Ablaze (Indestructible Trilogy Book 2) (16 page)

Crap.
Looks like Jared gave his Transcendents another advantage. But why? Why give them the ability to communicate with the enemy?

The shrieking’s loud enough to drown out my pounding heart. I hiss at Cas, “Any plans, genius?”

“Don’t die,” he says, helpfully.

Seriously? I’m regretting even trying to rescue him. Does he just want me to leave him here? Or does he have a plan? I don’t know, and it’s not like I can read his thoughts. Just memories.

The shrieking stops. A fluttering like beating wings. I peer around the corner. The fiend’s still there, but the Transcendent has gone.

A horrible suspicion grips me. The corridor’s narrow here, but the ceiling’s higher. Heart in my throat, I tilt my head up.

Cas’s hand over my mouth cuts off my scream. Three other Transcendents are on the
ceiling,
clinging to the gaps in the tiles with claw-like hands. And they have the same batlike wings. They’ve been able to see us the whole time. But they can’t speak without Jared’s permission, I guess.

“What the hell are you doing?” Cas hisses at me.

“He knows we’re here. No way they didn’t see me walking into the lab.” Whatever his game is, I’m done with it. If Cas wants to stick around, that’s his problem, but I’m not going to leave without trying to save Val.

From what I can figure out, Jared’s sent her after me. Considering I’m already supposed to be under his spell, I’m not sure why. Of course I knew I wouldn’t fool him, but if he was that desperate to enslave me, he’s already proven he can overpower me. It’s not like I have a crack team of my own mind-controlled Transcendents hanging from the ceiling like overgrown bats.

If I run, I’ll wind up near the fiends’ cages. The other way leads to my room, and further along, to Jared’s. But to get through, I’ll have to attack that security fiend. I’m guessing Jared’s on the other side.
What kind of game
is
this?
Of course, there’s the strong possibility that he’s lost his mind and planned to have Cas and me both killed.

One way to find out.

“Go,” says Cas, startling me.

“What?” That’s exactly what I was about to do, but why does he want me to leave him here?

“Get out while you can. Leave me here.”

“Nice try,” I hiss at him. “If you’re trying to guilt-trip me—”

“Did it ever occur to you I might have a plan?”

Silence. I stare at him, head tilted. He had a plan all along? Really?

“I’m not an idiot,” he says, as though reading my thoughts. “Believe it or not. You go. Get Val out. I’ll take care of things here.”

“What does
that
mean?”

“Just trust me,” he says.

Trust him? Can I do that? Then again, it was my charging in without a plan that got us into this mess in the first place.

“All right,” I whisper.

Then I slip out from behind the wall and approach the lab. The Transcendents on the ceiling don’t move. He must have given them orders.

Val’s already there with the tattoo gun. My insides twist as I catch sight of her palm, a mess of lines and twisting patterns I can’t make sense of. She looks up at me, blank-eyed.

“Put it down,” I say. I’m not entirely sure I trust my aim, but I have to do something.

Fire leaps along my dagger, which I point at her throat.

“Put down the gun, Val,” I say. “I know you’re in there somewhere. You’d die rather than letting Jared take over you, right?”

No answer. I swear under my breath. Take another step, readying my dagger.

I move without warning, using the side of my hand to strike the end of the gun as soon as Val moves her arm. She’s grabbed for her own weapon, but is slowed by the wounds on her arms. The gun clatters to the floor.

A screech behind me. I whirl around to face… the same Transcendent as before.

“So you talk like one of them now?” I say, spinning my blade to point at him. “Guess Jared overdid it on the fiend blood.”

Honestly, I’m guessing. But maybe that’s what happened. This isn’t an exact science, by the sound of it, and Jared’s batshit crazy. Then again, I’ve done a nice job of getting myself boxed in between two of his minions. There’s no question, though. I’d rather hurt his Transcendent than hit Val if I can help it.

“Where is he, then?” I challenge. “He’s awfully lenient, considering I’m supposed to be so important. And you, too. Why’s he got you all swooping around?”

I don’t even know why I expect an answer. I’m out of patience. I take a step towards the Transcendent, and another, and I shove him with my non-dagger hand. Fire flares around both hands, a warning against him grabbing me again. I’d punch him in the face to relieve some of the tension, but I’m pretty sure these creepy servants are programmed to keep walking even if kicked to pieces. Your standard zombies.

A reckless anger surges within me. I swing my knife to cut his moving hand, slicing into the wrist. Like I did to Jared. He makes no noise, but can’t prevent himself from faltering. I draw a line of fire up his arm, right through the tattoo mark.

The effect is instant. The Transcendent screams and drops to his knees, eyes glazing over. I jump back, horrified. I only wanted to see if it was really the tattoo that had the power over Jared’s servants. But is that the same justification Jared used for the experiments in the first place?

I stumble into the corridor, and find myself facing two of the others.

Crap.

The only way to run is towards the fiends’ cages, which, as far as I know, is a dead end. If Cas is still hiding down the other corridor, I can’t see him.

Dammit.

Val steps out of the lab behind me, climbing right over the screaming Transcendent as though he isn’t there. The tattoo gleams on her wrist and hand, ugly and painful. I draw in a breath. I’m going to have to move
fast.
But if I free Val, I’ll have an ally, even if not a Transcendent.

“Ah, Leah,” says a voice.

My heart sinks like a stone.

“Jared.”

He steps out from behind the Transcendents, shaking his head sadly. “Disappointed?”

A whimpering draws his attention to the collapsed Transcendent. He sighs. “There’s always a weak link. Go.” He gestures to the other two Transcendents, and they push past me, grabbing the fallen man by the shoulders and dragging him down the corridor.

