by C. J. Felver
A shiver runs down my spine at the thought of what procedures could be going on in these rooms.
Reaching the end of this wing, we approach a desk beside a double door. Wren flashes his badge to the person behind the desk and they wave him on, buzzing us through the doors without asking any questions.
We continue on through the next corridor. Its hallways are a dark gray-blue, and things begin to look more familiar as we pass numbered doors, each with a small one-way window, but I know this isn’t the same hall I had been in the other day. It sickens me to think how many of my people HSI Labs could hold.
My legs feel a bit better, getting my blood flowing after being stuck in that chair. Walking must help to move the serum through my body as well.
Before long, we reach the end of this hallway and stop in front of an elevator. This one appears to be controlled by a badge scanner. It doesn’t look like we can call it without an HSI Labs ID card. Wren swipes his badge but the elevator doesn’t respond.
Instead, a loud siren sounds.
Trust
The fluorescent lights kick off and the hallway is flooded with a red glow, flashing in time with the wailing siren. Wren curses under his breath. “I guess they know there wasn’t really a transfer order now,” he says as he ushers me toward a stairwell. I’m surprised to find it empty as we race down three flights of stairs. The further we descend, the quieter the siren is.
With my hands behind my back and Wren still guiding me, we move through the doors onto the main floor, and toward the very familiar entryway. My stomach drops as I look toward the main desk.
Standing there, talking to Jalen, is none other than the vile bastard himself, Aulder Harlow. Behind me, I feel Wren falter for a moment.
How does he plan on getting us out of this one?
Looking up from their conversation, Jalen narrows his eyes at me, pursing his lips. Yep, he definitely remembers me. Aulder seems perplexed, walking over to us. Maybe he’ll think I escaped on my own and was found by Wren, only to be brought straight here.
“Lieutenant Sayers, it appears I have you to thank for my detainee getting out of her room. What exactly are you doing?”
So much for that idea. Wren lets out another quiet curse behind me. And “detainee”? Seriously? This asshole can’t even use my name?
“Doctor Harlow,” Wren says, but I stop paying attention, noticing other guards stationed around the room. By my count, there are six altogether. They’re all dressed in the same black fatigues as Wren, wearing some sort of stick on their hips. I’ve never seen Wren fight, so there’s no way to say if he and I can take on that many, especially with me lacking a little. No thanks to the serum not only taking my powers, but leaving me all woozy too.
Besides that, these are his men. Would he fight against them to get me out like he said? Somehow, I find myself doubting that and brace myself for what could be coming next.
“I gave you no such order,” Aulder says coldly to Wren. He must be responding to whatever part of the conversation I missed.
“No, sir, you didn’t.”
“Doctor Stone also tells me you attempted to stop her from administering the secondary dose. Is this true?”
Ah, so Lab Coat does actually have a name. I’d say Stone fits her callous personality to a T.
“Sir, enough is enough. I can no longer stand by and watch the things this facility is responsible for.”
Um, what did he just say?
I don’t even have time to process; Doctor Harlow is snapping his fingers and the other six guards are closing in around us. Now I notice one is actually a woman. She looks like a feisty redhead, just a little taller than me.
This’ll be fun. Especially since I still feel slightly sluggish.
“So be it,” Aulder says. “Lieutenant Wren Sayers, you are hereby stripped of your rank and title. I am relieving you of your position in my facility.” Professionalism leaves his demeanor and is replaced by a sinister smile that has my blood draining down to my toes. “Quite frankly, Wren, you know too much for me to allow you to live.”
Lightning-fast, Wren’s fist collides with Aulder’s face. His nose makes a satisfying crunch and blood spews everywhere. Staggering backward clutching his nose, Aulder glares at Wren, then turns and walks away.
The guards surrounding us hesitate, looking unsure of what to do. They’ve formed a circle around the two of us, but keep eyeing Wren. Guess that explains the hesitation.
