Grunts and nods of agreement followed…from everyone except my fiancé. As they dismissed themselves to other corners of the tunnel system, he took me aside by the arm. “What are you doing?”
“Today?” I asked. “Saving your brother.”
Wallace clenched his jaw and drew a deep breath through his nose. “I’m trying not to be over protective here, but you know this bothers me. We’re supposed to be a team.”
“We are,” I assured him, smoothing a hand up his chest. “But we’re part of a bigger team right now, and that means we have to do what’s best for the group. The quickest way to end this thing is to divide and conquer. You know that. You’ll just have to trust me.”
He slid his hand down my arm and lowered his gaze. “I do trust you…”
“Then let me save your brother.” I dared a step closer and looked up into his worried expression. “The sooner you find that other faction, the sooner we’re back in action together.”
Wallace blew out a frustrated breath. “Fine.”
“And don’t go busting in without me. Let me catch up first.”
His lips twitched. “Who’s overprotective now?”
“Hush.”
He kissed me—a routine goodbye peck. We’d go our separate ways now, embark on separate missions. It had to be a clean break until we made it back to each other. It was the only way to keep our heads in the game.
I started to pull away, but a surge of his desperation froze me in my tracks. He grasped either side of my face and kissed me like he meant it, like it was the last taste we’d ever share. My arms wound around his neck, and I pressed myself as close as possible. Clean breaks were overrated.
“Be safe,” he whispered against my bruising lips. “Promise.”
“I promise.” I held him tighter. “You promise.”
“I do.”
~
“I appreciate you volunteering to help me.” Rachel sped into a spot behind the apartment Cole shared with his best friend Larry—a.k.a. ‘Tits’ Moran. I’d spent half of the ride reliving the goodbye I’d shared with Wallace, trying to convince myself it wasn’t some kind of omen, and the other half trying to remember how to navigate ERA’s Underground. Neither had gone well.
She got out of the car and pulled her hair back into a strict ponytail. Cole had said he’d negotiated a ‘healthy discount’ when he’d presented her with the vehicle a few weeks prior, and none of us questioned it. Probably with good reason. “It’s just something I have to do, you know?”
“Oh, I know.” I waved her off. “Brace yourself for a lecture, though. Putting yourself in danger…blah, blah, blah. The Blake Brothers get cranky when they’re dudes in distress.”
Rachel gave me a weak, knowing smile. “Fragile egos.”
It was weird. Back in January, I’d detested this near-angelic version of the Wendy’s mascot more than anything; now I was risking my life to protect her and save her boyfriend. What a difference a little time makes…
We made our way to the boys’ door. She knocked a few times, too daintily for anyone to hear, so I pounded on the frame. After a minute, Larry popped his head out. “Well, hey there, ladies. You know Cole’s not here now, right?”
“We need to talk.” I shooed him back into the apartment, and we followed after. “Can you keep a secret?”
He shot us a weird look. “Of course. What’s going on?”
“Would you move a body for us, if we told you exactly where it was and where it’s supposed to end up?”
His confusion melted into horror as he fell back onto a barstool, wiping his brow with his shirtsleeve. “I-I suppose I…I mean, how did this…you two just…?”
“We need an answer, Larry!” I raised my voice and held back the closed door, like the police would bust in at any moment.
“Fine, I’ll do it!” His eyes widened. “What the hell have you guys gotten into? Where’s Cole?”
I nodded at Rachel. “We can trust him.”
She shook her head. I’d taken a page from Cole’s playbook, and she knew it.
“What’s going on?” Larry asked, firmer this time. “If we need to move, you guys need to fill me in now.”
“There’s no body.” I took a seat opposite of him at the counter and Rachel followed suit. “I was testing your loyalty. We have some sensitive information that cannot be repeated. Do you understand?”
He nodded, albeit hesitantly.
