Power Trip(48)

“I’m sorry,” the boy whispered under his breath, edging away from her.

“Me too,” she said, making her decision. She grabbed him, holding him securely in front of her as she reached into her pocket.

Peter chuckled. “Perfect.”

Then red light hit them and her world froze.





Cal struggled to breathe. As consciousness returned, fury energized him. He lifted his head.

“Ah, you’re awake.” Peter Woodrow stepped away from Audrey, tied on the floor next to him. Cal felt like he was coated in cement but with effort, he managed to move his fingers enough to explore the knot at his wrists. Woodrow might have high-tech weaponry but he clearly knew nothing about bondage. He hoped the knots at his ankles were as elementary.

“I’ve been doing research on you,” Woodrow informed him. The kid who had mugged them the other night sat on the couch, facing the television, but Cal could see from the reflection in the glass entertainment center that he was watching them.

Cal looked at Audrey. Her eyes were shut. Fear made his electrons riot, slowly burning through the thick red haze in his brain. Could he get some energy into her?

“An electrical talent, huh? We don’t have one of those yet. Did my proton weapon short you out?”

Understanding bloomed in his sluggish brain. No wonder that thing had such an effect on him. The positive charge was opposite to his very nature. Clearly, in this case opposites did not attract. Cal pretended to struggle, being careful not to tighten the knots, as he inched closer to Audrey. He got his hand on her bare skin and sent a short blast into her before Woodrow kicked him away.

Her eyelids fluttered but stayed shut.

Woodrow stood over him. “Aw, that’s sweet. Did you give her a little energy shot?”

“Not like the one I’m going to give you.”

“Keep dreaming, Sparky,” Woodrow jeered. “The Imp’s going to keep an eye on you while I get your room ready. Gotta remove all the fire hazards, you know.”

“The Imp?” Cal asked.

Woodrow jerked a thumb at the kid. “It’s a nickname. He’s impervious to physical harm, just like Audrey is immune to talent. He’s also freakishly strong. Their gene combination will be invincible.”

Cal’s vision blued. “Over my dead body.”

“Probably.” Woodrow gave him a cold smile and left the room.

The Imp turned away from the television.

“This is your chance to redeem yourself,” Cal said. “There’s a big wide world out there. You can have a better life than this if you help us.”

The boy watched him wrestle with the simple knots at his wrists. “How do I know you aren’t worse than them?”

“Faith.” Cal slipped out of the ropes and pulled himself toward Audrey. The boy might not help them, but it didn’t seem like he was going to hinder them, either. He grabbed Audrey’s fingers and let his electrons fly.

Slowly, her eyes opened. “Cal, what the hell? I can barely move.”

He squeezed her hand and felt the faint pressure of her fingers in return. “Listen—Woodrow is coming back,” he whispered urgently. “Get the conductor ready and lie still. Be ready to squeeze the trigger. If I get your hands untied, can you raise your arm?”

“Maybe.”

Cal reached for her ropes. A sound outside the door made him abandon his plan of undoing the knots with his fingers. “Sorry,” he said and torched them. She didn’t flinch.

He saw her grit her teeth as she reached into her pocket for the conductor. There wasn’t time to untie their feet, so he put his hands behind him again, as if he were still restrained. Maybe that would buy her another few seconds to recover.

The door opened. The Imp turned back to the television.

Woodrow was talking on his cell phone as he entered the room, and Cal was glad for the distraction. How long would she wait? He held his breath, knowing Audrey would only have one shot.

She raised her arm. A line of blue fire shot from the tip of the conductor. It arced toward Woodrow but curved to the floor before it reached him. The carpet at his feet caught fire.

“Impressive,” he taunted, stamping out the flames. He dropped the phone on a chair and pulled the silver rod out of his back pocket.

Cal cursed. With their feet tied, neither one of them would be able to incapacitate him before he fired on them again. Audrey’s arm dipped, the line of blue flame intensified, then stuttered out. After filling the battery in the lab, she didn’t have enough power to use nichrome as a conductor.

But he did.

Cal reached for her hand. She’d handled fifty thousand amps and been just fine. Two million hadn’t fazed her either. They wouldn’t need that much power to stop Woodrow. He poured energy into her and the bio-enhancer responded. Blue flame met red as Woodrow fired too.