Altered

by Marnee Blake

  As they tucked her into a nondescript sedan, her mother’s words—so often tossed out when she believed her daughter was being willful—echoed through her mind.

  It was a passage from Proverbs.

  You have never wanted my advice or paid any attention when I corrected you/So then you will get what you deserve, and your own actions will make you sick.

  Some things were true, harsh or not.

  She shouldn’t have left Seth and Blue. Not to go with anyone. She’d allowed herself to be separated. Now she was captured. And it was all her fault.

  As the sedan started and pulled out into traffic, she closed her eyes. She felt sorry for Blue. She’d take this personally. Her captor’s thoughts drifted to her, vague and indistinct. Utterly terrifying visions of hospital tables and padded, empty rooms. Folding her hands in her lap, she knew she should pray. But no greater power had made her leave her friends. She’d made that foolish decision all by herself.

  Now it seemed she would pay dearly for it.

  Blue shoved the clothes she’d worn yesterday into her knapsack. She still wore the leggings and T-shirt she’d put on after her shower last night, but they would need to either stop and buy something new or find a Laundromat. The few things she had—these clothes and the jeans and Hello Kitty shirt—would start to stink soon. No one wanted that.

  She packed it all in the bag with vicious pushes.

  What was Kitty thinking? Didn’t she see what a scumbag that guy Jeremy was? He was good-looking, with his slick clothes and cocky smile. She saw guys like him at the bar. Those weren’t guys interested in knowing girls. They were interested in conquering girls. Then they tallied them up like the keepsake plates Gran collected from the places she’d been.

  That’s all Kitty would be. Some other place Jeremy had been.

  Hopefully she’d be back soon. Before he got in the shower, Seth had said he wanted to leave immediately. He’d seemed upset, in a rush.

  Seth.

  Her head dropped, and she gripped her pack tighter. She should have listened to herself sooner. Before she kissed him. For some guys, kisses meant nothing. Hell, for some girls they didn’t mean much, either. But she’d seriously thought this had been different. There had been something underneath their words, something unspoken. Something important.

  Or so she’d thought.

  He’d been right, though. She shouldn’t have done that to Jeremy. The guy was irritating, but she’d been heavy-handed in the way she dealt with him.

  She flopped on the bed. The guy hadn’t believed Seth, and so she showed him. Maybe she’d gone too far, but there had to be more.

  She was missing something. Sometime between their kiss in the phone booth and his conversation with Nick and Jeremy, Seth had pulled away from her. She didn’t know why and she didn’t want to be so upset about it. But she was.

  He and Kitty thought that going to the military was the best idea. That it would help them figure out what was wrong. And Blue couldn’t refute that they needed medical attention. But she also couldn’t shake the kernel of doubt.

  It was the army. The army was secretive.

  There were other hospitals, even quiet, private ones. Surely there were other places they could get help, right?

  She could go to her mother…

  The thought barely crossed her mind before she discarded it. No. She hadn’t spoken with her mom in years. She didn’t know why she’d think she’d be helpful now. She finished packing her things with a vicious tug to her zipper.

  Nick’s phone buzzed on the coffee table in the living room. She turned, slinging her pack on her shoulder.

  Where the hell were Kitty and Jeremy? They’d left over twenty minutes ago. A long time for a bagel run.

  The phone buzzed again, vibrating across the wood surface, and a sick feeling started to settle in her stomach. Nick strolled in and snagged it. He read and scowled. “Jeremy says I should get out of here.”

  “What?” Seth stepped in from the bathroom, his own pack on his back. His hair was wet, and his shoulders looked insanely wide in a soft blue T-shirt. She tried to temper her stupid stomach flutters. She wasn’t successful. For his part, he ignored her, and she glared at him. He didn’t notice as he read over Nick’s shoulder. “‘Leave while you can.’”

  Blue’s heart picked up, her anger at Seth forgotten. Leave while you can.

  They were coming.

