by Eva Chase
The tension twisted deeper, right around my chest. Lisa caught my expression. What? Do you think there’s something wrong?
I don’t know. It just seems like too many coincidences. The guard still hadn’t shown up. I’d been sent on this chore at the last minute. Langdon had decided to lighten up on the rules for Lisa at exactly the same time. What were the chances of all those pieces fitting perfectly together?
Unless they’d wanted to give us exactly this chance. To throw us together and see how we took advantage of the situation.
But why would they— Lisa started.
The door swung open. Footsteps thundered into the room. Before I could even blink, guards had blocked both ends of the aisle. “5-81, 3-88, you’re coming with us.”
“Why?” Lisa said, paling. “We didn’t do anything. We’re supposed to be here.”
One of the guards grabbed her, ignoring her protests. She yelped. I lunged after her, but the two guys on my end yanked me back by the arms. The two who’d snatched her were already dragging her away.
My two hauled me toward the door after them. My muscles coiled, torn between the desire to fight my way to her and the uncertainty of what I’d do if I even managed to. Playing along had worked for me for seven years.
But I suddenly had the feeling my time was up. Mine—and Lisa’s too.
Langdon was standing by the doorway. He smiled, thin and sharp, as the guards ushered Lisa out the door. His gaze turned to me. His eyes glinted with such icy satisfaction that my heart stuttered.
Lisa! I shouted after her in my thoughts. We’ll get out of this. I’ll come for you, and we’ll break our way out. I promise.
I couldn’t tell if she even heard me.
12
Lisa
“We already know everything,” the researcher said, leaning so close I could smell stale coffee on his breath. “We just need you to confirm it so we know you’re compliant.”
And what happened if I wasn’t compliant?
I didn’t want to ask that question out loud—to even think it too loud. I was keeping my talent locked up as tightly as I could, not even risking reaching out to Jason. The vibe in the lab room was too tense. The guards who’d hustled me in there stood with arms crossed and faces grim. The three researchers in their lab coats had been circling me since the moment I’d walked in. I felt like a swimmer surrounded by sharks.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said for the fourth time. “I went to the library to get a book. Dr. Langdon said I could do it—that I didn’t even have to hurry. You can ask him.”
One of the female researchers pursed her lips. “Dr. Langdon wanted to know what you’d do once you got there. You’re talking as if we couldn’t know what you really were doing. Interesting how that one camera cut out right after you arrived. But we set up additional auditory monitoring with a particularly high sensitivity in the room ahead of time.”
My heart sunk as she held up a boxy gray device. She pushed a button on the side.
We’d tried to be quiet, but there was no way to have completely silent sex that I knew of. The rustle of shifted clothing and the panting of urgent breaths filled the room. My cheeks flared. That moment with Jason had been the best experience of my life. Thinking about these people listening in, turning our intimacy into data for their records, made my stomach turn.
“Pretty strange sounds for someone who was just picking out a book,” the woman said dryly. She shut off the recording. “We’ve been watching you since you arrived here, 3-88. You’ve barely said three sentences to subject 5-81—that we could hear. How long have you been communicating with him through your thoughts?”
Shit. They’d guessed it. Of course they had. I fought to keep my panic under control. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you have a reputation for wild behavior,” the first researcher said, tilting his head to the side. “But I don’t know many women of any temperament who’d jump into sexual relations with a man they’d barely spoken to.”
I made myself shrug, my heart pounding hard. “You know at least one. I was horny, and he was there. So we scratched an itch. Can you blame us, being stuck in here all day, every day?”
My temper had gotten away from me a little there. I pressed my lips together, willing the anger down. Calm and cool. I had to stay cool. I couldn’t give them anything.
“I see,” said the woman, sounding like she didn’t believe me at all. “And how did you know you’d find him in the library?”
“I didn’t. I really was going for a book. He just happened to be there.”
“You didn’t look surprised to see him,” the man put in.
That was my fault. I’d been too fucking pleased with myself for contriving a way to visit him there. Except I hadn’t really contrived it. Langdon had set us up. Pushed us into a situation we couldn’t help taking advantage of. They must have realized the failed camera was Jason’s doing too.
But they wanted my confirmation. “And how did you know you wouldn’t be caught on camera,” the woman said. “Why did you think you could get away with that lie?”
“I was just hoping,” I said, scrambling for a halfway decent answer and coming up with none. “In the moment, I didn’t even care who saw us.”
The third researcher, a petite woman with a short blond bob, shook her head. She spoke with a smoker’s rasp. “I’m disappointed by all these lies. We brought you here to uncover the truth. To bring out your full potential and see just how much you’re capable of. You should want to know as much as we do. We can’t get anywhere if you refuse to even admit your abilities.”
And what would they do once they found my “full potential”? How would they use me? No one went to all this trouble out of the generosity of their hearts.
When I didn’t speak, she clapped her hands. “All right then. If that’s how you want to continue, we’ll have to find other ways to exert pressure. You say you barely know subject 5-81. Then you won’t mind at all if we put him through some... discomfort, I assume?”
