Charade (16 page)

The kind operated by a key card.

Inconvenient, but probably irrelevant, since she really only needed this door to get out, not in.
She and the superteen could certainly take down one lazy guard between the two of them, weapon or no weapon.

“And speaking of the superteen,” she told herself softly as she crossed to the path leading back to the garden area of the castle, “don’t you think it’s about time you met her face-to-face?”

A couple of soldiers glanced at her as she walked by them on her way down the hall that led to her room—
and
to the office tunnel. Sasha imagined it was mostly because she looked half-frozen. There was really no reason to dispel that image, since it helped explain why she hadn’t yet taken off her coat and hat.

Bypassing her room, she continued her stroll until she had almost reached the tunnel. There was no one in sight, so she took a deep breath, then darted into one of several maintenance closets she had noticed on her tour. Her intent was simply to stash her coat and hat, but a control panel on the wall caught her eye and she studied it closely, realizing it was identical to the type used for video feed as described in the NSA literature. An old-fashioned padlock secured the panel’s door.

Perfect! You can pick that lock,
then
use the earrings without anyone seeing you. Assuming you can figure out how to attach them. And assuming this is the correct control panel for the office hallway. The manual predicted more than one, remember?

Filing the information away for later, she smoothed her bun into place, reminding herself who she was.
A high-ranking Kestonian officer.
Sister to Vlados Zelasko.
An imperious woman who berated underlings and challenged guests to knife fights.

Inspired, she stepped back into the hall and strode into the tunnel, now almost hoping someone
would
walk by her so that she could sneer at them. But there was no one around, and while she knew she was being watched from the video room, she simply didn’t care. Even though she was fiddling with a loose button on her uniform jacket—her excuse for keeping her head down—she was projecting confidence along with a healthy dose of annoyance. She had a feeling the Kestonians knew better than to mess with Svetlina when she was in this particular mood.

Bravado aside, she was slightly giddy when she actually reached the third door on the right without being seen, stopped or shot. She dug into her jacket pocket, ostensibly for a tissue, but actually to affix the artificial palm print to her own hand. Then she wiped the panel with the tissue as if disgusted by some trace of dirt there.

Exhaling sharply, she finally dared to place her hand on the screen. A loud click greeted her, and she knew before she grabbed the handle and twisted it that she had succeeded.

Her heart was pounding again, so she took another deep breath before she pushed open the door, anxious for her first sight of Teal. Praying that the captive would be uninjured, she grimaced when she saw a girl-size lump in the bed, covered with a single layer of thin blanket.

Don’t be hurt,
she pleaded, dropping to her knees at the side of the bed as soon as the door had closed completely. Then she whispered Teal’s name, surprising herself with her gentle, shaky voice. “Teal, honey? Can you hear me?”

“Mmm…sleepy,” the girl replied hoarsely. “Not hungry.”

“Good, because I didn’t bring food.
I brought reinforcements.
Namely, me.”

“Hmm?”
Teal rolled toward her and opened one bloodshot blue eye.

“Hey, sleepyhead.”
Sasha touched her cheek. “Have you ever heard of Athena force? It’s a good thing to have on your side at times like this.”

“Athena?”

“Try to sit up, okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” Sasha smiled encouragingly. “My name’s Sasha Bracciali. I’m one of the Muses. We graduated nine years ago. Allison Gracelyn sent me, honey. Try to focus, okay? I’m going to get you out of this place.”

But not today,
she added in apologetic silence.
They’ve really drugged you, haven’t they?
You poor kid.

Teal finally seemed to be catching on, and struggled into a sitting position, her legs dangling off the narrow cot. “Sorry…medicine…”

“And lots of it,” Sasha agreed, sitting beside her and wrapping her arm around her shoulders. “That’s okay, we’ll deal with it. I’ve got some pills for you to try.”

“Pills?”

Sasha laughed at the complaining tone, taking it as a good sign. “They’re more like anti-pills. If they work, they’ll keep you from absorbing whatever’s in the medicine the Kestonians have been feeding you.”

“I like your laugh,” Teal told her.

