Ava

I loved and hated the city. The rush of people coming and going excited me. Booming voices from the commercials playing on building-sized signs drowned out the gliders flying above.

Then Helix took over my overstimulated senses and hologram bodies appeared over real bodies everywhere I looked, practically covering my line of sight. More drones than we usually encountered flew over us. Too many. Too many, interfering with my physical vision. I didn’t know which way to turn, or what I was doing.

Calm down, Ava. Turn it off.

I inhaled deep breaths, soothing my nerves and the adrenaline pumping through me.

Be part of the crowd. Nobody knows you.

People smiled at me when I met their gaze. I tried to avoid them, but so many traveled along the busy walkway with families and friends. Keeping my head low, I scratched an itch under my short black wig.

“We’re almost there.” Rhett grabbed my hand. “Keep your head down. I see Council guards up ahead.”

I passed the holograms talking by the shops and looked over my shoulder to make sure Oz, Reyna, and Cleo didn’t get lost in the crowd.

I’d never feared pain. I’d never feared death. After my mother passed away, I’d had no one to live for. Until now. I finally had something to lose. Someone to lose.

Rhett tightened our intertwined fingers. “I don’t care what Zen said—that serum isn’t more important than you. Don’t risk your life, Ava. I need you to come back to me. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

The only reasons to go back were for Brooke and the serum, but now that we’d reached the last stretch before I parted from Rhett, I hesitated.

Rhett squeezed my hand once, twice, and again, as if letting me know everything was going to be just fine.

We crossed the street and stopped at a skyscraper. When he placed his chipped hand on the scanner, the door slid open.

“Hurry.” Rhett raced across the polished floor and stopped at the elevator. “It’s almost noon. Mitch better be there.”

The elevator dinged and opened. Rhett went in first and we followed. I readied my Taser. Reyna tapped her foot, Cleo stared at the ceiling, and Ozzie rested his hand on my shoulder.

“Ava,” Ozzie whispered so only I could hear in the confined space. “Do whatever it takes to stay safe. I’m going to be mad as hell if something—”

A memory unfolded at Ozzie’s words. I curled my fingers into a ball and extended it to him, keeping steady as I spoke.

“This is going to sound strange, but I think we did this before and said, fist bump swear it. Whatever it takes.”

Ozzie gawked at my fist bump and hesitantly placed his on top of mine. “Whatever it takes.”

Reyna’s eyes turned glassy. “You remember?” She flicked a strand of blonde wig from her face and closed the distance.

“Yes, I think.”

She jerked her chin, rested her fist on top of Ozzie’s, and said with pride, “Whatever it takes.”

Rhett pressed his lips and nodded, but his expression told me our actions touched him deeply, and he stared as if reliving some other moment. Then he locked eyes with me, and instead of placing his fist on top of Reyna’s, he placed it under mine.

“Whatever it takes.”

The four of us remained for a few seconds as we exchanged loving, caring glances.

I broke the silence. “Cleo, get with the program.”

She glanced at all of us and gently laid her fist on top of Reyna’s. “Whatever it takes.”

It sounded more like a question.

When the door dinged, I broke our chain.

Rhett pressed the button to hold the door open. “I’ll go first. Wait about ten seconds and go to room 4012. Ring the doorbell three times. If Mitch is there, he’ll let you in.”

Rhett walked out.

I counted one and jerked back when Rhett reappeared.

“What are you doing? You should—”

“Ava,” he growled softly and gave me a kiss to remember. Then he swaggered away.

“Where’s my kiss, Rhett?” Ozzie snickered.

“You’re too ugly, Oz.” Rhett’s voice echoed down the hallway.

A few seconds later, a door slammed and something thumped on the ground. My heart thundered. Our momentary peace had ended. As I turned on my mental map, I counted in my head. One, two, three ... five ... eight ... ten.

I dashed out and noted Rhett had gone the opposite way.

“Room 4002.” Ozzie pointed his Taser to the number. “4004, 4006, 4008, 4010.”

“We’re here.” Cleo swallowed.

I rang the bell three times like Rhett had instructed. The door creaked open and Mitch’s face appeared.

“Where’s Rhett?” My Taser in front, I entered.

I ambled carefully along the polished floor and into an open space with simple furniture. Kitchen to the right and a hallway to my left, leading to the bedroom. The length of the back wall gave a stunning view of the city.

My mental map showed me there was no other exit, only Mitch in the room, and a hologram body coming our way.

Rhett stood by the threshold, leaning against the doorframe. “Hello, babe.”

Babe. The word made my stomach somersault every time.

“‘Well, hello, Mitch.’” Mitch rolled his eyes at me and shut the door. “‘It’s so nice to see you. How have you been? Thank you for sticking out your neck for me.’”

Ozzie grunted. “You only stick out your neck for yourself. We’re not here to socialize. Hurry the hell up and tell us what we need to know so we can go.”

“Why is she here?” Mitch gestured toward Cleo with a disgusted look. “And why is your amateur team here? It was supposed to be only you, Rhett.”

“Plans have changed. You’re taking Ava back.” Cleo held up her chin and holstered her Taser.

