by J. L. Weil
“Number one it is,” he muttered. “Krysta, you okay here to be the lookout?”
“Just don’t get yourself into trouble.” She scanned the hub. “I’m sure I’ll be able to find something to keep myself busy with while the two of you check out the rooms.”
Combating a high dose of nerves, Dash and I continued down the first hallway. A familiar faint beeping sound reverberated from behind the walls. Unlike the dungeons or the tunnel, the secret lair was well-kept, sterile, and very similar to the labs in the Institute. I also noticed an immediate change in the atmosphere. The air was cooler.
I stopped Dash just outside the first door, wrapping a hand around his forearm. “Wait.”
“What’s wrong?” he whispered.
There were a hundred things wrong with this situation. “What if there is a zombie in there? Or worse?”
Dash stepped closer to me, his brow lifted in question. “There’s something worse than a zombie?”
That was the thing. I wasn’t sure. “Maybe.”
His hand rested on the doorknob. “I’d rather know what we’re up against than wonder.”
Dropping my hand, I waited as Dash twisted the handle gradually, careful not to alert whoever might be inside. I knew that what was behind this door would determine what I decided to do next, but I convinced myself it wouldn’t be to kiss a freaking zombie.
Not tonight.
As the door swung open, my throat closed up. The room was identical to the vision right down to the beeping machines, the unconscious Forsaken, and the girl.
But she wasn’t lying on the table. She was standing.
“Ember?” I gasped.
Chapter Twenty-One
Shock and confusion gripped me.
“What the hell are the two of you doing here?” Ember hissed.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.” I ventured farther into the room.
“If anyone sees you…” Her large eyes were darting all over the place.
“Ember, you better explain yourself before I hurt you,” Dash growled. He was standing directly behind me, and waves of heat were rolling off him.
My sister looked to be somewhere between irritated and scared. It was as if the two emotions were waging an internal war in her. “I don’t think I have to spell it out for you. The evidence is pretty damning, and you know how narcissistic Dr. Winston can be,” she sneered over our father’s name. “This shouldn’t surprise you.”
“But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” I countered. Yes, I could believe my father was capable of organizing a hidden lab.
She stood tall and proud. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Unlike you, dear sister, I like my power, and I want more. You know what else I want? To live. Forever.”
I didn’t have to rack my brain for answers. Deep down, I had known what the visions were trying to tell me. I just hadn’t expected Ember to be in on it. My father was trying to find the recipe for immortality, and the Forsaken were the key ingredient.
“Are you insane?” Dash barked, taking the words out of my mouth. “Why the hell would you want to live forever?”
Ember clutched the side of the table. “Keep your voice down, you baboon. I’ve slept for over a hundred years. I want to live and not worry about this place killing me.”
“You’re injecting their blood into humans as trials.” I shook my head. “How could you, Ember? You’re killing innocent people.”
“Charlotte, it’s time you take off your rose-colored glasses. These people aren’t innocent. They’ve all done something against the rules,” she said, justifying her actions, but it was weak and immoral.
“Something so bad it warrants death?” I asked, unable to believe how corrupt Ember had become.
“For the greater good—”
“God, you sound just like him,” I interrupted her. I didn’t want to hear any more. It made me sick. I had begun to trust her and thought we were becoming closer, that she was someone I could depend on, family. The truth was like drinking acid, and her betrayal cut deep like a knife to my heart.
“You got what you came for. Now leave while you still have time.” Ember’s voice was sharp and high.
I wasn’t going anywhere. My feet rooted to the ground. “I’d rather see this place burn down.” Electricity danced over my skin, crackling in the air that surrounded me.
Ember’s eyes flared. “Not a smart idea. Then you’d be the one sacrificing lives.” She knew right where to hit me. My sister might not put any value on other people, but she knew I cared what happened to them. One life was just as important as a hundred.
“How many are down here?” Dash demanded.
She crossed her arms with a smug expression. “Too many for you to save.”
I wanted to zap her. I wanted to cause her so much bodily harm. Never in my life had I ever imagined I would feel this way about my own flesh and blood. It was all kinds of wrong. “How dare you!” I lunged.
Dash’s arms swooped around my waist, risking his hide being electrocuted. “Hurting her won’t change anything. We need to find Star.”
“Star?” I whispered, a glow of reason making its way through the haze of hurt and anger. I looked at Dash. “Oh my God. What if she’s here? We have to save her.”
“Don’t bother,” Ember said.
I swung on her, Dash’s fingers keeping me from advancing farther. “Why would you say that?”
“Let me guess, you had a vision of her here. Did your prophetic little dream show you what happened to her?”
My legs collapsed at the implication. Dash was there to hold me up and keep me from crumbling to the ground.
“You lie,” I hurled at her.
Her glance whisked over the two bodies strapped to the tables before returning to me. “The truth hurts. Don’t go sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“How can you be so cruel?”
“I’m an opportunist.”
I had another word, evil, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it to her, even after everything she had done. I also wasn’t going to take her word for it. I locked eyes with Dash. “I need to be sure,” I pleaded with him.
