The Forbidden Trilogy(245)

Simmons's voice rattled, harsh and uncaring on the other end. "Sam is gone, and in a few days, those children will be dead as well, killed or mutated. This is our only chance to stop Steele before it's too late."

Lucy remembered Beleth's words, about all of the kids being killed in about a month. Simmons was right, but Beleth had also told Lucy he'd let the children go, if she killed Simmons. Right now, that seemed a better option. She thought about that moment on the island when she weighed the cost of one life for many. Now that one life wanted her to destroy many, including her best friend and her best friend's daughter.... "No."

"Don't you dare disobey this order! If you do, you can forget about evacuating. Do you understand me, Agent?"

Lucy scowled. "Oh, I understand perfectly. But I'm not an agent, remember?" She turned off Simmons's access to her comm, walked back to the computer to get eyes on Robyn, and tried contacting her.

Green smoked still filled the room, and she heard coughing. Soon everyone would be asleep. She grabbed her backpack and was about to leave to help them when the smoke started pulling back, condensing. In the middle stood Luke, using his powers to pull the gas together.

Lucy smiled. "My badass brother. Nice job."

He formed it into a small cloud in front of him, and she could see her friends awake and alive, though still affected by the smoke. "Thank God you guys are okay. You need to get out of there. Someone grab Hunter. Head for the hangar." They'd get out of here with or without Simmons.

Darren and Gary moved to help Hunter while the rest of the team headed toward the door. As the smoke cleared, Lucy could see Beleth on his knees, wounded and tired, but still awake and too close to Hunter.

Beleth tried to intercept Gary, but his spider legs wouldn't move. Luke had used his power to keep Beleth in place, while containing the gas. He facial muscles twitched and his jaw clenched from the pressure. He groaned in pain, but held on.

Using his para-power, Gary pulled metal pipes from the wall. Water sprayed everywhere as he threw the pipes at Beleth, knocking him down. Then he and Darren carried Hunter out at a run. Luke followed and was about to close the door when a black tail swept him from the side.

Lucy's pulse raced. "Luke, to your right!"

He twisted, and swung Hunter's sword, cutting off the tail. Black ooze dropped from it and the tip fell to the ground and squirmed, like the lizard tail Hunter had cut off. Then Luke released the gas, letting it fill the room, and ran out, leaving Beleth.

As the camera once again filled up with green, Lucy suppressed an urge to cheer for her brother. They still had so much to do before they would be safe. Like find Sam. She tried to connect with Sam mentally, but couldn't feel her at all. Had someone blocked her? What if Sam had been captured?

She clicked through all the cameras in search of her, and saw Drake running out of the room he'd entered with Sam. Someone else was with him, a kid. That must be Toby, the boy Sam had mentioned. An alarm went off in the distance, startling her. This whole mission had gone to hell. Drake didn't have an earpiece so she couldn't tell him about their plan to meet at the hangar. She'd have to find him herself. First, she used her laptop to open the hangar roof, then she grabbed her bag, the can with the tracker, and her laptop, and left the building at a run.

She left the bomb next to the still sleeping guard. Unarmed.

As she ran across an open area, a guard closed in behind her and yelled at her to stop.

Shit! She slowed down, but kept walking. Would he shoot? It seemed unlikely. The guard walked faster to catch up. "I said stop, miss." He reached for her hand to physically restrain her. "You have to—"

She grabbed his arm, pulled him into a hold, and knocked him unconscious by hitting a pressure point at his neck. Then she resumed her search for Drake.

The alarm blared through the night, loud and annoying. Red lights lit up the building in seizure-inducing blinks. She stopped at an intersection. Left or right? She couldn't remember, and panic filled her. She tried to calm her mind and focus, but footsteps coming from the left decided for her. It could be Drake. It could also be another guard, but she'd take the gamble.

She ran left and found Toby supporting Drake as they walked; he'd been hurt.

"Where's Sam?" She was out of breath but still ready to do what she had to.

"The bastard took her."

No! "We have to rescue her, then get the hell out of here." She walked past Drake but he reached for her arm. "No, it's too late. We can't beat them right now."

Fury burned in her at his cowardice. "So your great plan is to abandon her again. You're really good at that, aren't you?"

He didn't shy away from her words, but embraced them. "I deserved that, but listen to me. You'll know if I'm lying. I would die for her, if I thought it would help save her and Ana. I would kill for her, if I thought I could get them out right now. But if we go back in, he'll kill us, and Sam and my daughter will have no one left to save them. We have to regroup and figure out how to defeat Steele."