Probably to the monstrous fiends trapped at the other end.

I glare. “What the hell is your game?”

“Game? I’m afraid I don’t understand your meaning. If you meant why I barred you from the west part of the base, it’s because I was in the middle of a precarious experiment and would rather you not jeopardise the operation.”

“Operation?” I echo. My heart beats like a trapped bird. The last ‘experiment’ involved me. And my blood.

“I told you, Leah. Time is running out for all of us. The fiends will make another attack on Earth, and I intend to win. We can’t rely on blind faith. Luckily, our knowledge is much more complete this time.”

“What are you saying?”

Jared smiles and reaches out with a hand. The hand I cut off. It’s grown back… except it’s no human hand. Claws extend, curved and burned red. Fiend claws. Jared’s smile widens as black wings uncurl from his shoulder blades, filling the corridor. He looks like a demented fallen angel, crawling out of the mouth of hell itself.

And in his hand is a blade, blood-red and gleaming.

I gape at him. “What the hell did you do?”

“What I always planned to,” says Jared. “You helped by delivering yourself over to me, but I needed scientists to pull off the experiment. I trusted few, and Murray’s meddling didn’t help. But his people will be the next to die, and the first at my… hands.” He flexes the clawed hand, his smile becoming ever-more inhuman. If that’s even possible.

“So you turned yourself into a monster,” I say. “I suppose you were halfway there anyway.”

Rather than reacting to my accusation, Jared laughs. “I always did intend to use this weapon.” He swings the blade, dangerously close to my neck. It’s all I can do not to flinch.

Especially as I recognise the weapon as one of ours. He must have stolen it from our base, back when he attacked us the first time.

A weapon made for the Transcendent.

“I’m surprised you don’t have more questions.”

“Oh, I do.” But I can’t threaten him now we’re equals. I can’t accept the possibility he might be stronger than I am. Not now. “I don’t give a crap what you do to yourself, but what did you do to Val?”

“Oh, her?” He turns to her like he’s just noticed she’s there. “She’s the perfect obedient soldier you never were, Leah. She came when I called her.”

“And the others? You called her using the tattoo, right?”

“Naturally. I had a tip-off your Pyro friends found some success neutralising one of my tattoo-marks, so I was forced to act to ensure the others obeyed me.”

My heart dips, sickeningly. “No. You made them cut their tattoos again. Didn’t you?” Like Val. He knew Murray figured out my blood countered it. So he forced them to hurt themselves.
Bastard.

“I had little choice, Leah.”

“That’s total bullshit,” I snap. “You could choose
not
to be a sadist and hurt innocent people.” Like Elle. And Cas. But Jared hasn’t mentioned him yet, and I’m not about to draw attention to his absence when Jared has even more of an edge over us than before. Of course he knew the others were alive. Of course he planned to use them against me.

And of course he planned to turn himself into one of the super-soldiers. I should have guessed he wouldn’t stop at whatever he did to heal himself from my stabbing him.

Which means… the Transcendents
are
expendable. He can create any number of them now. An army of disposable warriors. Like me.
Oh, God.
How can I stop him now?

“I think,” he says softly, “it’s time you accepted you’re in over your head, Leah. I have all the army I need to take the war into my own hands.” His claw moves again, melded perfectly to his arm. A sick feeling rises in my throat. If I’d tried harder to get Cas out of here… if I hadn’t been too scared of the damage to use my own powers in here… I might have been able to stop this. Or if I hadn’t blindly run after him without considering the damage my own blood can do.

“So, why’d you shut me out here?” I ask. “You must have been pretty confident I wouldn’t destroy your labs.”

“My Transcendents were ordered to challenge you if you made trouble,” says Jared dismissively. “I couldn’t have you snooping around and disturbing my work. I’m sure you can understand my dilemma. If I am to command the army, I must be on the same level as they are. As a Pyro, I am more than human. As Transcendent… I will be a god.”

“Will be?”

Jared gives a slow shake of the head. “The process is complicated. Almost all those who transformed into Transcendents perished before the second stage. I need to complete my transformation first, before trying for immortality.”

Immortality?
“So you’re not invincible.”

“I might as well be.” And his hand swipes out, sending a wave of energy rippling through the room. I’m slammed into the wall before I can blink. Although I barely feel the impact, panic washes over me. Now he has the means to obliterate me with a flick of his finger.

And I gave him that.

“Your blood,” says Jared. “It’s the key to all of this.”

Now I know why he didn’t punish me for cutting off his arm. He always planned to turn himself into a Transcendent.

My breath catches. How much blood did he take from me when I was unconscious? Not that it matters, because I’m assuming if he wants to create more Transcendents, he can just use their own blood. An army with literally no limits… aside from the number of people he can get to.

I stare him out. I can’t manage confidence, especially when I’m pinned by the wave he sent from his hand. Especially when his Transcendents wait outside the door.

But if it’s really so easy to create a Transcendent, why keep me alive?

“Is that it?” I ask.

“What?” Jared’s expression doesn’t change, but I’ve confused him with my response.

“Is that really why you’ve chosen to keep me alive? Or are you afraid of me?”

This time, confusion flits across his face. “Why would I be afraid of you?”

Maybe I’m wrong, but he knows more about my powers than I do. He knows if I use the energy blast, I could bury this place under the earth. Surely he’s considered the possibility.

“You kept me alive,” I say. “I’m guessing you had a reason, aside from the kick you got out of torturing me. My blood is the key, but if the Transcendents have it, too, there’s no reason for me to stick around.”

I speak more confidently than I really feel, half expecting him to proclaim I
am
expendable and order his Transcendents to strike me down. But he doesn’t say anything.