Page 24 of Anathema
With our backgrounds, Dean and I would never have the ability to gain access to Anathema on our own, and out of all the undercover work I’ve done previously, this would be the one time it was impossible to achieve. You’d think that any group that functioned similarly to the mafia or a cult would welcome almost anyone with a vetted reference—not them.
No, Anathema was strict. Your record had to be clean of anything that could jeopardize their anonymity. This was why they had survived and remained enigmatic for so long.
Dean and I didn't speak as we descended into the Twin City A-Mill basement. The air was dense, and it was pitch black inside the tunnels—fitting for a murderous organization.
Hearing the zipper of Dean’s backpack from behind me, Ilooked over my shoulder to see him pulling two flashlights out of it. He walked over, handing one to me, and we both switched them on, taking in the hand-carved sandstone walls and endless abyss of darkness before us.
A lighting system was integrated along the walls, but after not being used for so long, most of the light fixtures were either broken, missing, or had their cables cut.
“Well… Home sweet home, I guess.” Dean mocked with a heavy sigh as he stepped past me and started making his way down one of the pathways. There were several to choose from; this was an entire underground network branching in multiple directions. It could take us hours to find anything down here.
“It’s only a home if we find evidence of their hideout down here; otherwise, it’s just an abandoned tunnel system under the city,” I muttered, more to myself than to Dean.
“Then, for your sake, I hope we find evidence so you can clear up that piss-poor attitude of yours.” Dean retorted in agitation.
Was he being fucking serious right now?I groaned as I continued to follow him. I didn’t bother arguing any further. It would get us nowhere, and I knew better than to push his patience.
Putting my job first had never been an issue for me. However, for some reason, the burning desire to be wrapped around and buried inside Alexis right now took complete control of my priorities. This possessive urge to not let her out of my sight, even for a second, was all-consuming.
Dean and I walked for—what felt like—an hour before I stopped and rested against the sandstone wall.
“This is ridiculous. There is nothing down here, Dean.” Anxiety and impatience were threatening to tear me apart. Everything down here looked the same: an empty tunnel with graffiti and the occasional giant fucking rat. This was a far stretch from being the secret hideout of an underground mercenary group.
Pulling out my phone, I tried to check our location under the city, but I couldn’t get a decent signal.Fucking great.
“What could you possibly have to do today that is more important than doing your fucking job?” Dean scoffed, turning around and approaching me.If only he knew…
“Nothing. Forget it.” I blew out a breath and pushed off the wall. “Let’s keep going.” I stepped past him and pressed on.
Dean frowned and bit his cheek before trailing behind me. My personal life was my business, and I wasn’t about to share any of it with him. At least not under these circumstances. Only one person knew everything about me, and he was over two hours away with the love of his life.
“So… have you heard anything new from Atlas lately?” Dean broke our extended silence as we walked through the endless darkness, sliding a free hand into his pocket.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that he would ask about AJ while we were down here, grasping at straws for topics of conversation. Dean and AJ barely got to know each other from the short time he was in the office, but he knew we were close friends—best friends, practically brothers.
I don’t think he truly cared about what AJ was up to, but more so, he just wanted to fill the void of silence that had grown between us over the past hour and a half.
“Yeah, I have; it sounds like he will be back here within the next month.” A few weeks ago, AJ called me to get in touch with Madison. He said that Chyler had been worried and constantly asking about her and Alexis. Honestly, I couldn’t believe that he was able to keep her away from them as long as he did.
While they believed she abandoned them to the CIA, it was ultimately for everyone’s protection in the end, hers and theirs. AJ felt guilty for isolating Chyler; he vented about it constantly to me, but the less communication she had with Madison and Alexis, the better—just until everything involving the three of them was swept under the rug.
It took months to cover their tracks, and we needed them to hate each other as part of the process to ensure that they weren’t working for anyone else besides Charlotte. It was the easiest way to get the truth out of them. The thought of betrayal will make anyone talk, even family, which was what they were to each other. Sisters.
“Is he coming back to the office or remaining remote?” Dean asked.
I laughed lightly, looking over my shoulder at him with a grin.
“You really think Conrad would let him remain remote after eight months of being gone?” I huffed, raising my brows. “Fuck no. He will be in the office before he even gets a chance to set foot inside his apartment.” I smiled at the thought of AJ finally returning to the office and having my best friend back.
When I transferred here, I went too long without being able to hang out with him, only to have a brief reunion for a few months before he left yet again. I’d consider AJ a brother, one I hated having to miss. I was an only child; he lost his twin brother, so it only made sense that we became the missing piece to each other in that sense. He was always there for me, and I him.
“And now he finally smiles. If I knew talking about Atlas was all it would take to lighten up your mood, I would have brought him up sooner.” Dean chuckled with a hard slap to the back of my shoulder.
I glared at him, my smile fading to a hard line. He flinched from my sudden change in expression and shifted his gaze ahead of us.
“Let’s just get the hell out of here already. I’m done, I’m tired. There is nothing down—” I paused, noticing a boarded-off passage with streaks of dim light seeping out from between the cracks.
“Looks like we found what we were looking for.” Dean breathed, stopping next to me.
