The Bloody City (14 page)

“Do you understand”—Trina lowered her voice to a whisper again—“this is unprecedented?”

“Is it?”

“There are people with groupings of powers, though they’re uncommon. But no one has more than two powers. No one that’s ever been studied, anyway.”

“I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

“This isn’t possible.” She stepped closer to June. “Medically speaking. Don’t you understand? He couldn’t have been born like this. He couldn’t have formed that many hormones and receptors on his own. Where did they come from?”

“I’m not allowed to tell you that.”

“He claimed he was a normal. I remember that from the stuff I’ve read about him. When this gets out, it’s going to be the biggest scientific discovery in the paranormal community.”

“I’m sure that’s the point.”

“You can’t let Occam keep this a secret.”

“I don’t think he intends it to be.”

“We have to tell people.” She clutched a hand to her chest, eyes going wide again. “I could write a paper about this. Finally get a big publication.”

June rubbed her forehead. “I know this must be super exciting for you, but it’s a delicate situation. I’m not the person who makes the decisions here. You’ll have to—”

Behind them, a door opened at the other end of the hallway. They both looked in that direction. Two women in lab coats were striding toward them, one tall and the other short, walking close together.

So close, in fact, they were touching.

Trina narrowed her eyes as they approached. “Excuse me. I’m sorry. Who are you?”

The taller woman stepped ahead of the other, and suddenly both vanished. In a blink, they turned into Sam and Muse.

“Where’s Micha?” Sam asked.

“What the—” Trina backed up. “Who are you?”

“Don’t panic,” June told her. “They’re friends of mine.” She jerked her head in the direction of their room. “Down there. I take it you heard my call?” she said to Muse.

Muse nodded. Sam grabbed June by the arm and pulled her down the hallway with him.

“Thought we’d get the jump on Occam,” he said. “Somehow, I don’t trust him to just drive you back to our house and drop you off. Sorry we couldn’t get here sooner. We had to get a car from Aaron.”

“I’m just glad you got here ahead of the vampires.” June’s heart was tripping—not from merely the rush of adrenaline, but from Sam showing up in such boisterous fashion. She didn’t like being the damsel in distress, but sometimes it was nice to be rescued.

“Hey!” Trina rushed after them. “Are you glamour generators? You can’t just walk in here and do what you want, you know. This is a scientific facility!”

“And I love scientists,” Sam said over his shoulder.

“Right here.” June pointed at the door of the room.

Sam let go of her arm.

For a few breathless seconds June thought they might actually get out of there before Occam showed up.

Then the door to the courtyard flew open, bouncing off the wall next to it and slowly creeping back. A figure stood in the doorway.

“Naughty boy, Sam,” Occam said. “Trying to break our agreement.”

Occam wasn’t alone. Zack and Belle stood behind him, looming like shadows.

“The tests are done,” Sam said.

Muse slid up beside him.

“You said you’d return him after the tests,” Sam reminded him.

“I said I’d return him as soon as our agreement was filled. Our agreement was, I turn over your evidence along with Micha’s tests to the FBI. Then Micha does as I ask. That’s when the agreement ends.”

“That was not the agreement,” June said. “You promised you’d let him go.”

“Did I? Whoops. I made an amendment.”

Occam stepped into the hallway. The other two followed. Zack smirked over Occam’s shoulder at June, malevolence glittering in his eyes.

“What’s going on here?” Trina demanded. “Occam, you know you’re not supposed to be in here.”

“He’s coming with me,” Occam said. “You can take June if you want. Though, she might want to come with me too. I’m interesting and you’re boring, Sam.”

“We didn’t agree to this,” Sam said.

“We didn’t not agree to it.”

“I can’t trust you not to harm him. I know how you operate. You might not do anything with the evidence and just mount Micha’s head on a spike and parade it around the Nocturnal District.”

Occam laughed. His minions tittered behind him. “Don’t give me ideas. Don’t worry. You have my word.”

June stepped around Sam. “He’s coming with us. You’re not taking him anywhere.”

Zack and Belle shot forward. Despite being farther from the door to Micha’s room, they managed to get there first. June lunged at them, as did Sam, and grappled with them. Zack sneered in June’s face.

“Want some more of this?” he breathed at June.

Tingles washed over her skin.

