Holgersen kept his jacket over the lower half of his face anyway.
Ignoring all the chaos, and reasoning that the nice conference rooms for clients were probably near the main entrance someplace, Thea led Holgersen toward the front of the building to start there and work their way backward.
They found the Bowmans in the third room they tried. There was no sign of Carson or Olivia.
Laurel and Marshal were in what Thea could only describe as no condition to be interrupted.
Thea whirled back around toward the door to spare herself the sight, grabbing Holgersen’s shoulder and turning him with her.
“Well, at least they both got hit with lust,” Thea said quietly. “If only one got lust and the other got, say, wrath, it might have gotten ugly.”
“Uglier than that?” Holgersen looked over his shoulder and made a face.
Thea sighed. “I’ll handle it. I lived in L.A. for a few years, and with celebrities, besides. It won’t be the first time I’ve had to pull a couple apart.”
A few minutes later, Thea and Holgersen once again had their backs turned to the Bowmans, while Laurel and Marshal, red-faced and horrified, hastily righted their clothing.
The hex, still assuming that was what it was, seemed to be wearing off throughout Fury Unlimited. The cries in the halls were becoming sharper and more lucid.
“We need to go,” Thea said. “Our window for getting out unnoticed is closing fast.”
She barely finished the sentence before a buzzing noise—so loud Thea had to resist the urge to cover her ears—rang through the building, followed by several clanging sounds.
“What was that?” Marshal asked.
“I think it was the sound of our window closing,” answered Holgersen.
Thea looked around. “And no actual windows to be found.”
“So what do we do?” Laurel asked. “Just walk out?”
“You two do,” Thea said. “You were here when the attack happened, you were hit yourselves. They’ll have no reason to be suspicious of you. The detective and I will have to find another way out.”
Holgersen nodded at the ceiling. “Could you get the two of us through that vent?” he asked Thea.
“I think so.” Thea turned to Marshal and Laurel. “Holgersen and I will lay low and figure out a way out. You two keep up the act, fake a little outrage—”
“Not sure it’ll be all that fake,” Marshal muttered.
“—and meet us at the bottom of the road, like we planned,” Thea finished.
But Laurel was shaking her head frantically. “They’ll know. They’ll suspect us.”
Thea put a hand on Laurel’s arm. “They won’t. It’ll be okay. You were doing great. Just keep it up a little while longer.”
Laurel was pale and clearly shaken. Marshal stood silent, his lips almost invisible in the tight line of his mouth. But neither of those would be unusual reactions to what had just happened to them. No matter how strange they acted, the furies would have no cause to suspect it was anything other than the result of the attack.
“You can do this,” Thea assured them. “You’ll have this place behind you in ten minutes. They’ll have no reason to hold a couple of humans when they’ve just been hexed. In fact, potential clients are probably the last people they want seeing this moment of weakness.”
“But they might search you first, just for the sake of their security checklist,” Holgersen said. “Here Laurel, why don’t you give me your earrings, just in case?”
“Good idea.” Laurel handed them over, then took several deep breaths.
“Okay,” Thea said. “Chances are they’ve forgotten about you, but they’ll be searching the place. We need to move. Go out into the hall and start shouting and raising a fuss. Keep them focused on you, so they won’t bother worrying about the room you came out of.”
“Misdirection, remember?” said Holgersen.
Laurel gave him a thin smile. “Okay.”
“Good luck,” Marshal said with a nod. He hadn’t quite met Thea’s eyes since she’d tugged him off his wife and slapped his face to get his attention. Understandable, but now was not the time to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault and there was no need to be embarrassed.
“You too,” Thea said. “See you in a bit.”
Marshal and Laurel left the room just in time; as soon as they walked into the hall, Thea heard a deep, throaty voice challenging them.
Luckily, Holgersen had an army knife with a tiny screwdriver. As quickly and silently as he could, he took the cover off the vent. After that, getting into the duct was relatively easy.
There were still voices in the hall. They pulled the vent cover up with them and left it, hoping that if the room was searched, somehow the gaping hole in the ceiling would escape notice.
Thea took the lead. The duct was tall enough to crawl through without having to get on her belly, thank goodness, but it was narrow enough to be a problem for her wings. She tucked them in as closely as she could, but there was no doubt the scraping noise they made against the metal walls would be noticeable.
They stopped at the first vent they came to, while Thea inched forward to peer through the grate into the room below. There were heads visible, and a murmur of voices. They waited until both were gone, then she risked another look, craning her neck to try to see the walls, looking for a window she might be able to fly them through. When she couldn’t find one, they moved on.
And on. And on again. It must have been at least an hour of furtive crawling, looking, and waiting, Thea getting sweatier and thirstier all the while, before they found a room with a likely window.
“How the hell are we supposed to get this cover off?” she whispered to Holgersen, but he was already motioning for her to crawl past it so he could get to it.
Holgersen rolled over onto his back and kicked both feet down once, twice, three times, until the vent cover went crashing into the room below.
Thea was aghast at the noise he’d made (and a little impressed by his strength), but given that it had probably just called a shitstorm of security down on them, decided not to take the time to scold him for it.
