chapter 26
Don’t open that cupboard.”
Raven pulled his hand away from the door handle. Viper had warned him Andy was a little odd, but seriously? The guy answered the door with a monocle over one eye. He’d then inspected them by pulling each one into his house individually and slamming the door on the others. Once satisfied, he allowed everyone entrance and offered coffee. He currently was leading them into the kitchen while Viper explained what they were doing.
Andy peeled the paper away from a candy bar and took a bite. “I’ve always liked Zero. I’ll help anyway I can.”
Raven wasn’t convinced the man was all there. He watched Andy place the half-eaten candy bar on the table. Which wasn’t too weird, except there were two other half-eaten bars nearby — one on the counter and one by the coffee pot.
Raven pointed to a row of coffee cups on the counter.
Andy nodded. “Yes, those are fine.”
Raven took one and filled his cup while Andy yammered about being rushed. Raven reached for the sugar jar and was stopped by a blood-curdling scream.
“Don’t open that jar!”
His hand stopped midair.
Andy grabbed the jar and held it close to his chest. “There’s sugar in the fridge.”
“Okaaaay.” Before pulling the refrigerator door open, Raven looked this supposed genius over carefully. Andy nodded as if confused by all the fuss over opening a door. He still cradled the sugar jar.
They went into the living room and sat down. Steel reached for a magazine and Andy yelled, “Don’t open that!”
Raven’s patience was running thin. Andy walked to a nearby bookcase and grabbed a different magazine and lobbed it at Steel. Rather than read it, Steel stared at Andy.
“I can’t be too careful,” was all Andy offered by way of explanation.
Viper placed a paper on the coffee table. “We worked the numbers on our way here. From what Raven says, these are the dimensions of the lab. He’s estimated each room, but figures he’s within a couple feet on all of them.”
“Good, good, good.” Andy put his monocle on his eye and studied the page. “I know just what we need.”
Raven looked at him questioningly.
“A candy bar. Do you happen to have a candy bar?”
Anger started to boil in Raven’s gut. If he just wasted four hours coming to talk to a nut ball who was scared of open cupboards and magazines, he’d kill Viper. Raven stood and headed for the front door.
“Because a candy bar will blow the lock off the titanium cage,” Andy continued. “You should be ready for that in case you can’t access the key.”
Raven turned to face him.
Viper explained, “Andy created an explosive device that fits into a candy bar wrapper.”
Maybe dude wasn’t so crazy after all. “That’s the reason for all the half-eaten candy bars?”
“I hate to waste them, but I’m so sick of chocolate I could scream. I actually tried screaming one day, but it didn’t help.”
Raven nodded. “Can you hook me up with a candy bar, Andy?”
“Sure. But that’s nothing compared to what you’ll need. I’ve been working on a new project. You’re familiar with C4, right?”
Raven said, “As much as any Halfling is.”
“Well, my new baby is smaller, more stable, and easier to use than C4. And it packs a heavier punch.”
Viper took a drink of his coffee. “Have you field-tested it, Andy? We can’t take any chances. This is a one-way mission.”
Andy blinked and the monocle dropped from his eye to dangle on its gold chain. “I’ve tested. It’s a go.”
“What do you call it?” Viper asked.
“Andy Soup,” he said proudly.
Raven leaned forward. “It’s a liquid?”
“No. It’s a solid, but it’s a little of this and a little of that, so … Andy Soup. I thought about calling it Andy Lasagna, but it just didn’t have a poetic ring to it. My baby’s brilliant, though. You’ll be able to carry it in on foot. One gym bag will haul it all.”
Raven nodded. “Is it easy to set the charge? And how does it detonate? Wire, remotely? Can we set a charge with a digital detonator, and is there any way to stop it if something goes wrong?”
Andy stared at the ceiling and counted off the questions by raising his fingers one at a time. “Yes. Either. Yes and it can be manually stopped if detonated digitally, but you have to be at the timer and it takes a full twenty seconds.”
