The Wind and the Horizon (Book 2 in the Starborn Series)

Chapter Thirty-Six

May's heart twisted and tore as she watched Em crumble in her arms.

She refused to believe the violent spectre Em had become was anything more than remnants of Audrey breaking through. May knew Em's love - its strength and its light. Anyone who loved as strongly as Em couldn't be so cold hearted, May was as sure of it as she was sure she was still breathing.

But none of that could erase what Em had done.

I need you to be stronger than that, May wanted to tell her. I need you to stay who you are.

She released her grip on Em's shoulders and wrapped her arms around her instead. Just thinking those words made May feel selfish. It was so easy for her to forget how much Em was already suffering just by being here.

"Just... tell me something like this won't ever happen again," May pleaded quietly.

Em took a shaky breath in. She opened her mouth to answer, but a different voice spoke instead.

"I take it this is a bad time?"

May gasped and Em sat up with a start. The stranger's voice was like a flood light snapping on, chasing the moment from the room as though it were darkness.

Standing in the doorway was a man in his early fifties, built like a stone with shoulder-length greying hair and a beard that made him look even older than he likely was. Inscrutable hazel eyes watched them from beneath thick eyebrows.

"Shit, Grant." Em wiped at her eyes. "I didn't hear you coming."

"I figured," the man called Grant gunted in reply. He gave a pointed look to May. "How're you feeling? You've been out for a while."

"I've been better," May admitted.

The man nodded and turned, motioning for the girls to follow.

"Do you think you can walk?" Em asked quietly, not quite meeting May's eyes.

She helped May to her feet and held her hand tightly through those first tentative steps. The ache in May's legs gave way to tingling that faded by the time they made it out of the office. Blinking, May's eyes swept over a surprisingly bright warehouse below the grated walkway on which they stood. Warm afternoon sunlight pressed in through greasy windows that lined the top half of the walls, reflecting a lazy cloud of dust motes. The ground floor was busy; two neat rows of vehicles lined either wall and pairs of legs protruded from beneath their hoods and chassis.

"A garage?" May asked. The sounds and smells made sense now, but she was still surprised. "What kind of safehouse is this?"

"The safest kind," answered Grant.

He led them into a room at the end of the metal walkway. The room, perhaps originally intended to be a breakroom, half-served its original purpose while doubling as a command center of sorts. A long card table filled the middle of the room, surrounded by mismatched chairs and littered with sheafs of paper, empty beer bottles, and stained coffee mugs. Blinking computer servers and monitors lined the far wall in a set-up not unlike Marina's workshop.

"What is this place?" May marvelled quietly. The equipment seemed far more advanced than a garage required.

"Woah, hey!"

May spun to find Jun in an opposite corner, hunched over his own workstation. He jumped to his feet and stood so his body shielded his monitor from view. "What are you doing in here?"

"Relax, Jun," Grant grumbled from the other side of the room. He busied himself by pouring a deep amber colored brew from a mason jar into a mug.

"I'm workin' on something here." Jun sounded scandalized. "What if they see?"