Chaos (Book 4) (The Omega Group) (17 page)

Gracey froze, holding her breath until the next camouflaged
gunmen passed. She’d barely gotten away unnoticed the first time, but now it
seemed like these guys were turning up every few minutes. The woods were thick,
with plenty of cover for her to duck behind, but she wouldn’t be able to stay
undetected for long.

She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the shed
where Orano waited for her. At least, she felt fairly sure that was where it
sat. Scrambling from one hiding spot to another had Gracey completely turned around,
and she knew her chances of finding a gunman were just as good as finding
Orano.

Glancing at her watch for the fourteenth time since arriving
at the camp, Gracey made her decision. With only thirty minutes before Tori’s
show time, and an entire world of people counting on Gracey to stop it, the
time had come to pull on her big girl panties. Orano would be angry, but he’d
do his part and break the jars with exactly three minutes to spare. She’d
absorb the power, throw it at the beam coming from Tori’s crystal, and use the
covens’ own magic to redirect the solar flare’s CME.

A simple three-step process. No problem. Except Gracey was
in danger of soiling her newly donned big girl panties.

Although it felt counterintuitive, Gracey set off on a path
following directly behind the gunman. If she could remain quiet, that gave her
the best chance of not crossing paths with any others, and it might even lead
her to where Tori’s main event would be staged. The camp had lots of open
ground, but regardless of where they set up, Gracey knew she’d be able to find
a safe place to count down the clock. Finding the kids trying to get out of
doing their chores had been her specialty when she’d worked there. She knew every
nook and cranny of that camp.

“Well, lookey here. And who might you be?” The Southern
drawl sounded sweet as molasses, but the rifle pointed at her chest gave a
different impression.

********

Tori’s heart raced in anticipation. The time had almost come
for her to take her rightful place in society. She’d been born into greatness,
yet forced to live the life of a commoner. Soon she’d be the envy of every last
person on Earth and, with the crystal retaining the excess power channeled from
the other covens, no one would dare challenge her.

She’d placed a countdown clock on one of the tables in the
mess hall. The bright red numbers flashed 23:47. She had little left to do. The
coven had already prepared the area outside the hall for their channeling
spell. Candles surrounded a large pentagram drawn on the earth with crushed
bone meal, their flames flickering in the afternoon breeze. The smell of
incense permeated the grounds, giving the comforting feeling of home that
always succeeded in calming Tori’s nerves.

Nicole and Liza were setting up a smaller version near the
fire pit. A gnarled tree stump stood in the center of their pentagram awaiting
the crystal that would soon be seated on it. Tori would double and triple-check
every detail but, for the time being, she could simply enjoy her impending
victory.

“Hey, Vicki. You got a visitor.”

Tori’s shoulders tightened in reflex, and she forced them
down to their relaxed state. She hated that name, but when she spun on her
heels to reprimand the man for using it, she stopped short.

“You brought her here?” Gracey, the one witch who’d been
working against her, now stood next to the countdown clock.

“Well, darling. I would have taken her home, but there’s a
force field around this place,” the man said.

“It’s not a force field, Samuel. This isn’t
Star Trek
.
It’s a protection spell, and it’s meant to keep people like her on the
outside.” Tori stomped over to the man, her head barely reaching his chin.

“Your spell ain’t working real well, then is it? I found her
following Keith over by the bathrooms.”

“Just tie her up. And make sure she doesn’t have anything on
her she could use for a spell.” When Tori saw his eyebrow rise, she realized
her mistake. He wouldn’t know a mojo bag if it jumped out and bit his man
parts.

“Sammy? Is that you?” Nicole ran over from the doorway and
gave the bear of a man an enormous hug, one which he happily reciprocated.
“Tori didn’t tell us you were coming.”

“Figured as much. Vicki’s none too proud of her baby
brother. Except when she needs my help, that is.”

Tori’s jaw clenched as every coven member’s ears perked up
at his declaration. She’d need to deal with it before people got distracted.
“Samuel and I share the same mother, but have very different fathers.”

“Yeah, mine stayed.” Samuel took his best shot and, as
usual, it stung far more than Tori let on.

“Anyway, he and a few of his friends are here to keep us
safe while we’re working our spell. You can bet if
she’s
here”—she
pointed to Gracey—“her friends are, too. We need to find them.”