Cleo knows Mitch, too? Of course she does.

“What? That wasn’t our plan.” Mitch’s nostrils flared. “Ava can’t go back. Mr. Novak will kill her.”

“Not if I have a reasonable explanation.” I tossed my wig at him since I didn’t need it anymore. He let it fall to the ground. “I’m going to tell Mr. Novak I had a lead on the rebels, and I followed it, but I couldn’t report it back to the team because my comm broke in the fall at the hotel, and I had no way to communicate. I followed the rebel team to their hideout and then to this apartment. That is when I spotted you, and we’re going back to ISAN together.”

Mitch sighed and rubbed the side of his throat. “Could work. But listen, you don’t have much time. Rhett knocked out some ISAN guards in the hall before you came. If they don’t answer their comms, you’ll have less than five minutes to get out.”

“Fair enough.” Reyna cocked her gun. “We’ll be ready. Now tell us what we came for.”

Mitch paced from the sofa to a tall fake plant. “I don’t know when, but ISAN is planning to bomb the rebel base in the South.”

Nobody said a word.

“Aaand?” Reyna dragged out the word.

“And what? I just told you.”

“Is that all?” Cleo yanked on Mitch’s shirt. “We have to know more. We came all the way here just for that?”

Mitch’s eyes dropped to Cleo’s hand and she backed away.

“I just told you South. Run with that.” Mitch dusted his collar as if Cleo had left a dirty handprint. “And as for you ...” He met Cleo squarely in her eyes. “You came to help drop off Ava. Perhaps you followed to see her go so you can have Rhett all to yourself.”

He’s a piece of work.

Mitch’s face whipped to the side with the impact of Cleo’s slap. He placed a hand over his cheek and scoffed, glaring at Cleo, who disappeared into the hallway.

Good for you, Cleo. He was so lucky he hadn’t said it to me. I would have knocked out his teeth and then some.

“You certainly deserved that,” Reyna muttered under her breath.

“Enough.” Rhett took a step toward Mitch. “Take Ava back. She’ll tell Mr. Novak her side of the story, and you’re going to back her up.”

“I always back her up. Don’t I, sweetheart?” Mitch winked at me.

I advanced two steps before Rhett stopped me from pouncing. “You put a gun on my head. You knocked me out. You ratted us out. I will always remember that. I don’t trust you.”

With every word, my face felt hot and my body trembled with rage and loathing. Rhett tightened his grip as I struggled.

Mitch blanched. For a moment, an apologetic expression crossed his face. Then he cleared his throat.

“I did what I had to do. I have no regrets. But you’ll have plenty if you don’t get the rebels in the South out.”

Rhett looked to a painting, but his eyes were unfocused. “Well, at least we know somewhat where they are targeting.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and released a long sigh. “We don’t know where they are located—that’s the problem. We don’t have time. Maybe Frank will know. Reyna, get Cleo. It’s time to go.”

“Rhett?” My heart palpitated, panic twisting my gut. As if somehow my body knew to alert me, Helix emerged without my permission. Too many hologram forms came out from the elevator.

Ozzie clenched his jaw and hiked up his shoulders. He pointed to a small screen on the counter in the kitchen. “We have company. Lots of it.”

“Is there another way out?” I searched my map. Nothing.

“You’re not going to like it.” Rhett pulled gloves out of his back pocket, shoved them on, then pushed the buttons on his puffy jacket.

A drilling sound by the door made me flinch.

“Intruder alert. Intruder alert.” A mechanical voice kept ringing.

“We have to go with Gambit B. We have no other choice.” Ozzie secured Mitch from behind and pointed his Taser on his temple. “Plan B, Mitch. Just go with the flow.”

Mitch’s jaw clenched, but he nodded.

Rhett wrapped his arms around me and moved us next to the window by Ozzie. “Sorry, babe. Get ready.”

The door burst open. I flinched. ISAN guards rushed in, dressed all in black and high-tech gear, pointing guns at us.

“Stop right there. Drop your weapons or I’ll blow his brain out.”

Ozzie’s face was such a convincing mask of rage, even I was afraid.

“Drop your weapons or I’ll shoot her. Nobody needs to get hurt.” Rhett moved us back farther, keeping the Taser steady on my head.

“Do as he said,” Mitch commanded.

They raised their hands to surrender, but something wasn’t right.

Too easy. Shadows fell in front of me, but they weren’t ours. Too many.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Shapes attached to the window. Before I had the chance to look, the glass shattered like sharp icicles.

Bombs.

They had exploded, taking down the outside wall. Wind whooshed into the room like a giant hand and smacked us down.

Rhett covered me with his body and pushed us to the side. I tumbled with him still holding me, glass crunching underneath us. High-pitched ringing replaced all other sound. I didn’t know if I was breathing. Rhett jerked me up as bullets rained around us.

Cleo and Reyna shot from the hallway. Guns and Taser beams flashed at every turn. Bullets pierced the wall, shattered paintings, and destroyed kitchen appliances.

“Cleo. Reyna.” Rhett’s voice rumbled over the ruckus. “Ozzie and I will hold them back. Go.”

