“Where are we going?” David asks before I can.
“The lab.”
Chills erupt over my body. “No!” My thoughts sharpen in an instant. “I’m not going back to that place with you. In fact, I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Dakota—”
“No! She can’t be trusted, David.”
David furrows his brow.
“She was in my head. At the safe house. At the car. She was the one who attacked me.”
David has the gun to Maya’s head before she can blink. “Is that true? Did you get into her thoughts?”
“We don’t have time for this,” Maya says, her vision darting between us and the road. “Your mother’s in trouble. We all are.”
“My mother’s dead.”
“No. She’s alive. I’ll take you to her.”
My head swims with her words. Mom’s still alive. Maya is willing to take me to Josh’s killer. The lab still exists. “Why would you help us?”
“He asked me to find you.” My reactions reflect in Maya’s expression. “Dr. LeMercier.”
His name unleashes its own assault. Fresh memories flash across my vision. LeMercier lead the experiments. He is to blame.
“Why?”
“To kill you.”
I watch Maya as intently as she scrutinizes me. “The Solomon experiments, they still exist?”
“No. Your mother made sure that ended when she took us.”
“Us?”
Surprise passes through Maya’s eyes for a moment. “You don’t remember what happened, do you?”
“Enlighten us,” David says, pushing the barrel of his gun into her head with extra force.
Maya grinds her teeth “Fine,” she says. “Your mother got everyone out, all five of us. We were each placed with different families, former researchers with the group. A few months later, LeMercier found me. He killed those caring for me, threatened me. I was forced to join him, or die.”
“You couldn’t ask my mother to help you?”
“I tried. I couldn’t find her. I had no one left to turn to, no one I could trust.”
“So you turned to LeMercier,” David says.
“Yes. I never joined his organization though.”
“What organization?” David and I ask together.
“The Order, a group of investors committed to the development of psychic warfare.”
“Government sanctioned?” David asks.
“Not likely.”
“So there are more of . . . us.” I can barely say the words.
“Psychic assassins? Only one, I believe.” Maya pins me with a glare that strips me to my soul.
“And you’re with the Order?” I’m not certain what part of her story I believe.
“No. LeMercier took me in, trained me for the last ten years, but I am not in the Order.” A note of sadness fills her words.
“You wish you were though.” I sense her need for power, a craving that mirrors my own.
“Maybe once. When the Order targeted you a few weeks ago, I agreed to help. It was the only way I could think of to help you.”
I close my eyes, shutting away her lies.
“You have to believe me, Dakota. We were friends once. Best friends. I’d never hurt you or your family.”
I close my eyes, wanting to trust everything she says, and knowing I can’t. “How did you find me?”
“I was looking for Josh.” Water fills her eyes. “When his presence . . . stopped, I was scared. I went looking for him and found you.”
Her story is plausible.
“Where are you taking us now?” David asks.
“Me? You’re the one holding the gun. I think we should go to the lab and take care of Dakota’s shoulder. But you’re the one in charge. You tell me where we should go.”
A long silence fills the car as I consider my limited options.
“Search my thoughts, Dakota. You’ll see I’m telling you the truth.”
David and I both riffle through her mind, searching for the answers we need. Maya stiffens for a moment, her expression as hard and cold as her eyes.
“Anything?” David asks.
“Only what she’s already told us.”
Maya smiles.
I’m still not convinced. “Okay, fine. Let’s say I believe you, why should we go with you?”
“First, that shoulder is going to get infected if we don’t treat it soon. I can heal it, but I need supplies. Antibiotics and fresh bandages.”
“The other reason?” David’s voice ripples with anger.
Maya meets my gaze. “You want vengeance and I can help you get it.”
Maya’s plan makes sense. I can find nothing wrong with what she tells me, and yet every instinct I have warns me against her.
“You’re certain Mom’s at the lab with LeMercier?”
“Everything you’re looking for is there, I promise you.”
The sun dips low on the horizon when we reach the lab, painting the sky with crimson streaks. Maya turns the car down a well hidden road situated between cornfields and a forest of maples and evergreens.
She slows. “We should walk the rest of the way,” she says as she pulls the car into a small opening within the forest.
“Will they sense us?” I ask.
“Doubtful,” she says. “There aren’t too many with ‘gifts’ around here anymore. We’d feel it otherwise.”
I hope I can believe her.
I know I can’t.
Maya takes point, leading us through the trees and underbrush. A large building rises in the distance. Resembling an Old World estate, the building is surrounded by carefully tended lawns and well-manicured gardens. Several buildings, all with the same Mediterranean architecture stretch out in the distance. In the center of it all stands a large mansion. Carefully arched windows and doors surround the stucco and stone exterior. The roof’s red clay tiles stand out against the backdrop of green.
“I’ve seen this place,” I say to David. “In my dreams.”
“The lab. We lived here for a time.” Maya stands in front of us. Her body stiffens as David draws his gun, his eyes glued to Maya. “You still don’t trust me? I brought us here, just like I promised.”
David’s stony expression gives nothing away. “Antibiotics?”