She gripped his face and slammed his head back against the door. The door swung open, and all four of them tumbled inside.

“I’m calling security!” Trina yelled.

“Tell her not to,” Sam told June. “We can’t be seen here.”

“Don’t call security!” June’s power rushed out of her like a warm wind.

Micha was sitting up on the bed, his back against the wall. Zack and Belle broke free and blocked Sam and June, keeping them from getting to him. Occam drifted into the room.

“Restrain him,” Occam ordered. “If he won’t come along peacefully, we’ll drag him.”

“Stay away from him!” Sam rushed at the bed.

Zack tried to clothesline him with his forearm, but Sam ducked.

Metal flashed at Sam’s hip when he ducked and his shirt rode up. June lurched forward and grabbed the gun out of his belt. She whirled around and aimed it at Occam.

“Tell them to back off,” she said. “Right now.”

Occam, filling the doorway like a noxious gas, rolled his eyes.

“Do you know how many times I’ve been shot? Go for it. You won’t hit a major organ, trust me. You’re not that good.”

Suddenly, a small fist appeared between Occam’s legs and slammed up into his groin. June flinched. Occam spilled forward with an angry yelp. Muse stood behind him, fist balled.

“Nut shots still work,” Muse said.

A scuffle ensued. Sam took Zack down, slamming him to the floor. Belle jumped on top of Micha on the bed.

“You!” June aimed the gun at her. “Get off him!”

Belle reeled back, but not because of June’s command. She shrieked and scrabbled at her face. Micha had the light in his hand, a bluish glow emanating from it. He had his head turned, shielding his own eyes. Belle fell off the bed.

“You bastards,” Occam hissed. He was already back on his feet. “You’re using a weapon against us? Against your allies?”

Sam, still struggling with Zack, snarled at him. “Allies? Are you fucking kidding me?”

June was about to start shooting everyone, but Occam swiftly reached out and grabbed Muse by the hair. She shrieked as he jerked her across the room.

“Back off, Sam.” Occam pulled Muse around in front of him. “And you, Little Red, put the gun down.”

Sam quit fighting and Zack slumped against the floor. Belle was curled in a ball next to the bed. Zack rolled over and scurried away from Sam and to her side.

“I’ll twist her head off.” Occam gripped Muse’s chin with his other hand. “Literally, Sam.”

Muse breathed through her nose, clutching Occam’s wrist. Sam, still kneeling on the floor, glowered at them.

Sam waved at June, and she lowered the gun.

“You.” Occam jerked his chin at Micha. “Get up. There’s a car waiting. And that light is coming with us, but in my hand.”

“Let her go,” Sam said. “You can take him.”

June gaped at him. “Who the hell are you to decide whose life he gets to mess with?”

“He won’t kill Micha.” Sam looked at her, eyes intense and dark. “He needs him. He will kill her.”

“He can’t twist her head off.” June clutched the gun at her side. “Being a vampire doesn’t give you superhuman strength, I know that much.”

“Doesn’t take superhuman strength,” Occam said. “Done it before.” He nodded to Zack. “Get that thing out of his hand and bring it to me.”

Micha inched across the bed.

“If he flashes him, Sam,” Occam warned, “you’ll take this little one home in a bag.”

Zack stood up and approached the bed. He held a hand out. Sam nodded at Micha, and Micha handed the light over, glaring at Zack.

“Good,” Occam said. “Come along now, Micha. I have a much nicer room waiting for you.”

June turned to Micha, her stomach in knots. Micha crawled slowly off the bed. Zach went back to his sister and helped her to her feet.

“Micha,” June said. “Don’t let him mess with you. We’ll get you out of there, I promise.”

“I’ll be all right.” He walked toward Occam. “They haven’t killed me yet.”

June swallowed, blinking back tears. Occam was right; she wasn’t that good of a shot yet. She might hit Muse, or miss him altogether. She would bring more pain down on them if she fired and missed.

Zach led his sister out of the room. He handed the light to Occam in passing.

“I can’t believe you would do this, Sam.” Occam brandished the light at him. “That you would bring something like this here.”

“I find it hard to feel guilty when you’re threatening to twist my bodyguard’s head off.”

Occam walked backward out the door, pulling Muse with him. Micha followed him out, his steps slow and shuffling. Sam got up and followed them, and June did as well, still clutching the gun tight. Trina, in the hallway, had flattened herself against the opposite wall. She watched as they passed, her lips pressed in a tight line.

