“The torture?” Torin considered this for a moment. “It was probably the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.” He lolled his head back against the wall of the pod. “First, there were thousands of tiny ants seeping into my skin, my mouth, my eyes. My whole body stung and I couldn’t breathe or see.”
“That sounds pleasant,” the Commander retorted as he continued to examine the outside of the pod.
“I can assure you it wasn’t. The second treatment,” he continued, “was worse. This pod was filled to the top with rushing water. A perfect remedy for lungs that had just been stung repeatedly,” he said sardonically. “I had to hold my breath underwater.”
“How refreshing.”
Torin rolled his eyes, catching onto the sarcasm. “It was, at first, until I couldn’t breathe and my lungs overflowed with water. But then it drained, and I was left sputtering like a fool. The final treatment was the worst.” He shifted from one foot to the other, his lower lip trembling from the thought.
“What could be worse than almost drowning?”
“Suffocating,” he whispered. “I was stuck in here as the oxygen was slowly depleted from the pod.”
Byron made a disgusted face. “You’re right, that is worse. Novak really didn’t want you to breathe, did he?”
“I guess not. During that last one, I really thought I was going to die. I swear, I was about to see the white light and venture to the other side. But your daughter’s face . . .” he cut himself off, cheeks flushing.
Byron stopped what he was doing and smiled. “What’s that about my daughter’s face?”
“Just, uh . . . I-I thought about what the plan was,” Torin rushed. “I knew that she’d come for me—”
“Found it,” Byron confirmed. There was something below the pod he seemed to be working on that Torin couldn’t see. “I should have you out in just a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” Torin said, feeling humiliated.
But Byron wasn’t letting him off that easy. “Now what were you saying about my daughter?”
Torin groaned, wishing that he’d just kept his big mouth shut. “I just meant that I saw her in the laboratory, right before I passed out from the lack of oxygen.”
“And Naia?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t see her—just Emery.” The dome began to slide down around him as it locked back into the underside of the platform, the holocuffs disappearing. Torin stepped off of the platform, his legs shaking underneath him. Not the best time to be weak.
“They must have gotten Naia,” the Commander said as he helped Torin down from the platform. “Emery too. That means it’s just you and me, Sergeant.”
Torin shook his arms and legs, then rolled his neck around in a circular motion. He drew in a shaky breath and tried to steady his legs. “Let’s just hope we’re not too late.”
Byron nodded as he handed Torin the pistol he’d stolen after taking out Von. The Commander’s steely gaze met his own. “When are you ever going to learn? It’s never too late.”
40
I will not press that button.
Emery stared at the carbon steel sample as it waited patiently for its inevitable demise.
I will not let him win.
She shifted her gaze toward the ceiling wishing that, more than anything else, they hadn’t gone with Naia’s plan. They’d been short on time, so they’d gone with the quickest, dirtiest option—but that same option had left Naia unconscious and her father missing. She lowered her gaze to President Novak. She clenched her teeth, her stomach twisting with disgust.
“Remove her cuffs,” Victor instructed.
Mason and Warren walked over to where she was kneeling and obeyed his command.
“Thanks,” she murmured, more to Mason than to Warren. As she brought herself to a standing position, Warren stomped his boot over her calf muscle, the cleats digging deep into her skin. Emery bit her lower lip, eyes watering from the pain as she was forced to lower back to the ground.
“Press the damn button,” Novak commanded.
She glared at him, not saying a word. I will not let him win.
The chief laughed. It was more than obvious that his patience was wearing thin. “Well, boys, it looks like we have another resister.” He walked over to her and grabbed a fistful of hair, then smashed her cheek against the surface of a nearby desk. “Trust me, this will be much easier on you if you just do what I say.”
Emery looked up at him, the world sideways from where her cheek was firmly pressed against the metal. “No,” she managed, the nerves in her face quivering in pain.
He pressed down even harder on her head so that her nose and mouth were completely smashed against the desk, making it almost impossible to breathe normally. “You’re in no position to refuse my demands.” With one hand planted firmly on her head, he used his free hand to grab her arm and pulled her index finger from her clenched fist.
Emery gritted her teeth, doing everything in her power to keep her finger away from that machine, away from that stupid button, but he was too strong.
She lifted her head slightly, watching as her finger was forced onto the button. A scanner identified her print, then flashed green. The machine hummed as it fired up and, within seconds, there was a flash of bright white light followed by a faint puff and a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, all that remained of the carbon steel sample were specks of dust.
“Magnificent,” Victor breathed, tapping his hand against the table in applause. “Now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I’m done wasting time.” He pulled out the alpha ring and omega pendant. “Don’t worry, I won’t need your assistance this time around. Once the keys are inserted into my mainstation, the connection with Dormance will be reestablished and I’ll have full control over you and your actions.” A sly grin crept across his face. “And everyone else’s.”
“So that’s your big plan?” she spat. “What next?”
Novak didn’t seem to catch on to her blatant sarcasm. “Afterward, the keys can finally be destroyed, and you’re going to be the one to do it. You’ll be the one to destroy the very thing your mother created.”