  Seth’s eyes met hers, and understanding flared between them, their disagreement of yesterday forgotten. Then they were in motion, in complete harmony. Time to go. Now.

  She scanned the room, searching for anything she’d left behind, her heart yammering in her ear. She grabbed Kitty’s knapsack and tossed it on over her own. She slipped her feet into her sneakers, and she was ready. Seth returned from Jeremy’s room, tucking Jeremy’s laptop into his bag along with its power cord. Nick stood in the living room where they’d left him, his phone in his hands, looking shell-shocked.

  When he saw Seth hijacking Jeremy’s computer, it seemed to jolt Nick to life. “Hey, man. You can’t take that.”

  “We’re going, and I’m not leaving this, with any trace of Luke’s info on it, behind.” He finished zippering the bag, meeting her eyes again. He put his hand out to her. “Ready?”

  She stared at his upturned palm. Part of her wanted to shrug it off, to push him away. Instead, she put her own hand in his, squeezing. Because even though he’d pushed her away last night, right now she didn’t care. She didn’t get his thinking, why he thought their kisses were nothing but an unwelcome distraction. But she didn’t care now.

  If she’d learned anything from Gran’s death, it was that things were uncertain all the time. They were better together than apart. She wouldn’t let her pride get in the way of that.

  He squeezed back, and they moved toward the door.

  Nick followed, putting himself between them and the exit. “No way. I’m coming with you.” He kicked into moccasins by the door, grabbing his keys. “I’ll drive.”

  Seth shook his head. “It’s bad enough we involved you. You don’t have to do this.”

  Blue rolled her eyes. All this unnecessary regret and guilt… And then… “Where’s Kitty? She went with Jeremy. Where is she?”

  Nick shook his head. “He didn’t say.”

  He didn’t say? Blue tried not to panic. Maybe Kitty had heard something and they’d escaped. Kitty had her own defenses. Maybe she’d gotten them out.

  Maybe.

  Antsy, unable to meet Nick’s eyes, she glanced away, her gaze falling on the patio slider. That’s when she saw them.

  A line of soldiers in black, their guns in front of them, running crouched along the sidewalk outside. She shifted away from the window and caught sight of them arriving from the other direction. There had to be at least fifteen she could see.

  “They’re here.” Her heart picked up, and she joined Seth’s side. “They’re coming up the stairs. Is there another exit?”

  “Windows in the bedrooms.” Nick grabbed his keys and wallet, tucking them in his pockets. He disappeared into Jeremy’s room.

  She nodded at Seth. “I’ll send you guys out while they come in the door.”

  He shook his head, already scanning the room with that look that said he was planning his attack. “There’ll be some downstairs, Blue.”

  “Fewer than at the door.”

  He finally met her eyes. “Luke’s not here to send you out. How are we going to do that?”

  She didn’t know. She tried for bravado. “Let me figure that out.”

  Obviously he wasn’t convinced, because he snorted. They followed Nick into Jeremy’s room. “You guys are the superheroes. How are we doing this?”

  Blue had already opened the window. A big one, thank goodness. Nick and Seth weren’t small guys. “We’re going out the window.” She exhaled. “Seth first. He can deal with whoever is below.”

  She briefly considered asking him for permission. She knew he would ha
te that she made the decision by herself. But they didn’t have time to consult the committee. They needed to get out of here.

  She lifted him in the air, and his face stormed over. “Blue. No. This is what I mean. We need to talk. There’s got to be better way.”

  “Is there? A better way?” She lifted her eyebrows and waited a moment.

  “The door… Maybe the roof…”

  “Those are other ways. Are they better?”

  His jaw tightened, but he said nothing. So this was the best, and he knew it. He just didn’t like it.

  “Right.” She glanced out the window, happy to find a tree next to them and a pretty dense cropping of shrubbery beneath. Some cover. Finally, a lucky break. From the living room they heard the sound of banging on the door.

