Quanta Rewind

by Lola Dodge

  Definitely not by strange Black Helixes who reeked of chemicals. Todd had dipped into some serums for sure because he moved just off the beat the music. I could work with a little disorientation if I managed not to vomit on him.

  And I needed to check what the futures said, but as soon as I tried to lower my walls, the guy’s past creeped into my consciousness. Grinning, he holds another guy down. “Todd. Don’t—” The guy’s voice chokes off in anguish.

  Before I could see where that one went, I shut it down hard. My gears spun as Todd pulled me closer yet again, grinding against me, and forcing me to grind against him. I definitely shuddered, but he either didn’t notice or didn’t care. I couldn’t decide which was worse.

  And I couldn’t do this much longer. I tried to pull away, but Todd yanked me back into him. The Helixes had us walled into their dance circle, and I couldn’t see past them to signal Tair or anyone else for help.

  If I freaked out and made a break for it, there was no way they’d leave the club with us. I needed some other distraction. A reason we could all take a break without suffering through hours of dancing.

  Because even seconds of this felt like forever.

  As Todd whipped me around, I scanned for anything that could help. At worst, I could grab the gun at his hip that was digging into me, but then we’d have to start the night over again. The idea of reliving this moment again made me want to yak.

  A drink drone zoomed over my head and the movement drew my eye to the ceiling. Spigots things poked from between the rafters. As soon as I saw them, a new future bloomed.

  We drag ourselves out of the piles of suds, the guys laughing. Faking a smile, I scrape foam out of my hair. “What a mess. You guys mind taking the party back to our hotel?”

  They agree in a chorus of whoops, and then we’re weaving our way toward the exit.

  So perfect. I just needed a little help to get the foam party started.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ALTAIR

  I fought the urge to shoulder through the crowd. Quanta and Cipher were surrounded. We’d shifted closer to them to hold a position near the Helixes’ VIP table, but our targets had abandoned their seats for the dance floor. I only caught flashes of the girls.

  And the guy with his hands on Quanta—

  “Whoa.” Dex tugged the back of my collar, yanking me back. “Chill, both of you.” He gripped Knight’s shirt so hard the fabric almost tore.

  I clenched my jaw. They were dancing. We’d planned for this.

  But seeing it…

  Dex pulled me back again. “Seriously. You’re gonna abandon our glowworm?”

  I glanced at Devan. She had her back against the wall and her arms folded. Her true expression didn’t bleed through her illusion, but the way she hunched in on herself said she was leaning toward exhausted. I forced myself to retreat a few steps.

  Reluctantly, Knight joined me, but neither of us could tear our eyes away from the floor. The music pounded in time with my roaring headache. The fact that Quanta could rewind time without my physical presence was a massive relief, but we were obviously still tied together or I wouldn’t be feeling the side effects.

  As a new song started vibrating through the speakers, the lighting changed to match. The lasers that had been flashing in circles faded and black lights illuminated the crowd. The few true Seligo in the crowd lifted their UV-ink tattoos into the air, but through the forest of arms, I spotted the flash of Quanta’s white dress, now flooded purple. She was lifting her arm as well.

  Was it part of the dance? Or was she signaling me?

  Devan bumped against my shoulder. “She’s waving for you.” I started to lunge away, but Devan caught my hand. “Wait. No. Not waving. Pointing.”

  My gaze flicked upward. Above the layer of hovering beverage drones, apparatus dangled from the rafters. Most of it was lighting. There were fog machines, and numerous spigots—

  That had to be it. It was absurd, but being with Quanta had taught me the value of doing the unexpected.

  I pulled Knight close. “Foam. Be ready.”

  His lips pressed together, starting to form an F-sound, but I was already on my way to the stairs. The DJ had set up on the main stage, but I’d noticed him sending the occasional nod or wave toward a blank-looking wall next to the VIP area. I assumed the tech controls were out of sight for safety, but it should be easy enough to find my way through their security.

  It took longer than I would’ve liked to push through the crowd without making a scene. I managed to climb the stairs, weaving through flailing Helixes.

