But I’m plagued by the idea that at any moment I’m going to slip, fall into the unending blackness and be swallowed whole.
Nikki’s foot comes down on my hand and I rip it out from under her shoe.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I swallow down the panic. “I should be going faster.”
“Take your time.”
I begin again, seeking a rung with my foot, finding it, lowering myself down. It feels like we are in the black shaft forever. Gloria’s light stops moving and settles at the bottom, and my heart leaps with joy.
It grows brighter and brighter, until once again, my feet are on solid ground.
“Let’s take the elevator next time, shall we?” My breath billows white in front of my face.
Nikki jumps down and lands beside us. “That was fun.”
Gloria goes to the far wall and pulls on a handle. Looking both ways, she holds up a hand, motioning for us to wait. After a few heartbeats, she lowers her hand. “Clear.”
We file out of the narrow shaft into what resembles a storage room of some kind. Cinder-block walls, pallets with trash and recycle bins, and some unused equipment clutter the cold space.
Gloria leads us out of this room into the parking garage, her gold Cadillac in the first space by the room labeled “Recycle/Trash”.
Gloria unlocks the door with her fob, and I climb into the passenger seat while Nikki jumps in the back.
“I have a feeling I know why it took you so long to find an apartment,” Nikki says from the backseat. She’s already opening her pack and inspecting the items she brought with her. She slips a communication device into her ear.
“I inspected the building schematics for all the possible apartments in the city until I found one with a secondary exit,” Gloria confirms.
“You’re amazing,” I tell Gloria. “No wonder Brinkley had so much faith in you.”
I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. Gloria’s face pinches and her nostrils flare. “Yes, and look where it got him.”
“Gloria—” I could say a million things: It wasn’t your fault. You did your best. Gloria doesn’t give me the chance. She drowns out my voice with a rev of the engine and she throws the car into reverse and backs out of the spot.
“Do you think Jason knows Jesse isn’t with us?” Nikki asks, as she adjusts herself in the seat.
“No.” Gloria meets her eyes in the rearview.
I pull my coat tighter around me. “Or he’s attacking us, hoping it will draw her out.”
I’m not sure it matters why Jason attacked us. And I’m not sure how it affects my plan to get Jesse and Winston back, except of course, it creates another obstacle. It shouldn’t matter if there are a thousand obstacles, I remind myself. I just have to stay focused on getting them back.
“Step 1,” I say, burrowing into my coat and punching the buttons on Gloria’s dash for the heater. “Find Jesse.”
“I know where she is.” Gloria pulls out of the parking garage and onto a dark Chicago street.
Chapter 15
Jesse
A thick, wet tongue licks up the side of my face: once, twice, and on the third swipe, the tongue slides right up my nose.
I jolt upright screaming. “Ugh, oh my god. What—?”
Forty pounds of pug slams into my chest, jumping and leaping trying to get at my face again. Snuffly snorts—pug’s unique language—bring reality into sharp focus.
“Winston,” I say. A wave of relief washes over me. “Winston, thank god. Come here, let me see you.”
I roll the pug over onto his belly and run my fingers over the soft fur there. He squirms, desperately trying to flip himself over, reminding me of a turtle trapped on his back.
I flip him over. “Christ. At least you’re okay.”
I stand up to inspect my new prison. No doubt, Caldwell dumped me here while he’s considering how he wants to off my sorry ass. One turn around the room and I must admit that this is the strangest prison I’ve ever been in.
A full-sized bed sits in the corner with a thick downy comforter and too many pillows in shades of purple and pink. Posters line the wall illustrating boy bands who wear more eyeliner than I do. Soft music seeps from a stereo in the corner playing some weepy tune about never being loved for who they are.
A Hello Kitty alarm clock tells me the time from the corner and a teddy with a name tag that says Frederick sits on top of a black and white checkered beanbag.
“What the—?” I search the ceiling for the air vents that will surely send the death gas at any moment. “—hell is this?”
A door opens and a girl a little taller than me bounces into the room with earbuds dangling from one ear. A musical device sits clutched in one hand, a bowl of water in the other. She’s scrolling through her playlist.
Winston bounds toward her, clamoring over a mess on the floor, papers and pens and shoes and vinyl records and books.
“Hey buddy.” The girl stoops down to scratch him behind the ears. “Here’s your water.”
“What the fuck?”
She jerks her eyes up to meet mine.
“What are you giving my dog?”
“Chill. It’s water.” She closes the door behind her.
“Where am I?”
“My room.”
Maisie. “You’re my sister.”
“So I’ve heard.” She shrugs and arches her eyebrows “Though what Dad thinks will happen here, I’ve no clue.”
Dad. My mind spins again and I try to still the room by reaching out and grabbing onto the closest solid object—a white dresser cluttered with makeup and folded clothes. Winston laps water loudly at the water bowl.
“You call him Dad.”
“What do you call him?” I don’t like her half-bored, half-angsty tone.
“Caldwell, son of Satan.”
She frowns. “He said you didn’t like him.”
“It’s hard to feel warm and fuzzy about a man who buried you alive in a box after gassing you to death. Oh, and he abandoned me at eight, leaving me at the mercy of a rapist.”
