Freaking Off the Grid

by L. L. Muir

  “Seven— Oh, too bad, my dear. I had such hope for you.”

  Jamison jumped off the slab and took two quick seconds to shake off the stiffness. Then he straightened and put himself between Skye and the crazy broad on the stage.

  A deep boom shook the floor beneath him and he looked up at the ceiling only to close his eyes and turn away from the rain of dust and rock shaking loose from above.

  Gabriella grinned from the arched doorway. “Wait for it,” she said and pointed to the opening in the roof.

  A roar began from a distance and then grew louder. Jamison wouldn’t have been surprised if Godzilla suddenly stuck his head through the hole and blocked out the light.

  But it wasn’t a monster that came through the hole. It was Lake Mead.

  Jamison grabbed Skye’s hand and she squeezed his fingers as water shot in two streams from opposite sides of the hole and exploded against each other. With Skye beside him, Jamison turned and headed for the people trapped in their seats. But through the splashing torrent, they could see that everyone was standing and moving away, up the stairs that radiated like the arms of a giant star, outward toward the doors. They hadn’t locked themselves in after all. None of them had! Which meant the volunteers from among the Clubs hadn’t been on Gabriella’s side either!

  Are you kidding me? Of course he was relieved for the Hearts, but he was also shaken by the fact that Skye could have sacrificed him for nothing! She would have never forgiven herself!

  Oblivious to his thoughts, Skye grinned at him and threw her arms around his neck in her excitement. When she pulled back, though, she was worried again. “The only staircase I could find, leading out, was just outside Gabriella’s office! Four thousand people can’t get up one little staircase. Not as fast as the water might rise.”

  Jamison looked back at the arena. It was already full and the water splashed against the first row of seats opposite the stage. He looked up at the hole, to guess how fast the water was coming in, but the force of it was dwindling quickly. The water poured straight down from the edges instead of shooting to the middle, and even that downpour was slowing.

  He looked back at the arched doorway that led to the office and the way out. The door was open, but Gabriella was gone.

  “Jamison!” Skye pushed him out of the way just as the Somerled with the invisible thrust tried to take him out, and she went flying up over rows of stone seats. When she landed, the sound of her impact was sickening. He was honestly shocked when she rolled over onto her hands and knees and started to get up.

  “Don’t harm her,” Gabriella hissed from the right. Her blue feathers were dripping wet. “Do only what I told you.”

  The little freak faced Jamison again, but no matter how he braced himself against the stone bench behind him, the kid’s thrust was unstoppable and he went flying. Row after row, he was lifted, then dropped. Then, bruised and banged up, he eventually landed on his butt on a hard rock bench, not far from Skye, but before he could recover any function of his limbs, the kid was in front of him, locking a metal band across him. A metal bar at his back kept him from being able to slide out.

  Not again!

  Jamison swung his right fist around and it would have connected nicely with the guy’s jaw if he hadn’t been a Somerled. As it was, the guy’s face kind of absorbed the impact and Jamison’s arm dropped away with no satisfaction at all.

  Skye reached him at that point and wrapped her arms around his shoulders from the row behind. Jamison glared at the Somerled, but the kid just laughed and walked away.

  Gabriella stepped closer, gloating. “Wait for it,” she repeated, then wagged her eyebrows before she turned and headed back toward the stage and her escape.

  Others had already started pouring through the archway. A woman stuck her head back into the cavern and shouted that they’d found a way out and the tide of bodies turned that direction. Gabriella was cut off. Her sparkling outfit earned her no special privilege and she was left standing back, waiting for a break in the line.

  A warning bell sounded and everyone froze. The gray double-doors began closing, and no matter what anyone did to block them, they still shut tight.

  “She’s sealing us in,” Skye murmured in his ear. “We’ve got to get you out of this contraption. There must be a button to push on her controller, like there was for the altar.”

  “Hang on a minute. I want to know what she was hinting about before you go looking for buttons, okay?”

  With the water slowing to a trickle, panic wasn’t a problem. Men acted as ushers and kept the line calm as it bunched around the archway, managing the flow of bodies through the door. But Jamison had a crisis all his own.

  He was wet. And he now he had a metal band around his stomach—a band that was equipped to deliver electricity. Gabriella could turn him into a piece of burnt toast with the flick of a finger. And if Skye tried to wrest her device away…

  But should he tell Skye?

  The Somerled chorus rose again, but it hardly drew anyone’s interest when the five remaining Somerleds started rising into the air. Skye squeezed Jamison tight and he shut his eyes against the flashing light. But even after the Somerleds disappeared, the droning continued. It took him a minute to realize it was just the sound of churning water.

  “Look!” Skye’s arm came down over his shoulder and pointed at the center of the arena. The water was swirling quickly…

  And resuming its crawl up the steps.

  She’s pumping water in!

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Skye couldn’t believe anyone could be so evil as to drown all those people. She had expected Gabriella to come to her senses and turn off the water in the end—which she seemed to have done. But apparently, it had been only the beginning.

  Skye wondered if the old man had found a way to unlock the seat bands, or if the woman had unlocked them herself, to give Skye hope only to take it away again. Had the old Scot known what Gabriella would do? Had he somehow managed to get the seats unlocked? If so, he would know how it could be done.

