“Don’t move,” Logan commanded.
Alec did as he was told. Logan had his right arm in a vice grip and his orb was in his right front pocket. There was no way to reach it, and even if he did, teleporting with Logan holding on to him would only bring the two of them to whatever destination he chose. If that happened, there would be no way to talk his way out of things. And besides, Logan was nearly a foot taller and probably could bench press Alec with one hand.
Alec ground his teeth together and tried to keep his mind as clear as possible. His only hope was to play stupid; to lie and say he’d found the orb and discovered by accident that it disabled ATMs. Just how he was going to make that credible he had no idea. Fortunately, Logan appeared to momentarily have forgotten him. The commander was peering deeply into the depths of his orb.
“Report,” he ordered.
Alec startled as the reply sounded in his own ear. The clipped accent-less voice was familiar. He was touching Logan and therefore receiving the message too.
“Rip in quadrant alpha one zero,” the male voice reported. “Exceptionally large. No Potentials in the vicinity. However, witnesses confirmed. Evidence of contact. Priority index, one.”
Logan swore under his breath. “Who is the closest Operative, Tyrell?”
“You are, sir.”
“Anna’s location?”
“Momentarily off the grid.”
Logan scowled. “I will investigate.” He gave a piercing glance at Alec and his eyes narrowed. “I don’t know who you are, boy, or how you acquired an orb, but I will find out.” He leaned in a bit closer. Alec could see the tiny flecks of silver inside the pale blue irises and the coldness that glittered within. “You will come with me. Take a deep breath.”
The hotel room faded quickly from view, the push and pull of moving through space drenched him with a sense of claustrophobia and breathlessness. Then as quickly as it started, it was over. They materialized outside. Alec landed on his knees, his upper arm still in Logan’s tight grip. The view in front of his eyes swam for a moment as the vertigo rose to an unpleasant level before starting to subside much faster than usual. Alec gave his head a slight shake. He squinted at the brightness around him.
They had arrived in a large rolling meadow that was an incredibly vibrant green. The undulating terrain was checker-boarded by crumbling stone fences. Overhead, fluffy white clouds scudded past while, in the distance, fluffy white sheep grazed contentedly. Alec had no idea where he was.
He scrambled to his feet. His heart sank when he spied the shimmer of sparkles hovering, chest high, only meters away from where the two of them stood. The rip was the size of a suitcase, pulsing with faint multicolour lights inside.
Alec couldn’t help himself. Terror had him twisting his arm as hard as he could. The sudden pain was sharp and biting, but he paid no attention as he managed to pull free. He instinctively scrambled away.
“You know what this is,” Logan rumbled. A small muscle jerked spasmodically in his jaw. “Tell me how.”
Alec instantly recognized the Tyon persuasion and clamped his own jaws tightly together, resisting the compulsion to spill his guts. There was no way he was giving in and telling Logan how he knew about Rhozan and orb power. He reached for the orb in his pocket. The second his fingertip touched the warm glass, Logan’s effort to control his mind eased off.
A sneer curled Logan’s upper lip. He lunged, faster than Alec could prepare for, and once again grabbed Alec’s arm, this time more painfully. He jerked Alec closer, pulling him almost off his feet to look directly into his eyes. “Who are you? How do you know how to use an orb? Why do you fear the rip? Answer me.”
“Go to hell.” Alec found the words leaving his mouth before he could stop himself.
For a second it looked like Logan might hit him, but then his grip on Alec’s arm slightly lessened. Alec was lowered to stand on his feet again. Logan smiled tightly. He raised his fist and the orb within his fingers glowed brightly for a second. A sensation of ants crawling all over Alec’s skin preceded the more internal feeling of something moving swiftly through him. It took only a minute. He had the distinct impression that if he hadn’t been holding tightly to his own orb, the invasion would have been far more unpleasant, as it had in the past. As it was, he managed to keep his mind closed and his gaze steady.
Logan’s smile could have frozen lava. “I thought I detected his stink off you.”
