by R. D. Brady
CHAPTER 84
Laney stood next to Mustafa, shaking her head. They had been trying to convince the Guard of the danger they were in, but with no success. And Laney was painfully aware of the time slipping by. “We’re not here to hurt you or expose you. You’re in danger.”
The guards glared down at her. “The priestess told us about you. You’re one of the reasons we had to leave our home. She said you are the danger.”
Laney frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“She is the ring bearer,” Mustafa said quietly.
The guard scoffed. “Sure, and you’re Superman.”
“I am,” Laney said. She held up her ring.
One of the older guards stepped forward. “A ring means nothing. The ring bearer—”
A gust of wind blew down the hall, knocking one of the guards down.
“You were saying?”
The older guard shook his head, his face pale. “It’s not possible.”
Slowly, Laney reached for her radio. “I have someone who can help you understand. Okay?”
His eyes narrowed, but he nodded.
Laney clicked on the radio. “Oasu, are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“I need you to speak with someone.” She held the radio out to the guard.
“Who is this?” the guard demanded.
“Guard Oasu.”
“Oasu?”
“Is that you, Sigil?”
Sigil kept his eyes on Laney. “Yes.”
“You can trust her. You can trust Laney. She is the ring bearer. She’s here to help. You’re all in danger. There are bombs outside the facility. You need to get everyone out.”
The guards exchanged looks, shifting from foot to foot.
“It’s true. An enemy of Honu Keiki set bombs around the perimeter. She’s after the priestess, but she’ll take out the rest of you to get to her. We have to get everyone out of here.”
“Our duty is to the priestess,” Sigil said, but Laney read the uncertainty in his face.
Laney knew she was on shaky ground here, and she didn’t want to attack their loyalty to the priestess. “You also act in the best interest of the people in Honu Keiki,” she said. “And it is in their best interest to leave here, for now. If we are wrong, everyone can come right back in. But something about this must feel wrong. Moving from your homeland, leaving people behind—that is not the Honu Keiki way.”
Sigil frowned. “Leaving people behind? What are you talking about?”
Mustafa and Laney exchanged a look. Then Laney spoke. “Not everyone from Honu Keiki is here. The older members and the less able-bodied were left behind.”
A guard stepped up from the back. “The priestess said they were coming later. My brother, he—he’s not here yet.”
Laney looked at the young guard, and knew immediately who his brother was. “Ipo?”
The guard’s eyes went wide, and he nodded.
“He displeased the priestess, and she forbade him from coming. He is still at Malama, along with Aaliyah, Andre, and dozens of others.”
“But they—It’s not—”
Laney shook her head. “I know this is difficult, but trust Oasu. Have you ever known him to be anything but loyal to Honu Keiki? You are in danger. Please help us get everyone out.”
A new guard came striding down the hall. Laney could tell from his walk that he was in charge. “Why is she still here?”
Sigil spoke. “Guard Ephraim,” he said, and then began explaining what Delaney had said.
Ephraim narrowed his eyes as he listened. When Sigil was done, he turned to Laney. “What proof do you have of this?”
“Bombs have been found around your facility,” Laney said. “Guard Oasu can verify that. The priestess is not who you think she is.” Something shifted in Ephraim’s eyes, and Laney understood. “You know,” she said quietly. “You know what she’s capable of. You’ve seen her abilities."
Ephraim said nothing the only indication was the slightest tightening of his jaw.
"The point is, you’re in danger. We need to get you all out.”
Doubt flashed in his eyes but his tone betrayed none of it.. “Not until we speak with the priestess.”
Laney realized she wasn’t going to get them to go anywhere if they couldn’t speak to their priestess first. Damn.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s talk to the priestess.”
CHAPTER 85
Ephraim led them to a security room at the end of the hall. There were monitors displaying the common areas along the back wall, as well as a console with three computers. He explained that the priestess had placed herself in seclusion, but she could be reached by videophone.
Why is she in seclusion? Laney wondered. But she didn’t have time to ponder that before Ephraim had the priestess on the screen.
“What is it, Ephraim?” the priestess demanded.
“We have had a security breach. A woman claiming to be the ring bearer has—”
“Remove her immediately. You are responsible for defending me, to the death if necessary.”
The guards looked uneasily at one another.
Laney stepped in front of the camera. “Yeah, that’s not going happen. This facility is in danger. You need to evacuate. Now.”
The priestess was practically spitting. “You lie. And they are my soldiers. They will follow orders.”
“Don’t do this. Don’t put them at risk.”
“Your words have no power over me.”
“You’re going to get everyone here killed.”
“I am doing no such—”
“Samyaza was out there. She set bombs around your facility.”
The smallest flash of fear crossed the priestess’s face, but she quickly covered it. “Samyaza is not concerned with my activities.”
“She was in Israel. She was the one who helped stop you. You disobeyed her, tried to change the world based on your desires, not hers. How supportive of that do you really think she would be?”
