The Complete Lost Children Series

by Krista Street

  I barely had time to utter the reply before Di made a motion. That signal meant it was time to split into our designated groups. The camera monitoring was about to begin.

  Stark fear lined Jacinda’s features before she turned.

  “You’ll do fine,” I whispered.

  She nodded tightly. “Stay safe, sis.”

  My heart clenched. I silently prayed she’d be okay. Jacinda was a gentle soul. She wasn’t made for this. And while I wasn’t necessarily either, I wouldn’t think twice about blasting an energy ball at anyone standing in our way, but my sister wasn’t like that. Even though she had a gun, concealed in her clothes, I knew she’d hesitate. That hesitation could get her killed.

  With her head held high, her blond hair shimmering down her back in the moonlight, Jacinda walked quietly away. I tried not to succumb to the worry that it was the last time I’d see her.

  “Move,” Di hissed.

  Jet, Jasper, Amber and I turned right. Di, Flint and Mica turned left.

  In hopes of avoiding detection for as long as possible, everyone stuck to the shadows. Our forms were barely visible in the night.

  As the warehouse came into view, I hunched to the ground. The others did the same. Getting through the perimeter fence wasn’t an issue. A few snips from a bolt cutter, a torn hole and we were in.

  The two regular night guards stood at the entrance. I switched my vision so I could monitor everyone’s positions. Colorful clouds appeared around my family like radiant bubbles. Di, Flint and Mica hovered behind a wall about twenty yards away. It was the only area the cameras didn’t reach. Jacinda waited behind a building for her cue to go ahead, while the twins, Amber and I huddled motionlessly against a wall. At the moment, the shadows covered us, but one misstep and we’d be exposed.

  “Go.” Di’s voice was crystal clear in my ear piece.

  Jacinda walked forward, her footsteps now audible on the pavement. The twins tensed before they closed their eyes and channeled emotions to the guards. I knew their powers were turned on full force, not the subtle manipulations they’d done in our stake outs.

  Amazingly, Jacinda got within ten feet of the guards before they noticed. In the warehouse lighting, her hair trailed down her back in a golden waterfall. One of the guards smiled a suggestive grin. The other stared mutely. It seemed the twins had mastered their powers well. Regardless, I pulled up my energy and formed an energy ball just in case.

  “Hey, fellas,” Jacinda said pleasantly. Any sense of her earlier fear was well masked.

  “Hi, gorgeous,” the grinning one replied.

  The other stared, swaying listlessly.

  “Say you couldn’t give me a hand, could you?” Jacinda flung her hair over her shoulder. “My car broke down a block away, and my cell phone’s dead. I’m new to town and accidentally drove into this area. I’m not sure where to get help.”

  I smiled at her tone. Jacinda played the damsel in distress brilliantly.

  “Oh yeah, of course.” The smiling guard leered. “We could call you a tow truck or I could take a look. I’m pretty good with cars.” The guard didn’t seem fazed that Jacinda had sauntered up to him when a perimeter fence should have kept her out. The twins were obviously doing a good job.

  “I bet you are,” Jacinda replied. “Do you think your friend could help too?”

  The guard who stood docile didn’t respond. He was the one with the white cloud that I was hoping we could get on our side, but considering he seemed too lost in the twins’ spell, I wasn’t sure that was an option.

  “Ethan, let’s go help this lady,” the guard said.

  “Ah,” Ethan replied. “Um . . .”

  Jacinda waited a moment before turning back to the first guard, apparently giving up on Ethan. “Do you think you could come with me?” She grinned.

  The guard’s mouth dropped.

  Supermodel smile. Works every time.

  “With strong hands like yours, I’m sure you’d be able to fix my car in no time.”

  The guard snickered, his chest puffing up.

  The twins shuffled beside me, and for the first time, I looked at them. Sweat beaded along their eyebrows. Jasper gave a small groan. I tried not to be concerned by the sweat glistening around their eyes, but my stomach flipped. If they were struggling to control the guards, we could be in trouble.

  I nudged Amber. “Do you smell anything concerning?”

