The Escape (18 page)

She tilted her head. “You can probably claim ignorance and get out of it, if that’s what you want. The question is, do you want to get out?” With that she opened the door and left the room.

I stood there alone, all dressed, weapons ready, curequick running through my veins. There was a battle ahead of us tonight with the Emporium, but all I could think about was Ritter and how his touch made me feel.

A rap sounded on the door, and I moved toward it, tugging on my boots as I went. Or trying to. “Come in,” I called, thinking that Stella must have forgotten something.

I was bent over trying to pull on the last bit of my left boot when Keene appeared in the doorway. He gave me a mocking smile. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

I gave a last little hop as the boot slid into place. “Ah, no. I am heading out, though.”

“I see you found the coat.” His eyes ran over me slowly, sending warmth to my face.

“That was you?”

He shrugged. “I called Emerson and had him send our things by messenger to Central Park where Mari shifted in to grab them. All of our stuff was there, plus a few extra guns the Emporium agents left behind.”

“Emerson did that?”

“It was the least he could do after we told him about his son.”

“Wasn’t he mad at the way we left?”

“Not after I explained. He was angry when he realized the danger his family was in, but happy the Emporium didn’t get the disk. He’s called in backup to protect his son.”

“Good thing. Cort and Oliver are watching him, and I think Dimitri is heading over there now, but it’s possible Brody’s a blaster and the ability is rare. If the Emporium suspects, they’ll retrieve him as quickly as possible.”

Keene shut the door and my room suddenly felt small. “I only hope his father doesn’t change his mind and kill him first.”

“He won’t. I’m sure of it. Thanks for taking out the bullet, by the way.”

“No problem. I’ve had to do it enough for others.” He chuckled. “Be different if I actually worried about killing you. Or scarring you for life.”

I grinned. “Right. So, how are you feeling?” There seemed to be a difference in him now, a strength that wasn’t there this morning.

“Good, surprisingly. Dimitri is better than the healer I’ve had work on me before.” Keene took two steps, closing the space between us. “Going to the compound?”

I nodded. “You’ve heard the plan?”

“Yeah. A siege might work as long as the Emporium isn’t connected by tunnels to the outside like our new facility in San Diego.” He took another step. Now he was in my space and my heart thumped more rapidly. What was he doing?

“Stella would have let us know if that were the case.”

“Computers can’t tell us everything.” His eyes held mine, brilliant green even in the average light of my room. His hair was pushed back and I glimpsed the long line of darker red on the edge of his face. I thought the scar looked different. Maybe it was finally fading or changing colors, or Dimitri’s healing had helped speed recovery. “Erin,” he said.

I swallowed hard. “Yes?”

“Here.” He handed me a small folded knife.

“What’s this?”

“A switchblade. Be careful. Remember that poison from last night? Well, something like that is on the blade. It’s small enough to hide, but the poison gives it more punch.” The knife was smaller than any switchblade I’d ever seen, the handle some kind of white material decorated with a carved blue-painted dragon riveted to a metal base.

Silence stretched out between us. At last he spoke. “I’m not Unbounded but if I have any ability, it’s for combat, and I wanted you to know where I stand. In case it matters.”

If Stella hadn’t told me what the weapons meant, I would be completely confused right now. “Keene, I—”

He put a finger over my mouth. “Not now.” In a swift movement he removed his hand and bent down, pressing his lips to mine. He felt warm and inviting. Desire rushed over me, but with my heightened sensitivity, I couldn’t tell who drove the emotion. Before I could figure it out, he drew back and walked toward the door.

I didn’t reply, still stunned. Despite his flirting and half joking comments, I was pretty sure he’d been resigned to my feelings for Ritter, but maybe he wasn’t as content as I’d thought to sit back and wait until I made my decision.

At the door, Keene paused. “Be careful out there tonight.” A second later he was gone.

I stared at the knife, shaking my head. I burned for Ritter, but I’d be lying if I said Keene didn’t have a place in my heart. In many ways he was safer. Losing myself was something I was very much afraid of doing.

Locating a narrow pocket sewn in my catwoman suit along the side, one of the suit’s many hiding places, I stored the switchblade. I waited two more minutes to make sure the hallway was clear before I headed downstairs.

T
HE EMPORIUM COMPOUND WAS LOCATED
across the bay in Brooklyn on the west side near the water but not right on it. We always passed a Costco warehouse on our way, and as usual Jace said he wished it were open that late because there were some things he’d like to pick up. Before his Change, he’d been a huge Costco fan. I think he’d bought all his clothes there. Now he didn’t have time to shop, so he used magazines or relied on Stella’s contacts. He didn’t care about the perfect pair of jeans.

The compound was a big, ugly, rectangular building surrounded by other big, ugly, rectangular buildings. Compared to Manhattan where we were staying, the buildings here were flat, most reaching only four or five stories, though there were eight-story buildings scattered among them. The compound was three stories surrounded by yards of cement. There were no plants or grass anywhere, unless they were in some interior courtyard we couldn’t see. A huge chain-link fence dotted with construction signs encircled the property, but there was no evidence of construction except for a single backhoe and a small trailer parked near the entrance.

Four Emporium soldiers with assault rifles were always on guard near the trailer, and two of them walked the entire perimeter with regularity. Security cameras were everywhere, most focused toward the building’s doors and windows and the approaching grounds. The building itself had at least ten other guards on duty at all times, two outside each entrance, and every time we’d seen them, they wore headsets connecting them with the others. While this wasn’t a luxury safe house for high-ranking Emporium Unbounded, they were obviously protecting something they considered to be of high value. We knew from observation that at least one healer and two scientists were working there on manipulating the Unbounded gene. By the deliveries that came to the place, and the glimpses we’d managed to get of the inside with our technology, they weren’t living a life of squalor.

