“Don’t try to be a hero, kid,” Jackie warned, hovering inches above the roof. “I know we just met, and our family ties are a little strained, but I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Are you shitting me?” I held up my forearm to cut through the wind stinging my eyes. “What about the hundreds of other people around here?”
She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes again. “Collateral damage.”
“How about I collaterally damage your face?” I edged forward. This woman wasn’t family; she was blood. Big difference.
“Do you want the same lesson as Wallace?”
“Why bother?” I gritted my teeth and surged through the storm, banking on the fact that my speed was the superior force. “I never learn!”
When I reached her, I didn’t slow. The second my shoulder made contact with her chest, the scenery blurred and fell out from under us—along with my stomach and the empty feeling it’d left behind.
Involuntary panic washed over my body as the ground rushed toward us, hail slicing my neck and face. If it hadn’t been for the rush of wind, her scream would’ve probably destroyed my eardrums. Not that it was warranted. Her unnatural gusts caught us feet from the pavement, suspending both of our bodies mid-air.
A heinous roar sounded in the distance.
Glass shattered; signs flew. I didn’t want to hit a woman, but I felt dangerously close to self-defense. Hell, I’d be defending everyone on campus. Wasn’t that why I did neighborhood rounds? To protect people?
She struggled against me as I made a desperate attempt to find footing. The air was her domain. We needed to get down on the ground.
“I can’t concentrate!” she shrieked, clawing at my back.
“Well, tough shit,” I ground out. “I need to subdue you.”
“No!”
I don’t want to do this, I thought—two seconds before I headbutted her.
Jackie’s struggles fell lax as our wind escort rushed away, leaving her to catch the brunt of our fall. Being the gentleman that I was, I rolled off the second we made contact. After all, it’d been my experience that Dynari powers go off kilter with strong emotions or lack of focus, and this woman had experienced both. Her weather powers would be out of commission for a while.
No sooner had the words entered my mind, the wind stopped. All together. Bricks and debris rained from the sky, dragging the scent of ozone, and Jackie started to stir. I took that as my cue to get moving.
Time to find Sis and Wallace.
CHAPTER 19
Pain is a funny thing. Your first brush with it, however minor, seems like the end of the world. Then you get some miles behind you, suffer a tragedy or two, and suddenly you’ve got a high threshold for the stuff. You take in a scene with distant eyes, while everyone around you runs screaming. God only knows which of you is worse off.
Needless to say, I had a tendency to keep a cool head in emergencies. Since Rena’s scream had erupted from the other side of the Student Union, I started there. Nothing. I made a sweep of the perimeter, edging around uprooted trees and a transformer fire—still nothing. I slipped inside.
The tornado sirens had died out, replaced by wailing ambulances. With the outside threat eliminated, I figured now was as good a time as any to prompt a mass evacuation. What was one more ear-piercing sound, anyway?
I pulled the fire alarm.
Students in formalwear rushed past me, panicked and disoriented. As if the trauma here wasn’t bad enough, most of the poor bastards would be sick in a matter of days—and they didn’t even know it. Something I could only assume to be guilt churned in my stomach.
If we’d caught on to this shit sooner, they’d be fine. Hell, if I’d spent more time on the virus instead of the roster, maybe we’d know how to help them. I should’ve tracked down the New England cases. I should’ve raided ERA’s headquarters. I should’ve—
No. There was no use dwelling on it now.
I stretched to survey the area. For whatever reason, people were always dumber in numbers. They bottlenecked at the main lobby doors instead of finding alternative exits. It was probably posted on the damn wall, for cryin’ out loud. But whatever, they were away from most of the viral pixie dust now.
No one I recognized surfaced in the next thirty seconds, so I made my way to the emergency tent being set up outside. Wallace and Rena must’ve got into something elsewhere. Or maybe they had to flee. This night was all kinds of screwed up. Anything could’ve happened to them.
A flash of orange caught my eye amidst the crowd, and I reached out to grab Rena’s roommate. “Hey, hold on a second.”