She arched an eyebrow at me. My blood ran cold. Was she serious? What were they planning to do to Jason?
I couldn’t let them hurt him. But what could I do to stop them? Listening to their thoughts and thinking back at them wasn’t going to interfere with their plans. I could tell them everything I knew and they still might not believe me.
Or they might hope that provoking me would bring out more of my “potential.”
My nerves got the better of me. Before I’d even though about it, I’d pushed my body off the lab table I’d been sitting on and launched myself toward the door.
A stupid move. The guards barged forward to grab me before I’d made it halfway there. They hefted me back down on the table. I went limp, my head drooping, but they only retreated to the ends of the table.
“It looks to me like you care a great deal,” the second woman said. “I look forward to seeing what else you offer us once we get started.” She swiveled on her feet toward the other woman. “I think it’s time we—”
The radio on one of the guard’s belts crackled. The beefy guy raised it to his ear. At the same time, the researchers shot me a wary look.
What did they think I could have done? I was sitting right here in front of them...
Oh. Were they worried I might have somehow conjured that sound with my powers, the same way I could project a thought into their heads if I’d wanted to?
Could I do that?
A jolt of adrenaline shot through me. I didn’t know. I’d never tried. But they seemed to think it was possible.
I’d spent all this time not acknowledging what made me strange and then shutting it away with everyone but Jason. Maybe it was time I stopped ignoring it and hiding it—and found out how far it could take me if I gave myself the chance to control it.
The guard moved to the end of the room, replying to whoever had signaled him. I couldn’t make out the voice on the other end anyway.
But I had to try something before they moved on to their plans for Jason. We had to get out of here now.
“What’s the situation?” the male researcher said to the guard. “Can we proceed as planned?”
The guard nodded. “Everything’s in order.”
What did that mean? Had they already started in on Jason, whatever it was they meant to do to him?
My pulse lurched again. I had to get to him. If we were together, maybe we’d have some chance of escaping. But first I had to get the guards and the researchers out of the way.
The second woman strode to the door, a sickening smile curling her lips. How could I convince the others to leave? If I could project any sound I could picture into their heads—
A sound that wasn’t of my making blared through the room. The warning siren. A light over the door flashed red, like the one in the recreation lounge during that drill. The wail stung my eardrums.
The researchers’ expressions had tensed. They hadn’t been expecting the siren to go off. The drill had been less than a week ago, and Jason had said those only happened every couple months.
This one wasn’t a drill. Something real was going down.
I hadn’t expected it either, but now that it was happening, I had to find a way to use it.
The guard’s radio was crackling again. He barged out of the room, and the one researcher hurried after him. That left just three keeping an eye on me.
I clenched my fingers around the edge of the table. What would make them leave so I could get away?
I dredged up a voice out of my memory. I didn’t even remember whose it was, just not mine. When I concentrated, I could imagine it yelling out as if from a distance, through the door. Gripping the table even harder, I tossed it out toward the guard and the researchers standing in front of me.
Help! Someone, please, come help me! Can anyone hear me? Please!
They heard it. The woman flinched, and the guard’s head jerked toward the door. But they stayed where they were. It wasn’t enough.
What else could I try? I bit my lip. I’d have a better idea if I let myself peek inside their heads.
Every muscle in my body balked. I inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to drain the tension. Then I tentatively opened my mind toward the female researcher. She’d at least looked distressed by my first attempt at shifting them from the room.
The thoughts at the front of her mind were jumbled, fragments of sentences cutting each other off. What the hell is going on? If they— I never signed up for this. I swear, it’s— But what can we do? Dr. Langdon will skewer us if we leave our assigned positions. God, if I’d known I’d end up working for the son of the—
I snatched my awareness back, my pulse racing again. There, that was a thread I could use. They were probably all afraid of going against Langdon’s orders.
So I’d just have to make him give different ones.
The crackle of the guard’s radio was still fresh in my mind. The remaining guard had the same type of device on his belt. And I didn’t think I’d ever be able to forget Langdon’s voice, the chill that seeped into every tone he took.
I suppressed a cringe as I drew it up in my mind. My jaw started to ache where I was clenching my teeth. I aimed my mental projection at my captors a second time.
A sizzle of static. Langdon’s voice sputtering as if through the radio speaker, terse with frustration. All staff, report to the cafeteria now. No exceptions. I don’t care what else you’re doing. Just get over here!
All three of my captors moved then. The guard grabbed his radio, but of course it was silent now. I hoped he’d assume Langdon was too busy with whatever else he was dealing with to stay in contact. The two researchers glanced between me and the door.
“You heard him,” the guard said. “He couldn’t have been clearer about it.” He raised his chin toward me. “We’ll lock her in. Not much trouble she can get up to in here.”
They hurried out without another word. The door thudded shut behind them, with a click as the electronic lock engaging. I hopped off the table and walked up to it, trying the handle as if there was any chance it’d budge for me.
