I don’t need to sleep. I’d rather just sit here with you and watch this spectacular scenery.
His amusement flittered through my mind. We had left the city, and these outer lying country areas were sparser but no more attractive, littered with trash, rubble, car shells, and the evidence of humans living on the streets. Just like downtown. Was there nowhere in this entire state that had escaped the destruction of the gangers?
I was totally sick of waiting and holding on to the damn tether. Patience had never been my strongest attribute, and right then, with all of the pressure on me, I was even more antsy than usual. I reached for the cord again. Trying to trace toward it. I felt the familiar jerking pull, like my ability was attempting to kick in, but there just wasn’t enough energy available. The backlash was minimal this time at least. But still, if I couldn’t trace myself, I would never have enough power to bring the other three across.
I dug deeper into my energy well, searching for something in that dark depth. A swirl of the ancient, alien-like power wrapped around me. I was instantly reminded of the days I’d been scared to death of what lay in this well. I had feared that which I did not recognize or understand.
Now, though, we were as one, and I understood exactly what my center held: a chamber that could cycle through masses of power. Others’ power and my own. It was depthless because I had immeasurable capabilities to absorb and transfer energy. Of course, I wasn’t a god; I did have my limits. Like with the cage in Que’s glass mansion, and the one on Nephilius. I often reached a point where the energy had to go somewhere –
Wait. My filing cabinet.
I had sucked down a crap-ton of energy on Abernath and the drawer was full. I’d forgotten about it, because the moment I slid the metaphorical drawer closed, all of the pressure and energy feeling just disappeared. That compartment was all kinds of wicked.
Tell Colton to hold on to Luce. I let go of my handhold, excitement rocketing through me.
Of course, right then I was jolted when we hit a bump, and almost fell off the back of the car. Brace caught me in time. Focusing again, hoping like heck that when I opened that drawer I’d have access to all the power. Only one way to find out if Earth rendered that compartment useless.
I gave a sharp tug on the mental lock on the cabinet, and it slid back with ease. Power burst through me, and for the first time since arriving on Earth the cloying pressure on my Walker energy faded away. I sat straighter, rejuvenated again. It was all there, glorious and shimmering. Filed away into its spaces and waiting for me to utilize. I reached for the golden cord again, and this time as I went to trace I siphoned off some of the glorious goodness in the filing cabinet.
The jerking sensation was as strong as it had ever been, and since all four of us were touching, everyone traced across with me.
It worked! I managed to shriek through our bond. We wasted so much damn time.
Brace didn’t answer; he was taking a second to orient himself. Since tracing was almost instantaneous, we were already at our destination. I did the same.
The first thing I registered was the smell. It was bad. Like really, freaking bad. I coughed a few times, before lifting my arm and pressing my sleeve against my mouth. I slowed my breathing, taking in the shallowest breaths I could manage.
After a few moments I got the smell thing under control, and managed not to barf on myself or anyone else. My eyes finally stopped watering, so I was able to look around the very dimly lit space. The moment everything became clear, I almost lost the contents of my stomach again.
Oh, holy crap on cracker toast. My eyes darted as I tried to process the multitude of images assaulting my senses. It was like my eyes and mind understood the scene we were currently standing in, but the horror was so consuming that a part of me refused to believe it. This was a slaughter house. A human female slaughterhouse.
I lurched to the side then and threw up. I didn’t have much in my stomach now, but it took a while for the heaves to slow. I could feel Brace at my side. He held my hair away and rubbed a hand over my back. This was becoming a common occurrence on Earth.
I sobbed as I vomited again. The odor. The blood. The empty eyes. It was haunting. Even when I closed my own eyes I could still see every single victim.
“It’s okay, baby, just breathe. Just breathe, Red.”
The soothing tone of his accent gave me moments of reprieve from the vileness of this room. Finally, stomach and throat aching, I stood up and buried my face into Brace’s chest. A few more shuddering sobs shook me, but I knew I had to pull myself together. I had to find the half-Walker female. She wasn’t in this room, but the tether was much stronger now. We must have just missed her.
“Abby!” Lucy’s horror-filled voice had my head jerking up from where it was cradled. “Where the hell have you traced us? Is she here somewhere?”