I scanned his thoughts, probing deep. Why did I do that? What's wrong with me? I don't understand why my body reacted without my control.
Neither one of us had a clue as to what was going on, but at least he hadn't betrayed me. Which left one person.
Steele. He flashed a smug smile from across the room.
I tried to slip into his mind, but it had something like a firewall around it that I couldn't crack. Instead, I dove back into Drake's thoughts and tried to meld with him like we used to. "We need to attack, now!"
'I can't. I don't know why, but something's wrong.'
Steele drew a pistol and aimed it at us. "I'm sorry if things aren't going according to plan."
And yet, he didn't sound sorry. Go figure. I didn't wait for him to react, just aimed my gun again and pulled the trigger, except... I didn't pull the trigger. I lowered the gun and dropped it. I couldn't do anything else, almost as though....
I turned to Drake, fear and betrayal smothering me. "You controlled me?"
Drake's faced dropped in confusion and sadness. He didn't understand.
"It's not his fault," explained Mr. Steele. "He's been programmed to protect me." He looked to Drake. "When we met, you thought I scanned your memories. I did much more than that. I altered your thoughts, your deepest, most subconscious, basic, primal thoughts. You'll protect me, because that's what your mind has been conditioned to do."
'No, can't be right. I can't do this. I won't do this. I love Sam and Ana. I won't hurt them.'
I stood in shock. So this was why Steele had let Drake out of jail. He didn't need him to kidnap kids, he wanted him right here, right now, to deliver me to him and protect him from me all at the same time.
I knew it wasn't his fault, but it didn't matter. "You should never have come back."
Drake dropped his head. "I'm sorry. I wanted to do the right thing, to make up for my mistakes." He bent over to pick up the gun, then tried to point it at Steele. The strain of his muscles, the sadness in his eyes, expressed his agony as he cried out and dropped the weapon.
"If you can't help me, than you're a liability." I turned and kicked him hard right between the legs.
He collapsed on the ground, groaning with his eyes closed.
I scrambled for the gun, but....
Steele moved faster, and pulled the trigger.
A bullet grazed my leg, and I collapsed on the floor, the pain tearing into me. I tried to reach the gun on the assumption that Steele wouldn't kill me, since he apparently needed me for something. My finger brushed against the metal, and just as I was about to get a grip on it, a giant foot covered in black, sharp obsidian-like rocks stepped on the gun, crushing it.
I looked up at a man who was more beast than man. Red tissue clung to his body as if his skin had been stripped. His misshapen and building muscles stretched to the point that it looked painful. Down his right arm and shoulder more obsidian covered him, moving up his back and neck and covering his head, like a shell. Red shorts that would have been huge on anyone else, dug into his skin, though he didn't appear to notice.
His eyes, however—those small, beady eyes—looked so familiar. His face, his features.... I knew him. Well, I had seen him in Lucy's mind. "Adam?"
They'd done something to him, but I never forgot a face. Lucy thought he had died saving her. but Steele clearly had gotten to him first.
I slipped into his mind and tried to read his thoughts, but he barely had any. He wasn't blocked or shielded, he was empty. I switched to mind control, and pushed my will onto his to get him to help me.
Nothing happened.
I couldn't even feel the coil of power inside me anymore. I shot mental daggers at Steele. "What did you do to my powers?"
He shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Truth or lie? Would Lucy be able to tell? I thought about it... the power I'd never had before, that had only come about while I was pregnant with Ana and connected to Drake.
Ana. Oh God. I hadn't used mind control since Ana was born. I hadn't needed it. Did I lose my power when I gave birth? Was I just borrowing Ana's power—a power she inherited from Drake? That would explain why I'd never presented with this ability before. I knew there was another piece to this puzzle I had to figure out, but I couldn't place it. Hopelessness consumed me. My power was gone and I had no defense against Steele, Adam or Drake.
Steele's cold voice cut into my misery. "Pick her up, Grunt."
Adam—I refused to call him Grunt—picked me up with one hand, like a giant would pick up a child. His hot breath settled on my face.