“Don’t worry, sis. We’ve patrolled every inch of this place,
and there’s no one but her on the inside.”

Relief washed over Tori at the news. “Good. The protection
spell should keep them out, then. But we need to secure Gracey. Her mental
illness makes her dangerous. She’s already tried to kill us once. I don’t want
to give her a second chance. Nicole, make sure she’s not carrying anything she
can use.”

After removing her phone along with a few small sacks of
herbs and crystals, and three jars of liquid from her pockets, Nicole sat
Gracey down on the bench next to Phoenix. She tied her hands to one of the
pipes running along the wall behind her and her feet to the leg of the bench.

“Not bad. I wouldn’t have thought you’d know how to do
that.” Samuel grinned.

“I’ve got three older brothers.” The blush on Nicole’s
cheeks could be seen from clear across the room.

“Thank you, Samuel.” Tori interrupted the Harlequin moment.
“Would you mind going back to your patrol? We don’t have much time left if
we’re going to save the world.”

The countdown clock flashed 18:29.

Gracey tried to focus on taking deep breaths through her
nose, but found it progressively more difficult. With each second ticking off
that cartoonish clock, her mind filled with yet another example of how she’d
screwed up everything. It never ceased to amaze her how easily she could make
the wrong move in pretty much any situation.

She turned her head to face Phoenix, taking in his bloodshot
eyes and sagging shoulders for the first time. He’d obviously not been able to
sleep at all. She couldn’t imagine what the day must have been like for him,
having to just sit still, pretending to be spelled. Maybe she could help him a
little.

With her hands gripping the pipe at her lower back, Gracey
pushed herself as close to Phoenix as she could, swinging her hip into his. She
hoped he understood that she was giving him the opportunity to shift positions,
or even lie down, if he needed to. As soon as she made contact, he immediately
fell forward, his face half buried in her lap.

Nice,
she thought, but before she could shift her
body to force him into a less compromising position, she noticed the utter
relief on his face. He’d been struggling more than she realized.

With his face turned away from the room, he spoke into her
lap. “Why didn’t you tell the coven members what Tori’s really doing? You might
have convinced a few of them to at least question her,” he whispered.

Gracey glanced around, found no one paying particular
attention to her, and opened her mouth so Phoenix could see inside. The small
sack and potion jar she’d stuffed in there almost toppled out, so she slammed
her lips closed.

“Nice job, Gracey. Now we just need to get you out of here.”

The clock flashed 16:59.

********

“Did you get it?” Mirissa asked as soon as Greco joined her
behind the utility shed.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t as easy as she said it would be.” Greco
rubbed his right hand where it appeared the skin had been severely burned.
“It’s getting better.”

“Stop complaining. Your Amazon blood will have that healed
within the hour, and we really need to focus on getting to Gracey right now.”
Mirissa jerked her head in the direction of the shed to hopefully make him
understand what she was trying to say.

Orano, for the first time since she’d known him, had all but
gone on a rampage when Gracey failed to return after the hunter came by.
Mirissa had never seen him lose his temper before. He’d always been grumpy, and
she couldn’t be sure if he’d ever smiled, but the outburst of rage she’d just
witnessed worried her.

“Is it that bad?” Greco whispered.

“It’s gotten worse since I called you,” she said. “I think
he’s creating energy balls without even knowing it. He’s out-of-control angry
right now.”

“More likely, he’s scared to death. If you’d disappeared
behind enemy lines with no real protection, I’d feel exactly the same way.”
Greco leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.

“I guess so. But I think one of us should stay here with
him, just in case,” Mirissa said.

“I’ll stay. You need to get back to Myrine and the others.
They’re working on a way to get past this barrier, and I’m pretty sure you’re a
big part of it.”

“Are they in the same place as before?” she asked. When
Greco nodded, she called over her shoulder, “Orano, I’m heading back out.
Greco’s here if you need anything.”

“Good luck,” Greco said, before she teleported out.

********

On the far side of the protective dome, Mirissa waited for
instructions. Her mother had been in an intense conversation with Julian over
the phone since before she’d gotten there and didn’t seem too happy about
whatever they were discussing.

“Have they mentioned any ideas on how we get through this
wall?” Mirissa asked.