“I’ll go left, you go right?” Wren asks.
Looks like we’re doing this after all. “You’re on.”
Wasting no time, I wrench my hands from the cuffs, catching them before they clatter to the floor. Rushing the blond guard to the right, he throws a punch that I easily sidestep. Whipping the handcuffs, I whack the next guard in the temple. He falls to the ground, out cold.
The blond guard grabs me by the arm, pushing me down. I move into his space, punching the inside of his leg. He doesn’t let go, instead pulling his knee back to strike. Pain blossoms through my face as his knee slams into my jaw.
Someone else grabs my other arm—the redheaded chick. She and the blond haul me up, cranking my arms behind my back. I flail, trying to buck them off, but they hold me tight.
The room tilts and whirls. A third guard approaches. Across his temple is a long gash, blood dripping freely from it. This is the guy I knocked out a moment ago. He grabs my chin, forcing me to focus on him.
“You’re going to pay for that,” he tells me, slamming his fist into my stomach. I double over in pain. Catching my breath is a struggle.
One of the guards grabs me by the hair, pulling my head back up. The guard in front of me snatches his stun stick from his belt and whips it to the side. Now fully extended, it’s sparking.
Wonderful.
He jabs me with it, hitting me with a pulse of electricity. Luckily for me, I’m used to low voltage after years of sparring with Lyza, so it doesn’t have the effect he’s looking for. It actually chases away the last of the grogginess from my brain and body. This seems to really piss off this guy. His eyes are practically glowing with aggression.
He raises the stick again, the tip sparking like mad. Just before it makes contact, I kick out, knocking it from his hands.
The two guards holding me begin to move. I flail harder, but it doesn’t make a difference.
Wren comes from out of nowhere, knocking into the blond guard. The three of us hit the ground. I scramble to my feet as Wren lashes out, hitting the blond guard with the stun stick. He jerks on the floor, making a garbled noise.
He moves to strike the redheaded chick, but she puts her hands up. “Just go. I don’t want to fight you,” she says in a low tone.
Grabbing me by the hand, Wren takes off running for the door. Grated gates are lowering from the ceiling, threatening to cut off our exit. Panic swells in my chest. It settles there like a heavy weight, crushing my lungs.
Wren’s grip on my hand is like a vise; my fingers are probably turning some crazy colors. He pauses as he yanks the door open with force. It slams wide open, catching the handicap delay. We’ll have to duck under the gate as it drops, leaving only a narrow gap for us to make it through. He gestures for me to go under first. Crouching low, I shuffle through the small opening, straightening to my feet on the other side.
Sliding himself through next, Wren makes it about halfway through before someone grasps his arm. An enraged guard with a bloody face scowls as he tugs on Wren. Without thinking, I stomp on the guard’s arm. At the same time, Wren smashes his boot into the guy’s face. He lets go, sprawling backward. Wren slides on his stomach through the gate, since there isn’t enough room for him to roll. The moment he stands up, the gate hits the ground with a thud.
Holy shit, that was close.
I don’t waste a single second, sprinting down the street, around the corner, and through a parking lot before stopping to catch my breath. The whole way, I can hear the pounding of Wren’s feet. Why is he following
me?
The two of us stand there for a moment, our chests heaving. I can barely make out HSI Labs from between other buildings and trees, all lit up without a care in the world. Just like with the other day, there are no guards patrolling its perimeter. Why wouldn’t Aulder want better protection around his … whatever this is?
“He doesn’t want to call unwanted attention to himself,” Wren says. Huh, I guess I asked that out loud. Eh, whatever. His answer confuses me.
“What do you mean, ‘unwanted attention’?”
“A normal lab wouldn’t have guards patrolling the exterior. He’s trying to keep up the façade.”
Okay, that actually makes sense. “How long until they pull that gate back up and come after us?” I ask. I should be running already, getting as far away from this place as I can.
As soon as I catch my breath.
