Up From The Deep by Vaughn Jackson (highly recommended books txt) 📕

struck the top rotor on the helicopter and shorted out the engine. The pilot seized in their seat, smoke pouring out of the console. Skylar choked as the smell of burning flesh filled her nostrils. The helicopter stalled in the air for the smallest fraction of a second before beginning its drop to the ground below. She grabbed onto the side of the craft as it spiraled downward at a dizzying speed. She could barely make out Greenwood’s voice over the rush of wind. Most of the words were lost, but she heard “I got you” and “jump”. She felt something wrench her grip off the makeshift handhold. And then she saw nothing but the open sky, grey and foreboding, with the first drizzles of rain.

Rain, Skylar thought. She felt the final tug, the opening of a parachute, pulling her up into the sky before settling her into a slow downward drift. She watched the helicopter slam into a nearby building, carving through glass and steel, leaving a jagged lopsided smile in the side of the skyscraper. It crashed, erupting into a massive fireball several yards away from where it had started in the sky. Rain.She’s rehydrating herself. She made it rain.

The ground was approaching, fast, but not dangerously fast. All of the adrenaline from the crash coursed through Skylar’s veins, numbing her to panic and sensation. She didn’t even realize when they touched the ground until Greenwood unclipped her from the parachute and she toppled unceremoniously to the ground. She bounced up almost immediately.

“She’s going to get out,” Skylar shouted. “We can’t be here!”

“But she’s bolted in place.”

“Those restraints relied on her being weakened by the heat and dryness in the air. The rain will revitalize her, and I doubt she’ll be happy.”

“Fuck,” Greenwood said. “I’ll call one of the other choppers to come get us.”

“I don’t think you will,” a familiar voice said over the roar of the rain. Skylar turned to see Kurtis, accompanied by four men in full SWAT armor, guns trained on the two of them. “Good to see you again, Dr. O’Hara.” He paused. “You look beautiful as always.”

“We’ll see how beautiful I look covered in your blood, asshole.”

“Red does seem to be your color.” He smiled. “If you don’t mind, accompany me to safety?”

“I’d rather take my chances with the monster. I’m sure it at least has feelings.”

At that moment, Inkanyamba let out a terrible roar. Her muscles flexed and she strained against her restraints, warping them and filling the air with the sound of buckling metal.

“Are you sure about that?” Kurtis asked. “At least you know how I feel about you.”

Skylar ground her teeth, looking back and forth between Inkanyamba and Kurtis. Before she could respond, Greenwood put her hands above her head and said, “We’ll come with you. It’s not safe out here.”

Skylar’s jaw dropped, she wanted to scream, but instead, she grumbled her agreement as well. “Gonna put us in handcuffs now?”

“Only if you ask for it,” he said, smirking.

Skylar’s face went hot in the ice-cold downpour. The four men walked her and Greenwood to a nearby Humvee, black with an electric blue hurricane decal on the hood. They slid into the backseat while Kurtis and his men climbed up front. The engine roared to life, but the noise was cut off by an even louder roar, the sound a building makes as it crashes to the ground. Skylar turned around just in time to see Inkanyamba break free from her restraints, lightning flashing around her as thunder pealed with a sound like the end of the world.

“And the seven thunders uttered,” Kurtis said grimly. He turned in his seat to face them. “I’m honestly sorry about this, but security is always a concern in my line of work.” He held up a small aerosol can and, before Skylar could react, sprayed both her and Greenwood directly in the face. Immediately her world went fuzzy and she felt as though her mind were being sucked down a drain, whirling slowly into the blank emptiness of unconsciousness.

“You won’t be harmed,” Kurtis said, his voice a million miles away.

“Can’t…say the same…for you,” Skylar said before succumbing to the effects of the spray.

#

The cell, which Skylar only called a cell because that’s what it felt like, was grander than any apartment or hotel room she’d ever stayed in. Lush wool carpet, so thick her feet sunk into it, covered the floor. All of the furnishings were handcrafted from real wood and appeared to be quite old. A desk in the corner was completely fitted with all the necessities for writing, including a laptop, albeit, one not connected to the internet. Greenwood wasn’t here with her. They’d been separated. Which made her nervous. What made her more nervous was the canopied four poster bed that sat on the far wall of the room. The implications made her shudder.

There was a knock at the door to the room.

“Leave me alone,” she called.

“It’s me,” Kurtis’ voice said in reply.

“Oh, well, in that case, go to hell,” she shouted, slamming her fist against the door.

Silence from the other side of the door, and then, “I have the key, and I’m coming in. Back away from the door. There are two men out here who will shoot you if you disobey.”

Skylar huffed, and backed away, crossing her arms across her chest.

The lock clicked and Kurtis stepped into the room, closing the door behind him and locking it again. “Comfortable?”

“Where are your bodyguards?” she snapped.

“I lied. It’s just me. I was worried you’d do something rash.”

Skylar’s jaw tightened and she nodded her head. “Right, rash. Like kidnapping and roofying me?”

“I couldn’t let you know the way to this place.”

“Got to keep your little Tempest hideouts secret, right?”

“This is actually my house,” he said, rubbing his head with embarrassment. “My room, even.”

Skylar’s face and temper flared. “You kidnap me, drug me, and lock me up in your room? What the fuck kind of creep are you?”

“I understand your displeasure at