Cipher (27 page)

“Sounds like a plan.” Her words garbled and she blinked so slowly, it was like her lids were too heavy to hold open.

“Relax, princess. I’ve got you. You can sleep. I’ll tuck you back in soon.”

“Will you stay with me?”

My heart swelled. “Forever.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

I smiled. “Okay.”

She sighed and let her eyes close. Emma’s breaths had evened out by the time we stepped outside into the parking lot. Except for us and four idling med-v’s, the area was empty.

A crew of four stepped from the nearest med-v and hopped into ours.

I stepped into our new med-v. It wasn’t as nice as the last one. The inside was an obnoxious shade of orange, and smelled moldy, but we didn’t have the luxury of being picky.

A blanket was folded over the foot of the bed in the back. I didn’t want to disturb Emma too much, so I quickly hung up the IV bag, then eased us down and pulled the blanket over us both. It wasn’t a minute before the RV started moving.

Dex came into the room and knelt by the bed. “Sam says all the switched med-v’s are being followed, but I think we can lose the tail. The other med-v’s are moving a little faster than us. One’s pushing it to make it clear they’re running. It’s got the most attention so far.”

I nodded. “Thanks for handling this.”

“You okay?”

“More or less.” I stroked Emma’s shoulder. “She’s constantly pulling energy. It’s okay right now, but if we don’t get back soon, I’m afraid she’ll go nuclear.”

Dex whistled. “Should we just knock her out?”

I shook my head. “She’s already dead to the world and that’s not helping.” I paused. “I’m good for now, but you’d better retreat. Just being around her is dangerous.”

“I got that. You sure you can handle it, man?”

There weren’t a hell of a lot of options. “Yeah. I got this.”

Dex nodded slowly. He’d known me long enough to know when I was bullshitting, but he wasn’t going to say a damned thing about it. “Holler if you need anything. I’m going to go back to driving on manual controls now, but I can go auto anytime.”

“Thanks.”

He left and I forced myself to close my eyes. My teeth were tingling again and my whole body was jittery. The truth was, I wasn’t sure how much I could take. If it took much longer to get to the compound…

I might be in trouble.

Chapter Twenty-One

CIPHER

I woke up feeling much less zombie-like. Every time I’d come to for a few seconds, Knight had been there holding me, and it was nice. Beyond nice not to have to worry about losing control. But I had to get out of bed at some point. Knight shook, itching to get up.

When I rolled out of bed, he looked at me for a long moment. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I stretched. “A little weak, but better.” I noticed the IV strapped to my arm. “What the hell?”

“Hang on. I’ll take it out.” He gently cradled my arm and unstrapped the device. “How’s the energy?”

“Sizzling along my edges.” I paused to assess, and opened my eyes. “I have it under control. I’ll be okay.”

He nodded once, but made no move to get up.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

When I peeked back in, he was positioned on the floor doing push-ups so fast my arms ached in sympathy. I left him to it and made my way to the front of the med-v.

The whole thing was a piece of shit. The road noise was constant and loud, and the windows rattled as we flew down the freeway, passing cars on both sides. Not easy to do in any med-v, especially such a hunk of junk. Dex was doing some badass maneuvering.

The bathroom was tinier than the one in the Griz, but it had bunks on either side of the walls. More room for injured soldiers. Cabinets took up the space between the bottom bunk and the floor. Even if the vehicle was old, I’d bet every shelf was fully stocked with supplies.

I sat in the passenger seat and propped my feet up on the dashboard. I’d been online friends with Dex for as long as Knight, but Knight and I had always clicked a little more.

Still, it was fun to talk face to face. That I hadn’t realized how much human contact mattered showed how deeply I’d fallen into my persona. It was like the cloud had finally cleared and I could maybe be happy.

I might’ve been on the run and feeling off, but I had friends. I had Knight.

Which was awesome. And terrifying.

Having something to lose also meant I had something to fight for. For him. And us.

“How’s it going?”

“Good,” Dex said. “How are you doing?”

“Better. I think.” The roads were pretty quiet as we moved through the nighttime desert.

“That’s good.”

“We’re still being followed?”

“Not anymore. They fell back. They’ve apparently ruled us out.”

