Destined (The ARC Book 4) Page 8

  The team going in for M are all in the security office. April glances at me as I enter and gives me a brief nod. I give her a slight nod in return, hoping the others are okay with me being here.

  She has a team of five people gathered. There’s her, Soren, Sebastian, Lara and Dalton. I should be going too, but being left behind has only made me more determined to be in control of my talents for next time. I won’t be left behind again—not when I know I could be of help.

  April finishes briefing the group and they slowly break apart. ‘How are you feeling?’ I ask Lara, as I approach.

  ‘Good,’ she says, smiling. ‘I’m bringing my inhibitor band with me just in case I run into any trouble with my talent, but I think I’ll be okay. I refuse to be the victim any longer. I need to do this.’

  I smile at her. ‘I’m sure you’ll be great.’

  She shakes her head as she watches me. ‘You don’t need to worry so much. We’ve planned this; it’s going to go without a hitch. You’ll see.’

  I wrap my arms over my chest, feeling unexpectedly cold. ‘I know, it will be fine. I can still worry though, right?’

  She lets out a small laugh. ‘I’d feel much better if you didn’t.’

  I take a step back from her and try to control my feelings. ‘Sorry, I sometimes forget how it affects you.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she replies. ‘I’m used to it.’ She nods her head to the other side of the room, where Sebastian stands. ‘I think someone wants to see you before he goes. I could practically feel his heart leap the moment you walked in the door.’

  ‘Really?’ I look at him and try not to smile too widely when he looks back at me. Does he really feel so strongly for me? I suddenly feel self-conscious as I realise Lara will be reading my emotions.

  ‘Yes, really,’ she responds. ‘I wish I had someone who felt that way about me.’

  I open my mouth to remind her about Josh in West Hope. I didn’t need her empathy talent to know how much he cared about her when I met him, but Lara begins talking again. ‘Well, I’ll catch you on the other side,’ she says.

  I nod. I want to give her a hug, but don’t want to overwhelm her with my emotions. ‘Good luck,’ I say.

  ‘Thanks. I’ll see you once I’m back,’ she responds, moving towards the door.

  Sebastian breaks away from talking to Soren and moves over to me. He immediately pulls me into him and folds me within his arms.

  ‘Be safe,’ I say, suddenly lacking words.

  ‘I will,’ he murmurs back.

  We stand like that for several moments before April calls Sebastian. ‘It’s time to go guys. Seb?’ she says, pointedly.

  ‘Coming,’ he replies, pulling away from me. ‘I’ll come see you when I get back,’ he says to me.

  I nod. ‘Look after the girls. Lara’s still so fragile and April’s tough, but she’s been different lately. Her mind is so involved in looking after everyone else, I’m worried she’ll forget to look after herself.’

  ‘I’ll get them back safe,’ he responds. He gives me a reassuring smile before his eyes harden and he turns to focus on the task at hand. He walks past me, following April through the open doorway.

  As they leave I feel like I have cement forming in my gut and I get a bad feeling that not everyone will be returning from this mission.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  I sit and wait in the security office for ages. The men who work here don’t seem to mind my presence. They’re all busy on their computers and barely seem to know I’m there. I feel tense as I wait. The men are barely talking to each other and I have no idea what’s happening with the group. They must be nearly at Headquarters by now.

  Unable to keep quiet any longer, I push myself off the ground and walk over to Thatch who is sitting at one of the computers. He’s around Mia’s age and can be a bit quiet, but he always has a smile for me, so I’m sure he won’t mind giving me an update.

  As I approach I realise he has his eyes closed and his hands rest lightly on the keyboard of the computer in front of him. He must be using his talent to connect with the computer. Since Gadge disappeared before the fire at our last camp, Thatch is the only one in the group with a similar talent.

  ‘Hey, Thatch,’ I say, carefully placing my hand on his shoulder. His eyes flick open and he spins his chair around to look at me.

  ‘Hi, Elle,’ he replies before glancing down at my feet. ‘I’d heard about the dog,’ he says, smiling as he looks at Copper, who’s waiting patiently beside me. Copper immediately goes up to him, knowing he’s in store for a good pat. Thatch smiles warmly as he rubs his head.

