“On my way.” Hugging the wall again, Matt tiptoed toward the alley. No use leaving the wire cutters there and risking someone tracing them back to Walter. He slowly unzipped his jacket. Quick access to the gun might be necessary.
When he reached the opening, he searched the ground for the cutters. Leaving the penlight at the door felt pretty stupid. Now the cutters might be impossible to find.
“Looking for something?”
Matt jumped back. The glowing girl stood in front of him holding the cutters, as if brandishing a weapon. A chain and loose handcuff dangled from her wrist.
“Listen,” she whispered, “I don’t know who you are or why you’re here, but my guess is that you cut the fence to get in. If you’ll show me the hole you made, I won’t call the guard. Deal?”
Matt grabbed the cutters and matched her low tone. “Since you’re trying to escape, I doubt that you’ll tell the guard anything, no matter what I do.”
As he turned, she pinched his jacket sleeve. “Let me come with you. I’ll follow behind as quiet as a mouse.”
“And let a convict go free? This is the maximum security area. What did you do? Murder a classmate?”
She clutched the prison insignia on her jacket, making her cuffs rattle. “Does this look like a jailbird’s jumpsuit? I’m trapped here.” Her whispered voice cracked. “These people think I’m something I’m not, so they want to take me to the Healers and do experiments on me.”
Matt looked toward the rear access door. The danger sense had decreased. Maybe he could take a second to deal with this girl. “How’d you manage to slice off one of your cuffs? These cutters barely made it through the fence.”
“I didn’t cut it. They just didn’t fasten it.”
“Lift your arm,” he said as he opened the cutters.
The girl complied. Matt slid one of the cutting blades under the cuff and clamped down on the handles, but they wouldn’t bite through.
“We’ll have to get those off later.” Touching his jaw, he continued in a whisper. “Walter?”
The girl squinted. “Walter?” She opened her jacket, revealing a sports jersey covering her athletic female form. “Do I look like a Walter?”
“I’m here,” Walter said through the tooth chip, “but whoever you’re talking to isn’t coming in very well. Is she female?”
Matt nodded. “Definitely. I think—”
“Definitely?” She whipped the jacket closed again, her face hardening.
“Not you.” Matt pointed at his mouth. “I’m talking into a radio.”
Her eyes widened, and an embarrassed smile emerged, but she stayed quiet.
“She wants to come with me,” Matt continued. “She’s half handcuffed, but she claims she isn’t a prisoner and that they want to do experiments on her. Considering her appearance, I kind of believe her.”
“Her appearance?”
“Yeah, the way she’s dressed and the fact that she … well … glows in the dark.”
“Glows in the dark?” Walter sighed. “Bring her. I’ll sort it out when you get here.”
“The sense of danger isn’t so bad right now. Should I try to break into the lab again?”
“Definitely, but you’d better get the girl over here first. I asked Yereq to make a lot of noise to get the guards off your back, so whoever was tracking you probably headed for the other side of the complex. The next diversion will keep them there, so the timing might be perfect. When you get back to the prison, the coast should be clear.”
“What kind of diversion?”
“A fiery one. Let’s just say the lights won’t be back on anytime soon. They’ll be on generator power for a while. Once he’s finished, he’ll go back to guard the portal to Second Eden, so this will be your last chance to get the job done.”
“Got it.” Ducking low, Matt motioned for the girl to follow and hurried toward the fence. When they reached the opening, he pulled the links back. “You first.”
She dropped to hands and knees and crawled to the other side, then pulled the links in the opposite direction while he scooted through. He scrambled to his feet and, still holding the cutters, waved for her to follow again. As they hustled, she caught up and ran at his side, clutching the loose cuff in her hand.
