Loyalty

by Carrie Butler

  Hector was more than a little surprised to see we'd brought along another passenger—given his firm belief that all of Sanctuary Island’s inhabitants were dead.

  We fed him a story about her being a reporter colleague of Wallace’s who had gotten there a few hours earlier. A miscommunication on their parts. He’d taken one look at her laptop bag and nodded, accepting it with a shrug as we pulled away.

  George had stayed behind to cover for us with Franklin and the others. He’d say we attacked him and got away, which seemed pretty believable, considering he’d had me punch him. Naturally, they’d have to come after us upon hearing the news—we’d seen the SAGE area, after all—but we had a contingency for that, too.

  We’d exchanged numbers so he could call on his satellite phone to give us a heads-up and vice versa. His friend with the teleportation powers would take care of transport. That way, when shit hit the fan, we’d at least have a few more allies.

  “I have, like, seven missed calls,” Wallace muttered, looking at his phone once we got back to our vehicles. “Guess we have service again.”

  “Someone’s popular.”

  I unlocked my car for Zvoni, who slumped inside in a way only someone still in their teens could pull off. A sort of sullen collapse into the backseat. Wallace took shotgun, so neither one of us would have to deal with her alone. We’d just come back for his truck later.

  His brows met as he listened to his phone in silence. “It’s Cole. He…”

  “What?”

  “Shit.”

  “What?” I repeated, less patient than the first time. You can’t just listen to something, react like that, and then keep it to yourself.

  He tapped a button on the screen and listened to the next message, ripping his glasses off like it’d help him concentrate. “There was an accident—not an accident, an attack. Faye must have wanted revenge on Rachel for Elise’s death, so she arranged for a power line to snap and fall on her car during the move. But she wasn’t in the car. Tits took it, because she’s so sick from whatever Elise gave her. Cole didn’t want to leave her side.”

  “Oh God.” Not Larry. Not big, dorky, sweet Larry.

  “He’s dead,” he choked out, clearing his throat to cover it. “And it caused a fire. The house went up. Now Grandma and Grandpa Edwin have to stay at ERA HQ with Faye. Cole is having Grandma steal Elise’s notes, while he helps Henry and Jaya break into the clinic to give Rachel an MRI. We need to help get everyone out safely so we can regroup.”

  “Shit,” I said, echoing his earlier sentiment as I started the car. “I’ll hurry.”

  “How the hell is he dead?” he exploded, slamming his fist against the dash—which cracked upon impact. “He can’t be. He’s Tits. He didn’t even have a part in this!”

  “Baby…” I put a hand on his shaking arm. He didn’t even realize what he’d done. “Come here.”

  He turned toward me with watery blues, and I pulled him in for a hug. In the span of ten seconds, he’d lost a friend, his childhood home, and the belief that his grandmother would be safe on her own. The war, which had previously only existed in threat and clandestine action, had just become very, very real. Sweat prickled my hairline.

  Wallace pulled back with a shaky breath. “Sorry, that rattled me.”

  “You have every right to be rattled.”

  “I haven’t heard Cole sound that devastated since…”

  I filled in the blanks with a nod. Since their parents had been killed.

  He finally took in the state of my car—the car I had once protected with my life for fear of something as trivial as my brother’s wrath—and panicked. “Oh, shit, Rena. I didn’t even—”

  “Don’t worry about it. We have other things to focus on now.”

  “But…” He tested the cracked plastic’s durability, and—

  Bang!

  The airbag deployed, scaring the shit out of me and knocking him back in his seat. Zvoni screamed. I’d forgotten she was even there,

  Wallace fought it off enough to get his door open and dove out, brushing powder off his chest. He cursed for a minute, red-faced in the parking lot, gesturing at the car. “The sensors are in the front! How does that even happen?”

  We got out, and I made my way around The Beast. “I don’t know, but it’s okay. We’ll just take your truck.”

  “I broke your car, Rena!” Embarrassment and misplaced frustration surged through the Nexus. “We can’t just overlook that.”