He made a deep, guttural sound. I wasn’t the only one struggling to not lash out at Ember. “We’ll search every square inch until we find her.”
As we spun back into the hall, Ember was quick on our heels, delivering the same warning. “You’re only torturing yourself. You should leave while there is still time and you haven’t been detected. It will only be worse for you if they catch you.”
I didn’t want to know what would happen if we were spotted. I was afraid of just how far my father would go to protect this secret. We took a risk, running from room to room, but it was one we were willing to take and precisely what Dash and I were good at together. Each time a door flung open, my heart jumped out of my chest, terrified I wouldn’t find Star or that I would.
At the end of the hall, we walked through the last door. This room was different than the others; it was one giant icebox. A morgue. Pale bodies tinged with green were lined up in rows.
My hand flew to my mouth as I let out a bloodcurdling scream.
She was there.
Her long, beautiful blond hair spread out like a halo around her stiff face devoid of all human color. She was almost unrecognizable as my friend.
Dash sunk against the nearest wall, his shoulders falling.
We had failed her.
Correction: I had failed her.
I’d never been so torn up inside, so broken, and surrendering to the pain, I let go of my emotions. Every fiber of my being was consumed with grief, anger, and horror. I had no other choice but to release it, and, this was the safest way possible to do that… for everyone.
Uncontrollable tears streaked down my face while my body shuddered in pain, agony, and regret—all those terrible and treacherous emotions that came with a soul-shattering loss.
I dropped to my knees as every memory
I had of Star played through my head in a loop. Her laugh. Her friendship. Her sweet nature. She had been too good for this world.
“You idiots,” Ember hissed. She had no regard for the sudden sorrow raging through Dash and me. “They’ll be coming now.”
Could this night get any worse?
Krysta appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide and frantic. “We’ve got incoming!”
Apparently, it could.
“You never should have come. Do you know what you’ve done?” Ember said. Terror stole over her expression as she knelt beside me, her hands on my shoulders.
“Forsaken?” I whispered.
Dash’s eyes were grim. “No, something worse.”
Over the roaring in my head, I heard sounds coming down the hall. The Night’s Guards were on their way.
What had we done?
With pure murder in his eyes, Dash pinned Ember with a glare. “If anything happens to her, I’ll hold you personally responsible. I don’t think I need to tell you what I would do to you.”
Ember’s hand squeezed my shoulder. “As if you could take me.”
Dash dragged me to my feet. I didn’t go willingly. Couldn’t he see I didn’t care what they did to me anymore? I didn’t want to fight. Let them throw me in a cage. What did it matter? It wasn’t like we could take on an entire army on our own.
That would be suicide.
All I wanted was to curl up in a ball and cry for my friend. She deserved so much more than this world offered her. It was so messed up.
“Freckles, I know you’re hurting, but I need you to be strong,” he murmured near my ear, keeping my upright with his strength when all I felt like doing was crumpling.
Turning, I sunk against his chest, burying my face in his shirt. “Dash, she’s gone. I’ll never see her again.”
“Will you listen now?” Ember shouted. “You’ve got to get her out of here. I’ll hold them off, but it won’t give you much time. Run!”
Why would Ember help us now?
I was so confused.
Ember kicked open a door at the back of the morgue. “Through here,” she ordered us, and then she spun back around, flames consuming her fingers. She lit the room on fire, blocking off the entrance into the morgue. The Night’s Guards rushed in en masse, guns drawn and prepared to fight.
I stumbled while trying to keep up with Dash and Krysta’s movements as we began the climb upward to the surface. “I need you to run. Can you do that?” he murmured and then handed me over to Krysta. “Get her out of here. And don’t stop for anything. Glam her if you have to.”
Clinging to his shirt, I shook my head. “Dash, no!”
He pried off my fingers and moved back down the stairs to give Krysta and me the best chance at making it out alive. He had no compunction about killing anyone who tried to stop us, but how could he expect me to go on without him?
I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
Krysta proved to be stronger than she looked. “Come on. You heard the boss.”
“Dash!” I cried, trying to pull her in the opposite direction. “We can’t leave him.”
“Don’t worry about the Slayer. He’ll be right behind us. I promise.” Krysta put her hands on my back and pushed, forcing me up the stairs.
Dazed, my legs moved of their own accord. If I had been thinking rationally, I never would have left without Dash. Not in a million years. A hole in my chest grew until it felt as if my entire body was numb, like I was a ghost looking down upon myself.
Each step seemed like a mile, and I didn’t think we’d ever make it to the top. Then a blanket of stars twinkled above my head. Krysta had opened a round hatch and crawled out. She reached down, extending her arm. “Take my hand.”
With a strength that had to have been born from adrenaline, Krysta pulled me out. I hadn’t been much help. A breeze blew over my face smelling of pine and misery. Krysta held my hand in hers, helping me stay on my feet. “Don’t give up, not yet.”
We turned to run, but two guards stepped out of the shadows, guns drawn. I tried to summon my abilities but failed. Krysta stepped out in front of me, waving her hands in an s formation. Boom! One of the guards’ guns discharged, the sound deafening, echoing over the grounds. My ears were ringing as I yelled Krysta’s name.