"Bring her to me," Steele said.
Adam followed the command, not thinking, just obeying. A Grunt indeed.
"What have you done to him?"
"I rescued him from a meaningless existence." Steele walked over to a little table with a coffee pot on it and poured himself a cup. The harsh aroma tickled my nose. His voice lacked any emotion or empathy when he spoke. "After your friends created that debacle in Russia, I had to eliminate that facility, destroy an entire corporation. No one believed that our visit and the death of their lead scientist, not to mention a breech in security, were coincidental. I found Grunt hiding out in the mountains, the perfect specimen for my own experiments. Studying him gave me all the info I needed on human enhancement." He sipped his coffee. "Eventually, I was even able to surpass the Russian scientist's brilliance and make some modifications."
Grunt stopped in front of Steele, still holding me. I felt like a rag doll, and his grip started to cut off blood flow and air to my body.
Steele gestured to a crib. "Would you like to see your baby?"
All discomfort forgotten, I spit in his face. "Why do you want her?" I heard Drake moving around behind me and prayed he didn't make this situation worse than it already was.
Steele took a napkin and dabbed at his mouth as if we were at a freaking tea party. "She's the key. You both are."
I remembered my dream, the Seeker's memory of me being brought home as a baby. Steele had said I was perfect, that I was the key. Apparently, I wasn't perfect enough, if he still needed Ana.
He walked over to the crib, picked up my Ana and cradled her. She fussed and cried, but he ignored it. "With Grunt, I was able to enhance powers, even transfer them successfully, but only the basic ones: strength, speed, physical manipulation, appearance. The powers this baby possesses are beyond that, the next evolution of paranormals."
I wanted to dig out his eyes with my fingers and pull out his trachea. How dare he touch my baby? How dare he use her like this? I struggled against Adam, trying to escape, but he was too strong and my leg bled and hurt. Still, I wouldn't give up, not with Ana just a few feet away, crying for me. I could feel her fear and confusion, her dislike for the man who held her.
"You better hope she is okay, because if you have harmed even a hair on her head, I will make your death long and painful. You're going to die either way, but I can make you wish for death, Steele, and I will." The words may have sounded like empty threats, but I had a mother's conviction on my side. I wasn't bluffing.
Drake joined the fray by running toward Steele, who pointed his gun at Drake. "I've made some alterations. Don't make me make more."
Drake froze. 'What's the use? I can't even hurt him or allow him to be hurt. Useless. It's over. I've failed.'
No, failure was not an option. I wiggled in Adam's hand. "He's hurting me."
Steele looked up, as if he'd forgotten I'd been dangling there. "Of course. Grunt, put her down."
Adam did.
And I made a mad dash for my baby. It had all clicked. When I'd taken Drake's powers, we'd been touching, and I transferred them to Ana. If I could reach her, maybe connect with her in the same way, I could shut down her powers so that Steele could no longer use her. Would no longer need her.
I yelled to Drake. "Run!" I hoped he would escape as I tackled Steele, who dropped his gun as I touched my baby.
But just as we connecte
d, something shot up from the ground and attacked me. The tiles from the floor popped up, rising like a ceramic tidal wave and separating me from Steele and my baby.
"No! Ana!" More tiles popped up, creating a prison around me.
Drake had run, but toward me rather than away. A tile shot at his chest, knocking him back, but he kept moving forward.
Steele pulled the baby away and nodded to Adam. "Good work, Grunt." To me he smiled. "It's not time for you to hold your baby yet."
And then that final puzzle piece came together, and I knew what he wanted us for. I turned to Drake. "Run! Get out of here! I'll be fine."
Drake stood, hurt and exhausted but refusing to leave. His thoughts jumbled together—memories of the three of them together, pain, regret, love. He wouldn't abandon them, even if it killed him. A stain of purple formed around his pocket and his thoughts revealed that the last of his drugs had shattered when the tile hit him. He had no more power. He couldn't help if he stayed; he'd only get himself killed.
