Payback (17 page)

There were four guards sprinting across the parking lot toward her. Guards with guns. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I don’t think I… I can’t.” She began to lower herself to the ground next to Sam. They’d have to get through her to get to him. She could do that much.

A car roared across the parking lot, squealing to a stop between Yana and the guards. The back door opened. Hands reached out. “Get in,” someone cried. Yana couldn’t. She couldn’t.

But hands reached out and pul ed her inside. Her and Sam. And the car drove away. Yana heard shots, but the car kept going.

Out onto the street. Everything looked so strange. Like it was al part of a set for some play.

“Are you okay?” someone cal ed.

“Rae. It’s you,” Yana said. “We’re in Anthony’s car.”

“That’s right. We’re al here with you. Me and Anthony and Mandy,” Rae answered, her voice slow and gentle. “We’re going to ta ke you to the hospital.”

Hospital. Hospital. It took a moment for her to understand the word. “Not me. Sam! We’ve got to get Sam there.”

“You and Sam,” Rae promised.

Rae pounded into the emergency room, the two metal boxes slamming against her thighs. Yana wouldn’t let her out of the car unless she brought them with her. “I’ve got a guy out in the car. Unconscious,” she cried. “Breathed in a lot of smoke. A fire.”

Before the last word was out of her mouth, a man and a woman in white were wheeling a stretcher out the glass door. Rae fol o wed them to the car. Anthony, Mandy, and Jesse were flanking the right passenger door. Through the window Rae could see Ya na with the guy-Sam-cradled in her lap.

The woman in white opened the car door. “We need you to get out so we can help your friend,” she told Yana.

Yana didn’t seem to hear. Rae hurried over. She thrust the metal boxes at Anthony, then took Yana by the hand. It felt like a dol ’s hand, soft and pliant. “Come on, sweetie. They’re going to take good care of Sam. But they can’t reach him with you in the car.”

She gave Yana’s hand a tug, and Yana obediently stepped out of the car. The ER team moved in fast. They had Sam strapped to the stretcher in moments. Yana ran after them as they wheeled the stretcher inside. Rae ran after her, not letting go of her hand.

“We need a crash cart,” the man guiding the stretcher cal ed as he wheeled Sam past the front desk. In a smooth motion he and the woman maneuvered the stretcher into a little cubicle. They drew the curtain behind them, blocking the stretcher from sight.

“Out of the way,” a nurse cal ed. She rushed by, pushing a metal cart in front of her. Rae caught a glimpse of dials and two plas tic paddles.
Did his heart stop beating?
she wondered.
That’s when you use the paddle things, isn’t it?

From behind the curtain Rae heard a voice yel , “Clear.” Yana lunged forward and yanked open the curtain just in time to see Sam’s body give a violent jerk. “You’re hurting him!” Yana screeched.

“Please go to the waiting room,” the nurse instructed. She pried Yana’s fingers off the curtain and slid it shut again.

“Come on, Yana,” Rae said. “We’ve got to let them help Sam.”

“No.” Yana shook her head. “No!”

“Clear!” a woman yel ed from behind the curtain. Yana’s body jerked. Just the way Rae imagined Sam’s body was jerking on the stretcher. Several voices started talking at once behind the curtain. Then everyone went silent.

“Time of death. Ten-oh-seven,” the man said.

“He’s not dead!” Yana shouted. “Sam is not dead. He’s not dying until Christmas.” She ripped open the curtain, glaring at the medical team.

“Do you think… Could we have a minute…” Rae gestured toward the body. God, the body.

“Just a minute,” the nurse said. She squeezed Yana’s arm as she led the other two medics out of the cubicle, then shut the curta in behind them.

“He’s not dead,” Yana repeated.

“Yan, I’m sorry, but he is,” Rae answered, tears stinging her eyes. “Look at him.”

Yana leaned over Sam’s body and stared down at him. A tear splashed off her cheek and landed in one of his open, staring eyes. “No, he’s alive.”

She’s lost it,
Rae thought.
It’s how I was with Aiden.
“Rae, touch his fingertips. You’l see. He’s stil in there.”

“Good idea. Let me check. Let me make sure,” Rae answered. If it would comfort Yana, she’d do it. She reached out her hand, turned Sam’s hand palm up, and lightly rested her fingertips against his-

-and she found herself in a cage of wooden slats. Above her were clowns. Clowns dangling from strings. Tinkling music began to play, and the clowns began to spin in a circle above Rae, the polka dots and stripes of their costumes dizzying, their wide, smi ling, red mouths almost menacing.