Alec didn’t move a muscle. Whose stink?
“Teaching you to use an orb. Recruiting you, was he?” Was Logan thinking about Darius or was there someone else Logan had in his gun sites? “Did he think I would not suspect? Fool.” Logan’s free hand pulled Alec’s wrist clear of his pocket. Alec tried to grip his crystal tighter but Logan easily began to pry his fingers off it, one by one. “He has tried it before. But I found them all.”
Who’d tried what? And what had Logan done with the ones he found? Alec couldn’t waste the effort to think about it. If he lost his orb, he was done for. Another finger was painfully pulled away.
“Tell me his name, boy, and I’ll let you live.”
Logan was toying with him. Two fingers were all that remained between some semblance of self-preservation and being solely within Logan’s power. The man could easily have wrenched the orb from him, had him on his knees in pain—he had done it before and Alec hadn’t been able to even slow him down—but the creep was lengthening the moment before his complete defeat, almost glorying in it. Alec twisted to the right, pulling his orb hand underneath him, using his weight as leverage. Useless.
“What has he recruited you for?”
The second-last finger was peeled away.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alec gasped. Agony built as his last finger was slowly and brutally pulled back. He bit down on the whimper. Logan took the orb easily and held it aloft. He let go of Alec’s arm at the same time.
Alec crumpled to his knees, cradling his throbbing hand and wrist. He was dead meat now. He caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. Sparkles, glittering evilly in the bright sunlight, right behind Logan’s left shoulder and zeroing in.
“Look out,” Alec shouted instinctively.
Logan ducked and twisted fluidly. The rip advanced like a puff of smoke through the space Logan had occupied only a second before, drifting over Alec’s head and moving on past him, the outline of the cloud of otherworldly lights pulsing, changing without design.
The rip stopped. It reversed direction, moving towards them both again.
Logan stepped to the side and his eyes narrowed dangerously. The cloud of sparkles did not float past but stopped and hovered as if it noted its quarry had moved. Alec quickly glanced around, keeping one eye on the floating rip. There was no one in sight and nowhere to hide. He didn’t have the second-fastest time trials in winter training for nothing, but could you outrun a rip?
“Do not attempt to run,” Logan ordered. At the sound of his words the rip began to move towards them and quickly. Logan had just enough time to dash in the opposite direction. The cloud of sparkles practically brushed Alec’s shoulder. Heart in his mouth and skin crawling with remembered revulsion, Alec bolted. His legs flew into action and he tore across the grass at breakneck speed, barely registering the uneven ground and the danger of rabbit holes. He’d managed a dozen meters before Logan’s power hit him, straight between the shoulder blades.
Both his legs locked together. He pitched forward. Only years of training to absorb the impact of a fall prevented him from serious injury. He rolled several times before coming to a bruised and filthy stop on his back. Within a second Logan’s form had blocked out the sun overhead.
Logan held up his orb. With the sun directly behind his head, Alec couldn’t make out the man’s triumphant grin, but he heard the pleasure in his voice. “You are not going anywhere until I have some answers.”
Alec cursed under his breath.
The sparkles floated into view, directly behi
nd Logan’s head.
Logan reached down, his orb glinting in the sunlight between his fingers. He touched Alec’s wrist and the contact between the orb and Alec’s skin burned.
The next words had Alec frozen in horror and completely ignoring Logan’s probe. It had only been days since he’d heard the voice, felt it inside him, vibrating his bones with the sickly, terrifying sound that was not human, not anything, but it felt like a lifetime ago. The voice he’d come to know as Rhozan.
“The game begins again, Alec.”
22
Riley was so terrified of losing her orb she let go of the railing and lunged at the young man. He took a step backwards but the impact of Riley’s leap was more than he could tolerate and he lost his footing. Falling backwards with a rattling clang on the narrow sidewalk, he landed on his back. Riley couldn’t stop her forward motion either. Both hands grasping his hand that held her orb, she tumbled into him and landed directly on top.