She jumped down, stretching her wings and enjoying a moment of cool air, then reached up to help Holgersen. This was the fourth time that day, by her count, that she’d carried him, and he didn’t look like he was getting any happier about it.
Thea rushed for the window, the details of the room a blur around her, although she caught enough to think it might have been part of a residence. That was good. If they’d made it that far into the back of the building, they might actually be able to escape unnoticed. Maybe nobody had even heard the racket Holgersen had just made.
She was still feeling that hope, the rising excitement of victory within her grasp, when she reached the window.
And something not quite like a gunshot sounded in the room. And a dart lodged itself in her neck.
So much for victory.
Thea remembered only disjointed bits of what came next.
Holgersen and three security guards, pointing guns at each other, faces contorted and mouths moving like they were shouting, although Thea’s ears were ringing and oddly numb. Holgersen was outnumbered, and one of them flanked him. He gave up his gun.
A long hallway. A stairwell that smelled of urine.
A fury, spitting at her.
She wasn’t conscious of any pain, but she felt dizzy and faint, her vision narrowing to a dark tunnel. She couldn’t think.
The next thing Thea knew, she was sitting at a long table, with Megaira and five other furies who must have been her board.
There was a fresh stinging pain in Thea’s neck. Another needle. Another drug? An antidote, maybe.
Megaira’s mouth was moving, but Thea still couldn’t hear a thing.
And then her mind snapped back into focus, although she had a blistering headache. She was in Megaira’s own conference room, the same one where they had watched the tragedy at Hemlock Heights begin
.
Thea was in a chair beside Holgersen, who looked pissed off but unharmed. Both of them were cuffed, and her wings were chained together by the talons.
“There she is,” Megaira said. “Thea, this will be quicker for you if you tell the truth. Did you do this on your own, or did Alecto send you?”
This. It. What does she mean?
Apparently Thea wasn’t thinking quite as straight as she thought, because she looked stupidly around the room, searching for the Bowmans. Had they caught them? Or had they found the recording device Thea and Holgersen had left hidden in the rocks at the cliffside?
“Thea,” Megaira repeated, a warning in her voice. “Did my sister send you to hex us, or not?”
Of course she means the hex, you idiot.
“No,” Thea said honestly.
Megaira steepled her fingers and sat back in her chair, glaring at Thea. “You really want to take the fall for her?”
Thea’s mind raced as she tried to decide what to do.
Did she want to take the fall?
If Thea let Megaira think the attack was some kind of rogue action on her part, Megaira would take her wings, for sure. And probably kill her.
But on the other hand, if Megaira thought the hex had been an official act, she would take her revenge on all of Hexing House. It would start an outright war, with a colony that had horrible weapons at their disposal. Dozens of furies—Thea’s friends included—would be hurt. Some would die.
Alecto, you stupid fucking bitch.
“Alecto didn’t send me,” Thea said. “Nobody at Hexing House knows I’m here.” Still the truth, even if it did suggest a lie. For now, she would be as vague as possible, while she tried to figure a way out of this.
“It’s possible she’s telling the truth,” someone two chairs down from Megaira said. Frederick. He’d been pretty high up in RDM at Hexing House, Thea remembered. It had been a blow when he jumped ship and went to Fury Unlimited.
“How would she get a hex like that?” Megaira snapped.
“I’m not saying Alecto wasn’t developing something,” Frederick said. “But Thea may have stolen it and come on her own. Judging by what Philip has told us, she’s quite unstable. And I’m not reading dishonesty in her now.”
Thea’s stomach did a little flip at that last part, and she quickly glanced down. The amulet that protected her from furies reading her vices and virtues had been taken from her.
“She could be manipulating what you can read,” said Megaira.
“It takes a very skilled fury to do that,” someone else said, doubt that Thea was such a fury clear in her voice.
“And how do you explain the human?” Frederick asked Megaira. “Bizarre as it is, I’ll admit that Thea seems to be a favorite with your sister.”
Ha. You’re working on some outdated information there, buddy.
“But I seriously doubt Alecto would send a human to attack us,” Frederick finished.
Holgersen shifted in his seat, but remained stone-faced and silent.
Megaira looked back at Thea. “Let’s shelve the issue of responsibility for the moment. Tell me everything you know about this hex.”
“I don’t know anything about it,” Thea said with a shrug.
Megaira gaped at her, then looked at the security guard standing beside Thea’s chair. “How big a dose did you give her, that she’s acting this stupid?” Turning back to Thea she said, “You’re telling me you came here all on your own, with no backing from Hexing House, with a hex you didn’t know anything about, and just, what?” She flung her hand outward. “Cut it loose, figured you would just see what it did?”
“No, I’m not telling you that,” Thea said. “I’m not telling you anything. I’m done answering questions.”
Megaira laughed at that, then looked at Holgersen. “How about you, Detective? Care to be a little more forthcoming?”
Holgersen said nothing.
“What do you think, guys?” Megaira asked with a sigh. “Go through the trouble of torturing them, or just kill them now?”
