Deviation

by Heather Hildenbrand

  By the time the elevator arrives on the top floor, I’m shaking again. Linc takes my hand and soothes it with circles made by his thumb. It gives me something to focus on but it doesn’t stop my shivers.

  The house is quiet and still. Too still. My footsteps bounce off the walls on either side as we hurry down the hall. I stop and kick off my heels, running in my bare feet instead. Linc pulls me along, faster now that my steps are normal-sized again. Still, the fact that I could run in them at all is proof of how far I’ve come as Raven Rogen.

  Where is everyone?

  We make it to the back of the house without seeing anyone. Linc’s phone is at his ear as we slip into the stairwell. “Who are you calling?” I ask.

  After a beat, his mouth tips downward and he disconnects. “The line to the security tower. No one’s answering.” With his phone in his pocket, he shoots down the stairs at lightning speed. I hurry to keep up without tripping.

  “What does that mean?” I ask between breaths.

  “I don’t know. We always answer that phone. It’s supposed to be for emergencies.”

  We don’t talk anymore after that. I have a million questions about what he thinks and why no one is answering a phone that is always answered. But I save my breath for the multiple flights of stairs yet to come.

  The stairwell at the far end of the apartment is empty and echoing. At the bottom, Linc stops and catching me just before I barrel into him. “What?” I ask, shoulders heaving.

  He holds a finger to his lips and carefully eases the door back. When the opening is big enough for him to fit his head through, he peeks out. I hover behind him, my fingers twitching near the base of his jacket, ready to pull him back to me if necessary. A second later, he pulls the door wide and motions for me to follow. Again, he holds his finger to his lips. I nod and creep into the basement hallway close at his heels.

  The hallway is dimly light and smells as dank as always. I hope that means it remains undisturbed by the presence of others. I have to assume the presence of half a dozen or more police officers would’ve stirred the stale air.

  Linc and I keep to the wall as it curves toward the far end where Daniel’s cell is. The silence is a buzzing in my ears. All of my nerves stand on end. I’m waiting, anticipating … something. I don’t know what.

  We round the bend and find the hall outside the cells empty. All of the doors are closed. Linc inches forward and stops outside the viewing room. He turns the metal handle and pushes it open. The light from the hall behind us is just enough to show us an empty room.

  He pulls me inside and hits the switch to illuminate the view through the reflective glass. The dim light in burning in Daniel’s cell is nothing more than a glow, a nightlight. Shadows envelop most of the space. I can just make out the shape of a body where Daniel lies on his cot. He’s facing the wall and his shoulders rise and fall in a steady rhythm.

  Something very close to relief floods my veins. It mixes with a spurt of adrenaline; the kind that usually follows a dangerous experience. But there’s no danger here. No police. No SWAT. And Daniel is safe.

  “Now what? How do we get him out?” I ask.

  “I’m going to swipe a key from the security tower. I should’ve gotten it on the way down but I didn’t want to tip off whatever guard was there. And I thought someone would be down here.” He frowns and I know he’s wondering where everyone is. “I want you to stay here and wait for me,” he adds.

  “I think we should stay together.”

  He shakes his head. “It’s safer for you to wait for me. I can be faster. And—”

  “And you don’t want me there to see what happens if there is a guard,” I finish.

  “It would be better if you stayed.”

  I sigh. “All right.”

  He guides me to the corner of the room. I crouch down but stay high enough I can still keep watch on Daniel’s cell. “Don’t leave this room,” Linc says.

  “I won’t. Just hurry.”

  He crouches in front of me and presses his lips to mine. The kiss is quick and a little rough. When he pulls away, my chest aches. “I will always come back for you,” he says in a thick voice.

  Then he is gone.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Two minutes pass.

  Three.

  The bleeding has slowed to almost nothing. A thick clot has formed over the flap of skin. I toss the jacket aside and continue counting time. At four minutes, the nerves get to me and I lose count. I try not to hyperventilate as I start over. One. Two. A noise outside the door startles me. My head whips toward the metal handle. It turns and then stops as if whoever it is has changed their mind.