  No guards were posted. I stepped around the knots of dancers and smoothed a hand along the suspicious wall. It vibrated with the subtle hum of a hologram. After a few seconds, my fingers snagged on an indentation.

  I slid the door open and stepped through the illusion. A man stood from a bank of comps, and I had him cased before he’d made it fully upright. Slight, with a Green Helix on his forearm. He was the tech guy and had counted on his gadgets to keep him safe.

  “You can’t be in he—”

  I lunged. Looping an arm around his neck I drove him the floor in a choke hold. He scrabbled, trying to get free, but I locked my legs around him, holding him in place. Finally, he went limp, passed out.

  Heart still pounding, I scanned the room. No cams were visible, which meant no security alert yet. I eased the man to the floor. Careful not to leave fingerprints, I moved his chair back in front of the main console. The controls were a mix of toggles, switches, and touchscreens.

  A label identified the panel of switches for the foam machine. Working fast, I flipped them all on.

  As foam began to cascade from the ceiling, shrieks reverberated over the thumping bass. Everyone cheered as bubbles poured down, piling higher and higher. Soon, clouds of foam covered over the dance floor like snow banks. The dancers high on the most substances jumped happily along, their heads appearing, then disappearing back into the mess.

  I checked my com. Quanta and Cipher’s dots were both together, slowly moving to the edge of the room. Devan, Dex, and Knight stood at the same place near the VIP table. As much as I wanted to check on Quanta, I forced myself to head back to the group.

  A wall of people met me as I stepped through the holograph back into the club. Once down the stairs, I shouldered through the foam and the crush of slippery dancers. It wasn’t the time to be polite.

  “Is this really necessary?” Knight yelled over the music as I neared him.

  I nodded. The people emerging from the thickest piles of foam were still caked in bubbles, with see-through clothes and hair plastered to their faces. Any sane person would want to get cleaned up after this, and if I’d guessed Quanta’s plan, she was about to invite our targets back to the hotel room to freshen up with her.

  “Have you seen them?” I checked my com again, but the blue dots blinked in the thick of the crowd.

  “There.” Devan pointed.

  Following her direction, I spotted the glittering blue of Cipher’s top. A Helix was pulling her out of the foam. But where was—

  I let out a breath as Quanta appeared from the cloud. Another Helix held her up as her heels slid on the sudsy floor. When she was stable, she kicked the too-tall shoes off into the foam pile, prompting Cipher to do the same.

  My tension loosened an iota. If they had the energy to be worried about their shoes, they were still in relative control of the situation.

  Our targets seemed to be having the time of their lives. They high-fived and fist-bumped, giddy with excitement.

  The one who’d been pawing at Quanta on the dance floor jerked her into the crook of his arm.

  My gut clenched. Todd. Their commander.

  She grinned convincingly enough, but the expression looked nothing like her genuine smile.

  She hated this. It was time to end it.

  Quanta obviously felt the same as she spoke to the men and pointed to the door. After exchanging a few words, the group pushe
d toward the exit.

  “Leaving.” I waved for everyone to follow.

  Now that we were moving in the direction of the crowd, we flowed in a line. Devan fell in behind me, but she tugged my sleeve.

  “I have a crazy idea,” she said. “They’re not going to want anything to do with more guys, so if I disguise you…”

  “You’re already disguising us.” Knight gestured to his subtly distorted features.

  “If I disguise you as women.”

  “Can you?” I asked. Running four full-body illusions had to be a huge drain on her power reserves.

  “As long as you don’t touch anyone. I’ll have to make you look skinnier than you are in real life.”

  “I’d rather be thick,” Dex chimed in, ever helpful. “Some gentlemen like a little something to grab onto, you know?”

  Ignoring him, I focused on Devan. “Wait until we’re outside.” We needed to be well clear of any surveillance cams. If we spontaneously changed sexes and outfits, we’d raise more than a few eyebrows.