Her panicked gaze flicked between my face and the nearest escape route. “I, uh…”
“Gabby, right?” I winced at the open gash across her palm. “Have you seen Rena or my brother? Maybe Aiden Ross?”
She shook her head. “N-Not for a while.”
“That’s okay,” I said, snatching some bandages and a Mylar packet from a box that had just been unloaded. “You up for finding ‘em with me?”
That earned me a meek little nod.
Great. Now she clammed up. Maybe I just had to get the ball rolling. “So, Maverick told you about us, huh?”
Her back went rigid.
“It's okay,” I repeated, tearing the wrappers open. “You’re a smart girl. I know you value your life. I just wanted to get it out in the open before we take off.”
She bristled.
“Here.” I handed her the bandage and draped the shiny blanket around her shoulders. “You’ll have to clean that later, but it’ll do in the meantime.”
Gabby covered the wound and pulled the blanket tighter, her face a mask of traumatized indifference. “Thanks.”
“No prob.” I looked around. Grabbing her and blurring on out of here would be easiest, but there wasn’t much room to maneuver. Plus, I had a feeling there was something wrong with her—something more than the chaos around us. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. “Let’s go.”
We slipped through the crowds and edged around damaged buildings, making surprisingly quick work of the south side of campus. When we rounded the corner to head north, I caught sight of the wreckage before she did. My eyes took in the scene in a flash—leveled fitness center, strewn trees, paramedics pulling gurneys down the embankment.
Gabby gasped a second later.
So help me, if I found any of mine injured, everyone associated with ERA would die. I didn’t care about the consequences or what it meant for the future. If Faye’s screw-up hurt anyone I cared about, I would dance in her blood.
I gritted my teeth and sped up.
A massive support beam sailed out of the heaviest debris, causing the earth to shudder upon impact. Response crews were getting here fast, but not that fast. It had to be Wallace.
And if he was looking for survivors, he must’ve already crossed paths with Rena. She was his priority. There was no way he’d let his soon-to-be wife anywhere near that place, though. Way too dangerous. She had to be a safe distance away.
I paused for a second on the hill, taking note of every shadowy figure. Firefighter, random person, cop, other cop, EMT…
“There.”
“Huh?”
Gabby pointed to a small, kneeling figure in the grass. Maybe fifty feet away. “I think that’s her.”
We hurried over, and sure enough, Rena hovered over someone’s motionless body. She trembled on her knees in the mud, her dress torn and muddy. “He’s gone.”
“Ree…” Gabby started forward, huddled under the blanket.
Ah, hell.
Flashing red and blue lights played over my little blonde sister, making the whole thing seem surreal. “S-Something happened.”
“No…no…” Gabby’s knees gave out, and she clutched at her stomach.
“Gabby!” Rena reached for her friend over the body, eyes wide with horror. That’s when I noticed who she’d been blocking—Aiden Ross. My insides lurched.
“I’
m okay,” she hissed. “I am. Just…”
She trailed off and cocked her head to the side in concentration.
Rena pushed herself up. “What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
Baby? What the hell has been going on with these people?
“No, it’s just…” Gabby reached out with trembling fingers and grazed the side of his neck. “He’s breathing.”
Rena paled. “What?”
“It’s shallow. Too shallow. Oh, God. We need a doctor over here!”
Shit. I chose that moment to intervene, kneeling on the other side of Aiden’s body. “Hey, you sure about this?”
“I know a pulse when I feel one,” she said, eyes scanning the darkness. “Believe me.”
“But if he’s all experimental and shit, we can’t draw attention to him. What if their medication mixes with whatever ERA pumped into him?”
Gabby turned on me. “You’d rather he die?”
Oh no. I wasn’t going to answer that one. Back in sixth grade, my teacher asked what we’d do if we were stranded in a boat with four people and three life vests. I said kill the one asking questions. She gave me detention.
Sadistic bitch.
