Landlocked (Atlas Link Series Book 2) (19 page)

“Trevor!” Dr. Hill yelled.

God, everything
hurt
. Why did I pick it up? I didn’t have to pick it up.

Red means bad. Red means no. Hands off. Don’t touch. Do not pass go.

I laughed. That was funny—
ahh!

My body convulsed. Chelsea’s face appeared above me.

She smiled.

hat the hell!
They were supposed to be using rubber bullets or non-lethal means!

Panic flooded my system and I lost sight of what I had to do. But my Atlantean instincts were stronger than the fear. It was like a light switch that came on when I needed it most, a survival instinct that took over from a place I didn’t know I had. It’d saved me on the Bridge the last day of the hijacking, and had been flipped by Thompson prior to him burning me.

And now, the moment Truman’s fingers closed around my throat, my Atlantean instincts allowed me to focus enough to teleport behind him. I kicked the back of his knees then shaped my fingers like a gun and said, “Bang.”

He limped sideways as if it’d been rubber bullets. Even I wasn’t that stupid.

Still high off Atlantean adrenaline, I continued onward. More wooden targets passed me, each falling quicker to my water than the last, until I came to the last room. The area was bigger than the others and a large “EXIT” sign hung over the only other door to the building. Problem was, the room was completely devoid of anything but the lights overhead. Nothing visible and nothing to hide behind. I’d only taken out Eric and Truman, which meant Josh, Mara, and Weyland lurked somewhere inside. But heading straight for the door seemed like the stupidest idea in the world.

Before I could decide what to do, gunfire rang out. A bullet zipped past my head, and I ducked. But ducking in an empty room did little good. Something grazed my arm and pain radiated out like a lightning strike. Then it dulled.

I rolled out of the way and came up with water poised into daggers behind me. I launched them toward the source of the gunfire, despite knowing the water would collapse against flesh. The attack worked as intended because the team’s fire withdrew from me and landed on the water, drawing them out of hiding.

Josh, Weyland, and Mara were spread out. Two fired on me from the far left of the room, and one on the far right. But the lights were dark in the corners, and I couldn’t see. All I knew for sure is they fired from hidden panels because the room appeared otherwise empty.

I launched another wave of water daggers, keyed into their locations. They fired again, giving away their positions.

I zeroed in on the lone gunman to my right and teleported just beyond where I thought the hidden panel was. I reappeared beside the panel and could now see the end of a gun sticking out of a hole near the top. I waved water in front of the opening, drew their fire, and grabbed the gun right from their hands. Throwing it to the ground, I sent water in through the opening, soaking whoever was inside.

The other two started shooting again, and I teleported to their panel, using water to pry it off the wall. Before I could do anything else, three targets dropped behind me. I turned, ready to fling water at them again, when the people inside the panel fired again. I ducked and rolled, flinging water at a target as I went. Even if I used the gun, it’d be pointless without first removing the paneling that hid my last two human targets.

I had to draw them out, or distract them long enough to use water to pry off the paneling by slipping into the cracks too small for my fingertips. I slammed both palms on the paneling and flooded every crack and opening in the wood with water. It splintered apart. Now unconcealed, I stepped out to disable my targets. But they fired quick and without hesitation, even at such a close range. I took a bullet or two to my vest before I teleported out, back to the door I used to get into the room. I had to put space between them and myself to give me time to think.

I had none. They fired relentlessly, even from the other side of the room.
Especially
from the other side of the room. Josh and Mara advanced on my position, and though I flung water up to knock bullets from the air. I wasn’t fast enough for all of them and the missed shots drove into the walls of the room. I dodged and ducked, but I couldn’t keep up. I took two more bullets to the vest, cracking a rib or two and crushing my chest.

But the bullets moved faster than my water, and I had no cover to play with. This was going to end badly.

The super soldier part of me swam to the surface, rippling on the horizon.

“Come,” she seemed to say. “Let me take care of this.”

So I let her.

