Veiled Spirits - Page 71

Levi blows out a breath and shakes his head.

After staring at him for a moment, I realize he’s not going to answer right now. With a nod, I step out of Levi’s embrace. I need to get out of this room before I do something we’ll regret. Stalking past a concerned Bishop, I make my way back to the unassuming white hallway. “You got all of that, Aiden?”

“Yeah.” When even Aiden doesn’t crack a joke, you know things are really messed up.

Without waiting for the boys, I angrily stride toward the next door. Testing the handle, I find that it’s unlocked. When I go to push it open, Bishop is there to block me. “Fucking stop, Isabel. I get that you’re angry. I am too. But being reckless and getting yourself hurt or worse won’t fucking help them. You need to get it together, or you’re done here.”

If I were calmer, I’d recognize that all Bishop is trying to do is help. But right now, he’s a convenient target for my anger. All the heartbreak and rage and helplessness come out at him.

My rage burns so hot that it turns into icy cold fury. Instead of yelling, I stare at him with the freezing anger in my eyes. My voice comes out detached. “We both know I’d win in a power fight, St. James. Try to bench me and see what fucking happens.”

Bishop’s eyes blaze with barely controlled anger at my defiance. He opens his mouth to lay into me when Levi beats him to it. “Little raven, I’m always on your side. But I have to agree with the mage on this. Rushing into situations when you’re blinded by anger isn’t smart. While you’d win on pure power alone against the mage, we both know you’re not a match for the two of us together.”

Levi’s words pierce through my rage-induced fog and arrow straight to my heart. I can’t keep the hurt out of my voice when I ask, “You’d choose him over me?”

“No. I’ll always choose you, little raven. Even if it means going against what you want. Don’t make me stop you. Please.” Levi’s eyes are back to pitch black, but the red rings around his pupils are bigger than usual. His eyes silently plead with me to calm down.

While Bishop’s anger just eggs me on, Levi’s quiet resignation starts to break through my rioting emotions. Sighing, I close my eyes and try to ground myself. Breathing through the anger helps it recede enough that I can think somewhat clearly.

We don’t have limitless time. Every time Bishop stops me at doors, we waste what little time we do have. I need to calm the fuck down and go with the plan we agreed on. My anger isn’t more important than finding out what’s happening to the young mages.

Blowing out a breath, I gesture for Bishop to open the door. “Any time now, St. James. We have shit to do,” I snark. I’m still unreasonably pissed at him and unable to say something that isn’t snappy.

“We’re fucking talking about this when we get home, Isabel. This isn’t fucking over.” With his warning delivered, Bishop strides into the room without a single backward glance.

While I’m pissed off on the outside, I’m hurting on the inside. Bishop is never angry with me and never raises his voice at me. In the past month and a half, he’s yelled at me more than the other fifteen years I’ve known him combined. I feel like I’m losing my best friend, and I don’t know what to do about it.

A few tears trail down my cheeks, and I wipe them away before anyone can see them. This is not the time to break down. Pulling on all of the internal strength I have, I shove my heartache into the furthest corner of my mind.

I look up and see Levi waiting in the hallway, concern lining his handsome face.

“I’m fine.” I try to blank my face, so he won’t see that I’m lying.

Levi’s lips twitch up in a small, sad smile. “You’re not a very good liar, little raven.”

“So I’ve been told. We don’t have time for me to be anything other than fine, demon boy,” I tell him quietly. “Can we just do what we need to do now and talk later?”

He searches my face for a moment. Eventually, he nods. “We can. After you, little raven.”

I walk ahead of him into the room Bishop disappeared into. Unlike the house of horrors we were just in, this room is pretty standard fare for a lab. Tables, beakers, microscopes, and other lab equipment are all we find in the smallish space.

The other rooms we check in this white-tiled hallway are much the same. I’m beginning to think we aren’t going to find anything about the mage development council when the hallway dead-ends at a steel door. It has locks upon locks upon more locks. Someone really doesn’t want people stumbling on whatever is behind this door.

“Can you unlock it, Aiden?” I ask. “There’s like eleven billion fucking locks on this thing.”

“Can I? You wound me, Izzy, always doubting my skills. Of course, I fucking can. Just gimme a minute or two.” I studiously avoid looking at Bishop as we wait silently for a few minutes. “Alrighty, the door’s unlocked.”

“Thanks, bro,” I respond.

I let Bishop go first. He opens the door to a dark set of stairs. There’s a bit of light coming from the bottom of the creepy staircase, but it’s only just enough to see by. The three of us carefully pick our way down the winding stone steps.

When we reach the bottom, we’re in another hallway. The walls, ceiling, and floors are rough gray stone, very unlike the sterility of the wing above us.

We can’t go anywhere else other than directly forward, so we head toward the faint light. It’s farther away than it looks. After walking for five or so minutes, we reach a large cavern. It looks like some sort of natural cave formation, with its rough gray walls and domed ceiling. It’s empty, save for what looks like a hospital setup. There’s a gurney, lines going from the person lying on the bed, and monitoring equipment that’s beeping.

The guy on the gurney is in rough shape. He’s bleeding from cuts all over his body, and his clothes are torn and bloody. His curly blond hair lays limply across his forehead, and his breathing is shallow.

I hesitantly walk closer to the guy. My heart stops when I see a face I never thought I’d see again. “Daniel?”