“Gabby,” Rena started, her eyes gleaming in the low light. “I shook him. Hard. He didn’t wake up. I know how difficult it is to see him like this, but—”
“He could be comatose and unresponsive.” Gabby scrunched her brows. “Did he get hit in the head?”
“Yeah, kind of. During the storm…”
“We gotta get him to a hospital.”
“What about Faye’s creepy smoke shit?” I cut in. “Maybe she can reverse it.”
Rena’s face hardened. “Where is she?”
I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder. “I ran into Corynn, and she blabbed the whole thing. Said Faye threatened her little brother to force her compliance. They’re supposed to rendezvous at the parking garage beside the library, and I think she’s countin’ on us to pull her out.”
She pushed a strand of blood-matted hair away from her face. “What about Wallace?”
“He’s still unearthing stuff, isn’t he?”
Something heavy shook the ground again, and we had our answer.
“I’ll get her,” I said, grateful for the excuse to get away. It wasn’t that I begrudged them their concern, because I didn’t. Aiden Ross was a nice kid. Hell, I’d nicknamed him Scrawny McFreckles. I just sucked at the comforting thing.
Fortunately, free of a human companion, I could use my speed to full potential. I whipped around downed lines and turned cars like nobody’s business. Within a minute, I was on the other side of campus and charging up the stairs to the parking garage.
As I took the last few steps, I braced myself for what I might walk into. If Corynn was around, we’d all be powerless. That made it a three-on-two fight. I’d rush Maverick, maybe throw him over the side. If Corynn got behind me, I could—
Thud. Something hit the concrete.
I rounded the corner and froze in my tracks. “Holy shit.”
My eyes raked every corner of the scene, forcing the pieces together. Faye lay injured with Maverick gaping in shock. Gail was noticeably absent, and Corynn had just whirled around with a bloody screwdriver.
Man, I just missed something awesome.
She panicked at the sight of me, probably crashing from her adrenaline high, and backed away. “I, uh…need to get out of here.”
“You think?”
I held out my hand and we ran down the stairs together. Faye might’ve been temporarily out of commission, but I wouldn’t put it past her to have a backup plan. Maverick was probably armed with a doomsday device, and thanks to the Nullari effect, I didn’t have my reflexes. No thanks.
We made it to the sidewalk, and I caught Jackie skulking off out of the corner of my eye. “Hold on. We need to make a detour.”
Corynn nodded, panting and clutching the screwdriver like a lifeline.
“Hey!” I yelled, and trotted over to the bushes. “Jackie, wait.”
“No!” Jackie held her hands up. “I don’t want any more trouble. Just let me go.”
“I think not.”
Her watering eyes pleaded with me. “Please. I helped you once.”
“How did y—”
“Faye had something on her, too, Cole,” Corynn explained, breathing hard as she came up behind me. “She was gonna kill her.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Kill someone when she could potentially use them? That’s not like Faye.”
“It is when you screw up,” Jackie cut in. “She’s got my son, Nicholas. My son. He’s eight.”
I stiffened. Eight. The same age Wallace and I had been when we lost our parents. “Where is he?”
“ERA’s headquarters. They’ve got some lab people keeping an eye on him. She said if I did this, I’d get a position within the organization. He’d get to go home with me.”
Ugh. I rubbed my forehead and drew a deep breath before digging my keys out. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. My Jeep is parked on a side street. You’re going to find it and get back up to ERA before they do. We’ll hold ‘em off for a while, but you can’t afford to screw around.”
Jackie gaped. “Are you serious?”
“I’m always serious.” I shoved the keys into her hand. “There’s a 9mm under the driver’s seat. I took it off a gangbanger a few weeks ago, so it’s not registered. If those lab dweebs won’t pass the kid over, give ‘em lead poisoning. I don’t care.”
She trembled, fat tears spilling down her face. “Thank you so much, Nicholas. You have no idea how much—”
“Don’t thank me. Just get out of here.”
