The Decaying Empire (The Vanishing Girl Series Book 2) (24 page)

I slammed the palm of my hand into Chris’s nose. With a cry he let go of his gun. I yanked it back and then kicked his feet out from under him. He fell to the ground hard, and I followed him down. Pulling my arm back, I smashed my elbow into his temple. Immediately his body relaxed, and I stood.

I toed his body before slinging the gun over my shoulder. The guy was out. I searched him for any other weapons, removing the handgun he carried, and I smashed his radio.

The sound of a gunshot tore through the silent night. My head snapped up. Caden’s eyes found mine. He shook his head, then so did I—we weren’t hurt. To Caden’s right Eric held the barrel of the now-smoking M16. The soldier stumbled back, away from him. With a lightning-fast strike, Eric planted a kick to the soldier’s head.

The man’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.

Eric turned to us.
Move!
He must’ve yelled this, but I could hear nothing over the ringing in my ears.

I ran to our hiding place to grab my bag, my pulse harmonizing with the sound. Caden was right behind me, snatching up the other bag we’d packed.

Together we sprinted to the car. I took in the four downed soldiers, one who had blood seeping from his wound. My eyes darted to the back of the car, where Serena held Eric’s hand.

Logically I knew we might have to resort to violence, but I hadn’t prepared myself for the reality of it.

Caden rounded the vehicle, heading for the driver’s seat. It was just as well, considering what I’d need to do in the near future.

We’d barely jumped into the car when the distant lights of the facility flickered back on.

“Time to move!” Caden yelled.

Caden shifted the car into gear and gunned it.

Behind me I heard the distant sound of Eric’s whoop and Serena’s laugh.

I closed my eyes. We did it
. . .
but not without bloodshed.

A warm hand grasped mine. I stared first at it, then I looked up at the man it belonged to. Caden took his eyes off the road to flash me a heartbreaking grin. “We’re free, angel. We’re free.”

CHAPTER 15

T
he Jeep flew over the road, kicking up gravel as it went. As we passed the facility, I caught the sound of a distant alarm. Our plan hadn’t been airtight, and we’d always known that we wouldn’t get much of a head start, but I’d hoped for a little more time than this.

“Go straight!” Serena yelled to Caden when the road forked.

He gave her a thumbs-up to alert her that she’d been heard.

I pulled out the compass I’d packed, and I allowed myself a grim smile. All those years of survival training would finally pay off. “Turn right,” I said when we hit the next turnoff. Now the good ol’ compass meant the difference between us driving north to Canada or south to Mexico.

Caden swung the military vehicle onto the road and floored it.

“This road will lead us to Route Ninety-Three,” Eric said.

“We won’t be able to drive this for very long,” Caden said, his demeanor cool, focused. We’d have to dump the car soon; it was too conspicuous.

I glanced back at the two teleporters behind me and met Eric’s eyes. For the first time since I’d seen him here, he looked alive. He winked at me. Then he pulled Serena in for a kiss.

I smiled and leaned back against the headrest. My heart still thundered in my chest, but with each passing moment, it slowed a little more.

We’d been on the road for almost thirty minutes when the first tendrils of exhaustion crept up on me.

Don’t panic. It won’t happen yet.

It
couldn’t
happen yet. Not when the Project was probably only minutes behind us. We were far from being in the clear.

I opened the glove compartment and grabbed the first aid kit, then shoved it into my bag. Our headlights were already off, so spotting us in this wilderness would be difficult whether from on the ground or in the air.

Another wave of exhaustion hit me, and my eyes fluttered.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck,
fuck
.

Now that I was coming down from the adrenaline, I could sense I was going to teleport. It was too soon.

I grabbed my bag. “Pull over.”

Caden glanced at me. “Angel, are you crazy?”

“Pull the car over
now
.”

He heard the steel in my tone, and the car began to slow down.

“What are you doing?” Serena cried from the backseat.

Ignoring her, I unzipped my bag, crossing my fingers that this would work. I was gambling at a critical moment. I could wait for the teleportation to hit, or I could do this now. If I waited, the three might have to wait ten minutes for me to return. That was ten minutes we didn’t have. Ten minutes when we could all get caught. Better that they only lose a minute at most. I could make it on my own. But if I did this and it didn’t work . . .

I’d deal with that if and when it came to pass.

I pulled out a vial and a syringe from the bag.

Caden glanced over at me, startled. “What are you doing?”

I pulled the syringe’s plastic cap off with my teeth and sank the needle into the vial, measuring just under the dose I’d seen the technicians give me. Better to underestimate than overestimate when it came to these things.

Caden’s eyes landed on the vial, then me. “Ember?”

Serena leaned forward. “Guys, what the hell is the holdup? We need to get moving, and now.” Next to her Eric was silent.

Caden turned from me for a split second, and I didn’t waste the distraction. I sank the syringe into the crook of my arm, fisting my hand when I felt the uncomfortable sensation of liquid forced into my bloodstream.

The moment was over. Caden turned back to me as I pulled the syringe out, my body already beginning to feel tingly.

Confusion bled away into horror. “You lied to me,” he said.

I opened the car door and stumbled out with my backpack. Behind me another car door slammed, and then Caden’s arms were around me.

I looked at him, then over his shoulder at Serena and Eric. “Drive and don’t look back.”

Eric nodded. Understanding began to dawn on Serena’s face. “Fuck.” She managed to make that word sound dainty.

Caden shook me gently. “Angel, what have you done?” His eyes shone too brightly—with tears, I realized.

“Saved your lives,” I whispered drowsily.

I closed my eyes, imagined a face, and then I vanished.

“Oh, thank God,” I said when I materialized in Adrian’s office. He was hunched over his computer, his focus riveted to it.

