Zeke shoots me a quick wink before returning his attention to Albinia. “What’s it going to take?” He leans against the white console. Waves of lust demon energy fan out around the room.
Albinia blushes. “Ta-take?”
“For you to give us a tour of this place,” offers Cissy.
“You know you want to help us,” adds Zeke. Next Zeke does that thing where he clicks twice from one side of his mouth. Normally, it bugs me, but this time? Since Albinia seems enchanted by it, I decide that it’s the most wonderful noise ever.
Albinia giggles. “You’re sweet, uh…”
“Zeke. Call me Zeke.”
“But I really couldn’t leave my post.”
Zeke’s face flushes as he sends out fresh waves of lust demon mojo. “Come on. It’s only for a minute.”
With that, it’s official. I take back all the nasty comments I ever made about Zeke being a lust monkey.
Or at least, I take back half of them.
“I would, but…” Albinia’s blush deepens. “There’s no one here to watch the desk.”
I set my hand on Cissy’s shoulder. “My friend here can do it.”
Cissy raises her hand. “I’m your girl.”
Albinia shakes her head. “You don’t know what to do, though.”
“Like it’s hard.” Cissy strolls around the desk, pushes Albinia out of her seat, and parks her own carcass in the same spot. “Good afternoon, I’m Cissy, and I’m really super busy right now. I’ll get back to you in a few minutes.” Cissy starts opening and closing drawers in the pod-desk. I have to admit, that’s a nice touch. “Don’t you have a computer or anything? I’d look more convincing if I could use a computer.” Plus, Cissy could probably sneak around their network and do some sleuthing.
“No, we don’t use computers out here. Only the ledgers.” Albinia reaches for Cissy. “Maybe you should get out of my chair.”
I step in front of Albinia, totally blocking her access to Cissy and seating. “Come on. What are you worried about? My friend is totally convincing.”
Albinia frowns. “I still don’t know. I could get in big trouble.”
Zeke struts up to Abinia’s side, wraps her thin arm around his, and pats the back of her hand. “It will only take a few minutes. That will give us some time to get to know each other.” A muscle is twitching along his jaw.
I never thought I’d think this in my life, but: poor Zeke. The guy throws his lust demon mojo all over the place, but I doubt he’s ever used it to control someone’s mind before. That’s hard work for even a full-blooded lust demon, and Zeke is mostly human with a little demonic DNA. My heart warms to him just a little more.
Albinia’s eyes glaze over. “Fine. You’re so handsome and strong and smart. I’ll follow you anywhere.”
Ugh. I might have thrown up in my mouth a little.
Albinia shifts the binoculars on their strap. “We’ll just need these to get around,” she says in a dreamy voice.
“Whatever you say,” coos Zeke.
I push him gently in the center of his back. Okay, maybe it’s not too gentle, but we have things to do, and this is taking a while.
“Why don’t we get started?” I ask.
“Sure.” Albinia sleepwalks toward the wall. As we get closer, she does that thing again where she puts the binoculars up to her face and adjusts some dials. After a second or two, an oval door appears in the smooth wall. I purse my lips. That’s a pretty funky trick, right there.
Albinia then presses her palm against the center of the door. It swings wide open. After that, Albinia, Zeke, and I step into another white and somewhat circular hallway. This must be how a red blood cell feels tooling around an artery. I take a few steps down the pristine and curved passage. Huh. For a guy who uses black magic, Ethan sure is obsessed with white.
Once we’re in the hall, the oval door closes silently behind us. Albinia releases Zeke’s arm and starts to gesture around. “Welcome to the inner workings of our Research Division.” Her voice takes on the singsong tone of a memorized speech. “This is where we improve humanity.”
“That sounds awesome.” I slap on my most innocent face. “Where would those labs be, anyway?”
“I can’t take you there,” says Albinia. “That’s a restricted area.”
