Eventually the ground began to slope upward, and we emerged through a wooden door that was completely hidden on the outside by moss and weeds. When it closed behind us, you couldn"t even see it, so brilliant and natural was its disguise.
I turned and looked from the women around me to the area where we now stood. It was an open field, bordering a glimmering lake. There were cabins in the distance, dotting the sh.o.r.eline. Lights burned insome, while others remained dark and felt uninhabited.
"Here were are," Ginger said.
My mother, still clasping my hand, drew me forward. "This cabin is owned by the Sisterhood. It"s for emergency use only, since we don"t want to draw attention to it. And it really wasn"t designed for thirteen of us, but I think we can make it work."
I looked at her steadily, holding back as she tried to pull me forward. She stopped and faced me again.
"You know that I can"t stay here."
A look of dread came into her eyes, and her face seemed to go a shade lighter. "Of course notnot permanentlybut stay just for now," she said, although I think she knew, even then, what my answer had to be.
I shook my head sadly.
"Just until we figure out what to do," she rushed on. "We can make a plan, and"
I cupped her face between my palms. "I already know what I have to do."
"Please don"t go there alone." She blinked at the dampness that swam in her eyes but could not so easily hide the fear. "We"ll get more help. We"ll get reinforcements. We"ll get"
"You need to tell me where it is. How to get there."
She closed her eyes, bit her lip. "If I tell you, and you die in your attempt, how will I ever live with that, Lilith?"
"And if I don"t try and just leave all those prisoners to their fate, and some of them die, or even just one of them dies, how will I live with that?" I asked her, then . swallowed hard, because her tears spilled over, and the sight of them caused me pain. "What if this is was what I was born to do?" I asked her.
"What if my entire purpose in being conceived, being born with the Antigen, being taken from you to be raised in that place, escaping alivewhat if all of it was to enable me to do this? To save them? What if this is my destiny? Would you deny me my destiny?"
She blinked away her tears. "Does it really feel that way to you?"
I could only nod.
"I guess I can understand that. Though I joined this organization with only my own self-interest in mindmy desire to find youI came to realize that it was so much more. It was meant to be. This cause is one I was destined to serve. So how can I deny you the chance to serve your own?" She sniffled, and wiped at her eyes. "But be careful, promise?"
"Extremely careful. I"ll just look around the place at first, see if there are any weaknesses I can exploit." I realized I was proposing to her the same plan that Ethan had earlier proposed to me. To take it slow, to be careful, to know all I could before risking myself. He"d been right about those things. Even if he had only said them to delay me. "If they catch you" my mother began, but she left the sentence unfinished. And I thought perhaps it was too horrible for her to contemplate what might happen to me if I were caught.
I smiled to rea.s.sure her and took her face between my hands. "You haven"t seen me run, have you?"
She allowed a small smile in return. "There"s nothing I can do to talk you out of this, is there?"
"No. I"m sorry, I really am. I wish we"d had more time together. If all goes well, perhaps we will." I took my palms from her cheeks and leaned close to press my lips to them instead, a gesture of love that was as spontaneous as it was sincere.
She sighed, and nodded gently. "Come with me, then. We have maps inside, and the coordinates, as well. I"ll write the directions down for you. It will be fasterwell, at least saferif you take one of the boats."
"Thank you."
While the other women headed into the cabin, and began lighting lamps and building a fire in the hearth, my mother led me around to the side that faced the nighttime lake. For a moment I let the natural beauty of this place touch me and its peace soothe me. Then she left me there and went inside to get me the information she had promised.
There were two long docks, with several small boats tied alongside them. One or two had small outboard motors, but most had only oars.
As I stood there, listening to the gentle lapping of the water against the hulls, staring out at the way the stars were reflected on the surface of the lake, I thought again of Ethan. I felt again his arms around me.
His mouth on mine. The delicious weight of his body on top of me, and the blissful pleasure of him inside me. And in spite of everything, I wanted him again. I ached for him. And I felt tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in my eyes, but I blinked them away when I heard my mother re-emerge from the cabin. Her footsteps crossed the dock to where I stood, and I turned to face her, hoping she wouldn"t see the pain and longing that seemed to be crushing my heart.
"Take this one," she said, pointing at one of the boats. "It has a motor, in case you need it. But don"t use it unless you have to. You"ll want to row," she told me. "Otherwise, the noise will give you away."
"All right."
"You start it by flipping the switch, there, and then pulling hard on the cord." She showed me what she meant, and told me how to steer the thing, as well. She told me how to speed up or slow down, and how to kill the motor when I no longer needed it. She checked to be sure it was filled with gasoline, and advised me to wear the life jacket that lay across the seat.
And all the while I thought she was only delaying the inevitable moment when I would leave her. I understood. I felt the same.
At last she handed me the folded sc.r.a.p of paper on which she had scribbled directions, at the same time reciting them aloud, in case I should lose the note.