But a single tear that ran down the girl’s cheek at the same time told the real story, and Sasha grabbed her into a full embrace, her own eyes beginning to brim over. “Oh, honey! I know it’s been awful. But you’re not alone. Not anymore. You’ve got me now.”

“Just you?”

Sasha laughed again. “My father’s a Mafia kingpin and I’m semiengaged to Vlad the Terrible. Plus, I’m an officer in the Kestonian army. See?” She indicated her uniform,
then
pulled up the blouse enough to reveal the bandage. Ripping it off, she showed Teal the pills. “I’m going to tape these under your bunk, okay?
So that the Kestonians don’t see them.
I want you to take one the instant you hear someone at the door. You need to try to stay awake, okay?”

Teal bit her lip. “Can’t I take one now?”

“You said you’re not hungry. Did they give you a pill recently?”

“I think so.”

“Then it’s too late. Wait a while. We need it to be in your stomach the next time they drug you. Do you understand why?”

“So it interferes with absorption.”

“Good.” Sasha smiled with relief. “You seem a little more lucid. That’s good.”

Teal nodded. “Allison sent you?”

“That’s right.” Sasha patted her arm,
then
repeated everything she had said, just to be sure Teal was internalizing it. When she was done, she explained, “As soon as the drug is out of your system, we’ll make our move. I’ll impersonate an officer again, and bring you something to wear. Once we get in the hall, there’s a door to the outside about forty-five feet away. We can get there easily, before the guys manning the video system can alert the soldiers. Once we do that, we’ll grab a vehicle and head down the hill.
Simple as pie.
I wish we could do it now, but you’re just too wobbly. You know that, don’t you?”

“We can’t just leave. There’s something else we need to do first.”

Sasha smiled. “I know you want to catch the bad guys, but we can do that just as easily in the States, where we’ve got computers and intelligence files to work with.”

“What about my eggs?”

“Hmm?”

Teal grasped Sasha’s hand. “They took my eggs. We need to rescue them, too.”

“Oh, no.”
Sasha stroked the girl’s cheek. “I’m so sorry, honey. They took them surgically? Is that what you mean?”

“I don’t know. I heard them talking.” Her tone grew panicked. “They’re going to mutate them on purpose. To make freaks out of them. And they’re using Dracula’s sperm as the father!”

“Dracula?”

“Oh.” Teal shivered. “I call him that because…well, because—”

“Because his name is Vlad and his eyes are hypnotic?” Sasha bit back a smile. “I take it you’ve met him?”

“He visits me sometimes. He’s sexy. But scary.”

“That’s him all right.” Sasha touched Teal’s cheek again, her heart aching for the girl. Allison had briefed Sasha on this possibility, although they had hoped Sasha would be able to rescue Teal in time to prevent it. Much depended on where Teal had been in her menstrual cycle when abducted, and what sorts of injections had been used thereafter.

“Have they been giving you shots, Teal?”

She nodded.
“In my stomach.
And my thigh.”

Sasha glanced at the door. “They might get suspicious if I’m here too long, Teal. For now, the only thing you have to think about is counteracting the sedative. If it’s an intoxicant, the pills I gave you will work. If not, then you’ll have to do it on your own. Pretend to take each pill,
then
spit it out after they leave. Or something
like
that.”

“They watch me take them.”

“Just do the sleepyhead routine.
Like you’re still kind of dopey.
They won’t suspect any intrigue if you can barely keep your eyes open.”

“Okay.” Teal snuggled against her. “Thanks, Sasha.”

Some superteen you turned out to be,
Sasha complained silently as she stroked the girl’s soft blond hair. “I’ve got to go now, Teal. But I’ll be back tomorrow night. There’s a fancy ball that starts at seven o’clock. I’m going to sneak out while everyone’s distracted. We’ll leave while they’re partying. Okay?”

“And get my eggs?”

“Teal…” Sasha grimaced. “We don’t even know where they are.”

“They’re in the mountain.”

“How can they be in the—oh…Do you remember going in there?
Through a big black door in the side of the mountain?”

“It’s where they study me,” she confirmed. “It’s a laboratory, Sasha.
Disguised as a mountain.”

