Kagome walked through the cold, white-washed building, mapping the layout in her head. She already knew it by heart, of course – she’d spent many hours studying the blueprint of the building. Even so, in her experience, the one-dimensional was very different when compared to its three-dimensional counterpart.
“Good evening, doctor,” a woman nodded, as they passed one another in the hallway.
“Good evening,” Kagome responded, continuing past in her white lab coat as if she were supposed to be there.
Just a little further up ahead, and she’d come to an elevator. From there, she’d take it down thirty-seven stories below ground.
To Sub-37.
Swiping her stolen – or commandeered, as she liked to refer to it – employee badge across the badge access, she gained entry into the elevator. It dinged and opened.
“I’m in,” she said softly into the microchip-sized communication device tucked beneath her shirt to masquerade as an unassuming piece of jewelry.
“Good, proceed as planned.”
“Copy,” she said, pressing the code on the elevator keypad that would take her to the restricted floor. “Heading down, now.”
“Report in once you’ve made contact with the asset.”
“Copy.”
As the elevator descended, Kagome counted the floors, setting a timer on her wristwatch. She’d allow herself a very specific amount of time to get in and get out, package secured. Any more and she’d be compromising herself and her mission.
There was a reason she was chosen for this particular mission. Freeing the Western Lord was paramount. The demon lord’s mother was desperate to have her son returned to her, but there was so much more riding on this than motherly sentiment.
Lord Sesshomaru could turn the tides on the war between humans and youkai. While one lived in the shadows, the other thrived in the light. And though Kagome herself was human, she’d never believed that it was a fair trade.
Once she learned of the conditions in which many, if not most, of the captured youkai were expected to live, she put her foot down. She’d joined the resistance and had been following Sesshomaru’s mother – acting Lady of the West – since.
For years they’d plotted this mission, planning it to perfection. Though she’d never met the lord, she felt as if she knew him personally. She was invested in this almost as much as his mother was.
And, if she were being honest, she’d come to think of Lady Inukimi as a mother. They were close, and she desperately wanted to help her reunite with her son.
The elevator chimed quietly, and she waited a moment, listening, before stepping out into another clinically white hallway.
Recalling the blueprint, she headed in the direction they suspected he was being held.
Reaching a large, metal door, she pressed her ear against it, straining to hear within. Semi-satisfied, but mostly unsure, she used her badge to unlock the door. It slid open surprisingly silently given how heavy the thing looked, and she walked in as if she owned the place – just in case there were people inside.
As luck would have it, the room was empty.
Well… except for the rows upon rows of large basins, cut into the floor and filled with dark, viscous liquid, in which floated youkai. Thousands of youkai. It was so much worse than they knew.
Kagome’s eyes widened, and she glanced at her watch. Just under eight minutes left. She had to hurry.
Power walking down each row, she glanced from one basin to the next, trying to locate the lost lord. As time ticked away, she began to feel the first inklings of concern.
She couldn’t leave there without him.
Speeding up, she passed another basin near the back of the room and came to an abrupt halt. Peering into the murky liquid, she smiled.
Jackpot. Now, how to get him the heck out of there.
Sure, they’d spent a lot of time planning this rescue mission, but given how little they knew, most of it had to be improvised.
Thick, black tubes were connected to his body in random places – his feet, his palms, and his chest. Where the other end of the tubes were, she couldn’t say. They disappeared into the inky darkness of the pool, somewhere far below where he floated.
Shrugging, Kagome dipped a finger into the suspicious fluid, almost expecting her finger to fall off. When nothing happened, she stuck both hands in, took hold of a thick tube, and twisted until it broke away from his skin with a sickening tear.
It’s okay, it’s okay, she reasoned. He’ll heal.
“Egh,” Kagome gagged, sticking her tongue out in disgust, but she continued until each tube was removed from Sesshomaru’s body.
As he began to sink further below the liquid, she panicked.
“Oh, no you don’t!”
Reaching for him, she snatched his arm and tugged him from the liquid, though it was no easy feat.
“Gah! What do they feed you? You’re so heavy!”
Pausing to catch her breath, she tried to ignore how very naked he was.
“Thank god I came prepared,” she said, grinning at his prone figure before sighing. “You gotta wake up. I can’t do this without you.”
Turning him onto his back, she covered him with the white lab coat she was wearing and tapped her hand gently against his cheek.
“Hey, Sesshomaru. Wake up.”
When that failed to produce the results she was hoping for, she upped her game. Smacking him on the chest with an open palm, she tried again.
“Sesshomaru! Your mom sent me. Wake up! We gotta get out of here.”
Still, no response. He was breathing, so that was something at least.
Sighing, she brought out the big guns. Balling her hand into a fist, she pressed her knuckles deep into the tissue of his chest.
Sternal rub, baby. No one likes that.
He sat up with a growl, eyes flashing red and Kagome’s throat within his tight grip.
“Sesshomaru,” she wheezed, tapping the side of his hand insistently. “I’m here to help.”
His eyes narrowed, and after a moment, his grip loosened, but he didn’t let go.
“Who sent you?”
“Your mother.”
Raising both hands in front of her, she held his eye as she – very slowly – reached for the necklace at her throat.
“I’ve made contact,” she said.
“Who are you talking to?” He demanded, his hand twitching in threat around her throat.
