I nodded. “Yes.”
“Damn.” She raked her hands through her dark hair. “That’s why. Hurry, open the door. Using someone’s energy is great, if they don’t know about it. If they do, they can attach to you. Brand you.”
I knew I didn’t have time to question her further, at least not at the moment. Instead, I closed my eyes, ignored the feel of my father’s energy, and focused on the keypad. It took a few moments longer than the others, but soon enough I smelled the scent of smoke.
Deborah shoved me aside and tore open the door. “You’re connected. And if you can track him, if you can sense him coming, then he can track you.”
My skin crawled and frantically, I searched out Lewis, needing his calm reassurance. He slipped his hand into mine. Instead of making me feel better, his touch only made me feel worse. His skin felt clammy, cold and the pulse beating from his wrist was weak at best.
“We shouldn’t risk saving the children,” Deborah muttered as she swept into the room. The lights were already on, but the beds empty.
I moved away from Lewis and grabbed onto Deborah’s arm in a hard grip, jerking her to a stop. “I’m not leaving Caroline.”
She shook off my hold. “Fine. Then you take care of the guards.”
“What…” I followed her gaze. Three guards were racing toward us, running between the rows of beds. But the children were huddled in the far corner, the sirens and chaos, no doubt, terrifying.
“Cameron?” Caroline’s sweet voice called to me.
“Stay back!” I demanded. The last thing I needed was Caroline running into the line of fire. I focused on the guards, wondering if I could take them all at once. My body still hummed with energy, but the power had faded. How much longer would my high last?
“Hurry,” Deborah ordered before rushing toward the children. I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about them with Deborah there. Instead, I could focus on the guards.
“Stop! You are surrounded,” one man said.
Lewis took my hand once more. “I’m right here. Let me help you.”
I was grateful for his presence, but I knew that when it came down to it, Lewis would be of little assistance. I took in a deep breath and focused. “No. I may need you later,” I lied. “You need to conserve your strength.”
“Drop to the ground now!” the guard demanded, lifting his rifle and pointing it directly at me. His friends followed his lead.
I felt Lewis shift, and held out my arm, blocking him from stepping in front of me. “Don’t.”
I took in a deep breath, trying to focus but my energy was unstable. I could feel my dad coming closer…closer, taking over my senses. I shook my head, as if to clear my thoughts. We had to escape before Dad made it here because frankly, I wasn’t sure if I could defeat him again.
I released the air I held and threw my energy forward. Disarming them would be pointless; they could rush me without guns. But I had more tricks up my sleeve. Pain. I could cause pain. I’d done it before, hopefully I could do it again.
My energy hit the chip in their brains and paused, hovering. With a yell, I pushed forward until I felt their mental walls break. The closest guard fell almost immediately. The other two hesitated, unsure if they should help their fellow guard or stop me.
Their thoughts made me sick, for it wasn’t just fear, but fear combined with the desire to win. They wanted me as their trophy. It was a game, and they knew they’d be promoted if they caught the most powerful prisoner they had. The second man groaned, and fell to his knees. I wanted to gloat, but didn’t have time. Would the third man run? Would he beg for mercy?
He scooped up his fallen comrade’s rifle. With a gun in each hand, he looked like some overly-muscled Captain America come to life. He didn’t realize that guns held nothing on me.
“Go,” I said to Lewis, keeping eye contact with the remaining guard. “Help Deborah get the kids out.”
This guard was no secretary sent to watch video monitors, he knew what he was doing and he wouldn’t relent. From the corner of my eye I could see Lewis and Deborah ushering the children toward the door.
“You won’t escape,” the guard said, and to give him credit, he kept his voice even. “Even now your father is on his way.”
“I know, but if you think you scare me, you don’t. I am leaving; sadly you aren’t.” I threw my energy forward. The force hit him so hard he actually staggered back a few steps. With a cry, his face crumpled, and he fell to his knees. My conscience screamed at me to stop, but rationality warned I couldn’t yield. Vaguely I was aware of Deborah and Lewis ushering the children toward the door.