  ‘His name is Copper,’ I say, giving the dog the same smile I’ve seen on doting mothers. I only met him yesterday and I’m already infatuated with him.

  ‘Copper? That’s a great name. Seems to suit him perfectly.’

  ‘Thanks, he seems to think so too.’

  My eyes flicker to his computer. ‘Are you getting updates on what’s happening with the team who have just gone after M?’

  ‘I’m able to track their cuffs but, unless we get a comm, that’s it for the moment.’

  ‘Where are they now?’ I ask, peering over his shoulder at the computer screen he sits in front of.

  ‘They’ve just arrived and are making their way to a back alley behind Headquarters.’

  ‘Do you know where they’re keeping M?’ I ask.

  ‘From what we can tell, they’re keeping M in the sub-level 1 confinement. It’s been a little hard for us to get information like we used to since Gadge died. He was our best technical talent and I’m nowhere near as effective.’

  My face drops and I instinctively raise my hand to cover my mouth at Thatch’s words. ‘I thought he was still missing?’

  Thatch’s eyes sadden. ‘I’m so sorry Elle, I thought you knew.’

  I shake my head. ‘What happened?’ I ask.

  He sighs. ‘We found him in the forest near our old camp after the fire. He was a wreck, rambling about how Joseph’s men tortured him and attacked his mind to get information. He wasn’t the same person after everything they’d done to him. We tried to bring him here, but before we could get him back…’ Thatch bows his head slightly, looking blankly at the ground. ‘Well, he didn’t want to live knowing he’d betrayed us…’

  My eyes widen. I can’t believe Gadge is gone. He didn’t deserve this. If he was tortured for information it’s not his fault he gave our location away. Not only that, but he gave us the information about Henry. Without Henry we’d be nowhere close to a cure.

  It hurts that April never said anything to me. She’s been so focused on leading though, I can’t blame her for not telling me.

  ‘Thatch?’ One of the men at the desk opposite calls out to him. ‘You need to see this…’ He stands and turns on the large screen on the main wall of the room.

  I follow Thatch and stand just behind him and the others. I don’t want to be too obvious in case I’m noticed and they decide to send me away.

  The screen comes to life and I gasp. Joseph is standing there surrounded by recruiters. The tops of tall buildings can be seen behind him. It’s the same rooftop view as his last speech. It’s not Joseph or the view that I focus on though, but Hunter who is standing in line with the other recruiters, his face blank of any emotion.

  ‘Citizens of Hope,’ Joseph begins. ‘It is with a grave heart that I must announce the planned execution of the terrorist leader has had to be moved forward.’ The men around me still and one of them races to the corner of the room to put in a comm to April.

  ‘The terrorist group, The Movement, has made an attempt on innocent lives today. They planted a bomb in one of the school lockers at East Hope High. Thankfully, our recruiters were able to stop the attack before it was carried out, arresting the guilty culprits.’

  ‘He’s lying,’ Thatch growls. He glances at the man trying to contact April. ‘No answer?’

  ‘I can’t get through.’

  Thatch rushe
s to his computer screen. ‘They’re in the building,’ he says, looking up from his computer to the others. ‘But it’s difficult to pinpoint their location. Is something blocking the comm?’

  ‘I can’t tell…’ the other man responds. ‘I’ll try to comm again...’

  I look back to the screen as Joseph’s gaze flickers off camera. He licks his lips as a feral grin curves at the side of his mouth. Turning back to the camera, I feel as though his eyes are cutting through the screen and staring straight into mine as he eyeballs the lens. ‘The terrorists who were caught planting the bomb will face the same fate as their leader.’

  Joseph waves his hand to someone off camera and three hooded people are brought over by recruiters. They are violently thrown down onto their knees, each person struggling not to collapse completely onto the ground. The first hood is removed to reveal M.

  He may have been calm when they’d first announced the execution, but there is fear in his eyes this time. He looks exhausted and extremely unwell. He’s always had a slight frame, but he’s clearly lost weight. His clothes hang loosely from his body and his face is hallowed and gaunt.

