The Takeover (34 page)

“Exactly.” Mari dragged a finger down the plans, one floor to the next. “There are so many floors, it gets confusing, but basically, each paper has about three floors. So here’s the lobby, and the generators are two floors under that. Half of each of the two underground floors is also a parking garage. Looks like they have three generators intended to supply energy to different sections of the building. The transfer boxes are there.” She stabbed a finger at a line that represented a wall.

“Great. If the setup is anything—wait.” My concentration broke as my mind registered a warning. “Looks like a life force is approaching that apartment they locked me in.” The life force was moving closer and closer to my door. At my words, Keene sat up again from the bed, his brow furrowed. Keeping my hold on Mari, I shifted.

Back into the shower. I tugged off the rest of my clothes and began washing for real. The water was a tad too hot, but it felt comforting on my strained muscles. Soaping down my hair and body in record time, I turned off the water, grabbed a towel from a hook, and wrapped it around me. The life force I’d seen was already inside my room, and I prepared for battle.

To my surprise, a tiny, sweet-looking young woman stood in the middle of my apartment, her arms full of clothing. She had dark strawberry blond hair, the kind I’d always thought of as being orange, and a splash of pale freckles warmed her face. Her spaghetti-strapped tank and short shorts made her look about seventeen. She wasn’t much taller than my twelve-year-old niece and probably weighed less.

“Hi,” she said, raising the bundle in her arms. “Triad Stefan asked me to bring you clothing. He said you didn’t pack much.”

“Thank you.” I took the clothing from her and dumped it on the bed. “Who are you?”

“I’m Catrina Silvaski.” Her words had a slight lilt I couldn’t place, like an accent that hadn’t quite been eradicated. So this was the sensing Unbounded Jeane had vowed to get rid of. Why hadn’t she come in hiding her life force, especially if Stefan suspected my ability? Or maybe he didn’t suspect anymore after our bout.

Catrina looked sweet and young—but definitely Unbounded. To be this young, her Change must have been forced, yet she didn’t have the typical crunched facial features, so maybe I was wrong. Unless the Emporium had perfected the process. I didn’t want to think about that or how many lives they’d sacrificed to make it happen. Too many didn’t survive the process.

Her appearance told me little about her, but the probing at my mind told me much more. She felt like a tiny fly hitting my shield. Maybe the rumors of her strength had been greatly exaggerated. Unless she was a mnemo variation. I arched a brow. “Is there something else?”

She opened her mouth and then shut it again just as quickly. Suddenly a thrust of her mind jabbed into my mental shield, driving a volley of pain into my head. I pushed back, but only to strengthen my shield, careful not to let her know I’d felt her attack. She watched me with unveiled interest in her pale green eyes. “Your shield is very strong. Stronger than Lew’s. That’s unusual.”

“So you’re a sensing Unbounded.”

She dipped her head in agreement. “I was told to come in here and pick your mind. I have better luck sometimes than Lew in breaking down mental shields. Probably because many people—well, most people—don’t like him.” She shrugged her slight shoulders. “But I guess I failed.”

“Are you sure you tried hard enough?”

Again the shrug, but aloud she said. “Definitely.”

She was lying. I felt it in her surface thoughts. If she was letting those escape, she either didn’t suspect anything or she knew my true nature and was toying with me.

“I’ll have to try again,” she said, “probably after they inject you with drugs, but I’ve never been able to get through Lew’s even then.”

I could see more questions in her eyes, but for whatever reason she wasn’t voicing them. She strode forward, her hand reaching for my arm. I stepped back, avoiding contact. “Don’t touch me.”

If she was the mnemo or raider, even a shield over my entire body might not hold up to a physical touch—and I couldn’t risk such a protection now, because only sensing Unbounded could extend mental shields beyond their minds, and she’d instantly perceive my actual ability.

“So you know touch increases my gift.”

“My grandmother is sensing.”

“Your fifth great-grandmother.”

“That’s right. You guys
murdered
my real grandmother.”

Something passed over her face in a wave. Was it regret or satisfaction that she’d rattled me?

“You touch me and I’ll kill you,” I said.

She took a pace backward. “I didn’t know about your grandmother. I’m sorry.”

I wanted to ask her about Jace, if she’d stolen his memories. But I still wasn’t supposed to know he was here. “Was it really Stefan who sent you?”

She nodded. I wanted to rip into her shield and delve into her mind, but I couldn’t or she’d feel me every bit as much as I felt her. She’d also have a chance to get inside me that way. Not a large one, but still a chance. Better to focus on keeping my shield strong. I hoped Jace’s shield had held if she’d attacked him.

“You are like your brother,” she said softly. “I couldn’t get through his shield, either. Lew will try soon.”

“My brother? He’s here?” I thought my simulated surprise was pretty good, but Catrina gazed at me with an amused expression. Strangely, it didn’t feel like she was mocking but rather admiring me.

“Apparently, he heard you were taken by Jeane and came here to rescue you. He arrived last night. Surprised everyone. We had a DNA test done, and Jace
is
Triad Carrington’s son. Looks like he’s had two prodigal children come home.”

“Where is Jace?” The words came out choked instead of confident.

“I don’t know.” Her eyes drifted briefly up to the ceiling. “He’s fine, though. After your meeting with the Triad this afternoon, I’m sure Triad Carrington will allow you to see him.” A frown appeared on the narrow lips. “Oops. I think he wanted that to be a surprise.”

I didn’t get it. I was almost sure she was the person who’d tampered with Jeane, but why had she come here alone if she didn’t intend to force me? Or was I already forgetting something I held dear? I pulled out my mental machete and searched my mind, prepared to do battle, but there was no trace of Catrina or anyone else. Just me.