The guard fell forward, hitting the floor with a thud. I buried down my guilt and spun around, following the kids into the stairwell. Caroline glanced back, her pale face full of fear and worry.
“I’m coming,” I assured her, although she probably didn’t hear me over the thunder of feet down the steps.
“The back door,” Caroline said, pointing toward the right when we’d intended to go left.
We all paused at the landing and stared at the steel door. Some of the children were crying, some whimpering. The older ones were doing their best to comfort the younger. But the constant noise made it hard to concentrate. “You’re sure?”
She nodded, those blue eyes wide and sincere. “Yes.”
I took in a deep breath and pressed my hand to the keypad, hoping it would be the last time. My energy was waning fast. The heat traveled down my arm more slowly. I ignored the harsh breathing and whimper of children behind me and focused. The heat left my fingers and seeped into the keypad. The all too familiar scent of burning metal and plastic invaded my nostrils.
I coughed, stepping back. Deborah tore open the door and the children filed out into the crisp night air. Caroline had been right; we’d found the back of the building. I studied the area around us. North, we had to find north. Hopefully Maddox had done his job. Now if only I could do mine and get everyone out unharmed.
“Hurry,” I said, pushing them toward the fence line.
Deborah took up the front, while I stayed in the back with Lewis. He stumbled and my worry escalated. I knew it was taking all the energy he had left for him to stay upright. The hatred I felt for my father burned through me in a heated wave. But Lewis wasn’t the only one influenced by my father’s power. The children were stumbling over their own feet, lost and scared in the darkness. Their many emotions were racing through me, confusing my already riotous mind.
“North,” I said. “We need to find north.”
We’d all be caught if we didn’t do something fast. Shouts broke through the night, interrupting the screech of the sirens. They were coming.
“Take Lewis and go,” I said, turning to confront the guards; dark hulking beasts who were scouring the surrounding area in search of us. “I’ll catch up with you.”
Of course we both knew that if I stayed behind, I’d never leave here again.
“No!” Deborah grabbed tightly to my arm, so tight it startled me. “You don’t understand!”
“Understand what?” I paused, scanning the trees. North end. Which was the north corner? “That you’re willing to sacrifice the children, yourself, Lewis? Don’t argue for once,” I snapped. “Just go!”
“We’re not leaving you.” Her gripped tightened, stinging.
I jerked my head toward her, shocked. Deborah had never cared about me before. “Why?”
“I don’t know why… damn it, it’s like a lost memory, but I know you’re important.”
I cursed and jerked away from her. That damn source crap again. “The north end. Maddox said the north end of the fence; we have no alternative but to trust him.”
“What do you mean?” Lewis asked, breathless beside me. “Why is she important?”
He was holding his side as if in pain, and sweat trailed down his temples. God, he wouldn’t last much longer. I shifted my gaze to the children who stood eerily still, huddled together, waiting for my response.
“She needs to escape,” Deborah insisted. “I don’t know why, but she needs to.”
“She carries the source,” Caroline’s sweet voice whispered from behind us.
I groaned, looking heavenward. Why’d she have to say it? We didn’t need the extra trouble. “Listen, it doesn’t matter. We’re all in this together, and we’re going to escape together.”
“Oh my God,” Deborah gasped. “That’s it!”
“What’s the source?” Lewis demanded.
“We don’t have time for this!” I took off, racing along the fence line as if I could outrun their questions, outrun who I was, outrun the source. “We need to find the north corner.”
“This way.” Deborah sprinted past me. “There!”
Underneath the brilliant spotlights I could see it, behind a cropping of trees, the slightest curl of the fence where someone had cut the wires. Maddox had come through. The giddiness I felt was overridden by a deep sadness. I glanced back, wondering where he was at this very moment. Had they already caught him?
“Come on,” Deborah demanded.
