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“Stop whining,” he responded, but he was turning in circles, on the lookout.

Then the alarm cut out and Cody exclaimed, “Iggy, you are amazing!”

“Why thank you.” She fiddled with some wires, the engine started, and she slid out of the front seat, gesturing for Cody to take her place. The two of them fist bumped and Cody pulled her in for a quick hug before dropping into the seat.

No one had come after us. No cops. No car owner. I relaxed a bit and asked Iggy, “What about me? Where’s
my
hug? Cody’s not the only one who thinks you’re amazing.”

Iggy threw her arms around my neck with a big smile. When she leaned back to say something to me, I kissed her. And though her body stiffened in surprise, she didn’t pull back. When she tightened her arms and leaned into me, I deepened the kiss, forgetting that I was still waiting for cop cars and jail time.

“Will you two stop climbing all over each other and get in the car?” Cody said.

Iggy pulled her lips from mine, staring into my eyes. I grinned. Then she grinned.

“Any day now,” Cody sang.

Iggy started to say something, then her eyes went wide and she stiffened up. “Ouch.” She turned her head to look behind her and then she sagged against me. At first I’d thought maybe she’d tripped, but the fear and confusion in her eyes slipped as they glazed over and I found myself completely supporting her weight.

“Iggy!” I looked around, confused. “Cody! Something’s wrong with Iggy!”

Then I felt a painful sting in the soft spot between my neck and shoulder. I reached up and discovered something stuck in me. I plucked out a dart and stared at it until it blurred. Cody was yelling at me, but I had to go to sleep.

Chapter 16

Cael

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, knowing something was wrong. I was on a bed, and while it had a blue patterned comforter and was comfortable, it had bed rails, which told me I was in a hospital and not a hotel.

The nightstand held a Styrofoam cup and a plastic pitcher of water. On the opposite wall sat a blue sofa covered with colorful decorative pillows and a closet with no door. Adjacent to that was a desk, chair, and a lamp. The wall on the left of the bed contained a large but fake window, and to my right was the bathroom. The pale blue walls were bare, and the floor was a dark wood laminate. Wall sconces provided a fair amount of light, and while it seemed the decorator had made an attempt to make the room look cozy, it was still just a cold, impersonal cell.

I was a little groggy, and I sat for a while, remembering what had happened and wondering if Iggy and Cody were okay. My first instinct was that Jensen or the FBI had brought me here and I was a prisoner. That was the only explanation I could come up with. So when I went to open the door, I expected it to be locked.

It was.

“Dammit!” I pounded on it. I called out and pounded until my hands throbbed. But no one came.

I used the bathroom, washed my hands and face, and then looked in the medicine cabinet only to find it empty. I searched the closet and desk, hoping to find something I could use as a weapon.

There was no way of telling time. My pockets had been emptied; my phone and wallet were nowhere in the room. I started pacing in circles thinking about Iggy. Was she close by? Had they already started running tests on her? Was she hurt?

A horn sounded twice, causing me to jump. From an intercom in the ceiling of my room, a man announced that it was time for dinner and green arrows on the floor would direct us to the dining hall. A loud mechanized click sounded inside my door, and when I turned and pulled the handle, it opened. I peered out into a hallway with beige walls and sconces that cast light in the shape of Xs. The floor looked like it was made of some kind of clear tiles polished to the point of reflecting the light like a pool, and green arrows flashed in succession across them. I couldn’t see what was at the end of the curved hall, but I stepped out to follow the designated path. I walked slowly, following a small crowd and passing several open doors that revealed rooms exactly like mine. A guy about my age, with auburn hair and glasses, exited his room and fell into step beside me.

“Do you work here?” he asked.

I scowled at him. “Do I look like I work here?”

He held up his hands. “Sorry, man. This is my first time out of my room.”

“Mine too.” Ahead of us on the left, another door opened, and a girl with long, jet black hair gave us a once-over before clipping after the arrows in black heels.

