I watched Clara slink closer, watched her reach her slender fingers out to touch my temples. Her presence in my mind felt like an oil spill, toxic and clinging. Defensively, my Ability kicked in, and I sought out the nearest familiar mind.
Ray was circling in the sky above the Colony, swooping and soaring along currents of wind. Slipping out of my mind and into hers was the most welcome relief imaginable.
29
ZOE
MARCH 22, 1AE
It was a couple hours past nightfall and we’d ridden nearly fifty miles. Our horses were worn out by the time we made it to the south end of Silver Spruce golf course. We hadn’t been willing to linger any closer to the Colony than necessary for fear of running into patrolling black-bands, so we’d settled for our tucked-away ghost town and exhausted horses instead.
Thankfully, having known we would be leaving, we already had most of our belongings packed by the time Jason received Dani’s panicked communication. Tavis and Sam had decided to stay with our group, riding with us to Colorado Springs to rescue Dani, and then on to Durango to meet up with the others. Shadow was still healing and putting on weight, so he was ponied behind the brown mare I’d saddled up to ride on our journey.
As soon as we reached the pond, the place where Dani was supposed to meet us, Carlos, Chris, and Jason dismounted and moved a few yards away from the rest of us. Carlos needed to focus on sending out an electromagnetic pulse strong enough to shut down the ever-stretching sea of electricity. We needed to signal to Dani that we’d arrived and were ready for her to make her escape, and the disorientation caused by the blackout would aid her breakout.
Anxiously, I stood beside Jake, Harper, and Sanchez amidst the overgrown green, taking in what we could see of the infamous Colony. The very idea of its existence festered in my mind. The place seemed alive, radiant even. It had been months since I’d seen something so inexplicably awe-inspiring…and obscene. The longer I stared at it, the hotter the deep, septic hatred burning inside my gut became. Killing people? Kidnapping them? And for what purpose, exactly? I knew there was no acceptable reasoning behind it, and I wanted to hurt everyone responsible for causing so much pain and heart-wrenching grief—the doctor, maybe, or Gabe and the General.
In fact, knowing the General was responsible for creating the two Re-gens that were with Dani made me restless. I’d witnessed how loyal Becca had been to her “Father,” how much she feared his wrath and how desperate she was to please him. What makes Dani’s Re-gens any different?
But every time I thought of Dani stuck inside that glowing, mind-controlled encampment with the General, who wanted her Ability so badly he’d probably waste no expense to retain possession of her, I knew my only choice was to trust the Re-gens…and Gabe. I had to believe they would keep Dani safe and get her to the electric fence in one piece. I had to believe that Camille would not only use her metal-controlling Ability to successfully cut through the deadly fence, but also to detain any guards who crossed their path, and that Mase really would use his superhuman strength and speed to fight off any who made it past Camille. And I had to believe that Gabe, using his knowledge of how the Colony worked, would get Dani out of there once and for all…that he wouldn’t betray us all again. I had to believe that together they would help keep Dani safe until we met them outside the fence, and I had to believe that tonight was the night we would all ride away and never look back. I sighed. God, I hope they know what they’re doing…
Jake leaned into me, nudging my shoulder with his. Apparently my mental scowl was readable on my face, too.
I shook my head in disbelief at the glowing city spread out before us, but quickly my determination resurfaced. We’re getting Dani out of that fucking hellhole.
There weren’t walls lining the perimeter like those of a castle, nor were there machine gun stations atop battlements like I’d half expected; there was only a heavily charged electric fence. It’s not so impossible, I mused. Then again, I guessed the General didn’t need towers and tanks if he was mind-controlling everyone so expertly and had walking weapons at his beck and call.
Dani had told us that guards weren’t scarce along the Colony’s border, and that they patrolled the roads and the buildings surrounding the base, watching and waiting for any possible dangers. The Colony was well equipped, to say the least—they had electricity, and from the intense aura of light around it, they had a lot of it. We didn’t stand a chance. At least, not without Carlos’s Ability.