I snap my fingers. “I’ve got an idea. How about you just point me in the right direction, and I’ll go there. That way, you aren’t breaking any rules and you can hang out here with Zeke?”
Her thin blonde brows pull together. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
Zeke tugs Albinia against his side. “Of course, it’s the best idea.” He stares deeply into her eyes. “It will give us a chance to be alone.” More lust demo mojo wafts down the hallway.
Albinia nods so quickly I’m surprised her head stays attached.
Zeke shoots me a quick glance. Beads of sweat line his forehead. “Take your time, Miss Gee. I can keep Albinia here occupied all day.”
Those are the words he says, but in truth, I know what he’s really saying.
I won’t last much longer.
“On it.” I focus on Albinia. “Which way to the labs?”
“End of this hallway. Make a right. You can peep through the observation window without being seen. Just don’t go inside the lab, all right?”
“Absolutely.” I shoot her a double thumbs-up and take off down the hallway at a run. At this point, I know two things for certain.
First, if there’s information to be found in this building, I need to uncover it and fast.
And second, if I can get inside that laboratory, I’m totally doing it.
Chapter Fourteen
I race to the end of the hallway and pause. Another thing I learned from demon patrol: never go into an unknown area without checking first.
Time to check.
With maximum stealth, I take a careful look around the corner. Crud. A pair of Razor Guards blocks the next passageway. One of them is wearing a composite bow strapped across his back. Evil Lincoln mentioned that before. A composite bow means that guard can shoot one of Ethan’s black arrows and send me to who knows where. Not good.
I step away so I’m back in the main hallway. Leaning against the wall, I press my palms against my eyes and think. There must be some way to get past the guards and keep going to the labs. My thoughts speed through various options.
Hey, guys, Albinia told me I could come check out the labs.
Bad idea. Even if Albinia was supposed to show me the labs, chances are, she wouldn’t let me go there alone. Maybe I could try a more dramatic entrance.
Run for your lives! Fire!
I consider that choice and toss it aside just as quickly. Totally won’t work. There are no actual alarms going off, and I don’t know how to start them, either. I ponder going for my classic approach in cases like this.
Eat death!
Much as I love that classic line, I really shouldn’t kill anyone who isn’t attacking. For all I know, these guards could be good people stuck in bad jobs. Plus, there’s another thing that I need to stay wary of here on Earth. Guns. These guards probably have them. Although my body armor could deflect them, I still have never done much battle training with human armaments.
Honestly? I’ve done no battle training with human armaments. That’s another rule of thrax demon patrol. Avoid situations with the unexpected. It will always bite you in the ass.
My words, not theirs.
Most importantly, it’s one thing for me to jump into a fight without knowing what to expect. It’s another thing to do it while I’m pregnant. Nope, eat death is not an option either. I just have to think of something else.
At last, the perfect solution appears.
Closing my eyes, I command the threads of my Scala robes to change into a different form. This time, instead of battle gear, I ask them to become the shape of the white hazmat suits I saw in my last vision of Lincoln. These things have a small slit in the plastic helmet th
at acts as a visor. That should hide my identity pretty well, even if these guards were shown a picture of me as the Queen or Great Scala.
My heart thuds harder in my chest. This will work. It has to.
Once the change is complete, I stroll around the corner with a sense of purpose. As I’ve learned from showing up to school late, the worst thing you can do when you’re sneaking around is look like you’re, well, sneaking around. Over years, I’ve mastered the art of the determined walk.
Every step I move past the guards seems to happen in slow motion.
One.
Two.
Three.
The Razor Guards look me over, but don’t stop me or say a word.
Yes!
At the other end of this corridor, I see another figure in a hazmat suit. Based on the frame, I’m guessing it’s a man. Hazmat Guy has a set of those funky binoculars hanging from a black cord around his neck and turns toward the wall.
Double yes!
I saw this routine before when Albinia got us into the labs in the first place. Hazmat Guy is opening a door. With any luck, it’s a door that leads to a laboratory.
