She nods. ‘If you’re not there, he’s going to die.’
‘But, if I do go, I’m the one who will die.’
‘Yes.’ Her eyes well up again and she buries her face in her hands. The strong girl who I’ve come to rely on has been stripped away and instead there remains a scared teenager who is unable to decide the impossible.
I slowly back away from her. My heart knowing exactly what I must do. My destiny is to sacrifice myself at Headquarters, transferring Sebastian’s deadly injury to myself. But what if Sebastian is never hurt? I was told to avoid healing someone, but never warned to stop them from getting injured in the first place. I’m not afraid, not in the slightest. A cold calm settles over me and I know what I have to do.
‘Where are you going?’ April whispers, her fear turning to terror. ‘You can’t go there, Elle, you’ll die!’
She clambers to stop me, but she won’t be quick enough. I close my eyes and focus on the warm place in my chest where my talent seems to lie. I coax it out, feeling it fill every cell of my being. My body hums with it and feels alive with the bright and intense tingle it spreads through me.
It comes so naturally, so easily, now that my fear of it has been pushed aside. I almost want to laugh at the folly of how much I’ve struggled to maintain control over something that is as much a part of me as the blood running through my veins. I always fought against my talent, when what I needed to do was accept it and embrace it.
In my mind’s eye I picture Sebastian. I imagine the way he smells, the sound of his voice, his smile, the way he brushes his hand through his hair. It is like there is an invisible thread that connects our two hearts and I can sense the distance between us. I know exactly where he is.
I open my eyes, my body brimming with energy. I only have a moment before it will burst from me, teleporting me away. April lunges at me, fear painted across her features as she realises she’s too late.
‘Goodbye April,’ I whisper, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The cold bite of air hits my skin in a rush. It crawls up my back and washes down my arms like I’ve been dowsed in ice-cold water. The discomfort only lasts a second though and when I open my eyes April and the ruined entrance to the station are gone.
I blink slowly as my eyes adjust to my new surrounds. A long corridor with high ceilings and plush, blood red carpet greets me. The lights overhead shine brightly, making me feel exposed. There is nothing warm or inviting about this place and I am overwhelmed by how repelled I feel by it.
Looking behind me, I stagger, catching my arm against the wall. There are several bodies lying at unnatural angles on the floor between the stairs at the end of the corridor and myself.
I swallow and drag a ragged breath in as I try to calm my wildly beating heart. The room smells of blood and death. I place my hand against the wall to steady myself as I try to stop myself from retching.
Coming here had seemed so simple, and I had been certain I was teleporting to Sebastian, but he’s not here. Unless… I stumble over to the first body, bending down to look at the man’s face, and then stagger over to the next. Feeling queasy, I look into several pairs of vacant eyes. Some I recognise from M’s group who left the tunnel and the others are nameless recruiters. I only let out a breath when I can see that none of them are Sebastian. I haven’t come too late.
A shout sounds out behind me and I turn to see two recruiters have stepped into the corridor. My body is trembling, but I bring my hands up in front of me in a show of defence. I’m not sure if I can fight two men at once, but there’s nowhere to run and definitely nowhere to hide. My heart races as I take a step backwards, readying myself for attack.
The man out in front catches my eye and smiles at me darkly. ‘Looks like we’ve got another visitor.’ He raises one hand and his fingers begin to glow an inhumanly bright blue, as he pulls at the air around him in one sweeping movement. Crystals slowly appear in his hand, melding and meshing together as they grow. My eyes boggle as they form a long, jagged dagger of ice created from the very water vapours in the air.
‘Now, sweetheart, you going to come quietly?’ he asks, holding the dagger out before him.
Talent still buzzes along my skin, becoming more charged as I stare him down. ‘Never.’
His dark smile becomes feral as he snarls. Raising the dagger, he hurls it at me, but my body reacts instinctively. Energy ripples along my skin and fire erupts from my hands creating a shield of flames in defence. It hovers in front of me, in a swirling spiral of protection, crackling happily as the flames melt the dagger into nothing. It by no means stops the man though, who growls and runs towards me.