“Sesshomaru?” He heard the familiar voice from somewhere nearby though it sounded so far away.
“Mother?”
“Uh… Lady Inukimi, can you ask your son to release me from his death grip, please?”
Removing the earpiece, she held it up between them so he could hear her more clearly.
“Son, release Kagome at once. She’s there to help. You can trust her.”
He didn’t react for a moment, his brows pulling together as he eyed the device in Kagome’s hand.
Finally, she sighed.
“Look, I’ve played nice. Either let me go, or I’ll make you.”
Lifting a brow, he was almost curious enough to see how one small human woman could make him do anything. She saw the question in his eyes and allowed her reiki to rise, just barely, to the surface of her skin.
Fighting a smirk as she watched him – the subtle sting upon his palm – she contemplated giving him a bigger taste. However, a beeping at her wrist caught their attention.
“Damn it. Time to go.”
Slapping his hand away from her, she kneeled next to him, quickly unbuttoning her shirt and pulling out several thin pieces of clothing. Tossing a pair of plain white pants and a matching top in his lap, she instructed him to get dressed.
“Hurry. The guards are on rotation. We’ll be lucky to make it out of here before they come.”
It just so happened to be that luck wasn’t on her side any longer.
A beep sounded at the door, and it slid open. Three sets of booted feet entered the room, and Kagome’s eyes narrowed. Holding a finger up to her lips, she leaned close to him.
“Hurry and get dressed,” she whispered into his ear. “We need to go. Now.”
Dressing quickly, she didn’t have time to do anything about the liquid on the floor before one of the guards were heading down that row.
“Looks like we’re fighting our way out,” she said. “We need to stop them before they sound an alarm. Can you fight?”
With a nod, his hand began to glow neon green, and she grinned.
“Cool! Your mom told me about that!” She said with child-like excitement in her eyes.
“Focus, woman,” he said, though he couldn’t deny her excitement was humorous. “Later, I demand you explain how you have come to be so close to this one’s mother.”
“Deal, but only if you take me for a ride on your cloud.”
Ignoring his dubious look, she smirked, pulled her knife from her waist, and stepped from the shadow just as the guard passed her.
Quickly and efficiently, she stabbed the man in the heart before he could make a sound. Easing him to the ground, she rolled him into the liquid as quietly as she could before pulling the knife from his chest. Less blood that way.
Turning toward Sesshomaru, who stared at her impassively, she shrugged.
“This way,” she said, leading him quietly toward the exit.
The second guard was dispatched on the tips of Sesshomaru’s claws, the acid eating away at the man’s throat. Blood sprayed across the floor, and Kagome gave up on a simple escape.
“Stop right there!”
The third guard caught them and lifted his weapon, his orders shoot to kill.
Before he could pull the trigger, Sesshomaru flashed over, disarming him. The sickening snap of a broken limb overshadowed the short sound of his pained scream before his windpipe crumpled beneath deceptively elegant fingers.
Flinging the body across the room, he stalked toward Kagome, lifted her in his arms, and demanded she directed him toward the exit.
With wide, blue eyes, she pointed to the door.
“That way, then up.”
“How far up?”
“Thirty-seven flights.”
Sighing deeply, Sesshomaru gave a curt nod.
“Hold on. Tightly.”
“You got it, babe,” she grinned.
xS37x
Seeing Inukimi reunited with her son was well worth the blood staining her shirt and hands.
“Thank you, Kagome,” the lady said, profusely. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
“No need,” she said. “Really. It was nothing.”
“It’s everything to me.”
Hiding her eyes behind her bangs, she looked at the floor in silent thought.
“You were right,” she said quietly. “Those people are monsters. They have no right to do what they’re doing.”
Remembering the sheer number of youkai, submerged in fluid and connected to tubes like machines, she clenched her fist, reiki crackling through her aura with her anger.
“We need to stop them.”
“We will,” Inukimi said, stepping in front of Kagome and brushing a hand gently down her arm, entirely unafraid of her display of power. She knew Kagome would never harm her.
Sesshomaru watched in fascination, a regal brow lifted. Never before had he seen his mother so friendly with a human. And a priestess, at that.
With a nod, Kagome excused herself but stopped before the door.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Sesshomaru,” she said, dipping into a slight bow. “Though I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I already know you.”
Surprised at her words, he offered a slight nod, glancing at his mother. Exactly how close were they?
“Goodnight,” Kagome said before slipping from the room and heading to her own.
“Mother,” Sesshomaru prompted once Kagome was out of earshot.
“Much has changed, darling,” she said with a coy glance and a Cheshire grin. “Come, my love,” she tucked her arm into his and began to walk. “Let’s discuss the lovely Kagome, shall we?”
“She is a priestess,” he pointed out.
“She is,” Inukimi nodded. “A powerful one, at that. She will help us ensure victory. Together, the two of you will be unstoppable.”
“Why do I get the feeling there is more you aren’t saying?”
Laughter spilled softly from her lips.
“That we can discuss at another time.”
Perhaps it wasn’t the time, but since meeting the young miko, Inukimi couldn’t help but dream of pups running around her ankles. She’d make it her mission to see the miko and her son mated.
But first, they had to destroy Sub-37.
Or perhaps… she thought in revelation. Perhaps, their union is exactly what will ensure the enemies downfall.