Power Trip: Double Helix, Book 1 (18 page)

Woodrow crumpled to the floor, but Audrey didn’t stop. The muscles of her hand had contracted—she was unable to release the trigger. The conductor showered the room with fire. The walls burned. The ceiling dropped huge chunks of flaming plaster. Cal knew his hair was on fire, felt his skin blister from the heat.

He was locked into place, incinerating.

And so was Audrey.

Waking up was not a slow thing. One second Cal was dreaming in the dark, the next he was shouting.

“Don’t move,” a low voice warned.

He tried and found he couldn’t. He saw heels and floor and realized he was being carried. He turned his head to the side and saw Audrey, also upside-down, unconscious. The Imp kicked Cal’s leather jacket inside the elevator and Cal felt it with every blackened pain synapse in his body. His world went dark again.

When he woke, he was flat on his back. He opened his eyes. Audrey lay next to him on the tile, unmoving.

“Holy fuck, what happened?” Cal heard Truman ask.

“Nothing good,” Jake answered. “You brought the girls?”

“You need more than the girls. You need the fire department.”

“On its way.” Jake’s voice sounded thick, distorted.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” He’d never heard Tru sound so furious.

You didn’t answer your cell.
Cal tried to find the energy to speak.

The Doc crouched down next to them. “Get her into the car,” she said to Sam, who gently lifted Audrey and carried her away.

The Doc bent over him. “You’re a mess.”

“I’m fine. Go with Audrey. Help her,” Cal whispered. He wasn’t fine, but he didn’t care. He was good enough and the Doc could fix him up later. Sirens wailed in the background.

“Jake, you got the boy?” the Doc called.

“Yeah, I’ve got him.”

The sirens got louder. “Get everybody out of here. The floor is collapsing and my squad will be here any second,” Truman said.

The Doc stood up. “We can’t move Cal like this, and I don’t have enough time to heal him.”

“Gotcha.” Jake appeared above him.

Cal’s vision blurred. “I’m fine. Where’s Woodrow? Is he still downstairs? He tried to kill us.”

“Feel no pain,” Jake said kindly. “And go to sleep.”

Chapter Fourteen

Audrey’s world was black and blazing blue. She couldn’t move her arms or legs and her mind was simply there, but not processing thoughts. Her brain was full of static, jagged lines and noisy sparks. There was something important she needed to remember.

“The Doc can’t do anything for her.” She knew that voice, had heard it before, although it sounded different.

“I know, buddy. I’m sorry.” This voice was unfamiliar, and very sad.

“I thought…I had hoped, well, you were able to read her at the Lair the other night, so I thought maybe the Doc’s powers would work on her too.”

A deep sigh. “I couldn’t read her, Cal. I was just fucking with you. I’m so sorry.” He really did sound sorry.

Audrey heard nothing more until a choked sob broke the silence. She hoped the man would comfort his friend.

“Jake said it was a hell of a blast. Do you remember what happened?”

Jake.

She remembered now.
Incandescent blue light. Power. Heat searing her lungs. The smell of gunpowder. Fire. Calvin.
She opened her eyes.

Cal scrubbed his hands over his buzz cut. “I touched her. I never should have touched her. I was only going to give her enough energy to stop Woodrow, but I couldn’t let go. Neither could she.” His voice was anguished. “If my powers don’t affect her, why the hell is she unconscious? The Imp carried us out of there before the fire got out of control. There’s hardly a mark on her. Why won’t she wake up?”

“I’m awake.” Her voice was a wisp of sound.

“Audrey!” Cal reached for her hand then froze.

“Touch me, please. It’s okay.” He took her hand. The buzzing in her head stopped and her brain came back online. “Ahh, thank you,” she breathed, then coughed. Her chest hurt.

The other man handed her a cup of water and she took a sip.

“Smoke inhalation,” he said. “You all had it, but the Doc couldn’t cure yours. I’m Truman Smith, by the way. I kind of introduced you guys, in a roundabout way.”