She arched her eyebrows again.
“But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? Apparently, he’s doing fine by you. You probably had presents at Christmas and cake on your birthday.”
“If you say so.” She scoops up Winston from the water bowl, wet face and all.
“So can I take my dog and go or is this like a trick?”
The kid smirks. “You can try to leave.”
“Are you threatening me? I will throw you off a roof, kid.”
She snorts. “Find a roof.” She turns towards the door.
“Hey,” I yell after her. “Don’t walk away from me.” What a punk.
From the doorway she turns back and gives me another sardonic stare. “Are you coming or what?”
She walks out of the bedroom without waiting for me to answer, so I run after her. She’s halfway down a dim hall that lights up as she passes an opening to a huge circular space. It’s more like a bubble than a room.
The walls are rounded and transparent. On one side stands Chicago, bright and illuminated. On the other, all I can see is the dark expanse of Lake Michigan.
“We’re in The Needle?” I remember seeing The Needle when we first drove into Chicago. A tall, thin building with a rounded tip emerged from the waters of Lake Michigan, alone and isolated. Because of the rocks, no boat can approach it and the special glass prevents news crews and other airborne ships from seeing inside, but it must be one-way glass, because from here I can see the city fine. It is rumored that a rich eccentric dude built it as his private fortress. I didn’t realize I knew the dude.
“You live here?” I search Maisie’s face for deception.
She sighs. “For the last forty-eight days.”
“Alone?”
“I am sixteen. I can cook and clean for myself.”
“Who brings the food?” I’ve never died of starvation and I sure as hell don’t want
to now.
“My mom visits. And Dad.”
“And we leave, how?” I ask. I’ve managed to do an entire lap around the room and have yet to see a single door.
“We don’t. Dad is the only way in and out. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.”
“Unfortunately,” I say. “But why the hell did he drop me off here with you?”
“How am I supposed to know? Do you think he tells me everything?”
“You call him Dad!”
Winston snuggles into her chest and a spike of jealousy hits me.
“Give me the pug.” I grab Winston, but her hold on him tightens. Winston makes a small sound of protest, something like a choking squawk and Maisie lets go.
I win.
Cradling the fluff ball to my belly, I sink onto the sofa with him. He tries to squirm free but I hold him tighter. How ungrateful can he be? Does he have any idea the risks I took to get his curly-tailed butt back?
My eyes fix on a boat in the distance. Who the hell would be out on the water in these freezing temperatures? “Is there a way to go outside? Get fresh air?”
Maisie scrolls through her playlist again. “You’ll die if you jump.”
“So? It won’t be the first time or the last, I’m sure.”
“Even if you survive, Winston won’t make it.”
Shit. She’s right, unless I can shield him. But I don’t know how the shield works against water. Would I run along the top like a hamster ball? And if I break our fall but die like I did with Ally. Winston couldn’t handle the freezing temperatures. He’d be dead from hypothermia before I regenerated.
I meet her eyes. “Back up. Why have you been here for a month?”
“Forty-eight days,” Maisie corrects.
“Whatever. Is this like a grounding or something? Did you make out with someone cute?”
Maisie looks away. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Shit. Harsh punishment.”
Maisie’s face softens. All the hard ass reluctance melts away. Her eyes round, her bottom lip sticks out a little farther. “You’ve no idea.”
My chest clenches. Shit. Why does she look so sad? I know better than to ask. I have no interest in being sucked into anyone’s problems. And really, I half-believe this is a trick. Caldwell is going to use this girl against me somehow, I know it. Better to keep my distance.
Yet, I find myself letting go of Winston and nudging him in the direction of the girl. She opens her arms to accept him immediately and he licks her face before flopping against her chest. I watch her love him for a long time.
She catches me staring and rolls her eyes. “What?”
“Nothing. You remind me of someone.”
“Who?” Maisie asks, looking interested in something I’ve said for the first time.
Me. “Just a girl I used to know.”
Chapter 16
Jesse
“Mom!”
I jolt awake at the sound of Maisie’s piercing exclamation. My heart is pounding and my mouth is sticky.
“Hi, baby,” a woman’s voice says.
A blonde woman steps into the light of the dim room. I must’ve slept most of the night away. Dawn creeps on the horizon. The water is bluer than when I closed my eyes and on the horizon itself, I can see a thick line of purple blooming red, like blood seeping into the water.
I stretch and take note of Winston sleeping on the couch. Maisie finally lets go of her mom.
The moment I get a good look at her, my shield goes up. “Oh hell no.”
It’s Caldwell’s second—the polished princess in a pantsuit who stands at his side for all public appearances. I think the press calls her his “primary advisor”. The last time I saw her, I had my ribs broken by one of Caldwell’s goons and she basically told me to walk it off. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Please don’t swear in front of my daughter,” she says, straightening. “I know you’re an adult and can do what you please, but Maisie is still a minor.”
Okay. This is the weirdest fucking thing I’ve heard all day.
“It’s not like I’ve never heard the word, Mom,” Maisie says.