  “We will overlook that,” I out-shouted him, determined to get us through this—at least until we made it back to everyone. “Now get your ass in the truck, so we can rescue your grandmother!”

  Zvoni stared at us. “You two have a strange relationship.”

  “Don’t you start with me,” I warned her, pointing at the black F-150 a row down. “Your ass is going in the truck, too.”

  “O-kay…”

  Wallace ran both of his hands through his hair, paced a few times, and let out a deep breath before approaching me. “Sorry. I really am. It’s just…”

  “I know.”

  He pulled me in for another hug, his fresh scent mingling with the talc that had lined the bag. “I love you.”

  I let out a breath of my own and squeezed his waist. “I know.”

  ~

  We stormed into ERA the same way I had with Rach and Larry, only this time, Zvoni was the one manipulating the system. She’d warmed up a little on the ride there—emphasis on the word little—and helped us work out a strategy. As soon as we got to the intersection between red and white, we’d divide and conquer. She’d get her dad, we’d get Clara and Edwin, and we’d all meet back outside.

  Sure, it was risky to split up without backup, but we didn’t have time to hold hands. Everything and everyone was at risk now. The seal on our treaty had been broken. If we didn’t extract our people now, they were as good as dead.

  “Good luck,” Zvoni told us, pulling her hood up before darting off to the side.

  “You too.”

  We didn’t bother trying to fool the biometric systems in the residential wing. Wallace used his pent-up anger to beat the ever-loving shit out of every metal door that stood in our path. It was almost therapeutic, watching something Faye loved so much being destroyed. Even on a small scale. If sirens were sounding, they were silent, and we didn’t care.

  “Grandma’s nearby,” Wallace mumbled, tilting his chin toward the next hallway. “And scared. Come on.”

  With that, he broke into a jog. I had no choice but to run in order to catch up, our footsteps echoing in the tight corridor. Whatever he’d felt had spooked him.

  He gave no warning before he tore into the door, slamming his heel against it. Each shuddering impact sounded up and down the hallway, causing involuntary flinches on my part until he finally knocked it in.

  Familiar smoke billowed out in dark, wicked plumes—a scene stolen from my most vivid nightmares. It coiled before us, screening two figures from view. Before my brain could stop my body, I charged through.

  A scream ripped from my throat. I couldn’t help it. The smoke slashed and seared my skin, even worse than I’d remembered. I barreled into someone, blind, grasping.

  “Faye, stop this now!” Clara’s sharp tone rang out, and she pulled me close.

  “Agree to my terms,” Faye demanded, undaunted by my entrance. “You’re the one prolonging this situation.”

  “I said no.”

  A surge shot through the Nexus.

  “Then you can suffer along with your—umph!”

  Wallace cold-cocked his great-aunt.

  The smoke returned to its master.

  “Sorry,” he told his grandma, bleeding from his forearms where he’d shielded his face. His shirt had been torn to shreds. “I—”

  Clara held up a hand, unscathed by the incident. “It was time. Would you mind if your great-grandfather and I spent the night with you? Something tells me we are no longer welcome here.”

 
“Of course not.” He stepped around Faye and put an arm around his grandma. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded, still holding on to me. “She used her ability to seal off the exit, but our discussion had not yet escalated to the point where she had to make good on her threats. Just a few wounds, here and there.”

  “Rena…” Wallace looked me over with pain in his eyes. “What about you?”

  “They’re not bad,” I said, assessing my wounds. “I was only in it for a second or two.”

  He held my gaze.

  Clara guided us over to the door and out into the hallway. “I assume Nicholas told you two what happened.”

  “Yeah…” Wallace cleared his throat as we crossed to Edwin’s door. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

  “Me too, sweetie.” She leaned over and strained to kiss his cheek. “Me too.”

  Damn it. We had to contain this situation somehow. Wallace knocking out ERA’s tyrannical self-healer would escalate building tensions, once the rest of the organization found out. Retaliation was inevitable. We needed to get back to the tunnels and figure out how to minimize damage.

  I stood back, a spectator to the scene playing out before me as Clara and Wallace tried to coax Edwin into coming with us. He still creeped me out a little. I didn’t want him announcing to half of Cleveland that I felt “funny,” while I was trying to formulate a plan.

