The Escape (26 page)

B
EHIND US,
I
FELT RITTER
and the others moving down the walk. Oliver’s sense of self-preservation had somehow given him a way to extend his illusions to himself as well, because I didn’t recognize any of them by sight. Keene reached for the door.

A big blond man with muttonchop sideburns and hat hair stood guard just inside the squat building, a rifle over his shoulder and a pistol at his hip. His hand rested on the pistol as he greeted us, “Welcome, fellow Hunters. Why do you come to this place?”

“To receive the brotherhood and support the Hunter Circle.” Keene reached out a hand and they shook. This time I paid close attention, watching as Keene returned several taps with his fingers.

“Do you wish to join the Hunt and protect the mortal world?” The reverent way the man spoke, I knew Hunt was more than symbolic.

“Yes. That is why I’ve come. To join with my brothers to the end of the Hunt.” More handshakes, this time too fast for me to follow.

“To the end of the Hunt,” the big man finished, his hand dropping to his side. “You and your guest may pass.”

“It’s a real one tonight,” he added as we came inside. “First we’ll cut him and watch him heal, proving his link with the devil. Then we’ll do our duty.” Blood lust rolled off him, and for a moment I felt as if I’d gone back in time when entire towns gathered to kill helpless victims accused of witchcraft. Or more recently when men in white robes and pointed hats planted burning crosses in front of humble dwellings. Ignorance and racism in all its ugliness.

I’d stopped moving and Keene’s hand shot out to grab me. “Come on, dear. We don’t want to miss this.”

“Oh, you won’t,” the big guy said. “I’m going to lock the door in a few minutes. That will be the signal to begin. I work for the Hunter Circle. Two of them are here today.”

“What about Emerson?” Keene asked.

The man frowned. “I don’t know. I think they’re hoping he comes to his senses after the evil influence in his house is gone, but he may be cut off and shunned.”

Shunned? Really? In this day and age?

Jace grimaced, which made him look quite gruesome with his bad skin. I could feel he was aching to slam his fist into the man’s face. “Let’s go,” I told him as Keene tugged on me harder.

We walked past a desk holding two monitors and down a constricted hallway, lingering to make sure the others got through the guard safely. By the time they caught up to us, we had made our way to a large room in the back. Nearly fifty folding chairs crammed into the space, a makeshift stage and pulpit jutting up insignificantly at the far end. In front of the stage sat a table covered with a white plastic tablecloth, and on top of this lay a frightened Brody Emerson. His arms were tied with ropes to iron rings set into the tiled floor on either side of the table. His feet were spread wide, held in place at the edge of the table by more ropes and rings. The first two rows of chairs had been shoved back into the others to allow people to gather around the table. Besides a middle-aged woman who stood near the edge of the crowd, all the others present were male.

As we approached the table, a boy barely in his teens spat on Brody. “Dirty scum,” the boy shouted. The older man next to him thumped him on the back with approval. Several others murmured encouragement.

These men had families, wives, and children. Many, I knew, would be appalled at similar inhumanities around the world, but for Unbounded their hatred saw no reason. How many of our people had been murdered here? Sacrificed upon this altar? Next to me, Jace’s emotions boiled.

Two older men sat behind the podium, their gray heads bowed together as they conferred. One wore a black suit while the other sported jeans and loafers topped by a blue plaid shirt. Black suit was thin and wiry, while blue plaid was tall and thick and looked as if he’d eaten far too many sweets. I pushed my thoughts toward them.

“Time to bring out the knives,” said black suit.

His companion nodded. “Better tell everyone only one cut, so make it count. Mine will be first—his tongue.”

Keene was still pulling me forward. I looked around to see Ritter staring after us with the blue eyes of someone I didn’t know—a mask created by Oliver. Keene wove us through the Hunters until we stood near Brody’s face. His frightened eyes widened further.

“You!” he said. “You stabbed me!” He tried to arch away, but the ropes held all but his head in place. The lights overhead blinked. I could feel energy transferring from them to Brody. Too much. He was already filled to near overflowing, and if he were to somehow ignite what he’d gathered, I doubted any of us would make it out alive.

