Worth Dying for (A Dying for a Living Novel Book 5) (23 page)

Jesse

I
look to the left and the right but see no one.

“What do you mean there’s someone here?” I hiss, my heart hammering in my throat. We haven’t had nearly enough time to explore the facility or set the trap that would snare Caldwell. We were supposed to have at least a couple of hours before anyone showed up.

“They crashed into the wall,” Maisie says. She’s holding Winston a little too tight, his big eyes bulging.

“He can’t breathe,” I point out and her grip loosens.

“A car hit the wall and a horn blared,” Ally agrees. “Then we heard footsteps inside the building.”

“
This
building?” Gloria and I say in unison.

I’m still trying to pick my jaw up off the floor and get my heart out of my throat when Gloria springs into action. “Come on.”

We hurry after her.

Sliding around corners, we skid to a halt in front of a control room. Or at least that’s what it looks like with all of the knobs and dials and screens.

Gloria dives under the desk, leaving the three of us to huddle in fear. I peek out into the hallway, looking left and right again for any sign of the enemy. The enemy because I’m not sure who the hell is out there. Caldwell wouldn’t drive into a wall would he? That doesn’t sound like his MO. But then again, he could be trying for surprise?

“Are you okay down there?” Ally asks as the sounds of destruction are interspersed with swear words.

“The connection isn’t—yes. Here we go.” The screens hum to life, the buzz of electricity audible in the small space. But it’s all snow.

“Maybe the cameras aren’t functional anymore,” Ally suggests.

A small sound catches my ear and I turn just in time to see a hand clasp over my mouth.

I ignite without thinking. Maisie, and Ally jump back and so does the hand that covered my mouth.

“Bloody hell, it’s
me
,” Gideon says, shaking blue fire off his hand.

“Gee-
zus
,” I moan. “I almost shat myself.”

“Keep your voice down,” he hisses. “There was a bloody reason why I didn’t want any of you screaming. We aren’t alone.”

He looks up from his wounded hand and glares at me.

“I’m not sorry,” I say. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people with superpowers. It was a stupid thing to do.”

“Super stupid,” Maisie adds.

“Fix it,” Gloria commands, shoving us all back against the wall so Gideon can fit into the control room.

He wraps his hand in a black cloth from his pocket and shuts the door behind him. “Lock that.”

“Did you drive into the barrier?” Ally asks.

“That was Rachel,” Gideon says, ducking beneath the work table. “But Caldwell is also here, scouting.”

“Scouting?”

“I suspect he wants the lay of the land before he brings Georgia,” Gloria says.

Gideon climbs out from under the desk and starts pounding commands into the keyboard. “Ah, no. I guess not. How about—ah no. Hmm. Well, maybe—”

“Caldwell
and
Rachel are here?” I give Gloria a weary look. Who the hell are we going to deal with first?
Would it have been too much to ask for one problem at a time? Of course it would.

“And we’ve another problem as well,” Gideon says, his lips flattening to a thin line. The cameras flare to life, the snow fizzling away.

We’re gifted with an encompassing view of the building. Every hallway, every room, everything is perfectly illuminated for us in black and white. It’s omniscience.

In one screen, three car loads of men pile out with guns.

“More company.” Gideon presses his finger to this monitor as if he could stamp out the men with a jab of his finger. “Damn.”

“Idiot. You led them here,” I say. “Who are they?”

“They belong to Caldwell.” Gideon runs a hand over his head. “They passed Rachel over hoping she would lead them back to you. He wanted me here as well. Now I know why. I’m an idiot for not realizing it before.”

“I told you to come,” Gloria says.

Gideon exhales. “I’m a liability rather than an ally.”

“How?” Maisie asks.

“Caldwell will puppet him if he can,” Gloria says, she’s rummaging through her bag. “We’re immune.”

“I don’t have NRD. He could just as easily use me against any of you,” Ally adds.

“He hasn’t before,” I say. “I feel like if he could use you against us, he would have done it by now.”

Because the heart is pure. It is incorruptible
, Gabriel whispers in my ear. I turn, expecting to see him in the room, but it’s only us. Weird.

And this means what?
I ask with my mind.

You have the benefit of being both a heart and a partis.

“There is a first time for everything,” Gloria warns.

I blink at her trying to refocus my attention on the room. It’s hard with Gabriel pulling on me.

“Jackson,” Gideon says, turning to Gloria. “Perhaps you shouldn’t give me anything dangerous, nonetheless.”

She considers this warning. Then says, “Has he been in your head?”

“Yes,” he freely admits. “When he had me in New York, he poked around in there liberally. He wanted to know all about Brinkley, what I knew about the girls, and my connections and capabilities. I believe he considered killing me outright.”

“But he didn’t,” Gloria says, her eyes narrowing.

Gideon arches an eyebrow. “He said, ‘waste not, want not’. It doesn’t change the fact that he must know about the chamber and our plan. We’ve lost the element of surprise.”

“We will have to make up a new plan.”

“There’s no time!” Ally cries.

“We’ll wing it,” I say, trying to stay positive. And let’s be honest here, most of the time I’m winging it. “We can do this.”

Ally rubs her forehead. “Jess, we worked on this plan for months. We—”

“Think about every death replacement we’ve ever done,” I remind her. “We never knew how the person would die. There was no way to prepare for it. We only knew that it was coming. We made decisions as we had to make them—one at a time.”

Her lips press into a thin line but at least she’s stopped arguing.

“We know he will be here and we know we want to kill him, and that he will die,” I say. I look to Gloria for confirmation.

“I saw him dead,” Gloria says and at last Ally’s shoulders relax.

