Soul Deep: Dark Souls, Book 2 (26 page)

“I thought you’d never ask.” Grasping his hand, she gave his palm a passionate squeeze. In that instant, the barriers between them crumbled, and he saw straight into her soul. A soul he’d never believed in, but which oddly mirrored his own. He knew then that no one was planting ideas in his head, that his feelings for her were as real as the air he breathed, that no one existed on this earth who completed him the way she did.

A small pleat formed between her brows, and her eyes darkened to the shade of burnt honey. Her lips moved, but he barely made out the word. Strangely enough, it sounded like
sorry
.

Then she released his hand and folded space, leaving him standing alone in a deserted corridor, while she recklessly explored a hermetically sealed room he had no way of breaching.

Regan materialized on the other side of the doors to find herself within a steel laboratory. The place appeared empty, but there was a sinister aura about it, as though something cold, slimy and invisible caressed her, sending a series of chills skittering along her spine.

Marcus was probably fuming right now, but she’d had no choice but to leave him behind. She’d tried to teleport them both and failed, so she’d decided to go at it alone, fully expecting to hit a brick wall again. When she managed to safely slip past the shield, a trill of excitement resonated within her.

There was a chance Kyros was somewhere in this lab. If he really was here and she succeeded in destroying him, Ben would finally be safe. Now that she was so close, how could she possibly walk away simply because Marcus didn’t trust her to handle the situation alone?

With her weapon poised and ready, she crept through the lab, examining petri dishes and syringes, strange equipment similar to those found in the insemination room, and a collection of clear ten-gallon plastic tanks filled with liquid, which were connected to two large machines. Something the size of a lima bean floated within each tank.

The sight was so creepy, she half expected to see Dr. Frankenstein toiling away in an obscure corner of the lab, fiddling with severed body parts. As she drew closer, she lowered her face and peered inside the tanks, only to recoil in shock.

Holy frigging crap.

The lima beans had eyes, not to mention arms and legs. A crushing wave of understanding swamped her senses. Kyros was growing human embryos. This place was some kind of farm, complete with state-of-the-art equipment and artificial wombs. If her skin had been crawling before, it was downright slithering now.

She had to let Marcus know. This was far bigger than either of them had ever anticipated. She bit down on her panic and attempted to teleport herself out of the lab. She only made it as far as the steel doors. Marcus was right. The shield was somehow interfering with her ability to fold space. She could move within these metal walls, but not beyond them.

She tried to unbolt the locks, failed. From the looks of it, the doors could only be opened with a special key card. Shit. She was trapped, sealed in as effectively as the fetuses floating in the tanks. Her pulse galloped out of control.

There had to be another way out of here. She couldn’t give up. At the end of the lab, a second door stood. She raced toward it and pried it open, only to find yet another laboratory on the other side, even freakier than the last. Humans were lined up on stretchers, enclosed in blue-tinted, semi-transparent capsules that were hooked to a large ball in the center. Their life-forces were faint, their heartbeats even weaker. It didn’t take an expert to know they were at death’s door. The strange ball pulsated with an odd, hypnotic energy, as though it was sucking the life out of the people hooked to it.

A sinking sadness gripped Regan. For the first time, she understood Cal’s obsession, his unrelenting fear. Given free rein, the Kleptopsychs would destroy mankind, squeeze every drop of goodness from the world and turn the earth into a frenzied feeding ground. Whatever light remained would dwell within this lab, glowing, gyrating, inside a sinister sphere.

If this wasn’t the definition of pure evil, she didn’t know what was.

Kyros had to be stopped. The question was, did she have the strength to do it, regardless of the cost? Could she sacrifice Ben for the sake of millions? The tightening sensation in her chest, the slow burn in her stomach, told her she couldn’t. The boy mattered too much to her. He was an innocent who’d placed his trust in her, and he deserved to be protected. She couldn’t live with herself if she was forced to betray him. There had to be another way.

But first, she had to get out of the twilight zone and back to reality.

There were no windows, the walls and floors were lined with blue sheets of metal reminiscent of the capsules, and she couldn’t see a single vent she could pry open and squeeze through.

She returned to the steel doors and examined the electronic pad attached to the wall. If only she could will it to open.

“Leaving so soon?”

The smooth, silky voice made icy sweat spring from Regan’s pores. She pivoted around to find herself staring at the most grotesque creature she’d ever seen. Long, jet-black hair framed a warped face. A fine web of blue veins crisscrossed the woman’s olive-toned skin, and her almond-shaped eyes stood out in sharp contrast. Eyes that were oddly familiar.

“Diane.”

“Forgive me if I can’t recall your name,” Diane purred. “But I do know this—you stink of the Watchers.” Hatred shone in her dark eyes, a steely glint perfectly befitting this room.

“You’re wrong. I’ve recently gone rogue. The Watchers are hunting me.”

A twisted smile curled Diane’s lips. “Nice try, but you’re still a Hybrid. That alone makes you offensive to me.”

Regan’s gaze fell to the keycard hanging from Diane’s neck. If she distracted the creature long enough, maybe she could snatch it from her. “Nice little operation you’ve got going here.” Moving away from the doors, Regan pretended to study the embryos.

Diane’s predatory eyes never wavered, tracking her every move with a calculating gleam. “I’m quite pleased with the results. I placed my faith in the wrong man,” she confessed. “Athanatos was powerful, true, but Kyros is the one with vision. Soon, humans will be obsolete.” She circled the tanks, her lab coat sighing as it brushed her hips, her expression gliding between greed and anticipation. “We will grow them in this lab, then transfer them to the extraction room, where they will be relieved of their souls.”

Regan wandered toward the so-called extraction room, with Diane following close behind. The steel walls gleamed with a blue sheen. Regan touched her palm to the cold metal, felt energy hum along her flesh. She’d never seen steel like this before.