“It will take them about fifteen minutes to reset the system,” Wren tells me. “Once emergency protocols are in place, there’s no way around them.”
“Well, that gives us a fifteen-minute head start, then,” I say. I’m not really sure where this “us” stuff is coming from. It’s not like it’s a good idea to stick with Wren at this point. Even if he did bust me out.
Ready to get back to my friends, I turn and start running toward the direction of Zander’s place. I look back to see if Wren is still following me; I jump and let out a little shriek. He’s keeping pace beside me. I swear he lets out a low laugh as a smile plays at the corner of his mouth.
What the what? This guy actually smiles … and has dimples. That’s actually a little attractive. Okay, a lot attractive.
No. Nope. Not happening.
I shake my head vigorously. There’s no need to be having thoughts like that. Less than an hour ago, I didn’t trust this guy. I still don’t trust this guy.
The sun looks like it’s starting to rise. Who knows how long I’ve been here for. No wonder I’m exhausted and starving.
Pushing myself harder, I try to outrun Wren. There’s no way I’m leading him back to Zander’s place. What if no one is there? Where will I go? I can’t go back to my apartment—not that I want to, but AGAS knows where I live. It’ll be the first place they look for me, no doubt.
A quick pat of my pockets tells me they’re empty. That’s great. I have no idea where my phone is. I had it on me when Lyza and I ran her errands earlier—well, yesterday, actually. So I have no way to call her and tell her to come get me. I don’t dare stop running though. Has it been fifteen minutes yet? People could be out looking for us already. Thankfully, we’ve managed to put a few blocks between us and the building.
And there I go including Wren again.
“Who trained you?” Wren asks out of nowhere.
What is he even talking about? I stay quiet, choosing not to answer him. Ugh, why is he still following me?
“Turn here,” he tells me, gesturing to an alleyway between buildings, leading to a parking lot. In fact, I think it’s the same one we had our little chat in yesterday. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop here. Seriously, does he really think I’m going anywhere with him? This asshole used my dad as bait to capture me for Aulder freaking Harlow.
He huffs a sigh. I pay him no mind, still running nowhere in particular except in the general direction of “away from Harlow Scientific Industry Labs.”
A strong hand grips my arm, jerking me to a stop. The fuck?
“Listen, Wren …” his name comes out as a sneer and he drops my arm, “… I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but you don’t get to order me around. Thanks for getting me out of there, but I wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for you in the first place. So I think I can take it from here.”
Giving him a shove for good measure, I turn and start jogging away, ignoring the way his chest felt beneath my palms.
Not three seconds later, he’s in front of me, pinning me in place with his hands on my shoulders. I glare at him through slitted eyes, pushing all of my murderous thoughts into it. This motherfucker had better get his damn hands off me. Now.
“Be quiet and listen, because we really don’t have time for your attitude right now. You can come with me back to my car and I’ll take you back to your friend’s place, or you can try to get there by foot on your own. I’ll tell you right now, you won’t make it. They’ll find you before you get there and I won’t be able to get you out this time.”
I gape at him. Is this guy for real?
“What’s it gonna be, Cleo? Time’s tickin’.”
So fend for myself and risk getting captured again, or trust this guy and make it back to Zander’s? Let’s be honest, it’s a fifty-fifty chance he’ll actually take me there. After what happened in the HSI lobby, I can’t imagine he would take me back to the lab. Why would he go through all of that just to take me back to Aulder when I was already there? Not likely. Maybe more of a twenty-five percent chance, then?
I groan through my clenched teeth. “Alright, let’s go.”
That hideous—adorable—infuriating smile tips up his lips again. “I knew you were a smart girl, Cleo.”
Something tells me this is going to be a miserable car ride.
News
Surprisingly enough, Wren holds the door to his white Tahoe open for me, then walks around the front of the SUV to get behind the wheel.
