Judgement 8 (Subject Alpha #1) (13 page)

I COULDN’T KEEP MY eyes off her as I swiftly walked through the maze of corridors, my eyes scanning for a way out. Her face was pale, but the smoke residue remained around her nose and mouth. She hadn’t even murmured when I’d pulled out her tubes and lifted her from the bed, scooping the bed sheet around her to hide the revealing gown.

I couldn’t hide the ache in my chest. It was happening all over again. Déjà vu at its worst.

“Keep breathing, baby.”

I slowed down, dropping my walk to a normal pace when I passed a couple of guards in the main foyer, one of them talking into his radio, his eyes checking the area. A couple of people frowned at me when I slipped round them. Come on, I’d made it this far.

“Sir!” one of the guards called out. I closed my eyes briefly, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip. “Sir. Can you . . .”

I didn’t give him chance. I ran. It was the only hope. I heard his feet slapping the ground behind me as I burst through the doors, my senses hyper with all the smells and sounds drowning my brain.

Swinging my head left and right as I tried to find the way that seemed the most concealed, my gaze settled on an alleyway across the road. If I could make it across then I hoped it would provide us with a chance.

I ran down the main steps, a few security men chasing after me now, a couple of them shouting at me to stop. Reaching the edge of the road, there appeared to be no way across. It was too busy, a relentless stream of traffic flying past one after the other.

“Shit!”

I’d have to risk it, there was no other way. Usually I’d fight them off but with Elina in my arms, that wasn’t a viable option.

I closed my eyes and prayed before I snapped them open and took a step forward. My heart stopped when a car screeched to halt in front of me and the passenger door flew open.

“Get in!”

What—the—fuck?

“Get in!” Ruben shouted. I glanced behind me. All the hospital security had been deployed to deal with me, making me wonder exactly how much they knew. Seeing no alternative, and after all, I was taking Elina back to Judgement anyway, I grabbed the rear door handle and bundled Elina in, Ruben slamming the front door closed as I pulled the rear shut after climbing in after her.

The tires squealed when he hit the accelerator and I was flung back in my seat.

We didn’t speak until he slowed down, deeming it finally safe and confirming we weren’t been followed.

“Why aren’t you dead, Ruben? Elina fried you!” I asked as I stroked Elina’s hair off her cheek, the utter peace on her stunning face giving me cause to smile.

When he didn’t answer me I tried a different question. “Did Janice send you?”

“Yep. She wants her daughter’s body back.”

I frowned then took a glance out of the window. “Then why are we heading in a different direction to Judgement?”

He flicked a glance to me through the rear-view mirror. “Because we’re not going there.”

“Shit, Ruben. We need to. I need Janice to help Elina.”

He laughed. “Trust me.”

“Trust you?” It was my turn to laugh. “Give me one good reason why the fuck I should trust you!”

He lifted his eyes to the mirror again, his gaze dark and as furious as mine. “Because we’re going to get Elina help without risking both your lives at the same time. We don’t need to like each other to share a need to help Elina, but you need to let me help her, help both of you!”

“And how the fuck am I supposed to do that after everything?”

He shrugged, concentrating on the road again. “Do you have a choice, McCallum?”

Sighing, I yielded and shook my head. “No, I suppose not, but at least tell me where we’re going.”

I frowned when he gulped. “I can’t tell you yet, and it’s not because it’s a trap,” he blurted when I started to argue. “I’m not even sure how you’ll react but . . . but she’s the only one who can help us.”

“I don’t like this.” I glanced back at an unconscious Elina. I knew I didn’t have a choice. The problem was, Ruben knew that too.

I frowned when we pulled up at a small terraced house. It was old, built in the fifties by the looks of it, the paintwork crumbling and a mass of overgrowth stealing the path leading to the front door.

Ruben peered over the seat at me, his eyes darkening when they found Elina. “You know,” he said quietly, his eyes still secured on Sleeping Beauty, “she deserves better than you.”

I quirked an eyebrow at him, my head cocked to the side as I smirked at him. “You mean you?”

“No.” He pursed his lips before turning and facing front again. “I don’t deserve her either.”

“What the hell is going on, Ruben? It was only a few days ago you turned up at Jonah’s threatening to take us all out.”

He shook his head refusing me an answer as he opened his door. “Come on.”

I mumbled something about him being a knob as I climbed out, and leaned back in for Elina. She was still out cold, her tiny body limp. I wasn’t even sure I had it right but something told me, after figuring out what she was, that I
was
right.

The front door to the house opened as we walked up the path. I released a growl when I saw Janice waiting for us.

She noticed my expression but scowled and shook her head. “We don’t have time for this now. Bring her down.”

She was right, but that didn’t mean I was any less eager to rip her apart. I followed her slowly, the hallway dark but clean; clinically clean.

“Where is this place?”

Janice turned to me from a door at the top of some steps leading downwards. “It’s Elina’s childhood home.” She turned to Ruben. “Take Elina.”

“You’ve no hope!” I said as I stepped back, pulling her tighter into me.

Janice sighed. “Reid, we’re not here to hurt you, we’re here for Elina. But you need to give her to Ruben. I don’t want you dropping her.”

“What the fuck? I won’t drop her.”

“Trust me, Reid. You will.” She flicked a glance at Ruben who nodded then took a step beside me.

Janice turned to the open doorway and nodded, holding out her hand.

Ruben caught Elina when I went down, my body dropping into a heap as a sob tore up my throat.

“Daddy!” Lettie squealed as she jumped for me, her tiny arms flinging around my neck as her legs wrapped around my body and she buried her pretty little face into my chest.

“Oh my God,” I choked out as I pressed her harder into me, her grip as tight as mine as I inhaled her sweet scent for the first time in eighteen torturously long months.

5 months Earlier

“WHAT?” I STARED AT Lettie, my heart refusing to beat.

She smiled up at me. “It’s not so bad, El. I’ve never had anything else, so it’s like they say, you can’t miss what you’ve never had.”

I sighed, then walked over to the side of the elevator building and retrieved the blanket I stashed inside one of the broken pipes.

“But, I’ve only known you for a year. I’d never seen you around Judgement before then. I mean, how . . . ?”

She settled onto the blanket on her back so she could stare up at the sky, her hands tucked behind her head. “My parents were both subjects.”

“Oh. You’re a perfect test subject for Janice.”

She nodded and turned to me. “It’s how it is, Elina. This is my life.”

I copied her pose, settling myself back down. “Where are your mum and dad?” I tensed as I asked the question, worried for the answer she would give me.

“They’re dead.”

“Oh God, Lettie. I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

A tear slid from my eyes, mirroring the one that ran down her face. She rolled over and buried her face into me; her sobs tortured my soul. “I miss them,” she whimpered. “So much!”

“I know, baby. I know. But I’m here, and I’ll never leave you. We’re two halves of the same soul. I promise. I promise.”

BUT I DID. I left her. I promised her. I promised. And I was never one to break my promises
.