The guy next to me said, “I have to admit I’m a little nervous about this.”

“Do you know why you’re here?”

“Yeah. I have a basic idea. Don’t you?”

I shook my head.

“Are you one of the people with powers?”

So he knew. I was right about where I was. And not only had Jensen taken Iggy, he’d take me and Cody as well. “No.”

“Then your girlfriend or sister must be the one.”

I shot him a threatening look. “What do you mean?”

He said nervously, “Nevermind. Maybe I’m wrong.”

The hallway came to an intersection at what appeared to be a nurse’s station. Another hall went left, and a third continued curving directly across. The green arrows flashed to the left, so I turned in that direction and continued down an identical corridor. Half way down on the right, a large open doorway led into the dining hall and I filed into the room with everyone else. On the opposite wall, a dozen people carrying plastic trays waited in a line for food like in a cafeteria. On the right wall was a counter full of silverware, condiments, and a fountain drink dispenser. On the left was a wall with a sign that read ‘tray return’. Between me and the food line was a bunch of round tables scattered haphazardly throughout. At one of those tables sat Iggy and Wesley.

Relief washed over me, and I shouted her name. “Iggy!” Everyone turned to look at me. She jumped to her feet and ran.

“Cael!” she breathed after throwing herself in my arms. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I was hugging her so tightly, her feet no longer touched the floor. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, and I breathed in her faint vanilla-sugar cookie scent. “How about you? You okay?”

She nodded. “I’ve been so worried about you. I wasn’t sure you were here.”

I set Iggy on her feet. “Where’s Cody?”

“I haven’t seen him.” She took a step back and inclined her head toward the food line. “Grab something to eat and sit down with us.”

My stomach clenched at the wonderful smells I inhaled, but I was too angry to eat. Then Iggy grabbed my hand just like she always did and led me to the stack of trays. The food looked slightly better than what I’d been offered in high school. “I’m not hungry.”

“Please just get some food and sit down with me.” It was too easy to give in when she looked up at me with her big, amber eyes.

When we sat down, I said to Wesley, “Glad to see you’re okay.”

Instead of getting a response, Wesley bounced his fork against his tray and looked back and forth between me and Iggy, his blond eyebrows pulled together.

Iggy leaned toward him. “What’s wrong now, Wes?”

He pointed back and forth between Iggy and me. “Now I totally understand why they brought Cael here. It’s a big mistake, Iggy. How could you be so careless?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s obvious you two have a thing for each other.”

“A
thing
?” I echoed.

Iggy blushed, and that made him even angrier. He tossed his fork onto his tray and said, “They brought him here to use him as leverage to get you to do what they want, Iggy.” Wes looked at me. “And I thought if anyone would keep her away from danger, it would be you. But you didn’t.”

“Hey, wait a minute, Wes,” Iggy began. “You weren’t there. You don’t know how it was.”

She looked at me expectantly, as if I would back her up. I propped my elbows on the table and leaned my forehead on one hand. “Shit.”

Wes nodded. “Exactly. Now you get it.”

I sighed and told Iggy, “I’m sorry. I’ve done nothing but screw everything up since day one.”

“Don’t you dare apologize. You haven’t done anything wrong.” She said to Wesley, “I’ll just keep my distance from Cael. I won’t talk to him. Won’t look at him. They’ll realize they were mistaken.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “Iggy. There are cameras everywhere. You lit up like a kid on Christmas morning when you saw him just now.” He leaned around Iggy to look at me again. “Welcome to our nightmare.”

A shadow appeared over the table. I looked up to see the auburn haired guy who’d walked down the hall with me, accompanied by a girl almost as tall as him with a strawberry blonde pixie cut. She said with a pink tinge beneath her freckles, “I overheard you guys talking. Can we sit with you?”

Iggy gestured at the chairs across from us. “Have a seat.”

“Thanks.” She held a hand out toward her friend. “I’m Pippa, and this is my boyfriend, Brian.”

