Heath (Ember Quest Book 1) Page 2

  But she was desperate. Annie took a slug of soda from the can on her desk and welcomed the sugar rush. Just like Heath, her father, Dmitri, was obsessed with dragons. He believed they once existed. That their disappearance was the reason the world now spun off its axis, with daily environmental disasters, and the very core of the planet rumored to be unstable.

  At first, Annie hadn’t minded indulging her dad in his fantasies. They kept him occupied and meant he spent less time pining over Penelope, her late mother. She’d even arranged for a visit to the Brecon Beacons, where the last dragon was said to have died. But what had begun as a harmless hobby had grown into full-blown manic sessions. Her father had gone into dangerous parts of the country, as he’d embarked on fantastical missions to find dragon bones and discover the secret colonies of dragon hybrids he believed in. As if that were possible.

  Annie shook her head and pressed the refresh button on her handheld comms device, her nails digging into the palm of her hand. Still nothing from Heath. As an assistant fellow at the university, she had privileges other members of the staff didn’t. This comms device was one of them. And, in theory, her communications shouldn’t be monitored. But she’d had a few concerns about messages she’d sent not being delivered, or the text being altered. It made her even more regretful that she’d given into her worries and tried to reach Heath. If the State discovered this coded message, and figured out she was contacting a known fugitive, it would end her career.

  And it was a career she’d fought for. She’d sacrificed friendships, relationships, and plenty of sleep to get where she was. But when her dad had gone missing, it had been the horrible wake-up call she’d needed.

  Her stomach roiled as her imagination kicked into overdrive. She always worried his pursuit of those wretched dragons would kill him. She’d expected him to be killed in a rock slide or get stuck in a snowstorm and perish. Both of those events were extremely likely, now that the environment had been so unstable. Annie could be standing in sunshine one moment and freezing the next. Her dad blamed the latest environmental crisis on the dead dragons. Annie blamed global warming.

  Annie squeezed her hands together. She had to know where he was. Her dad was never brilliant at keeping in touch when he went on one of his adventures, but normally, a message got through to Annie at least once a week, just enough to reassure her he was still alive.

  She ran a hand distractedly through her shoulder-length, dark-blonde hair. It had been over two weeks. He’d never left it this long without getting in touch.

  She’d made her own inquiries, but had come up blank. It was as if her dad had vanished. So, Heath was a last resort for her. He’d know where the weirdly obsessed fanatics went looking for dragon remains. Not that there was such a thing. Dragons were a myth. The State were harsh and unrelenting with anyone who said otherwise. It was why there had been no wars since they’d come to power. The blistering show of strength by the State killed off all resistance.

  Annie hit the refresh button again. She let out a frustrated sigh, before rising from her desk and tugging on the hem of her tailored navy jacket.

  Time to stop worrying about a criminal and get to work on the research paper she had to finish and submit for peer review. Her concerns were most likely for nothing. Her father could turn up any day now, clutching a bag of what he believed to be dragon bone fragments, and telling her this was the discovery they’d been waiting for.

  She put her comms device on mute, shoved it into her pocket, and left the office to go work in the university library. Everything would work itself out. It had to.

  Chapter 2

  As Lincoln cut the bike’s engine, Heath jumped off the back. He pulled the helmet from his head and handed it to Lincoln. The underground bunker they had driven into was quiet, given the late hour. A couple of mechanics worked on the trucks, but other than that, it was peaceful. The bare concrete walls and tunnels they walked through were home.

  The underground bunker and tunnel network they used was once government owned and ran beneath former parliament buildings. Constructed during the Second World War, it connected with old tube stations, snaking across the city, providing easy movement without the State watching.

  “Did you find any goodies?” Lincoln was older than Heath by two years, but with similar dark hair and green eyes, they were easily mistaken for twins.

  “Legitimate eggs,” said Heath. “Well, that’s what Kade’s promised me. He’s been working on a mapping tool to find hotspots. I ran a basic scan on the fragments. They look good.”

