Generation 18 (Spook Squad 2)

Gabriel was two doors down and to her left. She padded forward. The door wasn’t locked, nor did it appear alarmed. An ominous sign, because it meant they were sure Gabriel couldn’t escape.

She quickly stepped inside and closed the door. It was the office she’d seen briefly in her visions—small and cramped, with cheap, dingy gray wall-to-wall carpet. Gabriel lay near the desk, not moving but breathing.

She waited, listening to the silence as she studied the room. There had to be something here, something that would warn them if Gabriel woke up. Surely they wouldn’t be foolish enough to think the ropes that bound him would hold him.

Or maybe they were that foolish. Maybe Rose was delusional and overconfident.

She knelt by Gabriel’s side. His skin was pale and clammy, his breathing rapid. Shock, she thought. He shouldn’t be moved, but she had no choice. She pressed the earphone. “Found him.”

“Alive?” Stephan’s voice was tightly controlled. He’d feared the worst.

“Yes. Unconscious, though.”

“We’re moving in.”

And Orrin was moving out. The giant had sensed her, though she had no idea how. But then, if she could sense him, why wouldn’t he be able to sense her, especially if they were both products of Hopeworth?

One thing was obvious, though. She couldn’t stay here. To do so would risk Gabriel’s life. Rose wouldn’t kill her insurance policy unless she had no other choice. Sam would have to do the one thing she’d been trying to avoid—confront Orrin.

“Orrin’s on the move. I’m going to try and lead him away from Gabriel. Have Briggs and the others wait near the back entrance.”

“Be careful.”

A totally unnecessary warning. She rose, then hesitated. She couldn’t leave Gabriel here unprotected. Rose obviously wasn’t sane. Why wouldn’t she come back here and kill Gabriel, just for the hell of it?

She quickly undid the ropes binding his arms and legs but she left them looped, so that to the casual glance he still looked bound.

Then she touched his cheek, pinching it gently. “Gabriel, wake up.”

He groaned, eyelids fluttering. She pinched harder. Right now, there was no time for niceties. Not when Orrin was drawing close.

“Gabriel, wake up, goddamn it.”

He did. Pain burned bright in the hazel depths of his eyes. His gaze was unfocused, and he blinked several times, struggling to stay awake and regain some semblance of alertness.

She couldn’t wait for that.

“Here, take this.” She shoved the laser into his hand. “Protect yourself. The ropes are undone. I’m going to lead Orrin away from this room. Stephan’s on his way. Leave if you can.”

He blinked owlishly and she wondered if he’d heard anything she’d said. Sweat dripped into his eyes, and the stink of burnt flesh was heavy in the air. His shattered arm was obviously bad. So, too, was the cut he’d sustained on the fence, if the wide circle of blood near his shoulder was anything to go by.

Still, if he hadn’t bled to death by now, he probably wasn’t in danger of doing so within the next five minutes.

His eyes started to close again and she touched his cheek gently. “Gabriel, stay awake. Stay alert. Orrin’s on his way. Wait till he has checked this room, then get up and run.”

If you can. Because he showed no sign of real understanding. She bit her lip, rose and walked across to the internal door. It led into another office. She slipped inside.

Outside the factory, lightning flashed—something she heard and felt rather than saw. Energy crawled across her skin. Stephan was closing in. So was Orrin. His lumbering steps reverberated through her brain, as sharp as the evil that stung the stale air.

This room also had two doors. She took the left, simply because Orrin approached the other. It led into another corridor. She turned right. The back door had to be down here somewhere. If she could find it and open it, Briggs and Edmonds might be able to help her take out Orrin before Rose was alerted to the fact that something was wrong.

Sam came to another door and opened it to find another set of stairs, this one leading down into a wide, dark room. A roller door dominated the wall opposite. A smaller door was beside it, padlocked and bolted from the inside rather than the outside. Briggs had no chance of getting through that without blasting her way in and telling the world of her presence in the process.

In the hallway behind her, a door opened. It wasn’t so much the sound she heard as the stale air stirring. Orrin hunted.

She descended the stairs and ran to the outer door. The sparks dancing across her fingertips leapt to the padlock the minute she picked it up. Within seconds, it was dust.

If she’d had the time to be frightened about this new ability, she would have been. But right now, Gabriel’s safety mattered more than anything else—including her fear.