Iggy introduced the three of us, and then Pippa said to Wesley, “Brian thought the exact same thing you just said. I’m really worried that he’s here because they know I’ll do anything to keep him safe.”

Wesley snipped, “Yeah, well, there’s no use in talking about it. It won’t make it any easier for you. We’re all screwed.” Then he got up and walked out.

I expected Iggy to go after him, but she started gnawing on her bottom lip instead. I reached under the table to lay my hand on her leg. She gave me a quick smile and placed her hand on top of mine. I worked on my food with my one free hand.

Pippa said, “I heard you guys mention Dr. Jensen. I didn’t know him until yesterday. Is he the one who runs this lab?”

Iggy answered, “Most likely, though I’m not sure because I haven’t seen him yet. But this place isn’t CDC headquarters in Atlanta where Jensen works.”

Pippa took a sip of juice. “I overheard someone say we’re at some underground place in Texas.”

“Where did you guys come from?”

“Denver. They mentioned a Jensen back then, but I never knew who he was.”

Brian asked, “What kind of person is he? Do you think he’s cruel enough to plan what Wesley said?”

“Yes. He’s exactly that kind of person.”

I asked Pippa, “Do you know why we’re all here in Texas? What the goal is for those like you, Iggy, and Wesley? Back in Atlanta, Jensen really pushed to get a hold of Iggy and Wesley. With what’s been going on in the world, it seems like this guy should have better things to do than kidnap people.”

She replied, “I don’t know. I haven’t been involved in this stuff for years, and then suddenly some people showed up at our university and…well, here we are.”

Brian said, “I thought kidnapping was a federal offense, but I guess Dr. Jensen’s above the law.”

“It was the FBI who took Wesley,” Iggy said. “So Jensen apparently has more authority than I realized.”

“That’s scary.” Pippa leaned into her boyfriend, and Brian put his arm around her shoulders.

Iggy asked, “Are you sure you should do that? They can see you on the cameras.”

Brian said, “Me pretending to be unconcerned and distant isn’t going to help Pippa.”

“Like your blond friend said before he left,” Pippa explained, “I think Jensen brought Brian, Cael, and Shayla here for a reason. And I’ll bet he already has a plan.”

“Shayla is Ibram’s fiancée,” Brian explained, though I didn’t have a clue who either of them were.

Iggy looked at Pippa. “What is it that you do? What’s your ability?”

“I can pull water out of an animal’s body. Or a human’s.”

“How much water?” I asked. “Like complete dehydration?”

Brian smiled as if he were proud of his girlfriend. “Like a sponge drying out in the desert. Osmotic control. It’s really cool.”

Iggy and I looked at each other. Then Pippa asked her the same question and Iggy shrugged. “I think what I do is control people’s muscles.”

Pippa’s eyebrows pulled together. “You
think
?”

“I
know
I can do that, but Jensen also had me trying to do some other things when I was at the CDC. He said I wasn’t living up to my full potential. He accused me of hiding stuff from him.”

I stared at Iggy, wondering just how much I still didn't know. The four of us talked a while longer, then the double horn sounded and the room went instantly quiet. The speaker announced it was time to pick up our personal stock items and we had to follow the green arrows to Area 1.

Iggy started to stand, but I grabbed her wrist under cover of the table. I told Pippa and Brian, “We’ll bring up the rear.”

Brian nodded. “See you later, then.”

Iggy leaned toward me. “Why are we waiting?”

“Just hang on.”

When the line to put up the trays had neared the end, I motioned for her to follow me. We picked up our trays and I led her to the tray return area. After we set our things on the conveyor belt, I pulled Iggy toward the wall that separated this section from the dining room. She resisted, looking around. “No one can see us,” I assured. Then I backed her up against the wall, braced my arms on either side of her head, and leaned down until my lips grazed her ear. “No matter what, don’t let them use me against you. Don’t play their games. Okay, Iggy? Promise me.” I knew she was tough, but right now, she seemed scared and small, staring up at me with obvious nervousness.