Kissed by Moonlight by Shéa MacLeod Read Free Book Online Page A

churning. Other than the bubble itself, the rest of the room was untouched. No sign that anyone had ever been there, or how Darroch had made it through the doors once he'd gotten out of the plastene cell.
    "How would someone break in here?" Trevor voiced my thoughts.
    "Technically, they can't, sir." Roberts's tone was almost apologetic. "We're hundreds of feet underground and you'd need authorization to get in. Maybe you could tunnel your way underground if you had a lot of time on your hands. Use dynamite or something to blow your way through the concrete, but the walls haven't been breached."
    "Someone hacked into the system, maybe?" I suggested.
    "No, ma'am. No sign the system was hacked."
    "You're telling me someone with authorization came in here and broke Darroch out?" Trevor snapped. His patience was obviously wearing thin.
    "There's no record of anyone entering the chamber, sir." Roberts shook his head. "Not at that time, and not for hours before. There's nothing on the security cameras, either. One minute the prisoner was there, and the next he was gone."
    "No one broke him out, Trevor," I interrupted, still staring at the hole above my head. "The burn marks are on the inside. Darroch cut himself out."
    ***
    "Heads are going to roll." Trevor's knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel, a dark flush staining his cheeks. "The boss isn't going to like this."
    The anger rolled off him in waves so strong I could physically feel it. I totally got it, though. I sure wouldn't want to be the one to tell his boss a top priority prisoner, one with very powerful and very evil connections, had escaped from an impenetrable cell. And from the inside, no less.
    Despite scouring the base from top to bottom, there'd been no sign of anyone entering or exiting the building. Not even Darroch. It was like he'd vanished into thin air. I could smell hinky all over this thing.
    "Holy crap, that's it."
    Trevor glanced at me. "What's it?"
    "He vanished into thin air."
    "Uh, yeah." He gave me an eye roll. "That's the problem."
    "No," I said, shaking my head. "I mean he literally vanished into thin air. That's why nobody saw him leave through the door. He didn't. Once he was out of that bubble, somebody zapped him out."
    "Like teleportation, you mean?"
    "Something like that, yes. It has to be."
    He frowned. "As far as I know, Darroch doesn't have any such capabilities."
    "He doesn't." I knew that from experience. He was batshit crazy in a power hungry way, and he was stronger than your average human. Smarter, too. But he didn't have superpowers. "But there are those that do." The Fairy Queen came to mind, with her tendency to yank me into the Other World whenever she wanted.
    Trevor shook his head. "The alarm systems would have detected any sort of technology. There's no way he could have got a weapon in with him, let alone one that could open the dome."
    I mulled it over. "Maybe somebody teleported one in?" I wasn't sure we were on the right track with the whole teleportation of weapons thing, but it was the best idea I had at the moment.
    "Why not just teleport him straight out of the cell?" Trevor asked
    Fair point. "Might have taken too much energy. A material strong enough to be impenetrable to any known weapon can probably dampen most extra-human abilities." I glanced at Trevor for confirmation, but his face gave nothing away. Good enough. "So, whoever it was teleported the weapon into the cell so he could cut himself free. Once Darroch was out, it was easy enough to teleport him through concrete walls, no matter how thick."
    "Makes sense, I guess." Trevor still sounded doubtful. "So you know anyone with that ability?"
    "Not really," I admitted. "Djinn can do it. Sidhe, too, probably. But I can't think of anyone I know personally who would give a crap about Brent Darroch. There are certain demons, of course, but they don't generally have any reason to get involved with humans other than for killing." I frowned. Something was