  Lincoln’s eyebrows rose, as he walked next to Heath toward the main corridor of the bunker. “Only Kade understands his programs.”

  Heath grinned. Kade Ember was the serious brains in the family. Too smart for his own good sometimes, and married to his computer, but your go-to guy when you needed a code cracked, or some freaky-hard math problem solving.

  “How many fragments did you get?” asked Lincoln.

  “Six. Might have been more, but I had unwanted guests.”

  “I heard Jude over the comms,” said Lincoln. “We’re getting more of those mutant creatures turning up.”

  “That’s because there’s nothing left to eat them.” Heath shrugged the backpack off and unzipped it. He pulled out the sealed box, feeling the need to hold it carefully, even though the contents were secure. These egg fragments could be just what they needed to move forward in their mission. “Do you know about this coded message?”

  “Jude’s been working on it,” said Lincoln. “But he can only pull out partial words.”

  “Could be another hoax.” Idly, Heath wished for some one-on-one time with the time wasters who contacted them about a supposed dragon egg site, or a genuine bone find. Most of them were whack jobs or seeking reward. He’d pay back the idiots who’d sent him into dangerous territory for no reason other than their own amusement. As a former member of the Special Air Service before turning to an academic life, Heath had a few tricks he’d use to make sure people never messed with him again.

  “It’s time our luck changed,” said Lincoln. He paused for a moment. His gaze ran over Heath. “Everything okay with you?”

  “Other than the fact I smell of rotten eggs, everything is great.”

  “You look a little... jacked.”

  “So would you, if you narrowly escaped giant millipedes.”

  Lincoln’s eyes narrowed. “Have you been using again?”

  “Just something to get me out the tunnels.” Heath’s hands clenched around the box. He knew he shouldn’t. The adrenaline jabs were to be used in emergencies because of the strain they put on your heart. But recently, he’d been needing them just to stay awake all day.

  “Have you been to see Sophia?”

  “Our vet?”

  “And our medic, now,” said Lincoln. “We’re all animals, bro. You need to get yourself checked out, make sure nothing is wrong.”

  “I know what’s wrong with me,” said Heath. “I need a month’s leave.”

  Lincoln laughed. “We all need that, but you know it’s not possible.”

  “Two weeks?”

  “I can give you two minutes,” said Lincoln. “You might like to use those to go take a shower.”

  Heath sniffed the sleeve of his jacket and grimaced. “Not a bad idea.”

  “Heath!” The sharp tone of Danielle Hannigan made Heath’s shoulders rise. She was always on the job, always checking to make sure things went to plan. Her brisk tone and sharp orders tended to rub people the wrong way, but Heath knew why she did it; the base had to maintain order, especially when there was so much chaos outside.

  Lincoln slapped Heath on the back. “Catch you later.” He hurried away along the artificially lit corridor. Lincoln hated being yelled at. Sometimes that was Danielle’s default setting.

  “What news from your recent venture?” Danni gestured for Heath to keep walking toward the briefing room. She was in her mid-forties, with cropped, jet-black hair, and a match
ing eyepatch over the eye she’d lost in battle. Losing an eye had ended Danni’s active service in the Royal Air Force Gunners. But when the monarchy fell a year ago, Danni joined Heath’s disorganized group of dissidents. She’d pulled the group together, and they operated a slick campaign of search-and-retrieval for any dragon remains. Danni was the bunker’s top woman in this gloomy haven of sanity in a world gone mad.

  “Found legitimate egg fragments.” Heath tapped the top of the box he still held.

  “Get them analyzed,” said Danni. “Anything else?”

  “Close encounter with possible mutants.”

  Danni grimaced. “Might need to go on the offensive. Can’t have them getting the upper hand. And I certainly don’t want them getting inside any of our bunkers. We can shield our locations from the State, but those creatures have a way of sneaking in through the back door.”

  “We’re still focused on the retrieval of remains, though.” Heath’s sole focus was the return of dragons. Once they were back, everything would start working as it should. They would crush the State.