So much for my flimsy disguise. I pushed into Brody’s mind, his barrier long forgotten with his fear.
Shut up, you idiot. Your father sent us. Now calm down. You see that glowing energy? You’re gathering too much. Stop it, if you can. I’m not sure how you can expel it without blowing yourself into a million pieces, and believe me, there’s no coming back from that.

I saw in his mind how he was gathering the energy, and it was exactly like the way we absorbed nutrients from the air. Mimicking the flow, I pulled it from him toward myself.

“What are you doing?” Brody screamed.

“Ha,” said one of the Hunters near Brody’s head. “He seems to be scared of this woman.” She should take the first cut.” He brandished a knife.

“Thanks, I’ve got my own.” I continued to siphon energy from Brody, and as I did the tension in his body relaxed slightly. Too late I realized that, unable to channel two abilities, I was no longer masking Jace. Luckily, Jace was calm enough for the moment, and his disguise adequate.

Look,
I said to Brody.
There are nearly two dozen people here wanting to cut you into little pieces and only six of us to save you. Do exactly as I say. And please don’t answer out loud. If you think something, I can see it while I’m in your head.

The energy humming in my veins reminded me of how I felt when Ritter touched my skin. My eyes went to Ritter now and realization hit, blotting out all thoughts of my feelings for Keene and my worry about my future progeny: I loved this man. I didn’t want to lose him. Yet here we were in a room full of angry, frightened men who had permanently and viciously killed numerous Unbounded over the years. We had to try to save Brody, but what it if came at the loss of someone I loved?

“Uh-oh,” Jace breathed in my ear. “I think this party is about to get ugly.”

The leader in the black suit cleared his throat at the podium. “Hello,” he said in a mild voice. Everyone fell silent to listen. “You all know why we are here,” he continued. “You know what we must do today. We are the protectors of humanity, and we alone stand between our fellow man and the atrocities these Unbounded plan for them. We were once part of the evil Emporium. We saw for ourselves how they intend to set themselves up as false gods. How they use humans as their slaves until they are no longer needed and then cast aside, even as your parents and grandparents were cast aside. God wants us to protect His mortal children. It’s a terrible thing we must do this day, but we will
not
shirk our duty.”

A swell of agreement passed through the crowd, but the man at the podium held up a finger. “Our brother Kofford will make the first cut.” He gestured to the fleshy man in the blue plaid shirt. “We will get the devil out of this creature, and allow him to repent before we send him to God. Remember that this is for his good as well as ours.”

Another murmur through the crowd, this time of anticipation. The air filled with the scrape of knives as they left their sheaths. None of this was lost on Brody. His eyes rolled in terror, and energy flowed into him more quickly. One of the lights popped and went dead. That gave me an idea.

I looked at Ritter, pushing the thought past his shield.
I can kill the lights.

His gaze flicked in my direction.
Do it. Tell Oliver to get ready to mask Brody. Cort, Jace, and I will see that you get out.
He caught first Jace’s eyes and then Cort’s, giving them the signal.

Oliver,
I said.
When the lights go out, mask Brody. And as soon as you can, call up your SWAT team.
He didn’t think an answer but there was a shift in his thoughts that told me he’d heard.

The man called Kofford jumped down from the stage, an insipid smile on his bloated face, and approached the table where Brody struggled. “And the Lord shall cut off the tongue of him who speaks against His people.”

Brody screamed, pulling in more energy. I helped, taking it so rapidly through the lights that they all popped at once, plunging the room into darkness except for thin rays that filtered in through the shuttered windows.

“Devil!” someone cried out.

“Get him!” shouted another.

I slashed at Brody’s ropes. Knives glinted in the darkness, and he screamed as several met their intended destination. Then Jace and Cort were there, turning the knives on their owners, throwing people back from the table. I couldn’t see Ritter, but I could feel him in the general direction of the podium and the leader. In his mind I caught a glimpse of a rifle aimed at his chest.