  I open my mouth to call Linc’s name. Muted voices, one male, one female stop me. I strain to make out the words but the thickness of the door muffles them.

  The girl raises her voice and snaps out some command. I don’t need to hear the words any longer to recognize the speaker. I’d know that condescending authority anywhere.

  Taylor is outside the door. And from the sound of her biting directives, whoever she’s with is about to walk through it at any second.

  I forget how to think.

  Sound penetrates through a thick buzzing in my ears. Feet shuffling. More snapped commands. The handle to my room doesn’t move again.

  The door to Daniel’s cell is shoved open. I glimpse an arm with the sleeves rolled up but then it’s brushed aside and Taylor strides into Daniel’s cell.

  “Wake up.” Her muffled voice reaches me not through the thick glass but from the hall and Daniel’s open cell door.

  Daniel stirs. Slowly at first, but Taylor isn’t patient. She walks over to him and shoves his shoulder. “I said wake up.”

  Daniel rolls over and stares up at her from his cot. There is a fresh wound on his arm. A raised welt with a narrow cut in the center. Something black leaks from the edges. Acid rises in the back of my throat. Taylor glares down at Daniel. She says something too low for me to hear. He pushes up to his elbows, still half-asleep. Taylor puts a hand on her hip.

  The arm is back, holding the door to Daniel’s cell open. I can’t see any more than that from my corner. I crawl closer to the glass for a better look.

  The metal handle on my own door turns suddenly and the door is pushed open. “… Check in here,” a man says. He’s two steps inside when our eyes meet. I recognize him as the guard who spoke to us as we left the party.

  He goes still, momentarily surprised at the sight of me.

  “She’s in here!” he yells over his shoulder without taking his eyes off me.

  I jump to my feet and position myself at the opposite end of the table, ready to scoot either left or right as soon as he moves.

  The arm on the door to Daniel’s cell disappears. A second later, Alton appears behind Taylor’s guy. My confusion distracts me and I don’t see what’s happening until it’s too late. Not that it would’ve mattered. The first guard goes left and Alton goes right. They circle the table and close in. Alton’s grip is strongest. He squeezes hard as he leads me into the hall. Taylor’s already there. Her venomous smirk makes me wonder how I could ever even pretend to be like her.

  “Nice work, Emile,” Taylor says. I twist in their grip, imagining my arms free to strangle Taylor with. “Hold her tight, boys. This one’s wily.”

  “Tell them to let me go,” I snap.

  “Interesting idea, but no. I knew you’d rush right back here when you saw that headline. What were you going to do? Free him yourself? Run away together?” Taylor laughs.

  I glare at her. “You knew Daniel was here the whole time?”

  “Well, not the whole time. Daddy brought me into the circle recently, remember?” Her expression clouds. “And to be honest, Ven, I didn’t want to believe him for a long time because of you. Or, well, the old you. I thought we were friends and—I would’ve sided with you, if you’d done the same for me. But you lied and covered up and you rejected me. So, here we are. I guess we both know exactly w
here we stand.”

  “What do you mean your daddy brought you into the circle?” My stomach churns because I already know what it means. I knew it the second she called me by my real name. Somehow, her father knows what I am. “The circle of trust,” she says, making her voice deep and dramatic. “Or at least that’s what Daddy calls it. He knew I could get to you where no one else could. And he was right, as usual.” Her eyes narrow and her voice turns cold. “What are you doing down here, Ven? And where’s loverboy?”

  “I was ….” I can’t come up with a single retort. I am too busy thinking of Linc. Where is he? It’s been too long. And Obadiah must be parked in the alley by now. Unless…

  “You wanted to rescue Daniel, didn’t you?” Taylor presses. “When you saw the headline about police coming for him, you wanted to get him out.” My eyes narrow.

  “You saw the headline too?” I ask.

  She laughs and it’s mean and humorless and full of smug pride. “I created the headline. Did you actually think police would storm Rogen Tower? Please.” She snorts. “It’s never happened before and it never will. This place is more secure than any prison.”

  “What are you going to do with me?” I ask but I think I know.