  He complained as she moved him out the window, and then he cursed before falling silent. She knew he was preparing to take on whatever met him on the ground. She sent a silent prayer that he would be fine, hating how much she worried about him, how much he’d come to mean to her.

  Nick raised his eyebrows. “He’s going to be pissed about that, you know.” It wasn’t a question, and it was said with a helping of respect.

  “I know.” She sighed, but there was no time for remorse now. “You ready? Seth’ll keep you protected below.”

  Nick tucked a pistol in his waistband. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  She paused and then nodded toward the gun. “Put that away, please.”

  “What?”

  “They don’t have bullets. They’re only trying to capture us.” At least that’s what Kitty always said, and Blue had come to count on that. “They have tranquilizers. You don’t need a gun.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “Not in the slightest.”

  When they started shooting at these guys, when they aimed to kill them, something would change. Until then, it was a step she wasn’t willing to take.

  He shook his head. “I can’t leave it behind. But I won’t use it unless absolutely necessary. You’re going to have to believe me.”

  They were coming. She couldn’t wait any longer. He held her gaze, steady and certain.

  She exhaled. “Fine.” His promise would have to be good enough.

  She picked him up and moved him as slowly as she could, what with the racket and sounds of impending entrance coming from the other room. With his jaw tightened and fists clenched, she could tell he wasn’t happy about this mode of transportation, but he was toughing it out.

  She dropped him down behind Seth, who stood next to three crumpled-up soldiers.

  Then she looked around the room. Now for her. She had no idea what she was going to do. Short of stringing together some sheets, like old-school prison breaks, she was out of ideas.

  She scowled. This would be so much easier if she could move herself. Why the hell could she move everyone and everything else without a whole lot of effort, and yet she couldn’t move herself? It was a real black mark on an otherwise cool power.

  By the sound of it, she only had a minute or two before the soldiers broke into the living room. Upstairs, she could hear Nick and Jeremy’s neighbor banging on the floor, hollering that she’d call the cops. If she didn’t want to live in a cage, she needed to figure something out.

  She broke out in a cold sweat. The answer was in front of her, inside her. She only needed…

  The desk chair.

  She could move the chair. If she sat on the chair, she could move it. She’d only have to stay on top of it.

  Brilliant.

  It was big, one of those large, cushy leather desk chairs. A nice chair, but too big for the window. With a quick thought, she ripped the wheel contraption off the bottom of it. It took some effort, but in a matter of moments it was gone, leaving only the cushioned section in a heap on the ground.

  She swept forward, positioning it for her to sit down. She closed her eyes and focused on the chair beneath her. When it lifted, she laughed. She might not be able to move herself, but she could move something else. All she’d have to do was ride along.

  The door to Jeremy’s room burst open. She turned the chair to ease it through the window as the soldiers filed in, shock on their faces. She could only imagine how she looked, hovering on a busted chair in an open window.

  But they didn’t remain paralyzed long.

  The one in the doorway motioned to the one near here. “Trank her!”

  Panicked, she spun the chair, ducking. Two thuds shook the back of the seat and a tranquilizer needle embedded in the armrest next to her.

  Desperate to escape, she dropped the chair under her. But when it plunged too fast, she realized she’d miscalculated. She found herself free-falling through the air. Tamping down on her terror, trying to regain control, she reached out with her mind, searching for the chair, trying to move it underneath to catch herself. There. She recovered it, still falling, and pulled it to a halt.

  Her momentum didn’t stop, though. She hit the immobile chair with an oomph, pain spreading from the impact at her hip, up and down her spine. She gritted her teeth as she forced the chair to remain still. Then something hit her thigh, leaving a sting. She grimaced, swiping at it.

  She came away with a little dart.

  Not good, was her last thought before she faded away.

  Blue fell through the air like a stone.

  Seth had heard the other soldiers pounding down the stairs, out of the apartment. He’d dispatched the three he’d encountered, and Nick had stood watchful, aware that he couldn’t compete with what Seth had going on.

