Collector: City In Embers Part 5

"It is starting. The fae are declaring war on us. This weather attack was their way of broadcasting how easily they can bring us to our knees," Boris stated. "If they can do this, who knows what else they can do?"

"Do what?" A woman's voice spoke from the far side of the room. I turned to see Sera and Liam coming through the doorway.

"Good. You two are safe." Dr. Rapava gave a swift nod to them.

"We tried to call, but all cell service is down," Sera replied.

"What's going on? This city's leveled." Liam strode by me, heading for the oval meeting table.

Sera followed, but her gaze never left me. Her foot stumbled, and she stopped short. "What the... ?" Her voice tapered off, and her eyes grew wide, zooming all over my face and body.

"What?" My lids dropped into a defensive glare.

"How is it possible?" The timbre of her voice went up.

Kate glanced between the two of us. "What is it, Sera? What's wrong?"

Sera looked at her then around the room. "You don't see it?" All sets of eyes landed on me, then to Sera in confusion.

"See what, Sera?" Rapava came around the table.

Sera licked her lips, her attention coming back on me with even more intensity. It was as if she were rea.s.suring herself that what she saw was real. Something in my gut cramped with warning.

"Her aura." She pointed around me. "It has magic in it. It's thick and swirling with colors. She has a fae's aura."

"What?" I froze in place.

"It's not strong, but it's there." She turned to our fellow seers. "You see it, too, right?"

Marv and Matt leaned closer, their intense gazes centering on me.

Matt bolted up first. "Holy s.h.i.+t."

Marv squinted harder, then a gasp came from him. His chair slammed back into the wall, toppling. He stumbled away from me and fell over it.

Spikes of alarm shot up through my veins. Run. Get out, they screamed at me. My legs tensed, taking a step in retreat from Sera and the others. Why did I want to run? There was nothing to be afraid of. Not from them. But my intuition was telling me the opposite.

"H-how is this possible?" Marv's panicked voice and fear filling the room only tapped deeper into my reflex to bolt.

"Everyone calm down," Dr. Rapava coolly addressed the group, walking to me. "I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for it."

Neither he nor Kate had the sight, so they had to trust what my fellow seers observed.

"There is no reasonable explanation for a human to have a fae aura." Sera's words were clipped, accusatory. "What did you do?"

Rapava gave Kate a look, and she immediately took Sera by the shoulders and led her to the table, away from me.

The doctor loomed over me; his reserved nature suddenly felt threatening. Run! My muscles twitched at the command. He took out his tiny flashlight, s.h.i.+ning it into my eyes. "Look up."

"I can't believe this," Matt mumbled from across the room.

"How did you miss it?" Sera fired at him.

"It's so slight I'm surprised you saw it."

"What are you talking about? She is glowing like the Fourth of July." Sera waved her arms toward me.

"No, she's not. I can barely see it," Matt snapped back. He always hated the fact Sera and I were more powerful seers. "Plus, we just found out Daniel is dead. I wasn't really looking at her aura."

"What?" Sera and Liam said at once.

"Daniel was killed tonight," Kate replied somberly.

"Look down," Rapava ordered me.

I was restless. I needed to get out of this windowless room and escape all the stares, br.i.m.m.i.n.g fear, and condemnation.

"What happened tonight, Zoey?" Rapava stepped back, done with his eye exam. There was something in his tone that struck my nerves.

My heart thumped in my chest. The room was silent, everyone waiting for a word to leave my lips. I tried to go through the events the best I could, but something stopped me from disclosing the truth.

"Did a fae touch you?" the doctor questioned unemotionally. He was never one for showing feelings, but this voice was different. I had heard the tone when he was talking to the fae. His science experiments. His subjects. "Any body fluids exchanged?"

My neck snapped up. "What?"

"Like blood or s.e.m.e.n."

"s.e.m.e.n?" I screeched. "How would I have fae s.e.m.e.n in me?" Silence and stares from everyone in the room caused a light bulb to ping in my head. "You think I'm having s.e.x with a fae?"

Rapava frowned. "I did not say it was consensual. I actually hope not. But the only explanation I can think of for your emanation is if you were impregnated by a fae."

My jaw fell open. Shock silenced me for a moment. It took a while to get over the fact he would prefer I'd been raped in order to comprehend the rest of his sentence. "You think I'm pregnant?"

What the h.e.l.l is going on?

"It would explain your aura." Rapava appeared to already believe his theory.

