by A. P. Kensey
Haven turned to Dormer. “Where did Kamiko take Colton?”
He winced in pain as he stood. “Come. I have something to show you.”
Roku and Bastian fell into step behind her as she followed Dormer into the water processing room. A broken cot lay against one of the water tanks. The middle of the room was a mess of smashed equipment and broken glass. At the very top of the pile rested a single piece of paper with strange markings written on one side. Dormer plucked it from the pile and handed it to Haven.
“This was waiting for us after Kamiko left. She must have known she wouldn’t be here much longer.”
“Is this Japanese?” asked Haven. She looked up in frustration. “I have no idea what it says! Why leave a message in another language?”
“Because she knows I can read it,” said Roku. Everyone looked at him. “She must have known I was with you.”
Haven almost asked how they knew each other, then she saw the pained look on Roku’s face and thought better of it. She handed him the piece of paper.
He studied it carefully. “These are coordinates. Longitude and latitude.”
“Coordinates for what?”
“The rest of the message might reveal the answer.”
“Well, come on!” said Bastian. “Out with it!”
Roku looked at Haven. “Kamiko wants you to know that she has Colton and will keep him as her own until the day you feel strong enough to challenge her. The coordinates on this note are the location where he is being held.”
“What are they?” asked Dormer. He kicked away some of the rubble and found a stack of papers strewn across the floor. He flipped through the pages and pulled out a map. Roku read off some numbers and Dormer made a small black X with a pencil, not too far from the Dome’s location. “That can’t be right,” he said.
“What’s wrong?”
“Those coordinates are in the exact same spot as Bernam’s old headquarters. You remember the black building connected to the medical facility?”
“The one I blew up,” said Haven. “Yeah, I remember. The whole place melted into the ground.”
“It would seem that is where Kamiko is waiting.”
The doors opened and June and Marius walked into the room. The blackish, poisoned tint was already fading from Marius’s skin. His eyes were bright and alert.
“Corva is alive,” he said. His voice caught in his throat as he turned to Dormer and said, “Marius is sorry about your brother. To do such a thing, to make this cure, he is a hero.”
Dormer nodded.
“So,” said Marius. He turned to Haven. “What will you do?”
“I’m going to bring Colton back. And I’m going to make sure Kamiko never hurts anyone else ever again.”
“I’ll take a piece of that action,” said Bastian.
“Me too,” said Roku.
“I feel I owe it to my brother to pay her a little visit,” said Dormer.
“What about you, Marius?” asked Haven.
He shook his head, somewhat sadly. “I am not leaving Corva again. I will stay.”
“So will I,” said June. “I’ll watch out for Noah and the others while you four take care of business.”
“Thank you,” said Haven. She turned to Roku, Bastian, and Dormer. “Well boys, let’s go finish what Kamiko started.”
39
Colton looked out a window in the helicopter as the Jeep drive up to the Dome and stopped next to the hole in the ground. The helicopter rose higher into the air until the Jeep became a speck, then disappeared far below. He imagined Haven stepping up next to the hole and looking in; he could picture her face when she saw the ruin within—her second home to be attacked by people who wanted her dead or as a lab specimen.
Colton turned away from the window and settled back in his seat. Kamiko sat across the cabin, staring at him. The passenger area of the chopper looked like the inside of a luxury van, which struck Colton as odd for many reasons, the biggest being the twin machine guns sticking out from the aircraft’s nose. Each seat was made from molded leather and swiveled freely. Kamiko turned hers slowly back and forth and chewed on some of her hair.
“Do you love her?” she asked suddenly.
Colton said, “Who?” even though he knew exactly who she meant.
Kamiko tilted her head to the side and smiled. “True love doesn’t exist, you know.”
“Is that what Alistair told you?”
She laughed; a soft, feminine sound. “He didn’t have to tell me. I already knew.”
“Who broke your heart?”
Her smile faded and her eyes darkened.
“Whoever he is,” said Colton, “or was, I hope he didn’t learn the hard way that it’s a bad idea to make you angry.”
She smiled again and looked up at the ceiling. Colton thought he saw tears welling up in her eyes. There was a faint flash of blue from her pupils and her eyes were dry again.
“Most men are intimidated by me,” she said.
“No kidding.”
“But you are not.”
“I’ve been around plenty of crazy.”
A thin strand of lightning cracked out from her hand like a whip and slashed him across the face, then disappeared just as quickly. His skin sizzled where it struck his cheek.
“Perhaps you want another scar to match the one I already gave you,” said Kamiko. Her breath hissed out through her clenched teeth and she shook with anger. A moment later, the anger vanished, and she was turning her chair slowly from side to side as if nothing had happened.
Colton touched the crescent scar on the side of his face. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“My home.”
“And how is the underworld this time of year?”
Another lightning whip snapped out, but Colton was ready. He absorbed the blow easily and felt renewed by the powerful energy that filled his veins. The whip crackled across his skin as Kamiko tried to hurt him, then she gave up and the lightning dissipated into the air as if blown away by a calm wind.
