Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) (22 page)

“How did they find us so fast?” Rook shouted over the roar of the engine.

“I don’t know,” Leo shouted back, keeping his eyes glued to the road. “
For all I know, they could have had the place bugged since Sloane went missing.”

Voices were shouting frantically over the radio, and I reached
over
to turn it up.

“Do not use this frequency. I repeat, communication has been compromised,” said a stern male voice. It was cold, with a cruel twist to the words.

The Scarlet Guard was strangely silent most of the time, but when I had heard them speak, they had always reminded m
e of heartless robots. I guess
the similarities were very striking between them and their higher-up counterparts within the S.I.A.

The line in
stantly went dead. “The S.I.A.
probably has this vehicle tapped,” I said, eyeing the interior.
What I’d
do
for X-ray vision
right about now
.
“They’ll be able to track us as long as we’re in it. We need to ditch the car.”

“But where?” Rook said. “We don’t
even
know where to start looking
for Orion
.”

“Where’s the map?” I asked, looking at Leo.

He awkwardly handed it to me. The steering wheel jerked as he tried to hold onto it with one hand, and I hastily snatched the map from him before he could crash the car.

After flipping on the reading light, I unfurled the map across my lap.

I scanned each part with a critical eye.
Where are you, Orion?

At first, I tried to dismiss the inkling to my imagination. But no matter how many times my eyes roved the map
,
they kept coming back to the massive building near the southeastern part of the White Sector. I squinted at it, trying to make out the smudged label.

“What’s this?” I asked, pointing. “
It’s someplace downtown, but the picture’s
too faded out to clearly see the name.”

Dezyre flipped on the
backseat
light. “Give it to me,” she said, holding out her hand.

For once, her bossy attitude didn’t bother me, and I handed the map over.

She studied it. Rook tried leaning in, but she brushed him away. “You’re in my light, tank,” she said.

A look of annoyance crossed his face as he leaned back. Arika just looked annoyed in general.

I resisted the urge to laugh.
Good luck to the world if we’re its last hope.

Dezyre shook her head, pursing her lips. “I can’t read it. ‘
Elk
–
Labs’
is
all I
can
make out.
”

Leo’s gaze snapped onto the rearview mirror, sharpening as he stared at Dezyre. “
Elkhorn
Labs?”

“Do you know the place?” I
asked
hopefully.

“Yeah,” he said, sighing heavily. “It’s the place my dad was transferred to, one month before it blew up.”

I nodded, not knowing what else to say. “Sorry” seemed callous or inadequate for losing your dad that way.

We drove for a few tense minutes in silence. I kept gl
ancing behind us or in the side
view mirror, sure I’d see approaching headlights but seeing only pitch black.
The moon hadn’t poked out at all
, and it seemed spookier not bein
g able to see much of anything.

The thick tree growth eventually dropped off, replaced by buildings and signaling
we were nearing the heart of the
White
Sector.

We slowed as we got off the i
nterstate and drove onto one of the inner city streets. Several shadows were moving around up ahead, and our headlights flashed over a team of Scarlet Guard. A
roadblock
was set up behind them.

Leo swore,
nearly
slowing t
o a halt. “I bet they have road
blocks set up all over town. If we back up, it’ll look suspicious. I could ram through it, I suppose…”

My eyes narrowed in thought, remembering something Aden had said. “I’ve been told my glamour’s stronger than… normal. I could try to glamou
r the guards into letting us pass
?”

“She’s right about he
r glamour being
crazy powerful,” Rook said, gripping Leo’s seat as he leaned forward. “If we get within range, she can
get inside their heads.”

Arika looked extremely uncomfortable with that, and Leo looked skeptical. “You sure that’s going to work?” he asked.

“It has to,” I said firmly, gazing ahead. “I don’t see many other options.”

Leo studied the guard
s
. “Don’t you have to, I don’t know, look them in the eyes or something? They’re all wearing helmets.”

I shook my head. “Not necessarily. I’ve been able to do it before without catching anyone’s gaze.”

Rook grinned. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Leo gripped the wheel, hesitating, then let out a sigh. “All right. I’ll drive up slowly. Soon as I roll down the window, you work your voodoo or whatever it is you do.”

“Piece of cake,” I said, winking at him even though I felt anything but confident inside. My stomach
churned
as the SUV started forward again.

My heart picked up speed, and I had to make a conscious effort to not start breathing erratically.
Stay calm. You can do this.

I thought of Aden, drawing strength from his belief in me.

The Scarlet Guard parted as we made our way up to the
roadblock
, thei
r helmeted heads turning slowly, following us with their gazes
as we rolled by. Word had probably gotten out to them by now that we had commandeered a vehicle and would
most likely
be heading this way. Come to think of it, it was really stupid of us to come back, but I just had this
feeling
that Orion would still be in Pittsburgh.

“Wow,” Leo said, looking tenser. “I’ve never seen so many of them.”

“It seems like there are more and more of them lately,” Arika murmured darkly, glaring back at the guard
s
with mistrust.

