Blood Ransom (17 page)

Fighting to keep my legs moving, I looked back at the tunnel. The pathway must have shelved very suddenly for me to have fallen so deeply. The torch was lying where I’d dropped it, near
the tunnel wall. It was still working, thank goodness, but pointing away from me, which meant I couldn’t see how far this pool of water lasted.

Even in my bewildered state, I knew I didn’t have much time. My legs were already tired and it was taking a supreme effort just to hold Grace above my head. I couldn’t get out of the
water without putting her in it – and I knew that the cold of it would kill her, even if she didn’t drown.

‘Help!’ I shouted desperately. ‘Help!’

Grace’s high-pitched squeal pierced through my brain. The sound of wheels turning echoed towards us. I squinted into the tunnel.

‘Rachel?’ Milo wheeled up to the torch. He picked it up and scanned the water. The light glared in my eyes.

‘Oh, Jesus.’ Milo pointed the torch away from me.

I could only dimly make out his face, but I could hear the terror in his voice.

‘Help me,’ I gasped, my teeth chattering.

In answer, Milo slid out of his chair.

Lying on his front, he hauled himself by the arms across the wet, rocky ground to the edge of the pool. ‘This is where it shelves,’ he said, shining the torch across the water.
‘I can’t see where it ends.’

‘Please help,’ I gasped.

I was sinking lower in the water, the freezing brine splashing against my lips. My arms shook uncontrollably. I was going to drop Grace in a moment.

‘Let me take her then I’ll get you out,’ Milo said.

He laid the torch on the ground beside him and reached across the water. I held Grace up to him, kicking as hard as I could to get closer. I could barely feel my legs.

Milo took Grace. She stopped crying straight away. He picked up the blanket that trailed in the water and felt along its length.

I let my arms fall into the water. They were so cold,
so cold.

Milo found a dry bit of blanket and wrapped it tightly round Grace.

‘I’m going to put her in my chair,’ he said, ‘then I’m coming back for you.’

I tried to speak but my teeth were chattering too hard. I seriously couldn’t feel my legs now, but they must be moving, or I wouldn’t still be afloat, though now my arms were
helping, weren’t they? I looked down, unable to connect my brain giving the instruction with my arms trying to obey it

I
was
moving, though very slowly. My mouth was completely underwater now, so I was breathing through my nose, my whole body shaking with cold.

Milo was crawling, commando-style, back to his wheelchair, Grace firmly in his grasp. At least she wasn’t crying any more. At least she was safe.

And then my legs stopped moving altogether. I flailed with my arms, panicking, tipping my head back. Mouth above water. One last yell.

And then I sank beneath the water.

The shock of the water on my face roused me for a second. Enough to register that I
had
to move.

Swim
, my brain screamed at my limbs.
Swim.

Somewhere, somehow I managed to move, clawing back the water, fighting the urge to sleep. I was running out of breath now.

Give up
, said a little voice in my head.
It’s the easier choice.

No.
My hands banged the side of the tunnel. I reached along the mossy wall, pulling myself through the water. Which way was up? I couldn’t breathe.

And then a huge hole appeared in the wall. I could feel it with my hands. The water was even colder here.

Swim there
, my brain shrieked at me.

I had no idea if I should. I’d lost all sense of where I was or who I was or what I was doing here.

All I knew was that I had to keep moving.

My lungs were going to burst. I kicked myself into the hole. Another kick. Darkness forcing itself into my closed eyes.

And another. The darkness was overwhelming.

And then the water seemed to tip me downwards and I slid down a metal pipe . . . down, down, and suddenly there was cold air around me and hard, wet ground beneath.

I took a single conscious breath, then gave myself up to the darkness.

54

I forced myself to walk slowly down the beach, away from the trees, my whole body tense as I listened out for more sounds. Rachel was here somewhere . . . why didn’t she
shout again?

‘Rachel!’ I called as loudly as I dared. ‘Rachel, where are you?’

The gunfire in the distance was intensifying. Above the island I could hear a helicopter lowering, its lights shining out.

Ahead of me, the beach sloped right down to the sea. The tide was out. I strained my eyes into the darkness. I could just make out the curve of a metal pipe emerging into the stones at the very
edge of the water. Was that a
body
slumped on the ground? I raced towards it. Behind me, the helicopter was getting louder.