Unexpectedly, shooting and distant yelling echoed from inside the Colony, and my heart seemed to stop in momentary dread. What the hell’s going on? Is it Dani?
I glanced over at Carlos’s shadowed form kneeling on the grass. Even in the darkness, I could tell he was shaking. Chris’s silhouette crouched on his right while Jason’s stood to Carlos’s left, each with a supportive hand on his shoulder. We were relying on the darkness and the weeping willows to shield us from any watchful eyes. Hearing another burst of gunfire, I grabbed Jake’s hand, clutching it tightly while I squeezed my eyes shut. Please work.
As if Carlos himself had heard my plea, the humming sound of electricity faded. My eyes flew open in time to see a wave of darkness flowing away from us…away from Carlos.
30
DANI
MARCH 22, 1AE
I was Ray.
It was moon-time. I spotted my prey again, flitting from branch to branch in a tree with budding leaves. It squawked once before launching itself into the air. I dove, striking at it as I crossed over its back, and watched it fall to the earth. Lazily, I sank through the air, landing beside my prey with a victorious cry. I tore into it, savoring its warm flesh.
Sated, I extended my wings fully and launched back into the air immediately before she-who-flies-with-me withdrew.
I slipped out of Ray, and like I was sloshing across an ocean of tar, crawled back into my own mind. Instantly, I regretted it. Despite the General’s power-laced command to not feel pain, a deep ache pulsed through my body, and the fact that I was still strapped to the damn concrete chair by shiny steel restraints wasn’t helping my comfort level.
But…yes! I’m also still me! I’m not a T-R! I didn’t understand it, but somehow, fleeing into Ray’s mind had protected me from Clara’s Ability. Thank you, Ray!
Opening my eyes, I glanced around the room. Camille was still there, standing with her wrists handcuffed in front of her and Frank at her side, suppressing her Ability through his touch. I could hear someone moving around behind me and figured it was Clara. Mase stood in the same place in front of me, his arms still extended over his head by heavy iron chains, and sweat streamed down his face and neck. General Herodson, on the other hand, was gone. The only other people in the room were two yellow-armbanded guards watchfully flanking the door. Where’d the General go? Why’d he take most of his people?
“Where’s Herodson?” I croaked.
At my question, Clara skipped around to the front of my seated prison, blocking only some of Mase’s massive body with her slender frame. “You’re awake! That’s a relief!” she exclaimed, sounding genuinely relieved. “General Herodson was super pissed. He thought I did something that broke your mind, but I knew I didn’t. You did something.” She balled her hands into fists and placed them on her hips in an exaggerated motion. “You made me look like a fool in front of him!” She glared at me. “What did you do?” I half expected her to stomp her foot in indignation.
What did I do? “Ah…what?”
Clara’s eyes narrowed to slits, and she moved closer to me, setting her hands beside my wrists on the wide cement armrests. She leaned in so far that she was almost close enough to kiss. I was tempted to spit in her face.
Instead, I whispered, “You’re in my bubble.”
Slowly, a sly grin turned up the ends of her mouth, making her eyes glint with malice. “You know, he won’t be back for a while. He has some crisis to deal with…something with those Re-gen freaks. But that doesn’t mean we can’t play wh
ile he’s gone. I may not be able to wipe your mind—yet—but there are other things we can do for fun.” Clara smiled sweetly. “And who says you’re the only one I can play with?”
Turning, she took several steps in Mase’s direction and placed a hand on the side of his ribcage. Ever so slowly, she walked a circle around him, tracing her fingers along his sweat-soaked t-shirt. “A bit damp for my tastes, but he’s definitely burly enough.” When she was behind him, she reached her right hand around to his stomach and slipped it down to the waistband of his fatigues. “I bet I could have a lot of fun with him.” She traced a line along the coarse fabric, barely dipping her fingers lower.
Mase jerked away from her touch as much as possible. His eyes were squeezed shut, and his face was locked in a strained grimace.
