Angel's Pain (25 page)

“Honestly, I don't know,” she told him. “I want her to be.”

“My father is going to know I'm gone. He's going to try to stop us, and he's going to be
really
mad.”

She nodded, though he couldn't see her. “Does he know about this passageway?”

“I don't think so. If he did, he never said anything.”

“Then we should be fine. We're almost to the end. Hang in there, Matt, okay?”

“I'm trying.” His hand tightened on her fingers. “You must have changed, I guess.”

She frowned down at him. “Just keep moving.”

“You used to be one of the bad guys. But now you're not.”

“I'm no different than I ever was,” she told him. God, the kid was as bad as Reaper, searching for noble motives for everything she did. There were none. She hadn't changed.

“Yes, you are. You're different. You care now.”

“You're nuts, Matt. I don't care about anyone.”

“You do. You care about Crisa…a
lot
. And even about me a little. And your friend—Reaper? You're worrying about him even more than you're worrying about whether we're gonna get out of here or not.”

She stopped walking. “What are you, some kind of mind reader or something?”

He clamped his lips tight and picked up his pace a little. She'd hit on something there, she thought. For a mortal, the boy was sharp, insightful. More than that, maybe, but he didn't want anyone to know.

She watched his face as he battled his fears and marched onward. “I don't want to see anything bad happen to Crisa,” she admitted. “Or to Reaper. Or to you, either. Doesn't mean I care.”

“What
does
it mean, then?”

Hell, she was damned if she knew. And she didn't have time to analyze it, then explain it to a kid, right now, anyway. “We're at the end. There's a trapdoor in the top. We need to climb up to it. It comes out in the woods, a few hundred yards away from the house. We're going to have to be very quiet now.”

“I know. The drones are probably out there.”

Eric stopped, and, bending down, he laid Crisa gently on the packed earth floor. Then he climbed upward, pausing to listen and sense. Eventually he whispered,

“Dwyer? Are you there?”

“Here,” a hoarse voice whispered. And then the trapdoor in the forest floor opened and Dwyer peered in from above. “God, what took you so long? There've been drones passing by on all sides every little while. It's a miracle they haven't found me.”

“We'll be out of their reach soon,” Eric assured him, then climbed back down.

“I don't think anyone's near. We move fast from here, all right? You'll need to carry the boy, Briar, or he'll never keep up.”

Carry the boy? Hell.

“All right?” Eric asked.

“Yeah, whatever, though how you expect Dwyer to keep up with us is beyond me.”

“I've got that covered.”

She didn't even ask how, just sighed. “Let's get on with this, then. I don't have all night. And I'm not getting any younger.”

To her surprise, the kid laughed, just a little. She shot him a look, and he said, “That's funny. Not getting any younger. Not getting any older, either.”

“Kid's a freakin' comedian,” she muttered.

Eric Marquand picked Crisa up again, and, anchoring her over his shoulder, he climbed up the steps and emerged into the forest. Briar crouched down in front of Matt. “Wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist.”

“Like piggyback?” the kid asked, even as he complied.

“Yeah, just like piggyback.” She rose, with the child clinging and rising with her, and then she climbed upward quickly.

As soon as they were out, Eric bent to lower the trapdoor. “This way,” he said. And as he spoke, he clapped an arm around the cowering mortal's waist, and yanked the man up and over his other shoulder.

Briar felt something—someone approaching. Many of them. “The drones are closing in. Go!”

Eric burst into a run, though his speed was hampered by the need to carry two others as he went. Briar didn't hesitate to do the same. But the drones could move at preternatural speeds, too, and there was no way to be sure they wouldn't be cut off or ambushed, or simply caught, before they got clear.

E
verything was ready. Roxy paced the small clinic, moving from window to window, constantly looking outside in search of Reaper and Briar and poor, wounded little Crisa.

“Roxy, you need to stay away from the windows,” Jack said for about the tenth time. “If we get spotted in here, our entire plan goes up in smoke without passing go.”

She shot him a scowl. “We should have heard from them by now. Shouldn't we?”

“Yeah, well,
we'll
hear from them long before
you'll
see them. We'll get a mental shout-out as soon as they can send one.”

She nodded, knowing Jack was right, even as Vixen came over to lay a hand on her shoulder and nodded toward the rear corner of the waiting room. Ilyana was sitting in a chair there, her eyes riveted to the door. She was so still she seemed to be holding her breath.

Roxy met Vixen's eyes and got the message. She pulled her nervousness under control and went over to Ilyana, pulled a chair up beside hers and joined her there.

“They won't bring Matt. I know they won't,” Ilyana said softly.

“What makes you so sure?”

Ilyana met Roxy's eyes. “Gregor is expecting an attack. He'll have Matt hidden. And even if he doesn't, Crisa is the main goal here. She's one of them. They'll make her the priority.”

