Tremble (21 page)

Just before we pulled into a large parking lot, he said, “You’re supposed to be unconscious. Is there any chance you can mimic a bruise? To make it look like I hit you?”

I leaned over and closed my eyes. “This conversation is bordering on surreal. Just FYI.” I concentrated on the memory of the bruise he’d given Alex when they’d fought in September. Across the right side of his face. “How’s that?” I asked without opening my eyes.

A warm, feathery-light touch trailed down the left side of my face, and Kale sighed. “Disturbingly perfect.” The car listed to the left, then stopped. “Remember. You’re unconscious.”

A moment later, I heard the door open. “She’s still out.”

“You hit her?” an annoyingly familiar voice breathed as Kale’s door closed. They were faint, but his footsteps could be heard as he walked around the car, then a second later I felt the chilly air hit my skin as my door opened.

A pair of strong arms caught me before I tumbled from the seat, then slid beneath my legs and neck and hefted up. “She wasn’t going to come willingly.”

“I don’t understand,” Kiernan said. I could almost see her expression. Eyebrows forming a deep
V
, lips curled into a disbelieving sneer. “I saw you at the airport. You
helped
them get that Supremacy kid.”

We were moving, Kale barely jostling me as the cold wind bit at my skin. “Of course I helped them.” His tone was condescending and angry. I couldn’t help it. It gave me warm fuzzies to hear him talk to her like that. “How else were they going to think I believed what they said?”

“I told Daddy. I
told
him there was no way you’d turn on me. What we have is far too strong.” I could hear the smile in her voice. Apparently Kale’s tone didn’t faze her.

What they have is too strong?
If he didn’t get me inside and away from the sound of her voice, there was a chance I’d give myself away by reaching out to choke her.

Kale’s arms tightened around me as the chilly air warmed and something metal-sounding clicked behind us. We’d entered the building. There was no turning back now. “Nothing on this earth could make me forget about the girl I love, Roz. Nothing.”

26

I was losing track of time. Kale had left me what seemed like hours ago—I didn’t know where, because I hadn’t dared open my eyes—and no one had been by since. In reality, it had probably only been about ten or fifteen minutes, but it felt much longer. Slowly, I cracked one eye, and then the other.

The room was barely bigger than a walk-in closet, with one door and no windows. I’d never been claustrophobic, but spending too much time in there might change that. There was a tiny bulb hanging from a wire in the middle of the ceiling—very
Sopranos
—and a single white folding chair in the corner with suspicious-looking dark stains on the backrest that trailed all the way down the right leg. They’d long since dried, but I had a pretty good idea what they were and could imagine all too well the ways they might have gotten there.

I climbed to my feet and scanned the ceiling, inch by inch, then did the same with the walls and floor. No sign of a camera.

Next I tried the door, which was, of course, locked. I crossed the small space and slid down the wall directly across from it. How long would it take for Kale to get in, get the vial, and get me out? It might have been pure delusion—or maybe the Supremacy crazies setting in—but I kept my fingers crossed that they left me alone until then.

Some time passed. I thought about Lu—another senseless tragedy of this whole mess—and all the others we hadn’t reached in time. Ashley. Conny. Innocent victims of something they probably never even understood. Denazen’s reach was far, but the things Penny Mills said before she was killed terrified me. How many more lives would be destroyed before we could take them out—
if
we could take them out? Each day that passed, they seemed to gain more of an upper hand. I was starting to wonder if killing the beast would be impossible.

The idea that this was all hopeless was too depressing and I needed to stay focused. I recited the lyrics of several Powerman 5000 songs, then counted to one thousand—twice. I was halfway through the third time when the doorknob rattled, announcing that I had a visitor. When the door opened, I was only slightly surprised to see Kiernan, and not Dad, step through.

“Well, well, well,” she said, closing the door behind her with a snap. “Look what
my
hottie dragged in.”

“Oh, please. The only way you could get a guy like Kale is to wipe his brain clean. Kinda sinking low, even for you. Don’tcha think?”

“You told me he was an awesome kisser. Holy crap—you weren’t kidding!” She pulled the folding chair from the corner and sank down with a superior smile that begged to be wiped away. It took every ounce of self-control I had—and then some—but I stayed in my corner on the other side of the room.

“Is there a point to this? I mean, you’re not here to just gloat, right?” I let out a little gasp and covered my mouth. “Or…are you? Dad doesn’t trust you to do anything important, right? That’s why he sent Kale with Aubrey to off Thom Morris. Maybe he was afraid you’d screw it up.”