Rachel brought him up to speed as best she could, and I filled in the details she missed. Naturally, Larry went through the stages of supernatural acceptance—humor, disbelief, hurt, and finally numb acceptance. It was a lot to digest at once. Rachel and I knew that firsthand. But if we wanted any hope of busting Cole out today, we needed to get this guy on board. Now.
“So, you’re telling me he’s a…”
“Dynari,” I supplied, getting the faintest sense of déjà vu.
“And you’re…”
“An Augari.”
“Right.” His eyes glazed over. “So, Rach, you’re…”
“Human,” she offered with a warm smile. “Just like you.”
“Okay…”
“So, will you help us?” she asked. “I hate to deny you time to process this, I really do, but we need to find Cole. God only knows what those monsters are doing to him.”
Larry scrubbed a hand through his curly mop of hair. “Yeah, of course. I mean, I think I’ve always known he had a secret—something that made him different. I just didn’t realize it was this…big.”
“That’s what she said,” Rachel mumbled under her breath, half-smiling at how Cole would have responded. With one last deep breath, she smacked the counter and hopped off her barstool. “Sorry, I’m getting anxious.”
“Are you ready for this?” I asked her.
She nodded and lifted her chin, willing defiance into her eyes. “I am.”
“Shouldn’t we”—Larry scanned the kitchen—”weapon up or something, first?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “While the plan is for us to stay undetected, we don’t know who or what we’ll encounter down there.”
I hoped she didn’t count those of us who weren’t technically human as the what.
Larry ambled over to the other side of the counter and wiped his brow again. “Let’s see what we can wrangle up…”
~
Cole would’ve loved the sight of us sneaking into ERA headquarters—me, fists up, rocking my fiancé’s strength; Rachel, sharp-eyed, brandishing a pair of scissors; and Larry, clutching a giant cast iron skillet, which he’d already swung twice at his shadow.
Thankfully, the code on the hatch hadn’t changed yet. We used it to get in, crowded into the entryway’s blind spot, and then Larry boosted me up to obscure the security camera. With the hallway unmonitored, he hurried over to a computer terminal and did his thing. That much had been our impromptu plan.
Once into the system, he had a better idea of our next move, apparently. “We’re headed to red, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’re about to have a fire alarm in blue, a lockdown in gold, and a chemical spill in white. That should clear a path.”
I blinked.
His fingertips danced over the keyboard. “And now I’m just cutting a few quick loops for the cameras along our route…”
Rachel bounced on her tiptoes, shifting her gaze between Larry and the end of the hall.
“Aaaaand done,” he declared, pulling his hands back in mock-surrender. “Let’s move.”
Geez. I knew Larry was a techno-whiz, but I’d had no idea he had this level of skill. He should’ve been in the loop months ago.
We would start with the red sector, since that was where Cole’s meeting had supposedly taken place, but I wasn’t confident he’d still be there. ERA could’ve stashed him anywhere, even the residential ward. For all we knew, Gail had him locked in her bedroom to practice her mind games. Or Vlad had taken him hostage, using a ring of fire to keep everyone at
bay…
One thing at a time.
We sprinted for what felt like hours, arms pumping, soles squeaking—but according to my phone, it’d only been ten minutes. I guess time plays tricks in claustrophobic settings, especially when both sides of the floor are lit like fiery lava.
Rachel’s eyes had hardened the further we’d ventured into the labyrinth. Somewhere along the way, she’d gone from saintly radiance to the angel of death’s eerie glow.
“You know they’re probably about to discover us, right?” I whispered. “We might’ve caught them off guard, but Faye keeps a top notch team.”
Larry winced, huffing and puffing to catch his breath. “Think they’re getting into position to head us off?”
“Unless they’re waiting on orders,” I told him. “The bigwigs always seem to be in and out of here, schmoozing officials.”
Rachel gripped her scissors even tighter. “Or they’re waiting for us to walk into a trap.”
We fell silent at that—the most likely scenario of them all.