I draw at the flames in the shield, which feel malleable to my touch, and coax them into a large violent ball, which I launch at the man as he races down the corridor at me.
He ducks out of the way of my fireball, slamming against the wall. Without missing a beat, he pushes off the wall and continues forward. His eyes grow steel cold and his grin becomes menacing as his legs pump hard beneath him. He looks like some kind of animal, his motions fluid and terrifying to watch, and I feel true fear as the man advances.
A trail of sharp icicles lies in his wake and slowly they rise up from the ground to hover in the air behind him. He stops suddenly and his body glows blue as he flings his arms towards me. The swarm of icy daggers behind him shoot forward, following the direction of his arms. They spark and glisten as they fly towards me, a beautiful deadly cloud of ice piercing through the air, with only one target—me.
I dive to the ground, landing hard against my already bloody arms. I scream out in pain and, looking down, I can see I was too slow and several of the small icy blades are already embedded in my arm.
Tears sting my eyes, but I push the pain aside. If I allow it to distract me for even a second, I’m dead. Talent surges around me, no longer contained to my skin. I can feel it vibrating in the air around me, enveloping me in a dome of sizzling power.
I rise to my knees and flashes of electricity ignite at my fingertips, crackling down my arms. They spark across my skin in a brilliant white shock of spitting and hissing anger. I throw my arm forward, yelling out as the terawatts of power surge towards the recruiter, leaving my skin and streaking across the distance between us.
He tries to dodge away, but the surge hits him square in the shoulder. He shudders violently and drops to the ground, convulsing as the current runs through him. His shaking slowly ebbs until he lies there completely still.
The man who had been standing behind him is gone, and I clamber to my feet. He must have gone for back up. I tremble as I look down at the man I’ve killed. His unblinking eyes stare at the ceiling. The feral look in his stare is now gone and his face has become blank of emotion.
I stagger back from the man, banging into the wall as I try to clamber away from him. I need to get out of here. I turn and begin to run down the hallway. I try to ignore the repulsion I can feel consuming me, but I am filled with self-loathing for the things I have done tonight. The worst part is that the night is hardly over.
I reach the staircase at the end of the hallway and proceed to run up the stairs. It’s difficult to concentrate and I feel disorientated as I run. I don’t know where I’m going and at the moment I don’t really care. I just need to get away from that corridor so I can try to clear my thoughts.
I push through a doorway at the top of the staircase and freeze as it opens. Standing in front of me is M. Behind him are Soren, Sebastian, Hunter and Thatch. The five of them are approaching a large metal door that bars their way at the end of the hallway.
M turns at the sound of the door opening. ‘What are you doing here?’ he growls. His eyes are dark with anger and a thread of fear works its way into my belly.
‘I came to help,’ I say, my eyes darting to Sebastian, before flicking back to M.
‘You abandoned your post. Get out of here!’ M says, his words laced with authority.
> ‘No,’ I respond.
Thatch touches M’s arm. ‘We don’t have time for this,’ he says.
‘She will ruin everything!’ M roars. His eyes are wild and there is too much anger in his voice for this to simply be over my presence here. The only explanation is that Ryan or April told him the truth about tonight. M must know that if I’m here I will die and Joseph will get away.
I glance over my shoulder at the staircase I’ve just walked up, and then step into the corridor, allowing the door to swing shut behind me.
I turn back to M. ‘I know what is supposed to happen tonight, but I think it can be changed,’ I say, my words rushing out of me quickly in my desperation to convince him. ‘Please, let me try to change it, because I don’t want either option to eventuate.’
My eyes naturally find Sebastian’s as I say this. He appears confused, which means there is no way he can know the truth. Neither April nor Ryan told him of his fate tonight.
M’s eyes are still dark with anger. ‘You will doom us all.’
