Just sedate him, take out Michael. Let Jax in. I just have to—
Vance whipped around and grinned. Charlie froze.
“You little der’mo. Do not pretend you are not trying to get me to turn my back on you so you can render me unconscious somehow. I say do it like a man. Come at me head on, and we will see who wins.”
The grin on his Russian’s large square face sent a shiver down Charlie’s spine. He laughed. “The hell are you talking about?”
Vance only glared at him. Michael finally locked the door, glowering at the key ring as he walked back toward them.
Sighing, Charlie raised his hands. “Look. What good are you to me knocked out when we have to work together to take the Synths out? Hmm? Why would I want to do anything that would even piss you off right now? I need you on my side. Not unconscious and drooling and prone to waking up in a murderous rampage, all right?”
He barely had time to react. Vance surged forward and wrapped one large hand around Charlie’s throat, pushing him back and pinning him against the door to the new Synths. Trying to gasp but failing to draw in any breath, Charlie reached up to the Russian’s fingers. He attempted to peel them away from his flesh, but they were as solid as iron. He could feel the needle scratching at his skin, and he flung his right arm back out before it could puncture.
His vision was swimming, his head tingling. Michael stood next to Claire, watching the encounter with interest, hands clasped before him, but he didn’t make a move. Charlie brought a knee up and caught Vance in the stomach, but the man only scowled and reached down, fumbling with Charlie’s arm. Within moments, the syringe was in his hand.
“Ah, I see. You were to shoot me full of what, sedative? You underestimate me, you piece of shit.” He tossed the syringe to the ground where it clattered and rolled, coming to a rest a few feet away. “I do not need you, now do I? To get to the time stopper? You need my power, but I do not need yours.”
Charlie sucked in the first breath he could when Vance let go of his throat. He grabbed a hold of his shirt and slammed him against the door, bringing bright white pinpricks to his already fading sight.
“You...you...” Charlie tried to speak, but his throat was on fire.
“No. I think not.” Vance reached behind him, pulling his gun from the back of his pants. He lifted the nose to Charlie’s forehead, the metal cool and hard.
In a last-ditch effort to survive, Charlie brought his leg up again, but to no avail.
Vance chuckled. His eyes flickered to the side and went wide. His grin faded as the weapon he held was torn from his grip. Releasing Charlie, he stumbled back, tripping on his own feet. Catching himself on the wall nearby, Vance struggled to form words, but only spittle flew out. Michael was instantly at his boss’ side but was tossed back by an invisible force, his body slamming into the storage unit door. He slid to the ground, unconscious.
Breathing heavily, Charlie pushed himself away from the door, staring at the Russian, whose expression had gone from shock to a fierce hatred.
“Hey-o.” Jaxon nodded from down the hallway. “Ran across some guards you didn’t take care of at the entrance. Put me back a few minutes.”
Still breathing heavily, Charlie held up a hand. “Don’t. Don’t. We need him alive.”
“Oh, please. Don’t start this shit. You were to deliver him to me and in turn, I help you get Emma. That’s the deal.”
Vance sputtered again. Jaxon smiled and walked forward at an easy pace.
“No. Listen.” Charlie swallowed once, twice, rubbing the front of his throat. “His power is what will get us to the time stopper.”
Jaxon ignored him, his face lighting up as he approached the Russian and locked eyes with him. The world inside the hallway darkened, and an eerie howling started, echoing along the walls. “Let me show you how I killed Alex.”
“Dammit, Jaxon, listen to me.” Charlie leapt forward and grabbed him. An intense pressure flared in his neck, at the base of his skull, a familiar reminder of Jaxon’s power, of his ability to kill him in an instant. Charlie pressed on. “Vance isn’t affected by the time stopper. If I have him with me, I can use that to my advantage. She can stop time, but we won’t be frozen. And then I kill her, leaving the others helpless against you. But we need him alive or it won’t work.”
Jaxon’s right eye twitched. His lips turned downward. Glaring at Charlie he nodded once, a sharp motion of his head. Two wraiths shot toward the Russian. Vance grunted, fingers clawing at the floor as he attempted to get away from the horrors that approached.