The priestess narrowed her eyes. “If Samyaza is really out there, it makes no difference whether I stay in here or go out there. I’ll be dead either way. Might as well go with some company.”
The screen went black.
Laney turned to the guards. “Did you hear her? She’s going to take you all with her. You need to go. You need to save your people. You have survived for thousands of years. Don’t let her destroy all that.”
Ephraim still looked uncertain.
Laney pushed on. “You have my word that if anyone wishes to return once the danger has passed, they can. But you have children here. Don’t place them in danger. Please.”
Ephraim considered for a moment, then gestured for her radio. Laney handed it over.
“Oasu?” he said.
“Yes?”
“Can we trust this woman?”
“Yes.” Oasu’s voice came out in a rush. “Yes. Please, Ephraim, you are all in danger.”
The man stared into Laney’s eyes. His duty to the priestess was wrestling with his need to protect his people. Finally, he nodded. “We will get everyone outside, just in case. And then we will determine the truth.”
Relief washed over Laney. “Thank you. Now please, open the doors—all of them. How long will it take to get everyone out?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes.”
Laney paled. “That’s too long. We need to go faster.” She turned to the other guards. “You need to get everyone you can and run, not walk them, to the nearest exit.”
The men looked to Ephraim, and he nodded. “Do as she says.”
The guards took off at a run.
“I will go with them,” Mustafa said, and ran after them.
Ephraim stepped up to the keyboard and input a series of numbers. A siren sounded, and the room was bathed in red light. In the distance, she could hear the blast doors opening.
"How many people are in the facility right now?"
"Three hundred seventy five."
Oh god.
"But most are located in areas near exits. The siren should get people moving."
“There’s not much time. The bombs are set to explode in, she glanced at her watch, twenty-five minutes. Can you announce an evacuation?”
Ephraim stepped up to the intercom. “Attention. There is an emergency. Everyone must quickly make their way to the nearest exit. This is not a drill. I repeat, evacuate immediately.” He turned to Laney. “The Guard will make sure everyone gets out.”
"My people will be standing by at the exits."
For the next fifteen minutes they evacuated the members of Honu Keiki, with Laney keeping track of the time. She kept looking for the priestess but didn’t see her in any of the rooms. Mustafa ran by her with another group, and Laney grabbed his arm. “Have you seen Parks and Felix?”
“They’re here, helping with the evacuation.”
“Get them and yourself out of here.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll look for stragglers and the priestess,” Laney said. “I order you out of here, Mustafa. You’ve done what you can now go.”
Mustafa looked like he wanted to argue, but he nodded. “I’ll grab everyone I can on the way out.”
“Be careful,” Laney said.
She headed down the hall, deeper into the facility, checking every doorway for anyone left behind. Along the way, she continued to pass people who were exiting. Laney prayed they would all be able to get out in time.
She keyed her radio. “Does anyone have eyes on the priestess?”
The groups at each exit reported a negative.
“Laney, just get out,” Jake said. “If she’s there, she’s signing her own death warrant. You don’t need to sign yours.”
Laney knew he was right. “Do we have numbers on all those out yet?”
“We’re still getting them, but I’m sure we’re getting close. You just need to get out.”
“How’s the search for the bombs coming?”
“We’ve found eleven and disarmed four. We won’t be able to get them all disarmed in time. You need to leave now.”
He was right. This was suicide. Laney turned back for the entrance. “I’m heading out.”
“Laney!” Oasu’s voice came through her earpiece.
“What’s going on?”
“One of the guards reported in. The priestess is still inside. She’s barricaded herself in the community room.”
“Well, she’s about to get buried.”
“She’s not alone.”
“Who’s with her?”
“The children. She barricaded herself in with the children.”
CHAPTER 86
Laney sprinted down the hallways of the compound, following Oasu’s directions. Ahead, she saw three members of the Guard standing before a heavy door. From beyond it, she could hear loud music.
“What’s going on?” Laney asked.
"We can't get in," one of them said.
Running footsteps sounded behind Laney, and Mustafa and Ephraim came sprinting down the hall. Ephraim nodded to the door. “That’s the community room. The cameras showed her inside with at least three dozen children.”
“What’s with the music?” Mustafa asked.
“To make sure she can’t hear me,” Laney said.
Ephraim addressed the guards “Can you get the door open?”
They shook their heads. “She’s jammed the controls. And we can’t cut through it.”
Ephraim’s hand trembled, and in that moment Laney knew two things: one, he had at a child in that room, and two, his loyalty to the priestess had been severed.
“There has to be a way in.” Laney looked around. Come on, think. Eyeing the lights in the hallway, she remembered a theory Dom had shared with her once.
She looked at the men around her. “Okay. I’m going to try something.”
CHAPTER 87
For their own safety, Laney had sent Ephraim, Mustafa, and the three guards to hide in a closet down the hall from the community room. If her plan worked, and she got the door open, their job was to get the kids out.