She shook her head, grin never wavering, but I could see the tightening set of her shoulders. I’d hit a nerve. “You can’t bait me, bitch. I’m in way too good a mood. I’ve got my guy home safe and sound, and I get to be the one to find out where the Underground is currently holed up.” She held her hand out to examine her nails. Bright purple with lavender tips. Very Kiernan. “I know you’re not just going to tell me, so, yanno, I’m
really
looking forward to this.”

“Oh,” I said in mock fear. “Is that supposed to, I dunno, scare me or something?”

She leaned forward, face serious. “I
resent
you.”

I rolled my eyes. “For
what
, exactly?” My jaw clamped shut just in time. I’d been about to call her on her misplaced anger over our respective childhoods, but then she’d know Kale spilled and his cover would be blown. Instead, I focused on the things I knew. The things she’d personally let slip. “This can’t all be out of some misplaced sense of loyalty to Dad!”

“This is because someone like you doesn’t deserve to breathe,” she spat, voice full of venom. “You had everything and you threw it away.”

“Everything? Check your facts, sister. I had crap.”

“You had a home and a father who loved you. You had friends. Food. Clothing. All you ever did was try to push him away. To make him angry. I would have given anything to be in your place. I had nothing!”

The hate in her voice made me cringe, and my heart broke just a little. “I don’t know what happened to you before we met, Kiernan, but I promise you my life was not the stuff of Disney fairy tales. He didn’t love me. Never did.”

“You’re a liar. An ungrateful, hateful liar,” she said with a menacing step forward. “Where did the Underground go after the hotel burned down?”

Arguing with her over Dad was pointless. She was convinced I’d lived the perfect life and was somehow betraying him. If she was ever going to see his true colors, it had to be in her own time. “Seriously? You
really
think I’m gonna tell you?”

The smile on her face grew wider, and from her back pocket, she pulled out a small black thing. At first it looked like a garage door opener. But as she got closer I realized it was a Taser. Tossing it into the air and catching it again, she winked at me.

“Yep. I really do.”

…

We’d been at it for a while now, and although I couldn’t see it, I was pretty sure she’d given me a black eye. I hadn’t gone down without a fight, though. Her bottom lip was swollen, and she favored her right arm. I’d bent the left one back on her last try. Something had popped and she’d let out a horrible wail right before jamming the Taser against my hip.

She’d retreated to her side of the room and me to mine. “I can go at this all day. Can you?”

I shrugged and forced a smile without answering. The truth was, I didn’t know how much longer I could do this. I was sure there were no cameras in the room. There was a point where I’d almost completely overpowered her, nearly wrenching the Taser from her fingers. If there’d been a camera, surely someone would have come running.

Kale was out there somewhere, risking his neck to get me the vial. While I hadn’t
really
expected us to be in and out in ten minutes, I was starting to worry. When Kiernan came at me again, I had a plan. I didn’t know how good it was or if it’d even work with how weak I was, but it was worth a try.

“I’m gonna ask one more time. Where’s the Underground?”

Instead of replying, I busied myself by skimming the dirt from under my fingernails, whistling the theme from Tree Busters—a local brush removal service. When I looked up, she’d stopped about a foot away.

“No? Then maybe I’ll go get Kale.” She waggled her brow and flashed a wicked grin. With each step closer, it grew bigger. “I’m sure he’d
love
to help, since, you know, you’re the reason he almost died and all.”

She waved the Taser like a Fourth of July sparkler, but she was cocky and too careless. Lightning fast, I sprang to my feet, grabbing her wrist and twisting it around so the tip of the device angled at her instead of me. She tried to squirm away but there wasn’t enough time. My other hand covered hers and I jammed her finger down over the button.

Kiernan yelped and crumpled to the floor, surprised. She’d always been too cocky for her own good. Thank God some things never changed. I regained my balance and turned the dial one click higher, then hit her again. She twitched, eyes rolling back then closing, her breath evening out to tell me I hadn’t—unfortunately—killed her.

Grounding her was the easy part of my plan. What came next would either make or break the whole thing. Falling to my knees, I grabbed her hand and took a deep breath. At first nothing happened and I panicked. Frustrated, I concentrated harder, picturing my own face as it was when I looked in the mirror this morning. It wasn’t a big surprise. When we’d gone to the airport for Ben, I’d done two major mimics in a short span. Granted, I’d gotten some rest, but apparently that hadn’t been enough.

Determined, I closed my eyes and tried again. I felt a cool sweat break out across the back of my neck, and after a second, a familiar snap. When I opened my eyes I was relieved to see I’d effectively swapped us. It was my body lying on the floor, unconscious, as I moved to the door in Kiernan’s. A part of me felt weirdly vindicated. Not that I had a desire to spend time inside her skin, but she’d swapped us and tried to steal Kale. This felt, at least a little, like payback. Maybe I’d walk through the hall digging deep for nose-nuggets or pretend to pick at an atomic wedgie. Hell, maybe I’d strip down and run through the halls singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm!” I might be Dez on the inside, but it technically wouldn’t be
my
goods on display for all to see.