“Definitely keep them for questioning,” Frederick said. “There’s a lot we don’t know, still.”
“And there may be lingering aftereffects of the hex,” another board member added. “They may be able to help.”
Megaira considered Thea. “Actually, I seem to recall that she has some talent for hex removal.” She drummed her fingers on the tabletop. After a few seconds she said, “Okay, here’s how we play it. Take the human and question him separately. Do whatever’s required to get all the information he has. Humane treatment is not a concern.”
A security guard nodded and moved toward Holgersen.
Shit. Sacrificing yourself is one thing, but you don’t get to decide that for Holgersen. Pretty sure he’s not willing to be tortured to protect Hexing House.
Time to tell the truth, then.
But suppose they don’t believe it?
Shit.
Even if they do, chances are they’ll kill us anyway.
Shit.
“As for Thea,” Megaira went on. “I say we take her outside and take her wings right now. That might start her talking.”
Thea was still frantically arguing with herself, although it was quickly devolving into nothing but cursing, when Philip came into the room. She couldn’t help but notice an ugly scar on his cheek, courtesy of her talon. It made her feel a little better.
“I told you not to disturb us,” said Megaira.
“I know and I’m sorry, but you’ll want to take this,” Philip said. “Your sister is here to see you.”
Maybe the drugs they’d given her hadn’t entirely worked their way out of Thea’s system, because her first reaction on seeing Alecto come striding into the room with Gordon, Langdon, and Nero in tow was one of irritation. Thea figured if Alecto had come for her, it could only be because Flannery had tipped her off.
That bitch. She promised.
But Alecto’s eyes widened in surprise as they scanned the room and found Thea. Her expression went back to neutral so quickly that the moment would have been lost on someone who didn’t know her. But it wasn’t lost on Thea, and it wouldn’t have been lost on Megaira, either.
She didn’t come for me. She didn’t even know I was here.
“Alecto, how lovely to see you.” Megaira’s face was as flat as her sister’s.
“Likewise, I’m sure.” Alecto glanced at Philip. “Can we get some more chairs and a fresh pot of coffee in here? We may be a while.”
Philip glanced uncertainly at Megaira, but if she was offended at Alecto giving orders in her conference room, she didn’t show it. She merely nodded, and Philip left the room.
“Well,” Megaira said once the new arrivals were settled at the table. She gestured at Thea and Holgersen, who were still cuffed in their own seats, although they’d been moved off to one side, where everyone could see them. “You didn’t look like you were expecting to see these two here. Maybe they were telling the truth, and you didn’t send them? Or maybe you just weren’t expecting them to get caught.”
“I didn’t send them, I can tell you that much,” Alecto said dryly. “What makes you imagine I’d be sending a human police detective anywhere?”
“So you’re telling me that you had nothing to do with this hex?” Megaira asked. “Your arrival is just a coincidence, is that it?”
Thea felt a flare of fear as she realized that Alecto was probably making similar calculations to the ones Thea herself had made just a short while ago. Here was a handy scapegoat. If she chose to, Alecto could still walk away.
But then, even if she was prone to dishonesty, which she wasn’t, walking away was not Alecto’s style.
“Oh, I had everything to do with the hex.” Alecto gave her sister a tight smile. “That was an official action on the part of Hexing House. But Thea had no part in it. I couldn’t tell you what she’s doing here.”
“What are you doing here?” Frederick asked Thea.
; “An excellent and necessary question, but it can wait,” said Megaira. “I’m more interested in what Alecto is doing here.”
“That should be obvious,” Alecto said. “We need to come to an understanding. Oh, and I’m sure it’s equally obvious that we would’ve taken several safety precautions. You’ve seen for yourself we can infiltrate your systems. It wouldn’t be a good idea to try to hurt us or detain us against our will.”
“I assure you, I have no interest in keeping you here,” Megaira muttered.
Alecto went on as if her sister hadn’t spoken. “What you’ve just experienced here was a small warning shot, intentionally mild. We have our own weapons now. You are no longer any more of a threat to us than we are to you.”
“So after all your self-righteous interference with our hex research, you went and made one of your own,” said Megaira.
“Pretty much,” Alecto agreed. “Did you like the flu-like symptoms we worked in there? It wasn’t easy developing a hex that would target more than just vices and virtues. I bet you’d love to get your hands on that research.”
Megaira let out a puff of exasperated laughter. “You really do have an endless supply of nerve.”
Thea was inclined to agree with Megaira on that one. She knew enough to keep her mouth shut, but it was all she could do to control her outrage. Alecto was just as bad as her sister. They were supposed to be finding a solution to the problem of the superhex, not meeting it with one of their own.
And what about the rest of them? Had the board approved this? The presence here of three department heads suggested they had.
Damn you all.
“We didn’t make it to sell it,” Alecto said. “Unlike you, we don’t consider it a viable product. In fact, we hope to never use it again. We’re only trying to protect ourselves.”
By getting into an arms race. Because that always works so well.
“Protect yourselves from what?” Megaira asked. “We’ve never threatened you.”
Lasting Fury (Hexing House Book 2) Page 18