Emery’s mind flurried with confusion. She thought back to her mother’s note. Both the alpha ring and omega pendant must be secured into either one of the mainstations in order to fully deactivate Dormance. If that were the case, then why was Victor willingly going to place the keys into his mainstation? It would do the exact opposite of what he wanted, but it would do exactly what she’d been trying to achieve all along. For a brief moment, she felt elated, but her heart quickly sank as her eyes landed on the pendant.
The decoy pendant.
It’s not going to work.
She watched in despair as Victor approached the mainstation with both keys in hand. He seated himself at the massive desk, outlining the indentations with his fingertips. “Finally,” he murmured. He carefully placed the alpha ring in position, followed by the decoy omega pendant.
Emery shook her head. This could have been it. It all could have been over with. The realization was more agonizing than any punch or blow she’d ever taken.
A minute passed and with it, Victor’s smile. Nothing happened. Nothing changed. Everything remained exactly the same. He fidgeted with the control panel, checking the mainstation for any potential system errors. “It’s not working,” he huffed, his fingers frantically searching for an answer that didn’t exist. “These keys aren’t working!” he shouted at a decibel high enough to shatter even the densest glass.
Without warning, he shot up from the desk and strode toward her, pulling out his remote and directing it straight at her face. She froze, unsure how to react. The man was acting like a full-fledged maniac. “You’re not doing what I’m telling you to do!” he boomed. “You’re not under my control. It’s not working! What did you do?”
His pointed stare made her cringe. “What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything. How
could I have? I’ve been sitting here the entire time.”
“Then why,” he said through clenched teeth as he came closer, “aren’t the keys working?”
This is my chance. I have to play along. Emery sighed. “Because you don’t have the right one.”
Victor took her face in his hands, lifting her chin to an uncomfortable height. “What do you mean,” he hissed, “I don’t have the right one?”
Emery struggled to free herself from his grip, but it was no use. “It’s a decoy pendant,” she managed through ragged breaths.
“A decoy?” Victor let go of her face and hurried back to the mainstation. He ejected the pendant from its slot. Realization swept over his face as he turned it over in his hands. He marched back over to her and thrust the pendant so that it was just inches from her face. “Is this some sort of joke? Tell me where the real one is. Now.”
Emery hesitated, spitting blood from the corner of her mouth. She was sure her teeth were covered in crimson, blood caked at the corners, and yet, a wicked smile managed to stretch across her face. If she told him, he’d grab the pendant from Torin and unknowingly deactivate Dormance himself. It was the perfect Plan B, one that she hadn’t even thought was in the realm of possibility until now. “Your little boy-genius has it,” she taunted.
The decoy pendant clattered as Victor threw it onto the ground. It landed on its side before falling over completely. The alpha ring remained locked into the mainstation. You’re so close, she reassured herself. Don’t give up yet.
She tried to hide her grin as Victor stormed through the double doors in a frenzy of frustration. And then a thought she hadn’t even considered emerged. Maybe she hadn’t quite thought this through. Fear struck every inch of her heart.
The Order of Omega.
What would the omega pendant reveal to Victor?
41
Victor rushed over to the laboratory, his determined expression falling as he approached the entrance. His eyes followed a trail of blood that was smeared along the glass until they landed on one of his own.
Von’s corpse lay motionless on the ground.
With a grimace, Victor pushed himself through the lab doors, his eyes locked straight ahead on Torin’s now-empty pod. Stifling a scream, he entered the lab, erratically kicking chairs and swiping everything off of the counters. He’d been too consumed by what he’d thought was the real pendant to even consider the fact that maybe it wasn’t. Emery was a smart girl—he knew that. So why hadn’t he seen this coming?
Footsteps echoed from just outside the lab. He rushed over to one of his armory cabinets, waiting impatiently for the retinal scanner to grant him access. He equipped himself with a pistol, then pulled out a dagger and tucked it in the back of his pants for good measure. The cabinet slammed shut as he popped up from his crouching position. He made his way back over to the laboratory doors, wishing that he could somehow revive Von, but there wasn’t enough time. He had to move fast.
With his back pressed against the jagged stone, he crept down the elongated hallway. A gust of wind swept through the chambers, causing his lab coat to flutter in the breeze. He halted as he reached the end and peered around the edge.
There stood boy-genius, in the middle of the hall, looking left and right at one of the many forks-in-the-road Victor had purposely designed his chambers to have. Torin’s head was turned, and Victor could see that his mouth was moving up and down. Obviously he was talking to someone, but to who, Victor didn’t know. All he could see was a shadow.
He darted from behind the wall and sprinted down the hallway, opening fire on Torin. The boy whirled around, his face twisted with fear as a bullet grazed his elbow. He turned and bolted toward the left fork as the shadow ran to the right. Victor veered left and followed Torin down the hall. Barred windows blurred past him. After thirty seconds of full-out sprinting, the boy began to slow as he reached yet another fork in the road. This time he turned right.