I had to trust myself. “Thank you,” I said, “for telling me about Jace.”

Catrina smiled, and for a moment she looked older. “My pleasure.”

She’d taken a step toward the door when my next words stopped her. “Are you related to Delia Vesey?”

“Delia?” Catrina turned. “Thankfully, no. I come from another line. I mean, all sensing Unbounded probably originated from the same person four thousand years ago or whatever, but Delia wasn’t my direct ancestor. In fact, I was living in Russia until a short time ago. I was sent here after Delia died—my people refused to send me before then. Delia was, however, very involved in our breeding. I think that’s why they hated her so much.”

I couldn’t blame them, but it was interesting to know she had family. That might mean the Emporium had more sensing Unbounded than we’d guessed. “How long ago did you Change?”

Her smile this time was more childlike. “Well, I grew up among Unbounded, but I’ve only been one myself for six months. You?”

“Not much longer. Seven months ago, I’d never heard of Unbounded.”

I wanted to ask if she’d volunteered to be forced or if she was older than she looked, but I didn’t want to pity this childlike woman who was probably the biggest danger to me since Delia.

Her pale eyes danced. “Your brother asked, and I bet you want to. I don’t mind telling you. I’m nineteen, the youngest person ever to have Changed without being forced. It just happened. But many of my ancestors Changed early. It’s a family trait we kept secret for as long as we could.”

I wanted to know if it was Delia they’d tried to hide it from and, if so, how the Triad had uncovered the secret. “I bet Tihalt’s been testing you nonstop.”

Her smile widened. “Not since I learned to break through his shield.” She laughed and resumed her journey across the carpet. So she wasn’t a puppet, at least not the way she was supposed to be.

I didn’t want to like Catrina, but there was something appealing about her. Maybe it was partially because Jeane disliked her so much.

Or had Catrina
made
me like her?

I hated this.

As soon as the door shut behind Catrina, I reached out to Mari.
Let’s get this done. Ropte will be here soon. The relays need to be in place before then.

MARI AND I STOOD GAPING
at the three huge generators. They were as large as dump trucks, and stood one after the other, gleaming with bright yellow paint. They were attached to massive, equally gleaming metal vents that umbrellaed each generator like a silver cloud. Ritter had trained us on the schematics of numerous generators after the last time we’d had to deal with one, but seeing these enormous things up close was a little daunting.

“I bet they’d only need one to power this entire building,” Mari whispered, her voice muffled by her metamaterials hood. She needn’t have whispered. I’d mentally followed one of the guards to the generators, and he’d been inside this cavernous space alone when we’d shifted in. If there were cameras or mics here, he hadn’t been aware of them. He was in a corner now, unconscious after a little fast work on my part. I’d have to deal with his memories before long.

The three six-foot metal transfer boxes were located exactly where Tihalt’s plans said they would be in the room, but in case of doubt, block letters stamped on the bare cement above the boxes read TRANSFER CONTROLS. These boxes were what made it possible to use either outside power from the city or power from the generators, transferring between the two systems as needed. Leading from the boxes were thick wires that sent electricity throughout the entire building.

Ignoring the outside control buttons on the transfer boxes, Mari dumped the contents of her bag and went to work loosening the screws on the first panel. The good news was that we’d brought plenty of relays. “Thank you, Cort,” I murmured.

“If only someone would invent a better screwdriver,” Mari growled through the first screw she already held in her mouth.

Our targets were the wires that connected the batteries in each generator to the transfer switches located inside the metal boxes. In the case of a power outage, the battery provided the electricity for the transfer switch to sense the outage and automatically turn on the generators. Placing one tiny relay on each incoming wire would give us the ability to cut the electricity to the switch and interrupt the power generated by the fuel in the generators. In that case, it would switch back to outside current—which should be down—giving us control over the building’s power and its electric shield.

After stripping the wire, we used the wire from Tihalt’s lab as a bypass, wrapping each end over the bare surface of the stripped wire several inches apart, making sure the contact was good before cutting the original wire. No alarms came from the generators, so the bypass was doing its job of completing the circuit. Then we spliced the relay into the original wire, once again completing the circuit before removing the bypass connection.

“Easy peasy,” Mari said, looking almost cheerful.

We separated to complete the other two transfer boxes, double-checking each other’s work when we were finished. If anyone looked inside, the small relays appeared almost as if they belonged. But no one would have any reason to open the boxes until the power went out, and even then they should first attempt to use the outside controls or check the generators for problems. If the power outage lasted long enough, someone would eventually realize the transfer switches were the reason, but we hoped to have the generators back on before they even got to this room. We’d need less than a minute to bring Ritter and some of the others inside.

I took out two more tiny plastic envelopes like the one I’d given Stefan. A drop from each packet on the screws assured us that no one would be removing these panels without some heavy drilling. Stefan really needed to hire better people.

Now for the Unbounded we’d left lying in a corner near two stacks of medium-sized crates. I shifted over to him, and Mari followed, her suit making her almost invisible in the dim light. He was unconscious, but his mind was still partially shielded. Laying my hand on his cheek, I hammered through his shield and passed down into the lake of warm water. For a time, I studied the memory bubbles. Was this how a mnemo worked, except by changing the memories instead of removing them?

I reached out to the memory bubble that showed the guard reeling as I stepped out from behind some crates and punched him twice in the head. If I could just replace that with him hitting his head on something, it would be far more effective. But the bubble vanished as I touched it like they always did when I extracted them. So much for that idea. I opened my eyes and arose.

Mari had been busy while I was occupied. She’d pushed one of the crates onto the floor near him, and another now teetered on the edge. With any luck, he’d assume it had fallen on him and wouldn’t report his blackout. If he did report it and Lew examined him, Lew might be good enough to detect my tampering.