I looked past the disturbing scene and met Camille’s eyes. They were wide, imploring with me to pay attention to her…to the words she was mouthing, slowly and deliberately: “Use your telepathy on me.” Her eyes widened further, demanding.
Use my telepathy on her? But I can’t! The General commanded me not to…oh! He’d said I wasn’t allowed to use it to talk to anyone, but he hadn’t forbidden me from listening to—or, in Camille’s case, seeing—what other people were trying to tell me. She wanted me to connect our minds telepathically. I jerked my head in a single, minimal nod.
“Don’t look at her!” Clara screeched. “She’s not a part of this. This is my game!”
I shifted my gaze back to the psychotic blonde, settling a bland expression on my face. It was harder than it sounds. Her left hand was clutching Mase’s arm just above the elbow, her fingernails digging in deep enough that several thin streams of blood were sliding down his arm.
I leeched all emotion from my voice, doing my best to look bored. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to watch…just watch, that’s all,” she cooed.
Keeping my eyes locked on Clara’s, I reached out to Camille with my mind. I had to swallow a cry of relief. I could connect with her mind even if I couldn’t actually say anything because of the General’s damn command.
I saw myself in Gabe’s empty lab, lying on the floor while he injected me with the neutralizer. And then I saw myself start screaming. Camille, peeking through the door from the hallway, dropped to her knees, clutching her head in her hands.
I saw myself as I currently was, restrained and broken. The rest of the concrete prison was in place, guards and prisoners alike. Again, I saw myself start screaming, but only Frank, the man touching Camille’s arm suppressing her Ability over metals, seemed affected by my outpouring of power.
I saw myself running down a dark corridor with Camille and Mase. We were free and fleeing together.
Blinking, I refocused on Clara and Mase. Only seconds had passed since I’d started receiving images from Camille’s mind, but Clara’s hand had dipped further into Mase’s pants. It wouldn’t be long until she’d violated him completely. With renewed determination, I focused on my Ability. Camille wanted me to use it like I had after receiving my one and only dose of the neutralizer and remembering all of the memories and pain of the last few months.
Wait—she was there? I shook my head. Focus!
But I’d had heartbreaking memories, an aching sense of loss, to fuel my scream the last time. None of that was as fresh now. All I had was…artificially dulled pain. Will that work?
In a surreal moment, I stepped outside of myself, assessing my emotions. What else do I have to work with? Anger. Panic. Fear. I had an overabundance of fear. I was terrified of never escaping from the Colony, of being wiped clean and remade into someone else. And what if something happens to Zo and Jason? My gut-wrenching terror was so powerful that once I started screaming, I feared I might never be able to stop.
But that was assuming it would work at all. I didn’t know if the General’s command not to use my Ability to talk to anyone telepathically would extend to mind-screaming.
There’s only one way to find out.
Shifting my attention to Frank, I opened my mouth and focused all of my mental power on my unrestrainable fear. I let it nourish me. Consume me. Transform me. I embraced it, and when I pushed the air out of my lungs, I used that fear to make my scream as mind-shredding as possible.
Oh God! It felt like shooting a never-ending laser of pure telepathic power into Frank’s mind. I strained under the force of it, watching him convulse as blood leaked from his nose. Nobody else seemed to realize what was happening to him—nobody but Frank and Camille. Probably because everyone else was staring at me.
My scream cut off almost as abruptly as it began, and I hunched in on myself, panting.
“What’s wrong with you?” Clara asked me warily, drawing my attention back to her.
I risked the briefest glance at Frank. Blood was leaking from his ears, too. Crimson tears started streaming from the corners of his eyes right before he stiffened and sank to the floor, releasing Camille…freeing her Ability. She didn’t hesitate in unleashing it.
“What the hell?” one of the guards at the door exclaimed while his counterpart simply struggled in place. Their bodies weren’t frozen—they could still move, a little, so I knew Camille wasn’t restraining them by the metals in their blood—but they appeared stuck enough.
Stunned, Clara still stood behind Mase, one hand partially submerged in the front of his pants.