Occam continued walking backward down the hallway, out the door, through the courtyard, and out the gate in the fence. Micha, Sam, and June followed into a parking lot on the other side. The black car from the restaurant was parked nearby, the engine running. Zack and Belle got in. Occam motioned for Micha to get in as well.

Micha stood for a moment outside the open back door of the car. His eyes gleamed, his face stony. June gritted her teeth, continuing to fight back tears. She would not let Occam see her cry.

“Get in,” Occam ordered. “No sad good-byes today.”

Micha ducked down and got in the car. Muse struggled in Occam’s grip. A rivulet of blood trickled down her forehead.

“Let her go,” Sam said. “Occam!”

“I won’t forget this.” Occam held up the light. “Shame on you, Sam.”

Occam let Muse go—flung her, in fact, toward Sam. Occam leaped into the car before Sam caught her. June jerked the gun up, intending to shoot the tires.

“Don’t!” Sam grabbed her arm. “If they get out of that car, at least one of us is going to die.”

The car sped off across the parking lot.

June screamed in rage.

Trina stood at the gate. “Oh my God,” she gasped. “Jesus. Sam Haain. I knew I recognized you!”

Sam let go of Muse, and though she wobbled, she stayed upright, clutching her head. Her blond hair had turned bright red.

“Give me that,” Sam said, holding a hand out to June.

June hesitated, but then handed over the gun. Sam clearly didn’t want her to do anything crazy. Because she definitely wanted to do something crazy right now.

Instead, Sam did something crazy. He turned around and aimed the gun at Trina. She blanched.

“The game has changed,” he said. “I’m not giving Occam the pleasure of winning. He’s getting a standoff instead.”

Sam drove the car Aaron had supplied them with, Muse slumped in the passenger seat. June sat in the back with Trina.

“You can’t kidnap me.” Trina was a fuming ball of rage. “Just take this!” She picked up the folder from her lap. “This is what you want, not me.”

Sam drove on in silence.

“This is outrageous.” Trina huffed and dropped the folder back on her lap. “It’s not like they can’t just order another round of results. These aren’t the only copies of his tests.”

“Precisely.” Sam glanced in the rearview mirror. “That’s why we need you. Now it becomes a criminal matter. Now the police become involved. Now the project is put on hold, and Occam doesn’t get the results.”

June sat forward. “As long as he doesn’t get the results, Micha doesn’t do his part, and Occam doesn’t give him back.”

“He doesn’t kill him, either. Because he needs him. As I said, it’s a standoff.”

“When does it end?” June held her hands up.

“When he gives Micha back and I turn the information over and let her go. Remember, I’m the smartest man in this city. Still.”

Trina folded her arms. “I’ll tell them who kidnapped me. I’ll make sure everyone knows.”

“So tell them.” Sam shrugged. “They haven’t found me yet. You don’t know where I’m hiding.”

June sat back and rubbed her eyes. “She will once we take her there.” She wiggled her toes, brought back to the fact she was still in someone else’s sweat pants, T-shirt, and wearing fuzzy blue hospital slippers.

“That’s why we’re not taking her there,” Sam said. “It’s not safe to go back right now, anyway. If your friend could find us, other people can. I’m sure Occam knows where we are now, too.”

Sam took them to a motel—not as fancy as the place he hid them out when June first met him, just a nondescript no-tell motel along the side of the road. They already had a room booked.

The room was at least clean, with two double beds, a TV, a tiny bathroom, drab brown carpet, and nauseating floral wallpaper.

Muse sat on one of the beds with her head in her hands. Sam knelt in front of her.

“You should have your father send a doctor,” Sam said softly to her.

Trina, though still seething, offered some advice. “Get a rag and clean the wounds first. Scalp wounds bleed a lot, but they’re usually superficial.”

“Occam really twisted someone’s head off?” June asked.

“In a manner of speaking.” Sam gently touched Muse’s hair. “The head didn’t actually pop off, but there was an internal decapitation. So I’m told. I wasn’t there for it, but apparently Occam got in a fight and ended someone quite dramatically.”

June shuddered. “You can just…do that to a person?”

“If you’re determined enough.” He turned his attention to Trina. “I need you to put some restraints on her, June.”