Raven took in the room around him and realized it looked right out of a steampunk movie. Old World charm mixed with various pieces of copper and wire bundles that complemented the space. Andy’s monocle made more sense now. “So if the timer reads fifteen, run.”
The explosive expert’s face broke into a smile. “Exactly.”
Raven threw his hands in the air. “What can go wrong?” He started to drop his hand on a hat rack in the corner of the room.
Andy waved frantically. “Don’t lean on that. It’s wired.”
Raven stopped cold and stared at the piece of furniture. “Out of curiosity …”
Andy nodded. “Yes, the cupboard and the magazine are wired too.”
Raven’s heart froze. “Seriously?”
Andy stood and dropped his hands to his hips. “I can’t be too careful. Do you know how dangerous this is? If my stuff fell into the wrong hands …” He shook his head.
Within an hour they were loaded and ready to leave. Raven, Steel, and Shadow had been careful not to touch anything else. Viper, on the other hand, had floated around the house comfortably, never worrying about opening a cupboard filled with explosives. He and Andy must be pretty close friends.
Whatever; Raven didn’t care. As long as they got to the lab in time. Saving Nikki and destroying Vessler’s place was all that mattered. And finally, he had the firepower to do it.
On the way back, he’d lay out the details of the plan for Viper, Steel, and Shadow. Each could take a specific amount of Andy Soup into the building. Placed around the lab and detonated at specific times, the entire place would become one giant pile of debris. The first explosion would be small, used to drive the people out of the area. Once the place was clear, he’d detonate a bigger charge, able to destroy the titanium cage: Nikki’s prison.
Though her head throbbed, her hands were numb, and her back burned from the strikes from the baseball bat, Nikki’s eyes were clear and light. They had not faded to black. And that meant Vessler couldn’t win.
But neither could she.
In all the attacks she’d suffered, they’d avoided her stomach. She knew what they were protecting. Nikki knew from biology class that a woman was born with all the eggs she’d have during her entire lifetime. She wasn’t a true baby factory. But now she understood why her name had appeared with the words Genesis Project on the computer she and Mace dug from the fire so long ago. Later, Zero had admitted to her the name Nikki Youngblood also appeared in another file from the Genesis Project, along with the word surgery. Vessler planned to operate on her and remove what he wanted once they were overtaken by her fallen DNA. Only one thing kept his plan at bay: she hadn’t turned into a dark creature.
And that’s where logical thought ended. When she wasn’t being beaten, the most precious moments of her life entered her consciousness as hazy shadows. Her mom and dad on Christmas morning, running with her dog, Bo, on the tennis court, watching the eagles soar with Mace. Everything that had once mattered was reduced to flecks of images she could barely see. Barely recall.
Each time Vessler left the room, the assailants became less cautious. A few kicks landed in her lower abdomen. Since she’d suffered little abuse to her stomach, the blows sent a fresh round of pain through her.
After what seemed an eternity, they dragged her back into the cage with Zero.
The two lay there like newborn kittens abandoned by their mother. Helpless, unable to move, but unlike kittens they were also unable to die.
“Nikki,” Zero whispered.
She tried to turn her head toward him, but the movement shot pain down her spine. “Wha?” she mumbled.
“You’re okay for a girl.”
But the fear in his voice was unmistakable. Did he think she was about to give up? Death would be a welcome rest. Blackness enveloping her like a warm blanket, closing out the pain. Closing out the hurt.
“Nikki!” His urgency caused her eyes to flutter open. “Did you hear me?” He’d scooted closer and shook her shoulder. “I said you’re okay for a girl.”
She tried to open both eyes, but one was matted shut with bits of dried blood. She attempted a smile. “So are you.”
He sighed relief. “You’re gonna make it out of here. We both will.”
“Zero …” Her words weakened. “When they weren’t looking, I blew into the necklace and called for Vegan.”
Silence. Zero sighed. “That’s good. She’ll come. She’ll bring an army.”
But Nikki just wanted to sleep. The dimness pressed. “I’m an army,” she whispered. “Damon told me.”
“Nikki, you’re just one Halfling.”