Matt noted her form, visible in the dim light. Her stride was strong and effortless, proving that the sports uniform was more than just a gimmick. As her hair bobbed, touching her shoulders with each step, its dark shade prompted a memory. He was looking for data on a girl about her age, but, lacking blonde hair, she wasn’t a likely candidate. Even if her hair darkened over the years, the chances that this girl was Karen Bannister were pretty low. Still, there had to be a reason behind her claims that the Healers wanted to do experiments on her. Could she really be an anthrozil … or maybe something even weirder?
“We’re approaching the rope,” Matt said, raising his voice above a whisper.
She looked at him. “Rope? What rope?”
“I was talking into the radio again.”
“Oh …” She stretched out the word. “It’s kind of hard to tell. Sometimes I can hear whispers from far away, but it’s only when I get a tingling sensation on my back. I’m not feeling it right now.”
“Okay, I’ll store that bit of trivia for later use.”
“Sorry.” As she refocused on the ground in front of them, her head drooped a notch. “I was just trying to explain.”
“I can hear her now,” Walter said. “Must be because you’re farther from the sirens.”
Matt didn’t bother answering either of them. Using the transmitter had gotten him in enough trouble with this girl, and talking directly to her hadn’t been much better. He had already said enough stupid things to make her hate him. This girl wasn’t like Darcy at all. She deserved better treatment.
Cringing, he mentally shook his head. Trivia? What was he thinking?
He stopped at the base of a cliff, dropped the cutters, and grabbed the dangling rope. “Walter, we’re here. I doubt she knows how to use the ascenders. Do you think you can pull …” He gave her an apologetic look. “What’s your name?”
“Lauren Hunt.” Her brow, not quite as radiant as before, creased deeply. “Listen. Do you have a phone? Or does Walter? Someone has to call my parents. The kidnapper said he would kill them if I didn’t cooperate.”
“You have parents?”
“Yes.” Lauren tilted her head. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I’ll explain later.” Matt patted his pants pocket. “Walter wouldn’t let me bring my phone. He was worried it might be traceable. But he has a secure one.”
“She can use it when she gets up here,” Walter said. “If I call her parents, they’ll think I’m some kind of prankster.”
Lauren nodded, her face still pensive. “I can hear Walter now.”
“Just to prepare myself,” Walter said, “how big is she?”
“About five foot six.” Matt looked her over. “How much do you weigh?”
“One twenty-five.”
“Did you catch that, Walter?”
“Got it. I think I can handle that much. And you say she glows in the dark?”
“Yeah, it’s really … well …” He tried to focus away from Lauren, but her expectant eyes made her impossible to avoid. “Unique.”
“Is she your age?” Walter asked.
Lauren stepped closer and spoke toward Matt’s mouth. “I’m sixteen.”
“There you go.” Matt stored that piece of data away, more evidence that Lauren matched his supposed sister’s description, but since she wasn’t an orphan, the similarities were likely just coincidences. “I’ll give you another shout when she’s ready.” He picked up the rappelling harness and handed it to her. “Ever done rope climbing?”
“Lots of times in gym class. How far to the top?”
“Too far. And it’s dangerous, so we have the harness, and Walter will pull.” A sense of dread
stung Matt’s gut, the worst ever. “Walter! Another fastball!”
Sudden darkness enveloped them. A shadow drifted across the ground, then disappeared.
“The kidnapper’s here!” Lauren grabbed the harness and wrapped the belt around her waist. “Hurry!”
“Wait! You have to put the straps around your thighs.”
Gunshots rang out high above. Seconds later, the rope flew upward, jerking Lauren off the ground. As the line ripped through the harness’s hook, she bobbed, dangling above Matt’s head. Finally, the line jerked away and disappeared, and she dropped into his arms. A man shouted from the top of the cliff, but the voice died away, as if smothered by a blanket.
Lauren unbuckled the harness. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
“Did you say something?” Matt asked. Although the words registered in his mind, they didn’t reach his ears.
She nodded and continued speaking, but, again, nothing came out.
He pressed a finger against the flap of his ear, trying to alleviate pressure. “Walter! Can you hear me? What’s going on up there?”
