind her and so was Emery. The two were close to finding out what was going on but there was no way they were going to speak up. They were going to let her handle it. They would step in if they needed to but other than that they were out.

She took a deep breath then walked closer to the bars. Arin watched her with a hungry look. She knew what they had told her earlier was right. He was only looking at her as the mate he wanted, not the one he needed. It hurt her to think about it. He had been so good to Shawn, but the girl had never opened up to him as she had Paycen. If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't be in the school she was in today.

"What did you do?" she asked.

He turned his head to the side and an innocent look came over his face. "You'll have to be more specific. I don't think I know what you mean."

Behind her, Anna heard a snort. Ignoring it, she walked closer. "Were you involved in all those attacks?"

"Attacks on whom?"

"Attacks on people like us. People in the fire department, police force, and even an EMT. Were you involved?"

Arin leaned forward and pressed his face into the bars. "Honey, I wasn't only involved but I planned them. Do you know how long it took me to figure out where they worked? I knew their names. I just needed the final piece of information."

"So you attacked people for your sick amusement?"

"Not for my amusement. I did it for you. I wanted you to think that people were attacking those who couldn't defend themselves."

She turned to the others. "What does he mean?"

"We're ranked base of levels. Level 1 is the lowest level one of our kind can be. They're not very powerful but they're resilient and reliable. Most of them know how to plan escape routes. Level 5 is the most powerful and there are only two in existence," Keldin said. He looked over at his friends as they leaned against the cell. "The rest of us are somewhere in between. The ones he targeted were Level 1s. They weren't able to defend themselves so they were attacked."

"Ah," Arin said, "Sector 7 Leader I presume. It's nice to finally meet you but you're almost right. The last two I took out were Level 2s."

"Unfortunately, he hasn't killed anyone," Emery said.

"Unfortunately?" Anna replied. "Why is that unfortunate?"

"We can't kill him."

"No one's killing anyone until we get to the bottom of this," Mikey said. He walked forward and put a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Why do you want Anna?"

Arin made a face. "Come on, King. You're a man. I'm pretty sure you could figure it out in a heartbeat if you wanted to."

Mikey smiled and it was anything but pleasant. "What? You wanted her for her body? For her job? For what you could do in the bedroom?"

Paycen growled behind them.

But Arin was unfazed. He blinked once then smiled even more. "Even though those reasons are true, they're not the main reason. I want her daughter."

This time it was Paycen who charged the bars. "Leave the girl alone."

"Paycen, step back," Aiden ordered. The Healer growled once more then shoved roughly from the bars.

"What do you want with my daughter?" Anna asked, terrified.

Arin tilted his head. "You don't know?" Then he started laughing at her confused look. "Oh, honey, you're so sad. You have no idea who the father of your daughter was do you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Who was the father of your daughter?" Mikey asked.

"His name was Louis Martin. He was a marine that was killed in combat in Iraq."

Arin's smile was huge because he knew it was a lie. "You should ask the Golden King who your late husband really was."

Anna looked at Mikey. He was chewing on his jaw. "Louis was one of my best fighters. He was a Level 3 Terrakinetic. He could move earth to do what I needed. His team was one of the best I put together. I didn't have anything to do with his death though."

She was quiet for a minute. Louis had been a member of the Golden Court and hadn't said a word about it. For some reason she understood. She understood why he had to keep it a secret. No one knew they existed so he had to keep it quiet.

She looked back at Paycen. What she felt when she was married to Louis was nothing compared to what she felt with that man. Taking advantage of Mikey's hand on her shoulder, she tried to press into his mind. He allowed her to do so. What she saw amazed her. There was a silver glow around Paycen. When she looked down, she saw the same glow around her. It was disrupted where Mikey had his hand but other than that it was there.

She pulled away from Mikey and leaned against the bars. "Am I right when I say that Shawn will be like her father?"

"Not exactly like him, but she will be one of us," Mikey replied. "She could be a Gold or a Silver. It's all up to chance really."

"You wanted to train her as your own didn't you?"

Arin stood and came towards the bars. He gripped them around Anna's hand. Paycen nearly lurched forward, but Keldin grabbed him by the waistband of his jeans and held him in place. Emery hooked his foot around his friend's so he would trip if he went forward again.

"She would have been the best killer," he whispered.

Mikey reached through the bars and grabbed the man by his throat. "Who are the people you sent after all the others and where are they hiding?"

"I wouldn't if I were you," Aiden said suddenly.

Anna had to step back to understand what she was talking about. Arin was crackling with electricity. Mikey didn't seemed fazed though. As she looked, Anna noticed water slowly making its way towards the cell. Arin seemed to notice as well because his electrical currents disappeared. It seemed that the water versus electricity tidbit still had an effect.

Paycen suddenly doubled over. His face went slack. When he came back into himself, his face closed down. "If anything happens to that girl, I'll kill you with my own hands."

"Emery, go with him," Aiden said. "Take Alex."

"What's going on?" Anna asked. No one answered her. When the two guys had disappeared out the door, she looked back at Arin. "What did you do?"

"They're going after the school," Aiden said.

Panic set in immediately.

***

Abby woke up slowly. Her head throbbed and her body felt heavy. She tried to raise her hands to push her hair out of her face but couldn't. Coming awake fully, she realized her hands were bound. Wiggling her feet, she found they were tied to the legs of the chair. Looking around she noticed she was still in the school. She recognized this supply closet.