‘Rachel?’ I shouted, throwing all caution to the wind.

No movement. I reached the body. It was her.

I pulled back her hair, lifted her up. Her body sagged against mine.

‘Rachel,
please
,’ I hissed at her. ‘
Rachel, wake up!
’

She spluttered. A dribble of water trickled out of her mouth. She gave a low moan, but didn’t open her eyes.

In the distance the helicopter’s engine slowed. Jesus, had it
landed
? Footsteps pounded along the path I’d been following. Crouching lower against the sand, I covered
Rachel’s body with my own. A crackling radio message drifted faintly across the night air:

‘Lennox says the lab is destroyed. Get to the helicopter. Elijah Lazio is on board.’

‘On my way.’ The footsteps disappeared.

‘Can you walk?’ I whispered.

But Rachel was still only semi-conscious.

I hauled her up and over my shoulder. Weighed down by all the water in her clothes, I could barely carry her.

RAGE wouldn’t be busy with this helicopter for long. Either they’d take it or it would take off. And whoever won the fight, Lennox and her men would be back on their boat within
minutes.

I set off along the beach, walking as fast as I could, soaked now from Rachel’s clothes.

She was still moaning lightly under her breath, though I couldn’t work out what she was saying.
Ace?
No,
Grace.

What was that? Some kind of prayer?

I made my way along the beach. There was the jetty. Looking round as I approached, I hurried onto the wooden walkway and along to RAGE’s boat.

It looked deserted.
No.
There was a man on deck.

He’d seen me. He raised his knife.

I held my breath. How was I going to defend myself
and
Rachel?

And then the man lowered his knife and shouted out, ‘Theo?’

‘Lewis!’

Overwhelmed with relief, I rushed on board as Lewis limped to the hull and threw off the rope that bound the boat to the jetty.

‘You got her,’ Lewis said, as I deposited Rachel on the couch that ran along one side of the main cabin. ‘Is she okay?’

The noise of the helicopter taking off made us both look round. Through the door of the cabin I could see it rising into the moonlight.

‘Where’s Elijah?’ Lewis took an unsteady step to the door. I grabbed his arm.

‘He’s on that copter,’ I said. ‘I heard a RAGE soldier say so. Which means
he’s
got away, but RAGE will be back any second. We need to get out of here,
fast.’

Lewis hesitated a second, then nodded. He raced over to the back section of the cabin where the boat’s controls were situated.

A moment later the engine fired and we were away.

Part Two

55

I came round to the sound of muffled voices above my head.

I lay still, completely disoriented.

Where was I? Who was talking?

Why was my bed moving?

The cloth under my hand was rough and scratchy.

I was warm, my limbs heavy.

I registered these things slowly, as the voices above me grew stronger and clearer. I stroked my finger across the coarse blanket that tickled my chin. Even that small movement was an
effort.

‘She moved her finger.’ It was Theo, his voice full of relief. ‘Rach, we’re here. Me and Lewis. We’ve got you. You’re safe.’

My heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice.

‘I told you she was just asleep.’ Lewis. As he spoke, a hand stroked a wisp of hair off my face.

I wrinkled my nose, trying to open my eyes, but the effort was too great.

‘Where am I?’ I whispered through parched lips.

‘On a boat,’ Theo said.

Well, that made sense of the way everything was moving – a gentle rocking motion that was somehow both soothing and vaguely nauseating.

‘I found you unconscious on the island . . .’Theo went on. ‘I brought you back . . . this is RAGE’s boat. We escaped on it about six or seven hours ago.’

The memory of last night stabbed me like a knife.

‘Grace?’ I moaned, remembering how I’d been forced to hand her to Milo before we both sank under that freezing water. ‘What happened . . . Grace . . .’

‘What’s she talking about?’ Lewis sounded concerned.

‘Dunno, she said something like that before, last night.’ Theo hesitated. ‘Maybe she banged her head.’

‘No.’ I forced my eyes open.