Dead silence stifled every sound. The sense of danger spiked again. He reached into his jacket and withdrew the Glock, but with no one around, he felt stupid aiming it at shadows.
A brilliant light flashed over the prison, and a billowing plume of orange and black smoke shot into the sky. The ground shook, nearly knocking them off their feet. A fire roared and crackled in the distance.
Matt touched an ear. His hearing had returned.
Lauren let the harness fall to her ankles. “Now what?”
“I don’t know. Walter said the only way out of here is straight up. No one told me what to do if something like this happened.”
“Why did you come here in the first place?”
“To find my mother and get her and Walter’s wife out. They’re being tortured in there.”
“Your mother is being tortured? And you were about to leave her behind?” Her accusing eyes sparkled in the midst of her glow. “How could you do that? She’s your mother!”
“No. I was going back. I was just trying to get you out first.”
“Oh.” Her expression softened. “Sorry.”
“No problem.” A new sensation prodded his nerves, another fastball ready to smack him between the eyes. “I can’t wait around here,” he said as he slid the gun into its holster. “Are you with me?”
She glanced around. “Do I have any choice?”
“Probably not. Let’s hope the guards are distracted by the fire.” He jerked off his gloves and handed them to her. “Wear these. We have to keep you from glowing.” He shed his jacket. “This has a hood. It should help. And it’s thicker, too.”
“Won’t you be cold?”
Matt waved a hand. “I don’t get cold easily. Besides, your jacket will make me look more like a guard.”
“I get it.” Lauren slid her arms out of her sleeves, a clumsy procedure with the dangling cuffs. “Your voice is probably deep enough to fool someone, but your face looks too young.”
“Not much I can do about that.” As they put the jackets on, Matt looked at her toned arms. The sleeveless jersey accentuated her radiant skin. She hadn’t bothered to explain the glow, but asking might delay them further. Danger still lurked. Although no longer a fastball, it felt like an approaching shadow, a predator crouching, ready to pounce.
“Got it,” she said as she zipped the jacket.
After removing the guard’s name tag from his new jacket and putting it into a pocket, he raised Lauren’s hood and pulled it over her eyes. “Keep your head low and follow me.”
Trying to tune out howling sirens, barking dogs, and frantic shouts in the direction of the fire, Matt hustled with Lauren to the fence. After crawling through, they jogged hunchbacked to the building and stooped at the corner next to the alley. Although smoke filled the air, making breathing difficult, it added a helpful gray veil.
Matt looked around the corner. At the alley’s far end, prisoners filed along the road. Since the fire raged in a different structure, their evacuation was probably just a precaution. A guard stood watching them, his back toward the alley.
As he glanced between the guard and Lauren, Matt checked his danger sense. Everything seemed normal. Maybe the other guards were preoccupied with the fire and protecting the prisoners. Lauren looked at him from the shadow of the hood, her face glowing and expectant.
“Hear anything important?” he whispered.
She shook her head.
“Then let’s go.” He led her to the rear entry door, pulled it open, and scooped up the penlight. After stepping inside, he allowed the door to settle with a quiet click. “Now to find the Healers’ Room.”
As they padded ahead, he guided the light around the dark hallway. Closed metal doors ran along both sides, each one with a square, barred window. Matt peeked through one of the dirty panes. Inside, a pair of unmade beds lined the far wall, and a toilet sat against the adjacent wall. “Empty,” he whispered.
“They probably evacuated everyone,” Lauren said. “Your mother must be outside with the other prisoners.”
“From what I heard, that’s not likely.”
“Why?”
“According to Walter, she has dragon wings. She’s a huge escape risk, for obvious reasons. They’ll probably keep her inside as long as possible. We’re not to the room where we think she’s supposed to be.”
“I think I’ve heard about her,” Lauren said. “My mother mentioned seeing someone like that on TV a while back.”