“You learn quickly,” she said. Colton thought he heard a hint of appreciation in her voice.
He looked out the window and tried to force himself to think about other things. Kamiko closed her eyes and appeared to be sleeping. Colton looked toward the front of the helicopter. The cockpit was closed off from the rest of the chopper—the only way to take out the pilot would be to go outside and back in through one of the doors up front. As if Kamiko were reading his mind, she opened her eyes and shook her head ever so slightly.
The helicopter slowly descended. The ground below turned from a light beige to a darker clay color, with less plant life and more hulking boulders dotting the landscape. Colton had a sinking feeling that he recognized the area—as much as anyone could recognize a generic patch of nowhere in the middle of Montana—and as the helicopter touched down, he was certain he knew where they were going.
“But it was destroyed,” he said.
Kamiko stood and gently touched his scar. She smiled and pulled the door open. Wind from the blades blasted into the cabin and Colton held his head down as he followed Kamiko outside.
A tall building stood over the ruins of Bernam’s old headquarters. The mirrored, modern architecture of his square office had been replaced with a palatial spire of twisting black metal that reached up toward the sky like the turret of a futuristic castle. The sides of the building were lined with solar panels that hugged and encircled the building every few feet up its length like enormous belts.
“What do you think?” shouted Kamiko over the helicopter noise.
Colton couldn’t answer. His voice had died in his throat as he looked up at the powerful building. Something about it made him feel that it would be pointless to resist any organization that could construct such a thing.
The helicopter lifted off and flew away as Kamiko led Colton to the base of the building. A flat black door rested in a deep groove. Three security cameras looked down at them as they stood outside, waiting
. She looked right into one of the cameras and a small light below the lens flashed green. There was a deep metal clank and the door swung inward. Colton followed Kamiko into the darkness of a cool hallway, dark except for a dim red light glowing somewhere far above. It felt more like the entrance to a nightclub than to a villain’s lair.
She walked down the long hallway, Colton following closely behind. He looked up and saw the ceiling was a hundred feet from the narrow floor. Cameras hidden behind black domes dotted the ceiling every few feet, just barely visible in the dim red light—and something else was up there as well. Small objects with holes in the center. Colton realized they were sentry guns. They were aimed down at the floor at different angles so any unwanted guests would have to cross through a sheet of bullets to get past the hallway.
The door at the end of the hall opened automatically as Kamiko approached. Colton stepped through the doorway, expecting a maze of claustrophobic tunnels that led to countless rooms. Instead, the inside of the building was mostly hollow.
Like an ancient cathedral, the floor was open to the peak of the spire far above. Supporting arches ringed the massive floor and helped to support the walls, but higher up, the building tapered inward and supported itself. Colton imagined it was like being inside the shell of a skyscraper shaped like a giant rocket. The polished floor was multi-tiered, with steps leading up and down between different levels. There was a lounge area up a small flight of stairs to his left and a command center with rows of tables topped with sleek black computers to his right. The highest level was against the far wall up a steep flight of steps—a bedroom with a dozen byōbu folding screens used as walls. The byōbu were painted with vibrant colors and depicted forest scenes filled with animals. One of them showed a large feathered bird rising up into the air, its bright feathers burning with blue fire.
“Where is everyone?” asked Colton. He was expecting his voice to echo throughout the empty chamber, but instead it seemed to die inches from his face. The room was soundproofed.
“You killed them at the Dome,” she said without anger. She walked up the set of steps to her left and Colton followed. The wide, circular lounge area was lined with black, overstuffed couches, black end tables, and even blacker coffee tables.
“I think I know your favorite color,” said Colton.
Kamiko looked at him demurely and sat on a couch. Her slender frame barely made a dent in its plush fabric.
“Who’s going to push all those buttons?” he asked, pointing over to the command center. Red lights flashed across racks filled with various equipment.
“Alistair will send someone. He always does.” She ran her finger in small circles on the seat next to her. “But now I have you to keep me company, haven’t I?”
“Why do you work for him in the first place?”
She looked at him knowingly. “Are you trying to appeal to my reasonable side?”
“Maybe.”
“I can assure you, I have none.”
Blood rushed to Colton’s face. “You must want something! Who teams up with a guy like Alistair? You think he cares about you or anyone else who does his bidding? He would toss you aside like garbage if he thought he couldn’t use you. He probably will anyway, once he’s finished.”
“Then he is no different from anyone else in this world,” said Kamiko. “You think people care about you, Colton? They don’t. They only care about what you can do for them. I was lucky enough to realize that truth before it was too late.”
“So now you just get what you can, while you can. Is that about it?”
“It’s the perfect relationship,” she said. “He gets what he wants, and I get what I want.”
“So you do want something.”
She smiled again and turned away slightly. Colton couldn’t tell if she was trying to flirt with him or if she was just plain crazy. “Every girl does,” she said.
“Well?”
“You’re going to make me say it?”
“Yeah.”
“I want you to stay with me.”
Colton looked at her for a long time, pretending to think it over. She waited with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. He let her wait a little bit longer. “Why do you want Haven so badly, anyway?” he asked.
