I force a smile to barely turn up, and then I roll over to slide my body into his. I’ve already slept for several hours. It’s dark again. It won’t be long until I have to go face him. Until… I have to leave Hale behind.
I feel the bed shift as Hale climbs free, and the light rapping on the door lets me know Clay has returned to speak with him in private. He closes the door behind him, and I hear the animated voices on the other side begin to strategize. I hear Brazen as well, along with our newest member, Symphony.
“They’ve spotted men close to Selma scoping the place out. It looks like that is going to be his target.”
Selma it is.
I slip free from the covers before using my stealth to swish across the floor, unheard. I pull the clothes free from the bag, and I almost give myself away when I have to stifle a gasp.
Seriously?
I stare at the completely seductive ensemble meant to serve as a Halloween costume as opposed to an actual outfit. The binding red leather has intentionally placed slits all the way down the front of the pants, and the matching, red leather top is just barely going to cover my breasts.
What the hell? Why would Gabe’s wife assume I would dress like this?
Then it hits me. The last time I was there was directly after my savage went psycho and burned my clothes, leaving me with the new BDSM wardrobe I’ve since ditched. I roll my eyes with a blushing hue surfacing to the top of my cheeks, and then I huff while sliding into the form-fitting fabric.
They were trying to respect my tastes, but it’s embarrassing to know this is how they think I dress. I suppose I should have explained why I looked like the poster-girl for the dominatrix club, but I failed to even think about it. Now I’ll pay the consequences by going after Ty looking like a sex-in-high-heel-boots sadistic gothic Barbie.
The window is already open, and I swing it out more to gently rest it against the stone wall of the outside. I strap on my guns, the waist hugging holster hanging low on my hips, and then I strap on the small grenades Brazen made for me. I strap on every round of ammo I can find, though I may need none of it.
I pray I can lose control and regain it, but if I become lost, I pray the savage cares for my child and Hale finds a way to put me down… for good once its born. He’ll be the only one capable - I just don’t know if he can do it. I wouldn’t be able to.
I crouch on the windowsill, my knees bent and my rear resting on my heels, as I look below to make sure no one is in the courtyard. The men on the walls study the night air in front of them, not worrying about the death-pursuing girl on the ledge of insanity’s window behind them.
I feel the air rush me as I drop, and my stomach slides up to try and touch my throat before I land to my feet with a slight jolt and a light thud. No one stirs or notices I’m around, and I blur to the wall. I slip through a small crack to climb up, the rock burrowing into my back as I press against to perch my feet on the small crevices.
I finally leverage myself with enough force to launch myself to the top, and I flip over the wall before anyone even knows I’ve just broken out. I carefully avoid the spotlights shining all over the ground, and the wind blows in my hair as I run to the safe house Brazen offered to me for childbearing. I know there’s a garage full of cars waiting just beyond the ridge. I don’t have the key with me, but it’s not like I need it.
The small, barely visible building is camouflaged just as he promised, but my vision has grown remarkably better these past few weeks.
Just as I break the lock on the doors, my phone buzzes in the small pocket on my hip. I slide my finger over the screen to answer the number I’ve never seen, and the sound of a crying child greets me with panic.
“Hello?” I prompt.
“Araya. Help us. They’re coming. They’re coming!” the boy cries, and instantly the flash of a child’s image pops through my head as I think back to my time at Hilbrook. The boy I told to call me if he needed me for anything has held me to my word. My stomach plummets to the ground. Hilbrook is five hours from here if I drive like Hale, and I don’t know what he means, they’re coming.
“Who’s coming? Rex, what does that mean?” I urge while flinging the doors open and hopping into the first car I see.
“The new ones. The hybrids with superpowers and black hearts. They’ll kill us all, and they want you to see it. They want you, Araya. Don’t let them take you or your baby.”
I feel like I just fell into a pit of lava and then got dropped into an icy pond when those words travel from his lips.
“Rex, how do you know about my baby?”
“It’s my gift. I can see now. I can see them coming,” he says in a trembling whisper.
“I’m on my way to you, Rex. Tell your captain they’re coming, and then get to the tunnels. Run. Don’t look back. Take the others and get out of there now,” I softly command, and I can almost feel him nodding, forgetting I’m on the phone. “Okay?”
“Okay, Araya. Hurry, please… hurry.”
I hang up while shaking my head in disbelief. His powers are showing too early in life. If Ty finds him, he’ll study him. He’ll use Rex as a science experiment so he too can have the gift of sight. If Rex is strong enough to see the future that plainly so young, he’ll be stronger later in life. If Ty gets him… he’ll kill him studying him.
Shit. We’re so stupid.
We should have changed our damn security codes to the national registries. Ty had access to them all. He never wanted to go to Selma, not yet. He has access to our gifted registry, and Rex’s gift would have just been announced considering he didn’t have it the last time I was there. That’s why he’s going to Hilbrook. If he has the gift of foresight, we’ll never beat him. He’ll see our every move before we make it. If he touches Rex the way he did me, I may destroy the whole damn compound and everyone in it.
The taste of dust mingling with a deathly silence spreads the heated panic over my body. The compound looks quiet, deserted, and I’m starting to worry I’ve come too late. It took four hours instead of five, but that car will never drive again after the beating it endured. I had to use my gift just to push it forward the last three miles.
