Quad 4 nodded, and Troy, Rachel, and I carefully picked up the females as they were cleared of any devices. Rachel and I decided to tag team it, despite my ability of strength.
“Heading out with our first patients,” I muttered into the headsets.
We had already loaded four females when the sense of unease still wouldn’t dissipate. Micah was acting like someone twice his age as he helped Quad 1 and 2 settle the females in comfortably. I was really proud of him as I smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder. He almost preened at my praise.
I hadn’t heard from Michael or Quad 3 in quite a while. Steven had reported the top two floors clear of any guards.
“Casper,” I whispered into the headset, using Michael’s call sign. “What’s your status?”
“All clear,” he stated quickly. It was too quickly. His voice sounded strained and we both heard it.
Troy and I exchanged a quick look. “Somethings not right,” Troy stated, his jaw tightening.
“Let’s get out of here,” I had to repress the shudder coursing through my body.
I could sense Rachel’s uneasiness. I wish I could explain to her how I felt. She must have seen it in my gaze, because she nodded. Troy nodded as well, and we ran back through the darkened parking lot. We ran into the little room housing the women, and Quad 4 looked at us with confusion.
“We need to get out of here,” Troy stated. “Let’s get them out of here and leave.”
“This one’s the only one with anything,” Quad 4 stated as he put a bracelet on her arm. We had been told to tag them as we located the implants.
Rachel and I lifted the only girl with an implant that we could find and started to carry her out. As we hit the frigid air, the girl gasped, and blinked at me. “It’s a trap,” her large brown eyes blinked at me. I froze for a moment as I realized she was in the drawing Ella had given us.
She was the unknown girl in the picture with me, Micah, Rachel, Troy in the diner.
I heard Rachel’s gasp echo mine. “She’s the girl in the picture,” she said awestruck.
I turned to look at Troy, and from his look, he had heard her, too. “Everyone report to rendezvous,” he bit out as shouts and gun shots began to ring out.
Micah appeared next to me, his face ghost white. “The woman,” he gasped. “They used their gifts to kill Lyle and Dave,” he looked at me wildly.
I guiltily realized that Quad 1 and Quad 2’s names were Lyle and Dave. My brother had taken the time to remember their names and I had not.
I set the girl down on shaking and weak knees, “Hide and take her,” I told him urgently. I shoved my phone in his hand. “I’ll call you when we’re okay.”
I knew she had to go. There was a reason she was in the picture.
He looked like he wanted to argue with me.
“Micah,” Troy said firmly.
Micah nodded before he disappeared with the girl. We took off towards the shouting and gun shots. As we went in the building, all went silent. We cautiously walked towards the room. I took a deep breath and tried to feel the people around me. I could feel Troy’s quiet, strong determination. He was worried, but not for himself. I squeezed his hand in reassurance.
I continued to use my empath gift as we got closer to the door and felt the nervous, excited, feelings exuding from the room. I got another feeling of fear and anger, before it was snuffed out. I grabbed Troy’s arm and shook my head.
“He’s dead,” I told him urgently.
Troy looked at me in confusion.
“The guy that was with us.” I hated myself in that moment. He was a part of our team, and I never even bothered to remember his name. He died, and I couldn’t even give Troy a name. My throat was thick with tears. “We need to find everyone else,” I pulled my zip ties from my pack. I wove the zip tie through the handles of the double doors.
“Don,” Rachel whispered with tears welling in her eyes.
Troy took his own zip ties out, understanding what I was doing and added a few of his own. They wouldn’t be able to get out anytime soon, we hoped.
“How very smart of you,” I heard a vaguely familiar voice say with a gleeful, snarky tone. Then everything went dark.
I blinked sluggishly. I was lucid, barely. I tried to move but realized my hands and feet were bound and tied to a chair. My head felt heavy. I could barely lift it. My head throbbed and there was a ringing in my ears. I didn’t recognize where we were.
I gasped as more things came into focus. I looked across from me. Troy was sitting in a chair with his arms tied behind his back. His feet were bound to a chair. His blood trickled from his nose and mouth, and his left eye was swollen shut. He wasn’t moving, and I began to panic. I heard sobbing to my right and saw a disheveled distraught Rachel. She was bound as we were.
“He didn’t do anything,” she cried.
My blood ran cold, until I noticed her eyes were looking across from her, to my left. Steven was tied to the chair as we were, but there was a bullet hole in his head. I immediately threw up when I saw his brain matter on the wall behind him. I barely had time to empty the contents of my stomach on the floor beside me.
“Well, well, well look who’s finally awake,” Ned squatted in front of me with a sadistic smile. My eyes widened in surprise. “What’s wrong, Princess?” he asked with feigned sympathy. “Not so tough without all your men, are you?” he taunted me.
I glared at him and imagined him putting the gun he was waving in front of my face, into his own mouth and pulling the trigger.
He started to chuckle as if he knew I was trying to use my gift. “Ah, ah, ah,” he tsked as he shook his head and pulled one of the females I had carried outside to the van into his side. She smiled at him and gave him a lingering kiss. “My girl here is blocking you. Did you know Collin trained her? The same Collin you were so distraught over losing.”
“I would clap,” I said snidely. “But I can’t.”
He reached out before I could blink and slapped me with his gun. I saw stars behind my eyelids. I bit my lip to refrain from crying out. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “You think you’re so strong, you have all the Bell clan groveling at your feet and jumping to your every whim. Look at you now!” His eyes were almost maniacal as he grinned at me. “I deserved to stay on my team. They were my team for four years. You ruined that!” He screamed at me, spittle flying from his lips, hitting the side of my face.
“Don’t be delusional,” I said through clenched teeth. “You’re a coward. That’s what got you kicked off the team. If your team can’t trust you to help them when they are in danger, how do you expect them to want you to watch their backs? Look at you now. You have four of us tied to your…” I looked around the room. “Thirteen. You got your little feelings hurt and what…you turn. Just like that. So easily bought. Just like a common whore.” I spat out.
He reached out again and smashed a fist to the side of my face. I couldn’t stop the cry that left my lips. He laughed in satisfaction.