telling her the rest, without saying that Brianna must have seen something that would put them in danger. That she’d asked them to keep it a secret. That she was facing it without them.
Chapter Ten
Brianna
Brianna stood in the center of a defunct manufacturing plant, trying to feel the right way to go. The broken windows and open skylights threw contrast into the space, a too-sharp juxtaposition reminiscent of monsters under the bed. It was a maze of corridors and machinery, every path leading into bright light and shadow, rusted metal and hard angles. “There,” she whispered, pointing out a massive door on the north wall. Logan stood behind her, his presence the only thing keeping her brave. He’d wanted to dissuade her, she could see that, but he wouldn’t argue with the prophet, wouldn’t stop her from fighting for what she believed in. And what argument did he have? She might not be able to swing much of a punch, but she was stronger than him. She was a shadow.
His hand grazed her waist as he stepped beside her, gesturing for his team to check out the opening she’d picked. They were silent as they rushed forward, noiseless silhouettes that only added to her unease. The vision had come suddenly, a brief flash of Brendan and this location. It was a location that she knew, a room she recognized from her own imprisonment. It was the room Morgan had held her in, where Logan and the others had rescued her such a short time ago. And it had come accompanied with the image of another room, the one they’d left Brendan in.
His team signaled the first space clear, and Logan moved forward. “Wait here.” She nodded, wishing the vision had given her better directions to find Brendan, fighting the memory of his face, the broken, lifeless look to his limbs.
Another figure moved through the darkness behind her, the soldier named Fox, she thought. Her eyes followed him as he crossed the room, and she searched for some recognizable feature, some clue as to where to turn.
Her gaze caught on an opening on the west wall. She hadn ’t seen it in her vision, but something drew her closer, some barely perceptible pull.
Logan said , “Brianna,” in a low voice. She glanced at him, aware that he was right, that she should have been staying with her guard, but she kept moving, needing to look into the room behind the opening.
“Brianna,” Logan warned again, moving in her direction.
She nodded, only planning on taking two more steps, just enough to see into the shadows, and then she heard him running. His footfalls were only audible for a heartbeat before the grating shhhkkk of a metal shutter blocked them out. She turned, seeing the terror in Logan’s eyes as he disappeared behind the door, and then the tracer of a small black mass when he tossed his pistol beneath the last bit of space. It slid to a stop inches in front of her feet as the barrier closed with a silence that screamed finality.
She looked down, star ing at the handgun, pulse thundering as she realized what she’d done. She’d seen security like this before. In the Council buildings. The doors were made to close fast, in case of attack, and they were nearly impervious. This was an old building, but Morgan must have had the updates added when he’d been keeping his team there, when he’d used it to hold her captive. The walls, everything surrounding her would be reinforced. Protected. She felt sick, suddenly terrified at the mistake she’d made.
“No need for that, Brianna.”
The voice came from behind her, smooth and seductive, far too familiar, and she knew he was right. A pistol would do her no good against the man who watched her. Nothing so trivial would stop whatever he planned to do. She swallowed hard, turning to face him.
He smiled, pleased with his catch, and inclined his head in greeting. There was a sound outside the door, a frustrated growl dampened by block and metal that had to be Logan, and Brianna’s stomach dropped.
Bwwm Romance Dot Com, Esther Banks