It takes everything I have not to run full out, but somehow I’m able to control myself. I sidle up behind Hazmat Guy and keep working my casual vibe, like, hey, I just went to get coffee and don’t feel like using my binoculars if you’re opening up the lab anyway kind of thing. Fortunately, Hazmat Guy is so focused on his binoculars, he doesn’t really notice me.
I keep trying to work my casual vibe, but the clear visor part of my helmet is starting to fog up from body heat. Lincoln might be inside this very laboratory. Talk about your stressful situations.
For a time, Hazmat Guy fiddles with the dials on his binoculars. I notice that he’s facing a stretch of wall right beside a one-way mirror…just like Albinia described before. It’s hard to see past the tinted mirror at this angle, but I do see that the room beyond is white.
This is the lab, definitely.
My tail whips behind me in an anxious rhythm. Come on, Hazmat Guy! Open the fricking door already.
The guards at the other end of the hall take notice. “Having trouble, Felton?” They take a few steps closer.
Unholy Hell.
Hazmat Guy—I mean Felton—waves them off. “Dials are stuck,” he calls. “Give me a second.” At last, Felton turns a few more gears on his binoculars and—BINGO—a door appears. Like the one Albinia revealed, it’s an oval doorway set flush into the smooth wall. Once it’s visible, the guards stop moving and go back to their post. Whew.
Felton presses his hand against the door, and it slides away, revealing the laboratory beyond.
My heart beats so hard, I feel the pulse in my neck. Could this be where they’re holding Lincoln? I know it’s crazy to hope that I’d get that lucky, but I can’t help it.
Felton steps forward; I follow. The door slides shut behind us with a soft hiss. Once inside, what I see makes me gasp. It’s another all-white room with curved walls. That’s not what stuns me, though.
In the center of the room is another table covered in a curved glass top. If getting into the lime kiln reminded me of Hansel and Gretel, then this scene is definitely a high-tech version of Snow White. That table could totally pass for a glass coffin. Only instead of seeing through the clear covering to see a sleeping princess inside, I can’t make out squat on this thing. The insides are filled with dark smoke.
There are two canisters positioned behind the table, one black and one red. A tangle of plastic tubing snakes out from these metal columns in order to connect to the bottom of the glass covering. On reflex, I step closer. Is someone inside that glass? Every corner of my soul freezes.
Have I found my Angelbound love?
I want to rush over, but Felton steps into my path while yelling his head off. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
I glare at him. Whoever this guy is, he’s the only thing standing between me and what might be Lincoln. My instincts tell me to just skewer the dude through the chest with my tail, but with all that smoke inside the case on that table? Felton might be the only one who can get rid of it without hurting whoever is inside.
If anyone is inside, that is.
Time for me to lie my ass off. This isn’t necessarily my strong suit, but for Lincoln, I’ll do my best.
I just hope it’s good enough.
Chapter Fifteen
Felton folds his arms over his chest. “I’ll ask you one last time, and then I’m calling security. What are you doing here?” Based on the way his voice is warbling, Felton is really freaking out about me.
I set my fist on my hip. “What’s your name?” When sneaking around, it’s always important to act angry when you get caught.
“Senior Researcher Felton Weiner Junior.”
“Really?” That’s one bummer of a name, really.
“It’s a family name.” Felton slides his hand down the front of his white hazmat jumper, smoothing out the crinkly plastic. Like Albinia, Felton has a set of black binoculars around his neck and grips a dark ledger. My eyes widen. I wants me both of those things.
Binoculars and ledger, come to Momma.
“You still didn’t answer my question,” says Felton.
For once, the lie comes to me easily. “I’m an inspector.” Back in Purgatory, I had a ton of inspectors in my life. They were always checking out the Ghost Towers where we store souls.
“I wasn’t told you people would be here today.” I can’t see his face, but there’s no mistaking the frown in Felton’s voice.