“Jax...look.” Charlie bent and picked up the syringe. “Sedative. This is going to work. You can kill him, just not quite yet. Not until Mari’s dead.” He stepped back and hurried up to Vance, whose eyes were so wide Charlie swore they would pop out of his head. Both wraiths halted, wavering mere feet in front of the Russian. Charlie stared at Jaxon, the speed of his words matching his thudding heart. “We need to knock him out, lure the Synths here by calling Duncan. Come on. Stick to the plan.”
“So just use his blood like you told me you did with others.”
“This is a huge confrontation. Yes, I could take his blood, but if I lose it, if it washes off somehow, hell, if it goes stale before the Synths decide to arrive, then I’d need to get more. What if the plan doesn’t work and they don’t come? We’ll still need Vance’s power, but if he’s dead, we can’t get more. Once they die, the blood inside them sours faster. Then we’re stuck facing the Synths without it.” His mind went to the medication Chelsea had told him about, the one that altered Vance. Hell, his blood might not even work.
Stalking past them, Jaxon’s head twitched again. Michael slid along the floor behind him, still unconscious, his ponytail loosened and splayed out as Jaxon shoved him with his mind. He stopped inches away from Claire, who had sunk to the floor on the opposite side of the hall during the confrontation. Her eyes were wide with fear.
Charlie knelt down and slipped the needle into the Russian’s neck, injecting the sedative as quickly as he could. “Good fucking Lord, you asshole. I’m going to put a bullet in you before the night is done. You hear me?” He leaned forward, whispering as Vance’s eyes drooped. “If Jaxon doesn’t kill you, I will.”
“And this one?” Jaxon asked. “Why is she out here instead of with the rest of the hostages?”
Standing, trying to quell the trembling in his fingers, Charlie glanced at the sobbing Claire. “Vance said she should be the one to call Duncan. He didn’t get a chance to tell me why.”
Something flashed in her eyes. Charlie narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to her.
“So have her call him,” Jaxon was saying. “She’s in the perfect state right now.”
Charlie waved a hand at him. “Can I trust you enough to not kill Vance right now?”
Jaxon made a low sound in the back of his throat.
“I’ll take that as a yes. We’ll lock him up somewhere else in a moment. That’s the only sedative I have left, so we need to make it count, okay?” He glared at Jaxon when there was no response. “Okay?”
Still nothing. He closed his eyes briefly and stalked over to Michael. Kneeling, he touched the unconscious man. Pulling power into him, he locked eyes with Jaxon and said, “Do not kill Ivan Vance until after Mari is dead. You got that?”
Jaxon frowned.
“Do not kill Ivan Vance until the time stopper is dead,” Charlie repeated, pushing a surge of Michael’s power forth.
Nodding, Jaxon stared at his feet and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. His wraiths vanished, and the hallway brightened.
Charlie turned and knelt next to Claire. She trembled all over and wouldn’t meet his gaze. “You know Duncan. Don’t you?”
Silence.
Irritated, he reached out and touched Michael again, drawing his Evo power in once more. Staring into Claire’s eyes, he asked again. “Do you know Duncan?”
She nodded.
“Good. Call him. Now.”
/> “I c-can’t. I can’t.” Her sobbing increased.
“We’ll start killing hostages. Nice and slow.”
“Oh, please. Oh, please, no.”
Charlie leaned forward, smiling casually. “There’s plenty of them locked up in there. And when I get through them, I’ll turn on those little Synths you created.”
“I can’t! Please, you have to understand. I haven’t had any contact with him since he left me. Since he disappeared.”
Charlie frowned. “Tell me why.”
She shuddered as he used Michael’s power on her. “He wanted me to come with, to raise the Synths that he rescued from Lab 14 in secrecy. I told him no. To bring them back so we could keep them safe in another laboratory, that the government would be looking for them. He didn’t care,” she spat. “Our marriage apparently meant nothing compared to those children.”
Marriage? Vance, you genius.
“I never saw or heard from him again,” Claire continued. “I deleted everything, all contact information. I don’t have his number anymore.”