  “Me? Nothing. Your daddy? Probably something you won’t like.” She takes out her phone and punches a number. I can hear it ringing and then she wanders away. I strain against my captors but their grip is solid. Something wet runs down my fingers. The wound on my arm has broken open. Blood drips onto the carpet. Alton watches it with narrowed eyes.

  “Hey, Daddy,” Taylor says a second later. “Yes, just like you predicted. Yeah, just the three of us is plenty. It’s only her. She hadn’t even gotten to Daniel yet, but I think she was going to take him to them, like you said.”

  She concentrates on the conversation as she walks slowly back toward me. “No, but he’s here somewhere. We’ll grab him on the way out.” She pauses, listening, and then, “Her room? Seriously? I thought I could bring her to you.”

  Again, a pause. She stands in front of me again, eyeing me with distaste. “Fine, but hurry up. I don’t want to be stuck babysitting a robot all night. And her arm is bleeding all over the place. Ugh.”

  With Taylor standing so close, the voice on the other end of the phone reaches my ears. “She’s the last of the deviations, Taylor. Your job is very important,” the man says. My blood runs cold as I pick up on it. “Besides, very soon, everyone will be marked and we won’t have to worry about her or anyone else attempting to expose us. You did well tonight and you will be rewarded.”

  “Rewarded. Hmm. How about a month in St. Tropez?”

  “It’s not a good idea to leave the country right now, darling. We’ll come up with something.”

  Taylor barters some more and some sort of agreement is made, but I don’t hear anything else. I can barely keep my knees from buckling. Suddenly, the two men holding me down are also holding me up. That voice. I know that voice. I can’t believe it took me this long to understand.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  It takes me too long to realize Taylor’s off the phone and talking to me. Emile shakes me—hard. Pain shoots up my arm. My teeth chatter and I lurch sideways. The men catch me and pull me upright. Taylor snickers.

  I spit at her but miss.

  “Eww. God, you are nothing like her. All right, boys. Orders are to lock her in her room and wait for Daddy and Titus to get back.”

  “What about her boyfriend?” Emile asks.

  “I’ll find Crawford,” Alton says.

  “Not yet. We’ll get her upstairs. Then you can both go find him.”

  The look on Alton’s face makes me shiver. I hope Linc stays away.

  I move on auto-pilot, letting the men behind me shove me along in the direction they want me to go. My feet are like lead. My thoughts can’t seem to catch up or settle in one place. I stare, unseeing, at the back of Taylor’s head.

  The man. The voice. Taylor’s dad.

  Up ahead, a door clicks and Taylor stops. The men yank me back so that I’m wedged between them instead of in front of them.

  “Linc, it’s a trap! Run!” I yell. A hand closes over my mouth. Fingernails dig into my cheek. I cry out but it’s muffled against the palm pressing against my face.

  Linc appears at the end of the hall. When he sees Emile’s hand over my mouth, his eyes narrow fractionally. He plants his feet and his hands fist at his sides.

  “Well, that makes this slightly easier,” Taylor says. Her confidence confuses me. Maybe she underestimates Linc.

  “Let her go,” Linc says quietly. He takes a small step toward us. Then another.

  “You probably should’ve listened to your robot girlfriend and ran,” Taylor says. From inside her jacket, she produces a gun. It’s black and shiny and deadly-looking in her perfectly manicured hand. She wraps her finger around the trigger and points it at Linc.

  He stops and eyes the weapon. He still looks way too calm. It’s unnerving and I’m not the one on his bad side.

  I struggle wildly against the grip on either arm but it only makes them squeeze me harder. Linc’s fists tighten and flex. “I said let her go,” he repeats, staring at Taylor.

  “Not happening,” Taylor says, and fires.

  Linc is a blur of outstretched arms as he dives sideways and rolls along the floor. He comes up already running, his arms pumping. He cuts a zig-zag pattern as he hurtles toward Taylor. She fires again and misses. A hole appears in the wall just above where Linc’s head just was. Dust billows out of the hole in a tiny puff.