Ceasing her struggles, she listened intently to the other rooms. Her hearing was better than a normal human's so she could hear nearly the entire building. Plus her telepathy was allowing her to graze the minds of everyone in the building. Many of the teachers were low level Supes so they knew how to teach the children what to expect. They were doing a good job to keep the children calm.

As her mind took her over the vicinity, she heard one of the teachers chanting something. She was saying one thing to the children but another in her head. She was asking for help. Drawing on her power of the atmosphere, she twisted it and made the gasses in the air as sharp as a blade. Dropping it down, it sliced through the bonds. She tested her legs to see if they would hold her. When she was satisfied, she decided to go to work.

Creeping down the hallway, she checked each classroom. Even though it was a primary school, there were only twelve classrooms, four for each grade. She peered in the windows of each room to see if anyone was in there. Luckily the kindergarten rooms were unoccupied by people she didn't know. She picked the lock to the first one, stuck her head in, and motioned the teacher and the kids out. Grateful, the teacher told her kids to keep quiet as they filed out the side door.

Abby continued to pick locks to all the rooms. The kindergarten teachers were very composed as they took their kids outside. The kids were very quiet as they clung to each other. When she was done with the first graders, she moved to the second graders rooms. That's when things got a little tricky. Every room had at least two guys watching the kids.

"Abby, Shawn's in danger." Keldin's voice rang in her head like a beacon. Luckily they were on a different wavelength than the teachers in the school so no one knew it was happening.

Abby peered in the door of the nearest room. The guys watching the kids were burly. "Tell me something I don't know. I was attacked from behind and tied to a chair. They got in without me knowing."

"Are you hurt?"

"No, but they've taken the second graders hostage."

"What about Shawn?"

"As far as I can tell, she's fine, but I won't know anything until I get to her room."

"What of the other kids?"

"The teachers have gotten the kindergarteners and the first graders out. They've called the police. I'm working on getting the second graders."

"Your goal is Shawn. Get to her and get her out."

"Yes, sir."

Abby didn't care that she was going to leave the other teachers hanging. She had been told to get Shawn out of the school and to somewhere safe. She didn't know what they wanted with the girl but she had to follow orders.

As she peered in the window, she saw how scared the kids were. Having guns around them wasn't something they were used to. Even though many of their parents were very skilled at combat, they didn't pull their weapons out unless they had to. It had to be a shock for them to see huge men wearing army fatigues and carrying guns. When one man started bullying a little girl, she'd had enough.

Using the air around them to silence the sound of the lock turning, she picked it then carefully opened the door. The big guys weren't very bright which meant they weren't Supes. She made eye contact with the teacher and nodded. There was only one way they were getting out of this without any casualties.

"Hey, big fellas," she said as she leaned against the door.

The guys turned. "How'd you get in here?" one asked.

"I could ask you the same question. You do know this is a private institution right?"

The guys didn't ask any more questions. They came after her. One went to smash her head in with the butt of his gun. She grabbed it and spun him, slamming his head into the dry erase board. The other one grabbed her from behind but she'd had enough of that. She hooked her leg around his ankle and tossed her weight backwards. Now Abby didn't weigh but one hundred twenty pounds but when dropped dead, it was hard to move. Her elbow connected with the guy's face and she stole his weapon.

"Get the kids out," she said as she checked the safety and rounds. She imprinted a number in the woman's head. "Once you're out call this number and whatever you do, don't come back in."

The teacher nodded and began filing her kids out. Some of the boys were commenting on how cool it was. Once they were out of the building, she made sure she hadn't killed the guys. Determining that they were just taking a long nap, she used zip ties to bind them. Then she went on to the next rooms.

When the next two rooms were liberated, she made her way to Shawn's. By this point, she had a nonstop flurry of discussion going on in her head. They were making plans from what she could understand. Not taking any chances, she kicked the door in. Gunshots rang out and the kids started screaming. What's more people started screaming in her head as well.

The guys charged her and she went into battle mode. The teacher started to get the kids out when the guy not fighting Abby snatched Shawn up by the hair. The little girl started to wriggle to get away, but with a look from Abby she settled down. Abby was certain her eyes started glowing silver because the girl's eyes widened. She saw the man holding her drop her in favor for grabbing his own throat.

"Run," she said.

Shawn didn't waste any time. She turned and took off out the door. Abby followed after her. Rapid fire pierced the air and the woman fell forward. Shawn turned just in time to move as Abby landed hard on the cold floor. She stopped to check on her.

"Shawn, run," Abby commanded.

"I'm not leaving you," the little girl said. She was holding back tears because her mother had always told her to be strong.

"Listen to me. They're after you. You have to get outside."

"They'll kill you."

Neither one got a chance to move as the last guy stormed after them. The other one must still be scrabbling for his neck to keep from choking. He was angry as he stomped towards them. Abby tried to pull herself up but her leg was throbbing too much. Her vision was blurring as she lost blood.

Just as the guy was upon them, fire erupted around them. Abby looked around to see if Alex was around. Noticing the other man wasn't anywhere to be found, she looked at the little girl. Shawn's eyes were glowing gold as the fire surrounded them in a protective barrier. Abby understood at that moment why she was the target.

Intending to give the girl some more time, Abby tapped into her power once again. The man grabbed at his throat as she focused on cutting off the air flow around him. She heard footsteps behind her just as her eyesight tunneled and things went dark.