  The recruiters hovering over the other two hooded people rip the material from over their heads. Lara and Sebastian’s faces are revealed and my heart stops beating in my chest.

  ‘No,’ I whimper, both my hands moving to cover my mouth in distress.

  The two of them look completely dazed and sway on their knees. I can clearly see inhibitor bands on their wrists and tears freely flow down Lara’s cheeks.

  ‘They have them,’ I say, causing the others in the room to look at the screen again. My body shakes and small trembles cover my skin. They have Sebastian. My heart begins to race. They’ve taken Lara. She can’t be there again. They can’t have her again.

  ‘Elle?’ I hear Thatch ask, but his voice barely registers.

  My breathing becomes short and shallow as I continue to look at the screen. They look like they’ve been drugged. They can’t fight back and they seem to be trapped within bodies that won’t respond.

  ‘Do something,’ I whimper, looking to Sebastian. He promised he’d get them out of there. He needs to get them out of there.

  Ice-cold chills cover my skin as I continue to watch the screen. Joseph walks towards Sebastian, who is too disorientated to even recognise who he’s looking at. Joseph nods at the recruiter who pulls Sebastian up by the scruff of his collar.

  A sick certainty enters my stomach. Joseph is going to make a spectacle of them. He’s going to kill them all.

  A ball of sparking electricity erupts in the recruiter’s free hand. I scream and cover my eyes with my hands. The sound of my scream is lingering and I feel a rush of adrenaline pulsing through my body. A strange pulling feeling tugs at my belly and a rush of cold covers my skin.

  I feel a strange breath of air ruffle my top and I pull my hands away from my face. I’m on the rooftop, with Joseph and the others. The recruiter stands over Sebastian with electricity frying between his fingertips while Joseph looks on with triumph in his eyes.

  I gasp and Joseph’s head snaps to look over at me. His manic grin becomes positively frenzied as he eyes me standing there. I don’t have time to try and consider how I made it here, as Joseph slowly approaches me. I feel unsteady on my feet and a little dizzy as I turn to face him.

  ‘If it isn’t my favourite runaway,’ Joseph says, his voice taking on a cooing tone.

  ‘Stay back,’ I warn, holding my hands out in front of me as if to defend myself. I know my talents are powerful enough to take him down, but I’ve never been able to use them as I want. There’s no way Joseph could know that though. For once, I have the upper hand.

  Joseph eyes my hands warily and stops where he stands. ‘You gave me a lot of trouble when you decided to give my office a makeover. I’m lucky I had a talented healer on hand to help my son and me.’

  ‘Let them go,’ I say, nodding at Sebastian and the others.

  Joseph laughs and glances over his shoulder to where they kneel. ‘When I have you right where I want you? I don’t think so.’ I follow his gaze and catch sight of Hunter standing there by the others.

  I can feel my anger keenly in my stare as I glare at him, and he looks away as soon as I catch his eye. He almost seems disappointed in himself too.

  I try to concentrate on the power that pulses beneath my skin, but the threads of it feel loose and intangible. I can’t manage to grasp them and I can’t urge it to rise to the surface and spill out no matter how hard I try.

  ‘You can’t do it can you?’ Joseph taunts. ‘After everything I did for you, all the time and energy I spent giving you those incredible gifts, you’re still just a scared little girl.’

  He laughs to himself and his shoulders relax, the hint of worry I saw in his eyes completely disappearing.

  ‘Lots of people had to die so you could become the way you are Elle,’ he continues. ‘You don’t deserve those talents you’re too afraid to use. If you thought that the tests I did on you were bad, that’s nothing compared to what I will make you do now that I know my experiments have worked on you.’

  I growl as I launch myself at Joseph, determined to take him down with my bare hands alone if I can’t get my talents to work. I’m only a few steps from him when a pair of arms latch around my waist and I’m thrown to the ground.

  ‘Let me go!’ I yell, struggling against the recruiter who holds me. The man is strong though and barely lets me squirm beneath his grasp. I throw my head back against his chin, but the man’s face must be carved from solid rock for all the good it does me. He clamps an inhibitor band over my wrist and I feel the cool numbness of my talents being repressed in reaction.