Our shuffling footsteps echoed even louder as we rounded the corner, the hall’s acoustics shifting at the change in surrounding material. Where we’d once seen panel after panel of reinforced metal, we now saw uneven rock. The track lighting had ended, replaced by lantern sconces. And the doors no longer had biometric scanners here. They had locks. Old ones.
“Time warp?” Larry suggested, chuckling under his breath. He was taking the whole thing well. Maybe a little too well. If he was nervous enough to be joking now, deep underground and isolated from the authorities, there was a very real possibility he would flip out at some point. I had.
Many times.
The lilt of a feminine voice came muffled from behind a heavy, rust-encrusted door. Then laughter—dry and unfeeling. It sounded familiar, but no association sprang to mind. I didn’t know whether to bust the door down or run for the hills. Where did I know that voice from?
Rachel shot me a questioning glance. She’d heard it, too. With her determination to save Cole, I doubted she wanted to look around some more before exploring this possibility. Our next move had been silently decided.
Okay. I took a deep breath, pulling all of the strength I’d left dormant to keep from succumbing to exhaustion. I’d bust this door down with Wallace’s power, and then—
Larry opened the door and it groaned, shedding rust flakes everywhere. “Unlocked.”
“Right.”
Of course.
Rachel and I bumped into each other trying to squeeze in, but neither of us said anything. Or slowed down, for that matter. Wallace would’ve let me slip in under his arm as we edged in together, working in tandem.
Over the past few months, we’d become a well-practiced duo. Our movements were like clockwork, our intuitions aligned. I missed him more than I could stand to think about at the moment. Hell, I even missed Cole.
“Did you say goodbye to your daughter?” Speak of the devil. His unmistakable tone slid around the corner, cool and collected.
Shit. Is he making a play here, and we’re about to barge in on it?
I drew Wallace’s empathic powers from the Nexus and paused to close my eyes. Waves of dense emotion swelled in the air and trailed through my fingers. Cole. I pictured him, feeding on the memories we’d shared up until this point. A sense of his presence coiled around me—scared shitless, backed into a corner. My eyes shot open and I waved the other two forward without having the presence of mind to consider a plan.
Rachel bolted like a frightened deer, and Larry charged around the corner with his skillet scraping the ceiling. “Leeerooooy!”
Wait. Who the hell is Leeroy?
“Jennnnkins!”
I sprinted after them. The corridor, lined with antiquated cells, reeked of metal—whether that was from the rusted bars or spilled blood, I didn’t know. My shoes screeched as I came to a halt two inches from Larry’s back. He’d stopped. They’d both stopped.
Angling around him, I tried to hide the shock that had undoubtedly registered on my face. Cole knelt bleeding on the grimy floor, tied up with thin, silvery wires suspended all over his cramped cell. Elise—Gail’s brainy mother—stood lording over her victim. I’d never taken her for a sadist before, but the scene painted an unsettling picture.
“Tits!” Cole roared.
Elise’s face contorted in disgust. “How dare you refer to my—”
“Tits,” he repeated, ignoring her. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Larry hefted the skillet onto his shoulder and shifted his weight. “Saving you so I can kick your secret-keeping ass later.”
“B-But…” Hell had frozen over. Cole was speechless.
Elise shouldered a bag containing what I could only assume to be her instruments of torture. “Whatever you think you’re doing here, I assure you it won’t end well. If you leave now, I won’t report your intrusion.”
Why wasn’t she worried? We had her cornered here, outnumbered four to one, and all of the guards were preoccupied. Her only ability that I knew of was cell manipulation…
“Cole.” Rachel stumbled around me in a stupor, reaching for the bars that separated them. Her frantic gaze locked on his neck—on the blood seeping from gilled slices. “Are you—?”
“Rach.” He hissed her name under his breath, and his eyes glossed over. “You can’t be—damn it, they did somethin’ to irritate my eyes. You shouldn’t be here.”
She gave him a weak smile. “And yet, I am.”
