“Geez,” Blake muttered.
“We stick to the plan. At no time do any of us,” I directed mostly to Dawson, “deviate from the plan. All of us are coming back tonight.”
Everyone was in agreement as we piled out of the cars. I met Kat around the front, placing my hand on her arm. “Stick close to me.”
She nodded.
Her nervousness was a tangible entity, and I couldn’t blame her. I wasn’t letting myself think too much about what we were doing, because it was freaking insane. “Time?” I asked.
Blake glanced down at his lit cell phone. “One minute.”
In the darkness, I found Kat’s hand and squeezed.
“Thirty seconds,” Blake said.
I stopped making my lungs function.
“Ten seconds.”
Giving her hand one more squeeze, I then held on. There was no way I was letting her go.
Beside us, Blake bent forward. “Three, two, go!”
We were gone, the five of us, rushing through the darkness. Energy rippled through the air, charging it with static. We hit the mountain, sticking close to the road but avoiding the streams of light.
I held on to Kat, but I didn’t have to pick up her slack. She was keeping right beside us, moving just as fast as the rest of us. A little over a minute, bright spotlights lit a twenty-foot tall fence. We slowed down, coming to a complete stop behind the last stand of trees.
Red and white signs marked the fence as being electrical. Beyond them was a football-field-length open space and then a massive structure—Mount Weather.
“Time?” I asked.
“One minute after nine.” Blake ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, I got one guard at the gate. Do you see any others?”
I scanned, not seeing anyone else. Luc had been right. It was a shift change, and only the gate was covered. We were going to have to hit the guard before he knew what was coming.
“Give me a second,” Andrew said, slipping away from the trees, creeping toward the guard dressed in black.
Tensing, I watched as he dipped and placed his hand on the ground. Blue sparks flew and the guard started to twist toward where Andrew was crouched, but the surge of electricity reached the guard.
The man rattled like someone shook him. The gun he carried fell from his hands, and seconds later, he was lying on the ground beside it. The man was alive, but oblivious to the world.
“He doesn’t know what hit him.” Andrew grinned as he blew a breath over his fingers. “He’ll be out for about twenty or so minutes.”
“Nice,” Dawson said. “I’d have fried his brain if I tried that.”
I chose not to respond to that as I approached the gate. All I could rely on was that Luc had taken the cameras down and given us the right codes. If not, we were officially screwed.
And Luc was officially a dead kid.
“Icarus,” Blake said quietly.
I nodded and then quickly typed in the code. A mechanical clicking followed, and a low hum broke the silence. Our breaths puffed, forming misty clouds in the cold air as the gate swung open.
Too soon to be relieved.
Motioning everyone forward, we raced across the field and reached the building. I scanned the wall, not finding the control panel to enter the second code.
“Where’s the damn keypad?” Dawson demanded, pacing between the doors.
Kat stepped back. “There.” She pointed toward the right.
Andrew jogged over to where the panel was stuck behind an overlay. “Ready.”
Glancing at Kat and then me, Dawson nodded and focused on the middle door in front of us. “Ready.”
“Labyrinth,” I murmured from where I stood behind Kat and Dawson. “And please, God, spell it correctly.”
Andrew snickered and then entered the code. A second passed and the door quietly slid open, revealing a wide orange tunnel. All the way at the end were the elevators. From there, we’d go down six floors, and then we’d find the cells.
What happened next was so fast.
Dawson stepped through the door, Kat right behind him. I reached for her, wanting her to stay at my side, but before I could even touch her there was this small hissing sound, as if we’d neared a pit of vipers.
Without warning, Dawson dropped to the ground in a withering heap. My stomach dropped as horror and anger rose swiftly. I raced to his side, placing my hands on him. He jerked as if my touch scalded him. I scanned his body, seeing no visible injuries.
What the hell?
“No one moves,” Andrew ordered as Blake’s face paled.
Then it hit me, the way Dawson contorted his body. It was so familiar, as was the glazed-over look of raw pain in his eyes. Onyx.
The whole damn world stopped as I looked up. On the frame of the door, there was a series of nozzles, facing down. The hissing sound came again. Onyx, I realized stupidly, weaponized, airborne onyx.
I lurched forward, but it was too late.
Kat locked up, her back stiffening unnaturally. Her mouth dropped open in a silent scream as she took a direct hit.
Chapter 14
Instinct took over as everything else shut down. Reaching Kat, I winced when pain clouded her face as I picked her up. Gathering her against my chest, I spun around as Andrew grabbed Dawson. I had to get the onyx off her.
I ran fast, speeding across the lawn and back through the woods, near the access road, reaching where the others waited in less than a minute. I had no idea what kind of damage airborne onyx could do, but the bitter tang of fear was overwhelming.
“What happened?” Dee cried out, racing forward.
“Onyx—it was in the air. It’s all over her.” I stepped back when Dee came forward. “Don’t. It’ll get on you. Andrew is bringing Dawson. I need to get it off her. Now.”
Matthew cursed, slamming his fist into the side of his car. Metal dented. He whirled on us. “The river! Get her to the river.”
Spinning, I took off again, knowing that the river was at the base of the mountain. Wind howled as I raced to the river we’d passed on the way in. It was bone-chilling cold, but it was the quickest way for me to get the horrible stuff off her.
Everywhere she touched my bare skin, the onyx burned. The red-hot pain felt like tiny hooks were under my skin, digging in and ripping through bone and tissue. I powered past the fiery hell, focusing on the river. Once the musky scent of the water invaded my senses, I wanted to drop to my knees but couldn’t. We hit the water at full speed.
“Hold on to me,” I told her. “It’s going to be cold, but the onyx is all over your clothes and hair. Just hold on, okay?”
Kat didn’t answer, and I strung together a mouthful of curses as icy water lapped at my legs and then my knees. I gritted my teeth, and when the water reached Kat’s leg, soaking through her pants, she tried to scramble up me, but I couldn’t let her. Holding on to her and hating myself for doing this to her, I folded my hand along the back of her head and then dunked both of us under water.
Fuck.
The ice-cold water seized up every part of me, and I knew if it was this bad for me, it was worse for Kat. She was shaking her head erratically, stirring up sediment, but the burn was fading.
Using my knees, I pushed us both back up. Our heads broke the surface. Kat dragged in air by the lungful as I raced us out of the water onto the riverbank just as Andrew launched into the river, taking Dawson under. Gently, carefully, I laid her down on the bank. Hands shaking, I smoothed the clumps of wet hair off her pale face. Her gray eyes were wide, lips nearly blue, and her chest rose and fell sharply.
Behind me, water splashed. I looked over my shoulder, surprised to see Blake helping drag Dawson out of the water. They laid him next to Kat. She slowly turned her head toward them. None of us moved.