Shadow of the Sun (23 page)

“
You have no idea. I heard that if you have top clearance, the machine brews you a cup of coffee exactly how you like it,” Joseph said, absolutely serious. Something flashed in his eyes.

“
I don’t believe you for a second.”

“
Why?”

“
Because you have top clearance, and I don’t see a steaming cup of coffee in your hands yet.”

He realized I had observed his keycard clearance. He smiled again, a wonderfully warm smile. “You got me.”

Before I pushed the door all the way open, I turned around to face him full on, all joking aside. “Why doesn’t our lab have glass walls?” Maybe I was just being paranoid.

“
Isn’t it obvious?” he asked.

I shook my head, and he sighed, mood souring.

“
They don’t want the others knowing what goes on behind this door, especially now that we have
live
subjects. Most of them don’t care to know, anyways. These people are scientists. The supernatural is . . . well, un-provable.”

“
I’m a scientist,” I scoffed. “I received my PhD by the time I was nineteen from Yale. I was at the top of all my classes.”

He didn’t even question me. “It doesn’t matter to the guys around here. Surely you didn’t take classes on
this
at Yale?” He raised a single eyebrow and gestured to the sign on the door.

“
Well, no. Of course not. But you wouldn’t need special training for this if you had my credentials,” I growled, pushing the door open. “It’s just a little ridiculous—” I stopped in my tracks at the sight. My argument was completely lost as a spasm of horror hit, and a small angry cry of shock left my lips. Joseph put his hands on my waist and pushed me forward so he could shut the door behind us. Ignoring Karen, I rushed past her. My hands went straight to the glass wall between me and my angels. “Andrew.”

He placed his hand on the glass where mine was. “Gabriella,” he said devoutly.

Tears sprang into my eyes, and I tried to blink them away but there were too many.

“
No. Please, don’t cry,” he pleaded.

I searched him over. My gaze landed immediately upon his hair—the only obvious difference in his appearance. They had cut it, but they had done it haphazardly, as if they had taken shears to it and shredded it off. In the craziness of the situation, I couldn’t help but think the wild haircut suited him and his personality. He was still in his jeans and T-shirt.

“
This is all my fault. I’m so sorry, Andrew.”

“
It’ll be okay,” he soothed through the thick glass.

I choked a little. I couldn’t believe he was the one soothing me. It was like he always had some strong impulse to comfort me. My heart jumped. There was a warm hand on my shoulder, and I looked behind me to see Joseph, his face no longer the smiling man from moments ago. Even his eyes were darker.

“
You need to move away from the glass.”

When he caught a look at my expression, he abandoned his stiff disapproval.

“
Why?” I cried out. “You expect me to ignore the fact that they’re in here?” I looked around the room and noticed there were five cells like this one. Ehno and Lucia were separated in two of them. I lowered my voice. “They’re angels.” Each breath was sharp in my chest. I was livid.

Several lab technicians looked up from whatever they were doing to see what all the fuss was about. Joseph ignored them and leaned in closer to me. “I know,” he whispered patiently. “But there are cameras everywhere. Remember what I said on the ride over here. You can’t let them know you’re as close to them as you are. I can promise you that we can speak freely, but your actions are being watched.”

No reason to be paranoid
, I thought sarcastically. My eyes looked swiftly to all the corners. They really were watching our every move. I backed away from Andrew, distressed. My mind couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing. Andrew,
my
Andrew, and the other beautiful angels all locked away, caged like animals. I couldn’t stand to see them like that. The very thought burned and caused a dark flush to creep its way under my skin. Irritation and a heavy vexation choked me. I knew what I had to do, if I was being honest with myself. It was time to fight back.

Hardly able to tear my eyes away, I turned toward the lab techs who had stopped what they were doing to stare at me. My temper flared, but I had to remember what Joseph had said to me in the car. Be calm, assured, like this was no big deal. But it was, and that was why I was so troubled. The most heavenly, unearthly creatures, who only
saved
human lives, were now contained by the very people they protected. It made me sick and ashamed.

With significant effort I controlled my expression.
Smooth, calm, serene.
I had to make them believe I was on their side, though I knew I’d lose brownie points once I spoke. Everyone was frozen, staring at me expectantly, but I was unable to give them any orders they’d want to hear. Tough.

“
Out,” I ordered with assured authority. It was time to get down to brass tacks.

Smiling, I stood there, enjoying the effect of my words. Everyone, I saw with some satisfaction, turned to leave—even Joseph and Karen. In this tense moment, I had to fight a mad desire to laugh. It was like I was some queen they had to obey. One lab technician, whose nametag read “Sue,” sent me a look of utmost loathing and disbelief as she passed. I didn’t have time to care as I watched her swell indignantly and march out, her brown hair pulled into a tight bun at her neck. She was probably wound just as tight as her hair. I glowered at her backside.

“
Not you or you,” I said and grabbed both Karen and Joseph from behind at the same time. Joseph jumped with a slight spasm in his face, as if I had shocked him, and I grimaced. I probably had. Oops.

Karen’s face displayed the same startled look, as if she could feel my electrical power, but she seemed to just shrug it off as if it was no big deal. It probably wasn’t, for all I knew.