Charlie pulled out his cell phone. “Lucky for you, I do.”
—-
Emma jumped out of the van and stretched, stepping to the side as a fully healed Shawn and Lucas exited the vehicle behind her.
“You know what I want more than anything right now?” Shawn said, his voice holding the exhaustion she could see in his face. He tugged at the wrinkled hospital gown he still wore. “More than food, more than sleep, I just want to get back in regular clothes.”
“I dunno.” Lucas grinned and slapped him on the back. “If you cut your hair, we could really throw everyone off right now.”
“The hell are you so chipper for?” Aaron skirted around the pair. “I’ve never been so hungry.” He disappeared into the cabin right after Duncan unlocked the door.
Watching the rest of the group follow suit, Emma chewed her lower lip.
“You all right?” Isaac startled her when he put an arm around her waist.
“I will be. I just can’t believe we’re all alive. We survived a total shit-storm failure of a plan.”
He grinned. “Damn right we did. We’re a strong team, and we outnumber our enemies.”
“That won’t mean a thing once we face Jaxon.”
“Not true. Even he has limits, and there’s only one of him.” Isaac pulled her close. “I won’t lie, I’m fully aware that he could hurt or even kill some of us. I know in my heart he can’t be talked down. But we will fight, and we will win, dammit.”
“We will.” Duncan came up beside them, his face tired and worn. “I refuse to believe that we won’t.” He stared at Emma. “I wanted to thank you.”
“Oh. That’s not necessary. I only did what I could until—”
“You did everything you could to get us out of that hospital. And you, Isaac, you kept Vance at bay while we fled. I can’t express how much that means to me. To all of us.”
Emma’s heart expanded, and she gave Duncan a smile. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“We both would,” Isaac added. “It’s important to us to do what’s right. To be on the right side, even if it isn’t the winning one.” His face grew serious. “I know you don’t want to think anyone will be hurt, but you know Jaxon. You know his power. We could die.”
Squeezing Isaac’s hand, Emma nodded. “He’s right. You know he is.”
Duncan turned and stared into the trees, arms crossed over his chest. His brown eyes were thoughtful but hard. “I know,” he said softly. “And I pray that it’s me instead of anyone else. I don’t know how I could live with myself if any of them suffered. But this is war.” He turned back to them. “We’re all risking our lives for this. Because if we don’t, Jaxon won’t stop until he kills us. And even then, hell, he’s nuts. I don’t think for a second he’ll stop there. Remember what he did in Boston? Imagine that in every city in America. Or the world. So for now, even in light of our failure with Vance, we train. We prepare. Aaron will hear anyone coming if Jaxon somehow finds us here. With Mari’s power, too, we’ll be able to stop any chance of a surprise attack and turn it around in our favor. We’ll be ready.”
Emma nodded. “I’ll keep training. I want to help. I want to work on the shortened commands, see if those work. Although, it is difficult to know just how far I can persuade someone to turn on themselves without being able to test it. Not that I want to,” she added quickly.
Duncan tilted his head to one side. “You seem to be doing a fine job with Shawn and Lucas.”
Her jaw dropped open. “I don’t...but you...”
Shaking his head, he shifted on his feet. “I may not know Shawn too well, but I know Lucas. Raised him since he was eleven. He treats you with respect, and not once does he give you a malicious look. In fact, I’ve even caught him glancing at you with something that I’ve never seen in his eyes. A yearning, almost. Now, the Lucas I know almost always goes along with Mari, trusts her instincts more than his own.”
Emma’s heart sped up, thudding faster as Duncan spoke.
“It’s clear that you’ve influenced him. Shawn, too, as he stares after you with the same expression, if not a stronger one.”
“We can’t know what they’ll do to us if she hadn’t.” Isaac took a step toward Duncan. “Everyone knows Shawn’s past and how Emma and I fit into it. She’s only doing it to ensure our safety, to ensure the two won’t murder us in our sleep once her power wears off. And I fully support her decision. The intent isn’t malicious, and won’t continue after Jaxon is defeated. But until then, we have to keep everyone on the same side.”