"You are disgusting," Sera sneered, her expression filled with loathing. "It's no better than s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g an animal. Worse actually."

Flabbergasted, words would not come to my mouth fast enough.

"Did Daniel know about this?" Peter vaulted from his chair. "How could you do this to him?"

"What? No... I-I am not pregnant," I proclaimed. No one seemed to be listening to me. The room was full of people talking and shouting over each other about the new revelation. My head spun. Tonight had been one traumatic event after another, and my nerves bent under the weight.

"Zoey, I would like you to come with me." Rapava grabbed my arm.

His harsh touch stirred more anxiety. Get out! Get out! "Wait! Why? What's going on?" I tried to tug out of his viselike grip, but the older man was stronger than he looked. Or I was extremely weak after my night.

"I only want to check you. Make sure everything is all right." He hauled me toward the door.

"What? No!" Panic took over. My street-survival instincts kicked in. I jerked and wrenched against his hold. His hand lost its grasp, and I heard him yell to someone. Liam bounded to us, his hands grappling for me.

"Don't hurt her. If there is a baby, I want to test them both."

"There is no baby," I shouted, but my words were swallowed by the commotion in the room. I elbowed the body behind me, but Liam's long arms wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides. I slammed my head back, cracking into his face. He swore as his grip loosened. I kicked back, pus.h.i.+ng him away from me. Free. I ran for the exit, pulling the door open. A small fist came out of nowhere and slammed into my cheek. Fire burned up the side of my face. My body tumbled awkwardly to the floor. It felt like a thousand hands descended at once, holding me down. Liam, Peter, and Hugo surrounded and restrained me.

Sera stood, shaking out her hand, looking down at me with disgust. "Never thought you were capable of this."

"I didn't," I tried to say, but stopped when I saw Dr. Rapava squat next to me, a syringe in his hand.

"I am sorry we have to do this, Zoey, but you should have known the consequences of your actions." The needle broke through the skin, burrowing deep in my arm. Heat rushed into my vein as he pumped the liquid in my body.

"But... I... did..." My mouth stumbled over the words I desperately wanted to say. Their faces swam in my vision. "Wrong."

No, that's not what I meant.

Everything dimmed until unconsciousness lapped over my body, taking me into the depths of sleep.

SEVEN.

The blurry radiance of light showered down on me like the sun. My lashes flickered a few times, trying to clear my vision. The indistinct luminous blaze collapsed into one single bulb hanging above me. My body stretched lengthwise on a hospital bed, the glint of the metal roller bars drifted through my sight. I twisted my head. The pain in my face and the heaviness under my scalp caused a groan to escape my lips. The room swam in my drug-induced vision, taking its time to sharpen enough for me to make it out. The place wasn't familiar, but the style was-white walls, linoleum flooring, and no windows. Lots of rooms and labs I'd been in looked similar to this one. I was somewhere in the DMG. I had explored the first level of the bureau thoroughly, and I knew there existed lower levels where Dr. Rapava's labs were. But I wasn't allowed to go down there, not having the necessary level of clearance.

The fact I was below now sat wrong with me. We had a room upstairs where we got examined and mended by the doctors. Why didn't they simply take me there? I tried to push myself up, but my arms and legs didn't comply. What the h.e.l.l? The pressure around my limbs took precedence. Thick leather straps circled my wrists and ankles, latching me to the bed.

Panic shot up my chest like an arrow, and I fought against the restraints. My hands banged against the side rails as I tugged against the cuffs. The longer I struggled, the higher my anxiety mounted, sending me into a frenzy. Adrenaline spiked my blood stream, and with a hard wrench, the bounds around my wrists ripped from the bed. My fingers immediately went for my ankles, releasing myself.

When I was free, I sat, my breath labored. They'd used medical restraints. They considered me a danger?

"d.a.m.n impressive," a small, high voice spoke.

My body reacted first, jumping from the bed onto the floor. My gaze searched the room for the voice.

"Especially for a human. The snarled grunt at the end was a very nice touch."

My head jerked around, still trying to locate who was talking. "Who are you?"

"My name is Spriggan-Galchobhar," the childlike voice replied. "My friends call me Sprig. Oh, right. I don't have any of those anymore. We'll, except Sussanna." This time I could tell it was male.

"Okay, Sprig whatever-the-h.e.l.l-the-rest-of-your-name-is, where are you?"