“You can count how many seeds are in one apple. But you can’t count how many apples are in one seed.”
“What?” Zero shook her harder when her eyes closed completely.
“It’s better this way,” she mumbled, giving in to the deep, quiet peace, allowing its comforting arms to wrap around her. “I’m the key. To his plan. It’s better. If I die.”
Zero clenched his teeth and shook her. “No,” he gritted, fighting tears.
Her breathing turned slower, slower. Soon, it would all be over for good. Zero had improved over the hours, but he hadn’t been as badly wounded as her. He stroked her hair and whispered to her. “Don’t give up, Nikki. Don’t run. They’re coming to get us. I know they are.”
But she was floating on a shadowy cloud.
Zero’s voice slid farther and farther away from her. “No, Nikki,” he said, panic fresh and hot in the words.
This time, it was Zero who offered soothing touch, placing her head in his lap. She tried to smile. “You don’t understand. How much. Power I have.”
“What are you talking about?” But she could hear the urgency in his voice. He wanted to keep her talking. Keep her alive.
“I’m the key … to the Genesis Project. Vessler … will harvest my eggs. Use a cold process … rapid — rapidly age the offspring. Five — six years, enough dark Halflings to … destroy … your entire race. But, you’ve known … all along, haven’t you? So smart. No wonder … Vegan loves you.”
“Nikki, listen to me.” His hands clamped on her shoulders. “You haven’t turned. You won’t be dark.”
She forced her eyes open. “I will, Zero.”
“No.” He shook his head, and blond hair floated around his face. “They’ve beaten you practically to death and you haven’t turned.”
“But they haven’t been as … violent toward you.”
Zero’s hand dropped from her shoulders. Since Nikki’s arrival, they’d left Zero to lie in the cage and left his body to mend.
“I know Vessler. He’ll … look for the way to gain … the advantage. And when he accepts beating me … has no effect, he’ll turn his attention on you. I won’t let him do it, Zero. I’ll turn … so I can fight him.”
“No, Nikki.”
“He’s won.”
“Vegan will come. We just need to wait.”
“Yeah, that’s what I … thought too.” She’d called for Vegan hours ago. “If she hasn’t come … by now, she’s not coming. Do you recall … telling me about the death and resurrection?”
Zero clamped a hand over his mouth, his fingertips digging into the skin on his cheeks. He kept the anguish at bay for Nikki’s sake.
Her eyes closed one last time. “A beautiful sacrifice, remember?” Nikki closed her eyes. And everything became dark and quiet and nothing.
Zero cradled Nikki in his arms, rocking her lifeless body back and forth until Vessler’s men realized what had happened. They stormed in and carried her to the examination table, the same one where Vessler’s chest had been stitched.
Scientists hooked her up to several machines, ripping her clothes to place electrodes on her upper torso.
The heart monitor read a flat line. No heartbeat. Zero hugged himself, sitting on the floor in the cage alone. Beyond him, doctors gave her several injections, then stared at the heart monitor and waited. A long straight line streamed across the screen where her pulse should be. This … this isn’t happening. She can’t be dead.
Zero cried. And prayed. And cried. Because he knew she’d willingly given her life to save them all. Without her, Vessler had no hope of creating his army. With her dead, there was no possible way of turning her then harvesting her Darkling eggs. And the harshness of that fact caused Zero to love her all the more. She’d been aware of exactly what she was doing. Nikki was the bravest Halfling he’d ever known.
He’d been lost in his own thoughts until he heard the screams. Vessler, running through the door and stopping by Nikki’s bedside. “No,” he yelled and folded forward, throwing himself over her body. Between his anguished screams, he sobbed.
Genuine love seemed to ooze from Vessler. It sickened Zero that he and this man shared the same grief of losing Nikki. Zero shrank away from the bars he’d pressed close to while trying to stay near Nikki.
After several minutes of crying, Vessler pulled the monitor wires from her and slowly lifted her in his arms. Her hair fell in soft waves as he carried her out.
That’s when Zero heard gunshots.