  When we emerged into the night, the cool air rushed over my skin and my ears rang with the comparative silence outside the club. The line had doubled, and the party still spilled out onto the beach, but I spotted Quanta and Cipher surrounded by hulking Helixes on their way back to the hotel and the drug-spiked drinks we’d prepared for them.

  My pulse sped. We needed to find cover so Devan could change our disguises and get to the girls as soon as possible.

  I’d never seen a group of men I trusted less.

  Chapter Fifteen

  QUANTA

  My jaw hurt from all the fake smiling. Every so often I giggled at something one of the Helixes said. The sound was annoying as anything, but they didn’t seem to notice, and the more I laughed the easier it was to dance away from their sneaking hands.

  As something brushed the hem of my dress, I giggled and jumped away. Hopefully, I didn’t look as terrified as I felt, because a few disturbingly solid futures clustered at the edge of my vision where we got dragged off and—

  No. I couldn’t go there.

  Instead, I followed the futures where we made it back to the hotel. Sparing a little attention for timeghosts, I squinted into the ether. A very tall blonde holds the lift door open for us and her deep, husky voice sounds oddly familiar. “You boys ready for a party?”

  I froze in the middle of the walkway. Was that… Dex?

  Before I could decide if I’d gone crazy for real, another familiar voice called out from behind us. “You guys left without us?”

  The Helixes turned, wary at first, then easing into creepy smiles as they saw who was hustling our way: Devan in her blondie disguise, flanked by three really tall ladies. My gaze naturally slipped to the dark-haired, caramel-eyed beauty in the gold halter top.

  Tair. And he was definitely prettier than me. I couldn’t read him as well under all the bent light, but just knowing he and the others were with us relaxed my breathing. We could do this thing.

  Tearing my gaze from Tair, I turned back to Helixes. “You mind if our friends join us?”

  “Hell, no.” Todd’s face flushed blotchy red with delight. “I wanna see them all at the hotel.”

  The near futures spun out around me. If the Helixes pressed our guys too hard, Devan’s illusions could crack in a heartbeat. Their voices gave them away. So did their shapes if any of the Helixes got grabby and felt the actual bodies hidden under the light.

  But we were so close. The glass hotel tower rose up a couple blocks down the road. All we had to do was make it past the strip of late-night pizza and kebab shops and we’d be golden. Ish.

  The odds improved if I could keep them distracted on the rest of the walk. I was sorry I had to let Tair see my old self again, but unfortunately, he’d seen it before. The others… I just hoped they thought of me as resourceful?

  Pulling out my best whine, I set a hand on Todd’s forearm. “It’s taking too long to get there.”

  He covered my fingers with his sweaty palm. “What can I do about it, cupcake?”

  I managed not to vomit at the pet name, but it was close. “Race me?”

  “What’s the winner get?” His honeyed voice told me his intentions loud and clear—just like his hand snaking down my lower back.

  Faux giggling for what felt like the millionth time, I skipped away from him. At least I’d lost my heels at the club. Barefoot gave me more freedom to run away, and I’d rather open my foot on a broken serum vial than stay within reach of Todd’s creeping fingers. “Winner gets whatever they want.”

  “It’s on!” He broke into a dead sprint.

  For about three steps, I entertained the idea that I could keep up. I really didn’t want Todd claiming any prizes from me, so I kicked into a little run of my own. But the pavement hurt my feet, and these guys weren’t Black Helixes for nothing. They zoomed ahead of us, whooping and carrying on like a full-out sprint took zero energy. By the end of the block, I was gasping.

  Cipher huffed along at my side.

  I spared a glance back for the others. The guys could’ve caught up, but instead, they were sticking close to Devan. It looked like Dex was holding her up a little, too.

  My thumping pulse wasn’t all from the cardio. We needed to get inside the building before Devan lost her grip. We’d be sitting ducks for drones out here.

  The Helixes were yucking it up and patting each other on the back when Cipher and I finally stumbled to the hotel entrance. Todd’s leer made my stomach clench in the worst way.

  “I know just what I want,” he said.

  So did I—a future with as little Todd as possible. Just make it to the room.

