She was hanging by a thread.
Or rather by the railing.
Struggling, she tried to pull herself up when a hand reached down, grasped her arm.
She found herself staring into Hans’s gray eyes as he hauled her to safety.
“The others,” she asked. “Where are they?”
He started walking. Anjali followed him.
They were heading toward the back of the building. Seeming to sense their presence, office doors banged open and shut, open and shut with so much force, she felt as though she were walking through a battle with cannon fire.
Hans led her into a room that looked like an observation deck. If it had been daylight, she would have been able to see the runway. A few lights blinked from the myriad of computer screens and systems. Otherwise the room was pitch dark.
She swung the flashlight around and gasped. Scott lay on the floor surrounded by shattered lights and ceiling debris. She ran to his side. His eyes opened and widened at the sight of her. “What are you doing here?”
She stroked the hair back from his brow. “I’ve come to rescue you.”
He tried to sit up and groaned. “I always did need saving.”
“Are you badly hurt?”
“I want to say yes…but no, I’m not.”
She helped him up and he leaned on her heavily, favoring his left side. “Eddie. His leg is bad.”
“Where is he?”
Scott pointed to a dark corner near the door, and she swung the beam there. Eddie had his back against the wall, his legs trapped under an immense metal cabinet. “I couldn’t move it,” Scott said.
“Hans, can you help?” she asked.
Scott raised his eyebrows. “Hans?”
“He saved my life. Don’t ask me why.”
Hans moved closer to Eddie, and the cabinet creaked and began to move. Slowly, it lifted off his leg and returned to an upright position.
Anjali went to Eddie; Scott followed, limping.
The flashlight illuminated Eddie’s bloodied leg and his gray-tinged complexion. “I knew there was a reason I didn’t trust the government,” he said. “I pay my taxes and for this?”
She touched his cheek. “Can you stand?”
“Not even if you paid me.”
She looked around but didn’t see Coulter. A cold feeling took root inside her. Her hand drifted to Eddie’s shoulder, and she looked up at Scott. “Where’s Coulter?”
The lights in the room came on. A whirring started up as the computers came to life.
Coulter stood in the doorway.
Or something that looked like Coulter.
He began to walk toward her. She froze. Beneath her hand, Eddie tensed.
The sharp sound of a gun being clicked broke the spell. Vivica stood behind Coulter, a gun trained on him. She looked wild, her eyes wide, the side of her face scratched, and took aim.
“No!” Anjali shouted. “Don’t kill him!”
“That’s the idea,” Vivica said. “He dies, the entity goes with him. It’s the only way.”
“This was your brilliant plan, Vivica?” Scott said. “Let the entity possess a body and then kill it?”
“I thought Hans could cast out the evil, but Hans isn’t being very obedient. So this is plan B. Can you think of a better idea? He has to die or that thing will kill us all.”
She took aim, but the gun went flying out of her hand. An invisible force slammed her back against the wall. Her eyes rolled shut, and she slid to the ground.
“What do we do?” Anjali whispered.
“You have a connection with Hans,” Scott said. “Together you might be able to cast that thing out.”
Anjali stood and held out her hand. “Hans?”
He came to her and she reached out and gripped his hand. Then she closed her eyes. She could feel Hans in her head—only this time she didn’t mind.
She reached out, trying to connect with Coulter.
Blackness surrounded her.
A giant void.
She could hear someone…Coulter screaming. It came from everywhere. Pouring out of his mind, into hers…
She tried the light. She envisioned the doorway, tried to push the entity through, but it was too strong.
Hans squeezed her hand. She opened her eyes and saw him. The dead soldier.
Hans was trying to tell her something and finally she understood. She gazed at the soldier, and he nodded.
It was the only way.
The soldier’s spirit invited the entity in. Coulter slumped to the floor.
The entity was now tied to a human spirit. And she knew what to do with spirits.
She envisioned the doorway filled with light.
It took all of her and Hans’s combined strength, but they pushed the spirit through.
The air grew warmer, and it was as if an unseen weight was lifted off the place.
Scott was kneeling beside Coulter. She crouched down beside them. “Coulter?”
He blinked at her. “What happened?”
She smiled. “You won’t believe it, but Hans saved the day. Along with one strong-willed soldier.”
“And a lot of help from Anjali,” Scott added.
In the corner, Vivica moaned and lifted a shaking hand.
Anjali looked at Scott. “Should we…?”
Scott gazed at Vivica for a long moment. “I think I’ll go check on Eddie.” Anjali watched him walk away.
“I’m confused.” Coulter blinked several times. “Did you say something about Hans saving me?”
“Yup.” Speaking of Hans, she wanted to thank him. She looked around the room but he was nowhere in sight. She closed her eyes and tried reaching out to him but it was no use.
He was gone.
From downstairs came the sound of booted feet hitting the floor. “The cavalry’s arrived,” Anjali said.
Coulter sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. “About damn time. I don’t mean to sound unpatriotic and all but Uncle Sam and I are partin’ ways.”
“You didn’t think this was an exciting adventure?” Anjali teased.
“Oh yeah,” he murmured. “Better than cable.”