They were to leave the priestess to Laney.
Laney clenched her fists. Okay. Let’s see if this idea works.
She couldn’t control the lightning from the sky down through the building. There were too many places where that could go wrong. And the hallway wasn’t long enough for a good wind. But Dom had suggested something a few weeks back that might be able to help them. He said that maybe it wasn’t just lightning she could control, but electricity. This ability wouldn’t be mentioned in the history of the ring bearer, because, well, until recently there was no electricity available besides what lightning produced.
Laney closed her eyes and tried to tap into the electricity in the facility the same way she did the lightning.
Nothing happened.
Focus, Laney ordered herself. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart.
Keeping her eyes closed, she tuned out all the sounds around her: the people scurrying for exits, the heavy bass music, even the sound of her own breathing. She focused only on the electrical energy.
And she found that she could feel it. Tingles of electricity ran through the walls. She concentrated on it, drew it toward her, just as she did with the lightning. Her hair began to stand out from her head as she let it build inside her, taking it in until she could control no more.
And then, in one torrent, she unleashed it.
She directed the energy through the light closest to the community room and into the door. In a blinding flash, the door tore away from the frame and fell to the floor, taking part of the wall with it. The kids scampered back with a scream that was could barely be heard over the loud music.
Laney’s knees weakened at the exertion. Mustafa and the guards stormed past her into the room. On shaky limbs, Laney followed. Thanks, Dom.
The children ranged in age from three to fourteen. Most had tears streaming down their cheeks and their hands covering their ears. The guards started to usher those closest to the door out into the hallway, but Ephraim rushed straight to a little girl with dark pigtails and scooped her into his arms. He hugged her tight before grabbing two other children and herding a group of older ones to the door.
For a moment the priestess was taken by surprise, but she quickly regained her composure. She grabbed a young boy and girl and pulled them to the back of the room, holding them like shields in front of them.
Laney strode toward the priestess. The music was painfully loud, but she ignored the pain, knowing the kids, with their more attuned hearing, were hurting even more than she was.
“Give it up!” Laney yelled, but her words were lost in the music.
The priestess grinned, then picked up one of the children—a girl who couldn’t have been more than three years old—and held her to her chest.
Laney went still. She knew the priestess could kill the child as easily as she breathed. The girl’s big eyes looked at Laney, and tears traced down her cheeks.
Mustafa and Ephraim came to join Laney. The guards must be escorting the rest of the children out of here, she thought. Please hurry.
Ephraim began to move toward the priestess’s other captive, the young boy, but the priestess placed her hand on the child’s neck, and he stopped.
Laney didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t nearly as fast as the priestess; the priestess could crush the child’s neck before she got anywhere near her.
But then she spotted something—a sprinkler head directly above the priestess. It’s worth a try. Without taking her eyes from the priestess, she focused on the electricity again, feeling for it, drawing it from the walls. Come on.
A surge of electricity leapt from the nearest light, just missing the sprinkler and setting the ceiling on fire. The priestess jumped back, startled, and Laney took advantage of the distraction to lunge forward, yank the girl from her grasp, and kick the priestess back against the w
all.
“Get them out!” Laney yelled, even though she knew neither Mustafa nor Ephraim could hear her. But they got the message. Mustafa grabbed the girl, and Ephraim the boy, and they took off, leaving Laney alone with the priestess.
Laney held her ground, staring down the princess, blocking her exit. Above them, the sprinklers came to life as the fire from the ceiling spread. Laney struggled not to groan. She had intended to set off the sprinklers to distract the priestess, but now they weren’t much help.
Or maybe they could be.
She could make it rain and draw lightning from the sky. It seemed possible she could draw water from sprinklers. After all the electricity worked. She focused on increasing the water pressure to the sprinklers. With a pop, several sprinkler heads broke off the ceiling and water came gushing into the room from the open pipes.
The priestess let out a yell and dove for Laney, but Laney sidestepped, slamming her palm into the priestess’s face. But Laney knew it was a lucky hit. The priestess turned and, with lightning quick moves, picked Laney up and tossed her across the room. Laney landed on a table with a bone-jarring thud, rolled off the other side, and hit the floor with a splash. The room was now covered in about two inches of water.
Laney scrambled to her feet, called on the wind, and aimed it at the water. With the power of a fire hose, water blasted the priestess’s face, throwing her backward and lifting her off the ground. She landed with a splash. When she got to her knees, Laney directed the water at her again, not letting up as she sprinted for the priestess.
The priestess struggled against the onslaught. She couldn’t escape the water, and it blinded her to Laney’s actions. Laney ran around behind her, then released the wind and water at the same time as she slipped her hands around the priestess’s chin.
She twisted.
The priestess’s eyes went wide, and then she slumped into the water below.
CHAPTER 88
The music shut off, and the silence was almost painful in comparison. Her ears ringing, Laney grabbed the priestess’s arm and keyed her mike. “How much time, Jake?” she yelled.