“They’re in that building, the one to the right.” Maya points to the farthest structure. “The hospital.”
He motions for Maya to start walking. We follow the forest around the edge of the property line until we reach the last structure. My shoulder screams with every step, every movement of my arm. I grunt as we continue to climb through the trees and underbrush.
“I’ll get it,” Maya says when we are behind the building. “Wait here.”
“No way,” I say, ignoring the pain now radiating down my arm. “You’re not going in there just to tell everyone about us.”
“Fine. But don’t blame me if you get yourself shot again.”
Maya walks ahead, leading us to a small door at the back of the building. She motions to the security cameras and David and I flatten ourselves against the wall.
“Stay there,” she says. “I’ll be right back.”
Before I can protest again, she’s opening the door and slipping inside the building.
Great.
David and I wait, afraid to be seen in the monitors. The sky turns from fuchsia to dusky rose and grey. Maya returns, walking with an air of confidence.
“Well,” David says.
Maya hands him the antibiotics without a word. She motions for us to follow her to the tree line, a finger to her mouth. Once clear of the property, she turns to face me. “I did what you asked. I got the stupid meds. Now, I need something from you.”
I cross my arms over my chest as David redresses my wound. “What?”
The air bites through my skin as David removes the soiled bandages. I growl as he spreads the antibiotics over the gash and rewraps my arm.
“LeMercier knows
you’re here. You have to let me bring you in, let him think I’ve captured you.”
My mind seizes with anger. “He knows we’re here? How?” It’s everything I can do not to kill her where she stands.
“I told him. When I got your meds.”
“I should kill you,” I say under my breath.
“LeMercier left me no choice.”
“So what, you’ll take us in now? Turn us over and let them kill us?” David pulls his gun and aims it at Maya’s chest. “We aren’t going.”
She raises her hands. “Hold on and hear me out. I don’t want him to kill you. I want us to kill him. Take my vengeance for everything he’s done.”
“You lied to us already. Why trust you now?” I pace in front of Maya, unable to release my pent-up rage. Adrenaline surges through my veins, urging action.
“You have no reason to, I know. But I can get you in to LeMercier’s office. Get you to him. You and I both know that’s what you want.”
I weigh each option. Kill Maya now and risk getting captured or go along with her scheme and still get captured.
Lose-lose.
“Your mom’s here, Dakota. She’s alive for now. I can’t say how long that will last, though.”
I slap Maya. The force of the effort enflames my shoulder and I scream. Maya grinds her teeth, her balled fists straining at her sides. She wipes a small trickle of blood from her mouth. Totally worth the agony now radiating through me.
“Like it or not,” Maya says, glaring at me. “I’m your best chance at saving what’s left of your family. We both know I’m right.”
A moment passes. I don’t want to accept the truth.
“Well?” she asks.
“Fine. I’m in.”
“Dakota—” David aims the gun toward Maya’s temple.
“She’s right, David. We need her.” I shift my attention from David to Maya. “Try anything stupid and we’ll kill you without hesitation.”
“I’d expect nothing less.”
You can’t be serious, David says in my head. She’s trying to trap us.
Probably. But if Mom is alive, I have to help her.
If she’s dead?
Then LeMercier will have two deaths to pay for.
A slight smile cracks through Maya’s expression, confirmation that she’s heard the entire conversation.
“You’re not a killer, Dakota.” David says.
I am today.
I always have been.
“READY?” MAYA ASKS AS THE SKY MORPHS INTO DEEPER SHADES OF PURPLE AND NAVY.
David shoves the gun into his jacket pocket but keeps it aimed squarely at Maya.
“Your weapon won’t help you against him,” she says.
“Maybe, but it will definitely help me against you. Don’t try anything. Take us in and let us deal with LeMercier. Nothing else.”
Maya bristles with his words. “Come on.” She guides us toward the rear entrance of the main house.
Maya pushes me into the lead position, guiding David and me through the field and to the solid metal door. She stares at the security camera, pulls a magnetic card from her pocket and slides it through the reader. The door unlocks with a heavy click and in moments we’re inside.
The air is stale and oppressive, like everything about this place. Cement walls form a narrow hallway that leads to a single metal staircase.
“This way,” she says as she leads David and me into the heart of the building.
The stairs are steeper than I expect and my muscles tire quickly. We climb four floors before Maya motions for us to stop. “Here,” she says.
My heart thrums hard against my chest. I center my thoughts and reach beyond the heavy cement walls which surround me. Images bloom across my vision. Four men grouped in pairs patrol an intricate series of hallways out of place in this style of house. Each man is well armed, with two visible guns and who knows how many hidden weapons.
My stomach drops. This really is a trap.
The hallways are lined with several doors, each closed. Except for one at the end of the corridor directly in front of us.
LeMercier’s office.
I remember every detail of that room: the view of the gardens from the arched windows behind his desk, the smell of maple that permeates the room, the adjoining lab.
It’s where most of my training happened. The one place I wish I couldn’t remember.
“It’s time.” Maya shoves us into the hallway.
She urges us forward to the office. None of the patrols approach. Not a mistake, I’m sure.