  “Come on, Grandpa.” Wallace bent down, like he wanted the old man to climb onto his back. “We need to move.”

  “I just got settled in!” Edwin yelled. “And I’m fine walking myself, thank you.”

  Clara put a hand on his shoulder. “Dad, things are going badly here. We need to move quickly. Just let Wallace help you.”

  “I’ve survived over ninety years on this earth without someone carrying me. I think I’ll make it.”

  I half-wished they’d knock him out, too. If I weren’t sporting the majority of Wallace’s strength right now, I’d do it…

  “Grandpa, please.” Wallace cast a wary look toward the hallway, his anxiety building.

  This wasn’t going to work. We’d have to split up to get out of here whole. “Clara, why don’t you give me the notes? I’ll run them upstairs to Cole, while you guys work on getting Edwin out to the car. Vlad and Zvoni are supposed to meet us there.”

  She hesitated, shooting Wallace a questioning glance.

  “I’ll be fine,” I assured her. “The Nexus activated. If anything gets in my way, I’ll just throw a Wallace fit and destroy it.”

  The last part was tongue-in-cheek. She smiled despite the trouble we found ourselves in. He gave me one of those you’re-going-to-get-it-later looks—the kind that usually involved tickle torture.

  “All right,” she finally complied, handing the pillowcase over,” but if we don’t see you out there in fifteen minutes, we’re coming back in after you.”

  I nodded and edged out into the hall.

  Wallace, who had finally coerced his grandfather to wrap his arms around his neck, held my stare. “Be safe.”

  “You too.”

  His cheeks reddened. “Love you.”

  Any other time, I would have laughed. His reluctance to get ‘mushy’ in front of his grandma amused the hell out of me. But I needed to get serious. I needed to get moving.

  Deep breath. “I love you, too.”

  CHAPTER 17

  « COLE »

  As soon as Sis passed off the laptop, we set to work.

  I didn’t question where she’d come into play or how she’d acquired it. For all I knew, we didn’t have time. Henry and Jaya had finished the MRI, but the damn thing had been so loud, we were sure to have attracted every frustrated, unarmed guard in a three-mile radius.

  “I’m sorry,” Rena said, fiddling with her belt loops, “about…Larry.”

  “Me too.” I kept my head down, just in case my face betrayed me. Tits’ murder had possessed me, driving me through the motions of everything I needed to do. We’d made a pact years ago, stupid as it was, to avenge the other should anything happen to either of us—say, government conspiracy or zombie apocalypse. It might not have meant anything at the time, but it was one of only two things my mind could focus on now.

  Faye would get hers, sure, but her granddaughter would feel it first. Gail had to have manipulated that worker who cut the line, remotely or otherwise. And what was their reasoning? Because one of theirs had been killed under circumstances they knew nothing about? I needed a cig. Or just a lighter. I wanted to torch this place and everyone in it.

  Hot, liquid fury collected in my eyes as I typed, using tricks Tits himself had taught me back in the day. Back before my fucked-up relatives decided to take over the world and end his life in the process. My stomach twisted in knots as I pictured what his final moments must have been like—blindsided, filled with pain so sudden he didn’t have the chance to react. No making peace with the situation, no last words.

  Hell, even if he had muttered a few, no one was there to hear them.

  Hatred petrified my chest, and I had to make an effort to breathe. Rachel first. I had to concentrate on Rachel…

  As if on cue, search results filled the screen. “Okay, here we go, people.”

  Sis hovered behind me, while Henry and Jaya finished helping Rachel into a borrowed wheelchair.

  “It’s a virus that targets spinal fluid,” I summarized, trying to mask my relief as I skimmed ahead. “It causes temporary paralysis that persisted for an average of three days in test subjects.”

  “What made it go away?” Rena asked, eyeing the door.

  I skimmed the documents. “Not sure, but whatever it was, I’ll make it happen. Deep tissue massage, animal sacrifice, the theft of the last known bog-rosemary pla—”

  “Let me have a look at that,” Henry said, crossing the room. “We’ll see if we can’t expedite the process.”