His body started at my voice. “Dammit, Ember, you scared the shit out of me—again.”

“Why does this still surprise you?” I asked.

Adrian swiveled his chair to face me. “What’s up?” Then he paused. “Wait. Whoa, why are you here right now?”

“There’s been a change of plans. I’m not going to make the eight o’clock pickup.”

Adrian’s face paled. “What?”

“I had to sedate myself. It was the only way for the rest of them to escape.”

Adrian blanched. “Are you even outside the facility?” he asked, pushing away from his computer.

“Yeah, I am.”

Adrian looked relieved, but the temporary relief turned into anger. “Ember, these arrangements were all for you.”

He should’ve known better. “We both knew I might not make it,” I said, walking over to his office window. Outside, the gray skies seemed foreboding. “Plus I never said I wouldn’t make it to Zurich. I just won’t be making the meeting.”

My thoughts turned to Caden. Somewhere on the opposite side of the world, he must be freaking out. I hadn’t told him. I’d kept this a secret because he wouldn’t have left me otherwise. Now there was at least a chance that he’d make it without me.

“What will happen to you?” he asked when he’d collected himself.

I glanced over my shoulder at him. “I’ll do what I always do. Survive.”

The sound of a crackling fire awoke me. My groggy eyes blinked open, and the world came into focus. Heavy footsteps crossed the room, and then strong arms hauled me up against a warm chest. “Angel.” Caden’s voice was much too gentle.

Hold up.

“You’re not supposed to be with me,” I murmured.

He brushed my hair out of my eyes, and I got my first real look at him. Anger and love stared back down at me. “You are the stupidest girl I’ve ever met,” Caden said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. The same Caden who should’ve been miles and miles away from me. “So, so stupid,” he whispered over and over again.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” I said, rubbing my eyes.

His fingers trailed over my arm, featherlight, and I breathed in the smell of him. “You still don’t get it. I’m in it for the long haul, angel. That means, first and foremost,
not
leaving you unconscious on the side of road.”

Sadness tugged the edges of his eyes down. “I know that part of this is my doing.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth and looked away. “Fuck—I get it. I was overbearing, so you felt the need to keep this a secret. But please, angel, no more secrets.”

My lips pinched together. “Are you ever going to stop being overbearing?”

Caden’s jaw clenched.
No
. We both recognized the hypocrisy of what he asked me.

“You really should’ve left with the others. I’m no good to you like this,” I said. Because the truth of the matter was, I was still broken. I had been ever since I’d woken up in that hospital room. Planning an escape had distracted us both from the fact that I carried a little darkness in me, just like Eric. And my keeping secrets? That felt like the last anchor to the girl I’d once been—the self-reliant girl. The one who could run fast and long. The one who knew a little more about compassion.

Caden froze beneath me. “What did you say?”

Before I could answer, he flipped us over. “Don’t ever fucking say that again.” Something fierce flashed in his eyes. “You came back from the dead for me. Do you think that anyone who’s lost someone would care if their loved one came back to life but with issues?”

I opened my mouth.

“They wouldn’t,” Caden answered. “When I saw you scared, my heart broke. When I saw you angry, I wanted to fight your demons for you. The first time you snapped at me, I wanted to rejoice that the fire within you hadn’t been extinguished—but had it been, I would’ve worked at starting another. You cannot scare me away, angel. It’s impossible, so get that idiotic, offensive idea out of your head.”

My jaw clenched and unclenched as I worked through my emotions.

He gazed down at me. “If we can escape the Project, then we can sure as hell overcome relationship issues. But I need you to want this. To want
us
. Can you do that?”

I stared up at him. I blew out a breath and glanced away, feeling tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. Caden tilted my head back so that I was forced to look him in the eye. “Of course I can do that. But do you really want this? Do you really want me, scars and everything?”

For the first time in a long time, Caden’s face broke out in a radiant grin, the kind that reached his eyes, crinkling the skin around them. “I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

I slung my backpack over my shoulder as Caden closed the door behind him. I still felt a little raw from our conversation.

“Where are we?” I asked, staring at what amounted to little more than a shack. Beyond it the pink fingers of dawn peeked through the trees.

Caden came to my side. “Someone’s hunting lodge. It wasn’t too far from the road.”

“How did you get me here?” I asked as we began to walk.

“With difficulty.” He grinned when I swatted him. “What?” He laughed. “I’m sure you just weigh more than you look.”

“You’re in a good mood,” I said.

“The prospect of leaving the country without Adrian’s help pleases me to no end.”

I squinted at the sky above us. “We might still have time to meet Adrian’s contact.”

Caden followed my gaze. “If the sky looked like this in California, then we might. But we’re farther north, and at this time of year, the sun rises later. Sorry, angel, but it’s already after eight.” He showed me his watch to further convince me.

I took it in stride. “Then we should head into Canada and figure our next steps out from there.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

We headed back to the road and followed alongside it, staying well within the tree line to avoid notice. “Any signs of the Project?”

Caden shook his head. “None that I’ve seen. But that isn’t really their style. We won’t notice them until they’re upon us.”

I shivered at the thought, now eyeing my surroundings suspiciously. “So,” I said after we’d walked in silence for almost a mile, “Eric couldn’t convince you to go with them?”

Caden grunted. “Is that what you put him up to?”

I ducked my head, feeling guilty about how things had played out.

Caden bumped my shoulder. “You can stop feeling bad, angel. As it stands, I couldn’t have asked for a better situation—no Eric to further blackmail us and no Adrian to place our trust in.”

“Yet.”

He frowned at that. “Yet,” he agreed. Pine needles crunched underneath our feet as we walked. “To answer your question, I threatened to beat Eric to a bloody pulp if he forced me to leave. Have to say, angel, he didn’t try very hard to convince me to abandon my plans.”