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I hugged Zeph with all my might after thinking I’d lost him forever. It dawned on me my cheek was nestled into his chest and his chin rested on the top of my head. I pulled back. “You must have grown another four inches.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You sure you’re not shrinking?”
“Funny.” With guards surrounding us, banter would have to wait. He looked from me to the guards and back at the group of kids leaning up against the wall. One girl in particular stood out as she met Zeph’s gaze with a warm smile. Pink splotches rose up his neck and his focus dropped to his sneakers.
“Her name’s Beth.” My hand went immediately to my locket and the irony of the name being a match for our aunts struck me as almost poetic. I finally understood that my brother’s choice to stay behind and refuse my attempt to free him, was as much to do with the pretty young Beth as it was working for the Network.
“I see,” I said, summing up my assessment of the situation with an arch of a brow and as few words as possible. His next revelation had me darting a glance at the girl.
“She was helping Annie Slate learn to use her telekinetic ability,” Zeph said cautiously, glancing at the guards who stood within earshot. The inference was that she herself had telekinetic abilities as well, and that they were likely more highly developed than Annie’s—a prospect which opened several new doors.
Torn between wanting to use her abilities in the inevitable upcoming fight, and having her take charge of leading the kids to safety when chaos erupted, the choice was taken from me. Beth, a girl of about fourteen with shiny blond hair hanging in waves around her face, stepped out of line and joined us. Her warm brown eyes shone brightly and a powerful energy swirled around her.
“I’m glad to finally meet you, Lily,” she said. “Zeph talks about you...like all the time.” Her round cheeks turned red as strawberries against her fair skin when she said his name and the chemistry hummed between the two of them. “It seems Zeph and I share some DNA—which is a good thing,” she added as he took her hand without reservation. My heart skipped a beat.
Eyes brimming, relief welled within me. The hardest part of watching Zeph grow up was knowing that his gift would always leave him alone in the world. Without being able to control his power to take life with a touch, I worried he would never have a girlfriend or fall in love. It seemed he’d found both.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to meet you.” I glanced sideways at the guards, hoping she and Zeph caught my drift. “When the time is right, you’ll have to show me what you can do.” Beth’s smile faltered, but she covered and nodded acknowledgement. “You should get back to the others so you can help prepare them for what’s to come.” My double meaning appeared to make perfect sense to her. She returned to the group, whispering something unintelligible to the older children, who all held the hands of the youngest ones and tried to keep them calm.
Dr. Bartholomew interrupted. “I’ll need you to step in line with the rest of the children.” I shot a grim, tight-lipped smile his way and complied. I noted the camera lenses embedded in the ceiling around the room. No doubt, Malevich knew the minute I had entered. My skin crawled at the thought of seeing the man again.
As if he’d read my thoughts himself, the elevator door opened and Malevich stepped off, preceded by another two guards and his attack dogs, King and Prince I’d heard him call them.
“Victor...Vice President Malevich,” Bartholomew corrected, “I was just about to tell Lily that with Neri gone, you would have been without a healer for the journey.” His tone was strained and businesslike.
“Quite right, Doctor. I’m pleased to have Miss Greyson as part of our little group, but you’re mistaken about one thing. I’m President now...not Vice President. The Assembly has voted and my trusted advisors—the ones who remained loyal—are already boarded onto the ship, as are the flight crew and security detail. Now all we need are our special passengers.” He turned to help someone off the elevator before the door closed.
The last person I expected was the white-haired woman I’d met in the Terrace Suite at the MGM Grand while trying to rescue Will.
The woman had told me she was staying at the hotel with her son, and then she had proceeded to help me escape. Confused by the turn of events, I stared in disbelief. I could see the resemblance. Her eyes were a sharp, chilly gray and the wrinkles in her pale skin likely a future match to the ones Malevich was just beginning to show. Deep lines around her mouth gave her the appearance of a puppet. With the frosty gaze she currently aimed at the man beside her, somehow, I doubted Malevich was the puppet master. My stomach twisted in a knot.
Elderly, but not handicapped in any apparent way, she walked upright, head held high in a regal manner, her long nose angled perfectly. She wore a plain blue dress and flat, sensible heels as if going for afternoon tea. A white scarf draped around her neck and small purse she clutched under her arm completed the outfit. Malevich crooked his elbow in hers and cut a path in front of the children lined up beside me. Zeph stepped forward when Malevich stopped to introduce me to the woman.
“Down boy,” he said coolly. I wasn’t sure whether he was addressing Zeph or the dogs at his side. A low growl emanated from each of them. “Madame Malevich wanted to stop and say hello to the children and reassure them that they would be well cared for on our journey. And of course, she wanted an official introduction to the young woman who will be her personal attendant.” He smirked at me and his dogs growled again as Zeph straightened another inch taller and stood his ground.
I touched my brother’s arm and he relaxed a fraction, though he didn’t seem at all pleased when I stepped out of the line and confronted the woman.
