Dark Seduction (20 page)

When she was out she saw that Logan had vanished. “Logan?” she said as the air chilled around her.

“I’m here.” His voice came from her right. She looked and saw him stuffing his handcuffs into his back pocket. “Let’s get moving. We need to get to that vault before Janice retrieves the CVP.” He vanished as he said the last words.

Obviously, Janice had been foolish enough to believe the cells would hold Logan and Tori. Apparently she hadn’t realized Tori could become so small or that Logan could transport himself out. All that Janice knew was that Logan could become invisible.

Tori moved so that she was close to the door back into the hallway. She stood out of the line of sight from the window looking into the holding area.

She shifted into a double of Janice. The pain intensified as she went from tiny to adult-sized. When she finished shifting, she grasped the doorknob and eased the door open.

A guard stood at the entrance, a guy she barely knew. As a senior agent, Janice knew him a little better than Tori did. “Make sure no one comes out this door, Larry,” Tori/Janice said.

“Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a nod as she walked past him. She noticed he looked puzzled as a cold chill followed her.

Logan cooled the air around him when he was invisible, which explained why she’d been so cold in the lab the day that the meeting had been called and why she’d felt like she was being watched—because she
was
being watched. Apparently he hadn’t seen much because he hadn’t suspected her of anything until everything went to hell.

Two agents passed her coming from the break room. She kept her chin high, her lips tight, and acknowledged them with a nod. She continued on to the back of the PIA HQ where the vault was located.

Her heart beat at a rapid pace as she walked. Goose bumps broke out on her arms from the chill in the air.

When they reached the door to the vault, guards stood to either side of the door. “I need to get into the vault,” Tori/Janice said to the men. She stayed in character and said it as a command, not a request.

“Yes, ma’am.” One of the guards opened the door and held it wide. He started to shut it behind Tori/Janice, but the door seemed to bump on something—Tori guessed it was the invisible Logan. The guard frowned and tried again and this time the door closed more easily.

“Got to hurry” She spoke under her breath as she stared at the vault door. “Janice could come at almost any time.”

“Right here beside you,” Logan said, his voice just as low as hers.

The vault was enormous and from what Tori had understood, one of the safest, most difficult vaults to break into. She went to the vault and put her hand on the print reader. It was white and backlit. It scanned her hand then identified her every fingerprint.

If Tori hadn’t touched Janice, she wouldn’t have been able to duplicate her fingerprints or her retinas. But thanks to Janice being “hands-on” with Tori, that hadn’t been a problem. With her Changeling abilities she could copy a person physically identically, closer than an identical twin was.

Still, her heart beat fast and her scalp tingled as she waited. She breathed a sigh of relief when the fingerprint scanner flashed and the light turned green beneath her palm.

She put her eye up to the retina scanner and tried not to blink as it scanned her eye. A moment later it gave a chirp of acceptance.

Next she went to the keypad and put in Janice’s security code, which had been in her forefront memories that she used regularly, and Tori had attained that knowledge easily.

Another beep and then the sound of locks clanging as the vault started to open.

Tori glanced over her shoulder at the door, feeling jittery as she waited for the vault door to swing wide enough to get in. The moment it did, she was through the door and light illuminated the entire vault.

Stacks of folders and papers were arranged on the shelves. Also on the shelves were some objects that Tori recognized because she’d stolen them for the PIA. She’d been told those particular objects had been turned over to the U.S. government already. Was the PIA getting ready to sell them?

“Hurry,” came Logan’s voice from behind her.

She stepped further in and scanned the shelves with her gaze, trying to locate the device.

“There,” Logan said. “Second shelf on your right, between the gold crown and the Greek bust.”

“Got it,” she said as she grabbed the petite CVP. She turned and started for the vault door.

The door slammed shut with a sound like a thunderclap, locking her inside.

Everything went dark.

“Not good.” Tori held her hand to her chest and felt her heart thrumming beneath her fingers as she heard the locks engaging in the vault door. “So not good.”

She felt a hand settle on her shoulder. She could see nothing in the complete darkness, not that she could have seen him anyway, even with the light on, if he was still invisible.

“We’ll get out of this mess.” Logan sounded grim. “We’ll figure out something.”

“Can you transport out of this vault?” Her voice seemed to echo among all of the treasures inside.

“The walls and door are too thick.” Frustration was in his tone. “All we can do is wait until they let us out of here, unless you know any tricks.”

“No.” She sighed. “I’ve never been locked in a vault before.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“I hope there’s enough air to last as long as we’re in here.” She took a deep breath, concentrated, and shifted back into her own form. No sense staying in Janice’s since that was apparently blown. “It feels a little stuffy in here.”

“It’ll be fine.” Logan squeezed her shoulder. “I don’t think they’ll keep us in here too long.”

“They probably plan to kill us when they’re done with us.” Tori gritted her teeth then said, “But I don’t intend to let them.”

“Neither do I.”

“What are we going to do when they do let us out of here?” she thought out loud.

Logan slipped his arm around her and pressed her close, reassuring her. “Guess we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

“At least you can stay invisible,” Tori said.

“I think they heard my voice,” Logan said. “I don’t think invisible is going to be possible.”

“If only things could have gone as planned.” Tori shook her head. “I underestimated Janice’s magic.”

She imagined a scowl on Logan’s face as he spoke. “And I was late, which didn’t help a damn thing. I was assisting McKnight with Eckhart.”

“Did you get someone to help?” she asked.

“My brother, John,” Logan said. “He wants in on the whole thing but we need someone to watch Eckhart so I told him not this time.”

She nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “Your brother was in the Navy?”

“Navy SEAL,” Logan said. “Could sure use him and his special skills right about now.”

“As much as I could wish for a rescue, that isn’t likely,” she said. “Security is too tight. Getting down here would be hard enough. And then the screening—impossible.”

The thunderous sound of the door opening vibrated through the vault.

Chapter 20

Light filled the vault again and Tori had to blink to get accustomed to it. Logan was invisible.

“Get out here.” Janice’s voice was cool as she stood in the opening of the vault. “And give me the device.”

Still clutching the CVP, Tori stepped forward, wary at the sight of blue magic dripping from one of Janice’s hands. Her other hand was stretched out as she reached for the device. Tori clenched her hand tighter around the CVP, mentally clutching at doing anything that would allow her to avoid giving the device to Janice. But there was nothing she could do and she knew it as Janice raised her hand, gathering a fireball in her palm.

Tori swallowed and handed the device to Janice, who gave a cold smile as she took it.

“Savage, we heard you speak.” Janice let the fireball bounce a little on her hand as she held the device in her other. “Show yourself before she gets a little more of what I gave her earlier.”

The air shimmered and Logan appeared beside Tori.

“Good.” Janice started to turn away. “Why don’t you join me now? I’m ready for you both.”

Logan met Tori’s gaze when she looked up at him and he seemed to say. “We’ll think of something.”

If only she could feel so positive about that.

“Now.”
Janice ground out the word and raised her hand. Fire dripped off of it like silvery-blue mercury, splattering on the floor before melting away.

Janice waited for Tori and Logan to exit then cuffed their hands with her magic once again. Then she led the way through the door from the vault and down to one of the interrogation rooms.

Tori’s stomach pitched as they entered. A chair sat in the middle of the room, a chair with straps to completely bind a person.

“You first, Agent Adams.” Janice set the CVP on a table next to a portable computer and then pointed to the chair with her free hand. To Logan she said, “If you somehow manage to get out of this room like you got out of your cell, if you try anything at all, then she burns.”

“Screw her,” Tori said. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Shut up.” Janice grabbed Tori’s arm with the hand holding the fire.

A scream of pain rose up in Tori and she couldn’t hold back, no matter how she tried. It felt like fire was blistering her skin, burning it away. Her knees buckled as the fire burned her arm and she hit the concrete floor hard.

“Stop.” Logan’s voice sounded hard. “Leave Tori alone and I won’t try anything.”

Tori wanted to argue but she couldn’t speak, couldn’t even think clearly. It was like the fire even traveled to her mind as it burned the rest of her body.

The fire vanished and Tori’s body went completely limp. Only the fact that Janice held her by her arm kept her from collapsing onto her side on the floor.

“I’m okay.” Tori wheezed and knew she didn’t sound convincing.

“Sit.” Janice shoved Tori toward the chair at the center of the room. She stumbled and had to grab onto the chair to keep from falling.

“You take that seat at the table,” Janice said to Logan as she pointed to a chair.

Tori was sitting in the big chair in the middle of the room by the time Logan was seated at the table. Ellis walked into the room and Tori realized he’d been standing in the doorway. He went to the chair and started strapping her in and she looked at Logan. His jaw was tight, fire in his blue eyes.

When she was secured, Janice looked at Ellis and pointed to Logan. “Make sure he doesn’t move.” Ellis nodded and went to stand behind Logan.

Janice focused on Logan. “First you’re going to tell me exactly how to use this device.”

Logan studied Janice for a moment, turning everything over in his mind. He didn’t have a choice—he wasn’t going to watch Janice torture Tori.

“What do you need to know?” Logan asked as he watched Janice go to the computer. It was a portable one in an insulated, specially designed case to allow it to withstand pretty much anything and everything, possibly even something as extreme as an electromagnetic pulse.

The computer was facing Logan and his jaw tightened he recognized the program for the CVP.

Janice picked up the CVP then gestured to the computer. “We have all of the software and the device. So why can’t we get it to work?”

Logan looked at her for a long moment and then her fingers started to crackle with blue magic.

“I need to input an access code,” he finally said before Janice could threaten Tori again.

Janice gave him a look of satisfaction. “You will tell me the code and I will input it.”

Logan glanced at Tori who shook her head once. He met Janice’s gaze. “On the main screen there is an icon with my company logo. Click on that three times and the icon of an eagle on the right twice and the code screen will come up.”

Janice did as he told her and the screen popped up. “Give me the code,” she said.

Logan took a deep breath. “Y-kl89-PTr9-J2ff3Q-pwG665-y326.”

As he gave the code, Janice typed it in. When she was finished, the computer beeped and the device chirped. He ground his teeth. The CVP was active.

“Excellent.” Janice picked up the device and looked at it as she pointed it in Tori’s direction. “We’ll start with something simple so I know that this works. What is your name and home address?”

Tori pursed her lips.
“My name is Tori Adams,”
the device said then gave her address.

Anger was turning Tori’s face red and Logan began to wish, not for the first time, that he’d never designed the damned CVP. He’d known there would likely be attempts made to steal the technology, but the safeguards he’d had in place had failed him. He hadn’t had enough safeguards and he hadn’t even known what a damned Changeling was to even know one could take the place of one of his trusted employees and infiltrate his company that way.

“Where is Brian?” Janice asked Tori.

“I do not know,”
the device said for Tori.
“We purposely kept the knowledge with other individuals to keep the information from being tortured out of me.”