Remember why you’re here. Remember why you’re here,
Rae ordered herself. “Sam!” she shouted. But the only sound was the tinkling music. The only motion was the circling clowns. Rae took a step forward. The floor was spongy under her feet. She knelt down and ran her fingers across the floor.
It’s a mattress,
she thought. A second realization fol owed almost immediately
-

I’m in a crib. A massive crib. And the clown, the clowns are a huge mobile.
Or else the crib and the mobile were regular size and Rae was tiny.

Doesn’t matter which,
Rae told herself.
You’re in Sam’s world. And if Sam’s world still exists, then that means he’s still alive.

Right?
“Sam!” Rae yel ed again. She ran across the mattress, sinking almost to her knees with each step. She reached the ed ge and-

-found herself at the top of a twisty metal slide. The ground looked a mil ion miles away. And the metal looked slick, like it had been oiled. “Don’t be afraid. You can do it,” a voice that sounded like it belonged to a giant cal ed.

Go!
Rae urged herself.
Find Sam! Find Sam! Who knows how much time there is left!
She threw herself down on the side, sto mach down, head rushing toward the earth, her body lurching left and right as she took the curves. She landed hard and felt-

-something cool and dry slither over her arm. A snake. She thought it was a boa constrictor. And it was a friend. Somehow she knew it was a friend. Natasha. That was its name. “Natasha, where’s Sam?” she asked. The snake wriggled off her arm and slit hered across the blacktop where Rae lay. She shoved herself to her feet and fol owed. Who knew a snake could move so fast?

She pumped her legs harder. She had to keep up. Natasha would take her to Sam.

Yes! There he was. Leaping over the net of a tennis court in the distance. “Sam! Sam, stop!” Rae yel ed. Sam didn’t hesitate.

He kept running, running toward a blazing white sun. If he reached it, she’d die. No, he’d die. Would they both die?

No time to think,
she ordered herself.
Just run.
Her lungs burned as she struggled to catch up to Sam. The blacktop under her feet turned slick and she went down-

-fal ing on top of a huge centerfold. The staples in the middle were as long as her arm. And the breasts on the model were like-who cared what they were like? Rae gained her feet again, searched frantical y for Sam. He’d disappeared again.

No, he was stil up ahead. A tiny dot against the blinding brightness of the sun. “Saaam!” Rae screeched. She plunged into a fo rest, a forest of syringes. Every few steps a bolt of electricity zigzagged through her body. But she couldn’t stop running. The syringes grew closer together the farther she ran until they-

-formed a cage, blocking her in.
He’s going to get away,
Rae thought.
Stop him!
She backed up as far as she could, then lowe red her head. She pretended she was Anthony, Anthony on the footbal field. The syringes, they were the players on the other te am. Her shoulders hit cold plastic. Rae didn’t let herself hesitate. She plowed through. There was a cracking sound and rain, rain that burned like acid fel down on her, and she struggled-

-across the black and white squares of a chessboard, dodging the huge marble pieces that kept sliding in front of her, blocking her. But at least she could see Sam. He was almost to the edge of the other side of the board. So close. White, black, white, black.

Gray. Wait. The squares of the board were leaking together, becoming gray. The pieces were turning gray, too. The sky, gray.

She glanced over her shoulder. Al she saw was gray. In the distance Rae saw Sam’s feet leave the ground. He was flying now, flying into the sun. If he got any closer…

“Nooo!” Rae shouted. “Turn around! Yana sent me to get you.”

Sam fel from the sky, and Rae sprinted toward him, running faster than she’d run in any gym class ever. She dropped to her knees and skidded to a stop next to him. “Sam, we’ve got to get out of here. Yana’s going to be so pissed if we don’t get out of here.”

Rae pul ed Sam to his feet. Patches of his body had become the sun, shining so brightly, she could hardly look at him. She clo sed her eyes and jerked Sam back in the direction they’d come, then she plunged forward, dragging him behind her.

Cold. The air turned colder with every step. It was freezing her lungs. Freezing them flat. And her heart… It was slowing down.

Cold. So cold. Too cold to beat any longer…

“When you touched the fingertips of a girl who was unconscious, you passed out,” a familiar voice said. “What in the hel did you think would happen if you touched the fingertips of a dead guy?”

Rae opened her eyes. Anthony’s face fil ed her vision, big as the sun. Warming her. “I’m alive?”