Duncan stared between the two of them, his gaze unreadable. “I get it. But I want your word. It stops after Jaxon is no longer a threat, whether dead or subdued.”
Nodding, Emma squeezed Isaac’s hand. “Of course. We intend to be gone afterward, anyway. As much as we care for you and the Synths, this is not our place after the fight. I hope you understand that.”
“I do. And I believe it is the right decision. But so help me God.” Duncan stepped forward. “If you sway any more of my children with your power, I won’t go easy on you. This is my family, and I intend to protect them by any means necessary.”
—-
Jaxon paced back and forth in the community room of Lab 15.
-Don’t do this. Jax. Please. Just leave.-
He gripped his head between his hands, squeezing until the pressure in his temples subsided.
-Kill Vance if you must, but then go. Don’t hurt little children.-
Jaxon growled between clenched teeth.
-This will not end well. You know it. But you can stop it before it even starts.-
“Fuck off, Dad. Seriously. Just leave me the fuck alone!”
“Good Lord, you are some kind of crazy.” Charlie’s words brought Jaxon out of his anger. He glared at the man who stood inside the door, which had opened without a sound.
“The hell do you want?”
“Two things.” Charlie stepped around a long table. “First, I wanted to make sure you kept your word about not killing the Russian.”
Jaxon waved a hand toward the back where Vance was being held. “See for yourself. I have him locked in the storage closet with all the food.”
Charlie eyed him. “How about you show me instead?”
Letting out a sigh, he stalked forward and pulled open the heavy metal door, letting cool air out into the room. Vance lay on his back in the middle of the floor, eyes closed, a thin line of drool trickling down the side of his face. His hands were bound tightly, just like his feet. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm.
Charlie stared at him for a moment until Vance took in a deep breath. He smiled. “Oh, good. Thank you. Without him, we have no hope of getting the time stopper.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Jaxon shuffled back into the kitchen.
-Jaxon...-
“I said shut it!”
“You know.” Charlie passed him and opened a tall re
frigerator, peering inside at the meager leftovers staff had brought in for lunch. “You said your dad was inside your head, but I mean, really?” He gave Jaxon a wary glance that said he didn’t believe it for a second. “Maybe you could use your thoughts to talk to him instead of doing so out loud.”
Dammit. He’s right, isn’t he?
Silence.
Dad? Oh, come on. I know you can hear me. Dad. Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad—
-Asshole.-
Knew it. Awesome.
-Kill Vance and leave. Well, while you’re at it, kill this creepy fucker Charlie, too. Then leave.-
Jaxon snorted. Oh, so now you’re condoning murder?
-If you don’t take out Vance, you run the risk of him surviving in the future and coming after you. And if you don’t kill Charlie, you know he won’t stop from locating you, too, and betrayal no doubt means he won’t want to exactly team up with you when he finds you again.-
You keep underestimating me. Running a hand through his short hair, Jaxon stared at the floor, brow furrowed. They can come for me and they’ll pay with their lives. The only reason they’re alive right now is because I need Charlie to kill the time stopper. He needs Vance to do that, and—
-Mari. She has a name. They all do. Mari, Shawn, Lucas, Duncan, Aaron. Good people who you intend to hurt. Not using their names doesn’t change that. Doesn’t make them objects. Doesn’t mean you won’t regret killing them.-
Jaxon’s fists clenched. Don’t interrupt me, dammit. And I won’t regret it. They chose the wrong side. They’re against me and intend to kill me. I’m only defending myself if, when, they attack.
-YOU’RE attacking THEM.-
Nope. The plan is I just walk up to them. I guarantee they’ll make the first move, and that’s when I retaliate.
“So...I thought it would be less creepy to have you stop talking out loud to yourself, but now you’re just staring into space with a blank look in your eyes.” Charlie was staring at him. “I think it’s worse.”
“Oh, shut up.” Jaxon scowled. “What’s two?”
“Huh?”
“You said there were two things you wanted. One was to check on Vance. What’s the other?”
Grim Vengeance Page 12
