The Cure (9 page)

“Maybe they don’t know yet. No one’s answering.” I wanted to believe Keene, but before I did, he’d have to drop the barrier on his mind so I could make sure.

We rounded the corner, ignoring the stares of a couple we passed. Two more steps and the phone in my hand let out three sharp beeps and began vibrating. Jace’s did the same.

The emergency signal. We were too late. Keene had been right.

I put in my password—the real one, not the one that would erase the information on the phone—and pulled up our GPS app that would locate any of our Renegades within range. No one registered on the map, which meant all our people in Portland were at the palace where the disrupters were still in place.

All our people, including Ritter. His combat ability would even the odds considerably, but my worry cranked up a notch. We hadn’t even talked. He hadn’t explained where he’d been and why he’d left me.

We were about to cross a small intersecting street when the emotion hit. Tingling. An almost imperceptible change in the air. Excitement. Hate.

Just as quickly, the sensation vanished.

But I knew someone was out there. I could feel the life force high on a roof where no life force would normally be.

“Cover!” I barked, throwing myself against the nearest building, my eyes scanning the darkness. I unholstered my trusty Sig.

Jace dived into the shadows next to me, and Keene, with only a second’s hesitation did the same. “Don’t tell me,” Keene said, drawing his own weapon, “you came here in the same vehicle you used at that park.”

I nodded. The things you overlook when you’re worried about those you love.

“Your shield,” I reminded Jace. I didn’t want any sensing Unbounded who might be out there tracking us by his fear—or picking up any plan we might formulate.

Something small and deadly slammed into the building not a foot from where I crouched.

“Sniper,” Jace grunted. He aimed his pistol at the roof of the building opposite us, but could see nothing to fire at.

“Let’s make a break that way,” Keene motioned down a side street. “It rounds back on the main. My car’s there.”

I nodded. We really didn’t have a choice. The one who’d be taking the most risk was Keene, since a bullet would hurt Jace and me but wouldn’t be fatal.

Maybe that was worse, knowing what the Emporium planned for us.

“Now,” I muttered, launching myself into the open. Another silenced shot crashed into the building.

The men ran after me, Jace soon far ahead, though I could tell he was holding back for my sake. I wanted to yell at him to forget me and get to the palace, but I couldn’t find breath.

Ahead of me, Jace suddenly stopped.

“What—” My protest silenced as three figures stepped from the shadows in front of us. Two carried pistols and the third an assault rifle. Each of them had a sword strapped to their backs which showed they meant business. Swords were perfect for severing all three focus points from one another: the brain, the heart, and reproductive organs. Without at least two points connected the rest of the body could no longer regenerate.

An Emporium hit team.

I
SHOULD HAVE SENSED THE
men before they appeared; even though their life forces were darkened by their blocked minds, they had been within my range. That I hadn’t instinctively found them showed I wasn’t as ready as I hoped to use my gift in battle. I couldn’t blame everything on my worry for Jace.

Holding my Sig on the three men, I glanced behind me, relieved to see we’d come far enough that we were probably out of the sniper’s line of fire. At least until he moved or came to help his comrades. I shifted my attention back to the men. Unbounded confidence radiated from two of them. The other was mortal. I could feel all three life forces clearly now, which told me they probably weren’t sensing Unbounded. That was good news, though it might not make much difference if both Unbounded were gifted in combat.

“Ah, crap!” Keene muttered.

“There’s only three.” Jace’s gun wavered slightly.

“Two Unbounded,” I told them in a low voice. “Guy on the right’s a mortal.”

“Well, well, look what we have here,” said the Unbounded in the middle. He was a Nordic-looking man, tall and extremely pale, apparently their leader. “You’re surrounded. Come with us, and we won’t hurt you.”

“Yet,” muttered the Hispanic Unbounded next to him. They both laughed.

“Put your guns down slowly now,” the leader ordered. “Toss ’em on the ground.”

None of us obeyed.

His grin was pure evil. “So that’s the way you’re going to play it, huh?”

“Three of us, three of you,” I said. “Why don’t you just walk away?” Even as I said it, I felt them coming fast. Running. Two more sparks that signaled life forces, their thoughts also dark.

The Nordic Unbounded laughed. “Because there’s not just three of us.”

The two new men stepped from the shadows behind us, armed with rifles. Knit caps, black coats, jeans, nose rings. Average American thugs, only meaner.
Hello sniper and friend.

“Mortals,” I whispered to Jace and Keene, lowering my gun, but not tossing it to the street. Not yet.

Keene took a step forward, ignoring the Hispanic who moved his assault rifle in his direction. “It’s me, Keene McIntyre. My father’s in the Triad. I’m Tihalt’s son. I know you recognize me. At least I’ve seen you.”

The Hispanic and the mortal shook their heads, but the leader laughed. “I know who you are—and I’m guessing with what happened two months ago, I’ll get a bonus for you.” He gestured toward me with his chin. “Unlike her, there’s not even a standing order to bring you in alive.”

Alive? No way. Letting them take us wasn’t an option.

I looked at Jace, a signal, and he dropped the barrier over his mind so I could send him direction or at least sense what he planned to do. If I was wrong and one of these men could also sense, we’d be in trouble, but if I was right, it would give us the advantage of working as one. There was no way to get Keene to drop his shield so I could do the same with him, and I hoped his training would take over once the fight began.

Jace’s emotions told me he was frightened and exhilarated all at once for his first real battle. My feelings leaned more toward worry. Though Ava and Dimitri were excellent fighters, they weren’t gifted in combat and that meant Jace had learned all he could from them weeks ago and wasn’t as prepared as he should have been. He should have trained with the best, but the best had disappeared for two months.

All Ritter’s fault.
If I survived the next few minutes, I would make Ritter’s life miserable.