  My chair screeched against the floor as I pushed back. Another minute here, and I’d turn into a sniveling mess. Good news wasn’t something I had much experience with.

  “I have to head out,” Rena told us. “Wallace is waiting with Clara and Edwin. Vlad and Zvoni are supposed to be there, too. If I don’t show up, they’ll have to risk coming in after me.”

  “I’ll walk you out.” I stood up and stretched my legs, before turning to my love in the chair. “Be right back, Angel.”

  Rach smiled and twitched her fingers. Progress.

  ~

  “Tell me if this is stupid,” Rena began, once we were outside. “Wallace and I were trying to think of ways to bring everyone in without arousing suspicion. So, what about…a wedding?”

  I stuffed my hands into my pockets. “You comfortable moving the date up?”

  “We don’t have much of a choice, do we?”

  Truth.

  It occurred to me then that the old me—the one who still had a sidekick—would’ve tried to hijack the idea. I would’ve worked Rach and myself into the ceremony, using the time is of the essence angle, and ended up getting some before all hell breaks loose.

  As it was, I didn’t bother. Rach wouldn’t be up to it in time, and I was too spent to scheme. “Why don’t you do yourselves a favor and get married in private first, like tonight or tomorrow, and then publicize the ceremony for show.”

  “In case Faye gets wind of it?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, and at least you’ll get laid before One-eye tries to take us all out.”

  Her mouth quirked.

  “Oh, sweetie!” Grandma’s voice caught up to me before she did. A moment later, her arms were around me. “You poor little thing.”

  The warmth of her concern enveloped me as we stood there in the parking lot, the others falling into the background. I prided myself on not having fully broken down about Tits yet, but the safety of her embrace shook that resolve. “It’s okay…”

  “Honey, I know it’s not.”

  Shit. Just like that, the tears came fast and hot, bubbling up lik
e a fucking emotional volcano. Why the hell did it have to be Tits, of all people? He was good. Too good for this shit. He barely had a foot into our world before it consumed him. It wasn’t fair. And—

  “Avert your eyes!” I yelled, throwing a threatening glance in the others’ direction.

  Talk about rude-ass spectators.

  Grandma rubbed a comforting hand up my back. “It’s okay, Nicholas. I’m right here.”

  I appreciated the sentiment, but all I wanted to do was run. To get out of here, away from this crazy, spiraling shitfest my life had become. But I couldn’t. I had things to do, people to take care of. Rach, Henry, and Jaya needed me back there. The guards might’ve caught on to them by now. I pulled back and scrubbed my arm across my face.

  “I’m good,” I lied. “Thanks.”

  “You’ll come see me later,” Grandma said—a statement, not a request.

  “Of course.”

  She cupped my cheek and stared at me with the weirdest mix of pride and pity. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  My spine tingled with discomfort. It was time to go.

  “I’ll catch up with you guys back in the tunnels,” I called to Wallace, backing toward the building.

  “Okay…” He gave me pity eyes, too. “You sure you’re okay?”

  Damn empaths. “Yeah, don’t worry about me.”

  I turned to sprint back to the clinic, but the door was already opening. Jaya wheeled Rachel out, while Henry trailed behind with two bags worth of stolen goods. So much for my retreat.

  “We should get moving,” he told us, not breaking stride.

  Zvoni cocked an eyebrow. “I disabled the alarms. How would they know?”

  Wallace cleared his throat. “They might have found Faye.”

  “Dead?”

  “Unconscious.” He gestured toward Rena, pointed to the Mark of Nexus on her arm. “I passed most of my strength off before I hit her.”

  Before I could object to his lack of lethal force, he met my gaze and flicked his toward Grandma. Ah, she was in the room. He wouldn’t kill her sister in front of her.

  What a shame.

  We piled into our respective vehicles and hurried back to the tunnels under Wilcox. For Grandma, Vlad, and Zvoni, it was their first time seeing our humble base of operations. I liked to believe they were appropriately impressed. I didn’t stick around to find out.