Twenty minutes later, Dex had me cracking up as he told me stories from just after he and Knight had gotten their helixes.

“—and then Knight said, ‘Ma’am, please put the uzi down.’ In that calm voice of his. She’s totally off her ass on drugs, and pointing some serious shit at him, but man, that guy has iron intestines. I was nearly shitting myself and I wasn’t the one in front of her.”

I snorted. “So, what did he do?”

“You’re not seriously telling her this story,” Knight strode out of the bedroom.

“Hells yes I am. So then—”

An explosion overhead rocked the med-v.

“Fuck!” Dex slammed the gas, swerving around falling debris.

“Turn right!” Knight shouted from the back.

He turned hard, nearly flipping the med-v. I hadn’t even realized there was a chopper above us until it crashed down.

“Check in. I want to know if that was one of ours?” Dex asked.

Knight was quiet for a second. “Yes, it was ours.”

“Who was in her?” Dex asked.

“Mendleson. DeLuna. O’Brien.” Knight’s voice was cold, unemotional. “Get this med-v moving, Dex. There’s more coming our way.”

Adrenaline flooded my system and I knew Knight was right. We had to get the hell out of here.

Dex gunned the engine. As we took off down the highway, gunshots peppered the med-v.

“Michaels says we’ve got six trucks coming up on us and two choppers in the air. Their team is fighting in the air, but we have to lose the trucks or find a defensible spot. Fast,” Knight said.

My hands shook. The power of the explosion and chaos had my control slipping, and my skin tingled as electricity ran along my body.

Something slammed into the side of the med-v, knocking us to the side.

“Wrong move, asshole,” Dex muttered. He switched gears, and slammed back.

I grabbed the ‘oh, shit’ bar beside my head, and tried to stay calm.

“We can’t outrun them in this rig,” Dex said.

“So what’s the plan?” Knight squatted between the driver and passenger seats, keeping a hand on me. “I’m open to suggestions.”

Right. We couldn’t outrun them. We couldn’t outgun them. We were surrounded in the middle of nowhere with no cover and we couldn’t stop to find any.

The only advantage we had was me, but Knight wouldn’t hand me over.

That only left one thing for me to do. Fight.

I unlocked my seatbelt. Dex was busy hauling ass and avoiding getting slammed again. The med-v was swerving so much it was like being wasted, but I managed to stay on my feet.

“Where are you going?”

“The power’s building too much. I’m going to blow. It’d be better if I was outside when it does. Maybe I can direct it.”

Knight shook his head. “What exactly do you think you’re going to do up there?”

“I’m gonna, you know, zap ‘em.”

“Your control isn’t that good. You could blow all of us up.”

“I know. Always tried to keep myself under control, but this seems like a good time to let loose. Especially since I’m barely hanging on. Maybe I can direct it this time?” I hoped I wasn’t out of my mind or this would be a majorly stupid move.

Knight spun to Dex. “Rope?”

“In my pack.”

Knight grabbed a thick coil from Dex’s backpack. He wrapped the rope around my waist, and tested the knot three times.

His gaze met mine. “This is a terrible idea.” He handed the slack to Dex. “You lose this line, I will slit your throat. If you hear me yell, you pull her back in.”

Dex wrapped the end around his forearm, and then went back to gripping the steering wheel. “Great. Defensive driving and keeping lifelines. Anything else you need me to do?”

“That’s it for now,” Knight said, and then he turned to me. “I’ll go out first and cover you. Then you go out. You need help harnessing, you put your hand on my skin. I’ll help you focus.” His words were firm and clear, but I could see the fear in his eyes.

I blew out a breath. I didn’t want to put him in danger for my dumb plan. “It’d be better if I went up by myself.”

“No.” He went back to Dex’s pack and pulled out a com, putting it in his ear. “When we get up there, you do what I say, okay?”

“Okay.”

He climbed up to the top bunk and removed the ceiling hatch. He popped up, and then back down quickly as a shot rang out. He pressed on the com. “I’m going on top of the rig. Give me cover and then get the fuck out of there.”

My heart raced. I wiped a bead of pink-tinged sweat from my brow.

Shots echoed in the night. Knight winked at me and then disappeared through the hatch, big-ass gun in hand.

My breath caught. I climbed up the bunks and poked my head out.