  “No,” she whispered. “They’re both feeling happy.”

  Jacinda smiled at the first guard again and tugged Ethan.

  “Oh . . . um . . . I suppose we could go.” Ethan seemed to shake himself.

  “Yeah, we’ll help you,” the other guard said.

  “Great!” Jacinda beamed. “Follow me.”

  The guards trailed behind her like lost puppies, arms at their sides, docile expressions. Jacinda led them to where Di, Mica and Flint waited. It was the only area where the cameras weren’t able to get a full view. If we’d all been able to hide in that area, that’s where we’d have waited. However, it was a small patch. Fitting three bodies in there was pushing it.

  When the guards rounded the corner to where Flint, Di and Mica waited a slight commotion sounded and then . . . silence.

  “Done,” Di said a moment later. In other words, Flint had successfully knocked both guards unconscious and hid them in the shadows.

  I let out a sigh of relief.

  Both twins’ eyes opened, gasping exhales escaping them. An aching fifteen seconds passed, and then Di’s voice came on again. “Mica’s ready.”

  Closing my eyes, I gathered my energy deep inside of me. It hummed through my veins as I became centered. Using that control, I pulled my cloud off my shoulders and opened my eyes. I mixed my aura with the twins’ and Amber’s. Molding our clouds into a tangible ball, I struggled slightly until it hovered above us. In case some unknown guard appeared from inside, alerted that the outer guards had disappeared, I needed to be prepared.

  “I have one ready,” I said through the communication system.

  Flint and Mica abruptly burst from cover. They moved in a blur, Flint carrying Mica. With how fast Flint moved, the cameras wouldn’t be able to accurately see them. Even in slow motion, their ski-masked faces would probably be distorted.

  They reached the guard’s station before I could blink. A loud smash signified the camera had been destroyed, a single punch from Flint doing the trick. Flint quickly went to work on the guard’s panel. If he was successful, each camera stationed around the warehouse would be shutting down one by one. We didn’t know how long we had before that raised any security flags at other O’Brien locations, but we weren’t foolish enough to think it wouldn’t. We needed to move quickly.

  Mica positioned her eye in front of the retinal scan after swiping the guard’s security badge. Just as Flint’s voice sounded in the earpiece, the door slid open.

  “Done,” he said.

  All of us ran to them. Without working cameras, we no longer had to worry about our movements being detected. I tried to keep my ball together, but it fell apart when I began running. Dammit!

  Di and Jacinda stationed themselves outside. Jacinda acted as the lookout while Di stayed in the guard’s station, continuing to hack into the system as much as she could. I started over with my powers and readied another ball.

  None of us said anything.

  Moving as a team, the twins, Flint, Amber, Mica and I stepped into the warehouse. Mica clutched the security badge as if her life depended on it. My heart pounded as I finally formed another ball.

  Amazingly, nobody greeted us when we stepped inside. The interior station was suspiciously empty. Worrying thoughts sprang into my mind. Have they detected us? Did the guard go for help? Or is this the norm? Is this station no longer manned?

  “Keep moving,” Flint said in clipped tones.

  He was right. We didn’t have time to wonder.

  Flint took the lead. A stale smell permeated the air as though fresh air
never circulated these halls. Our footsteps tapped on the gray, concrete floors. Tall solid walls lined the hallway. There were no windows anywhere. Closed doors flew past us in our rush. I knew from the blueprint that most of those doors led to labs. The layout was exactly as the blueprint and Father described.

  I took some comfort in seeing an identical layout to what we’d known, but I couldn’t shake my growing sense of dread. Where is everyone?

  At our first turn, we passed another empty guard station. My heart rate increased. Nobody hesitated, however. Our training had been drummed into us. Move! Move! Move!

  When we got to the elevator, I knew my instinct was right. Something was wrong. Other than the two guards outside, we hadn’t encountered anyone else. The twins eyed me with worried gazes. Amber looked as if she was going to pass out, while Mica’s heightened energy was almost palpable.

  Flint’s energy rolled off him in seismic waves. “Do you smell anyone, Amber?”

  Amber shook her head. “Nobody’s close.”