Her eyes widened in shock, her hands falling limply to her sides. My gaze traveled to her chest where a spot of crimson spread over her white shirt. The bullet had hit her in the center of her chest.
No! No! No!
This wasn’t happening.
I couldn’t lose another person.
Krysta dropped slowly to the ground in a graceful heap. The sting in my lungs tripled. I lay in the grass beside her fallen body, waiting for the guard to come get me. I didn’t believe my father would let them kill me, but lock me up? Definitely.
I would like to see them try and haul me away. In my current state, I would leave carnage in my wake. When the guards came near me, I braced myself, electricity pulsing through me. Lifting my hand, a crack of lightning streaked across the sky, but the guards didn’t attack. They just ran right past me to the hatch we had emerged from only moments ago.
It was then I understood.
Krysta had glammed me, making me appear invisible.
She had saved my life.
And she was dead.
I closed my eyes as the world went black.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Something sharp jabbed into my back. I groaned, trying to get comfortable again. I didn’t want to wake up. If I was awake, I would feel pain, and I didn’t want to feel anything. My hand reached for the blanket to pull it over my head, but as I balled my fingers, the material wouldn’t budge.
Regardless of the fact that it was the last thing I wanted to do, I forced my eyes to peel open. It ended up being a slow process to get my brain and eyes to cooperate. The room was dark, and upon further investigation, I discovered I wasn’t in a bed. Nor was I in my bedroom. In fact, I was pretty damn sure I wasn’t in the Institute.
And I wasn’t alone.
My pillow was an arm, and that arm belonged to Dash. He stretched out beside me, while my body curled up against his. My fingers clenched the soft cotton of his shirt. Tipping my head back, I appreciated his strong facial features. His eyes were closed. Thick lashes fanned over his upper cheekbones. But as I drank my fill, a darkness seemed to cloak him, shrouding us both.
Reluctantly, I pulled out of his arms and sat up. My eyes had adjusted and took in the full scope of the foreign room. Gradually, I began to put together the puzzle of what had happened, but it was as if I didn’t have all the pieces. Not everything added up.
Whose room was this?
How had I gotten here?
Starting from the beginning, I ticked off everything I could remember.
The Institute was trying to find the formula for immortality. Idiots.
My sister had betrayed me.
Star hadn’t escaped her fate after all. She became a subject for the Institute’s experiments and paid the price with her life. This hurt the absolute most.
Star hadn’t been the only one who lost her life. Krstya. Without her, I would be dead.
I didn’t realize I was crying until Dash’s arms came around from behind me. He pulled my back to his chest, holding me as my shoulders shook with the sobs plaguing my body. I buried my face into his neck. “I-I killed them,” I sputtered, my lower lip trembling.
He turned me around to face him, catching the tears with a kiss on either side of my cheeks. “Don’t say that. You did no such thing.”
“It’s my fault. If I hadn’t—”
Dash turned me around so I was in his lap. “I won’t have you blaming yourself. Not for any of it. The ones responsible are hiding in the tower, like cowards.”
A part of me knew he was right, but the other part couldn’t let go of the guilt. “If I hadn’t been so consumed with my own grief, I could have saved Krysta and myself. She didn’t have
to die, Dash. Not for me.”
I had these inconceivable powers, and when I needed them the most, I failed. Why hadn’t I used my shield? Why hadn’t I thrown a bolt of lightning at the guards? I was going to drive myself mad with the amount of guilt weighing on my chest. As I peered into his face, I noticed dark circles under his eyes. He looked tired and damaged. I wasn’t the only one suffering. Wrapping my arms around him, I offered him the same comfort he gave me.
We stayed enveloped in each other, and I lost track of time, but eventually, the sounds of other people stirring in the strange house filtered through from under the closed door. I slowly leaned back to glance Dash in the face. “What happened?”
He laid his forehead on mine. “The world is going to shit.”
My fingers reached up to brush through his hair. “I know that, but how did we get here? How did we get away?”
“Ryker.” His voice was raspy and strained.
“I don’t understand. What about the guards?”
“Ryker showed up in the ranger just after—” He gulped. “After Krysta fell. He took care of the two guards as I picked you up off the ground. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to catch you.”
My heart broke into a million pieces. He was sorry. Was he kidding? The man had saved my life a thousand times over. I pressed my finger to his lips, shaking my head. My throat was clogged with so much emotion I wasn’t sure I could speak. “Don’t apologize. Dash, you’re everything to me.” A soft kiss replaced my finger. “I love you,” I whispered.
His chest rose and fell heavily. “When I saw you both lying on the ground, I…” He swallowed a bout of sorrow that was rare for the Slayer. “I’d never felt pain so severe in my life. It was as if someone had carved my heart out with a plastic spoon. When I heard the gunshot, I was so terrified, and then I saw you, pale and unmoving. I almost died from the ache that punctured my heart.”
Immense agony darkened his features as he relived those moments. I placed my hand on his heart, needing to bring him back to me, to the present where we both still had each other. I pushed aside a fresh appearance of tears, but they clung to my throat, making it difficult to speak.