“My father will not be pleased if I’m hurt,” Keene said. “I have information about the Hunters and the Renegades. It involves Mexico. Stuff he’ll want to know.”

“Mexico?” asked the blond leader. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course not. It’s on a need to know only.” Keene’s voice was practically a sneer. He was brave, I’d give him that.

Now would be the perfect time to act, with their attention on Keene. But doing so would almost invariably get him killed since that assault rifle was now only a foot away from his chest and the added guns behind us almost as close. Jace was fast, but not that fast. I had to act carefully—and soon. Every moment that ticked by meant one more that we weren’t helping Ava and the children and the rest of our Renegade family.

“Shut up, mortal,” I told Keene. “No use groveling. It is what it is.”

Keene turned on me. “Oh? Why don’t you make me,
Princess?
”

Jace snorted, and I felt his fear lessen. Good. He’d be more effective that way.

I leapt at Keene. It was a classic distraction move, one I believed the mortals would buy, but if the Unbounded had lived long enough the ruse might not work. Still, at the rate the Emporium were multiplying, the odds were good that neither of these Unbounded was more than a half century old.

Behind. Now,
I thought at Jace, as I hit into Keene. Pushing off immediately, I rammed into the Hispanic’s rifle. A dangerous move, but necessary since I seemed to be the only one they weren’t interested in killing. I grabbed the barrel of the rifle and yanked it downward. The weapon began spitting bullets, peppering the space where I’d been, sounding like ten trucks backfiring all at once.

The noise of the gunshot worked both for and against us. Someone would call the police and that might cause a distraction, but it also meant we needed to dispatch these guys quickly before anyone else was endangered. Emporium Unbounded wouldn’t hesitate to take out as many local authorities as necessary to achieve their goal of capturing or killing us. Besides, with the increasing number of Emporium agents in high places, being detained by the police might eventually mean ending up as Emporium prisoners anyway.

As I fell, I kept hold of the rifle, which jerked wildly in my hand as the Hispanic tried to pull it from my grasp, his finger still on the trigger. Twisting, I threw my weight into his arm, bringing the rifle up and around until the spray of bullets hit the mortal on the right. One down.

The Hispanic stopped firing. I kicked at his knee and felt it buckle. Too close now to use the rifle on me, he dropped it and went for another weapon. I pulled the trigger on my Sig. He jerked, but I hadn’t hit him accurately enough to stop him. He pulled out a knife as I fired again. This time he went down, swiping at my right ankle with the knife. Deep. Too deep. Pain made my vision turn black. I pulled the trigger twice more. Then again.

The wail of a police siren cut into the night.

I pushed back the pain and the darkness receded. The Hispanic Unbounded lay still beside me, but he wouldn’t be out for long. Where was my brother? Ah, there he was, standing over two unconscious mortals, without a scratch on him. The little brother whose shoes I used to help tie. I wasn’t surprised. Even trained, they couldn’t possibly be a match for him, unless they were as good as Keene.

The thought chopped off as I searched for Keene. He and the Nordic Unbounded were still exchanging blows, their weapons having fallen to the ground. Though the Unbounded appeared to be gifted in combat, Keene was as good as I remembered. He’d spent a lifetime trying to prove to a father who didn’t care that he was good enough.

The sirens were coming closer.

Jace leapt toward Keene and the Unbounded. He landed two blows and a kick that made the Unbounded stagger. Another powerful jab from Keene and the man went down.

“We have to go,” I gritted, staggering to my feet. My sliced ankle refused to hold me, and I crumpled to one knee.

Sweeping up his pistol, Keene ran toward me. “I got you.” He shoved his arms, gun and all, under me and cradled me against his chest. A wave of agony burst through my ankle as he lurched forward.

Behind us, the blond Unbounded rolled, stretching for his gun. Jace fired a shot, without aiming. He didn’t need to, his combat instinct finding exactly the right place. The man stopped moving. Normally, we’d take the Unbounded with us, but there was no chance of that now. The people in the morgue were due a nasty surprise when they returned to life as their bodies healed.

A crowd had begun to form at the end of the street, but they scattered to each side as we approached. “Better wait for the police,” someone said.

Jace grinned like a maniac. “I don’t think so.” He waved his gun and the crowd retreated further. Only a few men held their ground, and I hoped none of them would try to be heroes.

We made it to Keene’s sleek off-white sedan and sped into the night as the first police vehicles arrived. I turned to see a man pointing after us, and one of the cars began to give chase.

Great.

Keene squealed around a corner. “Where?” he barked.

“Three streets up. Turn left.” The pain in my ankle was receding as my body rushed natural painkillers to the wound.

In the back, Jace fumbled in his pack, coming up with a clear gel in a syringe. He handed it to me. Excitement still radiated from him in waves that helped me endure the pain.

I accepted the curequick, though I normally avoided the stuff like the plague. It was addictive, even for Unbounded, but it sped up our already accelerated healing rate by as much as five times. I’d need that before the night was out. I pulled up my pant leg. Blood still poured from the wound, which would explain my dizziness, and through the flesh and sliced ligaments, I could see bone. I eased the needle into my leg as close to the wound as possible and pressed down the stopper. Immediately, I felt my body consuming the curequick, using its energy to make repairs.

“The police car’s still behind us,” Keene said. “Are we leading it to your hideout then?”

“No, turn here. On the third street take a left. But you have to go faster or we won’t lose him.”

Keene stomped on the gas.

We were prepared for this. The first thing Ava did when we moved to a new city was to set up alternate hideouts, emergency stores, and extra vehicles. Part of our training was memorizing all of the locations. I hoped my memory wasn’t rusty. No use asking Jace. For all his combat ability, he’d never been able to fix places in his mind.