Dying Light (7 page)

Thoroughly soaked, Jeremiah walks to
the doorway defeated.

Both Gloria and Ally visibly relax.
Shoulders slump and everyone starts breathing again.

Ally rakes wet strands
away from her own face and sighs. “Well,
that
could’ve gone
better.”

Gloria wipes the water off
her face, revealing a tentative smile. “It could’ve also gone
much,
much
worse.”

Jesse

M
y eyes flutter open to the sight of Ally wet and miserable.
Her brows are pinched, water dripping off the end of her nose. It’s
still raining down on us from the sprinkler overhead.

“
Hey, Jess. How do you
feel?”

“
Like I just had the most
bizarre out of body experience.” I adopt a Dorothy Gale Kansas
drawl. “And you were there. And you were there.”

Gloria gathers up her sketchbook and
adjusts her wet clothes, pulling them away from her body where they
clung to her skin. “We need to get out of here.”

I try to sit up and my limbs are
shaky. It’s the same kind of feeling I get if I’ve had too much
caffeine and not enough food. Jittery and a little sick. It must be
the drugs, the power, stress or some combination. Ally reaches her
hands under my arms and lifts me.

“
I’m not sure Jesse’s
ready to make a break for it.”

“
You want to stay here
with your girlfriend.” I scratch my shoulder. A small bump presses
against my fingertip like a bee sting. Where the hell did I get
that? “Fine. Stay here with her and some dude that has no qualms
about manhandling you just to get a rise out of me.”

Her nostrils flare. “I know you’re
scared for Winston, but don’t be mean to me.”

I take a breath.
“I’m
sorry
.” It
isn’t my best apology. Certainly not Oscar worthy, but sometimes
it’s really hard work to get those two little words out of my
mouth.

“
You’re forgiven. But I’m
right. I know you want to go get Winston, but you can barely walk.
You’re of no use to anyone like this. Let’s go with Gloria back to
her place and regroup. We’ll come up with a plan on how to save
Winston there.”

“
We can’t stay at my place
long,” Gloria says and yanks the covers off my legs. “Jason is due
to make an appearance.”

“
Who cares about Jason?” I
would love to have someone to beat up on right now. It’d be a great
way to relieve some emotional tension.

Ally scowls. “He can heal a hatchet to
the back, and he wants to squeeze your brains out of your ears like
a Go-Gurt.”

“
But what about Winston?
When we got him, we promised to keep him safe.”

“
I know,” Ally says, and
all the sympathy returns to her softening brow and downturned lips.
“I know. We’ll get him back.”

Gloria motions toward the door. “We
should go while we can.”

I’m suddenly super grateful that
Gloria insisted on having her own place in the city outside of Tate
Tower. She wasn’t nearly as eager to integrate her life with
Jeremiah’s, no matter how much he offered her, and I wonder if
that’s because she knew this was coming.

Ally pulls me out of the bed and I
place each shaky foot on the floor. After a couple of test steps, I
feel strong enough not to lean on her.

Gabriel moves with us. “Don’t let me
fall on my face,” I tell him.

The three of us hobble out of the
hospital ward and down the hall to the elevators. The hallway looks
darker than usual and suspiciously devoid of people. We stop
outside the reflective doors and I can see myself in the metal. I
look like hell. My hair is soaked and knotted on one side of my
head. The other two don’t look much better—all three of us could
pass for drowned rats.

The doors open and we step in. Ally
punches a button for my floor.

“
We need help,” Ally says
and then she sees my glare. “I’m not saying we have to work with
Jeremiah—or Nikki—I’m only saying that the three of us against
Caldwell and his army, or just us against Jason, seems
ridiculous.”

“
Gloria is worth ten
thousand of those guys,” I say in mock offense. No way I’m going to
let her know how absolutely terrified I am of Caldwell. It’s not
what he’ll do to
me
, even though we’ve been down that super fun road. It’s what
he’d do to the people I love. Already he’s beat Ally half to death,
murdered Brinkley, and kidnapped my dog. What’s next?

He knows exactly what hurts me most,
and he isn’t the least bit hesitant to apply the pain.

“
What about Rachel?” Ally
asks. “If we could find Rachel, I would feel a little more secure.
We could use her abilities to strengthen our defense.”

“
I’ve been
looking.”

Rachel disappeared the night Brinkley
died, but that was two months ago. I’m worried Caldwell has her
captive or has already killed her. I can’t imagine Caldwell would
kill her and not taunt me about it, so I have to hope she’s still
out there, laying low.

Caldwell’s conversation replays in my
head as we step off the elevator and into my hallway. We need to
stop by my room and get my things, and maybe Ally’s room too—though
I have no interest in running into her girlfriend or seeing them be
all lovey and shit. Gag.

You’ll find it harder to
get out than you think. He’ll be safe with your sister.

I stop dead. “Maisie?”

Ally stiffens beside me.

“
You knew I had a sister.
You said her name.”

Ally’s eyes roll up toward the
ceiling. “Do we have to do this now?”

I stop in front of my room and press
my thumb to the keypad. It blinks red, rejecting my print. I try
the other thumb. It blinks red again.

“
What the
hell?”

“
He locked you out of your
room,” Gloria says.

“
No shit.” I give her a
look. “Any other wisdom you care to impart on us?”

I’m trying to remember
what I have in my room that I need. My phone and wallet are in my
pocket. My computer is in there, my clothes, a picture of me and
Lane—
Lane
. Don’t
get me started about Lane.

I want to punch a hole in the wall. I
turn to Gabriel who’s trailed us silently this whole time, his
green eyes wide and alert. “No chance you can pick me up and drop
me on the other side of this door?”