  Taylor’s cocking the gun again, her movements clumsy. She’s nervous.

  Beside me, Emile reaches for something inside his own jacket. His hand reappears and I catch sight of a glinting metal weapon emerging.

  I throw my body sideways, ramming him into the wall as hard as I can. His gun fires and even though it’s not pointed that way, I whirl in a panic, searching Linc for a wound. Beside me, Emile slumps. His knees buckle. His face is frozen in shock.

  Alton grabs me and yanks me back. “Get her in a cell—” Taylor calls.

  Linc roars and closes the distance.

  His hand closes over Taylor’s wrist. He yanks upward and the gun fires a third time, blasting a hole in the ceiling above us. Small chunks of sheetrock rain down. Taylor screams but I can’t see why before Alton wheels me around, almost sending me to the ground as he pushes me back toward the row of cells.

  Linc is somewhere behind me with Taylor and Emile. No more shots have been fired but I can’t decipher the grunts coming from their direction. My adrenaline is so thick, it’s a taste in my mouth.

  Alton stops me in front of a closed door across from Daniel’s cell. It’s the same room Titus tried to force me into that first time I came down here. I didn’t go then and I refuse to be put there now. Alton adjusts his grip, freeing a hand and dipping it into his pocket.

  It’s my only opening.

  I wrench an arm free of his grasp and ram my elbow into his ribs as hard as I can. He grunts and his grip loosens. It’s not enough to free myself from him. I’m stuck between his body and the heavy door. I bring my elbow back again but he’s ready and blocks me. He reaches for me again but I spin around to face him. I’m close enough to feel his breath on my face and instead of twisting away like I know he expects, I lean forward. My arms come up, wrapping him in a hug. I can feel his confusion and hope it’s enough of an advantage.

  When my mouth is close enough, I sink my teeth into the tender skin where his neck and shoulder meet. He lets out a yell and wrenches free. A piece of flesh comes loose, and I spit it out along with a mouthful of blood.

  Alton glowers at me. “You,” he spats, “will pay for that.”

  I am too overcome with determination to be afraid. I have to get to Linc. And Daniel. We have to get out. A sharp pain pierces my arm. I look down and find a small hole in my forearm welling with blood. It stings for a moment and then the pain ebbs. Blood pools
before running down and dripping onto my dress.

  I look up and find Alton watching me expectantly, a needle dangling from his hand. His smile falters. From the bite wound I’ve given him, a red trail of blood leaks down his shoulder and stains his crisp white shirt. His eyes are glassy as he watches me with malicious certainty that is turning quickly to disappointment. “What the hell?” he mutters.

  There’s no time to understand.

  I barrel forward and bring my head down, smashing into his gut with all my weight. He rocks back and, for a moment, I think he’ll recover, push me aside. But then he teeters back and gravity takes over. We tumble to the floor. I land on top of him and feel the breath whoosh from his lungs.

  His hands reach for me but he can’t quite grab hold. He’s too busy gasping for air. I rise up and smash my elbow into his nose, a move Lonnie helped me perfect. I am rewarded with a soft crack and then a steady streaming of blood from both nostrils. Alton chokes and blinks. He tries to buck me off but I hold fistfuls of his shirt in my hands. I have to make this count.

  I know from my self-defense lessons he will recover in a moment. And no amount of pain I’ve inflicted will make up for the fact that he weighs more than twice what I do.

  Gritting my teeth against my own revulsion, I jam my fingers into his eye and shove. I feel the soft give of flesh and push again. Alton cries out, his yell turning to a curdling scream. He bucks wildly and I go tumbling sideways.

  I scramble to my feet. His hand over one eye, Alton does the same. His good eye glares at me with a force of hatred I can feel. “I don’t care what he said. You’re dead.” White liquid oozes from beneath his covered eye. He makes it two steps when a shot rings out.

  Alton lurches sideways, his feet taking a second too long to catch up to his body. He stumbles and then slumps to the floor in a crooked heap. His arm lies awkwardly beside him and his eyes are fastened open, unblinking. A trail of blood leaks from the one I injured.