I reached for the wire praying Maddox had managed to turn off the electricity. When I wrapped my fingers around the cold metal and nothing happened, I laughed with some relief. “Go!” I urged, holding up the wire. It was too easy, too perfect.
The children slid through, Lewis and Deborah following. I was last. Before I slid underneath the wire, I glanced back one more time. “Too easy,” I muttered. Although I didn’t trust the ease of our escape, I slid under the wire and down the embankment.
Deborah grabbed my arm, jerking me to my feet. “Cameron, you need to leave now!”
I shoved past her, and took Caroline’s hand. “We’re leaving together.”
We started down across the woods, half-running, half-tripping. I glanced back to make sure they followed. They stood there as if frozen, the children’s eyes wide and white in the moonlight.
Realizing I wasn’t listening, Deborah had latched onto Lewis. “Get her out of here.”
“If anyone should leave, it should be you guys. I’m the only one who can hold them back!” I felt the weak energy pulsing from the group. I could feel the children’s little hearts beating. They were nervous, so incredibly nervous and so innocent. They would be no help, and we were wasting time.
“Cameron, they’re coming, and whether you want to admit it or not, you are the most important. We can’t survive unless you do.”
Deborah tugged me back toward an outcropping of rock where the brilliant spotlights swinging around the forest couldn’t reach. I could hear shouting in the distance, branches breaking as the guards raced toward us. Startled, I glanced back toward the fence. I knew time was running out. I felt like a ticking time bomb was in my chest, ready to explode.
“Go!” Deborah demanded, pushing me. “We need to split up! I’ll take the children and we’ll meet back in Savannah.”
I took Caroline’s hand. “No! I’m not leaving you guys; you’ll never make it.”
Deborah grabbed Caroline, yanking her from my grasp while the rest of the children stood with wide-eyed wonder. “Damn it, Cameron, you don’t understand. You have to escape. Without you, we’re all good as dead!”
I shook my head. “I can’t leave you.”
“Go,” Caroline whispered, her face so serious, so beyond her years.
“Caroline, I promised—”
“Get her out of here!” Deborah demanded, talking to Lewis. “Get her as far away as you can.”
Lewis latched onto my arm, surprisingly strong for a guy in his condition. I could have fought him, and I would have won. But as I watched Deborah guide the children in the opposite direction until they faded into the darkness, I realized that I knew, deep down, she was right.
I needed to return to Savannah.
“Cameron, hurry,” Lewis urged.
I’ll see you again, Cameron. Don’t worry. Caroline’s message whispered through the woods and into my mind as Lewis jerked me in the opposite direction. I could only hope she was right.
Chapter 14
Lewis and I slid down yet another embankment, landing in a shallow creek. The water seeped over the top of my shoes and soaked my socks. I felt numb as we splashed through the water and crashed through the vegetation. The screech of the siren faded and the only sound was the snap of the branches beneath our feet. I wasn’t sure if we were being followed and I didn’t dare look back.
“We need to head northwest,” I said. “Nora will be waiting for us.” I hoped. How many days had I been captive? I could barely remember. I prayed Nora hadn’t abandoned me and headed back to Savannah already.
Lewis stumbled, falling to his hands and knees. When he didn’t immediately jump back up, I knew we were in big trouble. I knelt beside him, his breath harsh on my cheek. “You’re hurt.”
“Go,” he demanded harshly. “I have enough power to hold a few of them back while you escape.”
“Don’t be stupid.” I knew he’d fight to the death, but I wouldn’t let that happen. “I came here for you; we’re both getting the hell out of here.”
I grabbed his jumpsuit, tearing open the buttons to check his chest. No marks. I smoothed my hands over the muscles, ribs… There were no wounds. There weren’t even bruises. Which meant his lack of energy was due to something internal.
He latched onto my arms, his grip tight as he hissed at me. “Listen!”
Startled, I met his gaze. His face held such a harsh determination, that it frightened me. “We don’t have time.”
