Angry at herself, she sniffed and threw back her shoulders. Dammit, she wasn’t going to quit. She swallowed, coating her throat, and started pounding and screaming again.
“Help me! Someone please, I’m down here!” She pounded, over and over again until her hands throbbed.
Then, miraculously, someone pounded back. She heard shouting, as if someone had his mouth right to the floor, trying to communicate to her.
Tears filled her eyes, and she laughed. They’d heard her! She beat her fists against the wall in acknowledgment.
The ceiling around her began to chip away, and she recognized the humming of a laser.
It was the hunters. They were using the laser to melt through the floor above her. She huddled in the corner and averted her gaze from the UV light, staying out of the way as tiny pieces of the ceiling began to fall.
“Angelique? Isabelle?”
She tilted her head back and whispered a prayer of thanks. “Ryder! It’s me.” She ran to the small hole in the ceiling.
“Are you alone or is your sister with you?”
“I’m alone. I don’t know where Izzy is.”
“Okay, we’re going to punch a bigger hole so we can pull you up, because we can’t find any other way down there. Get as far back as you can and cover your head and eyes.”
She moved to the opposite corner and shielded her head and face. Pieces of the ceiling came crashing down. When it stopped, she hurried over to the hole, never happier than to see Ryder peering in at her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you strong enough to hang on to a rope while I pull you up, or do I need to come and get you?”
“I can do it, no problem.” She’d do anything to get out of this prison.
He threw the rope and she wrapped it around her arm and hands, hanging on tight while they drew her up and out. As soon as she was on solid footing again, she threw her arms around Ryder.
“Thank you for hearing me, for finding me.”
He squeezed her tight. “I’m glad I did. You did a good job screaming.”
She laughed and refused to let go, needing to feel human touch. His touch. “Thanks.” When Ryder pulled back and studied her, he frowned, sliding his thumb across her cheek.
She didn’t even realize she was crying.
“Darlin’, are you sure you’re okay?”
She sniffed and nodded. “I was alone. It was cold. Shock and stress, I think. I’ll be fine.”
“Do you remember anything?” Michael asked.
She pulled back and realized there were even more hunters standing around besides Dalton and the others- people she remembered from Australia.
How many people had they brought in to search for her?
She shook her head. “Nothing. After they took me from the church, I woke up down there. No one came in and I couldn’t get out.”
“What about Isabelle?”
Cold dread sank like a lead weight in her stomach. “Izzy isn’t here.”
Dalton frowned over Ryder’s shoulder. “How do you know?”
“I felt her. And the black diamond.”
At their quizzical looks, she said, “Something happened while I was in the room. It was like a sudden awareness of both my sister and the black diamond.” She turned her gaze to Michael. “Isabelle isn’t in this place. She’s somewhere else. And the black diamond is with her. She’s touched it and brought it to life.”
“How can you be so sure?” Ryder asked.
She shrugged. “I can’t explain it, but I feel it. It’s like a movie playing in my head, thoughts that are occurring in real time.”
“Do you know where she is?”
She fought the tears, refused to let them fall again. “No. I see bits and pieces, but not location.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Michael said. “Before we get more visitors. We’ve got to get Angelique back to the Realm. Then we’ll see if we can track Isabelle and the black diamond.”
Ryder grabbed Angelique’s arm. “Good idea. I’ll feel a lot better once Angie’s safe.”
“I was never in danger, Ryder. They didn’t want me.” She sat in the library while Ryder paced in front of her. The others were piled in there, too. After they returned, she’d taken a shower and gotten something to eat. Now she was curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea, feeling much warmer than she’d been earlier.
“Don’t you see? I was a decoy. You found me easily, just like the Sons of Darkness wanted you to.”
