A Lonely Road

Puppy Dog Eyes Won't Work Here

Michael just stared at her, exasperation written all over his face. "What the hell did you do this time?" he finally asked. Kaelie didn't even balk at the bark in his voice.

"Well, I sort of went for a walk? Last night? Yeah, a walk. To clear my head, and anyways, I was just wondering around the town and after a while I made it to the other side and I saw all this light, which is weird for this area. I went up the hill, and watched from a distance for a while. It was a warehouse, like the one Lilith said she thought the Illusion bought, but I didn't want to give them any reason to think I was there. There wasn't much action going on outside, just security patrols, so I tried to get a better look," Kaelie said.

"They have a lot of new tech, Lilith. The second I got close to that building, there was a click and there were three people on me before I could get out of there. I tried to just knock them out because they weren't Hunters and I had no reason to kill normals, but they attacked. I killed the first two, and then," Kaelie paused, glancing at Jace, before continuing, maybe a little too quickly. "The third one attacked me, and I killed him too."

If the situation weren't so serious, Jace would have laughed at the almost comical expression of regret on Kaelie's face. She was looking at Michael apologetically, like a child to be scolded by her father, and she looked very much like a kicked puppy. "Oh for Christ's sake, Kaelie, can you, for once, just not get yourself into trouble?"

Kaelie pouted, and Jace had to admit that if it was him, it would have worked. Michael didn't budge, and after a few moments Kaelie gave up. He did wonder why Kaelie had left out the part where he was there and where he almost got killed but he didn't have much time to dwell on it because she had already launched into planning how to get in to the lab and then destroy it.

"We're going to need to wait a few days," Sarah mentioned, all logic and business. "After last night, they are going to be on alert, especially considering the fact that you left three bodies behind after setting off their alarm." She turned to Ben.

"You said you were looking around here too after those women started disappearing? Do you know who any of them are?" she asked.

Ben nodded. "I know a few of them that came back, one of them is a friend of mine, she used to work at a cafe I go to. I think we can probably talk to her."

"Good," Sarah said. "You should probably go then, and take Jace with you."

Kaelie's mouth opened and shut a few times, Jace could see her holding back from demanding to go as well. "What about me?" she finally asked.

"You need to help us find our way in, seeing as you're the one that has actually been up there. Once the other two come back and have some idea about the inside of that place, we can take it out. If it's set up anything like Iceland, we should be able to pull it off easy, but we're probably going to have to take down the communications system again," Lilith said softly. She shared a pointed look with Kaelie. "We are going to have to figure out how she did it," she said.

"She who?" Jace asked, but it was no use, Ben was already dragging him out the door. Outside, Jace shielded his eyes from the harsh sunlight, grateful he'd decided to put real clothes on before coming down to eat.

"Do you think Kaelie will mind if we take the bike?" Ben asked him, and Jace felt his muscles seize up as he realized he was stuck in Ben's presence alone. The discomfort crawled down his spine and he twisted his head around trying to dislodge it from his shoulders. He shrugged at Ben in lieu of answering.

Ben sighed, but if he noticed Jace's reaction to him, he didn't say anything. They spent the ride in awkward silence, Jace having only allowed Ben to drive on account of the fact that Jace had no idea where to go.