He jerked me so close I practically fell atop him. It was the first time we’d touched in days and I realized he’d lost weight in that short week he’d been here. “I might not remember much,” he said. “But I know you’re important. I know you need to escape.”
“I’m no more important than you!” I tried to pull away, but his desperation made him surprisingly strong.
“You are.” He dropped his hold and cupped the sides of my face. “Your memory returned, mine didn’t and probably won’t.”
I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. “I will not leave you. I left you once and look what happened, you ended up in jail and I had to break in to save your sorry ass.”
He released a harsh laugh, his teeth flashing white in the darkness. I had the insane urge to kiss him then and there. “I mean it, Lewis, I’m not leaving you.”
The alarm suddenly went silent. Neither of us breathed. I could hear shouts in the distance, coming closer. The frantic urge to run overwhelmed me.
“Please, just let me help you the little bit that I can,” he said desperately.
“No.” I started to grow annoyed. “I don’t need your help. Now shut up and stand.”
He knew he didn’t have time to argue, or maybe he finally realized I wasn’t going to leave him, but he shoved his hands into the damp earth and struggled to his feet. I slipped my arm around his waist, taking as much of his weight as I could. I was much smaller than him, and I knew as well as he that we would never make it to the road before they found us. But I would sure as heck try.
Shouts from nearby sent my pulse racing. “Hurry,” I couldn’t help but whisper, even knowing he was going as fast as he could.
He tripped, making us stumble, but I managed to keep him upright. Where was that curve in the road where Nora would be? I peered through the woods, searching for the street, a dark ribbon of asphalt. Anything.
“Can you still sense your father?”
I concentrated as we shoved branches aside, and attempted to see the forest floor in the dark. It was as if Dad had some invisible line attached to me. His energy practically nipped at my heels like a ferocious dog. “Yeah.”
“Cameron—”
“Don’t say it, Lewis. Don’t tell me this is the end and good bye and all that melodramatic crap. And don’t tell me we’re going to get caught.”
He rested his palm against an elm tree. “I was just going to say that I think there’s a road
ahead.”
My relief was immediate. I wanted to cry out with the luck of it all, but I knew we weren’t in the clear yet. The road was dark, no cars in sight. Almost there, but if Nora wasn’t waiting with the car… then what? It didn’t matter, we’d worry about it when we reached the road.
“Almost…” Something suddenly snagged around my ankle, a tight grip that had me crying out as I stumbled toward the ground, taking Lewis with me. His hard body landed atop mine, burying me in the musty earth. Oh God, I couldn’t move my legs. I wiggled out from beneath him and drew my knees to my chest. Some sort of rope had been thrown around my ankles.
Lewis pushed himself up, and with trembling fingers helped me unwind the bond, but we both knew it was too late. Boots crushed through underbrush, coming closer…closer.
“Hurry.” Lewis helped me to my feet. We raced forward, diving behind an outcropping of trees. Sweat trailed lines of silver down the sides of his face. I could tell by his harsh breath that helping me had taken its toll.
“We can’t outrun them, we have to fight them.” And by we, I meant myself. Lewis was in no shape to do much of anything but stay out of my way.
“Just go, please!” Lewis begged, shoving me with the remaining strength he had left, which wasn’t much.
“You know I won’t do that.” I spun around him, out of reach. “Besides, what will it give me? Three minutes?”
“Enough time to escape.”
“If Nora is there,” I whispered, and both of us knew we couldn’t count on my sister being ready and waiting. “Then yeah, maybe we’d have a head start, but I doubt it would be enough.”
“So what do we do?”
“We fight.”
“Cameron,” my father’s voice echoed through the woods.
I cringed as if he’d touched me when he was still some distance away. Just the sound of his voice sent a shiver across my skin. Too late to leave now. I pressed my back to the rough bark of a tree, standing next to Lewis. Huddled behind thick vegetation, I tried to keep my mind still; hoped Lewis could keep his mental wall in place so they couldn’t track us by way of our thoughts.