I’ve used this line on inspectors myself, so I already know the perfect comeback.
“Wouldn’t be much of an inspection if you knew everything, now would it?” I gesture to the glass coffin. “Empty out the smoke. Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
“I can’t for another minute or so,” Felton says slowly.
I gesture to the ledger and binoculars. “Then, tell me how to use those things.”
Even through the slit in his helmet, I can see Felton roll his beady eyes. “You should already know how these work.”
Another line I’ve tried myself. This is becoming fun.
“Of course, I know how they work. I’m an inspector. I’m here to see if you do.”
“Fine. There are nobs and dials on the sides of the binoculars. You twist them and can open doors.”
“Albinia the receptionist knows that. How do you use them for research?”
“If I twist the dials the right way, I can see live results from this subject”—he points at the glass coffin— “as well as from other related tests going on around the world.”
“So, there’s definitely a subject in there.” I can’t help the hopeful note in my voice.
“Yes. All the data from this case and others gets stored in Chuck.”
“Chuck?”
“Computer Harmony Under Cosmic Kinesthetics. CHUCK.”
“And where is this master computer named CHUCK?”
Felton’s beady eyes squint through the slit in his helmet. “It’s on display down at the Touch The Tech event, same as all our top innovations.”
Humans think that Ethan is a great dude and Hunter Enterprises is an awesome company. I bet if I could get some of that information out of CHUCK, the mortal world would understand what they’re really dealing with. I set my fists on my hips. “And how does one access this CHUCK computer?”
“What?”
“Passwords, Felton. Cough them up.”
“As an inspector, you know I can’t divulge that under any circumstances.”
I roll my eyes. “Duh.”
Felton gasps.
Oops. Act grown-up, Myla.
“I mean, obviously you can’t divulge such things. I was just testing to see if you’d follow protocol.”
There, that sounded mega-mature.
Felton lets out an exasperated sigh. “I have to test the subject now.”
“Go on.”
&nb
sp; “Aren’t you going to help?”
I point to my face. “In-spec-tor.” And I have no idea how to help, not that I’m telling Felton that.
“You must know that we’re on a skeleton crew today what with everyone at the Touch The Tech Event. You should really lend a hand.”
“No, I should really inspect.” I’m using so many lines from my Purgatory inspection team, I’m definitely giving them all a bonus.
“Fine. I suppose you want to see me finish the soul transfer.”
“No, I’m more interested in seeing how you let someone go and leave their souls alone.”
“We pull out the power in rounds. I’m mid round” —Felton scans his ledger— “seven right now. I can’t stop mid-round. The subject could prematurely terminate.”
“Oh.” Every muscle in my body tenses. “I guess you better finish this round then. But after that, we’re leaving this subject alone for today. I need to, uh, inspect him. Alive.”
Felton shrugs. “As you request. I’ll finish this round. Then you can inspect the subject to your heart’s content.”
“Good.” I’m happy with how calm my voice sounds when I say that because inside? I’m screaming.
Felton lifts the binoculars to his face. Unlike with Albinia, his device starts to move and expand. Tiny metal clamps reach out from the sides and top of the binoculars, securing them to his head. He flips open his leather journal. The pages look all black to me, but I’m guessing that it’s a totally different view with the binoculars on.
With his free hand, Felton starts twisting dials on the side of his new headgear. I try to memorize what he touches and how. Once I get those binoculars—and I will get them—I’ll need to know how to use them.
Across the room, the mist leaves the glass coffin. Inside lies a man. Every nerve ending in my body goes berserk. The guy is lying on his side toward the opposite wall, so I can’t see his face. But the outline of his body is too familiar: broad shoulders, messy brown hair, and strong limbs. Plus, the guy is wearing the black body armor that’s used by the House of Rixa.
Please, let this be Lincoln.
Angelbound THRAX Page 12
