Movement at the corner of my eye. I switched my attention, saw two men wearing hazmat suits carting my body out the giant hole in the wall. Good glory. This had been Anima’s plan all along. Distract us with zombies and steal my body. Wherever one went, the other would always be forced to follow.
“Cole,” I shouted, running forward. All of the zombies fell, thumping against the floor. Grunts and groans sounded, and not just from the creatures.
One second I was far away from my body and the next I was right next to it. One touch, and the two linked up.
I grabbed the unsuspecting men by the neck and slammed their heads together. They released me and stumbled back; I fell.
One of the men recovered quickly and moved to punch me. I braced to take it, even as I withdrew a minicrossbow from my boot and worked it between us. Before either of us could strike, Poppy appeared out of nowhere and whacked him in the face with a piece of wood. Blood sprayed his mask. Despite the dizziness he must have been battling, he remained on his feet and snarled at her.
I squeezed the trigger, shooting him in the neck, cutting through his suit. His eyes widened as he slumped forward, over me, pinning me down. Cole was there a second later, helping me stand. He must have linked up, too, because we were solid to each other.
“Thank you,” I said.
There wasn’t time to say more. Two other Hazmats rushed out of the darkness. I pushed Poppy at Cole.
“Get her inside.” If I did it, the Hazmats would only give chase, and she could be hurt. I was the target. I would be the one to fight.
Cole obeyed, gone in a blink.
Both men swung at me. I blocked their punches with my forearms. Impact hurt, and I lost my grip on the crossbow. As soon as I had the opportunity, I kicked the first guy in the kneecap—he howled with pain and dropped—then spun and punched the other guy in the throat.
Victory...not quite yet. Someone grabbed my hair from behind and jerked. I lost my balance and fell. Dang it! Before the culprit could do any more damage, Camilla was there—
No, Camilla was the culprit.
Surprise! She smacked me in the jaw, then the gut, calling, “Come get her before it’s too late.”
Another Hazmat sprang toward me.
What the—
Before I could fight through my shock, he stuck me in the neck with a syringe. The sting... I cringed, a chilling tide sweeping through my veins. I moaned and shivered, unable to fight, my muscles freezing into blocks of ice as I was dragged away.
Camilla watched with a smile of satisfaction. “Buh-bye now.”
Betrayed...mole... My thoughts broke apart.... Everything faded to black....
“It’s okay. It’s all right. I won’t let them take you.”
The soft voice whispered through my head. Helen’s voice.
“I can do more than give, Ali. Remember when I told you I can steal?”
The ice melted, my thoughts realigned, and colors returned to my line of sight. Even as I was being carried away, my mother walked through me once, twice...a third time...passing through me, as Emma had once done, but each time, Helen’s features became a little more pinched, her lips a little more blue...as if she drew the cold out of me and into her.
I tried to move my fingers— Yes! Success! My toes. Again, success.
Helen dropped to the floor, spent. Our eyes met, and I think she began to smile encouragingly. I might never know; she vanished.
Disappointment? Yes, I felt it. Rage? Yes, that, too. And I had a target in mind. Camilla. She would pay for this.
My drug-and-dragger propped me against his thigh as he opened the door of a van.
Twisting, I sucker punched him in the groin. As he hunched over, too agonized to do more than grunt, I straightened and elbowed him in the back of the head. He crashed face-first into the ground. As I attempted to race inside the club, he wrapped his fingers around my ankle, tripping me. I crashed. He was on me in a snap, squeezing my neck so tightly I knew I’d carry the bruises for days.
Rather than try to pry his fingers loose, I reached back...patted my hands over his waist...felt the hilt of a dagger. All I needed. I unsheathed it and stabbed his thigh.
He released me, writhing against the ground.
Suddenly I could breathe. I got up. He didn’t follow.
Heart pounding, I rushed back into the decimated club.
Camilla was helping her brother subdue a trio of zombies, as if she hadn’t just tried to sign my death certificate.
My rage magnified. I pushed out another stream of energy and lifted my arms, zombies catapulting into the air. Camilla paled, scanning the club until her gaze found me.
I stomped toward her. Above me, zombies exploded as I passed. Ash rained like snow. And then all the bodies were gone, the battle over.
But not the war.
“You.” I kicked the gun out of her hand—screw being wise—then kicked her in the chest. She tripped backward.
“What are you doing?” River snarled, stepping in front of his sister. He raised his fist, as if he meant to hit me. “Stop.”
Cole moved in front of me. “I wouldn’t, if I were you.”
“She’s a traitor,” I spat. “She gave me to Anima.”
She shook her head. “No. No, you’re mistaken. You were drugged, didn’t know what was happening around you.”
“How do you know I was drugged, huh? Unless you were out there with me?”
She blanched. “I saw one of the men in the hazmat suits inject you.”
“The man you told to come and get me.” I shouted, “You are the reason the zombies made it onto Mr. Ankh’s property without detection. You are the reason we found nothing but useless junk at the lab. You are the reason the assassin got free.” Dark realization pushed me to add, “You are the reason my weapons have been jamming.”