“Over an innocent child?” Roxy shook her head.

“You don't know these people very well, if you really believe that.”

“I know Briar well enough. She wouldn't lift a finger to help anyone but herself. Hell, she's said it often enough. I doubt she'd even be helping Crisa if not for the power of that blood bond they share. And
that
was against Briar's will.”

Roxy shook her head. “Briar had a choice. Let Crisa die, or share blood with her. None of us could have forced her. There's more to that one than you know, I think.”

“Humph.”

Clearly Ilyana didn't believe that.

“But there's more than just Briar,” Roxy went on. “Reaper is with her, and so is Eric Marquand.”

“Marquand is a stranger. We don't know anything about him.”

“I'll tell you what I
do
know, Ilyana,” Roxy said softly. “I know Raphael. He's a good man.”

“He's a former CIA assassin,” Ilyana corrected.

“He's a
good man.
And if there's a way to save your son for you, he'll do it.”

“Someone's coming!”

They both looked up sharply as Mirabella turned toward the door. Seth and Vixen flanked her. Topaz drew a weapon, one of the tiny tranquilizer guns they all carried to protect themselves from Reaper's rage. She checked to be sure it was loaded, then tucked it into the back of her designer jeans.

“It's a mortal,” Jack said. “A cop.”

“Hell.” Roxy lowered her head and massaged her brow with one hand. “Don't kill him, guys. Please? Not unless you really have to.”

Jack sent her a playful look. “You're ruining all our fun, you know that, don't you?”

“I've got this,” Topaz said. “The rest of you, get out of sight.”

And with that, she went to the door, just as the knob began to turn. The officer was testing the lock. When he found it engaged, he punched in the code that would open it. Drawing his weapon, he cautiously pushed the door wider and stepped inside.

Topaz was standing right in front of him when he did. He started when he saw her. His hand tightened on his gun, but something kept him from raising it. Something in Topaz's eyes, Roxy thought, as she watched from the next room, through a tiny crack in the door.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” the cop demanded. “This is private property.”

“I know. What made you come?” she asked.

“Just put your hands up and turn around.”

She shook her head slowly. “Oh, come on. I'm no threat to you. You
want
to talk to me. You can see there's nothing wrong here. Just tell me, what made you come?”

“Dispatch got a call,” he said, speaking slowly.

“Neighbor reported someone moving around in here after hours and got suspicious.”

“They must have been imagining things,” she said.

“There's no one here. Everything here is fine.”

“What do you mean no one's here?” he asked, looking at her as if he thought she might have mental problems. “
You're
here.”

In the next room, Roxy shot a worried look at Jack. Jack whispered, “He must be exceptionally strong-willed.”

“We're not going to be able to let him leave, are we?” Roxy looked at the man. He was handsome. His soft brown hair was cut short and neat, and his body was strong and lean. He had kind eyes. Sharp, knowing, kind eyes. She looked again at Jack, listening as Topaz made another attempt to gain control of the man's mind.

“There's no one here,” she said again, her voice taking on a soft, hypnotic cadence. “Everything here is fine, you can see that clearly. You've found nothing amiss here. You need to be on your way and report back that there's nothing wrong here.”

He frowned until his brows touched. “You're
standing
right in
front
of me, lady.” And still he couldn't quite lift the gun. “I'm going to have to take you with me. Is there anyone else here?”

“
No one's
here.” She was beginning to sound a bit impatient. No doubt it ticked her off to be unable to enchant a man with her looks and the combined power of her mind and will.

The cop reached for the radio mike that was clipped to the front of his uniform shirt. Topaz's hand closed over his so fast that he couldn't have detected the movement. She clamped hold of his wrist. “Don't do that.”

He met her eyes, and she quickly gripped his other hand, the one holding the gun.

“No, Roxy,” Jack said softly. “I'm afraid we're not going to be able to let him leave.”

 

Just as Briar, Eric and their “passengers” were about to emerge from the woods onto the road where they'd left the car, they sensed a solid wall of drones at the forest's edge. Briar dropped to the ground behind a tangle of brush, gripping Eric's arm and yanking him down with her. She lowered Matt to the ground, telling him to stay low. The poor child was petrified.

Then again, so was she. But oddly, not for herself.

Wide-eyed, she looked around them, and while she couldn't see any others nearby, she could
feel
them. They were approaching from both sides, and more were coming up from behind.

“We're surrounded,” she whispered.

Eric released his hold on Dwyer, who crouched be side him, trembling with fear. Then he laid Crisa gently on the ground.

“How is she doing?” Briar asked him.

Eric met her eyes, and his were grim. “Not well. We need to get that chip out of her brain, and we need to do it soon.”