  Forcing a smile, I breezed past them into the entryway. “Think you can wait until we get upstairs?”

  “Not making any promises, cupcake.”

  I hit the lift button and prayed to any god who’d listen that we made it back to the room without a brawl. When the door pinged open, illusion Dex stepped to hold it open and wave us all inside. “You boys ready for a party?”

  I’d hoped that line came from a future that never happened, but Dex never disappointed. Somehow, all fourteen of us jammed into the lift without setting off the weight alarm.

  I ended up pressed between Tair and Todd in front of the panel of buttons. I hit our floor number and took a deep breath as the doors pinged closed. We all smelled mostly like foam, but the guys reeked of booze and the subtle chemical hint of serums made it hard to suck in air in the enclosed space. Being trapped—especially with these assclowns—wasn’t my favorite.

  “So what’s your name, cupcake?” Todd asked, trailing a finger down my cheek.

  Goose bumps broke out all over me, and Tair’s muscles tensed. I managed to find a hand I was pretty sure was his and gave it a squeeze. He couldn’t defend me just yet. “I’m Coco.” I nodded toward Tair. “This is Caramel.” I knew how ridiculous that sounded, but now that he’d started the food name thing, I might as well run with it. “And those are my friends Candy, Ginger, Clementine, and Olive.”

  “I’m Todd.” His hand slid south again, moving down my arm to my hip.

  I managed not to shudder. I could still see the glorious, glorious future where he went down in a tranquilized heap in our hotel room.

  The ride was only a few seconds, but it took agonizingly long as I tried not to focus on the futures where we screwed up. Devan’s illusion fizzles, revealing Dex for a split-second and the lift turns into a brawling cage; Todd’s hand snakes to my thigh and starts to travel upward, but Tair yanks his wrist away and throws a punch that turns into another fight.

  I jumped out into the hallway as soon as the doors opened. Tair followed right behind me. We had to get to the door before one of us slipped.

  Except Tair’s key had to be in his pocket, and the mini skirt disguise Devan was projecting on him didn’t have room to breathe, let alone a place to hold anything. Todd’s gaze hadn’t left us, and if Tair pulled the card out of the air, it wasn’
t going unnoticed.

  “Where’s the key?” I skipped in front of Tair, hoping to keep Todd’s attention. “Did you put it in your bra again?” I danced back to spin around Todd. He happily grabbed my arm and twirled me.

  Dizziness made me miss a step, but by the time I pulled away, Tair held the key chip between two fingers.

  “What kind of cheap-ass place doesn’t have a print scanner?” Pasha piped up.

  I shrugged. It did have a print scanner, but if we registered for that, we might as well just call Nagi and ask him to pick us up.

  Pasha grumbled something I couldn’t make out, and his gaze flicked from side to side. I fought to keep from fidgeting. I could see them all tranqued and lined up in a pretty row. We just had to get them out of the hall without making a scene for the cams.

  Tair held the chip to the scan pad, and the lock clicked open. Tantalizing futures swirled, begging me to check what happened next, but I tried to stay in the moment. There were so many ways this could go wrong that analyzing them would slow me down from reacting.

  I wasn’t sure who followed in behind me. As I started to turn, a timeghost burned urgent blue over the present. Todd sweeps me up, pinning my arms with one hand and pushing a tranq gun into my neck with the other. I crumple to the floor.

  “Now!” I dove, trying to put distance between Todd and me, but he was too fast.

  He caught my wrist and wrenched me into his body. The tranq gun hit my shoulder instead of my neck.

  I twisted, trying to find Tair, but all I could make out were stifled grunts and flashes of blue and yellow.

  The world faded to a pinprick of light.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ALTAIR

  The tranq gun’s metallic click shot my reflexes into overdrive. As Quanta started to go limp, I drove an elbow into the back of Todd’s skull. He collapsed on top of her.

  My first instinct was to drag him off, but he’d function as a shield and the others needed help. I grabbed Todd’s tranq gun. We needed to finish this.

  Now.