Her head-shakes became more violent.
Shock registered on River’s features, then fury. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Bell. My sister isn’t a traitor. You’re mistaken, just like she said.”
“I’m not!” I screamed. A wave of fatigue hit me, but I battled through it. Pushing the energy a second time had been a mistake, but I couldn’t regret it.
“You don’t even look drugged,” River pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter,” Cole said. “It happened exactly as Ali said it did.”
“You didn’t see,” River insisted.
“I didn’t have to. What she says, I believe. End of.”
It was less than a minute later that the club was divided into two camps. Theirs—and ours. River, Camilla and Chance chose one side. My friends and I chose the other. The show of support nearly undid me, because I hadn’t always had it.
“We’re done here,” Cole said. “From this moment on, our association is over. We don’t want information from you, and we’re not offering any.”
River’s hands fisted at his sides. “You’re being unreasonable. Your girl makes an accusation and suddenly there’s no other side to the story? Did you ever stop and think that maybe little Miss Bell is just trying to get my sister out of the way? Your way?”
I pointed at Camilla, my finger trembling. “You’re making a fool of your brother and we both know it. At least love him enough to be honest with him.”
Pain and regret played over her features. Indecision.
But that’s all it took. River looked at her and then had to do a double take.
He shook his head and said, “No. It’s not true. Tell me it’s not true.”
Her resistance crumbled. “I did it for you. You remember how, a year ago, they were closing in, and you were a major target. They wanted to take you out and almost succeeded. So I went to them. Told them I’d give them information in exchange for your life. They agr
eed. And they kept their promise, Riv.” Her expression was so hopeful, begging him to say she’d made the right decision. “You haven’t been injured in all this time.”
“No. No!” River stumbled back, as if he’d just received a major blow. “That’s impossible. You know our rules. You know what we do to traitors.”
What did they do?
Camilla fisted his shirt. “I did it for you,” she repeated. “For us. You’re all I’ve got.”
“We have friends,” he spat. “Kids we’re supposed to protect, who are dependent on us. Helping Anima puts them in danger.”
“But keeps you safe,” she screeched. “Why can’t you understand that?”
River scrubbed a hand down his face. His dark eyes were glassy, his breathing labored. “Did you know what was going to happen tonight?”
She gulped, licked her lips. “N-not all of it.”
He laughed without humor. “And rather than warning us, helping us organize a counterattack, you led us straight to a slaughter.”
“They just wanted her. Once they had her, the attacks were going to stop.”
He gave another shake of his head. “Ali’s right. You’ve made a fool of me. But they’ve made a fool of you. Now you’ll pay for it.” He palmed a SIG and aimed the barrel at her chest.
Horrified gasps rang out.
Camilla’s jaw dropped. “Riv, you can’t be serious. You can’t mean to kill me. I’m your sister.”
She stepped back, but Chance blocked her way, refusing to budge. In fact, he grabbed her by the arms and held her in place. Making her the perfect bull’s-eye.
They were going to kill her. Effective, but unnecessary. Despite my anger, I didn’t want her death on my conscience.
And, despite everything, neither did River. He couldn’t see that now, but one day, he would. “Wait,” I said. “I can take away her memories.”
I became the center of attention.
I ignored everyone but River and said, “I can. Like I did with the doctor. She won’t remember who she is, or who you are, but she won’t remember Anima, either.”
Hope blazed, then anger, and I figured River was considering the pros and cons of both actions. Death versus erasure.
Ultimately, he nodded. “Do it.”
“What?” Camilla spluttered. She struggled as I closed in, and she might have escaped, if Chance hadn’t placed her in a choke hold. Not squeezing hard enough to knock her out, but just enough to make her still. “Riv, you can’t let her do this to me. Please.”
He turned his back, but not before I saw the tear trickle down his cheek.
My knees knocked together. I fit my hands at her temples, my chest throbbing. Today’s life lesson? One bad decision could mean a lifetime of consequences. “It didn’t have to be this way,” I said and closed my eyes.
Chapter 27
FOREVER IS A
SINGLE SECOND
The rest of the night passed in a daze, and I came to awareness only for the highlights—and only because Cole shared his fire with me, patching any leaks, strengthening me.
It took a toll on him; he’d absorbed some of my weakness. I owed him. Big-time.
We escorted Wren and Poppy home. They were scratched up and bruised, but otherwise okay, babbling about how we’d each seemed to freeze in place.
They hadn’t seen the zombies, or our spirits, and when Cole had tried to explain, they’d both shut down. It was too much to compute.
Tomorrow, after they’d rested, they’d either convince themselves we were crazy or accept the truth. There were no other options.
A despondent River and seemingly unaffected Chance returned to their home with Camilla. The erase had proved successful, and she was now a blank slate. It was sad, really. She’d done everything in her power to save her brother, but because she’d done it the wrong way, she’d lost him anyway.