“All right.” Briar moved Matt, pushing him closer to Eric. “You're going to stay with Eric and Crisa. All right?”

“Stay? Here?” B-but…the drones…”

“I'm going to take care of them.” She dug in her pocket for the keys to the car that waited by the road side. It was Seth's Mustang, and it was faster than hell. She handed the keys to Eric.

“What are you thinking?” Eric asked. “Briar, you can't—”

“Look, I was going back anyway. Reaper's still in there. This just speeds up my plan a bit.”

“What plan?” Eric demanded.

She lowered her eyes, because she had no plan. Not much of one, anyway. “I'm going to go out in the open, make sure the lugheads see me, and then make a run for it. It'll lead the damn drones away from here. They're not too bright. They'll come after me, and by the time it occurs to them that Matt and Crisa aren't with me, it'll be too late. Because the
second
they come after me and give you a clear path, Eric, I want you to take Matt and Crisa and make a break for that car. Get in, take off and don't look back. Do you know where the clinic is, where the rest of the A team is waiting?”

“Yes. But I'm not going to leave you to fight off those creatures alone.” He peered out of the brush at them. “What the hell are they?”

“They start out as the Chosen, I think. Humans with the belladonna antigen and certain other physical characteristics in common. That protruding forehead, the oversized bodies, the strength. I've heard that they're lobotomized before they're transformed, but I think there's more to it than that. What you see is the result.” She sent a look at Dwyer. “What I don't know is where you find such a steady supply of them.”

Dwyer swallowed hard and lowered his head. “I can't tell you that.”

“Oh, you'll tell me everything I want to know, Dwyer.” She gripped his shirt front and jerked him closer to her. “Or are you not
getting
that your life is in my hands right now?”

He met her eyes and swallowed hard.

Eric clapped her shoulder. “There's no time, not now. The drones are closing in. Have no fear, Briar. I'll make him tell us what he knows once we get clear of this place and the innocents are safe.”

“Oh, he's not going with you,” Briar said.

Dwyer's eyes widened, and his head snapped up.

“You and I have unfinished business, Dwyer. More than a little. You're coming with me.”

“I can't go back there. I
can't!
Gregor will kill me.”

“He'll probably kill me, too, if the drones don't do it first. Buck up, pal. It's for the greater good and all that bullshit.”

Matt shook his head. “Wait. If you take me with you, they won't hurt you. Dad will have told them not to hurt me. And sometimes they listen to me. I can make sure they don't hurt you.”

Briar smiled slightly as she looked at the boy, feeling a little awed. “You're a brave little shit, you know that?” Then she tousled his hair, an act so unlike her that she surprised herself by doing it. “Tell your mom I said she'd better take good care of you, pal. And tell her…for a human, she's not so bad.” She glanced toward Eric. “Do everything you can for Crisa.”

“You have my word on that, Briar.” Then he thinned his lips and pierced her eyes with his. “Rhiannon was right about you.”

“Oh, hell, that arrogant bitch doesn't need to be told that. It'll just swell her head more than it already is.”

“Be careful, Briar,” Eric said. “Reaper will never forgive me for leaving you, if anything bad should befall you.”

She frowned at him.

“He loves you, you know. And I don't blame him. You're quite remarkable.”

“God save me from sappy men. You're as bad as he is.” And with that she rose from her hiding place, gripping Dwyer by the back of his neck, so he was forced to rise with her.

“Leave me with them!” Dwyer pleaded. He pulled free, dropping to his knees again. “I'll tell you how the drones are made. I'll tell you
everythin'
.”

“Too late.” She crouched beside him, ready to yank him upright and make him run.

“I'll tell Eric, once we get clear, and I'll tell the rest of them, too. I promise I will.”

“No.”

She jerked at him. He had tears forming in his eyes now. “They can't save Crisa without my help. I know how to get at the chip.”

She looked to Eric for confirmation. He shook his head. “I think I can manage just as well without him. I have the files.” He patted the satchel over his shoulder.

She nodded and tugged at Dwyer again. He tried one more tactic. “I'll tell you Reaper's trigger word. The one you still don't know, the one that will break the rage after the first trigger word activates it. The word that will end it.”

Briar hesitated, because that was precisely the information she'd been hoping for and planned to demand. She looked at him. “If I find out you lied to me…”

“I won't lie. And I can give you more. There's a hypnotist—the one who programmed Reaper in the first place. I'll give Eric his name, and if Reaper survives this, he can track him down, make him deprogram his mind. But in the meantime, the trigger word…”

“What is it?” she demanded.

“You'll let me go with Eric?”

“Yes, just tell me. What is it?”

“Mongoose.”

“Mongoose?” She rolled her eyes. “You guys sure don't use much imagination for this shit, do you?” She looked at the man. “There's just one more thing. I need to know what really happened to Reaper's wife.”