I wobbled a bit getting to my feet but got my balance under control and headed for the door. As awesome as it would have been to disparage my sister’s reputation, I had something more important to do. I reached for the handle, breath held and determined to find Kale, but the door pushed in, knocking me back in surprise. Kale poked his head through and looked from me to Kiernan-as-me lying motionless on the floor, then frowned. “Can’t get information out of her if she can’t speak.”

I stepped through the door and he followed, locking it behind him. “She had it coming,” I said simply, taking his hand.

He looked down at our hands, smiled, then shoved me hard against the wall. “I missed you,” he growled in my ear, warm breath sending shivers of excitement throughout my body, before he claimed my lips. It started out as something savage. The kind of kiss you see between two tortured souls who hate each other yet are undeniably attracted. But then it changed. It became less controlling and more needy. It felt like I was the air and Kale was a suffocating man desperate for breath.

When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against mine, wrapping a strand of my hair around his index finger. “Are you okay?”

It was hard to hear the concern he had for her—fake or not—but I kept my voice even. This was an act. He had a part to play, and for the sake of all our survival, he had to be flawless. “Of course. Like that little—”

“Not too tired?” he asked, voice lower. “From the switch?”

It took me a second, but when I realized what he was asking my heart sped up. “How—”

He pulled back. I could see his whole face now and not just the dazzling blue of his eyes. “I know my girl.”

I know my girl
.

Those four simple words were nearly enough to make me forget where we were and melt into him, but I pushed off the wall and nodded down the hallway.

“The panel room,” he said. “We should make sure our guest stays asleep for a while.”

I nodded, not sure what he meant, and let him tug me down the hall. We climbed a set of stairs, then wound around to another hallway and knocked on the second door twice before pushing through.

A petite brunette looked up from her magazine as we walked in. “Kale,” she said with a flirty smile. “Welcome home.”

“Devin. Kiernan is being uncooperative at the moment, and Roz needs a break,” he said to her. She sat in front of a large panel of buttons. There were a million of them. Every shape, size, and color you could imagine. Some were blinking, some unlit—all looked ominous.

With an unimpressed roll of her eyes, she looked me up and down and said, “
Of course
she does.”

Huh. Apparently people here didn’t think much of my sister.

“She’s in containment room D,” Kale said. “Put her under.”

Devin nodded and snapped her fingers. A moment later she winked at Kale. “Done. She should take a nice nap.” To me, in a much cooler tone, she said, “You probably have a few hours, but don’t stretch it. Cross wants that info pronto.”

“Believe me, so do I.” Adding a wicked grin, I said, “And it’ll be so much fun getting it.”

We left Devin to her job—whatever it was—and headed up another flight of stairs. “Have you found it yet?” I whispered as we pushed through the door at the top. I had no clue where we were or where we were headed, but I hoped it was right out the back door.

He shook his head. “It was moved—but I know where. A little harder to get to but not impossible.”

“What are you doing up here?”

I froze, stopping short as Dad, in a meticulously pressed suit and a sprinkle of newly gray hair, stepped into our path.

“She wasn’t playing fair, Daddy.” I flashed him a sly smile and a wink. “I told her I was off to spend some
quality time
with my boy. I figure I’ll let her stew for a bit, then go back and hit her hard.”

A curt nod, and then he brushed past us. “I have a meeting with the heads of the European divisions in half an hour. I’m taking it from home. There are too many distractions here, but I’ll be back in three hours. Make
sure
you have that information by then. I want to move forward.”

Without waiting for an answer, true to form, Dad stalked away, head high and shoulders squared. Kale waited until my dad was through the door at the bottom, then pulled me forward. “This is perfect. The vial was moved to his office. No one goes up there except him and a select few.”

“Yeah but I’m sure it’s locked. I can mimic the handle to get us in though.”

“No need.” He reached into his pocket, and a second later produced a small silver key.

I planted a quick kiss on his cheek. “Hot
and
resourceful.”

The hall was deserted as we made our way to Dad’s office. Once there, with one last look over his shoulder, Kale jammed the key into the lock and swept me inside.

“There’s a hidden safe,” he said, crossing the floor in three long strides. Without missing a beat, he began running his hands along the wall. “I’m not sure where, only that it’s here. Aubrey said they moved the vial yesterday.”

I scanned the room. “Well, how hard could it be to find?”

We set to searching. Kale took one end of the room and I took the other. We went from corner to corner, respectively, then switched in case the other missed something. Apparently, the safe was very hard to find.