Victor smiled to himself as he copied Torin’s actions, just mere seconds behind him. His sinister smile grew wider as he imagined the look on Torin’s face when he discovered that this hallway led to a dead-end; and sure enough, it was exactly as he’d pictured.
Desperate. Frightened. Hopeless.
Victor chortled as he approached the boy with the gun aimed directly at his heart. “You have something I need,” he said as he took another step closer. The outline of the pendant was clear as day through his cotton t-shirt, making him feel even more stupid for not realizing it sooner.
Torin pressed himself against the wall, his chest pumping up and down from exhaustion. “I built you your machine,” he panted. “What more could you possibly need from me?”
“I’m aiming at it.”
Torin gazed down at his chest, then back up at him. “Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, but you can’t have it.”
Victor inched one step closer. “Give me the omega pendant,” he snarled, his jaw clenching harder with each word. “Now.”
As Torin went to draw something from his pocket, Victor slammed the butt of his pistol down on the boy’s temple. Torin moaned as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his body crumpling to the ground. Victor tucked the pistol into the back of his pants, right next to the dagger. He knelt down and reached into the front of Torin’s shirt, searching frantically for the pendant. He let out a sigh of relief as his fingers curled around the familiar shape.
It was about damn time. The omega pendant, the real omega pendant, was finally his. There would be no stopping him this time.
42
Emery’s heart pounded in her chest, her eyes trained on the door Victor had exited just ten minutes prior. As much as she tried to think happy thoughts, images of Torin being beaten senseless flooded her mind. Maybe I shouldn’t have told Victor that Torin had the real pendant. Maybe I made a mistake. It wouldn’t be the first.
Her back stiffened as footsteps approached the door. It swung open with gusto, rustling her matted hair in the breeze. In walked Victor with his usual smug look and, behind him, two hefty guards. As they came closer, Emery realized that one of the guards had something slung over his shoulder. A body.
Torin.
Emery bit down on her tongue to keep from screaming. Definitely a mistake.
The guard dropped Torin’s body next to Naia’s.
Emery’s gaze shifted between both of her friends’ bodies. Although impossible, she hoped her determined stare would be strong enough to wake them up—for them to show a sign of life, a flicker of hope. Anything.
But neither of them moved.
Her father was nowhere to be seen, and she could only imagine that he’d suffered a fate just as terrible as her friends, if not worse. It was all her fault. She was completely alone with this lunatic, but, given the circumstances, maybe she deserved to be.
Novak walked over to her and crouched down to her level, but remained high enough to continue looking down on her. It was a power-play, one that was supposed to get into her head, but she couldn’t let it. Her mind was all she had right now. She couldn’t lose that, too.
“Thank you for your honesty,” he snarled. The pendant rose in front of her face. It dangled from his fingers, swaying back and forth in a grandfather-clock-like motion.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
If only time were on her side.
Novak straightened, then turned on his heel to make his way toward the mainstation. He held the pendant in both hands, admiring it on the stroll over. Emery could hear him muttering to himself, although she had no idea what he was saying.
Please keep going. Please don’t pause.
But Victor stopped in his tracks, just inches from the mainstation. He looked at her, then back at the pendant. She could tell by the look in his eyes that, somehow, he knew. Either Torin had cracked or he’d known all along. But no matter what had happened, one thing was for certain.
They were completely and utterly screwed.
<
br /> She closed her eyes as those three fateful words left Victor’s lips. “Alpha and Omega.”
There was no stopping it. Victor was about to discover a startling truth.
43
Where am I?
Victor sat at a round table in a place he’d never wanted to visit again. Seventh Sanctum Headquarters. On either side of him were two people he also didn’t care to ever see again. The Commander and Naia.
He jumped up from his seat, hands flying to the back waistband of his pants, frantically searching for his weapons. When he realized they weren’t there, he scanned the area for an escape route of some sort, but there wasn’t one.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered to himself. He remained standing, fists curled and ready for battle. He expected both the Commander and Naia to be staring at him with their full attention, but instead they were looking at each other and whispering.
Victor gazed down at the pendant, wondering why he wasn’t back in his chambers. He’d been just about to lock the pendant into place on the mainframe and finally get the very thing he’d worked so hard for. Instead, he found himself here, in a very confusing and less preferable situation.
He looked from the Commander to Naia, noticing that her hair was shoulder length, much longer than when he’d first employed her. With a sinking feeling, he realized that something was off. Very off.
“Sir, we’re all set to initiate Project Viper. On your call.”
“Project Viper?” Victor questioned. “What is that? And where am I?”
His questions went ignored.
The Commander continued to look at Naia as he nodded his head. “You’re sure? Everything’s in place?”
Naia cleared her throat. “Affirmative,” she responded in a shaky voice, one that was very unlike her.
“Hello?” Victor said as he walked over to the Commander and waved his hands in front of his face. “I don’t appreciate being ignored.”
The Order of Omega (The Alpha Drive Book 2) Page 19
