Sanctuary

[Natalie Grey]

Doctor Diaz had always been kind to her, and it would be easy to believe the things he said. Jay had been different. Yanking them from their home without explanation, the way he treated Anne Marie at the casino, ignoring Cayli’s texts, the hole he punched in the wall. But she’d heard the things Zacariás Amengual had said to Natalie in the car, too. She trusted her big brother more than anyone on the planet. Whatever anyone believed, and whatever trouble Jay had gotten himself into, Cayli was going to find him.

Days had passed and Axel was still looking for leads. Frustration tore Natalie to distraction when she thought Cay wasn’t paying attention. Jensen floated like a stranger through his own home.

And THIS was an opportunity.

The moment mom spilled that the doctor knew where Jay was, nothing else mattered. The hushed phonecalls and quiet tiptoeing made sense, then. The lack of hysteria at their son’s sudden disappearance. As Cayli wrapped her mom in a hug, her expression resolved into one of determination. The doctor wouldn’t hurt her. He could have done so at the hospital and he hadn’t. Tests would prove she was as well as she felt, and then all she had to do was convince them to let her see her brother. Natalie said the sedatives had to be kept topped up, but he had been a soldier before he’d ever been a channeler. If she could get him free, she knew he could handle the rest.

She could fix this, and Jay could fix the rest.

She squeezed mom tight, felt the tears prick her own eyes. When she drew back it was to Natalie she looked, willing her to understand. The woman’s expression was blank as nighttime, but power lashed around her like a halo, that one word like a declaration of battlelines. Dad’s words echoed. Oh, this could go bad quickly. Cay bit her lip, but knew there was nothing she could say to stop her parents seeing little more than Custody devilry when they looked at her. They wouldn’t let her come even if Cay begged. Probably not even if she told her parents what Natalie had done. Why she was no longer Sick...

The pastor’s arm snaked around her shoulder then, and any lingering doubts were washed away with the strength of his support. Her spirits buoyed suddenly, because it was what they had agreed before, wasn’t it? That Jensen or Natalie would stick around to protect her if she needed it? Jensen had promised his help with such devotion Cayli knew everything was going to work out. Relief swelled. “Please, mom? He can help us pray for Jay.” 

She twisted to seek Natalie’s agreement, but found the woman gone. Her stomach inexplicably sank at the sudden emptiness where she had been standing, but the doctor was already bending to retrieve his case and ushering them out the door.

---

Everything narrowed to a surprising calm. She only had to get Cayli out of the house and to the airport; hopefully without hurting anyone in the process. They’d waited too long; the gamble was no longer worth the risk, not knowing where Diaz would take her. Manipulation burned Natalie up with denial, a frisson of anger at how easily that trap snapped shut, but no one would listen when the doctor framed things so reasonably. She wouldn’t waste the words, knowing desperation would wilt any power of persuasion. They didn’t see the danger. Explanation could come later, when they were safe.

But Jensen interceded, smoothing the rocky waters with a palm outstretched to hold her back. She felt outcast as the ranks closed without her, even as she understood what he was doing, and why. Failure cracked the promise she had made, and it felt like her chest cleaved in two as control seeped through her fingers. It was the horror of the refinery all over again, and suddenly any sense of calm fled beneath the wave of sheer helplessness. Memory drowned. Natalie had no trust in the kindness of fate, and while she might trust Jensen’s intentions, could he really do what might be necessary? Did he realise the hell he volunteered to step into? Her nails dug hard into her palm as she watched Jay’s mother’s face light with the offer, and Cay’s voice chime agreement.

Cayli didn’t even look back. It hurt more than she was willing to admit.

And she couldn’t watch them leave.

Resolution already dampened the remnants of fragile emotion. Wounds were cauterized. She knew Jensen would do everything within his power to protect Cayli, even as he trembled stepping up to the challenge. Yet he’d convinced Axel. He’d held people in the palm of his hand once. And he was a channeler. It had to be enough.

Her wallet was buzzing in her pocket, but she was halfway up the stairs before she checked the screen, uncertain who she hoped it would be. Laurie wasted no time sweeping straight into the heart of her discoveries, unsettling the wider picture further and casting longer shadows over everything. Thoughts to parse through later, though. The facility was offgrid. They were running out of options. “I’ve more to share,” she said as she retrieved her bag and slung it over her shoulder. There was nothing to pack. “But not over the phone. Tell me where to find you.”

Afterwards she searched out Axel. She didn’t like him. Probably that was a feeling tied prettily with a mutual bow. But he was a soldier, and Natalie was desperate. He’d been cagey about his motivation, but she suspected he simply had nothing left to lose, a startling accurate reflection of the debris she felt rattling around in her own chest. Cayli’s loss swept the anchor free. There was no one left to protect. “Time to pick a side. You coming or not?” It was nothing so cheerful as redemption she offered, expression sombre. Impatience swept her away almost as soon as her pale stare levelled in his direction. He was free to follow, but she wouldn’t wait.