“Who gives a damn?” Reed asked, still tilted toward the ceiling. “We’re done, now.”
“It’s not over yet,” I said, sounding stronger than I felt. I made my way to my brother’s side, and he sat up to look at me. His eyes were nearly squinted shut. “It’s not over. Call your headquarters, get them to send some more help.” I looked to Kat, then Karthik. “We can rally with Omega, what’s left of it—”
“Don’t you get it, Sienna?” Reed said, and he let out a hysterical laugh. He bit his lip and sniffed, and I got the feeling he was only centimeters from losing it. “This was Omega.” He waved to indicate the bodies on the floor, and it came to rest with his finger pointing at Hera’s corpse. “And she was Alpha.” He looked ghostly, pained. “Our headquarters in Rome was destroyed by Century three days ago. She was the last of the surviving leaders of Alpha. I’m all that’s left, except for the mercs at our safehouse. Not one of them is a meta.” He rested his hands on his knees, and sat with them in front of him, like I used to sit in the box. I thought maybe he’d rest his head on his legs, but he didn’t. “It’s over. Everyone who had any chance of organizing metakind to fight Century just died in this room.”
Chapter 31
“Not quite,” Kat said, her voice soft. She lifted Janus up in her arms. “Close, but he’s not dead yet.”
“He got stabbed in the back of the head,” Reed said from his sitting position. “You can’t tell me he’s going to be of use to anyone.” His words were bitter, rueful.
“Maybe,” Kat said, and I caught her hesitancy. She licked her lips as she cradled him. “But I won’t know until we give it some time.” She nodded toward Breandan with her head. “Your criminal friend is right—”
“Oh, well, thanks for putting it that way,” Breandan said.
“We need to get out of here,” Kat said. “I suggest we go back to Omega headquarters, since it’s the most well-equipped location to serve as a base of operations.”
“I really want to go strolling into the heart of enemy territory,” Reed said. “It’s high on my list of priorities, getting murdered.”
“Reed,” I said gently and then yanked him to his feet, letting the gentleness go. “Get your ass moving.”
He blinked at me in surprise. “Okay,” he said, and I could hear the chagrin in his tone. “Okay, then.”
I looked around again, quickly, taking stock of what we had left. “Karthik?” I asked, and the young man seemed to come out of a stupor. “You with us?”
“Sorry, yes,” Karthik said, nodding. “I am. Let’s regroup.”
“Maybe you should let Breandan drive,” I said to Reed.
“We have a van,” Karthik suggested. “Parked in the rear of the building. May I suggest we use that exit? More cover for us, perhaps less likelihood of running into the police on their way in here.”
“Fine,” I said, and Karthik took the lead, Breandan a few steps behind him. They headed to our left, following the courtyard and the curve of the white tower until it opened into a new section of the museum. We tromped through empty halls, Kat carrying Janus in her arms like a baby, and made our way down stairs and through hallways until we reached the back exit. The smell of the place was heavy, almost musty, though I couldn’t shake the sense that there was blood coming with us, blood on everything, filling my nose and mouth like I could taste it.
Tastes good, Wolfe said.
“Shut up,” I whispered.
“What?” Karthik asked, turning back to look at me.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Talking to myself.”
As we burst out the back doors we found a police car waiting. The sirens were flashing in the dimming light of the day, and two police officers were waiting in carefully crouched positions.
“Look out!” Karthik called, “there are men with guns behind us!”
I paused for only a second before I realized he was lying. For a moment I actually thought he was telling the truth, enough to get me to look back through the brass doors to see that there were, in fact, men with guns inside, standing just in front of the glass.
“RUN!” I shouted as I dodged to the right and out of the line of fire. I saw the cops dive behind their car as Reed turned to see what I saw.
“Keep going!” Karthik shouted, and I felt him come up behind me. He grabbed my collar and pulled me back to a run then did the same to Reed. “Trust me!” he shouted, and took off with us. “They’re just illusions that I created with my power to distract the police while we escape.” This he said at a whisper, low enough the police wouldn’t hear him.