Move!
I thrust at Brody’s mind. Electricity bounced in his head, sending flickers of light through my brain. He was close to exploding. I kicked at the man next to me who had raised his knife over his head in preparation to plunge it into Brody’s unprotected chest. The man screamed in pain, his knife slicing my arm as it clattered to the tile. I pulled Brody from the table, and we tumbled to the floor together. A glimpse of his terrorized face as we rolled under a window showed that he no longer looked like himself but Kofford, the leader in blue plaid. I had to admit that Oliver had a sense of flair.

The blast of a rifle rose above the screams and confusion. I felt Ritter’s mental cry of agony, and the sensation froze me in place. A lamp in the corner switched on, and the leader in the black suit was illuminated. “They are among us!” he shouted, one finger pointed at Ritter, who was being held by two burly cowboys. Ritter heaved, slamming the two men together. Ten rifles aimed in his direction.

Ritter turned, kicking out and moving so fast that he was nothing but a blur. Jace appeared behind three of the men with rifles, and in the next second, they were on the floor. More took their place. I shoved Brody at Oliver. “Get him out of here.” I didn’t think anyone would stop him. Already several Hunters were fleeing the meeting room. Two more gunshots burst through the cacophony.

Reaching out to Jace, I began channeling his ability, choosing him over Ritter in the hopes that I could protect him better. A rifle turned in my direction and with a twist of a sai that was suddenly in my hand, I blocked, throwing the weapon from the man’s hand. Flipping it around, I used the handle as a hammer.
Ritter was wrong. That hold came in very useful.
But only because I wasn’t trying to kill anyone. Another opponent took his place, hesitating as he saw me. It was the man who’d offered me the use of his knife. Using the sai, I hooked the arm holding his pistol and twisted it back, feeling the bone crack. With a roar of pain, his knife came toward me, but I stepped easily aside.
Night, night.
I dropped the sai and slammed my fist into his face, feeling a distinct satisfaction as his eyes rolled up in his head and he crumpled to the floor.

“Erin!” Near the door, Oliver wrestled with the man in blue plaid. The real man because Brody Emerson had fallen to the floor, his face alternating between his own and the man Oliver had copied. Oliver wasn’t a good fighter under any condition, and his recent training was the only thing that kept him from going under in the assault. I launched toward him, intending to help. No wonder the imaginary SWAT team hadn’t appeared. Too bad, because if Oliver had done his job, his opponent would likely be running for cover by now.

Two men rose up to block my path, and a third grabbed my arm from behind. I kicked backwards as Ritter sailed through the air toward the men in front of me. They collapsed to the tile in a tangle of arms and legs. I gave an elbow and another kick to the man behind me. That had the desired effect, and in the next instant I was free, sweeping up my dropped sai and turning to face the man. I tore his rifle away before he could use it, and he slammed down at me with a knife that looked like something from a slasher movie. Twirling the sai until the blade rested against the length of my arm, I brought it up to block. The clang of the knife against the metal would have been music, if I hadn’t been slightly off. His blade sunk an inch into my arm.
Ouch.
It’d be a lot easier if I could just shoot him. Instead, I settled for another kick, followed by a hammer punch with the sai. I was still linked to Jace and I could feel my brother’s abandon as he used his escrima sticks to free people from their weapons and send them unconscious to the ground.

How many were left? Too many seemed to be moving under the dim light. Another shot filled the space, accompanied by more screams.

Whirling, I nearly fell over the men still wrestling at my feet, Ritter’s arms pumping as he made short work of his last opponent. The blond who’d been guarding the front door appeared behind Ritter, aiming a pistol at his head. I thrust upward with the handle of one sai, jabbing him hard in the throat. He choked and dropped his gun. Back on his feet, Ritter jumped at the man.

I hurried toward Oliver and Brody, but the man in the blue plaid shirt had pulled a gun and pointed it at his doppelganger. The lamp behind me suddenly burst and flames licked up the curtain.

“No!” I shouted. Dropping my connection with Jace, I leapt into Brody’s mind, pulling the energy inside me until I felt I would burst. But what power I took from him wouldn’t be enough, not if I didn’t eliminate the threat so he would stop grasping for it. I felt for my gun, fingers humming with energy. I wasn’t going to make it. The pressure continued to rise in Brody faster than I could siphon it off. Since I hadn’t any idea of where to put it, that made two of us about to blow.