  “Mica, switch your retinas.” His voice was tight, his words clipped.

  I used our heightened emotions to grow my energy ball. Just in case.

  Mica stepped closer to let the security device scan her eyes while she swiped the stolen badge. A long minute passed.

  A soft ding sounded that the security information was accepted. Flint pushed the elevator button forcefully. Red digits above the elevator lit up. S3. The elevator had been at the bottom level. That was where we were going. We’d have to wait for it to ascend.

  The hum of the elevator filled the silent void. We all stood staring at the metallic doors. Nobody said a word. It was so quiet that I could hear blood whooshing through my ears. I took a deep breath. The red digits moved slowly.

  Jet and Jasper twitched beside me. One of them tapped a foot.

  “Come on, come on, come on,” Jasper muttered. “What’s taking so long?”

  Another ding sounded and the humming stopped. Amber made a quiet mewling sound and stepped back. “Something’s not right.” She reached for her gun. “Something’s not right! I smell—”

  The door slid open. Two men stood inside the elevator, their guns aimed at our faces.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Flint and I reacted before my brain fully assessed the situation. One second, the guards looked ready to pull the triggers, the next, they lay knocked out on the ground. Between my energy ball followed by two, powerful blows to their heads from Flint, each guard fell in milliseconds.

  The guards probably hadn’t known what hit them.

  Amber stared wide-eyed. Flint and I had been so fast, she hadn’t had time to draw her gun. Flint rubbed his fist while I leaned down and felt the guard’s pulses.

  “Both alive.”

  With shaky legs, I stood. My heart raced, yet I summoned another energy ball in case we needed it. At first, I couldn’t. I took another deep breath and tried again, briefly closing my eyes to call upon my energy. It slowly formed.

  “Do you think you can contain them?” Flint asked Amber and Jet.

  Both stared mutely at the fallen men.

  “Amber! Jet!” Flint yelled.

  “Um, yeah . . .” Amber finally mumbled. She gripped her gun tighter.

  “I’ve got my chloroform.” Jet’s normal joking demeanor was gone, his mouth a tight line.

  “Let’s move.” Flint reached down and snatched the guard’s badges. He moved the guards out of the elevator to lay in a heap at Jet and Amber’s feet. “Mica, you should match your retinas to one of these guards.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Mica said.

  I hadn’t thought of that either. Luckily, Flint was thinking faster than any of us. Who knew if the outdoor security guards had clearance in the subterranean levels which was obviously where these two guards had come from.

  Flint, Mica, Jasper and I stepped into the elevator after Mica’s eyes shone hazel.

  I stared at the buttons inside. There were three subterranean levels. Father had prepared us for that. We needed to descend to level three. That’s where the lost children were kept.

  I hastily punched in S3. The elevator doors closed. The last things I saw were Jet’s worried blue eyes and Amber’s brown ones. Both stared at us through their ski masks. The image of a panda bear abruptly entered my mind since that’s kind of what they looked like in a weird, morphed way. A surge of hysterical laughter almost followed. I swallowed it down.

  Get a grip, Lena. You need to stay focused!

  The elevator hummed as we began to descend.

  We all stood motionless, our bodies tensed and ready. The ride seemed to take forever. I used the moment to take a few deep breaths until my heart rate slowed. I kept my energy ball in place and made it grow. Thankfully, it was relatively easy since so much energy strummed between the four of us.

  The elevator finally reached S3 and came to a jolting halt. We pressed ourselves against the walls and tensed. The doors slid open.

  I expected more guards.

  None waited.

  The elevator opened to an empty, dimly lit hall. Cautiously, we stepped out. This was our weakest moment. The cells started ten yards to the right, but we still had to pass another guard station and get through one more access door. The station stood at the end of the hall. I didn’t see anyone in it.

  Mica’s head whipped around. “There’s no one here.”

  Jasper nodded toward the empty guard station ahead. “Those two guards must have come from there.”

  “There’s really nobody else?” I said.

  We hurriedly walked to the station.