All I could see were headlights and Knight as he lay on his stomach, aiming. He fired, a tire blew, and the first truck rolled. The headlights spun and an explosion blasted through the night.

I lifted myself onto the roof. Wind blew across my face, and I was glad I’d thought to pull my hair back.

Then the gunfire stopped.

“Emma Jean.” Uncle Jack’s voice boomed over a loudspeaker.

Was he in one of the trucks?

No. There was no way he’d take that kind of risk. He had to be watching from some safe distance.

“Stop running. Don’t let any more people get killed trying to avoid the inevitable. I will always find you.”

I copied Knight’s move and lay down on my stomach. The metal roof was cool against my chin.

For once, Jack was right. He would always find me, and three Ravens were already dead because of me. Was my life really worth this?

“Don’t listen to him,” Knight yelled over the noise. I could barely hear him, but barely hearing was enough. “We’re all Ravens. He won’t let any of us go without killing us.”

Knight was right. Maybe if they hadn’t broken me out of that warehouse, but it was too late to go back. The second the Ravens showed up, they’d signed up for this fight. I’d already tried the whole running away thing, and it hadn’t worked out well for anyone.

Now my plan wasn’t about running. It was about fighting.

My uncle continued to talk, but I wasn’t paying attention. It didn’t matter what he said. I wouldn’t go to him again. If I did, Knight would keep coming after me.

Sticking to my plan was the only option. I closed my eyes.

I breathed out two steady breaths and I could feel the little balls of energy that fueled the trucks. They were like burning candles in the night. All it would take was a burst of thought from me, and they’d explode.

I went for the one farthest away first, just in case I went out of control. The truck was fourth back in the convoy—the last one. I thought of the truck like a light bulb. I’d blown more bulbs than I could count in my life, and the truck was no different.

I magnified the energy with my power, speeding up the pulsing signal and overloading the truck’s systems with electricity. I felt the explosion in my bones. Smoke and debris flew overhead.

I was reaching for the next truck before I could stop myself. It was moving too fast. Much too fast. The second truck exploded, and another blast of heat licked along my skin, closer this time.

Before I knew what was happening, another explosion rocked the night. I opened my eyes as a chopper fell from the sky. The metal crunched into the ground and a wave of heat blazed overhead.

Oh shit
. I couldn’t contain it.

The smell of fuel and burning cars filled the night.

“Emma.” Knight’s voice broke through the chaos. “Emma Jean Boyd. Snap out of it!” He started firing on the three remaining trucks as they fired at us. “Grab me. I’ll ground it.”

I scooched closer to him on my belly.

Another truck blew. This one was closer. I blocked my face from the heat. The med-v tipped over on two wheels from the force of the explosion.

“Shit.” Knight started sliding off the roof. He pulled a knife from his belt and stabbed the metal, holding himself in place until the tires met the ground again. “Get our cover away.” He yelled into his com. “She’s lost control of her powers. Assume twice the safe distance.” Another copter fell from the sky. I covered my ears from the crash.

“Fuck.” I screamed, but I couldn’t hear it over all the noise.

“Not one of ours,” he said, but my ears were still ringing. “But get it under control, Em.”

“I can’t.” I was too afraid to move. What felt like a never-ending stream of electricity was zinging through my body. I was too upset. Too angry with my uncle. Every bullet that plunked against the med-v set me off.

“If you can’t, then get over to me. I can’t stop firing at them. You’re a foot away. Just reach out for me. You can do this.” He kept his sight on the approaching trucks.

This was dumb. I was dumb. I knew I needed to get control, but the more panicked I was, the more angry I became, and the worse my control got. “No. I can’t move. I’m losing it.”

“I can’t get over to you.” He shot off three more bullets and then reloaded. “Come to me.”

Another truck exploded.

“Cy, if you’re doing this, you gotta make sure you don’t blow us up,” Dex yelled from inside the med-v.

“Trying.”

Energy built in my core. It ran through my veins, overpowering me. Searing its way through me.

There was only one more truck left. It was right next to us.

My teeth tingled with a surge of power. I couldn’t get control.

The explosion rocked the med-v. Dex tried to correct us to keep her from rolling, but I was about to fly off the roof.