On the way back to the mansion, Cole received a text from his dad with a possible location for Justin.
Even though we were tired, and ragged, and pretty much beaten to a pulp, we changed directions and drove so fast I’m sure we broke sound barriers. I said a quick prayer for safety.
As I said “Amen,” red and blue lights flashed behind our vehicle.
Tense, Cole eased to the shoulder of the road and stopped. The sun was in the process of rising, casting muted rays of gold, and I wasn’t surprised to see Detective Verra illuminated as she approached the driver-side window.
“Where you guys off to in such a hurry?” she asked.
“We might have found Justin,” Cole admitted, and for a moment, I was shocked.
But really, what better way to get the boy out of Anima’s clutches than with a police escort?
Verra asked only one other question. “Where?”
As soon as Cole told her, she said, “Well, all right, then. Follow me. I’ll radio for backup along the way.” She returned to her sedan and, with her lights still blazing, darted in front of us. We tailed her all the way to the building.
Only, it had already been emptied out.
Papers and test tubes were burning in an incinerator, and cages were open and vacant.
“I don’t know what you guys are into, exactly,” Detective Verra said, running a fingertip over a debris-ridden worktable, “but I can tell you I’ve been watching you, and I’ve seen things I can’t explain. Things I don’t want explained. So take what you need and go home.”
What had she seen?
Was she part slayer?
I was too tired to care.
We salvaged as many papers as we could and headed home. Mr. Ankh was awake and stressed to the max. The security system had been giving him fits, and while he suspected Anima was responsible, he couldn’t figure out how they were doing what they were doing. He was giving himself until dark to fix it, then moving us all to one of the new safe houses.
Kat came flying down the stairs and threw herself into Frosty’s arms.
Reeve wasn’t far behind, and she did the same with Bronx.
Juliana, also not far behind, ran to Cole, only to stop midway and glare at me.
I wondered why—
The next thing I knew, I was yelping as Cole swept me off my feet.
“Easy, Ali-gator.”
I rested my head on his shoulder.
Veronica grabbed her sister by the arm and pulled her away as Cole carried me up the stairs, to my room. He set me on the bed.
“You awake enough to try for a vision?” he asked.
No, but that wasn’t going to stop me. “Let’s do it.”
“How should we start?”
“Last time, we thought about having a vision and looked at each other.”
“Easy enough.” He peered into my eyes.
I peered into his, getting lost in the violet. Several minutes passed.
He smiled. “This isn’t working.”
“What do we want to see?”
“Each other naked?”
For sure. “Besides that.”
“How about our next battle with Anima?”
“Perfect. Let’s think about that and nothing else.”
He nodded, and we once again peered into each other’s eyes. A moment passed...and nothing happened...but before disappointment could settle in, the world began to fade.
It was working—
—and then we were in the forest. Cole was on his knees, soaked in blood. I walked past him, my gaze vacant. Smoke was thick in the air. So thick I nearly choked on it. I could hear sobbing behind me. Masculine sobbing. The kind that didn’t happen often. When a big alpha male had just lost something precious.
The sound of it made me increase my speed, leaving Cole farther and farther behind.
All around m
e, fires raged. White and black ash mixed, floating through the air, dancing in the light cast by the flames. Cars were crashed into trees. Odd. Human bodies littered the ground, lifeless, skin bubbling black from zombie toxin. Sad.
But I kept walking, unfazed by all of it.
And yet, in the present, the scene faded...faded...until the forest vanished and I was back inside the bedroom.
Why had it faded?
I must have asked the question out loud because Cole said, “Could be a turning point. A moment when you will have to make a decision.”
“So the future isn’t set.” But what about the rest of it?
“The good news is, we finally have control of the visions. We can decide when, where.”
“Bad news is, that’s next,” I said, fighting a tide of fear. “How do we get there?”
“I don’t know.”
Could we use the visions to find out?
“Think about how we get to that point.” I yawned, even as I locked my fingers behind his nape, peering at him...peering so intently...but all I saw was a flash of Juliana’s face, which I didn’t understand.
Unless she wasn’t part of the vision, and I was just remembering our trek to the room?
Or she had her own decision to make?
“Whatever happens, we’ll deal,” he said, “just like we’ve dealt with everything else.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ve won you back. I can deal with anything. Now go to sleep.” He gave me a gentle nudge, and I offered no resistance.
“What about you?” I asked after my jaw nearly cracked with another yawn. My eyes were already closing.
“I’m going to help Ankh, and then I’ll be up.”
“We’ll snuggle,” I think I said.
He chuckled warmly. “There’s nothing I’d like more.”
I had. I’d said it. Though I would have been mortified if I’d been more alert, I drifted into a deep sleep, smiling with anticipation.
* * *
Hovering somewhere between awake and asleep, my mind got stuck on my great-grandfather’s journal. He’d written every passage in past tense, except for the one about the “she” who was supposed to die for the well-being of many. So, the girl had obviously come along after him.
The White Rabbit Chronicles Page 101