I took it and dropped it into a pocket. Thanks to these women, I had rested and now wore practical clothing. Jeans, a tank top and a light hooded sweatshirt, currently unzipped. I had socks and running shoes. I had more than that, too. I had a small army of women who would grieve if something shouldhappen to me. My mother most of all, of course, but I did not doubt that the other members of her odd secret order, would weep for me, as well.
It was a foreign feeling.
I wondered if Ethan would mourn me if I were killed. I wondered if he would regret taking his brother"s side against me. Or whether he even knew that was what he had done by betraying our mission to James.
James was evil. I had no doubt of that. No matter how much I"d thought on it, I couldn"t see any other answer. Someone had told those DPI b.a.s.t.a.r.ds that we were on our way. And no one else had known.
"I love you, Lilith," my mother told me, then hugged me hard. I hugged her back almost fiercely.
As we pulled apart, she pressed a key into my hand. I frowned at it. "For the locked case you"ll find under the seat cushion in the boat. There are weapons inside. Tranq guns for vamps, regular ones for anyone else. Just in case."
"Thank you, Mother," I whispered, then found it difficult to speak any louder, due to the constriction of my throat. "I no matter what happens, I"
"Don"t say that."
"No matter what happens," I repeated, insistent now, "I"m so glad I got the chance to meet you, to know you a little. And to understand what an extraordinary thing is it so have a mother, to know her love."
"I"m glad, too," she said softly.
I hugged her again, then pulled away and turned to climb into my boat. My mother leaned over to untie it from its moorings, then tossed the rope to me.
I waved once, then took the oars and began to row. I watched my mother as I went. She remained right where she was, standing on the dock, a cloak wrapped around her shoulders. The night breeze lifted the edges and tossed her hair. And I drank in the sight of her for as long as I could, until a bend in the sh.o.r.eline hid her from my sight.
Then I lowered my head and let the tears flow.
This caring for other people was new to me. Oh, I"d thought I understood it. I"d thought that my desire to save the others at The Farm was because I cared for themand I did. I had cared for them before I"d left. I remembered it clearly now. And I cared for them still.
But that caring was nothing compared to what I felt for my newfound mother. And nothing compared to what I felt for Ethan.
As I dipped the oars and rowed ever further from them, I feared I had lost them both. And the possibility that I might die in my efforts this night paled beside the thought that I might never see either one of them again.
I wondered briefly if I"d been better off before I"d known what it was to love. For to lose that love was a pain beyond anything I could ever have felt had I never known it. And yet, despite the pain and the loss, I realized I wouldn"t give up any of it. Not the touch of a mother"s love, and certainly not the joy I"d found in Ethan"s arms. No, I wouldn"t give up any of it, not for all the world.
Serena watched her daughter go and hoped to G.o.d it wasn"t the last time she would ever see Lilith alive.
She was so filled with love for her that it seemed to be nearly bursting from her heart. There was very little she could do to ensure her daughter"s survival.
But there was one thing.
It would mean breaking her oath to the Sisterhood, the order to which she had pledged her very life. It might very well mean harsh punishment when they found out what she had done.
When a woman joined the Sisterhood of Athena, she joined for life. No one left, and betrayers well, betrayers vanished. There was an unspoken understanding that for the greater good, no one must be allowed the chance to reveal the secrets of the order.
She didn"t know for sure that traitors were summarily, if humanely, put to death. But it was what she believed happened, in those extremely rare instances. And it was, at that moment, what she believed would happen to her.
It didn"t matter. She would gladly give her life to save her daughter"s. There was no hesitation, no fear in her heart. "It"s what mothers do," she whispered.
Pulling the cell phone from a pocket, she checked the screen, relieved to see that there was a signal in this remote place. It was Ginger"s phone, not her own. She"d switched the phones while Ginger slept.
She"d learned long ago of a forbidden relationship Ginger had hung on to, despite orders from above to the contrary.
She found the list of contact numbers and scrolled down until she found the one she wanted. The one belonging to the only person in the world who might be able to help save Lilith and the other captives being held at The Farm.
She was one of only a handful of her kind who knew of the Sisterhood"s existence. She and her friends had vowed to keep the order"s secret, but the powers that be had forbidden any future contact, and though they hadn"t said the words "on pain of death," that had been fully understood.
And yet Serena pressed the b.u.t.ton, and the telephone placed the taboo call. She felt a chill rush up her spine as she listened to the woman"s phone ringing. Once, twice, three times.
And finally, sounding extremely irritated, the woman herself answered the phone with a curt, "Who are you, and how did you get this number?"
Swallowing hard, Serena forced herself to speak. "My name is Serena, and I know what"s been happening to The Chosen. I know where, they are. The missing ones. My daughter is among them, trying to save them, though I fear it will cost her her life. I can"t hope to help her, but you can. And I"m begging you to provide that help Rhiannon."
Chapter Eighteen "Where are you, Lilith?" Ethan demanded to the sky and the air and the emptiness around him.
But naturally, none of them answered his plea.