Another tile flew at him, but something pulled him out of the way. A form shimmered in the empty space.
Toby! Dear, wonderful Toby. "Get him out of here. Now! Please!"
The invisible boy pulled at Drake and tried to get him to the door, but Toby was a small kid and didn't have the strength to physically coerce Drake to do anything, especially when Drake resisted.
Tiles flew at them and Toby helped Drake dodge them while I slipped into his mind. He had just enough power left to connect with me one last time. "You have to go. If you don't, he'll capture us both."
'I don't care. I can't leave you ever again. I promised.'
"I know, but I need you to, Drake. Don't you understand? He'll kill you. He doesn't need you, but Ana and I do. We need you to save us, but you can't do that here, right now. I've finally figured out his end game. He wants me to take Ana's power from her... and give them all to him. If you don't leave, you'll be dooming us all to death after he gets what he wants. Go! Go so you can save our daughter. If you love me at all, go!"
He and Toby left.
Chapter 115 - Lucy
"Arm the bomb," said Simmons. "You'll have fifteen minutes to get out, more than enough time."
Lucy sat in front of the weapon with its tangle of wires, frozen. How could she do this? "There are still children in the facility. Sam's been captured." She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "We can't detonate this."
Simmons's voice rattled, harsh and uncaring on the other end. "Sam is gone, and in a few days, those children will be dead as well, killed or mutated. This is our only chance to stop Steele before it's too late."
Lucy remembered Beleth's words, about all of the kids being killed in about a month. Simmons was right, but Beleth had also told Lucy he'd let the children go, if she killed Simmons. Right now, that seemed a better option. She thought about that moment on the island when she weighed the cost of one life for many. Now that one life wanted her to destroy many, including her best friend and her best friend's daughter.... "No."
"Don't you dare disobey this order! If you do, you can forget about evacuating. Do you understand me, Agent?"
Lucy scowled. "Oh, I understand perfectly. But I'm not an agent, remember?" She turned off Simmons's access to her comm, walked back to the computer to get eyes on Robyn, and tried contacting her.
Green smoked still filled the room, and she heard coughing. Soon everyone would be asleep. She grabbed her backpack and was about to leave to help them when the smoke started pulling back, condensing. In the middle stood Luke, using his powers to pull the gas together.
Lucy smiled. "My badass brother. Nice job."
He formed it into a small cloud in front of him, and she could see her friends awake and alive, though still affected by the smoke. "Thank God you guys are okay. You need to get out of there. Someone grab Hunter. Head for the hangar." They'd get out of here with or without Simmons.
Darren and Gary moved to help Hunter while the rest of the team headed toward the door. As the smoke cleared, Lucy could see Beleth on his knees, wounded and tired, but still awake and too close to Hunter.
Beleth tried to intercept Gary, but his spider legs wouldn't move. Luke had used his power to keep Beleth in place, while containing the gas. He facial muscles twitched and his jaw clenched from the pressure. He groaned in pain, but held on.
Using his para-power, Gary pulled metal pipes from the wall. Water sprayed everywhere as he threw the pipes at Beleth, knocking him down. Then he and Darren carried Hunter out at a run. Luke followed and was about to close the door when a black tail swept him from the side.
Lucy's pulse raced. "Luke, to your right!"
He twisted, and swung Hunter's sword, cutting off the tail. Black ooze dropped from it and the tip fell to the ground and squirmed, like the lizard tail Hunter had cut off. Then Luke released the gas, letting it fill the room, and ran out, leaving Beleth.
As the camera once again filled up with green, Lucy suppressed an urge to cheer for her brother. They still had so much to do before they would be safe. Like find Sam. She tried to connect with Sam mentally, but couldn't feel her at all. Had someone blocked her? What if Sam had been captured?
She clicked through all the cameras in search of her, and saw Drake running out of the room he'd entered with Sam. Someone else was with him, a kid. That must be Toby, the boy Sam had mentioned. An alarm went off in the distance, startling her. This whole mission had gone to hell. Drake didn't have an earpiece so she couldn't tell him about their plan to meet at the hangar. She'd have to find him herself. First, she used her laptop to open the hangar roof, then she grabbed her bag, the can with the tracker, and her laptop, and left the building at a run.