  Seth glanced up to see what was taking her so long. Then she shot out of the window. On a chair, it looked like. Whatever it was, it fell faster than she did and then she plummeted, like dead weight through the sky, as the sun reflected off the windows.

  His stomach twisted. He didn’t think; he just ran. In his mind, everything slowed and he calculated how fast he could realistically go. His brain said he would fail, that he wouldn’t reach her in time, but he refused to accept that. As his feet tore across the pavement and he dived through the manicured landscaping, he poured on the speed. He needed to reach her. There would be no excuses. He wouldn’t accept logic.

  He dodged the falling chair seat, and then he slid, like a ballplayer, to put himself under her.

  She hit him from above like a grand piano. He could feel his rib crack under the force of her fall. But he didn’t care. This was Blue.

  He pulled her against him, her soft, slight frame a dead weight, and rolled. A quick pat down proved her fine, only unconscious. He patted her face. “Blue?”

  Nothing. Fear, stark and cold, roared through him. It had been hard pretending he was unaffected by her all morning. Now, he was too afraid to pretend.

  “Tranked, probably.” Nick’s face was grim. “We need to get out of here.”

  He was probably right. On both counts. “Which way to your car?” He scurried to his feet, pulling Blue against him. He scanned the parking lot. No Goldstone right now, but they were coming. He could hear them.

  Nick nudged his head toward the right. “Second row. Over there. Let me take her. I think you’re better with your hands free.”

  Seth pulled her inert body closer as his ribs complained. The logic was sound. Even his superhuman brain agreed. Why, then, didn’t he want to turn her over to the very capable hands of his friend?

  Nick held out his hands, moving his fingers in a “come on” kind of way. “You’re wasting time.”

  “Right.” Seth relinquished her, casting a last look at her unconscious face. “Let’s go.”

  Though he was the better choice to ward off attacks, Blue’s weight slowed Nick down more than it would have slowed Seth. He scanned the area. Nothing. Must be regrouping. They took off through the parking lot, Nick huffing beside him, sweat dripping from his forehead and his hair wet. He knew his friend didn’t have his strength or speed, but it was hard for Seth not to get impatient.

  H
e ran backward, watching for soldiers following them. He heard shouts in the distance but didn’t see anyone yet, thank God. They reached Nick’s car, a beat-up old Civic, and Nick dropped Blue unceremoniously in the backseat.

  “Careful with her.” Seth said as he opened the passenger door. “She probably still has a concussion.”

  Nick slammed the door shut, scowling. “Now you tell me.”

  “I drive.”

  Nick didn’t bother to argue, only grimaced and handed over the keys. Seth settled him in the passenger seat and then rolled over the roof, landing on the driver’s side. In less than a second, he opened the driver’s side and starting the engine.

  “The stuff you can do…it’s pretty creepy-ass.”

  Seth sighed. “Yeah. I know.”

  Pops sounded behind them, and he felt something hit the open door beside him. Holes peppered the door.

  Gunshot holes.

  They were really shooting at them now.

  He hit the gas and peeled out, the Civic’s fan belt squealing, and only when they turned the corner did he slam the door shut.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The car stopped at a small airport an hour or so outside San Antonio. Kitty knew they were to meet a small airplane that would take her to a Goldstone research and development facility in Virginia. She’d considered escape, but they kept her locked in the car, in handcuffs, like a criminal. She didn’t have her friends’ powers, and these guards had real guns. Her options were severely limited. She decided her best bet would be to run when they got to the airport.

  The two men in front got out, and then they opened her door, assisting her. Not an easy feat as her hands remained bound behind her back. But they managed it fine, considering. They were actually being more polite than she’d expected. She wasn’t certain why that surprised her, but she supposed even villains had the right to manners.

  They escorted her toward a small passenger plane, and she followed, scanning the area.

  There was no one around. No one to help.

  Was it worth the risk to run? Would they just shoot her and be done with it?

  As she debated, a man stepped out from the hatch, and her guards stopped, pulling their weapons from their pockets. She tensed. What was going on?