The technicians flooded out of the room. When the door shut behind them, I turned to the two remaining allies and to the three imprisoned angels. “It’s time to get busy.”

CHAPTER 17: SCHEMING

“
So far, we have no effective strategy,” Joseph explained while leaning over one of the lab tables. “There are cameras at every corner and guards at every exit. This place is locked tighter than Fort Knox.”

“
Cut the electricity.” I shrugged. It seemed pretty obvious to me. The men inside couldn’t see, and the men outside would no longer have the spotlights to light their way. There would be no cameras to watch our every move, and the doors would open—

“
Then the doors would be sealed with us inside,” Karen muttered as if she could read my thoughts.

“
Damn,” I whispered.

“
True,” Joseph said thoughtfully. “But we might also be able to use that against the guards. If we accomplish getting outside and turning the power off, they will be stuck inside.”

I nodded earnestly to the superior plan. Andrew leaned against a wall in his cell and watched us intently. His golden eyes were glued to my every move. The glass couldn’t be that thick, and the door? Why couldn’t he just rip it off like Ehno ripped the door off in the plane? What kind of metal or material were the FBI using for the cells the angels were in? I found it unusual that the angels couldn’t just rip the doors off. I’d seen Andrew’s muscles first-hand and knew he could do some damage if he wished. Though it should have been the last thing on my mind, I couldn’t help thinking about him in action, his muscles rippling with the effort, him sweating. My face flushed at my thoughts.

I glanced at Karen—wondering if my feelings were easily displayed on my face—who was looking pensively at the door I had entered. My thoughts turned another direction, back to my scheming. Karen had just magically appeared in my house and so had the Elders. Why couldn’t they do the same? I became suspicious. Of what or who I wasn’t sure, so I didn’t voice my internal thoughts, afraid to alert them to my suspicions. There was no time to worry. We’d only been underground for minutes, and I was already geared up to get the hell out of there.

“
Okay.” My voice sliced through the silence. “How do we get on the outside and cut the power?”

“
That’s the tricky part.” Karen pulled up a stool and sat. “If we go into the cells then it will look like we’re working, but if the angels leave their cells then it looks like we’re rescuing them.”

“
What happened to ‘Operation Liberate Angels’?” I asked, pursing my lips. It was funny just a few moments ago, but now I was disappointed at the lack of a plan. The name had given me hope, and now I had none. “It seems there is no ‘operation’ to speak of.” My voice was bitter, and I immediately felt guilty at the look of reproach Joseph shot me.

The room grew silent as we stared at each other. My mind worked feverishly toward a solution to our predicament, but I didn’t know anything about the facility. Palm scanners, keycards . . . who knew what other type of security clearance you would need to get into the more secure places.

I caught Joseph staring at me and was about to ask the questions that were formulating in my head, but as soon as I opened my mouth Ehno spoke up.

“
We could fight,” he said through the small holes in the glass. When I looked his direction I noticed that his hair was cut much shorter than Andrew’s had been. I wondered if Andrew fought with them, and they just gave up.

“
With four angels we could easily take them out,” Ehno continued.

There was a growling noise coming from Andrew’s cell, and all of our heads snapped his direction. I didn’t know a person could make that kind of noise. Well he wasn’t a person, now was he?

Andrew pushed off the wall, and his jaw went tight with anger. “That’s not an option. Gabriella could get hurt.”

“
It’s true,” a soft soprano voice came from the farthest cell. Lucia’s voice was that of a calming ocean wave, soft and smooth. “We must protect her above all others. The prophecy speaks of keeping the Illuminator safe. She must be protected at all costs. Fighting is not the answer.”

I shot Lucia a grateful look. I didn’t think they should fight either, though the reason she gave seemed kind of silly to me. I was worrying about their safety more than mine.

“
So that’s out of the question,” I said.

Joseph sighed and rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands. “Brute strength isn’t going to help us get out. We’re going to have to be clever.”

“
So we manipulate the system,” I barely whispered. They all stared at me expectantly. I was the super-genius, after all. So, of course they thought I would have all of the answers, which instantly ticked me off.

“
Any ideas?” Joseph prompted when I didn’t continue. “Because I think we’re all anxious to hear what you think we should do.”

Fabulous.

“
You two are FBI agents—don’t you know more about this place than I do? More about missions? I’m just a scientist.”

“
Gabriella.” Karen sighed. “This is a different facility than the one we work in. You were supposed to be flown to D.C. But now, with the angels . . . alive, they decided to not travel any farther than necessary.”

“
We’re all in the same boat,” Joseph said. “So, any ideas?”

“
Um . . . Anyone recently watched any James Bond movies or Mission Impossible? Could give us some insight,” I joked nervously.

Joseph sighed, though he smiled at me. “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind—”

“
Yeah, you all thought that because I’m super intelligent I’d have all the answers. Right? Well, I didn’t graduate with a degree on escape or take
Getting out of a Secret Government Facility
Alive 101
. Maybe if I had detailed plans of the building, more information to go on, but I’ve only been here for a few minutes. My knowledge base of this facility is limited at best.”

Joseph’s smile vanished, and I felt ashamed at my rudeness. I hated that I was here, putting everyone in danger. It was my mood making me snappy.