Sasha didn’t have the heart to tell the girl that there was no way the two of them could penetrate a mountain. A fortress had been tough enough! And they still had the border crossing to deal with, assuming they even made it down the mountain alive.

Once she’s not so dopey, she’ll realize it’s impossible,
she told herself firmly.
Just play along with her for now.

“I’ll try to figure out a way into the mountain, Teal. That’s
my
job. Your job is to listen for the doorknob. When you hear it
click
, take one of the pills, then hide the rest quickly.”

She cuddled against Sasha. “Okay.”

“You need to keep pretending to be drugged, even after you sober up. Slur your words. Don’t open your eyes all the way. Act like all you want to do is sleep.”

“Like this?” Teal asked, tumbling onto her pillow and snuggling into it.

“Yeah, you’re a natural. I think we’ve finally found your superpower. You’re supersleepyhead.”

Out of nowhere, Teal erupted into a fit of laughter.
“Super
sleepy
head!”

“Hey, hey!”
Sasha pressed her palm to the girl’s mouth. “Sheesh, do you want the whole Kestonian army in here?” She laughed in spite of herself. “The good news is
,
that drug’s definitely an intoxicant. Remind me never to go drinking with you.”

Teal started giggling again, and Sasha shook her head in warning, then stood and straightened her uniform. “How do I look?”

“Beautiful.”

“Not the look I was going for, but I’ll take it.” Dropping to one knee, she touched the teen’s cheek one last time. “Hang in there, okay? It’s almost noon right now. You’ve got to make it through another night, then be patient all day tomorrow. Before tomorrow night is over, I’ll be back to get you once and for all.”

“And my eggs?”

“We’ll see.”

“I’m not going without them. I don’t want him to have them.” Teal’s lower lip quavered. “I wish we could just go get them
now.
And then go home. What if they decide to take me to the mountain again and study me? They do that all the time! I won’t even
be
here when you get back. What if they dissect me this time? To study my insides! What if—”

“Hey, Teal?”
Sasha hugged her firmly. “Vlad’s got a mega-meeting this afternoon. And a fancy ball tomorrow. You’re the last thing on his mind right now. Plus, the place is crawling with outsiders. You’ve never been safer, relatively speaking, than you are today and tomorrow. Okay?”

Teal drooped back down on the cot in a fetal position, barely murmuring her assent.

Sasha patted the girl’s hair, then stood and moved to the door. When she looked back, and saw that Teal was already dozing off, she wondered how she could dare walk out of the room and leave her all alone again. What if they
did
come for her?
To run tests on her?
Maybe even do surgery!

Even if all they did was scare the poor kid, Sasha couldn’t bear it. She hated them now—Vlad, and the hacker and the crazy geneticist who had started this madness in the first place. She didn’t just want to get Teal away from them, she wanted to crush them. To keep them from ever, ever hurting anyone again.

Forget about Vlad and the others. Once Teal is safe, the NSA will find a way to bring them down. You’ve got to focus on your assignment, just the way Summit would tell you to do. Make it through today and tomorrow without getting caught, then sneak out of that ball and rescue Teal.

And her eggs.

By the time Sasha made her way down the office hallway and through the tunnel to the residential section of the fortress, she was disgusted with herself for having lost focus so easily. Things were going well. Why?
Because of careful, Summit-like planning.
Why confuse the issue with dangerous ideas like breaking into a mountain? To rescue
eggs
of all things! Teal would just have to understand. Once sober, maybe she would.

Retrieving her coat from the maintenance closet, she carefully buttoned it over her uniform. Then she stuffed her blue wool hat in her pocket and loosened her hair from the bun, allowing it to flow freely down her back. That alone was a relief.

It was time to stop being an arrogant army major.
Or a softhearted nursemaid.
She had a speech to give in less than three hours, and she needed to be convincing if she wanted to protect herself. She was Franco Bracciali’s daughter. That counted for something with the men in this fortress. It was time she gave them a little reminder of just who her father was. What he could do for them as his friends. What he would do
to
them as his enemies.

Enjoying her new role, she was smiling as she turned the last corner before her guestroom. Then she saw Vlad Zelasko striding toward her in full uniform and her cocky confidence vanished.