“Sir, Dakota and David, as promised,” Maya says as she pushes us hard through the door. Her face tells me to relax and go along with her charade.
The adrenaline pulsating through me and my pulse roaring through my ears says something different.
The office is lighter than I remember, the small windows having been replaced with larger walls of glass. The other walls are painted white, the furniture, modern. The office reeks of money and I can’t help but wonder who funds the Order now. A glass partition reveals the new lab fitted with several individual cubicles and a large open area. I take in every part of the room, calculating my escape route.
Dr. LeMercier stands, his face relaxed. “Thank you, Maya, for bringing her home.”
I stiffen as his voice turns my skin to gooseflesh. David reaches for my hand, his other hand fingering the Glock.
“You do love your toys, don’t you Samurai?” LeMercier flashes a cold smile. “You always have.”
David stiffens and shifts, his attention divided between Maya and the doctor.
“And Dakota, it is truly good to see you again. I hope you aren’t too broken, what with the loss of your brother and your parents.”
I taste his sarcasm in the air and take a step forward, stopped by Maya’s hand. He’s baiting you, she whispers through my thoughts. Don’t react. Not yet.
My pulse pounds even louder, my senses heightened. Every cell urges me to strike. “What do you want with us?” I ask through gritted teeth.
Dr. LeMercier stands and circles his desk. His moves are smooth and calculated, a predator sizing up its prey. “I want nothing from them.” He nods toward David and Maya. “They are nothing more than a means to my end. But you, you are the reason I rebuilt this place.
“Me?” My skin tingles with my need to strike.
“Yes. I have great plans for you, Assassin.”
“Don’t call her that,” David spits. “She’s not a killer.”
“Isn’t she though? I’m certain Maya holds a different opinion.”
Maya clenches her jaw.
“What is he talking about?” I know better than to believe anything Maya or LeMercier say, but this is different somehow.
“Maya has experienced the effectiveness of your kills first hand. You both have.”
“Don’t listen to him,” David says.
The air crackles with energy.
“Maya?” I stare at her, willing her to fill in the missing pieces of my memories. Faint pictures of a stone-lined cell, an older man with ebony skin, fill my thoughts.
Maya’s body stiffens. Her eyes fill with tears. She swallows hard.
“You didn’t think she would actually bring you here to help you, do you? I ordered her to find you, commanded her to bring my Assassin home.” LeMercier pins me with his glare.
“Stop calling me that. I’ll never kill for you.”
“You already have. Several times, in fact.” His words steal the air from my lungs. “It seems only right that I give Maya the same opportunity.”
“You want her to kill for you?”
“I want her to kill for you.”
The air grows thick with anticipation as I attempt to understand the meaning of his threat. David squeezes my fingers before releasing my hand. Maya stands, her eyes fixated on LeMercier. A lone tear escapes her eyes and rolls down her cheek.
“Oh, but forgive me, that’s a conversation for another day.” LeMercie
r leans against his desk. “You came here thinking you’d get answers if I’m not mistaken. Let’s start with your first question. Who killed Josh?”
“I already know you’re behind his death.” My fury is barely contained and the items on the doctor’s desk begin to shake.
“But I was not the one who committed the act. I did not doom him to his fate.”
I look at Maya. “What’s he talking about?” I ask, already knowing the answer. “Maya?”
The entire room begins to shake with my rage.
“She proved her loyalty to the Order with his death. Guaranteed your capture.”
My rage breaks free and I launch myself at Maya, sending us both to the ground.
“Dakota,” David yells as he pulls his gun free from his pocket. He fires at LeMercier.
With a wave of the doctor’s hands, the bullets stop in mid-air and fall with a hollow clink.
Chaos explodes around me as my fists begin pounding Maya’s face in rapid succession. My shoulder screams for me to stop before adrenaline kicks in and my rage breaks free.
Maya pushes at me, blocks, claws at my skin. Digging her nails into my flesh, she throws me from her. I scramble to my knees ready to knock her to the ground again. Before I can attack, she sends me sailing into the cement wall.
David yells.
LeMercier pins him where he stands, his expression unchanging. “Now, now, Samurai. I will not have you interfere with her training again.” LeMercier waves a hand, sealing David’s mouth shut.
Maya slams me against another wall. Pain shoots through every cell as the wind leaves my lungs in a rush. I push myself up to my knees, wipe the blood from my mouth, and focus.
“You can stop her at any time, Assassin. You’re stronger than she will ever be.” LeMercier’s words seep under my skin, commanding me to strike. “I feel your power surging through your veins. Seize it. Make her pay for what she’s done to your family.”
The air grows hotter, thinner, explosive. Maya’s anger rolls from her in waves. She faces me and raises her hands, every feature marred with rage.
“No,” I yell, sending Maya backwards.
Dakota, don’t. David’s voice fills my mind and I hesitate for a moment.
“Maya killed Mari. Did she tell you that Assassin? She watched her die and enjoyed every moment. But not nearly as much as she enjoyed your brother’s death. His was sweet to her, delicious.”
Collide (The Solomon Experiments Book 1) Page 14
