Chapter 11: 11: Wings of a Fairy

Rowan

I had been on pins and needles since dropping Fiona and Kat off and champing at the bit, waiting for the weekend. While I was more worried about the girls, I still needed information on the drug, Sexflex—I knew the bastard Quinn was behind it. Fiona occupied my mind more than I cared to admit, and Rian could tell something was off with me.

We took a smaller vehicle that wouldn’t stick out like the Hummer and jumped in an SUV our mother liked to drive. Within thirty minutes, I passed by the gated mansion high on a hill and stopped some distance away to be on the safe side. Once parked, we took our time, trying to look like everyday residents out for a walk, and as we neared the gate, I was relieved to see Fiona standing behind the imposing black bars, grinning at me.

Her face lit up with that magical smile, hitting me square in the heart, and her scent reached my nostrils, causing my inner wolf to yearn for her. I took deep breaths to calm the beast, and we jogged to the gate. “Is it safe?” My eyes darted left and right.

“Yes.” Fiona unlocked the entrance, allowing us in. “He’s gone, along with all the staff except for the housekeeper, but she’s in her office doing weekly inventory.”

We followed her up the steep driveway to the massive house that Quinn had gained with his unethical, dirty deeds. It wasn’t Fiona’s fault, and I vowed to remind myself of that and try treating her with understanding. Before we reached the massive door, I said, “Listen, if something goes wrong, we all leave together! If someone captures me or Rian, the other will get you and Kat out of here, okay…” Fiona nodded and opened the door, ushering us inside.

“I don’t like that plan!” Rian shook his head, glaring at Rowan. “And don’t feel comfortable leaving anyone behind.”

“Just get the girls back to the house and gather the pack to rescue me, and I’ll do the same for you.” He narrowed his eyes at me but then nodded.

“I doubt anything will happen,” Fiona assured us. “Let’s start in Cormac’s office and then search his lab. I’m not sure we can get in, but I have an idea that might work.”

Fiona walked from the large foyer and down a long hallway toward a locked door on the right. She retrieved a key from her bra and unlocked the door, granting us access. “Do you put everything in that bra of yours?” I asked with a coy smile.

She chuckled as we entered Cormac Quinn’s private office and spent twenty minutes searching every nook and cranny before moving to the hallway. Kat stood outside the office door and asked how we fared. “We found nothing.” Fiona sighed, frowning at Kat. “But we are going to the lab now.” She squinted at Kat and took her hands. “Can you come and try to help us? I understand if it’s too upsetting…”

“No, I want to come, too.” Her voice sounded resolute, so we followed close behind them until we reached some steps through the laundry room. Fiona flicked on the light, and we all descended into a small room with nothing but a door.

I noticed the keypad and groaned. “How will we get in? Do you have the code?”

“No, I’ve never been in the lab, but it’s voice-activated, too. I’m pretty good at imitating Cormac, and it might work. I’m praying it will. If not, we can try birthdays…”

“I think I know the code unless he changed it,” Kat whispered, reminding us this wouldn’t be easy for her. I didn’t want to imagine what Cormac had done to her and so many others behind that door.

Fiona turned to Kat and retook her hands, squeezing them. “Are you sure you want to go in? You don’t have to, and we won’t think bad of you.”

“No! I’m coming with you.” She approached the metal door, hesitated, and punched in some numbers. Red lights lit up. “Shit! It’s okay. I got this.” Kat took a deep breath and repeated the process. The keypad beeped and lit up green. “We’re in.” She turned the handle, and we entered the dark lab.

Within seconds, fluorescent lighting engulfed the massive, sterile room.

“Oh… my… God!” Fiona muttered. “What is this place?” We all stood in stunned silence as we took in the large cages, metal slabs that looked like mortuary tables, hospital-type beds, vials of every shape and size, microscopes, and a large medicine cabinet.

As we walked further into the room, there was a made-up cot in the corner across from a small bathroom, a large desk covered with papers, books, journals, and a coffee mug that read, ‘Experiment. Fail. Learn. Repeat’ on it. Knowing what I did, those four innocent words made my stomach turn.

“What in the actual fuck?” Rian said, shaking his head.

“I hate to think what people have been through down here,” I stated and cursed myself, remembering Kat was one of those people subjected to Quinn’s scientific whims. I turned toward her with a sympathetic frown. “Forgive me, Kat. I’m just appalled by this place.”

“Don’t worry. I’m just glad it’s no longer a secret, and hopefully, I never have to endure his torture again.”

“We need to look for anything pertaining to Sexflex. Let’s be quick about it because I’d hate for us to get caught down here. And I’ll search the desk.” I made my way over and started with everything on top when I noticed Fiona standing, her gaze focused on the cot in the corner and her brow furrowed. “Fiona…” I ventured, disregarding my task.