  “Of course,” said Danni. “But I’m not risking sending any of the squads out if an area becomes infested. Those creatures are as dangerous as the State.”

  “At least they don’t put bounties on people,” said Heath. Every member of his family had credits attached to their heads. They always needed to look over their shoulders, just in case anyone wanted to take them down and claim the credits. He was grateful he had his brothers doing the looking for him, most of the time. He rarely went out on solo missions anymore. Tonight had been an exception.

  “No, they’ll just chew your head off.” Danni gave him a wry smile. “Get the shards looked at and then take a shower. You stink.”

  He gave her a salute before turning right and heading along another gray corridor. This particular base housed almost three thousand individuals. From other squad members to communications, everything was catered to here. Formerly known as Churchill’s War Room, it was a smaller base than some, but served as a crucial hub, relaying information across the country to others undertaking similar missions.

  Jude raised a hand in acknowledgement as Heath strode into the briefing room. The room was kitted out in the latest wetware technology. Jude sat in one of the four seats used by the comms officers. Surrounding Heath was a bank of screens showing various live feeds from across the country. This was where Jude spent most of his time, monitoring communications and intelligence sent out by the State. Alongside the powerful hypnotic suggestions they pumped out all the time, it was a key method they used to keep people under control. Keep their rule in force.

  “Glad to see you back.” Jude wrinkled his crooked nose. “But you—”

  “You don’t need to say anything,” said Heath. “My next stop is the shower.”

  “Glad to hear it,” said Jude. “You here for your secret message?”

  Heath nodded. “Get any further with cracking the code?”

  “A little.” Jude’s moss-green eyes gleamed in the glow of the computer screen. “It’s a tricky code. Whoever sent it has skills.”

  Heath sat in the chair next to Jude. “Who’s it from?”

  “Someone called Annie Grimwald,” said Jude.

  Heath straightened, feeling like he’d been kicked in the chest. “Professor Annie Grimwald?”

  “She didn’t give me a title.” Jude grinned at him. “You know her?”

  “We worked together at Helston University,” said Heath. “She shot up the ranks after I left.”

  “She into dragons, too?”

  “In a way,” said Heath. “Her dad’s a maverick when it comes to dragon investigations.”

  “What does she want with you?”

  “Not a clue.” Heath scrubbed at the stubble on his chin. He’d loved working with Annie. She was smart and ambitious, and never afraid to tell you if you were wrong. They’d often grab a coffee and talk about the latest theories doing the rounds. There’d been a time when Heath had considered asking Annie out, but then she’d introduced him to her single friend, Suki. It had been a clear-enough signal that Annie wasn’t interested in him in that way. And it was a good thing. He put work before everything else—even more so, these days.

  “You said her father has something to do with dragon investigations,” said Jude. “I managed to decode the word father in the message. This could have something to do with him.”

  Heath felt a pang of disappointment. Of course, it must be that. What would Annie want with a messed-up fugitive like him? She wouldn’t be trying to reach him for a friendly chat. They hadn’t spoken for a year. “Maybe he’s discovered a new site and needs a hand.”

  “I got the word missing as well,” said Jude. “Take a look.” He pulled up the coded message.

  Heath stared at the screen. His speciality was prehistoric archaeology and cryptozoology, not deciphering complex codes. “Has Kade taken a look at this?”

  “He’ll be here in a minute,” said Jude. “I had to bribe him with coffee so he’d leave his computer. He’ll break this code in seconds.”

  Heath nodded. If the State found out Kade was using his code-breaking skills, he’d go straight to prison. Hell, if the State found any of them in this bunker, they’d all get life sentences, or worse. Anyone who disagreed with the State and their rule were marked as traitors and destroyed.

  “So, this Annie, she cute?”

  Heath glared at his brother. “Too cute for you.” She was cute. Okay, maybe not cute, but she had classically beautiful features, with a long, straight nose and full lips. And she had this habit of biting her bottom lip when she was working on a challenging problem. Heath had enjoyed replaying that sexy habit in his mind when he was alone in his quarters at night, imagining her biting that lip as she stripped for him. But Annie was too good for him then, and she sure as hell was too good for him, now.

