Chapter 134
Chapter 134
- Baby -
The earth breathed beneath us.
Most people don't notice when the ground changes its mind—when soil remembers and begins to speak again. I felt it in the way I feel my own pulse.
A slow stirring rising deep under the concrete and broken roots. Something ancient turning over in its sleep.
The Source alert went off. As if opening a small window, cold air hit my chest as I looked at the device.
It was a warning. Our device didn't work before, so why not? I felt like a hand rested on my shoulder. 'Pay attention.' The message is ready.
"Baby?" Micah whispered. Her voice was tight as she read my message.
"I believe someone is going to give us a threat or a warning, but I can't be sure who. The device hasn't been really working since the dome."
I didn't know what else to tell her or what else to do. No one should be able to use this channel on our devices but us... And it didn't tell us who sent it—no name or number.
"We must assume someone may have gotten hold of one of our other devices. Maybe Kaysi or Becky's back at the shelter."
Josh's head snapped, looking back at us. "They aren't endangered, are they???"
"No, I don't believe they are; the place is too public. They can steal a device without going unnoticed, but messing with someone would be difficult."
"I want to go see for myself," Josh exclaimed.
"And what will you do if it is a trap, a way to split us?" Evan confronted his brother. Tensions have risen between them since Becky got hurt last.
"I saw the mayor trying to start a meeting with his lawyer and others. You find a way to infiltrate the city hall, find out their plans, and I will check on Becky and meet you back here."
Duke put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not a good idea for us to split up right now; we need all the manpower."
Josh jerked his hand off. "I am going, and I will meet you back here. We are sitting ducks waiting for the event to happen. We need a new lead." Josh walked off without another word.
Evan pinched his nose between his eyes. "Stubborn, I understand why, though...Okay, so what is the plan to get inside?"
James walked forward with his hand on his chin and arms crossed. "I had been thinking about that before we got out here. Baby, if you can help me get the sleepy ones out of the security room, I can access the cameras if they are working, using some tech that is not working under the dome. But I think maybe the mayor's items have some kind of shield because everything surrounding him is not jammed."
"I will get you in, we will find out our next plan of action, and Duke will take Micah and Evan and wait at the end of permission and wait for Josh. As soon as we get done, we will all leave together."
"Don't you think going with just two of you is dangerous?" Micah argued.
"It is dangerous not knowing what his next steps are... Just two of us can get in and out quietly and quickly. This will be just like we did with the governor, but less dramatic and easier."
Micah's eyes shifted between James and me, uncertain, anxious. She let out a sigh but didn't argue again. She trusted us, even if she hated doing it.
"I'll keep them positioned," Duke assured, voice calm and collected. "If something goes wrong, we will be breaking doors down."
As he spoke, he looked off into the distance where Josh had disappeared. Both he and Evan were worried about Josh. Micah's and Josh's relationship has always been indifferent.
We nodded at each other and went our separate ways.
James and I moved quickly from the city's flow to the chaos behind the walls of City Hall. We moved like a river's current. The trick is learning where the water wants you to go. Sometimes water can come to an end, and at times you must let it take you and guide you.
The closer we got to city hall, the heavier the air felt, like a bad omen waiting to come into play.
The dome had made the building feel dull and aged. Dim windows, but freshly made banners hung outside—new and painted with a bright false message of greed dressed as hope.
Rebirth starts with us, the city we deserve!
Once inside a side door not locked, fluorescent lights hummed in the offices that smelled of copier toner and burnt coffee past saving. Two guards not far down the short hall, leaning against the wall, chatting to each other, tired like the rest of us, barely paying attention to anything or their surroundings.
James nudged me gently with his shoulder.
His silent cue to go ahead.
I exhaled, not calling on power but just grounding myself in the present.
Presence is something humans overlook, but demons never do. I softened my posture and widened my stance—open, harmless, ordinary.
James spoke first, voice easy and warm. "Hey—sorry, had a delivery order come in from upstairs; it's labeled meeting room 2. Maintenance said they called in some parts earlier."
The guards blinked, looked at each other, then at the tablet beside them—the device flickered, distorted by dome interference.
Perfect.
One guard sighed, "Yeah, yeah—just sign the log. Third floor." They'll buzz you through."
No alarm.
No suspicion.
Just familiarity.
When humans expect routine, they never see the break in the pattern.
As soon as we were past the checkpoint, James breathed out.
"Did you use some type of angel power that softened their hearts?"
"No, I didn't use any mind tricks or powers to give them peace—nothing like that."
"I see, your soul shines like peace; you just carry it with you." He replied, his voice grateful.
We didn't have time for the warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart, but I was glad.
Because there was another alert message on the phone.
This time, a direction.
Up three floors. And someone... Watching.
Yeah, someone is watching, watching us.
James looked at the source. "Josh could be in trouble if this isn't the same person who may have taken one of the devices. What should we do?"
"We can't call out; we keep going through. Maybe we will find the one behind this and ask them. I know you're doing like this, but it's our only option."
We reached the security control room—a narrow space not far from meeting room 2, where the mayor was hosting his meeting—where two more guards lay asleep in their swivel chairs.
Not drugged or under any spell, just exhausted. Off in another battlefield of dreamland.
James moved silently, checking for a pulse to be sure. Alive and stable.
I placed two fingers on their heads. "Rest." I spoke, "Let your burdens release," barely audible even to myself. Allowing them to sleep past our presence.
It was permission, not a command.
They breathed easier.
James slid into the chair and tapped the control console. "They will wake up refreshed." He joked. I am guessing he missed Josh and tried to step into his role.
"Josh will be fine," I reassured him.
He nodded. One monitor flickered. Another steadied. Then, a clear image appeared on the screen.
Not in full; there were four people—the mayor, his lawyer, and a woman with sharp cheekbones and eyes too still, like a doll.
A masked man sat casually, like he belonged where no one should. The same masked man who took me from the open event in the park where we and Uncle got attacked.
And a fourth person just out of view.
James zoomed the camera.
The lawyer's eyes were wrong.
Not possessed like the mayor, who had something sitting on him. No.
Something inside her, quiet and deeply rooted, like an ivy that replaces bone.