A guard motioned for us to stop, and Leo put on the brakes. “Ready?” he asked me.

I gave him a quick, nervous nod. Everyone held their breat
hs as he rolled down the window
and two guards walked up to the car.

I began reaching out for their minds with my own the moment he began rolling down the window. I felt traces of what the guards were feeling; fatigue, irritation, bloodlust…

A frown tugged at the corners of my lips. There was something weird about their brains, an almost telekinetic signature that crackled like electricity.

Every drop of blood drained out of my face, and my mouth
dropped open in horror. “Oh my G
od,” I breathed, gripping the seat for support. I quickly scanned the minds of the other nearby guards, feeling the prickle of the same telekinetic signature.

Leo’s gaze snapped to mine. “What?”

I stared back in terror and disbelief at the guard peering into the car.

“They’re vampires,” I said. “Every last one of them.”

Leo paused, staring at me open-mouthed like he hadn’t heard what I said.

Rook swore
, his eyes squinting as he reached out with his own glamour
.
I knew he felt it too when I saw his eyes widen.
“She’s right. Get us out of here.”

When Leo didn’t move, Rook kicked his seat hard. “Now!”

Leo snapped awake
and slammed his foot on the gas. The car shot forward, nearl
y running over one of the guards
as we pummeled through the wooden barrier blocking off the road.

The guard
s were
scrambling toward their cars, preparing to come after us.

I slumped back against my seat, stunned.

What the hell
was
going on?
Had the Scarlet Guard always been vampires, and I just hadn’t noticed? Or did Frost somehow send them to infiltrate the ranks of the White Sector governments?

Headlights shone behind us as at least five cars full of Scarlet Guard chased after us.

“Leo!” I shouted.

“I know!” he shouted back, bottoming out the pedal.

Bullets rained down on the back windshield, sending glass flying everywhere. Dezyre screamed, and Leo gritted his teeth, swerving madly to try to throw off their aim.

I looked up in time to see a “NO OUTLET” sign
quickly approaching
. I blanched. “Leo?” I asked warily.

His eyes widened, and I followed his gaze, seeing a fence and a sign that read
“Monongahela River
.
”

The seat seemed to drop out from under me. “You’re not going to do what I think you’re about to do, are you?”

Cars barreled toward us from the streets to the left and right
of us
; the Scarlet Guard and S.I.A. had us surrounded on three sides.

“We don’t have a choice,” Leo said. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. “Can everyone swim?”

I thought Dezyre would faint. “Excuse me, did you say ‘swim’?”

Leo never got a chance to reply, because right then the SUV tore through the fence in a wail of screeching metal
,
and there was the sensation of weightlessness before the car plummeted toward the river below.

CHAPTER
13

I think I screamed; my mouth opened, but I couldn’t hear anything. It was like time had stopped, and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as the nose of the car landed in the water, jolting us upon impact.

The SUV bobbed for a few seconds before slowly sinking. My heart threatened to explode from
my
chest, and I tried not to hyperventilate as the river swallowed the car whole.

Breathe, Sloane.

I should make a T
-shirt with that printed on the front, or have it tattooed to my other wrist, considering how much I thought
it
.

Water climbed up the sides of the windows. I have to say, it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. It was terrifying in a way
,
like
how I imagined
being buried alive
would feel
. I prayed the glass would break when we needed to get out.

Subconsciously, my trembling fingers reached for the door handle.

“Don’t,” Leo said quickly, starting to reach for my hand, but I retracted it. “It’ll be easier to get out if the car’s completely under,” he added.

“How do you know?” I asked, looking at him.

“I saw it in a movie once.”

F
or a few seconds, I forgot how to breathe.
“You’re gambling our lives on what you
saw in a movie
?”

He gave me a pointed look. “It’s not as bad as it
seems
.”

I looked at the water outside my window. The entire front half of the SUV was completely underwate
r now. “Looks pretty bad to me.”

“You’re not helping,” he said, trying to sound playful, though I could hear the tension in his voice.

A weird blubbering sound filled the car, and it took me a moment to figure out what it was. I honed in on the sound, following it to its source.

With a start, I glanced behind me. Dezyre’s
bottom
lip was trembling, making a popping noise. She
had
her ha
nds balled up in her lap, fisting them
so tightly her knuckles were white.

Rook glanced at me, and then his eyes dropped to Dezyre
’s lap
. Slowly, he placed a hand over hers. She looked at him with a start, as if just realizing other people were around.

Arika sat frozen, ready to spring to action as soon as the rest of the car was submerged.

We didn’t get that long because r
ight then
several red blurs ripped through the water, creating little tunnels in the river around us as they shot toward the riverbed.

Rook’s gaze turned grim. “Scarlet Steel bullets,” he said. “I guess that me
ans we’re wanted
dead or alive
.”

I turned back to Leo. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

The last word was lost as a bullet broke through the back windshield, cracking it. Water began pouring in through the hole, bowing the busted window as the weight of the water increased.