“So I heard. You’ll have to go into detail about that sometime.”

Truman grimaced. “I’ll leave the two of you alone. Welcome back, Audrey.” He clapped a hand on Cal’s back and left the room.

Cal held onto her hand, creating a pleasant blaze throughout her body, completely unlike the punishing heat of the fire last night. He squeezed her fingers. “I thought I’d lost you.”

She sat up in bed, remembering. “Oh my God. You touched me last night.”

He let go of her hand and hung his head. “I’m so sorry, Audrey. I lost control. God knows what would have happened if the boy hadn’t dragged me away from you. You blinked out like a light. I thought you were dead.”

“Nope, not dead. In fact, I feel pretty good.” She got out of bed and stretched, looking around the room. Light poured through the window. His bedroom was spare, masculine and expensively furnished with well-chosen antiques. “Did you sleep with me?” she asked, surprised.

“I slept in the chair. I didn’t want you out of my sight.” His gaze drifted down her body and she realized she was naked.

“Pervert.” She stripped the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around herself.

“Your clothes were toast,” he said, jerking his gaze back to her face. “The ones Jake brought are on the dresser. Are you feeling well enough to get dressed and come out to the kitchen? Your brother and the rest of the gang are here having breakfast. We need to talk.”

His tone was ominous and the hair stood up on the back of her neck. She looked at him, trying to guess what he was thinking from his expression. Did he blame himself for what had happened last night? Because it had been his power fueling the bio-enhancer? Just before she’d begun hosing the room with blue fire, she remembered thinking
now? Now he decides it’s okay to touch me?
But what else could they have done? Let Peter kidnap or kill them?

“I feel fine, Cal. Really.”

Cal nodded, looking unconvinced. He walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

She sat on the bed. If Cal decided he was dangerous to her, where would that leave them? Exactly where they’d been before, she realized, with her begging for every touch and him imprisoned by his goddamn gloves.
Nope, not going to happen.
She’d almost given up on a relationship with him because she didn’t feel comfortable wearing black leather in public, a total cop-out that made her as big of a control freak as he was. She could put up with being uncomfortable for him. Her comfort zone was widening every day, and she refused to be held in a prison of her own making.

She wasn’t going to let Cal wall himself off from her, either. In order for them to be together, Cal needed to trust her talent. He’d pumped God knew how much energy into her last night, and she’d survived. Clearly, he could touch her without hurting her. Cal was a scientist—he couldn’t ignore the data. However, it was difficult to reason with emotions. How could she convince him it was safe to lose control for her?

Control.
That was the key
.
It was time to reverse their power exchange.

Anticipation made her tingle, deep inside, and she wondered if Cal felt this way when he was thinking of kinky ways to drive her wild. With a house full of people, she’d have to wait to suggest their next experiment. But as soon as she got Master Calvin Davis alone, they were going to reopen negotiations.

Audrey carried her clothes into his bathroom. When she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she sucked in a harsh breath. Her hair was mostly gone. That must be why there was a pair of clippers lying on the sink and Cal was sporting a new military cut. There wasn’t even enough hair left on her head for a cute little pixie hairdo. She made a face in the mirror and picked up the clippers. It was only hair; it would grow.

G.I. Jane, here I come.
She flipped the switch and leaned over the sink.

After a quick shower, her head felt lighter, her brain felt clearer and she no longer smelled like a campfire. She dressed and stepped out into the hallway. Hearing voices and the sound of a television, she followed the noise into the den where Jake, Truman, Sam and the Doc were watching the news.

“Hey, yo, sis! We’re almost twins. You look great.” Jake’s voice sounded too cheerful.

“You’re doing it again. No more secrets.” She spaced each word and put a threat in her voice.

Truman snickered from the corner. “Popcorn. We need popcorn for this.”

Jake sighed and pointed at the television. “Start there.”