I wasn’t on a bed. I was lying on a large padded bench in what looked like the main cabin of the RAGE boat. Lots of dark, scuffed wood. Theo was sitting beside me, Lewis standing next to
him. They were both peering down at me with anxious eyes – Theo’s a warm deep brown, Lewis’s a piercing blue.

I gazed at Theo, the joy of seeing him shot through with the desperation of losing Grace.

‘Baby . . . tests . . . Elijah . . .’ I said, trying to make them understand.
God
, my whole body ached. Every word was an effort. ‘Tried . . . rescue . . .’ The
memory of how I’d sunk into the water – unable to move, panic surging through me – flashed into my head. I shivered.

Theo and Lewis exchanged looks.

‘Whatever it is, you can tell us later – you should rest right now,’ Lewis said. He moved closer and I realised for the first time that his face was cut and bruised. Had RAGE
done that?

‘Get her another blanket, Theo. I need to check where we are.’

They both disappeared, Lewis limping. I struggled onto my elbows. Apart from my underwear, all I had on was a large checked shirt. My clothes – or, rather, the men’s top and trousers
I’d been given on Calla – were draped over a chair on the other side of the cabin.

I blushed as I realised that must mean that either Theo or Lewis had removed my soaking wet clothes last night.

Theo came back, another blanket in one hand, a glass of water in the other. I took a sip from the glass, draped the blanket over my shoulders, and sat up. We stared at each other.

It was funny. For the past nine months the thought of seeing Theo again had pretty much been all that had kept me going. And yet now we were face to face with each other, I felt
self-conscious.

‘What was that stuff about a baby?’ Theo asked gently.

I sipped again at the water, my head clearing. Taking a deep breath I explained about the clone embryos in the lab.

‘Elijah calls it the Aphrodite Experiment but there’s one proper baby – one
actually born
– Grace – and . . . and Elijah’s going to do tests on her to
find out about this special thing in my blood . . . my DNA . . . which is presumably going to be in
her
blood too . . .’

Theo frowned. ‘What tests?’

‘I don’t know, but he doesn’t have
me
any more, and the embryos were killed, so he’s only got Grace now.’ Tears welled up as I realised how much danger she
was in. ‘Oh God, Theo, I left her behind.’

‘What happened?’

I told him how I’d tried to escape with Grace. As I talked, Lewis limped back into the cabin.

‘. . . then Milo took Grace from me and he had a torch and I know he could make it back to the cave and I’m sure Elijah would have sent someone to get us from there so Milo should
have made it to the helicopter but I’m so worried he’ll hurt her,’ I said breathlessly, tears trickling down my face. ‘I mean, Elijah was telling me to keep her safe so he
could do tests on both of us but she’s so tiny and he’s capable of . . . of
anything
. . .’

Theo leaned forward and took my hand. ‘Maybe Elijah will just let her go, like he did Daniel.’

I looked away. ‘He didn’t let Daniel go.’

‘What d’you mean?’

My heart thudded. I couldn’t bear to tell him.

But I knew I had to.

‘What, Rachel?’ Lewis said.

‘Daniel’s dead,’ I said, looking up.

‘
No!
’ Theo’s face paled. ‘How?’

I explained as briefly as I could, stressing there was nothing any of us could have done to save him. ‘Elijah said he had the operation . . . the heart transplant . . . ages ago . . . last
year, before he left the States.’

Theo sat quite still for a moment. In the background, Lewis let out a frustrated sigh, but I kept my gaze on Theo, wishing I knew what to say to him.

A year ago I know I’d have blurted out something . . . the wrong thing . . . trying to make him feel better. But now I knew that sometimes there’s nothing you can say. Sometimes you
just have to let people be . . . let them sort stuff out for themselves.

After a few moments, Lewis cleared his throat.

‘Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Rachel?’ he asked. ‘I mean, physically?’

‘I’m just tired now,’ I said. ‘What about you?’ I added, indicating his bruises.

Lewis made a face. ‘That was RAGE.’ He explained everything that had happened to him and Theo since last night. Theo continued to sit silently beside us.

‘So did Elijah get away in the helicopter?’ I asked as Lewis finished.

‘We think so. Theo heard one of the RAGE soldiers say he was on board,’ he said. ‘His lab on the island was definitely destroyed.’