Don' worry, Pepper, I've survived a lot worse. It hurts like a son of a bitch, but the blade didn' hit anythin' I can' live without.
The burning is making me feel sick. Really sick.
She felt him take a breath. Felt knowledge pour into his mind, but before she could grasp what happened, he slipped away from her.
Wyatt. She waited. The silence was deafening. Wyatt, answer me.
She couldn't vomit there in the air duct. She just couldn't. She'd been very lucky that she wasn't claustrophobic or she never would have tried to get into the cells that way. Another fan was looming up in front of her, the blades spinning wildly. She was tired from pushing herself forward in such a cramped space. Every bone in her body ached and her skin felt as if it had been flayed right off in several areas, scraped from the tight fit.
Get to our children for me. Get them out of there. Make certain Trap is safe because he doesn' seem to have the fear gene and tha's necessary to keep him alive.
Everything in her stilled. Something was very wrong with Wyatt. She'd have to trust his team members. He was counting on her to get to the children and Trap.
I'll get them, Wyatt, but you be alive when I get out of here.
She took a breath and studied the blades of the fan as they spun around. It was a matter of speed and timing. Speed was extremely difficult when she was so cramped.
She hadn't explained what it was like to Wyatt or the others. She couldn't crawl like they all imagined she was able to do. She actually pictured herself in the belly of an anaconda, being squeezed from all sides as it tried to devour her as she moved through the narrow air duct.
She had to let go of Wyatt completely if she was going to get through the last fan to get to the children. She lay very still, gathering her strength, counting her own heartbeats and focusing on the spinning blades. She needed to know the exact revolutions per second in order to pause them just enough to get her through.
She wasn't as adept at using her mind to control inanimate objects. She could do it only for seconds and it always gave her a tremendous headache. Right now, after making her way through several of the fans, her head felt as if it might explode. It was no wonder Braden thought she was such a reject. Her mind and heart wouldn't allow her to seduce men and then assassinate them and she couldn't control objects without bringing on a migraine. Great soldier she turned out to be.
Within a few moments, her body was tuned to the rhythm of the blades. She gathered herself, pulling every muscle back, coiling like the snake she was supposed to be. Her mind reached out and took command of the cold steel. At once, she ruthlessly put the brakes on, even as she propelled herself forward, using the blurring speed of the cheetah and the slithering motion of the snake in combination.
She didn't hesitate or think about the possibility of being slashed to pieces by the sharp blades. That way was disaster. She shot forward, zipping between the blades, dragging her legs out of the way just as her mind refused to retain command of the fan. She lay still, her air coming in ragged gasps, like it did each time she stopped the fan. The way back with two babies was going to be even harder.
Wyatt had wanted to open the cells from the outside, using vibration, but it was too dangerous, the entire team had agreed on that. If he shook the building too hard, it could come down on them. And the concrete was so thick he would have had to use a fairly hard blast. Still... She closed her eyes for a moment, refusing to think about the journey back.
No one had really told her how Trap intended to get into the cells. Maybe she'd be lucky and they could go out the way he'd come in. Pepper wiggled close to the vent and peered down into the holding area. There were three cells and a small space for the guards to stand. The doors to two of the cells were open and a body lay in each of the cells. The babies lay curled up in Trap's arms where he sat with his back against the wall. It was the last thing she expected.
He smiled at her as she pushed open the small vent. "It's about time you got here. We were all just about to take a nap, weren't we?" He nuzzled the tops of the babies' heads. "Getting nice and warm so they could move faster when they go through the vent with you."
The two little girls both lifted their heads, eyes lighting up, huge smiles showing their tiny little teeth. She dropped into the room, somersaulting headfirst, to land on her feet just to one side of Trap. He seemed to be taking up most of the room, all sprawled out. She held out her arms and both babies leapt into them.
She kissed them both repeatedly and they kissed her back over and over. Little Thym blew bubbles against her neck and then laughed with delight. Cannelle attached herself like a clinging monkey, not wanting a separation again.
"Thanks, Trap. It was thoughtful of you to warm them up." She looked around her. "Did you come in through the elevator?"
He shook his head. "Most likely there are guards in place at the elevator doors. I'll go if I have to, but I'm hoping this woman can get through the vent like you did."
"You're really going to try to get her out?" Pepper frowned. "How are you going to get to her?"
"I'll make it. You just get these babies out of here." He stood up, taking up even more space. "You look pale."
"Stopping the fans is hard for me. I don't usually manipulate nonhuman objects." She glanced at the children and then up to his face. "Wyatt was stabbed. I don't know how bad, he won't say, but it felt bad."
"Draden's with him, right?" Trap asked calmly.
Pepper nodded. "Yes. At least I think so."
"Then he'll be fine. If Wyatt was really hurt, Draden would have raised the alarm and Malichai and Ezekiel would go running. Just stick to the plan, Pepper. Get the babies to safety."
He rubbed Thym's back. "Stay close to your mama and do whatever she tells you. That's important. Stay very quiet. You can do that to get out of here, right? There are men out there who might try to stop you if they hear you."
Thym signed with her hands to Pepper. Pepper nodded. "Yes, baby, I thought the same thing, but we were wrong. There's several men who are good and want to help because..." She broke off, her gaze jumping to Trap's face again. She took a breath. "You have a father. Most babies have two parents, a mother and father. He didn't know where you were and as soon as he found out, he and his friends helped me to rescue you."
"Did she say she thought all men were bad?"
Pepper nodded. "The techs and guards are mostly men. We don't see many women. I did, of course, because I was a soldier going through school with some, but the babies have always been isolated from everyone." She was beginning to get her nerve back. She'd gotten through the vent with Ginger. She could do the same with the other two.
Cannelle signed. Pepper interpreted. "Where will we go? We're going to take you out of here to your new home."
Cannelle signed again, her hand gestures hesitant. Pepper frowned. The baby had asked what a home was. Pepper didn't know how to explain something she'd never experienced.
"We'll discuss that when we have you safe and away from this place," she said. "I have to go first. You follow me. I'll go through the fan, but you have to wait for me to call you through. Each of us has to go through by ourselves. You'll have to move very fast. I'll show you how. Elle, you bring up the rear. Thym, you stay right behind me. Just remember you can't go until the fan is stopped completely and then you have to be very fast." She planned on reminding them over and over so there were no mistakes.
Trap frowned. "Just how dangerous is this?"
"There are fans every twenty feet or so, large industrial ones. The vent itself is very small. I can barely fit in it." Pepper showed him her arms where the skin was shaved off in spots. The tight-fitting sleeves, although thin, had still been shredded in several places, leaving her skin exposed. "The babies will fit through, but each section is blocked by a fan. I have to stop the blades from rotating long enough to get through and I'm not the best at controlling them." She rubbed her temples. "I can do it, but it's not easy."
"And it comes with
a price," Trap said. "If you think it's too dangerous, Pepper, we can get the others to take the second elevators. It won't be pretty, but it can be done."
"I got Ginger through. I'll get both of the babies through," Pepper said, infusing confidence into her voice. She jumped up and caught the edge of the vent, drawing herself up. "Put them in after me and good luck."
Trap picked up the two babies and held them close. They were still shivering. The cell was too cold for their systems. He tried to warm them as he waited for Pepper to slowly be swallowed up inside the duct. Cannelle put her arms around his neck and held on while he lifted Thym into the narrow opening. When she had crawled all the way inside, he put little Cannelle in after her.
"Stay close, but don't get near that fan until Pepper tells you," he cautioned.
Cannelle turned her head and looked back at him over her shoulder. He saw a mop of wavy dark hair and large expressive eyes and then she was gone, crawling after her sister and mother.