She saw breaking news scrolling across the bottom of the screen.
Genecorp burns. Peter Woodrow, Director of Cytogenetics at Genecorp Laboratories, is in critical condition after being rescued from the blaze that leveled Genecorp Industries.

“Sorry about that,” Truman said. “We’ve got a bunch of damn do-gooders on the police force.”

She kept her eyes on the bottom of the screen, not surprised to learn that Genecorp employees were being questioned but had thus far not been able to provide any useful information. Cal entered the room and placed a cup of tea in front of her. Audrey took a grateful sip, touched he’d laced it with soothing honey.

A shadow moved toward her from the corner and she jumped, almost spilling her tea. The boy stopped in front of her, holding out a wad of cash and her Genecorp ID. “I took them out of your purse the other night,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

She took the money and he returned to the corner behind Truman’s chair. For a long moment, she watched him watch them.

Truman cleared his throat, getting her attention. “I think I’ll adopt him for the moment. They call him the Imp, short for Impervious. I’m going to keep an eye on him while he gets used to being around people.”

Audrey sipped her tea while they watched the rest of the news. The factors spun in her mind—genetics, aluminum, weapons.
The man who made you isn’t your father
.

She gazed around the room, judging them all to be roughly Jake’s age. She and Jake had grown up in a foster home because their father had left and their mother had been too sick to care for them. Cal had mentioned being raised by his aunt. The Imp was at least fifteen years younger than they were, but he had been created in a laboratory—so that didn’t count. “Who are your parents?” she asked Sam and the Doc.

“We both grew up in an orphanage,” the Doc replied. She wasn’t wearing sequins today but she was still bizarrely beautiful. Audrey forced her gaze over to Truman.

“What about you?” she asked.

“I sprang fully formed from the head of Zeus,” he said, looking uncomfortable.

Cal touched her arm. “He doesn’t know.”

Okay, she’d ask Cal more about that later. “Cheek swabs for the lot of you. I’m going to go out on a limb and say we all share the same chromosomal abnormality. Hard to believe we have the same father, but not impossible.” Hope kindled inside her. Maybe one of them would know where…

“Not the same father,” the Imp said. “The same doctor. We’re research projects.”

The hope that had sprung to life withered just as quickly, and it stung. “How do you know this? Didn’t Peter wipe your memories?”

The Imp shook his head. “Why bother? They only let me out the one time, and it didn’t go well. They weren’t going to let me out again.”

Curious again, she asked, “If your talent is being impervious, why couldn’t I hurt you the other night? Your talent shouldn’t work against me, and I got in some good punches.”

“You did hurt me, but I’m used to it.” Impervious shrugged. “They liked to push my limits.”

Her breath hissed out of her lungs. It was unsettling to learn Genecorp thought talent had limitations, especially since she planned to explore hers later, but it explained why Peter had been waiting for them in the basement. “How did Peter know we were coming? Jake hypnotized him. He shouldn’t have remembered anything that happened after dark.”

The Imp shrugged again. “I’ve heard it’s more difficult to influence other mental talents. Suggestions don’t work and blocks don’t hold.”

He was looking at her like she was an idiot, but she wasn’t going to allow a teenager to intimidate her. “Alright then, who’s this ‘Father’ guy? Peter mentioned him too.”

“He owns Genecorp, but I’ve never seen him. They blindfolded me a lot.” Audrey felt a flash of something more than sympathy, something more like memory. His face was emotionless as he stared at her. “You’re the one he wants—you have the power he’s been trying to create for years.”

“Why me?” she asked. “Aren’t you their super weapon?”

“I can’t be harmed by anything physical. That’s why Peter didn’t hesitate to shoot us. But I have no defense against talent.” The Imp pointed at Cal. “He hurt me. Genecorp doctors have been careless over the years, bringing their work home and experimenting on their families. There are talents popping up all over the place.” Across the room, she saw Jake twitch. Had their father been one of those careless doctors?