She left the bomb next to the still sleeping guard. Unarmed.
As she ran across an open area, a guard closed in behind her and yelled at her to stop.
Shit! She slowed down, but kept walking. Would he shoot? It seemed unlikely. The guard walked faster to catch up. "I said stop, miss." He reached for her hand to physically restrain her. "You have to—"
She grabbed his arm, pulled him into a hold, and knocked him unconscious by hitting a pressure point at his neck. Then she resumed her search for Drake.
The alarm blared through the night, loud and annoying. Red lights lit up the building in seizure-inducing blinks. She stopped at an intersection. Left or right? She couldn't remember, and panic filled her. She tried to calm her mind and focus, but footsteps coming from the left decided for her. It could be Drake. It could also be another guard, but she'd take the gamble.
She ran left and found Toby supporting Drake as they walked; he'd been hurt.
"Where's Sam?" She was out of breath but still ready to do what she had to.
"The bastard took her."
No! "We have to rescue her, then get the hell out of here." She walked past Drake but he reached for her arm. "No, it's too late. We can't beat them right now."
Fury burned in her at his cowardice. "So your great plan is to abandon her again. You're really good at that, aren't you?"
He didn't shy away from her words, but embraced them. "I deserved that, but listen to me. You'll know if I'm lying. I would die for her, if I thought it would help save her and Ana. I would kill for her, if I thought I could get them out right now. But if we go back in, he'll kill us, and Sam and my daughter will have no one left to save them. We have to regroup and figure out how to defeat Steele."
Nothing buzzed in Lucy's head. He'd spoken the truth, but the thought of leaving Sam here alone made her sick. Her shoulders slumped, and she imagined her face looked as depressed as Drake's did in that moment. "You're right. Let's go. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get them back."
They rushed through the halls which were blessedly free of guards—also free of any kids, though they probably couldn't get out of their rooms on their own. The thought of them in there—helpless, scared, alone, pawns in Simmons's games—seriously pissed her off.
; They reached the hangar and Lucy opened the door for them. Robyn and her group were already entering the helicopter—not the kickass one, but the regular one—the Boeing CH-47 Chinook.
Armed guards surrounded them, firing bullets that got stuck in the air, blocked by her exhausted brother. Darren and Gary used their para-powers to attack the guards with parts from the hangar—pipes, tools, anything metal or movable. Guards dodged as these airborne objects accosted them. Some of them lost their guns, dragged away by Gary, but others didn't. Were they using something else? Carbon fiber maybe? They held their weapons close, dashing from side to side. Darren could levitate any material, but not easily if it kept moving, and not with the same force as Gary.
"Let's move!" Lucy ran to the helicopter, Drake and Toby at her heels.
She wished they could've gotten the attack chopper, but the guards blocked that option. Luke fell to his knees, and she knew his power wouldn't hold out for much longer. The team climbed in, and Lucy helped Luke up.
"Get in. You can't hold this much longer."
He shook his head. "If I stop, we won't make it. The shield will break and we'll get sprayed with bullets."
Lucy called for Darren and Gary. "Help him. Take them all down."
Gary looked around. "We can't. There's nothing big enough."
"That plane. It's big enough. Throw it at them."
Gary's eyes widened. "I can't move that. I'm not strong enough."
Darren frowned. "Neither am I."
Lucy wanted to swat them both on the head. Had they learned nothing during their Rent-A-Kid escape? "Work together. You can do it if you combine powers and work together." She braced herself at the entrance of the chopper, ready to help Luke in as soon as the threat had been neutralized.
Darren and Gary focused, and for several long seconds nothing happened. Then the plane started to skid, grinding into the asphalt with a shriek as it moved. The guards noticed it coming toward them, and stopped firing long enough to run, but the boys didn't let up. The plane accelerated and slid into them, crushing them and knocking them out of the way.
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