In one swift movement I relived my holster of the gun it carried and shot off the whole round. I hit Mara in the chest and she dropped, playing her part. I did the same to Josh, but he kept advancing. Maybe I hadn’t hit him. Or maybe he’d changed the rules.

He kept coming, unrelenting as he fired. Unfortunately for him, my switch had already flipped and there was no turning back. I threw the gun to the ground and whipped water up at his hand, disarming him, before tackling him to the ground, poised to start throwing punches.

“Chelsea!” someone shouted as I straddled Josh, ready to keep fighting. “It’s over, stop!”

Their shouting snapped me out of my super soldier mode before I could inflict any further damage on Josh. Lights came on and brightened the space around us.

“Good job,” Josh croaked.

“Are you okay?” I slid off him and offered a hand to help him up.

“You shot me in the same arm you pinned behind me.”

“Oh, my God,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”

He rubbed the injured arm and shrugged. “It’s okay. Happens.”

Great. Shoot the guy you’re interested in. That’s the move to catch ‘em all, for sure. He let me help him up, and we joined the others outside.

“How’d she do?” Josh asked Eric.

“I guess you passed,” Eric said.

I shot him a glare. “You
guess
?”

“You really don’t like using guns, do you?” he asked me.

I shook my head. Obviously not.

“Just watch the teleporting and splashing when we’re out there,” he said, gesturing to nothing in particular. “If we don’t get the guy, he could tell people.”

In other words, don’t use your powers on a job. Ever. But I’ll give you a pass for today because you kicked our asses.

Good enough for me.

The smell of grilled steak permeated the air. I decided on the way home not to hide from Josh anymore. He’d already seen my powers, the tunnel vision, and my vast inability to do whatever this job would entail. To start making up for nearly throttling him with my fists, I cooked
him
dinner. Well, grilled him dinner. I placed a plate with two steaks and vegetables in front of Josh, then spun to his fridge to grab a couple bottles of beer, and sat across from him.

“Well you sure know your way to a man’s heart,” he said, eyeing the steaks. “I thought you said you couldn’t cook.”

“I can’t. Grilling is totally different. My best friend made sure I knew how to grill after a failed beach trip to Cape Cod.”

His eyebrows furrowed, but I pushed off the story. Now wasn’t the time for rehashing Logan’s drunken antics and near arrest.

“Good friend,” he said. “This is fantastic.”

I smiled. “I’m happy you like it.”

He grinned up at me, eyes warming, but he didn’t say anything.

God, this was so easy. Falling for him or whatever this was. But would it be worth it? Eventually this appointment would end, right? Or some other Lemurian attack might whisk me away, just like what’d happened on SeaSat5.

“How long are you tied to this place?” I thumbed toward the ceiling, but meant the TruGates complex at large.

“My contract with TruGates is up in a few years. The paperwork’s tricky, but then I’m free.” He grinned. “It sounds stupid, but I’m hoping to open a repair and pawn shop. Keeps the cash flowing and my hands busy.”

“It’s not stupid. I always think one day I’ll be able to settle down and do something with archaeology.”

Our dreams weren’t so different. One day, when the world saw fit to let my life mellow out, archaeology was the plan. Always had been. And I could totally see Josh taking in item repairs and selling off the rest.

We ate the rest of our dinner in friendly conversation about everything and nothing at the same time. Topics weren’t too heavy, although Weyland had let it slip before leaving to see Erin that I had a band.

When we’d finished dinner, I stood and went to grab his plate. He followed and hovered behind me, warm hands coming to rest on my shoulders. He slid them down to my forearms. “You cleaned up last time.”

“So? I made the mess.”

I looked over my shoulder at him. A desperate longing reflected in his eyes, like he wanted to make a move, but didn’t know if it would be wanted or returned. Which seemed silly after the other night. I turned into his embrace, pressed a hand to his cheek, and drew him in. Josh leaned into me and I pushed my lips against his, opening up the opportunity for however far he wanted to take this. He brushed his fingertips up the length of my body, from just above my knee, all the way to my face, finally resting on my hips, pulling me into him. Electricity coursed through me at his touch, his strong embrace.