Catalyst (26 page)

             
My conscience buzzed loud and alert in my ears for my charge
,
but
I could
still
hear Celeste whimp
ering and crying beneath me though I
couldn't see her face.
I was too far down myself, having stopped my descent down with them by grabbing a piece of a step in one hand and hooking my foot under the ledge of a step below me. Even with my Keeper strength, I wasn't going to be able to just pull them out when I couldn't even pull myself out. And Kay wasn't
t
here to help me. Crap.

             
"Help me, Josh," Miguel said behind me. "If we can pull Merrick up then we can get-"

             
"No," I told him. "Danny won't be able to hold Celeste while you jerk me and him up like that."

             
"Ok, then," Miguel said easily and launched himself off the rail of the steps. Before I could think of what he'd just done, he was dangling beside me by one arm. He had a hand on one step and reached the other out. "Come on, Celeste."

             
"I can't," she barely breathed but it carried in the air. "I can't, I'll fall."
             

             
"Look at me," he told her. "Look at me
." Danny wa
s grunting and I couldn't see C
e
l
este still
,
but I guess she looke
d at Miguel because he went on. "
Good on ya, good on ya.
I'll get you, I promise. I won't let go. Come on. Reach for me, Celeste."

             
"I…."

             
"Go, baby," Danny pleaded with her. "It's ok. Go."

             
I saw her slender arm reach out
,
but wasn't close enough. She confirmed my thoughts when she said, "I can't reach."

             
"Let's swing her," Danny suggested. "I'll swing her your way."

             
"No," I
said. "What if Miguel misses
? I can hold on all day if I need to until we figure something else out."

             
"But I can't," he groaned low in a hiss meant for me. "She's slipping. Come on, Miguel. On three, I'll swing her your way. Celeste just reach out and take his hand and let go of mine at the same time, ok?"

             
"I don't know if I can," she said hysterically.

             
"Yes, you can. Do it, babe. Miguel, you better catch her or so help me," he growled. Miguel nodded. "Now," Danny said and then counted as he and I swung her back and forth. It made me sick to watch it
; their bodies swaying over a concrete slab that would mean their death. I prayed this would work.
When he got to three he
swung her hard, grunting, and as soon as Miguel had her hand, Danny let go. She screamed
,
but Miguel had her. Danny
lay
limp in my hand
and muttered, over and
over, "That was so close. T
oo
frigging
close."

             
"It's alright, Danny," I told him as I looked over at Celeste. Miguel was just then pulling her up into his arms
and she clung to him as he shh
ed her and tried to calm her.
He held her close as he reached out and caught the edge of the steps with his foot. He told her to reach up and grab the railing. She did
,
but
her hands were shaking so badly
I was worried about her ability to hold on. But she did. She pulled herself up and then we did the same thing with Danny. I swung him to Miguel and he gripped his hand and then guided h
im  to the edge
.

             
Celeste and Danny didn't embrace like I expected. He pulled her hand up the stairs and then pushed her butt to keep going as he bent down to help Josh pull me out.

             
"Go on, Celeste. Get off the stairs."

             
"But-"

             
"Go," he said with more edge. She went. I think we all knew he was too rattled. Once I was upright and we made it to the top of the stairs, he pulled her to him and exhaled loudly, burying his face in her hair.

             
"Gah
…
Celeste, that was so close."

             
"It's ok,
"
she answered, her voice shaking as much as her fingers
that were
wrapped in his shirt.

             
"It almost wasn’t. I almost dropped you." He whispered the rest. "I was so close to losing you."

             
"
I know," she croaked and looked up at him. "I was so close to letting go."

             
"What?" he said harshly. "Why?"

             
"So I wouldn't drag you down with me."

             
"That's so-," he said angrily
,
but stopped. He looked as haunted as I'd ever seen him. He pulled her face up and kissed her
roughly
holding her jaw
in his hand
.

             
Miguel and Josh and I trudged up the hall ahead of them, giving them a minute
of privacy
. I rubbed my upper arm. It felt tired and sore from holding them in the hole that long. I hope I hadn't pulled anything.
But I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

             
When I reached the end of the hall, there was no door. I looked all over and found a trap door in the ceiling. I used the string and the stairs came down easily. When I got to the top of the small ladder and pushed on the door, it wouldn't budge. I pushed hard with my shoulder and it inched a little and groaned, but no good. I yelled for Miguel and he squeezed in next to me.
Together we pushed the thing until it went all the way over. It had some sort of…debris on the door. And all around us. I was confused for two point five seconds before I was as raging mad as a prodded bull.