“I’d like to say I’m pleased to meet you, ma’am, but obviously, we’ve met,” I said with a tone that hopefully let her know I was anything but pleased to meet her. “You must have known who I was the night on the balcony when you helped me escape.” She only smiled, her yellowed teeth appearing between thin lips colored a deep cranberry red. I pushed for an answer. “Why did you help me?”
“A test, my dear.” Her breath smelled of whiskey, and a long-fingered, bony hand fluttered in front of her face as if shooing a fly. “I wanted to find out how far you’d go to help your friend. With your sense of loyalty, I was certain you’d come back for your brother. Now you’re here and all is well. We’ll be departing any minute now, won’t we, Victor?” The clock had ticked down to eleven minutes. My pulse roared in my ears as I tried to calculate my next move.
While I tried to process the new twist, the lab doors flew open and Will, Sam, and Byter burst through, followed by a team of four guards looking slightly worse for wear and disheveled.
“Ah, you found them.” Malevich left his mother standing beside me and approached Sam and Will. “You didn’t think you’d get past my security, did you? Nothing happens in this place without my knowing.” Then, out of the blue, he slapped Will hard across the face. Will recovered, a hand to his cheek. Wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, he glared back at the man.
“What was that for?”
“That was for crippling Agent Graves,” Malevich said grimly.
A slick grin slid over Will’s face despite the painful wince he tried to stifle. “He should be dead for all the people he’s hurt.”
“The man is good at his job.” Malevich glanced at me. “And he seems to have more than nine lives.” Then he turned a cool gaze on Sam. “I’m glad to finally put a face to the name, Lieutenant Colonel Carmichael. You’ve got quite a loyal following.”
“Too bad I can’t say the same for you...on either count.”
“Oh, I have everyone I need to help me rebuild the new world.” He glanced my way and then addressed Will. “Since Lily is now joining us, I’ll give you one more chance. With Marcus gone, I could use someone with your talents.” Malevich cleared his throat and stepped away from Will. “My breeding program is in need of new participants.” The creepy glance he shot my way set the hairs at the nape of my neck on end. He held his hands out in a “you choose” kind of gesture to Will, but his unrepentant expression offered no sympathy for the outcome. “You can come with us and learn to behave yourself accordingly, or you can stay here and die with the rest of your family.”
Will’s eyes narrowed. “Where are my father and my aunt?” He strained against the guards holding him back, the veins in his neck pulsing.
“Locked away where they won’t be any trouble.” Malevich was inches away from Will’s face and a palpable rage burned between them.
“If you kill my family, you’ll no longer have any power over me.” Will growled through gritted teeth.
“I’ll still have Lily.” He eyed me as if I were trophy to place on a shelf. “How do you think I’ve controlled Zephron all this time?” He glanced at Zeph who was staring back with a venomous rage behind his eyes. “I will always have leverage over you as long as someone you love is within my reach. If I’m killed, my people have orders to destroy you all.”
“Then we’ve got nothing to lose,” said Sam.
Malevich stepped up and faced off with Sam, a smug expression taking hold. “Right about now, I bet you’re waiting on your men to set off a little diversionary explosive.” Sam’s eyes narrowed and Malevich’s smile broadened. “It seems you’ve failed again. Your men are dead.” He glanced at me. “Agent Graves has taken care of them, and by the time any further reinforcements arrive, I’ll be long gone and there will be nothing left of you or this place.”
“What do you mean?” Byter chimed in from beside Sam.
Malevich retrieved a small, familiar box from his inside jacket pocket and waved it in the air in front of him. “It would be a shame to waste the explosives your men died setting up. Too bad they couldn’t stick around for the fireworks, but they saved me the trouble of having to destroy this place later from space. We have all those lovely nukes to deploy. Why not use them to shorten the suffering of those left behind, right Mother?” He didn’t wait for her to respond but continued. “Once we’ve achieved lift-off and we’re a safe distance away, Las Vegas and the Industry headquarters will be of no further use. After all, Mother doesn’t want anyone following us.” He tucked the box back in his pocket and rejoined the old woman, who stood with the rest of us by the elevators, waiting to be herded to our new life as space travelers. Flanked by his dogs, he positioned himself so I was centered between him and his mother, as if I were part of their twisted little family picture.
“Last call, William. Are you coming to be with your lovely Lily, or will you stay behind and try to save your father and your dear aunt?”
Will’s eyes fixed on me, desperation and confusion clouding his features.
Would he choose me, yet again, over his mission to save his father? Or would his loyalty to family win out? Sweat trickled down my temple and my breathing grew shallow. If he chose to come with me, and his father was killed, I’d never be able to live with myself.
Whatever his choice, I couldn’t put my faith in anyone else to determine my fate. Only six minutes on the clock and there was no help in sight for any of us. It was time to make a move or die trying.