"Here," he replied. I straightened, spinning to hone in on the sound. There was nothing but a few empty hospital beds, two examining tables, and a long lab table dressed with tubes, metal boxes, and beakers.

"Where?" Irritation edged into my words. Why was this guy messing with me?

I heard it sigh. "Okay. Let's play a little game. You walk to the table until you hit it. Stop. Then look down. Game over. Now doesn't it sound like fun?"

My lips curled into a frown. I didn't respond but walked to the counter. I scanned the room for anything which might suddenly jump at me. My fingers automatically reached for my gun. Gone. Of course. Even if I hadn't left my gun back in the rubble, I was a threat, and they would take it away. My dart gun was empty anyway, having already used it on Ryker, but I longed for the security of it. My phone was still lodged deep in my pocket, but it was useless.

My ribs tapped at the edge of the table as I came to a stop. Nothing sat directly in front of me. There were tubes to my left and a metal box to my right. "All right..." I was about to continue when I felt tiny hands grab my T-s.h.i.+rt, nails sinking into the fabric.

"Holy h.e.l.l!" I screamed, jumping back away from whatever had touched me. My stunned gaze followed the line of the fabric sticking straight out and fixed on the miniature claws poking out of the metal box. I hadn't noticed the holes in the top. With another jerk, my s.h.i.+rt pulled free.

Two brown, furry arms squeezed out of the holes. The shape, size, and color looked like they belonged to a small monkey. Then they did something I wasn't expecting. They waved at me. "Hi, yeah, h.e.l.lo." The little fingers wiggled around.

My lids continued to blink, and I stared at the cage. I had seen a lot of crazy s.h.i.+t in my time. A lot of fae took on shapes of animals or people, but they had a glow around them, which told me it was glamour. There wasn't any aura surrounding these arms. Also, when fae s.h.i.+fted into their alternate form, they took on the qualities of that animal. They could no longer talk, not with words anyway.

Suddenly the hands disappeared, and a large eyeball popped into view. "Look at that. You're much taller standing up."

A monkey was talking to me. Was I dreaming? Was I actually unconscious someplace, imagining all this? My hand went to my face, tapping at my puffy cheek. I hissed in pain. Nope, I was awake. I took a tentative step to the creature. "Y-you're a monkey. How are you talking?"

A small huff came from the box. "I am not a monkey. I'm a sprite!"

I hadn't seen a sprite in person. Most stayed in the Otherworld. But I knew what they looked like from the records DMG had us study. They were tiny, no more than four or five inches. They were long-eared, round-faced, adorable little things with wings. They were exceptional because they had the consistency of a ghost. Sprite is derived from the Latin word spirit, and they do appear more ghostly than a real being, but you could hold them and catch them like a solid organism.

He didn't appear to be a sprite. "You look kind of like a monkey to me." There was silence from the crate. "h.e.l.lo?" I bent over, closing one eye to see in.

"I am not talking to you anymore."

Oops! I hurt little monkey-man's feelings.

I reached for the cage latch. This was probably a dumb move, but my curiosity to see this creature shattered my common sense. Slowly, I lifted the lid. Light streamed into the box, exposing the creature. Soft brown fur covered his entire body except for his face, ears, and the pads of his hands and feet. His little white face was in a heart shape, leaving his huge brown eyes even more endearing. He looked like a baby capuchin monkey, but even smaller than I remembered the breed. He was only as big as a sprite-four or five inches max. I immediately wanted to put him in my pocket and protect him.

A water dish and a tiny stuffed toy sat in the far corner; Sprig sat opposite them. His arms crossed and his dark eyes glared into mine before he turned his back to me.

"I'm sorry... Sprig was it?" Did I just apologize to a fae creature? "But you're a monkey."

He swiveled around on his b.u.t.t, facing me. "On the outside, but the inside is pure sprite."

"How is it possible?"

"I was use-"

He was cut off by the doork.n.o.b rattling. I whipped around to see Dr. Rapava enter the room. His eyes widened at the sight of me. "How are you awake?"

The notion of me being awake hadn't crossed my mind. I figured it had been hours since they sedated me.

"There is no way you should be awake and standing." His confusion trickled trepidation through me. "It's only been twenty minutes. You should have been out for at least an hour." He stepped farther into the room, his head turned toward the bed. The thick leather cuffs hung limply against the side. "How did you get free?"

Deep warning bells went off again, but my legs stayed melded to the floor.