“We can do this,” I tell her. And I look to the others. I hope I sound inspirational and motivational and not like a desperate maniac. “We’ll make it up as we go. And we
will
win.”

Because you’re not getting even one more day of my life, Caldwell
.

“First problem,” Gideon says, his accent particularly strong. “How do we keep him from using me to kill you?”

“You recognize the feeling don’t you?” Gloria asks.

“Why yes, I do. Intense pressure behind the eyes. Bees buzzing in my head.”

She nods. “You’re no good to us disarmed. If you feel the pressure, the buzzing, you’ll have a few seconds before he seizes complete control. Use that time to disarm, and if you can’t or he won’t let you, then try to warn us.”

Gideon gives her a weary look. “Don’t you think it’s better to tie me to the chair now?”

“We need you,” she says without looking at him.

Gideon’s face softens at her compliment. “I’m happy to be of service, Captain Jackson.” And even I hear the unspoken words.
One last time.

Gloria’s eyes are focused on the monitors. Caldwell’s goons slide down hallways in full tactical gear, guns up, hunting us. Rachel walks from room to room, peering in to see where we are hiding. And Caldwell, he’s the most difficult to track. He flits from one screen to another. Hopping from hallway to hallway on his own version of a hunt.

“We’re out of time,” Gloria says, ejecting and reinserting the magazine of her gun. “Time to wing it.”

Rachel

T
his place is a maze. I cut another corner and find a hallway identical to the last. Same white tiles. Same walls: half white cinder blocks, half glass windows.

I duck into four outbuildings before I find one with electricity. I have both eyes open for Caldwell, but he doesn’t show his face. Of course, I have the distinct impression Caldwell is playing with me.

The idea that he doesn’t take me seriously ruffles my feathers. I am
not
weak. I have more power than his little brat and more control than Jessup. Sure, her power is flashier, but she hasn’t had her power for nearly as long as I have.

Kill the brat and you’ll be even stronger
, Uriel says in my mind.
Kill the brat and Georgia may even confront you head on. You would be at an advantage, fighting her while she is emotional
. I think of the last time I saw Georgia. I shoved her up into the ceiling before dropping her and crushing her leg. It had been easy enough. And now I am so much stronger.

“Good idea,” I coo to Uriel. “I’ll kill the girl,
then
her mother. That will leave only me, Jessup and Caldwell. She’ll help me take him down and then—
badda boom
. It’s over.” His laughter echoes through my mind. If he can’t materialize it means Jesse or Maisie are close. Or Georgia and Caldwell.

I look back over my shoulder as a strange feeling of being watched washes over me. There’s no one in sight. I turn back and there’s Caldwell. Without thinking, I shove him hard with my mind and he flies backward. I suck in a breath, waiting to see his body slam against the concrete wall, but he disappears midair.

“Damn.” I break into a run. I don’t want to be in the exact same place should he rematerialize.

As soon as I cut around the corner, there he is. He wraps both his hands around my throat and lifts me off the ground. He slams my body into the wall, winding me. Stars dance in my vision as my back muscles seize in pain. Then he lifts me off my feet again so that I can see right over his head to the hallway stretching beyond him.

In the flickering light, his woman saunters toward me. Her gaze afire with hate. I reach out and squeeze his heart. He drops me.

I hit the ground hard and my vision wavers. A sharp pain shoots up my hip and into my chest. A man grunts, then the sound of screeching metal jerks my head up in time to see Gideon swing a pipe. Caldwell takes a step back and Gideon collapses over my body, covering me.

I’m pinned beneath him looking at the ceiling tiles above. Fire bursts over us, flames shooting in Caldwell’s direction.

“Stay down,” Gideon says into my ear.

The flames shoot again in the same controlled wave and someone hoots and hollers. I lay beneath Gideon, feeling the weight of his body on mine. He smells like sweat and cinnamon gum. It’s hard to draw a breath beneath the full weight of him.

The flames disappear, revealing the ceiling tiles again. Only then does Gideon get off of me, offering me a hand.

I sit up, seeing Jesse and Maisie about ten feet away.

“Woo!” Maisie says, laughing and jumping up and down. “It worked. We are so cool!”

“How is that even possible?” I search Jessup’s face but find it blank and guarded.

Because she is your enemy
, Uriel reminds me.

Maisie bounces on her toes. “Because we’ve got the channel thingy and now Jesse and I are totally awesome and if I just concentrate it goes exactly where we want it to!”

“You were very slow at first,” Jessup gripes.

“My mom was right there!” Maisie frowns. “I thought you said we wanted to scare them off not hurt them.”

“So you have control because of some newfound connection?” Finally taking Gideon’s hand, I pull myself up to standing. I recall the strange sensation that had consumed me at Monroe’s death. Monroe grabbing ahold of me in my mind and demanding that I remember who my heart is.

No.

I feel apprehension. Reserve. Weary reluctance. All of these emotions play across Jessup’s face.

“So you can control your fire now because of your connection to Maisie?” I ask again.

“Yes!” Maisie says, giggling. “It’s awesome.”

“Maisie,” Jessup warns. And her face hardens even more. Is she reading me as hard as I’m reading her?

“Good to know.” Before the last word is even fully out of my mouth, I shove Gideon hard down one end of the hallway and push Jesse hard down the other. Both fly through the air away from me. The purple shimmer of Jesse’s shield flares to life before I hear her crash to the ground, so I know I have even less time.

Maisie stands stunned in the middle of the hallway. Her eyes are round as half-dollars.

“Come here,” I command, but I have no intention of waiting for her to comply. One yank and she’s pulled toward me down the hallway, kicking and screaming all the way.