  Nighttime lighting illuminated dark gray concrete walls. The farther we got from the elevator, the more I noticed the stillness in the air. Nothing lingered in it. It was vacant feeling, empty almost, as if the world down here didn’t exist. Like time stood still.

  My heart pounded again despite my efforts to remain calm. I remembered that feeling. A brief memory stirred deep within my mind. It was of me when . . .

  “Keep it together, everyone,” Flint murmured.

  Hearing his voice jolted me back to the present. The memory vanished.

  When we reached the station, Flint cautiously peeked inside. “It’s empty.”

  Jasper stepped in front of the desk and assessed the screens and computer system. His blue eyes darted around, taking in the array of monitors. A dozen of the screens were fuzzy, probably from the cameras we’d disabled outside and upstairs. I guessed Di also had a hand in it. Some of the screens had descriptions etched into labels beneath them. West loading dock. Rear laboratory, S2. Holding cell, S1. The screens were all fuzzy. My gaze alighted on a working screen.

  Elevator door, main level.

  The screen showed an image of the two unconscious guards laying on the floor. Amber and Jet stood above them. All I could see were Jet and Amber’s darkly clad bodies. Not even their eyes were visible.

  No wonder the guards had known we were coming. They’d seen us. Now, the question was whether or not they’d alerted anyone else.

  My gaze drifted farther along the vast wall of security images. Jasper’s fingers flew across the keyboard. One by one, the screens grew fuzzy.

  Mica fidgeted quietly beside me. When my gaze traveled to the next wall, my breath sucked in.

  The screens that monitored the cells were still lit up.

  I stepped closer, my mouth dropping. For the first time, I got a glimpse of the three individuals we were attempting to rescue. All three lay asleep, each in their own cell. Their bodies were covered in blankets. I had no idea if they were men or women.

  The sight of those chambers brought memories crashing back like an avalanche ripping down a mountain. They were memories I didn’t want to remember.

  Memories I’d worked so hard to forget.

  I felt myself sucked into a void, my grasp on reality slipping from my hands. My vision swam in and out of focus as a memory pummeled me.

  “No, please! I don’t want to go!�
�� I cried.

  Hands reached for me, a sinister voice telling me it was all okay.

  I clenched my teddy bear tightly to my chest. “Please, no!” I cried again.

  “It’s all right, Lena. Be a good girl. This will only hurt for a moment.”

  The man reached for me. A syringe rested in his hand. The sharp needle looked ominous and deadly.

  I shrank against my bed. Tears sprang into my eyes.

  “Lena!” a voice shouted.

  Flint hunkered down in front of me. His dark, bottomless eyes searching mine. His hands rested on my shoulders. He shook me slightly.

  “Babe, are you all right?”

  It took a moment for me to realize what happened. The memory had felt so real, so vivid. I slowly nodded as the memory faded. “Yeah. I’m . . . yeah, I’m fine.” I shook myself internally and took a deep breath.

  Seemingly satisfied, he turned and assessed the screens. The energy rolling off him increased. I stepped closer to him and inhaled deeply. His unique scent flooded me. It was the sweetest smell I’d ever experienced. I inhaled again.

  His scent anchored me to reality.

  Despite seeming calm and focused, I still picked up on the tense way Flint stood and the fearful gleam that coated his gaze. His eyes darted from screen to screen as he assessed our situation. I could only imagine what ran through his head right now.

  “Don’t we need to get moving?” I said.

  Jasper’s fingers shook as he worked on the computer. After a few minutes, the remaining camera screens went blank.

  “Done,” Jasper said.

  Flint nodded curtly. “Let’s move.”

  We hurried to the last access door. Flint swiped the badge he’d grabbed from the guards in the elevator while Mica placed her eyes on the scan. The door opened with a hiss. According to the security camera, the three lost children were kept in the cells closest to the door. I knew we needed to race to them, but after I stepped inside, I faltered.

  The smell here was different from the hallway—sharper, more distinct. The air inside this locked, subterranean prison smelled like metal and had a stale, almost man-made taste to it. I didn’t know how else to describe it. I’d never in my life smelled anything like it except here. It brought back something inside of me that had died when Father had taken us away.