His expression softened at her wording, like it was some kind of inside joke between them. They were cute, too cute to be in a situation like this. I had to do something now.
“Come on. We’re busting you out.” I grabbed the chilled bars and concentrated all of Wallace’s strength into my arms. With the slightest pull, they groaned and bent back toward—
“Hey, hey!” Cole yelled. “Easy, She-Hulk. You see what those wires are connected to?”
“Um…” I looked up into Elise’s web. “Play-Doh and little hangy things?”
He gave a long-suffering sigh and dropped his head. “Explosives, oh sheltered one. You pull the wire, it releases a firing pin, and the pin hits a percussion cap. The cap and the detonator go boom, and the resultant shockwave sets off your so-called dough. Game over.”
“Very good, Nicholas,” Elise praised him as she stood and hiked her bag over her shoulder. “Your technical understanding is surprising, given the way you were raised.”
Cole cocked an eyebrow and looked up. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Simply that your upbringing was inferior to mine, given that you were raised by the least educated of the Lawrence siblings.”
A cord bulged in his neck, and his nostrils flared. “Did you just call Grandma stupid? Because I will jerk out of this and blast the whole place to hell. You included.”
That was a bluff, right? With Cole, it was hard to tell. I turned to Larry, but he was busy playing with his phone—at a time like this!
Or so I thought. He glanced up, met my questioning gaze, and looked over my head to Rachel. “We’re going to try something. Pull that wire taut away from you and snip it with your scissors.”
“Wait!” Elise moved to the edge of the cell she had stupidly locked herself into with explosives. “Let me leave before amateur hour.”
“Sure,” I said, “Just disarm them so we can open the door.”
She snickered.
My fist tightened.
Before the negotiation could escalate any further, a shudder coursed up Elise’s spine. Her complexion dulled and her eyes lightened—then she ghosted through the bars.
“…the hell?”
“Holy shit!” Tits bellowed behind me, his voice echoing off the tight walls. “Did you see that? She’s like Martian Manhunter.”
Rachel frowned at him. “What does that mean?”
“Density shifting, intangibility—she can walk through stuff.”
“Oh.”
/>
Cole cleared his throat. “Um, I’m not really keen on the idea of you stooges being here, but since you are, would you mind stopping the maniacal villain? I’m a little tied up at the moment.”
“On it!” Larry swung his skillet in my peripheral vision, and I flinched.
Rachel took that opportunity to spin around and grab my arm. “Rena, I’m going to cut the wire.”
Holy crap. “Are you sure?”
“We have to try something. Look at him in there.”
I did. Cole’s gaze was distant, his jaw tight. It seemed like he was busy working out a plan of his own. Even as Larry assaulted the air around us to no avail…
“Hold that thought.” I turned back to Elise, remembering how we’d thwarted her mother and daughter by stealing their focus. If I flustered her enough, she’d have to rematerialize and we’d get her. I couldn’t try to overcharge her without letting ERA in on my progress—pitiful as it was. “Have you checked on the guards lately?”
She took her time, strolling toward the exit. “The guards do not concern me.”
“They should. Haven’t you noticed Wallace isn’t with us? We sent your guards on a wild goose chase, leaving Gail vulnerable to attack.”
Elise froze mid-step.
“He’s pissed about what she did,” I went on, bluffing. “If she provokes him, he could be capable of anything.”
That, or he’s headed to the lake and knows nothing of this…
She reached for her headset, hesitated, and dropped her hand again. “Nice try.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care if you believe me or not. No offense, but your daughter’s death won’t keep me up at night.”
“It won’t keep Faye up, either,” Cole chimed in. “Isn’t that, right, Elise? I heard you guys were having problems. Now I’m thinkin’ I might’ve been a bargaining chip to get your mommy back on track.”
She stiffened. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Could be.” He was back to his old, nonchalant self now, taking control of the situation. “Titsy, bar the other door. Rach is gonna cut the wire.”
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