There was a short pause. “She left? You let her go somewhere on her own after being attacked?”
Felix pressed his already bruising knuckles back into the doorjamb to clear his mind. “She didn’t want me to go with her.”
“Well, fuck that. She’s in danger. I would have told her to suck it up and gone with her.”
Joel’s overprotective forwardness was going to bite him in the ass one of these days. “You didn’t see her, Joel. Something Collette said spooked her. If I had pressed, she would have distanced herself from us even more.”
“How much farther can she get from us? She’s come around the clinic a couple times with you, but she hasn’t exactly extended her friendship. She’s quite the loner, isn’t she?”
That was his Cali, all right. An isolated island for one.
He walked to the kitchen to shove his aching hand into the icemaker.
“Look, I called to let you know everything’s all right. I’ll be home in a bit. Thanks for letting me steal your car.”
“No problem. As long as you don’t Erase it, we’re golden.”
• • •
By the time Cali arrived at the Kratos building off Laguna Canyon Road in Irvine, it was after three. The wind had started to pick up, the salty ocean breeze a cooling balm on her burns.
Cali strapped her heels on after she got out of the Hummer. She’d left her portfolio of art at her apartment so all she had to bring in with her was her purse. She didn’t even have a resume on her. She felt like such a screw up, but at least she was here.
No one can say that you didn’t try.
With her shoulders back and her chin held high she made her way for the entrance, only twisting her ankle in her heels once.
A small victory.
“Wow.” The glass door closed behind her with a hiss. Soft music played from well-hidden speakers, the instrument either a violin or a cello. The entire lobby was constructed of marble. The large Kratos name mounted to the wall in gold script looked as if it was made out of real gold. Cali was tempted to go over and check, but the lady behind the desk on her left stopped her short.
“Good afternoon. Do you have an appointment?”
She made her way over, her eye catching on the short hall off to the side of the desk. Cali tried to gaze around the corner but she couldn’t lean over that far.
The woman eyed her suspiciously. “I’m sorry, do you have an appointment?” she repeated.
Cali straightened, realizing that, in her attempt to see around the corner, she’d been giving the receptionist a pretty good view down her shirt. “I’m sorry.” She gave the woman her best smile. “My name is Cali Crazar. I have a job interview with Mr. Donahughe.”
The woman’s eyes widened, as if she couldn’t believe that Cali would even know who Mr. Donahughe was, much less have an appointment with him. Her gaze paused at the bandage on her cheek.
Cali tapped the white gauze. “Shaving accident.”
The woman frowned. She didn’t get the joke.
Stop harassing the staff, Cali’s voice of reason chided.
After a few seconds the woman typed Cali’s name into her computer. Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline when she saw that Cali did indeed have an interview and that it was in fact with the CEO of the company.
“Y-you’re expected right away.” She pointed over her shoulder to the mysterious hallway around the corner that Cali was itching to see. “Take the elevators up to the twenty-third floor. Someone will be up there waiting to direct you. Have a good day.” That last sentence was tacked on like an afterthought.
“You too,” Cali said with just as much dispassion.
She eagerly made her way toward the elevators. The marble continued to dominate every square inch of the place. There were six elevators waiting around the corner for her, along with a couple of locked doors. Not that she tried the handles or anything.
The elevators were mahogany lined and had more of that soft instrumental music playing. There were twenty-six floors total. She hit the twenty-third button and was a little surprised when she arrived with no interruption. No one had gotten on with her.
I guess when you have six elevators it doesn’t get very crowded.
The first thing she noticed as she stepped out was the amount of greenery. Someone really liked plant life.
A variety of potted plants stood between every elevator. The hallway only opened one way, and Cali followed the plants along the windows to a reception desk that had more red and orange blooms set on the desk. The secretary caught her gawking and gave an inviting smile.
“Mr. Donahughe loves plants, though I’m told he doesn’t have much of a green thumb.”
“That’s … interesting,” Cali said for lack of a better word.
“You’re Miss Crazar?”
“That’s me.”
She looked behind her, “And did you travel alone? Mr. Donahughe is still attending a meeting, and he didn’t want your party to have to wait for you.”
“I came alone.”
The secretary typed something into her computer. “Very good. You’re going to take this path here and take the first right followed by the third left. Mr. Donahughe’s office is on the left. You can’t miss it.”
Cali smiled nervously. “Thanks.”
The floor was eerily deserted but she didn’t know what to expect when she was on the floor that the CEO occupied. If she were the president of some huge company she’d keep an entire floor to herself too. Once or twice her curiosity had her wanting to venture down some of the different hallways, but she stayed on her path. She could always feign getting lost, but she didn’t want to make Mr. Donahughe wait any longer. She was already getting a second shot at this.
Finally she came to a set of thick, wide, mahogany doors. Two purple-blossomed plants sat on either side, and again Cali wondered at the authenticity of the gold plate with Vander Donahughe’s name on it.
She knocked. There was no answer.
She looked around for any kind of worker to ask if Mr. Donahughe was still in his meeting, but the floor was vacant. She was tempted to go back to the secretary but didn’t want to go through the maze of hallways again.