Jackie nodded. “I know we’re not supposed to have contact, but…please say hi to Clara for me.”
Not supposed to have contact? I started to say something, but she was already hurrying away with my keys—stranding me in hell.
“So, what’re we gonna do?” Corynn latched onto my sleeve, still sneaking glances back at the parking garage. “We need to get movin’.”
Why is it always on me to form a plan? I groaned. “Okay, we’re gonna run across campus and meet up with the others. I figure Faye and Maverick will follow us, which will be a hell of a lot easier than asking them to come with. Then we need to con Faye into healing Aiden Ross.”
Her lips pursed. “Think they’ll try somethin’?”
“We’ll soon find out.”
~
We found the others just as Wallace laid Gail’s body in the slick grass next to Aiden Ross. Is she dead? The three conscious parties were too busy strategizing to notice our approach.
“Change of plans,” I called out from the lot behind them, dragging Corynn by the hand. “Our Nullari friend snapped and stabbed ol’ one-eye in the chest, so I couldn’t ask about the smoke. We kinda adopted the G-T-F-O strategy and ran.”
Wallace jerked his head toward Corynn. “You stabbed Faye?”
Corynn took a step forward, holding her hands out. “She used me, Wallace. She was going to keep using me. I thought it was over, but she threatened to burn my—”
I cut her off. “We get it. She’s evil. If I cancelled out her voodoo smoke, I’d take the opportunity to stab her, too. Repeatedly.”
“It won’t take her long to recover,” Wallace said, rubbing his neck. “You should probably get out of here.”
Corynn pulled back as if he’d hit her. “I don’t have anywhere to go. I’m staying at the clinic.”
“So, go home.”
Damn. No one said anything after that, not that we could hear much over the shouts and machines behind us. If we weren’t off the beaten path, I had no doubt some random schmuck would waltz into our supernatural standoff.
“He’s right,” Rena finally spoke up, clearing her throat. “You could beat her to Cleveland, get your stuff, and then head to the airport.”
Corynn shook her head. “I had a hand in this mess, and I’m not going to leave you guys here to fight al
one. Faye isn’t the endgame. I can’t leave until we find a way to stop ERA once and for all.”
“What a pity,” Faye called, slipping out of the shadows behind Wallace. “And here I was, prepared to offer you a parting gift.”
CHAPTER 20
“Faye,” Rena acknowledged, barely restraining her anger. “It’s not like you to eavesdrop.”
“And it’s not like you to conspire.” My so-called great-aunt made her way down the bank, using her manservant for balance. “Or is it? Perhaps I was mistaken.”
“I knew it,” Maverick yelled, shoving through to get to Gail. “What the hell did you do to her?”
“Saved her from the wreckage,” Wallace spat, his voice uncharacteristically dangerous. “Have any idea why she would be trapped in an air duct?”
An air duct? Gail released the virus, and then got trapped when the tornado went off course? There was justice in the world.
“No…” Maverick dropped to his knees, not noticing his booty call a few feet behind him. “She…she would’ve heard it coming.”
“Ever been in one of those shafts?” Corynn asked him. “Not so easy to navigate.”
“She’s smarter than you,” he insisted. “There’s no way you got out and she didn’t.”
Faye broke through the circle and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right. I’ll take care of it.”
“A-Aiden got hurt during the storm, too…” Rena’s voice cracked, and she tightened her fists. “Could you…?”
Wallace reached over and took her hand, causing something to glint with the movement. I squinted.
There, encircling her forearm, was his watch—our father’s watch. My nostrils flared. How the hell did I miss that earlier? If Wallace was going to pass it off to someone, he should’ve told me.
Maverick stood up and toed Aiden’s body with his boot. “You sure he’s not already dead?”
Faye sighed and bunched her pants to crouch down. She turned his head to the side, assessing the wound with hard eyes. “A strong blow like this would’ve engaged the implant’s sensor and shut him down. Not to worry, though. He appears salvageable.”
Honesty (Mark of Nexus) Page 12