She hesitated before glancing at me with a strange expression on her face. “Sorry,” she said, her mouth turned down in a frown, and my gut clenched, recognizing her dread. The more I was around her, the more powerful our bond grew, and I sensed her emotions. It was just another reason for me to stay away from her.

“It’s like I’ve been here before… or déjà vu.” She laughed, but the nervous tension was clear in her voice and demeanor.

“You’ve never been down here?” I asked, with raised brows, and she shook her head no.

“Not that I can remember, but something seems familiar to me… kind of like in a dream. It’s hard to explain and silly. Sorry, let’s do what we came to do and get out of here.” Her body shook like a visible tremor, her face paled, and she wandered over to the cot in the corner. I started sweating, and my heart pumped hard inside my chest, mirroring her emotions.

“What part seems familiar to you?” Kat asked, abandoning the file cabinet and turning toward Fiona.

“This cot I remember. And the cages, but they were far smaller than these.” She pointed to the large, human-sized crates. “I have dreamed of being held in one before.”

Rian met my gaze with a frown, and his worried glance mirrored mine.

“Maybe you were down here when you were young,” he said. “Perhaps you were playing while your father worked.” Rian shrugged.

“Rian, you’re probably right,” Fiona smiled and appeared to relax.

I still felt uneasy, not liking where my thoughts were leading, but I continued my task. After opening the center drawer and finding nothing, I moved on to the others. When I tugged on the bottom right drawer, it refused to open, and I knew it contained something vital. “Cormac has this bottom drawer locked, and I need a key to get into it.”

“He always keeps the keys with him at all times,” Kat informed me while approaching the desk. “But it’s your lucky day…” She reached up, pulled a hairpin from her blonde curls arranged on her crown, and crouched down beside my leg.

“You know how to pick a lock?” Rian asked, with awe lighting up his face.

“Oh, she’s a master,” Fiona said and laughed. “I can’t tell you how many locks she picked at university.”

True to her word, Kat had the drawer opened within seconds. “There you go. We will have to leave it unlocked because I’m not that good, and maybe he will think he forgot to lock it.” She stood back and shrugged.

I rifled through the drawer, grabbing the files named Amerlina, Celestria, Katrina, and Fiona. “Holy feckin shit! I’ve found something important.” I leafed through the first file and stared at the three pairs of eyes glaring at me. “This first one is about a fairy named Amerlina. It seems Quinn held her captive for some years!”

“Did you say Amerlina?” Fiona hissed with rounded eyes.

“Yes, why?” I peered back at her, my gut feeling like I swallowed a rock.

“That’s my mother’s name! What else does it say?”

“Well, I’ve only skimmed, but she was pregnant,” I told her with trepidation.

“What did you say happened to your mother, Fiona?” Rian asked.

“She died in childbirth,” she cried. “He told me she died trying to deliver me, and Cormac couldn’t save her!”

“If this is your mother… she was a fairy!” It was all making sense now.

“No, that can’t be!” Fiona took some ragged breaths, and her face looked pinched in pain. “She’s buried not five miles from here. I visit her grave often and have a picture of her on my nightstand. She wasn’t a fairy!”

I searched through the file while Fiona paced the room with her fists clenched at her sides and a crazed look in her eyes. Kat stood still, but tears ran unchecked down her cheeks as she stared over my head in a daze. There was an envelope with photographs near the back of the file. I pulled the first one out and gawked at the woman with an uncanny resemblance to Fiona. She stood with her arms draped over none other than Cormac Quinn. I laid the file and envelope down, stood from the chair, and looked at Rian with a warning glance before approaching Fiona.

With her tumultuous thoughts rushing through my mind from our bond, I felt her suffering, and I rubbed my chest while clutching the photo. “Fiona,” I called out to her. She stopped pacing and turned toward me, a searching look in her eyes, causing me more anguish. I held the photo out to her. “Is this your mother?”

She took it with a shaking hand, glaring at it for what felt like forever, before holding it to her chest and sobbing. “Yes!” Fiona nodded her head. “That… that’s my mother.”

Kat rushed to her side, hugging her, and whispered, “Shhh, it’s going to be ok, my pet.”

Fiona pulled away and looked at me. “Rowan, does… does that mean… I—I am a fairy… too?”

“No,” Kat answered and wiped at Fiona’s tears. “It means you’re a hybrid like me. And he has our wings locked away somewhere. Cormac removed them when we were infants.” Kat grabbed Fiona as she stumbled and embraced her while they both sobbed.

“Fuck,” Rian said and ran a hand over his face.

“What?” I yelled, looking at Kat and Fiona, wondering what in the hell was going on.