She knocked again and when there was still no answer, she tried the handle.
The door was unlocked.
Was she supposed to wait in his office for him?
It sure as hell beat standing around like an idiot. Not to mention she was still exhausted from earlier. There was almost guaranteed to be a couch inside or at least plushy chairs.
The large doors swung inward soundlessly. The office was huge and dark. The blinds were all pulled shut, the decorative sconces on the walls dimmed as if to conserve energy.
There was a faint, repugnant smell Cali couldn’t quite identify. It was emanating from the left side of the room where the entire wall appeared to be made of large cabinets. Finely detailed cabinets. Vander’s desk was straight ahead with two overstuffed chairs sitting opposite. She made her way forward although she wanted to veer right where a leather couch and a mini bar resided.
She took a chair and sat for a good minute before she started fidgeting. She studied the ceiling but couldn’t find any of those black-domed cameras. She scanned Vander’s desk and picked up a business card displayed in a holder.
Join the Guild of Kratos and help empower the world.
It was quite the motivational business card. She tucked it away and continued to studiously examine her surroundings.
The smell came again. Cali wrinkled her nose, a strange sensation creeping its way down her spine.
She double-checked the ceiling and, deeming it safe, she went over to investigate the smell. It was coming from one of the larger cabinets. The double doors were as tall as she was and three times as wide. She grasped the handles and heaved.
The smell was stronger now.
She covered her nose and mouth with her hand and pushed the cabinet doors as far back as she could to let in what litt
le light there was.
More plants.
Only this time they were dead. Really dead.
Who the hell kept dead plants? That was just … weird.
She shook off the sudden chill.
So Mr. Donahughe kept dead plants in his office. No big deal. Maybe they’d died that morning and he hadn’t had time to clean them up. The secretary had said he didn’t have much of a green thumb.
She closed the doors right before the sound of footsteps approaching reached her.
Shit.
She threw herself into the plush chair and smoothed down her hair, ignoring the brief flare of pain in her arms and legs.
The footsteps grew louder and instantly she became nervous. Was she supposed to stand when he walked in or stay seated? Maybe curtsey?
Dammit, she wasn’t cut out for this sort of stuff.
The person was just outside the door.
Cali held her breath.
The footsteps receded.
What the hell?
She dropped her purse into the other chair and scampered to open the office doors and peer out. Through the corner of her eye, she saw someone disappear around one of the mysterious corners she’d been unable to explore.
She ducked back into the office but kept her hand on the knob as she debated what to do. The smell of dead plant tickled her nose, bringing with it that eerie sensation again.
She stepped out into the hall.
She didn’t realize how creeped out she’d been in that office until she got out of it. Closing the door behind her, she followed the path of the person she’d caught a glimpse of. The only problem with that plan of action was that once she made it down the corner she’d seen them disappear into, she had no idea where they’d gone from there.
“Perfect.” She turned her head left then right. Which way, which way?
Voices drifted from her right. Two of them.
She slipped her heels off and followed her ears. She entered a large work area with a maze of empty cubicles. She ducked down so no one would see her head peeking over the top and continued forward.
The two voices belonged to one male and one female. The male was currently talking, and she took advantage of the noise to slink closer.
They were almost in sight.
Just then the woman’s voice cut in.
The blood in Cali’s veins froze.
She knew that voice.
She leaned out to make sure and there was Collette.
Cali ducked back behind the cubicle, her body shaking with rage and fear. Mostly rage. What the fuck was she doing here?
“ — there is nothing special about her!” Collette was seething. “His obsession is pointless. Misguided.”
“Do you forget who guided him to her in the first place?” That male voice was aloof. Bored. And young.
Cali braced herself and eased out again for another look.
“Don’t test me, Jente.” Collette shook her hand menacingly in front of his face. The window behind him faced west, and the sunlight streaming in cast him in shadow. Cali felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
Jente shoved her hand out of his way and took his own menacing step forward. As he moved out of his shadowed cover, Cali got her first good look at him. He was a handsome kid with bronze skin and jet-black hair. If she had to guess his background, she’d go with a mix of Asian and Egyptian. He barely looked old enough to drink, but what really drew her attention were his eyes. Bright gray, the right one with a splash of green in it.
“I’m not testing you. I’m reminding you of your place, because you seem to be forgetting it a lot lately. You fucked up royally. Getting arrested?” He tsked at her. Collette turned purple. “That little stunt cost us big. You had a fight that night, remember? You’re drawing unwanted attention to us. You’re too emotionally involved in this one.” He eyed her up and down as if he could glean her activities by looking at her. “And where the hell have you been?”
“Around,” she said coolly.
Quick as lightning Jente had hold of her wrist and wrenched her close. “Where were you?”
Collette tugged on her hand. Jente didn’t even budge. Kid was strong.
“Let me go or I’ll show you exactly why you should fear me.”
Jente smiled and held on just long enough to convey that he wasn’t intimidated by her. Then he released her. “If anything happens to her, you’re going to be the one to pay, and trust me when I tell you it will be a lot worse than being Tasered.”