He"d followed his sense of her through a vast library and into one of several tunnels, then emerged from the underground pa.s.sageway and spotted the amber glow coming from a cabin on the sh.o.r.e of an extremely large lake. There were other cabins, but his eyes were drawn to that closest one. There was a lot of movement inside, but more importantly, he felt that Lilith had been there, and quite recently. It was incredible, his unseen, undeniable bond with Lilith, begun in captivity, empowered by s.e.x and the sharing of bloodbut not even all that seemed capable of explaining the intensity of their connection. Nor did it explain his urgent need to find her. To protect her. To touch her again.
He"d followed his awareness of her through those tunnels, finding her trail unerringly. He didn"t think he could have done that with anyone else, mortal or vampire. He didn"t believe he could have done it even with his own brother. G.o.d knew he"d tried.
He let the trap door in the ground fall closed behind him and strode down the gra.s.sy slope toward the cabin. And with every step, his sense of Lilith grew stronger and he moved faster, until he was running.
His instincts led him not into the cabin but past it, toward the lake itself, and his feet hit the dock, pounding across it.
She stood with her back toward him, tall and slender and regal as a queen, staring off into the distance, over the water. Her hair was concealed beneath the cloak she wore around her shoulders. He wondered where she"d gotten it even as she heard his approach and turned to face him.
Her profile made his heart jump in his chest, but then she faced him fully, and his elation became disappointment. He came to an abrupt stop on the sh.o.r.e-end of the dock, staring at her. This was not Lilith. And yet she resembled Lilith in a way that could not be coincidence.
"Who are you, and where is Lilith?" He spoke softly, though he wanted to shout.
"I"m Serena," she said, folding the cell phone she"d been holding and dropping it into an unseen pocket.
"I"m her mother."
The words stunned him, and he rocked backward as they reached his ears. "That"s a lie."
"It"s the truest thing in my life," she told him. "Are you Ethan?"
He nodded, noting the tears on the woman"s cheeks and the resemblance that seemed more evident with every second that he looked at her. Even her voice was like Lilith"s.
"She was taken from me on the day she was born," the woman said. "I"ve been searching for her ever since."
He narrowed his eyes, probing her mind in search of any sign of deception. "All the children taken to be raised on The Farm are orphans," he told her, even though he"d had his own doubts as to the veracity of that bit of his so-called education. "Is that what they told you?" she asked, and then, with a shake of her head, she went on. "They told me my daughter was stillborn, even though I heard her cry. Lies, Ethan. All lies. That"s what they do, they lie.
And worse."
"But youand all those other women who were with youyou shot at us. You took her"
"Would have taken you, too, if that other fellow hadn"t beaten us to it" She tipped her head to one side, coming closer to him as her eyes roamed his face. He felt as if she were trying to discover everything about him in one thorough look. He sensed no malice emanating from her. Moreover, her mind was wide open to his probing. She wasn"t trying to hide anything from him.
"The keepers knew you two were on your way to The Farm, Ethan. Someone told them you were coming. They were waiting in ambush. You would have been killed. So we ambushed you instead. We couldn"t think of any other way to save your lives."
"We?" he asked, glancing nervously back at the cabin, reminded again that this woman had a dozen or so others with her, and that they had been armed with tranquilizer guns the last he knew.
"They"re no threat to you," she told him. "They"re just a group of women dedicated to a common cause.
A good one. And you really don"t need to know more than that."
"I"m not interested in knowing more than that." He shifted his gaze back to hers. "Where is Lilith?"
The womanSerenastudied him. "Why do you want to know?"
"So I can get to her in time to save her life!" he said, much more forcefully than he had intended. "My G.o.d, woman, do you know what she intends to do? She needs my help."
Serena tipped her head to one side, staring hard into his eyes. "You love her," she said softly.
"Just tell me where she is." He didn"t even try to mull her words over in his mind. Not here, not now.
The woman nodded toward the water. "She"s on her way to The Farm. Just to surveil it, for now, or at least, that"s what she promised me. But you know how unpredictable she is. Probably better than I do."
He nodded. "She went by boat?" he asked, realizing now why Serena had been staring out at the water.
"Yes. From here, you just follow the sh.o.r.eline until you see the waterfall, where the river empties into the lake. Bank the boat there, but hide it well."
He looked down at the boats lined up along the dock.
"Take that one," she said, pointing. "There are weapons under the seat. I"m sure you can get to them without the key. Take care of her, Ethan. Try not to get yourselves killed. I"ve asked for help, although I have no idea whether my request will be granted. Please try to keep her alive."
"I will." He climbed into the boat and stood in the bow, untying the rope that held it. He felt the woman"s anguish, her worry, her grief. It was pouring from her waves, and it felt to him a lot like his own. Looking up at her again, he said, "You really are her mother, aren"t you?"
"I am," she whispered. "And while you"re rowing, think about how the DPI knew you were coming. Askyourself who could have told them."
He frowned hard, averting his eyes as he coiled the rope and dropped it to the floor of the boat. "You say that as if you have a suspect in mind."