‘Then send him away,’ I respond, being careful not to look at Sebastian as I say this.
M shakes his head. ‘No.’
‘You would sacrifice him…’ I pause as the sounds of footsteps reach my ears. ‘There are people coming,’ I say, glaring him down.
‘In here,’ Hunter says, pushing open one of the doors leading from the hallway. We all crowd into the room, leaving Hunter just inside the door to guard it.
The room we’ve entered is a bedroom. There’s a window that takes up the greater part of the far wall. Through it, the lights of Hope City can be seen twinkling far below. It’s dark in here, but not completely black. The outline of a large bed is evident in the dim light that seeps in through the window.
‘Where are we?’ I ask Sebastian.
‘Joseph’s private quarters.’
A cold shiver runs down my spine. ‘But, I thought you were going to Headquarters.’
‘We are in Headquarters,’ he responds. ‘This area is highly secured. That large metal door at the end of the corridor is the entrance to Joseph’s safe room. It seems he decided to take extra precautions after what you did to his office.’
‘How did you get this far?’
‘Thatch helped us crack the security and Hunter manipulated some of the guards. But, we still had to fight our way through several recruiters.’ Sebastian glances away from me and I know he’s thinking back to the bodies I saw in the hallway when I arrived. He sighs and rubs his face tiredly. ‘Elle, you shouldn’t have come.’
‘I told you before, I came to help.’
‘M is right, it’s too dangerous for you to be here.’
I take hold of his hand in mine. ‘It will be fine.’
‘Well, make sure you stay close. I won’t have anything happen to you.’
I swallow tightly at his words, and push down the unease I feel growing in my stomach. I struggle to form a word of response. I can’t make any promises to him. Not tonight.
‘They’ve gone,’ Hunter whispers. ‘We can go now, but I don’t know how we’re going to get through the next set of doors. The security on them is insane.’
‘Could I create a window through them?’ I ask him.
Hunter hesitates. ‘Maybe. These doors are incredibly thick though. There’s a chance it won’t work.’
‘And I can’t teleport past them,’ Sebastian adds. ‘I’ve never been here before, I wouldn’t know where I was going.’
M turns to Thatch. ‘Do you think you can you crack through the security on them?’ he asks him.
‘I can try,’ Thatch replies, with uncertainty. ‘It could take a while though if it’s more complicated than the others.’
‘We don’t have much choice,’ M says, before glancing at Hunter. ‘Unless there’s another way in?’
Hunter shakes his head. ‘No. And this won’t be the only door we have to pass. There are another two before we reach his office. Plus, there are cameras watching the door. Thatch won’t have much time before we’re noticed.’
‘There may be something else we can try,’ I say softly. ‘Hunter, do you think he’ll be watching the cameras closely?’
Hunter glances my way, surprise flickering in his eyes as they lock onto mine. ‘Probably, it’s the only eyes he has out here right now.’
I try to keep myself from smiling. We don’t need to break through the door, because Joseph already knows we’re here and he’s going to let us in. I push my idea out to Hunter and watch his eyes, waiting to see a flicker of understanding in them. He blinks and his eyes focus on mine before he gives me a small nod.
‘Okay, I need everyone to follow my instructions,’ he says. ‘Elle’s got an idea, and I think it could work.’
We follow Hunter out into the hallway. The others form a line behind us while Hunter grips my arm tightly, tugging me along. As we approach the door, my heartbeat quickens and I try not to look at the camera perched above it. Hunter flings me forward when we reach the door and I fall down onto my knees, my hands smacking against the carpet.
‘The rest of you need to fall to your knees.’ Hunter’s voice sounds in my head, as the others in our group collapse to their knees in unison behind me.
‘It’s been a while, Father,’ Hunter drawls. ‘But, I wanted to give you some time to cool down after our last little spat. I’ve been busy while I’ve been away. I brought you a gift.’ He waves his hand at our group.
The door doesn’t open and I begin to doubt my plan. Maybe Joseph doesn’t want me that much after all.