We parked several blocks over and walked through the silent streets, making ourselves scarce whenever a car drove by. The cold was biting and the darkness heavy, but it was better than watching in the daylight when we had to be more careful of being sighted.

“Anything we should be aware of?” Ritter asked me as we approached the building from the right side.

I shook my head. “Not a thing.” I’d been pushing so hard and reaching so far out that my head already pounded, an odd contrast to the rest of me that felt alive and ready to fight.

“See if you can sense the new prisoner when we get close,” Ritter said. “We haven’t seen him removed, but you never know.”

Never know if he had been smuggled out or if he’d been killed? I didn’t want clarification.

“I’m so glad we’re finally doing something.” Despite working through his forms twice, Jace was still wound tight.

I shot a glance in his direction. “Remember there’s a sensing Unbounded in the area. Keep your shield up.” The last thing I wanted was that Unbounded in my brother’s mind. It disturbed me that I hadn’t noticed the man spying on Emerson while I’d also been in his mind. I had to be more careful.

“I’m with Jace,” Mari said. “It’s good to be doing anything at this point. I wish I could just shift in and talk to our people. Let them know we’re out here and not giving up on them.”

I wished she could, too, or that my connection with the prisoners was clear enough for me to guide her inside. But I’d only been able to catch occasional glimpses of the prisoners at all.

“They know we’re coming for them.” This from Ritter and it was nearly a growl. The others fell silent but I felt his frustration and knew the growl was directed more toward himself than at their chatter.

“He’s right,” I said. “If it were any of us, we’d know someone was coming for us. Or I hope you know that.”

They did. So odd feeling that from them without trying.

We usually watched the building from several locations, including from behind a grouping of storage sheds near the building next door, which was where we were headed tonight. Our primary goal in watching had been to make sure the Emporium didn’t move the prisoners while we gathered information that might aid in their escape. So far, we’d kept our presence a secret, hoping to find some way in without risking a direct assault. But we’d come up empty, and after three weeks of waiting, the collective frustration was beyond high. We didn’t forget our people had probably been tortured—perhaps still were being tortured—and that their genes were being studied and used by the Emporium.

As we approached, a figure separated itself from one of the storage sheds. A short Asian man talented in combat moved toward us with the sinewy grace of an acrobat. He had very short hair and looked to be in his late thirties, which made him closer to three or four centuries. His name was Li Yuan-Xin, and normally he’d be called Li, but that was too similar to the name he’d used as the famous mortal, Bruce Lee, so we called him Yuan-Xin. He was the only Unbounded famous in America who hadn’t relocated elsewhere after faking his death. His son, also Unbounded and another faked death, was in Europe working with Renegades there.

Yuan-Xin smiled, taking my hand to kiss the back of it. “We missed you last night. Heard you ran into trouble today. Good to see you’re not letting it hold you back.”

I returned his smile. “Never.”

He kissed Mari’s hand and bumped fists with the men in greeting. “My people are watching the other sides of the building, so I’ll be joining them.”

“You aren’t staying for the fun?” Jace asked.

Yuan-Xin nodded. “Yeah, but we’ll be on the other side in case they try to use the back gate. I’d rather be here with you guys, but someone has to keep an eye on our young ones. They’ve been talking about letting themselves get caught just for the experience. They don’t yet understand . . . anything.” He bowed to us. “Regardless, I’ll be watching and waiting for the signal in case you need my help.”

With that, he faded into the night. I was glad to have him for backup. I’d never seen him in an actual fight, but Ritter’s respect for the man told me all I needed to know. Thinking of him saddled with two new reckless Unbounded and two others who cared only for their art was a little sad, but for all their irresponsibility, at least his new Unbounded weren’t as arrogant and unlikable as Oliver, and their ability was combat. Eventually Yuan-Xin would live long enough to see the pendulum swing back the other way. At least if we could stave off the Emporium long enough.

“Okay,” Ritter said as we made our way behind the sheds. “We know they change the guards at two. They are never late. Two new guards arrive and two leave. The others rotate. That’s when we’re going to act. We need to stop the guards from pulling their car into the gate. We hit them hard and fast. Use your silencers. Shoot out the tires and windows. Shoot
them
if you have an opportunity. We grab hostages if we can. Mari and Erin, if their people do get out of the car and make it inside the gate, I want you both to shift close enough to fire at them, but get out within five seconds. Got it?”

“What if they get the car inside?” Jace asked.

Ritter pulled a rocket launcher from the duffel bag he’d dropped on the ground. “This is our backup plan.”

Jace’s face lit up. “So much for silencers.”

“The objective is to make it cost them every time they come or leave. No deliveries in or out. No people in or out. A literal blockade. In between, we’ll hit their electricity and other utilities. It gets pretty cold at night, and without running water, they’ll get desperate soon enough. No doubt it will get harder to maintain the blockade as the days go by, and we’ll have to become more creative. During daylight it will be far more difficult, and if they bring in anyone they have on the local police force, that will complicate things. Yuan-Xin and his people have booby-trapped places in the street that are controlled remotely, if it comes to that, but our hope is that the Emporium will try to deal with this on their own first and not officially involve local authorities until they decide to move the captives. When they do move our people, we follow them as far as we can and, at the best opportunity, hit them with everything we’ve got.”

“That’s your plan? Really?” I asked. Now that he’d explained the so-called siege, it didn’t seem at all like something that would work long enough to get our people to safety. “I can drive a semi through that plan. They have far more people available than we do, and we may be able to stop them for the first few days, but we all know they aren’t above involving the local authorities. In fact, I’m betting that’s the first thing they’ll do. They’ll probably have the vice president’s son conduct a press conference right here with the media while they bus our people out in the background.” I’d been emotionally close to bursting for days, and it was good to have an outlet.