  Tears pool in my eyes and I kick and scream as I try to free myself from the man’s arms. I’ve ruined my one chance at saving M, Sebastian and Lara. The man has my arms locked behind my back as he pulls me from the ground. I stomp on his foot and try to throw my head back into his chin again, but it’s no use. The man’s too strong for me and there’s no way I can escape his iron grip.

  ‘Stop!’ roars Hunter, his voice strong and powerful. Everyone on the roof freezes, no one even moving a finger in reaction. I try to free myself from the recruiter’s arms, but I can feel Hunter’s compulsion coursing through me too.

  ‘You will let them go,’ he commands. The recruiters who hover over Sebastian, M and Lara step back, and the man grasping my arms releases me.

  Hunter looks at me, his eyes haunted as they stare into mine. ‘Get them out of here,’ he says, and I feel his compulsion to stay motionless release from me so I can move again.

  Sebastian, Lara and M all look like they’ve awoken from a dream. I start to run over to them but then stop. Joseph and his recruiters stand frozen to the spot. He has no means for defence, now’s the perfect chance to finally stop him.

  ‘Quick Elle! I’m loosing them,’ Hunter yells, as one of the recruiters standing next to him starts to flinch aggressively, as if trying to rip free from invisible ropes that tie him down.

  His shout launches me into action. The recruiters are slowly regaining control over their bodies, and I can’t risk them returning to full strength while the rest of us are still talentless.

  I grab a swipe card from one of the recruiter’s pockets and tap it against the black, glass inhibitor band on my wrist. The band opens and tumbles to the ground. I then rush over and do the same to the others.

  ‘What happened?’ Sebastian asks.

  M stands weakly. ‘You were caught coming for me. The recruiters had your minds numbed to control you,’ he says, calmly.

  ‘We have to get out of here,’ I say.

  Sebastian looks between us. ‘I can’t teleport all of you out of here,’ he says.

  I shake my head. ‘Just get M out. He’s the important one.’

  Sebastian looks like he wants to object, but I touch his shoulder gently. ‘Go,’ I urge.

  He nods and walks over to M. He takes hold of hi
s arms tightly and looks over his shoulder to me as he disappears, his eyes full of anguish.

  ‘Come on,’ I say to Lara, moving towards Hunter and the door that leads from the roof. I have so many questions to ask him, but there’s no time for them now.

  Hunter’s face is full of determined concentration and there’s a drop of blood slowly beginning to drip from his nose. ‘I couldn’t save you before, but I can now,’ he says, through gritted teeth. ‘You guys have to get out of here.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘I can’t hold them much longer, get out of here!’

  I nod and move past him, pulling open the door to lead us downstairs. I glance over my shoulder one last time, focusing my gaze in on Joseph who still stands there frozen. This was my chance to take my revenge against him, but I couldn’t do it. Not when I could be sacrificing my friends just to make him hurt. Joseph got lucky today. Next time things will be different.

  I turn back to the stairwell, which is dark inside with only the dim emergency lights flashing on. I feel a wave of unease rush through me as I close the door behind me.

  I know Hunter was the one who tormented me, but the other day when he saw me hiding me in the park, he didn’t alert the other recruiters. Now tonight, he was the one who saved us. It doesn’t make any sense.

  Lara and I run together, down the stairs heading for the ground floor.

  ‘Where are the others?’ I ask her as we run.

  Lara breathes heavily. ‘We split up when we went inside. Sebastian and I were heading for the elevators. The next thing I know I’m opening my eyes and I’m on the roof. We never even saw them coming.’

  ‘Where were you meeting the others?’

  ‘We planned to meet in an alley a few blocks away…’ she pauses, as realisation dawns on her. ‘This whole place is locked down and crawling with recruiters. How are we going to get out?’

  ‘We’ll find a way,’ I reply, hoping Lara doesn’t feel the fear that pounds through me, just beneath my skin.

  We come out on the ground floor of the building by the elevators. The area before us is open and as soon as we leave the stairwell we are totally exposed. The front entrance is just behind a row of turnstiles that recruiters scan their badges at to gain access to the building.