Gabriel
shakes his head. “You must kill Caldwell
first.”

“
Ugh. What good are
you?”

“
I am the midwife of the
new world.”

“
Okay, that was a
rhetorical question. We’ll talk about those again
later.”

Ally and Gloria exchange a
glance.

“
Is everything okay?” Ally
asks, her brow scrunching again.

“
The angel’s worthless.” I
finger the sore bump on my shoulder. “Either of you got any
ideas?”

“
Let’s try my room,” Ally
says. “If Nikki’s there, maybe we can get a few things.”

I slump and fall against the wall
dramatically. “Assuming she’s allowed to open the door for
us.”

Ally cocks her head, unamused. “I want
to tell her we’re leaving at least. Maybe she’ll come with
us.”

God, no.

“
She probably knows we’re
leaving,” Gloria says, running a hand over her head. Her hair is so
short, it’s practically dry now. Lucky.

“
Yes.” I try to capitalize
on my window. “She totally knows. Can’t we just go?”

Ally leads us back to the elevator and
punches the down button. The apartment she shares with Nikki is one
floor beneath mine. The silver doors ding open and we step inside
the space for a second time. I’m a little surprised and hella
suspicious of the lack of people. And I half expect the elevator to
stop at any time, Jeremiah holding us hostage until we agree to be
his Intel slaves again.

I step off the elevator and find
another empty hallway, which amplifies my suspicion.

“
I don’t like this,” I
say.

Gloria and Ally stop.

“
What’s wrong?” Gloria
asks. Her hand is itching toward her abdomen as if she intends to
pull something out from under her coat. Does she have a gun in
there?

“
Where is everyone? Why is
it so freaking quiet?”

Why would Jeremiah leave
us alone like this? Worse, I didn’t feel alone
at all
. I turn to Gabriel. “Do you
see anything I don’t?

“
Much. At times, it is
like revealing the intricacies of the universe to an
ant.”

I frown. “I mean danger. Is there
danger on this floor?”

“
He’s watching
you.”

Jeremiah
? I ask in my
head.

He nods.

Do a lap around the
building. I want to know where his people are and what they’re
doing. Go ahead and check the street and roof too to be sure. I
don’t want to get outside and have Ally be all like, told you Jason
was waiting.

Once he disappears, I turn to find
Gloria and Ally staring at me with raised eyebrows.

“
What?”

“
You were staring down the
hallway,” Ally says.

“
Sorry?” If Jeremiah is
watching us through the cameras or whatever, I can’t say more.
“Let’s check your room and get out of here.”

Outside her sleeping quarters, Ally
presses her thumb to the door and it blinks red. Access denied. She
tries a second and third time, rolling her thumb a little to be
sure it has good contact. Red. Blink, blink.

“
Told you she wouldn’t let
us in. She’s totally on his side anyway.”

The door opens and Nikki glares at me.
“I’m on her side too.”

I open my mouth, and Ally
tugs on my hand.
Please,
she begs with her eyes.
Please don’t fight.

The look on Nikki’s face when Ally’s
hand takes mine is priceless. It makes it a lot easier to break
into a smile and whip up a chipper tone.

“
Hi, Nick,” I say. “You
look—tall.”

She ignores me, focusing her attention
on Ally. “Are you really leaving?”

Ally tries to wedge past her, but
Nikki stops her with a hand. “Al—”

“
Told you she’s his lap
dog.”

Nikki’s glare is sharp,
but I’m not worried. I’ve never met anyone grumpier or more
sardonic than
moi
. No, that’s not true. Brinkley is—
was
grumpier than me.

My heart flops.

In my head, I replay the
scene. Brinkley raising his gun to shoot Caldwell, but even as he
pulls the trigger, Caldwell is already gone. Pale hands wrap around
Brinkley’s neck and—
snap
.

My chest compresses tighter and the
voices in the hallway sharpen back into focus.

“
I understand I’m putting
you in a horrible position.” Ally leans against the door jamb,
talking to Sasquatch. “I won’t ask you to do anything to contradict
his orders.”

“
Al,” Nikki says, her
shoulders slumping. “I’m supposed to convince you to come upstairs
and talk. He only wants to talk.”

“
Hopefully about the stick
up his ass. We really need to address it.”

Nikki stands taller. “Why do you have
to be—”

“
So charming? Charismatic?
Witty?”

“—
such a
bitch.”

“
Stop.” Ally squeezes my
hand so hard it hurts. “Don’t fight. Please.”

Nikki and I both go tight-lipped and
red-faced. Neither one of us want to be the one to upset Ally
first. I wish I could say I’m more mature than that, but Nikki and
I have been at each other like this for months. I hate her. I hate
that she’s trying to weasel her way into Ally’s life when it’s so
perfectly clear she is only doing it so she can manipulate her for
Jeremiah’s benefit.

So
not happening.

Gabriel appears at my side. “The
building is clear. The remaining personnel are in the control room
upstairs.”

No secret plan to sedate
us and lock us up?

“
No.” Gabriel doesn’t have
to use the mind speak since no one can see or hear him but
me.

“
Jess?” Ally is frowning
at me again.

I turn and find they’re all looking at
me. The light from the hallway shines down on us, giving the
impression that I’m a stage actor who’s just missed my line.
“What?”

“
Nikki is volunteering to
come with us.” Ally’s using her patient
I
-hate-repeating-myself
tone. She knows I’m talking to Gabriel. She also
knows that I don’t want Nikki or anyone else to know
that.

“
No.” I put my hand on my
hip. “She wants to spy on us for Jeremiah.”