  “Mr. Jamison!” she hollered in every direction. But the old man didn’t come. If he knew his grandson was about to drown, she knew he’d come help if he could. But he’d already saved them once and gone. Would he have to be bailed out before he could get out again?

  She dropped a kiss on Jamison’s head and started walking. “I’m going to find that button now.”

  “Come back! It’s too late! You’ll never be able to get near her controller. And…and who knows what other buttons she might push if you try. Listen to me.”

  She moved down a row and came to kneel in front of him. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”

  He shook his head and she realized his eyes were wet. “It’s too late for me.”

  “No!”

  “Listen. She knew what she was doing.”

  She shook her head furiously. “But—”

  “You’ve got to get out of here. It’s not too late for you. That crowd is going to turn ugly as soon as their shoes get wet, which is in about two minutes. Your only choice is to get ugly first. I want you to go plow your way to the door right now. Don’t think about it. Just do it. You can think about it later.”

  She grunted softly. “No.” And with the word, her own tears began.

  He grunted back. “Don’t tell me no. Just go and do it. I won’t watch you die. Not again.”

  She stroked the side of his face, uselessly wiping at the warm drops racing down his cheeks. “You watched me die?”

  He nodded toward the ceiling. “I watched you explode, believing I would never see you again. It was the same thing as dying…to me.”

  She pulled his head close and kissed him. Her lips made promises she wouldn’t be able to keep, but she wasn’t going to stop.

  After a few seconds, he pushed her away. “No! You get to the head of that line, right now. I beg you.”

  “The world won’t miss out on much if I stay right here with you. And right here, in
your face, is where I belong. Forever. Even if forever isn’t going to last long.”

  He yanked and pulled at one end of the band, then yanked and pulled at the other. Then he sort of laughed.

  She shook his knees. “What is it?”

  “Ohhh, just thinking how we’ve already done this. Only this time I’m the one who’s going to die and you have a chance to go on without me.”

  “Like when you promised you’d have Lucas wipe away your memory of me?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “And you didn’t.”

  “Nope.”

  “So you can’t expect me to do it either, right?”

  He shook his head, then bit his lips, but his moist eyes never left hers. “Do it anyway, Skye. Fight your way out of here. Live. For both of us.”

  She gave her head a shake. “No.”

  His eyes closed in surrender.

  Skye didn’t know why she was able to stay so calm. Was it simply because she was where she was supposed to be, with Jamison? Or did all people feel the same eerie peace when they knew they were going to die?

  There was no time to worry about the week of school she’d missed. No worries about graduating, finding a job, or a place to live. She’d never pay another bill. She’d never set eyes on Blair the Creep again. There was nothing at all to worry about.

  She almost wished she was strapped in a seat too, so she didn’t have to worry about how long she was going to fight the water. The water would decide. She wished Gabriella was around to watch. Maybe the woman would change her mind if Skye was the one drowning.

  She looked at the mob at the door. No one in bright blue—not even dark blue, wet feathers. They must have let her out.

  “Looks like the crazy broad is going to suffer like the rest of us,” Jamison said.

  “Where?” Skye twisted farther and saw Gabriella sitting on her throne, playing in the water with her feet.

  “Maybe she will turn off the water when she’s the only one left swimming.”

  “Gabriella!” Skye jumped up and waved her arms. “Gabriella!”

  The woman looked up and glanced around. Skye shouted again and the feathered headpiece turned in her direction.

  “What are you doing?” Jamison hissed.

  “Putting on a little show.” Skye waved her hands to keep the woman’s attention while she located the band for the seat next to Jamison’s. “Are you watching?” she asked Gabriella, even though the woman couldn’t hear her. “Excellent. Now, watch this.” She sat, pulled the band across her lap, and locked it before Jamison could react. When he opened his mouth to yell at her, she grabbed him and kissed him.

  He pulled back. “What in the hell are you doing? You’ve just ruined any chance you might have had—”

  “Don’t be angry. I’m messing with Gabriella, and I’m hoping it will pay off. If it doesn’t, it won’t matter. Nothing will have changed.”

  Women squealed and the mob started panicking. The water had risen to their feet. And now that it had reached the level of the archway, it would be an easy thing to gage how fast it was rising up that wall, and guess how long it would take before they were all swimming.

  The mezzanine had emptied as people lined up for the small doorway and the stairs beyond. But now it was full again, and getting fuller. The smart ones moved out from beneath it to huddle against the outer wall somewhere safer. But it wasn’t going to matter, in the end.

  The reality of it finally hit Skye the same as if the cold water had reached her own shoes.

  A fresh surge of warm, stinging tears poured down her face and she wrapped her arms around Jamison’s and pulled their tangled limbs to her chest, bringing him close. “I’m so sorry. If it hadn’t been for me—”

  “Hush.” He freed one of his hands and cupped her face. “Gabriella had this all planned. No matter what, she would have lured us here. None of this was in our control.”

  She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed quietly. She could hear the water getting closer, but she didn’t dare look. Someone was splashing. Maybe they’d lost their minds.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Skye turned at the sound of Gabriella’s voice. She stood five feet away. With her shoes gone, a foot of her lovely, soggy dress floated in the water around her ankles.