“The walls are coated with ink infused with a special metal alloy,” Diane explained. “It’s a new substance Kyros had developed especially for our purposes. It forms a magnetic shield around the lab and keeps all forms of energy from escaping. Nothing can leave this room once the door is secured in place.”

So that was why she was able to get in but couldn’t get out. It all made sense now.

“It’s pure genius, don’t you think?”

Genius
wasn’t exactly the word Regan had in mind. She was tempted to say something lame like, “you’ll never get away with this”, but based on what she’d seen so far, Kyros and Diane were well on their way to doing just that.

“You’ve really thought this through,” she said instead.

“Down to the last detail. For instance, that sphere over there is waterproof.” Diane indicated the soul extractor with a nod of her head. “The entire lab could flood and it wouldn’t damage it.”

A really bad feeling seized Regan’s gut. She was well aware of Diane’s ability to control water. It was Diane who’d flooded the Rivershore Hospital less than a year ago, killing thousands.

With impressive speed, Regan charged Diane, reaching for the key card. Unfortunately, the nurse anticipated the attack and countered with a hard shove. Regan stumbled back into the lab, losing her balance when her foot connected with one of the gurneys. She landed on her rear end with an ungraceful thud.

“Enjoy your swim.” A vicious smile contorted Diane’s already monstrous face, and this one was obviously heartfelt. Her chocolate brown eyes darkened to a frightful shade of black.

Regan scrambled for the exit, but Diane was faster. The bitch slammed the door shut, sealing her in. Before Regan could gulp down another breath, water began to spew from the faucets, cold and deadly.

Chapter Thirty-One

Of all the stupid, reckless things Regan had done, this one topped the list. Marcus spat out several curses as he searched the building for another way into the room, fear and worry conspiring to tangle his gut. The woman had about as much sense as a lemming. With her, it was one suicidal move after another, as though she believed her immortality made her invincible.

Well, she was dead wrong. Nobody was invincible. Even the immortal had weaknesses. Maybe they weren’t privy to old age, illness or disease, but they could die as surely as the humans did.

His chest clutched at the thought. Regan was a pain in the ass, but he cared about her. He cared a hell of a lot. If anything happened to her, if he lost her…

He couldn’t let his fears take over. He needed to think, damn it, to act. Tunneling his vision, he explored ducts and vents, searching for spaces in the walls, anything that might provide access to the sealed room. He dissected the area, scrutinized every nut and bolt.

An abandoned shaft caught his attention. From the looks of it, the shaft had once housed a service elevator that ran parallel to the room he wanted to breach. If he could gain access to it from the floor below and make his way up, he would find himself one wall away from Regan. With any luck, the opening still existed. If not, he’d have to carve one out himself.

Next to the emergency exit, an ax lay suspended in a metal case. Marcus shattered the glass and retrieved the weapon right before he sprinted down the stairs. Within seconds, he located the service elevator and pried the doors open. His heart drumming a thousand beats a minute, he hopped onto the metal ladder bolted to the wall on his left, tightened his grip on the ax and began to scale the shaft.

Humidity tainted the air, and a slimy sheen clung to the walls. Steel beams and metal cords surrounded him, threatening to slither to life at any moment. All was dead silent, except for a whispering hiss high above him.

The sound was chillingly familiar and could only mean one thing.

Somewhere not too far away, the building had sprung a leak.

Terror seeped into the marrow of Regan’s bones, freezing her where she stood. The water level rose steadily, gushing faster and faster until she was waist-deep in it. Chills racked her body, and she stifled a sob. She didn’t crack under pressure easily, but right now, she was freaking losing it.

Death surrounded her. She labored to free the people on the gurneys, but try as she might she couldn’t open the capsules. They seemed airtight, designed to prevent any light from escaping the evil-assed machine they were attached to. She had no choice but to stand by and helplessly watch as every last drop of the people’s essences was sucked into the huge pulsing globe dominating the room.

Now the water was coming for her, sliding cool, slimy fingers over her abdomen, doggedly creeping toward her chest. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she fought the sapping cold and began feeling the walls for something, anything, she could use to gain her freedom.

She couldn’t die yet. Not before she was sure Ben was safe. Not before she told Marcus what was in her heart. Not before she’d experienced his hot, sweet kiss one more time.

Right there and then, she made a promise to herself. If she got out of this, she swore she’d listen to Marcus from now on. She’d allow him to watch her back the way she watched his. No more reckless moves. No more taking on the world on her own.

Someone must’ve heard her prayers and answered them, because her fingers felt an indentation in the steel, a sign that the wall behind it was hollow. She pushed a metal rack out of the way, sending an assembly of jars and petri dishes floating in the wet pool around her. A five-by-eight groove dented the wall where the rack had once stood.

She punched at the sheet of metal, hoping to puncture it, but she was too weak. The frigid water increasingly sapped her strength. Scanning the room, she searched for something she could use to pierce the steel and claw her way out, found nothing but useless lab instruments and an assembly of glass vials and plastic syringes.

“Regan? You in there?”

She nearly cried at the sound of Marcus’s voice. “I’m here. But Diane is flooding the place. The metal, it’s a shield—” A shiver cut off her next words. “Can’t teleport out.” She had so much to tell him and nearly no time left.

The water rose rapidly, brushing frozen fingers across her neck and silencing her as effectively as a blade.

Marcus’s relief upon hearing Regan’s voice was quickly replaced by dread. Her speech was muffled, but he made out enough key words to understand what was going on—
Diane, flooding, can’t teleport
.

He raised the ax, brought it down against the steel wall with all his might. The metal dented but didn’t rupture. Someone had gone through great pains to isolate this room, even barring access to the elevator with the help of several sheets of metal.