For a moment, neither moved. Riley’s eyes opened wide with horror and something much more pleasant. Underneath her the young man was taking a few deep breaths.
“It’s not a phone,” he said. The beginning of a grin tugged at the corners of his lips.
Suddenly mortified, Riley tried to scramble to her feet, but there seemed to be nowhere to put her knees or hands other than warm, solid flesh. She could feel the blush burning into her cheeks. Her orb buzzed again.
“Give it to me,” she pleaded as she struggled awkwardly in the narrow confines of the catwalk.
“You’re gonna have to ask me nicely,” he laughed.
“Seriously, give it to me.” Riley tried to pull herself away but caught sight of the water so incredibly far below that her body seized with a sickening paralysis.
“Hey, don’t worry.” The boy sat up and his arms went right around her. She smelled coconut sunscreen and a faint whiff of soap. Fabulous. “I won’t let you fall. You’re totally safe up here. Trust me.”
“I haven’t been totally safe in ages,” she whispered.
“You are now.” The voice was soothing and his breath tickled her ear. “Try and stand up. I’ve got you.”
“Don’t drop my orb,” she hissed.
“Got it,” the boy assured her. His arms protectively around her, he helped her slowly to her feet. The wind caught at her again the moment she was standing, but the Australian’s grip held her firmly. “No worries.”
“That’s a joke, right?” Riley said to his wide expanse of chest.
She felt his laugh rather than heard it. The orb buzzed again.
“Please, give it to me,” Riley instructed. “Just be very careful. I can’t drop it.”
“No problem. Here.” He carefully transferred the orb to her hand, cupping his own around her fingers to ensure its safety. Anna’s voice was suddenly loud and sharp inside her head.
“I’ve found the third. Focus your will on my lead, Riley. Darius, are you in position?”
“Hey,” the boy gave a short yelp, but Riley stamped on his foot.
“Shhh,” she admonished. “This is important.”
Darius’s voice came through, inside her head, as loud and clear as if he was standing beside her. “I’m in position. Readings are distorted.”
Anna cut him off. “Focus on my signal. I’ll send him to Riley’s location.”
“No, no,” Riley nearly shouted. “I’m on top of a bridge.” She cracked open one eye and got a very close view of a couple of gold chest hairs curling over the V of the boy’s collar. She was standing on a metal bridge higher than a skyscraper with a witness.
“I’m not having him drown the moment we pull him through, Riley,” Anna’s curt tones swiftly squashed any refusal. “Prepare.”
“Oh no,” Riley moaned. But it was too late.
The temperature of the orb rose to an uncomfortable warmth. An unpleasant tingling buzzed through her fingers and likely through those of her rescuer if his shocked grunt was any indication. Riley hurriedly focused her attention, following Anna’s lead that was clearly transmitted through the orb. She’d deal with Crocodile Dundee once Peter was back in one piece.
The effort was draining. Riley felt her mind almost pulled out of her skull with the force of Anna’s direction. There was the sense of Darius and Anna almost inside her head and the panic and desperation of Peter’s consciousness flitting in and out. Suddenly the connection was closed. Exhausted, Riley dropped to her knees.
It must have only been a moment later when Riley’s eyelids fluttered open. For a second she was completely disoriented. Where was she? What had happened? Events came rushing back and she sat up quickly. She had passed out. Someone, likely the Australian, had laid her down on the catwalk. He had also tucked her orb into the side pocket of her cargo pants and buttoned up the closure. Reassured, she patted the orb before pulling herself slowly to her feet. Once again the wind caught her, knocking her into the rail, but this time she was less concerned. Her attention was riveted at the scene in front of her.
Peter was sprawled on metal girders immediately below the flagpole. The Australian was leaning over him and speaking to him loudly. Riley watched the boy take Peter’s pulse and lift an eyelid. There was no sign of Darius or Anna.
Riley pulled her orb back out of her pocket. She gripped it tightly and whispered at it, feeling partly desperate and at the same time silly. “Darius, Anna, where are you?” No reply. She tried again, speaking a little louder and sneaking a glance towards Peter at the same time.