I get a sense of silken wings darting, but Gabriel can’t materialize. His voice is little more than a whisper in the back of my mind. “Calm yourself.”
I can’t. I see this woman and all I can think about is being Caldwell’s captive. Maisie caught me off guard, being all teenager-y, but this woman—no. She’s a stark reminder that Caldwell is a monster who wants to kill me. I need to get the hell out of here.
“Where is he?” Blue flame starts to lick up the side of my arms.
The blonde steps in front of Maisie, shielding her.
“I’m right here.” Caldwell steps out of the shadows and comes to stand beside Georgia. “Don’t hurt my family.”
He’s grinning like he’s on the verge of laughing hysterically, like this is one giant freaking joke to him.
The blue flames spike, growing in diameter, pushing everyone to the outermost edges of the room. “Are you trying to piss me off?”
“You’re my family too.” His eyes are luminous in the firelight, flames dancing in those shadowed orbs. “That’s why I brought you here, Jesse. I want us to all be together.”
“Stop fucking with me.”
“I only wanted you to meet Maisie. I’ll take you back to your friends now.” He takes a step toward me like he has no problem grabbing a girl that’s on fire.
“Don’t touch me.”
His grin doubles. He laughs like I’m being absurd. “I’m the only way out of here.”
“Find another way to let me go or I’ll burn this place to the ground.”
“Your sister—”
“She’s not my sister. If you wanted me to have a sister, you should’ve raised me with her instead of leaving me in that hellhole.”
“Please.” Georgia steps forward, placing herself more fully in front of Maisie. “Please don’t hurt my daughter.”
“Georgia,” Caldwell snaps. His face warps from glee to fury in a second. “There’s no need to beg. She won’t hurt Maisie. Will you, Jesse?”
He’s right. I can’t firebomb a kid any more than I could firebomb Winston, who sits trembling at her feet. His fear dowses my anger. The flames flicker and die away.
What do I do? Gabriel doesn’t answer me. Maybe Caldwell is right. Maybe the partis really do block each other’s signals.
The flames are gone but I keep my shield up.
Caldwell comes closer, his grin back. “Don’t wear yourself out.”
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
His smile is brilliant. Yes, the smile says. Go ahead and weaken yourself for me.
A long, thick silence stretches between us, tension still palpable in the air.
“Be careful with that one.” Gabriel’s voice makes me jump. A look of curiosity crosses Caldwell’s face.
Caldwell? Tell me something I don’t know.
“Maisie. She isn’t like the others.”
My eyes fall on the girl wrapped in her mother’s arms. What are you talking about?
Silence.
“So?” Caldwell asks. “Will you allow me to carry you out of here?”
For a moment I can only blink at him. It can’t be this easy. He can’t simply have wanted to arrange a pep talk and reunion and then he’s going to drop me off with my friends only to start trying to kill me tomorrow. Also, the longer I’m here, the more I learn about him. Maybe I can figure out how to kill him once and for all.
I might not be able to fight him now. If we blow up this needle, Winston will definitely get caught in the crossfire. I can’t bring myself to endanger him like that. I also don’t trust Caldwell to take me home. I’ll wake up somewhere worse and I know it.
If he wants to play the batshit crazy card, so can I.
“No, we have so much catching up to do. I think I’ll stick around for dinner.” I mirror his grin, daring him to challenge m
e. “What’re we having?”
Chapter 17
Ally
Gloria’s erratic driving doesn’t seem nearly as bizarre in Chicago as it did back home. I thought Nashville drivers were bad, but fifteen minutes on I-80 has reeducated me in a way I never expected. Even at this late hour, the traffic is unruly.
Gloria cuts across three lanes of traffic, while I white-knuckle her sketchbook. I finger the pages, intent on opening it.
“Don’t.” Gloria turns the wheel hard, rocking me in my seat.
“Is there something worse than Tate Tower exploding?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer, her eyes remaining fixed on the dim highway stretching out before us.
“About that.” Nikki leans up between the two front seats. “We don’t have any context. It could happen anytime, right?”
I turn so I can see her face. “A.M.P.s can narrow an event they view to a specific day.”
Gloria glances at the sketchbook in my lap as if seeing something through the closed cover. “It happens the day after tomorrow.”
Neither of us question her.
I look down at the cover too, scraping a nail along the metal rings binding the pages together. “We have a little time. Until then, we have to focus on getting Jesse back.”
I can’t hold the first two times Jesse was taken against her. She was kidnapped—but this time is different. She went willingly and it is hard not to be angry at her recklessness.
I’m sure Caldwell made some threat, but still. What are we going to do now?
I rock in my seat as Gloria slides off the highway onto an exit ramp. Two turns later and we pull up outside another apartment building. It’s similar to Gloria’s last Chicago apartment except darker and less inviting.
I resist the urge to lock the car door. “You’ve slept here right?”
Gloria gets out of the car. “We’ll be safe here for now.”
That’s enough to get me to throw open the door and exit the gold Cadillac. Gravel slides beneath my boots and I hear a cat yowling from somewhere between the two brick buildings. I close the door and peek around the corner to see an alley with dumpsters and a herd of feral cats. Their little yellow eyes glow in the dark.
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