He leaned down and kissed her, hard, his lips urgent against hers. “Yes, you’re alive,” he answered when he lifted his mouth from hers. “But you might not have been.”

Rae struggled to sit up and found that she was on a gurney. Anthony put his hands on her shoulders and tried to guide her back down. “The doctor said for you to rest.”

“I’m fine.” Rae gripped the rails of the gurney with both hands, resisting him. “What happened to Sam?”

“His heart started beating again. Total y freaked the doctors out,” Anthony answered. He pushed Rae’s sweaty hair off her face.

“It’s thanks to you. You know that.”

Rae shook her head. “We made it out because we knew how pissed Yana would be if we didn’t.” She ran her fingers down Ant hony’s cheek. “And because I could never leave you. You know that, right? You’re stuck with me.”

“I guess I can deal with that,” Anthony muttered. “Since I love you and al that.”

“That’s right.” Rae looped her arms around his neck. “You love me, and that means you’re mine. So help me down.”

“The doctor said-” Anthony began.

“Since when do you listen to anybody?” Rae asked. “I’m fine.”

Anthony caught her under her knees, lifted her over the railing of the gurney, and gently set her on her feet. He didn’t let go of her waist. She kept her arms tight around his shoulders. They were RaeAnthony, AnthonyRae, and she wanted to keep it that way.

“Take me to Sam,” she said.

And he walked her down the hal , his steps and her steps perfectly in sync because they real y only had one body, one mind, one heart.

“She’s supposed to be resting,” Yana said as they entered Sam’s room.

“Yeah,” Mandy said. Rae noticed her fingers were tightly twined with Jesse’s. They weren’t MandyJesse.

Not yet. But maybe someday, if they were lucky, as lucky as she and Anthony…

“You know Rae. She doesn’t listen to anybody but Rae,” Anthony answered.

“Hey, I…” Sam frowned at Rae. “I had a dream, and you were in it.”

“It wasn’t exactly a dream,” Rae answered.

“Sam, this is Rae. She’s one of us,” Yana said. “So’s Mandy.” She nodded in Mandy’s direction.

“More guinea pigs,” Sam muttered.

“No,” Yana said firmly. “No. We’re nobody’s guinea pigs. And we’re not gonna be. I burned down the center, the whole thing.”

“Pretty good for a guinea pig,” Sam answered.

What’s with this guinea pig stuff?
Rae wondered. But she didn’t interrupt to ask. Things between Yana and Sam were so inten se, Rae could practical y feel heat waves coming off them.

“But it’s not over. You know that,” Sam added.

Yana let out a sigh that sounded like it came from the soles of her feet. “Yeah, I know that. When these guys rescued me”-she made a sweeping gesture that took in Rae, Anthony, Mandy, and Jesse-“there were already new agency goons coming for me.”

She scrubbed her face with her fingers. “Maybe I didn’t do anything. Maybe I-”

God, she suddenly sounded so deflated. Like al the energy and al the life had been sucked out of her.

“Your mom would be proud of you,” Rae interrupted. “She wanted to close down the agency-that’s why they kil ed her. And now you’re fighting them, too. Just like her.”

“And we’re going to keep on fighting,” Anthony told her.

“Al of us,” Mandy added.

“Al of us,” Jesse echoed.

Yana’s face softened, and Rae got a glimpse of what Yana must have looked like as a little girl, that little girl who wanted to be a bal erina. “Thanks, you guys,” she said softly. “After what I did to you, I-” “We’ve al done stupid things,” Anthony cut Yana off.

Rae pul ed him more tightly against her.

“What about you, Sam?” Yana asked. “You showed up at the center tonight, even though you told me there was no way you’d help. Are you in?”

“Yeah. I’m in. I’m in until I’m out, whenever that wil be. I can’t promise you anything but that,” Sam answered.

Yana nodded, and Rae saw that her blue eyes were bright with unshed tears. “That’s good enough for me. More than good eno ugh.” A grin slowly spread across her face. “And I did manage to snag something that wil slow the agency down.”

“What?” Rae asked.

“Samples of a new drug cal ed N-Tetran. It’l boost al of our powers,” Yana answered.

“It’l take the agency months, at the least months, to re-create the formula,” Sam said. “We’l definitely have an advantage for a while.”

“So the agency better start watching its butt,” Yana said. She met Rae’s gaze. “Because together, even without the drug, we’ve kicked some butt.”