  Annie was also a problem because she’d let him down when he’d needed her. She’d been one of the staff team to block his slate quarry expedition to find dragon remains. She’d claimed it was an unfounded assumption. A waste of resources. She’d also said it was too dangerous.

  Heath still felt bitter over that. Even when Annie had tried to explain why she’d done it, he’d brushed her off and distanced himself from her. It was a few weeks after that that he’d been fired and hadn’t seen Annie since.

  “Somebody told me my services are needed.” Kade walked through the doorway, carrying a steaming mug of coffee. He’d grown out his cropped dark hair to the point where it now sat on his shoulders. Heath couldn’t decide if the bohemian look suited his brother or not. Not that Kade cared what anyone thought of his appearance.

  “Got a coded message for you,” said Jude.

  Kade waved Jude out of his seat. “Let’s see what we’ve got.” He nodded at Heath. “Hear you got bona fide egg fragments to add to the pile.”

  “It all helps,” said Heath. “Another couple of dozen piles and we can reconstruct ourselves a nest and get more DNA.”

  “And then all we need is an actual dragon to raise the babies,” said Kade, as his fingers raced across the keyboard.

  “One step at a time,” said Heath. “First we get the DNA, then the eggs, then we find the dragon.”

  Kade laughed. “Always the practical one. Okay, here we go. This is your message. It’s from Professor Annie Grimwald.”

  “I figured that out,” said Jude. “See, I’m just as smart as Kade.”

  Kade shot Jude an irritated look. “Looks like this Annie’s in trouble. Well, not her specifically, but her father’s gone missing after leaving to hunt for a new dragon site.”

  “Does it say where the site is?” Heath leaned forward in his seat.

  Kade winced and nodded. “The Badlands.”

  ANNIE HAD FINISHED the research paper and drunk half a dozen cups of coffee. Her nerves jangled as she hit the refresh button on her comms one final time. If Heath hadn’t replied by now, he wasn’t going to r
espond. Maybe he was still angry because she stood against his attempt to find dragon remains. If Heath was holding a grudge after all this time, she didn’t want his help. She wasn’t going to apologize for standing up for what she believed in.

  She listened to the mandatory State broadcasts every day before work by Emperor Endrir. He spoke the truth. And the messages they flashed onto the billboards and screens showed they were the true leaders. Anyone who said otherwise had to be wrong.

  A message alert pinged. She let out a sigh and opened it to see a live comms-call from Heath. Surprised to see him respond with a live link, Annie pressed the accept button and Heath’s face flashed into view. Despite the blurriness of the image, she couldn’t help but smile, he was as handsome as ever. Being a fugitive hadn’t done him any harm. His dark hair was a messy mop and he had several days’ worth of stubble on his chin. It didn’t detract from those piercing, green eyes, although they looked tired.

  “Is this channel secure?” asked Annie. She needed to make sure neither of them was at risk of being caught. The State punished disobedience.

  “As secure as one of the State prison ships in the middle of the ocean.” A voice Annie didn’t recognize came through the channel.

  She watched as Heath looked away from the screen. He spoke so quietly she was unable to hear, but guessed he must have other people he worked with around him.

  “We’re secure.” Heath looked back at the screen and his face softened. “Hi. It’s been a while.”

  “I’ve been meaning to get in touch.” Annie’s pulse kicked up a gear. “I saw your picture being broadcast by the State, and, well...”

  “You didn’t want to associate with a criminal.”

  “I know you haven’t done anything wrong,” said Annie, blurting out her words in a rush. “There’s been a mistake.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because... well, because you’re you.” Annie shrugged. “I mean, you would never cheat anybody. You’re a nice guy.” She grew irritated at her inability to string a sentence together. What was wrong with her? This was Heath, they worked together. She considered him a friend.