Camille pointed to her and said, “She doesn’t have any metal on her. I can’t hold her in place.”
“Mase! Pull!” I shouted. He didn’t falter.
At the exact instant my steel restraints snapped open, chunks of concrete rained down on Mase from the ceiling and the heavy chain clattered to the floor. Clara followed almost immediately, collapsing into a limp heap. There was blood on her temple.
I stood, cradling my broken arm, my legs shaking. Camille’s fingers were hovering over the locks holding the manacles around Mase’s wrists. Keeping an eye on an unconscious Clara, I approached my friends. “What’d you mean about the metal? Why can she still move?”
Camille was clenching her jaw. She didn’t look up as she said, “The low concentration of metals in the body…takes a lot of effort to hold someone that way…but almost everyone has metal on them…and holding that in place is easier…a lot easier. I can do…more…that way.”
The iron that had been around Mase’s wrists clanked to the ground, and he rubbed his raw skin. “Thanks, Camille,” he said softly before striding around the room, knocking out each of the guards quickly and efficiently. At least, I thought he only knocked them out.
Camille crossed her arms over her middle, her eyes narrowed with strain as she watched Mase. All of a sudden, a thick stream of blood started leaking from her left nostril.
“Crap, Camille, did you get hit in the nose?” I lurched forward so I could get a closer look at her face.
She turned wide, gray eyes on me. “What? No.”
“You’re bleeding.”
Tentatively, she raised a hand to her face and touched her shaking fingers to the blood. Looking at her crimson-coated fingertips, she frowned. “I wonder…it must be because…I’m holding so much metal in place…right now.”
If her Ability’s making her nose bleed, what’s it doing to her brain? “How much metal, Camille?”
She glanced around the room. “All of it.”
“In here?”
She shook her head. “In the Colony…at least, all that I can reach. Except what’s on us.”
My heart sank, and I reached for her good arm with my good arm. “We need to get out, now, so you can let go.”
Mase hurled his body at the door, and after several failed attempts at breaking it down, Camille asked him to stop. There was a low, metallic click. “It’s unlocked now, but…”
“But what?” I asked, stopping midway to the door.
Camille sagged in place, remaining on her feet for a few seconds before falling to her knees. “I can’t go with you. I can’t
do anything else. I’ll lose concentration.” Raising her eyes to mine, she made a silent plea. “Leave me. I’ll hold on as long as I can.”
“No, Camille—”
Mase had apparently heard enough. Having already opened the door, he stomped back to Camille and hoisted her up, flinging her over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. He turned to me. “Let’s go.”
All of a sudden, Clara was on her feet and sprinting out of the room.
“Mase! She’s—” I started to say, but his hands were full with Camille, and the sadistic woman was gone before he could do anything to detain her. Damn it!
“Forget her,” Mase said. “We need to go, now.”
I followed him to the door…and froze. I couldn’t move.
No, that wasn’t quite right. I could move backward—back into the room—but I couldn’t step through the doorway. My stomach soured and bile rose to my throat when I realized what was going on. General Herodson had also commanded me not to try to escape. So far, everything I’d done had been to help free Camille and Mase as much as myself. But leaving the room—that was definitely me trying to escape.
“Shit!” I hissed.
In the hallway, Mase turned, his eyebrows drawn down in confusion.
“I can’t leave…the General’s commands—”
There was the sound of a throat clearing in the hallway to the left of the doorway. “I believe I could help with that…if I could move more than my mouth, fingers, and toes.” I didn’t need to be able to see him to know it was Gabe. I wanted to collapse to the ground in equal parts relief and frustration. I couldn’t get to him, but he was alright…for the moment.
“Ah, thank you, Camille.” Looking harried, Gabe stepped through the doorway and into the interrogation room with me. His eyes flicked around the room, taking in the five motionless bodies, but he shook his head and returned his attention to me. He scanned me from head to toe, shock and fury pinching his features.
Into The Fire (The Ending Series) Page 34