The Forbidden Trilogy (90 page)

Adam did.

And I made a mad dash for my baby. It had all clicked. When
I'd taken Drake's powers, we'd been touching, and I transferred them to Ana. If
I could reach her, maybe connect with her in the same way, I could shut down
her powers so that Steele could no longer use her. Would no longer
need
her.

I yelled to Drake. "Run!" I hoped he would escape
as I tackled Steele, who dropped his gun as I touched my baby.

But just as we connected, something shot up from the ground
and attacked me. The tiles from the floor popped up, rising like a ceramic
tidal wave and separating me from Steele and my baby.

"No! Ana!" More tiles popped up, creating a prison
around me.

Drake had run, but toward me rather than away. A tile shot
at his chest, knocking him back, but he kept moving forward.

Steele pulled the baby away and nodded to Adam. "Good
work, Grunt." To me he smiled. "It's not time for you to hold your
baby yet."

And then that final puzzle piece came together, and I knew
what he wanted us for. I turned to Drake. "Run! Get out of here! I'll be
fine."

Drake stood, hurt and exhausted but refusing to leave. His
thoughts jumbled together—memories of the three of them together, pain, regret,
love. He wouldn't abandon them, even if it killed him. A stain of purple formed
around his pocket and his thoughts revealed that the last of his drugs had
shattered when the tile hit him. He had no more power. He couldn't help if he
stayed; he'd only get himself killed.

Another tile flew at him, but something pulled him out of
the way. A form shimmered in the empty space.

Toby!
Dear, wonderful Toby. "Get him out of
here. Now! Please!"

The invisible boy pulled at Drake and tried to get him to
the door, but Toby was a small kid and didn't have the strength to physically
coerce Drake to do anything, especially when Drake resisted.

Tiles flew at them and Toby helped Drake dodge them while I
slipped into his mind. He had just enough power left to connect with me one
last time.
"You have to go. If you don't, he'll capture us both."

'I don't care. I can't leave you ever again. I promised.'

"I know, but I need you to, Drake. Don't you
understand? He'll kill you. He doesn't need you, but Ana and I do. We need you
to save us, but you can't do that here, right now. I've finally figured out his
end game. He wants me to take Ana's power from her... and give them all to him.
If you don't leave, you'll be dooming us all to death after he gets what he
wants. Go! Go so you can save our daughter. If you love me at all, go!"

He and Toby left.

"Arm the bomb," said Simmons. "You'll have
fifteen minutes to get out, more than enough time."

Lucy sat in front of the weapon with its tangle of wires,
frozen. How could she do this? "There are still children in the facility.
Sam's been captured." She shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
"We can't detonate this."

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."

Nothing buzzed in Lucy's head. He'd spoken the truth, but
the thought of leaving Sam here alone made her sick. Her shoulders slumped, and
she imagined her face looked as depressed as Drake's did in that moment.
"You're right. Let's go. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can
get them back."

They rushed through the halls which were blessedly free of
guards—also free of any kids, though they probably couldn't get out of their
rooms on their own. The thought of them in there—helpless, scared, alone, pawns
in Simmons's games—seriously pissed her off.

They reached the hangar and Lucy opened the door for them.
Robyn and her group were already entering the helicopter—not the kickass one,
but the regular one—the Boeing CH-47 Chinook.

Armed guards surrounded them, firing bullets that got stuck
in the air, blocked by her exhausted brother. Darren and Gary used their
para-powers to attack the guards with parts from the hangar—pipes, tools,
anything metal or movable. Guards dodged as these airborne objects accosted
them. Some of them lost their guns, dragged away by Gary, but others didn't.
Were they using something else? Carbon fiber maybe? They held their weapons
close, dashing from side to side. Darren could levitate any material, but not
easily if it kept moving, and not with the same force as Gary.

"Let's move!" Lucy ran to the helicopter, Drake
and Toby at her heels.

She wished they could've gotten the attack chopper, but the
guards blocked that option. Luke fell to his knees, and she knew his power
wouldn't hold out for much longer. The team climbed in, and Lucy helped Luke
up.

"Get in. You can't hold this much longer."

He shook his head. "If I stop, we won't make it. The
shield will break and we'll get sprayed with bullets."

Lucy called for Darren and Gary. "Help him. Take them
all down."

Gary looked around. "We can't. There's nothing big
enough."

"That plane. It's big enough. Throw it at them."

Gary's eyes widened. "I can't move that. I'm not strong
enough."

Darren frowned. "Neither am I."

Lucy wanted to swat them both on the head. Had they learned
nothing during their Rent-A-Kid escape? "Work together. You can do it if
you combine powers and work together." She braced herself at the entrance
of the chopper, ready to help Luke in as soon as the threat had been
neutralized.

Darren and Gary focused, and for several long seconds
nothing happened. Then the plane started to skid, grinding into the asphalt
with a shriek as it moved. The guards noticed it coming toward them, and
stopped firing long enough to run, but the boys didn't let up. The plane
accelerated and slid into them, crushing them and knocking them out of the way.

Lucy grabbed Luke and pulled him in. "Take off,
now!"

Norm sat at the pilot's seat and clicked a bunch of controls.
They'd all had the training, but he'd been the best, taking his required
courses and turning it into a hobby.

They put on their headsets and Norm started the engine. The
main rotor whirred to life and lifted the helicopter into the air.

As they were about to clear the hangar, Beleth tore through
the plane that had stopped the guards and sprinted towards them. One more
second, and he would have ripped their chopper apart. The man couldn't be
stopped.

Lucy spoke to Norm through the headset. "Take us to the
island across the channel, to the IPI base."

She moved through the small space to find Hunter lying on
the floor, still out cold. She surveyed his body, this time too worried to take
note of her own attraction. His arm had a jagged scratch, but not as bad as
she'd thought. She ran her hand through his hair to check for bumps, but he
felt fine. She hoped there was no internal damage. Why hadn't he woken up yet?

"Guys." Norm's voice came through the comm system.
"We should have gone with the other helicopter."

"We couldn't," said Greg. "The guards blocked
it."

Mary looked toward Norm. "Why?"

"Because
it's
following
us
."

Lucy looked out. The terminator helicopter chased them, and
she'd bet all her money that Beleth was flying it. "Take him out,"
she told Gary and Darren.

They looked.

"We can't," said Darren. "He's too far."

"That thing doesn't have missiles, does it?" Greg
asked.

Norm turned his head to look at them, then looked back
toward his control panels. "Actually, that thing has—"

A missile flew at them from behind.

Lucy yelled. "Block it, now!"

Gary and Darren focused and the missile bumped to the left
and missed their chopper by a hair's breadth. It crashed into the island in
front of them, exploding into flames and lighting up the dark sky.

Lucy wiped sweat from her brow with a shaky hand.
"Don't let any of those get close." They'd come so close to dying in
that one moment, and if they died, so would all those kids, and Sam.

Mary twisted her hair in a nervous but familiar gesture.
"How do we take the damn thing down?"

Lucy said, "Norm, anything you can do?"

"Not unless you have a bomb I can attach to it."

Bomb. Weapons.
Lucy looked around the military
helicopter but didn't find any. "Norm, get to the IPI base. They'll have
anti-aircraft missiles." She hoped that was true as she said it, and that
they wouldn't use those missiles on Lucy's helicopter.

The base came into view, and another missile veered off
course thanks to the dual power of Gary and Darren. It exploded in the air,
shaking the helicopter. Lights blared at the IPI base, and agents rushed
outside and aimed their weapons at Lucy's team.