He clicks his seatbelt into place and flashes me a dimpled smile again. Seeing him smile is so unnerving. This guy has such a tough exterior that it seems to go against his personality, yet it looks so natural on his face at the same time.
Annoyed with myself, I turn away, facing the window. The horizon is gorgeous with orange and pink from the morning sun bleeding into the last remnants of the night sky.
The silence is full of tension. In the window’s reflection, I see a bruise is forming across my jaw. I work the muscle, opening and closing my mouth, hoping to loosen it.
“Who trained you?”
I start at Wren’s voice, a stark contrast to the silence. Peeking at him under my lashes, I still have no idea what he’s talking about. This is the second time he’s asked me that question. And this is the second time I’ll be ignoring it.
“Don’t ice me out, Cleo. Who trained you?”
With my elbow on the door and my head cradled in my hand, I pin him with my best annoyed stare and heave a long sigh, drawing it out unnecessarily. “Trained me in what?”
He glances at me a moment before turning his focus back to the road. “Your fighting, Cleo. I didn’t expect you to fight like that without having your powers to rely on.”
Well, there’s a backward compliment if I’ve ever heard one. I’m sure he didn’t mean it to come across that way. He probably meant something like “I didn’t know you could fight without your powers because all elementals use their powers as a crutch in life,” because that’s what most people think about us.
“After losing my dad, I was determined not to ever be in a vulnerable position. So I took some self-defense classes with Lyza. She and I practiced a lot on our own, with our powers and without.”
Shit. I quickly snap my mouth firmly shut. Why am I oversharing with this guy? He definitely doesn’t need a breakdown of my life. Not after all he’s done to derail it the last few days.
“Could you imagine if the government or military had their own special unit of elementals? All trained in combat, elemental powers would really give them an edge. The government is always looking for an advantage, and that has the potential to be a huge one.”
I don’t reply, not bothering to try to speak anymore.
As we drive, I imagine what it would be like to work in a special task force just for elementals. That would be insane. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that in a movie before. I don’t think it ended well. Things don’t usually end up to be as great as they sound. Ever heard of the saying, “too good to be true”?
“You’ll have to give me directions from here,” Wren says.
Without looki
ng at him, I give him turn by turn instructions on how to get to Zander’s. He pulls right up in front of the house.
“Thanks,” I mutter, unbuckling my seatbelt and climbing out.
The sound of my car door shutting echoes and I snap my head up to see Wren rounding the front of his SUV.
“What are you doing?” I hiss, blocking him from continuing down the sidewalk.
“I have some information I think we should share with everyone.”
This guy must be a wealth of information. He always has something to share.
“That serum they gave you, AGAS is planning to administer it to all elementals.” His voice is full of disgust, lips curling back into a snarl. He moves to walk around me but I grab his arm, holding him in place.
“Why haven’t you told me yet? This seems rather important.”
“It seemed like getting you out of there was more important at the time.”
He makes a good point. “Aulder can’t do this. We have to stop him. My people cannot be treated like this.”
“I promise you, Cleo, we’ll do everything we can to stop that from happening.”
This situation is so much worse than I thought. I don’t really understand how we’re going to stop them. How are they going to execute such a large-scale plan?
My brain is in such a fog that I don’t even realize we’re on Zander’s front steps until Wren reaches around me to knock on the door. He gives me a quizzical look, one that seems to ask, Are you okay? I offer him a small smile, though it feels forced. Then I remember who I’m smiling at and drop it all together.
There are scuffling noises coming from behind the door, along with muffled voices, but I can’t make out any words. The door swings open wide, revealing Zander, Lyza standing behind him with her hands planted on her hips. The moment she sees me, she shoves right past him, nearly knocking him over.
The air in my lungs comes out in a whoosh as she plows into me. I stumble a few steps backward to regain my balance as the scent of vanilla chai wraps around me. I return the hug, reveling in the moment. With everything going on in our lives, I won’t be taking these moments for granted anymore.