Where would they go? There was only one way in and out.

You’re not going to like it.

Dammit. I fought the urge to pick up a gun or a Taser and start shooting myself, but I’d blow my cover.

Not now, Ava. We’ve come this far.

Reyna and Cleo disappeared, and Ozzie next, their wigs lost in the harsh gusts.

Rhett spun me around to face him, all the fierceness gone, replaced by somberness. If death had a look, he wore it.

He brushed up against my ear and whispered. “I love you. Stay safe. I’ll see you in three days.” He kissed me and jumped. I was sure no one saw.

That kiss, that simple kiss on my lips—soft, tender, and quick—said a thousand words. And I felt his love deep in my marrow.

I love you too, I wanted to say, but I didn’t have the chance. Pebbles settled in my throat, swelling to choke off my airway.

Rhett dove backward over the balcony like he had at the Shooting Stars restaurant. The throb in my heart did not lessen as I watched him glide away from me, toward the rest of his team. Where I should be.

I belonged with them.

His vest had produced something like a parachute from both sleeves and he seemed to be in control. The four of them soared like eagles. I ducked when Rhett’s team fired at the ISAN guards near me.

When I peered again, Rhett flipped backward, firing two guns at once. Crazy Rhett, but he’d earned his nickname, Sniper. His aim was pinpoint-accurate. ISAN guards fell off the edge, one after the other.

I wondered if the rebels would land on the street or fly until they were out of reach, but Rhett’s team aimed for the roof of the next building.

Come on. Almost there.

I cringed when a bullet clipped Cleo’s bat-like wing and the other Ozzie’s. She tumbled in circles while Ozzie flipped sideways. Then more ISAN guards formed a line and opened fire.

My friends weren’t going to make it at this rate.

Reyna lost both wings. Though they all wore bulletproof jackets, the force of the impact caused the rebels to lose control. Then the next bullet hit Rhett, and then another one, and again.

No! No.

Rhett was nosediving, struggling to steady himself while dodging a volley of bullets. He tried to fire back, but the speed of the wind and losing control of his flight suit made it that much more difficult. Almost impossible to land accurately on the roof.

Do something. Anything.

Oh, God. He wasn’t going to make it. I had no time to shoot everyone down, even with Mitch’s help. And where the hell was Mitch?

The need to protect them outweighed my own self-preservation. Something new inside me awakened and burst through, blazing through my veins and bones. This foreign, burning sensation gripped me strong. I would do whatever it took to save them all.

Damn Mr. Novak. Damn my cover. Damn the serum.

They won’t know if you use Helix, a part of me said. But Helix only heightened my existing senses. Russ had wondered if I had more than five after they’d discovered my maps. Perhaps even telekinesis. I had never tested that theory, but my body knew. It craved more.

The more I understood how to will Helix to the surface, the easier and faster it came. I knew I was capable of more, maybe more than I’d imagined, but I had to want it bad enough. To trust I wasn’t a freak. I had to believe in myself and not ISAN.

I wasn’t just a daughter whose father had experimented on her. I was the very thing ISAN should fear.

I am my mother’s daughter. I am a woman. I am a person.

I am Ava.

Like the dandelion, be resilient. My mother’s words.

I closed my eyes. Inhaling a deep, soothing breath, I allowed Helix to work through me. Warmth bubbled in my chest, and the tingling sensation zapped to every nerve ending, through every vein, muscle, and bone.

My vision hazed. Then, like wiping a dirty window, colors emerged. I saw the whole building blueprint, every single level, clearly—the family having a dinner on the 10th floor, the couple hugging on the 18th floor. I smiled at the children playing tag on the 5th floor, so carefree and full of life. Every person on every floor filled my mind.

Use me. Guide me. Become me. Helix coaxed those very words in my thoughts.

When I’d thought about what I wanted to do, blinding lights swirled as if I traveled through the center of a rainbow, through its peaks and valleys. When the lights died, I opened my eyes.

The bullets en route to Rhett and his team froze merely inches away from impact. All of them. Every single one. They dropped straight down like bombs when I could no longer hold on to them.

Rhett smacked into the building, followed by the others. They never made it to the roof, but it was better than dropping to their deaths. He used his gloved hands to attach to the wall and then slid down roughly twenty stories. His team did the same. I could kiss whoever invented that gadget.

Relief flooded through me, and my roaring heart eased a bit. Safe. They were safe for now. But how many ISAN guards awaited them when they landed? I tried not to think about that.

ISAN guards cursed, shuffling back. They all looked at me, but they had no clue what I had done. What could they report back? Ava had stopped bullets? That would sound ridiculous.

“You let them get away?” I used my infuriated, strong voice. “Why didn’t someone give me a weapon? I wouldn’t have missed. And where the hell is Mi—”

I never got to finish my sentence. My blood ran cold, so cold I felt like I had been tossed in the snow naked. My body had shut down, as simply as switching off a light.

Something wet and sticky dripped from my nose down to my chin. My head pounded and pulsated like a drum thrumming.

The world spun and darkness engulfed me.