Page 41 of Blood Pearl
I watch as he picks up Tatiana, carrying her bridal style, and walks out of the room. Tatiana giving me a finger wave over his shoulder. Oh, what it is to still be young and foolish, I think to myself. Letting myself out of the apartment and back to my motorcycle.
Chapter 22
XAVIER
Listening to Alpha Aurora and her warriors departing, I can’t help but think, ‘how in the Goddess’s name did they not wake the dead?’ I’m being a little harsh, as in all fairness, they are some of the quietest warriors I have heard. I found being in their presence unsettling. One of the females had a disturbing effect on me. Had I not been in my shadow mode, I would’ve been able to analyze the feelings better.
Shadow mode closes down some feelings, emotions, while heightening the senses in others. It is what helps us become such silent and invisible predators in our world.
Satisfied that they are traveling fast enough to be out of normal earshot, I take several deep breaths and speak to my wolf, Havoc. When the Goddess named him, she knew what she was doing. How a shadow wolf can be so silent and invisible one minute, and then turn into a violent one-wolf attack force in the next, has never ceased to amaze me.
Pulling myself together, I ask for Havoc's help in checking the forest for any sound or movement. When he responds in the negative, he sounds bored.
Moving swiftly, but silently, across the forest floor, I find little trace of the numbers that Aurora and Gerry claimed were in the camp when they escaped. There’s a faint trail leading to two gigantic oaks at the edge of a clearing. The branches are low and the base of the trunks are deep in shadow. I have a sense of unease at this place and Havoc feels it too, I’m sure. He is at the forefront of my mind and is giving off an aura of caution which is not like him.
Leaping into the lower branches of the tree I’m sheltering by, I lay along one of the broader branches. Keeping my eyes as slits, I wait for any movement. The ground between the two huge oaks begins to move. A portion of the ground slides back and reveals a dark hole.
A head slowly appears from the depths and looks around the surrounding area. Without paying enough attention, the rogue appears to climb some stairs and stand in the forest. Motioning to others in the hole, more rogues appear and swiftly disappear in various directions. The door closes, and the rogue stands guard between the oaks.
Less than an hour goes by and rogues begin to return in small numbers. The guard opens the door and allows them to re-enter, then closes it. This happens several times and eventually the guard follows a group underground and closes the door after him.
I’m no genius, but by my figuring with the numbers I was told, only about two-thirds of the rogues have returned. Staying where I am on the branch, I wait and, sure enough, more rogues return. They tap on one of the oaks and the door slides open. No guard appears to check that they are not members of an enemy patrol. Very sloppy security, but this will be to my advantage.
Waiting until I’m sure everyone has returned, I drop to the ground and circle behind the hidden door. Tapping on the oak as I’ve observed the rogues doing, I then hide in the ground cover. The door opens and after a minute or so, closes again. Giving another tap on the oak, I wait for the door to slide open. This time, the guard mounts halfway up the stairs and looks around in front of him. Before he looks behind him, I silently drop into the hole.
Once inside, I take a quick look at my surroundings. The nearest cover is a pillar a few meters from the bottom of the stairs. Hiding behind it, I watch the guard walk down the stairs and push a button on the top of a slab of rock by the steps.
Once he’s happy the doors are shut, he wanders off. There’s no other way to describe the way he moves. There is certainly no form of discipline in their security arrangements.
Taking in the immediate surroundings, there are no rogues present. The place echoes with its vastness. There are very few lights and the gloominess is oppressive. I’ve never seen a place like it. Walking through the ‘cavern’ as that’s how I can best describe it, it appears to be all one level. There are pillars holding the ceiling in place, though I can see stress fractures appearing in several places.
There are sleeping arrangements, for want of a better word, as I get further from the entrance. It looks like piles of old bedding dumped in lines on the floor. No mattresses.
Several rogues have thought they have seen me walk past, but none have been sure enough to challenge me. My shadow skills are working well. Havoc gives me a grin as I think this. He’s obviously taking the credit for that then.
Having been down here for fifteen minutes and having found no other exit or entrance, I make my way back to the stairs I entered through. As I get closer, I hear voices. A lot of voices. Standing, or more precisely milling around the steps, are forty to fifty rogues. Looks like there’s another outing in progress. Not having seen any of the rogues bring anything back with them the last time, I listen to see if they give any clues.
Two females are arguing with the guard. It seems they can’t see the sense in leaving the ‘cavern’ and running around the forest for an hour as part of their ‘training regime’. Most apparently run into the forest and then just find somewhere to relax for the next thirty minutes before returning.
Waiting a few moments more and the guard opens the door once again. As he walks up the stairs, the rogues surge forward and push him out of the way. Joining the surge has me out the door and into the forest in seconds. Ensuring I keep to the same speed as the others, I blend in and within only a few minutes, I’m alone and away from their underground cavern.
Taking my time and staying as stealthy as possible, I make my way back to Blood Pearl territory. At the border, I make myself known to a patrol, refusing the temptation to sneak by and embarrass Alpha Aurora.
On the way back to the packhouse to make my report to Alpha Aurora and Councilman Flint, I ask for time to shower and freshen up. This seems to amuse Havoc, and he sits in my mind with a grin on his face.
Entering the Alpha’s office, clean and refreshed, I get that sense of unease again. There are only two females in the room, Alpha Aurora, and her Beta, Raina. The beta wasn’t present when I last felt like this, which leaves only Alpha Aurora. This doesn’t feel like a mating bond. I’ve felt that before with my fated mate, and my second chance mate. I don’t realize that I’m staring at her.
“Xavier. Xavier! XAVIER!” Flint is calling my name and I look slowly away and nod at him.
“Councilman Flint. Alpha. My apologies. It has been a long two days. Using my shadow abilities drains me more than I realize these days.”
Flint gives a barely perceptible nod to Alpha Aurora, and she turns to me. “What did you find after we left you?”
“There is indeed an underground structure. It is a huge cavern below the forest. It appears to be nothing more than one huge sleeping chamber. It is held up by earth pillars, there is no construction to it, nothing that you’d expect for something that big.” Looking from Flint to Aurora, I continue. “I don’t see any real purpose to the cavern other than for concealment. It would easily conceal two to three hundred rogues. It has a major flaw in the construction. Not enough support pillars. There is evidence of the structure beginning to fail. The ceiling has cracks. They may be able to be exploited if the need arises.”
“You’ve done well, Xavier. I had every confidence that you would gather the intelligence we needed. Is there anything else that you think may be of importance?” Aurora asks while tilting her head to one side, eyebrows raised.
“They go out in large groups for an hour at a time. I couldn’t make sense of it as they came back empty-handed. It wasn’t a hunt or a supply run. While in the cavern, another group was preparing to leave. I overheard a couple of them arguing with the door guard. It appears they are sent out for a training or exercise run. What actually happens is, they run into the forest for fifteen minutes, all split up, and then they just find somewhere to rest for the next thirty minutes. They run back for the fifteen minutes and pretend they’ve done their thing.”