Of course it didn’t. But I knew someone who could short circuit me out of here, if he were able to come.
Jason! Jason, I’m locked in here in the lab hall. I got rid of the staff with me, but I don’t know how long I have before they come back.
13
Jason
Langdon slid his fingers along the baton he’d borrowed from one of the guards. “It’s a shame, really, that you’re so hesitant to admit your talents. Don’t you have any idea what someone like you means to the world?”
“I can’t admit to what isn’t true,” I said.
My voice had gone slightly ragged. My muscles were still stinging from the last few jabs he’d given me. I braced myself against my bed as he raised the baton again.
“No? So there’s no way at all you could stop me from doing this?”
Sparks arched around the baton. He rammed it against my chest, for long enough that my pulse stuttered this time. My jaw clamped tight, my teeth nicking the inside of my cheek. The metallic flavor of blood trickled over my tongue. But I held my abilities in check.
He was almost sure I’d messed with the electricity to kill the camera. Almost. As long as I didn’t confirm it, he couldn’t move on from there to whatever else he had planned for me. I doubted any of those plans were more pleasant than this.
Langdon jerked the baton back, letting the current sizzle out. I sagged over the mattress, holding myself up with my arms. He shook his head. His gray eyes were even flatter than usual, hard as carved stone.
I was so stupid. I should have known that opportunity to be with Lisa was too good to be true. I should have kept my goddamn hormones in check. All those years of carefully restraining myself had gone down the drain.
I didn’t know what they were going to do with me now. And Lisa... They had even more on her. I’d led them right to her talent.
I gritted my teeth against the urge to ask what they’d done with her. The more I showed I cared, the more Langdon would try to use her to manipulate me.
“You don’t even understand what we’re going to achieve here, do you?” he sneered. “Alpha Project is the future of the entire human race. What you can do, anyone must be capable of, if we can learn how to activate those parts of the mind. But you’d rather selfishly keep your talents all to yourself, used for nothing and no one. It’s sickening, Jason. It really is.”
The way he talked, I could almost feel him already taking a scalpel to my brain. That was all we were to him—walking experiments to analyze and dissect. “Alpha Project” my ass. It wasn’t any better than a kid aiming a magnifying glass at ants to see how they burned. He was sickening.
Langdon’s voice fell back into its more familiar cool drawl. “I think it’s time you see just how serious we are about moving forward. I’ll go get your little friend. We’ll see how quiet you stay when you’re watching her take a beating for you.”
Lisa? No! My body stiffened despite my best efforts to hide my reaction. Langdon smiled. He motioned to the other researcher who’d been gaping at us behind him—apparently horrified by what Langdon was doing, but not enough to try to interfere—and the guards. They all marched out. The door closed, and the lock engaged.
I stared at it for several seconds, my head in a whirl. I couldn’t let them hurt Lisa. I was the one who’d gotten her into this mess. If he laid one finger on her...
Our time was up. There was no going back to hiding. Langdon wasn’t going to give up until we’d given him everything he wanted—and God only knew what new tortures he’d inflict on us then.
Was he walking right over there while I—Wait.
He’d left me alone in my bedroom. Locked in, but he already suspected I could short out the cameras. Did he think the electric locks were too powerful for me to affect?
Or had he left me like this on purpose, hoping I’d prov
e what I could do by letting myself out?
It didn’t matter. I couldn’t hold back any longer. He had no idea what I was capable of—and neither did I. But I was going to find out. I was going to get to Lisa and get us out of here or die trying.
Heat licked over me, under my skin, as if eager for release. I shoved myself away from the table and stalked to the door. I needed distraction, chaos, enough to keep the all the guards busy. I had to rock the entire Facility from one end to the other.
Clenching my hands, I closed my eyes and threw my mind out toward the network of wires running through the building. Toward every electrical device they connected to. All of them, all of them, let them fry and burn.
Because if I didn’t pull this off, Langdon would be ramming that baton into Lisa’s side. Making her double over in pain. Grinning while he did it.
A wave of anger and defiance rushed up through me, thicker and hotter than anything I’d ever let myself feel. My gut twisted at the mad careening of it. But this wasn’t the time to keep myself safely under control. This was the time to let it all out.
I was dangerous. And that was what would save us.
I heaved all the energy in me into the electrical system. The pops of the fried cameras and the hiss of the shorted locks crackled through me. Every door in the dorm area and a bunch beyond was clicking open. Every screen in the humming security room was going black. The whole thing in one blow.
The effort made me gasp. A momentary pain jabbed through my skull, but at the same moment the lock to this room disengaged too. I yanked the handle and burst out into the hall.
“Come out!” I shouted, banging on the doors I ran past. “The locks are dead. We can get out.”
At my shout, the other subjects in their rooms tried their doors. They ventured out into the hall, some looking stunned and others excited. A few dashed toward the common rooms. Others followed in my wake, toward the main doors.