His smile deepened at the outraged expression on Collette’s face. “You were there? You saw her coming up behind me and didn’t apprehend her?”
Jente crossed his arms over his chest. “Apprehending her wasn’t my job. I’m surveillance, remember? I did my job. It wasn’t my fault you were distracted by your boy toy.”
Cali felt an answering growl to Jente’s comment about Felix. He wasn’t Collette’s anything.
Collette straightened her shoulders. “You forget your place, Mitchell.” Jente’s jaw tensed at the name but Cali couldn’t fathom why. “I could crush you and you wouldn’t even know it.”
Jente’s hand shot out again. This time around her neck. His upper body remained motionless. “Save it for the arena.”
A thin line appeared around his neck. It dripped red. Blood.
Cali squinted and could just barely make out the thin wiring tight around his throat.
“Get rid of it, Lizeroux,” Jente hissed. He looked pissed but could do nothing about it. Cali didn’t realize until that moment how lucky Felix was to have his power when pitted against someone like Collette. She was rendered useless against an Eraser.
So then what were Jente’s powers?
“If you keep this up you’re going to tire yourself out,” said Jente. “How are you going to make fighters then? You have a match at two A.M. or have you forgotten? You’ll be in no condition to create anything that will last. We’ll end up losing, or worse, you’ll drop the act and expose us.”
“You’re more likely to expose us than I am,” Collette snarled. “One wrongly anticipated move and someone could bump into you. Then what are you going to do?”
“That’s not going to happen. The cage has enough room for me to move around freely. Besides, if I were you I’d be watching my own ass. Stop trying to figure out where I can fuck up and maybe you’ll be paying enough attention to catch your own fuck up before it happens this time. You look like shit, you’ll probably perform like shit, and Mr. Donahughe sure as hell doesn’t want shit in his arena.”
The wire around his neck vanished. He rubbed the tender area, his fingers coming away bloodied. He glared at Collette.
She paid it no attention. “Do you know why he’s after her?” she asked in a low voice.
He continued to rub his throat. “So now you’re going to treat me like an equal?”
Collette shrugged. “You didn’t plead for your life, cry, or piss yourself. That earns some respect from me.”
Jente shook his head. “You’re strange as fuck, you know that, Lizeroux? And no, I don’t know. I’m not privy to that information but — ”
Another pair of footsteps was coming up behind Cali.
Her heart leapt into her throat. How long had she been hunkered down here?
She quickly backtracked, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She’d been worried all this time about being played by Felix when really she should have been looking a lot closer. Disappointment settled in the pit of her stomach. She felt humiliated. She’d been such a fool to think that for once something was going well in her life.
She made it back to Vander’s office to collect her purse. No one was there. At least Fate wasn’t kicking her when she was down. She knew she should be scared. She’d found the one who was searching for her. But at that moment she was too exhausted, too beat down to really care.
She almost wanted to find Vander Donahughe and confront him. What the hell do you want with me? She wanted to scream at his face. Wh
y was she so special? Obviously it wasn’t her artwork or her powers. From where she was standing there wasn’t a damn thing going for her. She really was useless. Her parents had been right — she should have majored in accounting. At least then she’d have a steady job, respect from those around her. No one would look at her and think “criminal.” No one would peg her as a drug user.
Her vision blurred with tears, and she kicked the plush chair she’d been sitting in earlier when she’d waited for her “interview.”
Her self-pity turned to anger. Fuck this.
• • •
“M-miss Crazar?”
She hadn’t even realized she’d made it back to the secretary.
“I’m leaving.” She still held her high heels in her hand. She wanted to chuck them across the room but she couldn’t because they were her only pair and she couldn’t afford another.
The secretary looked downright terrified. “B-but your interview … you can’t leave. You … can’t.”
For the first time since she’d left Collette and Jente she felt a real spark of fear.
They weren’t going to let her leave.
She thought quickly, her eyes landing on her bandaged arms. She hastily ducked her arm so the receptionist wouldn’t see it. Then, gritting her teeth, she dug her finger deep into one of her cuts, reopening the wound. When the blood started to pool along her arm she held it up for the secretary to see.
She lurched back with a squeak.
“I reopened one of my wounds. Please tell Mr. Donahughe I’ll call to reschedule.” Yeah, right.
She made her way to the elevators and at the last minute took the stairs. Twenty-three flights of stairs. The only thing fueling her aching muscles was the adrenaline coursing through her veins. It increased ten-fold when she made it to the lobby and found the elevators locked down. The main entrance was deserted.
Fear had truly taken root now, and Cali ran for the glass doors. They wouldn’t budge. She smashed her high heel into the glass but it was double paned. “Fuck.” She went back the way she’d come and searched for the emergency exit.
One of the elevators dinged.
Cali ran for the front desk, tearing open drawers left and right. There had to be a key for the front door. There had to be. Fate wouldn’t do this to her. She was already crawling in the gutter. “Please,” she whispered.
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