             
"What the …" Josh muttered as he came up behind us.

             
"I'll. Be. Stuffed
." Miguel was
hopping mad.
He barked from behind me,
"
Bloody h
ell
!
"

             
"What's all the yelling about?" Danny said. "Did you find a…way…" He helped Celeste up and they both stood, looking disgusted and upset. "You mean Celeste almost died and we're right back where we started?
It was all for nothing?
"

             
"Looks that way," Miguel said and kicked some blocks with his foot.

             
"I'm sorry," Josh said and rubbed his head
with his hands
back and forth. "If I hadn't fallen down that-"

             
"It's fine, Josh," Celeste said
softly
and sniffed
. "We'll find a way out. Besides, we
're still waiting for Kay
."

             
"Here!" Kay called. "I'm back."

             
We all ran over to the vent where she was. She was filthy.

             
"What happened to you?" I asked.

             
"Oh, just some dirt and soot. The vent does lead to outside
,
but it
's
way to
o
high to do anything with. But I found an old chimney that leads to the roof. And that leads to a ladder to the ground. Josh, build some steps with the blocks and let's get going. It's getting darker out there."
She looked at Celeste. "What's wrong?"

             
I wasn’t sure how she knew
,
but she did.

             
Celeste
tried several times to start. "Nothing," she finally said. Kay gave her a look that said 'bull crap'
,
but she went ahead and slid back into the vent anyway.

             
"So," Josh started, "she found a way out and if we had just waited here, none of that would have happened."

             
"Yep," Miguel said and took a deep breath. "No sense in throwing a wobbly about it now. Let's just get out of this bloody building before we all cark it."

             
Danny took Celeste to t
he
vent and hoisted her up, even as Josh was making a step for them. She climbed in and turned to him. He asked Josh to give him a hand up. With Josh's hand as a stirrup he bolted him up and Danny lan
ded easily. He urged Celeste on
and
I watched them go, then went to help Josh so they rest of us could get up.

             
Everyone was extremely ready to leave this place.

Come on, Chuck

Chapter 20
- Cain

             
We ha
d search the other place and found
nothing. It was almost dark
and though the skies were clear now, they wouldn't be for long. We pulled into the last house of the night to check and then
we'd
bunker down in. It was a house I could see myself living in; big slante
d roofs and a long porch,
gorgeously girly
in all the right places
yet classy. I imagined taking Lillian to a house like this and her loving it. I smiled, but
I saw Simon looking at me funny so I stopped that real quick like.

             
"
We'll stay here if it checks out all right," Simon was saying but he hadn't even finished his sentence when I saw headlights behind us in the driveway. Then
yellow and
green
flashing
lights. Well, dang.

             
"Enforcers," I told them.

             
Simon turned white as a gho
st, if that's what ghosts
looked like. I bit my lip ring and beat a rhythm on the steering wheel.

             
"Alright, Billing
s
. Hop out," I said finally.

             
"Gotcha," he spouted and
got
out eagerly. "Everybody else, sit tight."

             
We came together at the back of the van and made our way to the car. The two officers stepped out
with
an air of authority and arrogance
that
followed them and I was ready for it. I was ready to fight something.

             
One of them was short, one was tall, both pudgy and balding where it hurt their looks the most. This was too easy.

             
"What can we do for you
,
officers?" I asked and crossed my arms.

             
"Hey," one of them muttered. "Didn't you used to work as an enforcer?"

             
"I still do and I'm your superior," Billings barked. "Now Cain here asked you a question, answer him."

             
"Well, we
,
uh…" They looked at each other and then back to us. "We have to pull anyone over who enters the tainted territories."

             
"I'm with him. He's thinking about joining. I'm just showing him the ropes," Billings told him.

             
"You're not in uniform," one of them said and looked behind us to the van. "And you've got others with you. Are they recruits too?
"

             
"Yep."

             
The enforcer's hand went to his belt…to the gun. He apparentl
y wasn't buying it. I
kicked his arm, making the gun go flying out of his hand into the bushes. He cursed and looked at me stunned just as I put him in a headlock and made him go to sleep. Merrick and I had done this several times on our runs together. It mad
e me wonder how they were doing.

             
Billings was working on the other enforcer and though he took a little longer, Billings still got the job done. With both enforcers down and all the commotion, everyone got out of the car.