Anna’s voice came through very faintly in her ear. “Is the process complete?”
“Looks like it. But he’s out for the count. Aren’t you coming over to get him?” Riley whispered.
“Darius is unable to transport at the moment and I must regen significantly before any teleportation is possible. Wait for us. It will take only an hour or so.”
“I don’t have an hour. I’ve already been caught by the tour company. I’ve got to get out of here.”
“You do not have the energy to teleport,” came Anna’s curt reply. “You will either have to climb down with Peter or wait for us.”
Riley was feeling woozy and she recognized the shaking that had started in her knees. Anna was right. She wouldn’t have the energy to teleport after doing whatever it was they’d done for Peter. And besides, she’d needed Peter’s help to teleport last time anyway, and he looked like he was in no shape to have a conversation, never mind move them in space. Riley ground her teeth together. She was not waiting on the top of this bridge for Anna to get her act together. She wanted off and she wanted it now.
“Hey,” she shouted towards Peter.
“Just a sec,” the Australian shouted back. “I’ve found another one.”
“Yeah, I know,” Riley muttered under her breath. The guy looked strong but she doubted he could carry both of them. Gingerly, heart still in her mouth and holding the railings on either side of her with an almost numbing grip, she put one foot in front of the other and took a tentative step towards them. Then another. Eight more had her at the boy’s side.
“His name is Peter and he’s an idiot,” she said as means of introduction.
“That right?” The boy glanced up at her. “How’d he get up here?”
“Same way I did,” Riley said. “Problem is, we have to get him down.”
“Fair right,” the boy said. “He’s out for it though. I’ll have to get my mates and the stretcher. Are you all right by yourself with him?”
“Look, er, sorry, I don’t know your name,” Riley said.
“Ah, yeah. It’s Kerry. Darling. Like the harbour.” He pronounced it dah-ling. He smiled. “And you are?”
“Riley Cohen.” She reached out and clasped the offered hand. They shook and she gave a slight snort of the ridiculous. Next they’d be trading phone numbers and friend-ing each other on Facebook.
“Yeah, so, Riley, what are the two of you doing up here?
It’s illegal unless you’re part of the tour.
” Kerry sat back on his haunches and peered up at her with the kind of guileless open expression she hadn’t seen in ages.
“It’s a long story. Is he okay?”
Kerry shrugged. “I dunno.”
Whatever was wrong with Peter was probably due to being in some kind of suspended animation while bits of his body hung in some weird dimension in several pieces. Hardly the kind of thing the local emergency room was going to be familiar with. And, even if they did know what was wrong with him, there was no way they had time to drop him off at a hospital, without a passport, a health card, or with the chance that he’d open his big mouth and spill the beans. Which she didn’t put it past Peter to do in a heartbeat. The best thing was to get him somewhere quiet and private where she and the others could regroup and plan what their next move would be. Where and how she was going to get Peter there was another question.
“I think he just needs to sleep it off,” Riley said slowly as she carefully slipped her fingers into her pocket to make contact with her orb. She closely watched Kerry’s face for the first sign of disagreement. “You know how it is. I just have to get him off this bridge and give him a couple of hours. His dad’ll kill him if he catches him like this.”
“Yeah, got it.” Kerry was nodding. “What about your friends?” At Riley’s frown he added, “On the phone. Just a minute ago.”
“Oh, them,” Riley twigged. “I’ll call them when we’re down. We’ll have to find a hotel or something for him, just for a couple of hours. Any suggestions?”
“Ah, yeah. Let me think.” Kerry frowned for a moment then his expression cleared. “My place is only two blocks away. Both my roommates are working today. I don’t mind if you crash there.”
Riley forced her most brilliant smile and watched the returning grin with a sense of relief. “That’s great. Let’s go now.”
“Stick with me. I know a way off the bridge without going through the tour offices.” Kerry leaned over and with surprising ease, hoisted Peter over his shoulders in a fireman lift. “Ready?”
Time of Treason Page 13