  “We’re drowning, just like you planned. Now, leave us alone.” She pulled Jamison tight again and laid her head on his shoulder. She wasn’t going to waste any more precious time bantering with the psycho. If all this hadn’t softened her heart, nothing was going to.

  “He’s supposed to drown,” Gabriella said sadly. “Not you. Why did you lock yourself down? Did you think I could stop the water? Because I can’t.”

  That’s what Skye was afraid of.

  “We belong together, Gabriella.” She lifted her head and decided to give the woman another ten seconds of attention, but no more. “No matter what. Remember that feeling? I realize you only felt it for a little while. Less than an hour. But you can’t tell me you didn’t feel it. So let us die in peace.” She hadn’t intended to let the woman see her cry, but her voice broke on a sob. “The water is almost here. We don’t have much time left. Please go.”

  Still, the woman stood over her. What was it going to take to get her to go away? How in the hell had Buchanan gotten through to her in the first place?

  Buchanan! Suddenly, she remembered the angel’s parting words. Forgive her.

  In her moment of peace and resignation, she’d already forgiven Blair. She’d forgiven the Garzas. Why couldn’t she forgive a woman for trying to murder her and her soul mate too?

  She really hated to hate anyone.

  “Gabriella?”

  “Yes?”

  “I forgive you.” And as she said the words, she realized they were true. It didn’t matter that the woman couldn’t turn off the water and save them. It didn’t matter that her twisted mind had concocted such a grand punishment for the Somerled world that had let her down. It didn’t matter if Skye could empathize with Gabrielle, or if the woman was just batshit crazy.

  Skye forgave her.

  She leaned into and Jamison leaned into her. Their foreheads pressed together. And Gabriella was forgotten.

  “Once upon a time,” he chuckled, “we waited like this.”

  “Oh, yeah? And what did we talk about?”

  “Basically, we talked about all the things you were going to enjoy as a mortal. Food. And kissing. But that was torture.”

  Skye sucked in her breath when the cold water seeped into her slippers.

  So soon?

  She pulled her feet up onto the stone bench.

  Behind them, people started pounding on the gray metal doors that led out into the tunnels.

  “Don’t do it,” a man shouted. “If you open these doors, the water will flood out and take you with it. You’ll be swept down through the tunnels and into the pit!”

  “But it will buy time for the others!”

  “No,” the man argued. “It might sweep us all away!”

  The arguing stopped.

  “Please!” called one of the Somerleds from inside one of the three cages. “Let us out. We can help.”

  “Gabriella,” Jamison looked over Skye’s shoulder and she turned to find the woman still standing there. “Please, let them out,” he said. “Don’t leave them to drown in a cage.”

  “They’re Somerleds. They won’t drown.” The woman was distracted. Her voice was barely audible. “They’re Somerleds,” she said again, then walked away.

  Skye pitied her. How cold Gabriella must be inside to have lost all humanity.

  Metal clanged against metal. Someone had found a way to open the cages without Gabriella’s help. Hundreds of bright white robes lifted into the sky with no help from an otherworldly choir. And they didn’t go alone. Each Somerled emerged from the cage, took the arms of two people, and lifted them straight up into the air and through the open ceiling.

  “The
y can fly?” Jamison laughed, and immediately, Skye greedily soaked up the sweet sound of it. Too bad they hadn’t had more time to laugh together.

  Together, they watched the Somerleds from the other cages do the same, and Skye’s mental calculator started crunching numbers. Maybe a thousand in all would be able to get out through Gabriella’s stairwell before the archway and lobby flooded. Nearly a hundred had already been lifted out. Hundreds of Somerleds…multiplied by two…could get out a thousand more. Almost half the stadium could be saved before the water got high enough to start drowning the rest of them massed against the walls, the highest point of the floor.

  Icy water seeped over the edge of the seat and slithered around her legs to soak her butt. Jamison, she realized, was pretending not to notice, trying to be tough, for her.

  They wrapped their arms around each other. Skye closed her eyes.

  “What are you, martyrs? Get out of there!”

  Four men sloshed down the row in their direction. “We’re belted in. We can’t get out,” Jamison told them.

  “Bullshit.” The man closest to them reached down and tugged at Skye’s band first. The end came up in his hands and he frowned at her. “Didn’t you even try?”

  She was so shocked, she couldn’t answer. She reached for Jamison’s band, but it was already gone. Another man helped him to his feet and started dragging him away, toward the quickly emptying Somerled cage. The first man was dragging her in the opposite direction.

  Jamison dug in his heels. “Wait. Skye!”

  She struggled out of grasp of the first man who was so intent on saving her he hadn’t noticed she was fighting him.

  “I won’t go anywhere without him,” she explained.

  He nodded, released her arm, and waved her toward Jamison, content he’d done what he could to help her. Then he left her, splashing away toward the outer wall.

  She pushed through the water carefully to keep from splashing cold water higher on her body. Already the hem of her robe was heavy, but she wasn’t about to take it off. The sleeves were the only things saving her from freezing to death.