Myrick rubbed the knuckles of his hand absentmindedly. “Don’t
ask me. I just work here.”

“I’ve caught a couple of words here and there,” Han added. “But
the only part I understood was static.” He shrugged his shoulders as if he knew
how little sense that made.

 “Static. Like when my socks stick together after coming out
of the dryer? What’s the plan, then? Rub our feet on the carpet and then shock
the barrier down?” Her mother’s hand on her shoulder kept Mirissa from saying
anything more derogatory.

“Not static electricity,” she said, still holding her phone.
“A static shift. Julian thinks we can create a static shift that will disrupt
the wall and allow us to pass through.”

“That’s great.” Mirissa smiled. “Do it, then, super genius.”

“That’s the problem. I need to find the right frequency and,
for that, I need your auditory abilities.” Julian stopped talking as though
Mirissa should understand.

“What am I missing, here?” Mirissa directed the question at
her mother, knowing a full explanation from Julian would probably require a PhD
in physics to understand.

“He needs to match some sort of sound coming from the
barrier with one he creates. It should weaken the wall enough for us to slip
through. These sounds are way beyond what a human can hear, so he needs you to
listen to both the sound emanating from the wall and what he’s playing through
my phone, so you can guide him until he gets it right.” Myrine took a breath.
“This is going to really hurt you, Mirissa.”

Julian added, “You’re going to have to expand your auditory
ability to its maximum in order to tune into the sounding curve I’ll be
creating. Basically, your head’s going to feel like it’s about to explode.
You’ll need to hold on long enough to instruct me on raising or lowering the
frequency to match the one coming from the dome. I’ll go as quick as I can, but
it might take a few minutes.”

“We’re running out of time. Get started.” Mirissa glanced at
her watch. “I can handle it. Really.”  She expanded her hearing until a slight
buzz emanated from the barrier. “I’ve got it. Give me a second to increase it.”
As her auditory capabilities increased, the buzz sharpened into a high-pitched
squeal. She’d definitely have a headache after this, but the pain was nowhere
near unbearable as Julian implied. The computer genius spent his days at a
desk, though, so a paper cut probably put him into convulsions. “I’m ready. Turn
yours on, Julian.”

The piercing sound sliced through her eardrums—the audio
version of a laser beam—and brought Mirissa to her knees.

“Higher or lower?” The voice came from behind her but she
couldn’t respond.

She forced herself to loosen her jaw and breathe through the
pain. The icepick currently jammed into her brain would be removed as soon as she
matched the two noises. But, damn, Julian wasn’t kidding.

Mirissa opened her mouth to speak. “Lo … lo ….” Her head
began to spin as nausea set in. A moment later the noise coming from her
mother’s phone speakers changed slightly, but not enough. “More,” she
whispered.

Again, the sound curve, as he’d called it, pitched lower.
They were getting close. This time when Mirissa opened her mouth to speak, the
warm, coppery taste of blood trickled in.  “Down.”

As though Julian knew she couldn’t withstand much more, he
dropped the frequency bit by bit, giving her just enough time to isolate it
before moving on. When it crossed below the pitch emanating from the barrier,
she gasped out, “Stop. Go up one step.” She waited for a moment to confirm.
“That’s it.” She watched as Myrine stepped up to the wall and crossed over to
the other side.

Mirissa shrank her hearing down to a normal level at record
speed but found she’d overshot her mark. Silence surrounded her. She pushed to
expand her ability just enough to hear like a human, but couldn’t. Either she
fully expanded to be assaulted by Julian’s sound curve again, or she lived in
silence.

Neither option worked for her.

“Mom.” Although she couldn’t hear her own voice, she felt
the vibration in her chest, so she knew she’d spoken aloud. “I think I might be
deaf.”

Myrine placed her hands on either side of her face, raising
her chin until their gazes met. Mirissa assumed her mom was speaking but could
only watch her lips move.
Temporary.

Mirissa’s phone vibrated in her pocket. A text from Julian
sat waiting on the screen.

Don’t worry. A regular person might be deaf for days,
maybe even forever, but you’ll heal in a few hours. I’m sorry. I didn’t know it
would be that bad. Please don’t kill me.
L

The frowny face emoticon at the end of his message made her
smile despite everything. She quickly responded.
Revenge is a dish best
served cold. Be ready.
J