“Yeah. There aren’t many like her around.” He checked his danger sense again. Still no trouble. “The story I’ve always heard is that my mother was a drug addict who left me in a bassinet at a church, and I went through the foster home circuit until I transferred to a military academy. Then Walter shows up out of the blue and says Billy and Bonnie Bannister are my parents.”
“So, Walter thinks you’re an anthrozil.”
“Right. Supposedly, I’m part dragon, and I have a dragon’s ability to sense danger.”
“Then we might have a bigger problem than I thought.”
He shone the penlight on her face, careful to keep it out of her eyes. “What?”
“The reason they kidnapped me. They think I’m an anthrozil, too.”
“Why is that a problem?”
She set a finger on his chest. “They know you’re here now. That shadow we saw? That was Tamiel, the kidnapper. I know this sounds crazy, but he claims to be an angel, and he has wings. I saw them myself. I heard him say he was looking for another anthrozil, a male, and he seemed nervous that his traits might be like his father’s.”
“Yeah. Supposedly my father can breathe fire.”
“I heard about him, too. Anyway, Tamiel must have had a reason to attack your friend.”
“You mean Walter?”
She nodded. “Did Walter have any evidence with him that you’re an anthrozil?”
“Maybe.” Matt held out an empty palm. “He had this gem he called a candlestone, and he acted like it was important, something about telling whether or not I have another dragon trait. If this Tamiel character knows what the gem is, then maybe he can make the connection.”
“I think we should assume he already has.”
“If Tamiel can fly,” Matt said, “and he took out Walter, then why didn’t he stop us on the way to the prison?”
“Maybe he wanted you to come in so he wouldn’t have to face you alone. Remember, he was worried that you might be able to breathe fire. But once you’re inside with a bunch of guards around …” She clasped her hands together. “They’ve got you.”
“If they know I’m here, why haven’t they closed in on me already? The fire outside?”
“Probably.” She tapped her chin with a gloved finger. “No matter what Tamiel said to the Colonel, the prisoners are still going to be his first priority. The guards might not be a p
roblem for now, but you can bet Tamiel and Semiramis won’t be far away.”
“Semiramis?”
“The other kidnapper. She’s posing as an officer here.”
“Well, even though I can’t breathe fire, I don’t mind if they think I can. After I get Mrs. Bannister out, I’m supposed to try to get Walter’s wife, too. Walter hoped Mrs. Bannister could help me get past security and find their cell, so if they think I can breathe fire, I might be able to use that to our advantage.”
“The fear factor. Good idea.” Lauren looked down the hall both ways. “Do you sense any danger?”
He shook his head. “If someone is waiting to pounce on me in the lab, I think I might be able to feel it by now. It’s only a few doors away.”
“Maybe they’re holding back. Maybe they want you to find your mother first.”
“Why would they do that?”
“She’s the bait. You’re the catch. Once you’re together, they can threaten her and force you to give up. A hostage can neutralize a powerful weapon, even fire breathing.”
He gazed at her glowing face. It seemed that she possessed such a powerful inner character, light spilled out through her pores. She was definitely smart, strong, and passionate. Maybe this was a good time to make up for his stupid comments. “It’s great having you around. I’m not used to girls with so much … well …” He searched for the right word. Picking the wrong one might mess up everything. “Spirit, I guess.”
She slid her hand into his and hooked their thumbs. “I’ll take that as a compliment, but I’m really hoping for something else.”
“Something else?” Matt studied her face—raised brow, sparkling eyes, slightly pursed lips. She looked like a love-struck kid from a Disney cartoon, but that visage didn’t match her moxie. She was obviously more mature than that.
Clearing his throat, he prepared the question he almost didn’t want to ask. “What are you hoping for?”
“I’m hoping you’ll tell me your name.”
VALOR
Joran opened his eyes. White light flooded his vision. As he lay on his back, his head throbbed, and his limbs ached. One hand touched cloth and metal, and the other touched skin.