Kamiko grinned wickedly. “You’re smart enough to figure it out.”
“Maybe I’m not.”
She sighed. “Why would any girl with blue flame want to be the only girl with blue flame in the world?”
Colton’s eyes widened with understanding. “So the Phoenix power would be forced to go to you.”
She nodded. “I simply want to eliminate my competition.”
“But I thought you already—” and then he stopped. Dormer and everyone else at the Dome thought Kamiko had already received the Phoenix power instead of Haven. She was so strong that it was an easy assumption to make. But if she didn’t have it, and neither did Haven, then who did? Was it possible that no one had received the ability?
“Already what?” asked Kamiko.
“Nothing,” said Colton. “It was nothing.”
She eyed him suspiciously.
“So,” he continued, “what do you think Alistair’s going to do with you when he finds out you didn’t improve the virus?”
Kamiko shrugged and inspected her fingernails. “I’m not worried about it.”
“You should be.”
“He needs me,” she said.
“But for how long? What happens when his charity runs out?”
“I’ll be long gone by then.” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “So what is your answer?”
“Answer for what?”
Anger flashed quickly over her face. “Will you stay?”
Colton sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Nah,” he said at last, then looked into Kamiko’s eyes. “I’m in love with somebody else—the person you were looking for the moment you set foot in the Dome. I don’t know how many girls with blue flame you killed before you started looking for Haven, but I promise that you’ll never get your hands on her as long as I’m around.”
Dark blue fire ignited from Kamiko’s skin and swept over her body as if she had been doused with kerosene and set ablaze. Her eyes looked like swirling pits of blue lava. The energy coursing through her body was so intense that Colton could see the outline of her bones through her glowing blue skin.
She stood, fists clenched, and leaned over him. He backed away from the heat. It burned his eyes and made him sweat. The table he was sitting on burst into flames. He kicked it away and fell to the floor.
Over in the command center, there was a ping, and a soft, mechanical voice said, “Proximity…alert. Proximity…alert.”
Kamiko smiled down at Colton and tiny bolts of lightning crackled over her teeth. “You were saying?”
40
The black tower loomed ahead, thrust upward from the desert like a spear. Dormer drove the Jeep straight toward the building. None of the four passengers had said a word since they left the Dome. Haven rode in the passenger’s seat and tried not to think that Colton might be dead. Roku and Bastian sat in the back, each absorbed in their own thoughts.
A heavy weight of seriousness had settled over all of them when the black building first appeared on the horizon. It had been built atop the ruins of the blocky, mirrored headquarters of Bernam, Alistair’s old boss. Haven and Alistair had destroyed that building in a vicious fight—a fight that should have killed him.
The top of the tower glinted in the sunlight like a beacon, calling Haven to her fate, whatever that might be. Two Sources and two Conduits—each of the others among the strongest she’d ever met— should be more than enough to handle Kamiko.
Then why are you so nervous? thought Haven.
She didn’t have an answer. All she had were sweaty palms and a fluttering stomach. She wanted to get everything over with so she could go back to the Dome and sit with Colton under the Grove willow. He was the one who had suggested the correct way to bring the
floating blue lights into existence, although she hadn’t had a chance to tell him yet. Haven and Colton had wandered out to the willow tree late one night to pay their respects to Elena. Afterward, they ended up sitting at the edge of the teardrop pond under the willow, and Colton offered one of his many suggestions on how to create the lights. Haven had returned to the pond the next day and was surprised to find that he had finally given her the answer. Hers couldn’t float up into the air like Elena’s—not yet, anyway—but they could dance over the surface of the pond like tiny blue fireflies.
Haven smiled and tried to keep the warm memory at the forefront of her mind as she looked up at the black building. She could see no obvious entrance at the base. It appeared as if the entire bottom of the outer wall was a series of pits and grooves, almost as if the architect had scooped out huge pieces of material with an enormous spoon.
A plume of red sand erupted next to the Jeep and a machine gun with a rotating barrel rose quickly from the ground. The gun swung around to track the Jeep and the barrel gave off a high-pitched drone as it spun to a blur.
“Sentry guns!” shouted Bastian. He stood up in the back seat and stuck his arms out toward the long barrel of the gun. Bright yellow orbs of plasma grew from his shoulders and moved quickly down to his closed fists. He slammed his fists together and a jet of molten energy shot out toward the gun. The sentry gun managed to fire off a single bullet. It sank into the side of the Jeep with a loud THONK right before the stream of energy hit the barrel of the gun and liquefied the metal.
“So much for the surprise attack,” said Bastian. He sat down in the back seat and the yellow orbs shrank and disappeared into his hands.
“How do we get in?” asked Haven.
Dormer drove the Jeep up to the base of the building and circled it slowly, looking for a door. Another gun popped out of the ground ahead of them but Haven was quick enough to hit it before it rose all the way up. A quick burst of blue plasma and the gun was a glowing puddle of liquid metal.
“We might have to make our own entrance,” said Dormer.