‘Give him a moment,’ Hunter thinks to me.
‘But it’s hard to give it to you when you’re hiding in your little panic room,’ Hunter continues. ‘I always knew you were a little intimidated by the talented, but I never realised you were scared. There’s no need to hide, they are all completely under my control.’
Still, the door stays locked shut.
‘I guess I’ll have to keep these toys for myself,’ Hunter says. ‘It’s been nice catching up.’
He leans over and yanks me to my feet, pulling me in close to him. He grasps my face roughly with one hand and smacks a cruel kiss against my lips. With his face away from the camera he gives me a wink. ‘Sorry, just getting into character,’ his thoughts sound in my head.
‘Now that I have you to myself, you and me are going to have some fun after this,’ he continues. He tugs me in even closer and turns to the others. ‘Everyone up,’ he says to rest of the group. ‘We’re leaving.’
I hear the loud click of a bolt, and Hunter grins, but then covers the expression as he tugs me around to face the door, which slowly swings open. A long stretch of passageway greets us and I can see two similar doors, just like the one in front of us, opening ahead.
There is only one heavy metal door at the far end of the stretch that stays closed. ‘Joseph’s panic room is through that one.’
I sneak a look at Sebastian and allow myself a moment to fear for him; just one moment to feel the terror that prizes at my heart and freezes me to the spot. I cannot imagine a world without him. I can’t begin to imagine my life without him in it.
My destiny tonight is to save him, and I would give my life in a heartbeat to keep him in this world, but I know I cannot allow that to happen. Not when Joseph will doom us all if it does. If I allow him to die though, I know that I will die with him.
The cool calm that had settled on me earlier returns and I feel a complete detachment from my body as I look away from Sebastian and to the door at the end of the corridor. I cannot be emotional. I cannot allow the worries I feel tugging at my awareness to cloud my mind. I feel myself harden, as I push my fears into a small box in the corner of my mind. There is no need to fear, because tonight I will change our fate.
Our footsteps pad silently down the corridor towards the door. I push my senses out to it, listening for movement from the room beyond. I can hear the crinkle of paper, breathing and the soft sound of several voices inside. If
Joseph is there, he is certainly not alone.
‘There are others in there.’ I push the thought out to Hunter. He looks back and gives me a small nod.
‘I know. I can sense their minds. Joseph is there with three others,’ he responds.
‘Can we take them?’
He doesn’t answer right away. ‘We’re going to have to,’ he eventually replies.
We approach the door, and my heart flutters with a mixture of dread and anticipation. The moment when everything changes has come. The moment we stop Joseph is finally here.
‘Here we go,’ Hunter whispers, as he reaches for the door handle.
I square my shoulders as I look at the door. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. This is the moment when my destiny is decided.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Some moments in life move by in what feels like slow motion. The seconds take minutes to pass, and the hands on the clock seem to slow until you worry they’ve stopped all together. The moment the door opens on Joseph’s safe room is nothing like that—nothing like that at all.
I only have a split second to take in my surroundings as Hunter pushes the door open. It’s an office, almost identical to the one in which I froze Joseph all those weeks ago. Screens line the walls showing every inch of Headquarters and a large wooden desk dominates the centre of the room. Three recruiters stand around it and behind it stands Joseph.
Before I know it Hunter has burst forward into the room but he immediately crumples to the ground, grasping at his head in pain. M, Soren, Thatcher and Sebastian follow him in, but they too are down on the ground in crumpled heaps within moments.
The fear I had so easily pushed aside moments ago, surges back with a vengeance and it takes everything within me to take a step forward rather than one back.
Before I can make either move, pain erupts in my mind and a squealing, high-pitched noise assaults my ears. I fall into the office and drop to my knees, clutching my head in pain. My thoughts become incoherent and screams of agony burst from my lips. I forget how to think, how to move, how to so much as breathe the torture is so bad.
Destined (The ARC Book 4) Page 26