Reilly watched this woman Jesse had sent a message to extract. While saving her from Darcia's retrieval team, he had no idea she was Tyler's sister. But the resemblance was remarkable. The bombshell she had just drooped rocked him to the core. She needed a distraction.
"Is Tyler older or younger than you?" he watched her suck in air.
Was she going to pass out? She looked agitated; this reaction seemed genuine
"He was … is... older, by four years," Valencia said, releasing a deep breath, "even as a child, he was … cruel ... no evil. This cannot be happening."
"He must have been delightful to live with," Reilly spoke sarcastically as he stood, moving toward the kitchen, "coffee? Tea?"
"Do you perhaps have something stronger?" her voice shook, he heard her stand and move in his direction, "it has been a rough night, and I have an urge to have tequila shots."
Surprised, he turned, watching her walk toward him, "Tequila shots?"
"I don't really like tequila, but it seems like a good place to start when you need to find something to steady nerves ... and a disordered world," she shrugged as a smile tugged at her lips.
"Brandy, Whiskey or Vodka?" he asked, changing course and opening the liquor cabinet.
"Hmm ..." he watched her frown slightly as she decided, "Vodka, please."
Finding it Reilly prepared a cocktail and handed it to her.
"Interesting," she murmured; sniffing it, "Vodka, lime cordial, mint leaves and ..." she sniffed it again, "passion fruit?"
"Very good," he nodded, "your sense of smell still works."
"Would you like to tell me where I am and why I'm here?" Reilly sighed, "I received a text from Jesse to extract you and bring you here."
"Okay, so where is here?" she asked.
"My home," Reilly said, sinking into a single armchair next to the sofa, "this is my abode and our version of a safe house."
"Really, your home? There is a trapdoor in the living room floor and light cancelling curtains covering the windows."
"You are correct," Reilly chuckled.
"Why is the trap door open?" Valencia asked.
"We are awaiting the arrival of Jesse and someone Jesse is bringing with him," Reilly said, sipping his drink, "while we wait, may I ask you a few questions?"
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"Okay," she settled back on the sofa, "I'll do my best to answer them."
"How did you get into Darcia's lab?" Reilly asked.
"My brother," she said, a far off look entering her meadow green eyes, "he told me it was a job interview. Stupidly I believed him."
"You went to her facility?"
"No," Valencia shook her head, "I met her in a coffee shop. She said that her current space was under construction. I didn't have a reason not to believe her."
"Let me guess," Reilly scoffed, "you were in the middle of the interview, answering some really weirdly personal questions. The next thing you remember is waking up in a sterile white-tiled room."
"Yes," Valencia frowned, "how did you know?"
"You think any of us volunteered for that torture," Reilly said, sipping his drink, "my CO ordered my teams enhancements. Jesse's experience was the same. Darcia manipulates, schemes or simply just takes what she wants."
"She didn't strike me as someone in control or sane," Valencia sipped her drink, "I know you have no reason to trust me but thank you for helping me tonight."
Reilly felt his lips tug into a smile, "I think that is the first time anyone has thanked me for kidnapping them."
Valencia grinned back, stunning Reilly with a sudden beauty lighting from inside her. The resemblance to her brother disappeared, changing into a mischievous, red-headed elf. Shaking his head at the image, Reilly chuckled. Who knew? Perhaps there was hope for this mischievous spitfire yet.
Breanna kept pace with Jesse. Although they had taken a break, it seemed they had walked for hours. The air was cold, seeping into her muscles and bones, chilling her at the core. Her jeans were damp, T-shirt was inadequate protection against the chill of the ocean breezes she felt skating, like needles, against her bare skin.
"How much further?" her soft question echoed around them in the tunnel.
The smell of the ocean wafted strongly around them. The distant crash of waves came to her rockier with each step. Some rocks were wet, as though the sea had either covered them in a recent high tide or washed over them a short before.
"We are nearly there," Jesse said, his slowing stride and distracted attitude catching Breanna's attention.
"What is it?" she stopped next to him.
"Do you see over there?" he pointed to a pinprick of light ahead.
"The light," Breanna nodded, "what about it?"
"That is where we are going," he said, "we'll find a ladder attached to the wall and safety for the night."
"How can you be so sure," Breanna frowned, "that could be a trap."
"No," Jesse grinned at her, "that is hope in the darkness."
"What?" Breanna said on a breath, shaking her head as Jesse shuffled off in the direction of the light.
Exhaustion tugged at her. Praying to was not a trap, forcing herself to walk, she followed. Although the light started coming closer, it felt like forever to her sagging, aching body for them to reach the pinprick and climb the ladder. Jesse went up first, allowing Breanna to follow at her own pace. She could feel the beckoning warmth rolling toward her from above. Breanna's arms felt like noodles as she began climbing up; her usual vigour seemed to desert her. Near the top, she found herself face to face with a grinning Jesse.
"Come on," Jesse muttered, reaching through what Breanna realised was a trap door, gripping her arm, and pulling her the rest of the way onto the floor of a living room.
Thankful, she pushed herself up into a sitting position while Jesse closed and latched the trap door. After a moment, she raised her head, looking up, coming face to face with a man and a woman. The woman gasped, pointing at her wordlessly. The man's eyebrows crashed together over his hazel rimmed brown eyes.
"Is this a joke?" his deep voice rumbled loudly in the space around them, making her wince, "why did you bring Darcia here?"