Power Trip(47)

Jake shot a sideways look at Cal. “Two days with you and now she’s a kinky kidnapper?”

She elbowed Jake, ignoring his mocking glance at her clothing. She’d known the minute she pulled Cal’s smallest black leather jacket over her jeans and the bio-enhancer that she was going to catch flak from her brother. She was wearing more clothing than most of the girls she’d seen at Jake’s club, but still less than she had ever worn in public in her life. She felt more ridiculous with every minute that passed. She didn’t belong in leather, and it wasn’t a matter of getting used to it. She couldn’t live up to Cal’s vision of her, and as soon as this was over she’d stop trying. The disappointment she had felt waking up alone this morning should have clued her in to how different their needs were.

Jake rang the bell.

The same guard from the other night answered the door. Jake ordered him back to his station while she and Cal headed for the elevator. The door shut behind them and the bottom dropped out of her stomach as the elevator began to move. She was glad it hadn’t taken Jake long to figure out how to override the system because her nerves were already screaming.

Every second felt like an hour as they descended.

Ding. The doors opened.

Silence. Eerie stillness. Cautiously, Audrey stepped out into a bright hallway. There was nothing on the walls. No art. No signs. Nothing to tell her which way to go. She pictured the floors above and decided to go left, toward where the labs would be.

“Hang on—do you know where the stairs are?” Cal asked.

She shook her head, realizing she’d never seen any staircases that led down from the ground floor. Were they keeping him down here without an emergency exit? Horror flooded through her.

Cal shucked his leather coat and rolled it into a ball. He placed it between the elevator doors. The doors shut, bounced, opened. “Better than nothing,” he said. “I’d prefer not to get trapped down here.”

“Let’s go.” It smelled like a hospital, sterile, too clean for a basement, but doubts crowded her mind. In spite of her hunch, he might not be here at all. The files hadn’t divulged the location—Genecorp could be conducting their experiment anywhere.

There was only one door in the short hall and her breath hissed out of her lungs as they reached it. A plaque on the wall matched the name of the file on the flash drive. “He’s in there,” she breathed.

She flipped the switch at the back of her neck and slipped her hand into her pocket, gripping the handle of the bio-enhancer. She raised her other hand and knocked on the door. Dread and anticipation tightened her nerves as she heard movement inside the room.

The door opened.

She gasped, recognizing the mugger from the other night.

Audrey stared at him, mind reeling. He looked like a typical teenager in jeans and a hoodie sweatshirt. Across the room, a huge flat-screen TV showed a martial arts game in freeze-frame, and she could see a controller on the couch.

“Come in,” he said, stepping back from the door.

She ignored the prickling sensation along her scalp. Her limbs felt light, as if she were instinctively preparing for a fight. Or flight. She stepped forward into the room. Cal followed her.

The door shut swiftly behind them.

“Sorry about the arm,” the boy said to Cal. “I didn’t have a choice.” His voice was deeper than she would have expected from someone with such a small frame and he looked at them intently. She believed him.

Cal stepped forward to stand beside her and she glanced to the side. His eyes were glowing, so she put a hand on his arm. “No hard feelings, right?” she said.

Cal’s glance shifted to the right. She followed his gaze and saw Peter step into the doorway of a small, dark kitchen. The silver weapon in his hand was pointing straight at them. Red light arced through the air. Cal shoved her to the side and raised his hands.

Blue surrounded Cal, a nimbus of pure energy that turned purple around the edges when the red light hit it. Cal crumpled to the ground. Audrey started to pull the bio-enhancer out of her pocket, but then hesitated. She couldn’t compete with Cal’s energy and he’d just lost that bout.

Peter pointed the silver rod at her and grinned. “Nice outfit.”

She ignored the heat in her cheeks and considered her options. She didn’t expect a hook kick to work again—Peter would never let her get that close. Could she dive and roll? She couldn’t move faster than a beam of light, but she might make it behind the couch and give herself some time. Her best option was the door behind her, but she wasn’t leaving Cal.

Peter stepped forward, blocking her path to the couch. The silver rod pointed at her chest.