Thunder rumbled in the distance, and I looked up at the dark gray clouds above me. I held Ally’s arms tight against her chest, holding back a shiver.
“You made it,” Jackson said, appearing in front of me.
I thought back to the memory of his hand touching mine in the woods, the need to feel that again burned inside of me, but I stood my ground.
“I don’t have a lot of time,” I said.
He stepped forward and I side-stepped him until my back faced the building.
“I will not harm you, Maggie,” he said firmly holding his hands out at his sides. “I wish you didn’t do this to us. Then you would know that.”
“Us?” I asked.
He ignored my question. “Did you get my message?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” I snapped.
His gaze fell to the space between us. “Not that one,” he said. “Do you have it with you?” he asked, as if I should know what he meant.
I did. I took the owl from Ally’s pocket and held it between her fingers. “What does this mean?”
He raked a hand through his thick tresses. “You’re smarter than that, Mags. I showed you my memory and brought you something you’d lost a long time ago. You made the connection yourself. Why did you come here if not to find me?”
He took a step forward and Ally’s hands stretched out between us. Jackson kept coming and I couldn’t move, his eyes capturing me in their wicked net.
“What does Seth have to do with this?” I asked, finding my voice, although it sounded too high.
Jackson looked down at me, our bodies nearly a foot apart. “He is the experiment.”
“Experiment for what?” Ally’s heart raced. I yearned to look at the window, checking to see if Seth was okay, but I couldn’t take them off Jackson.
“I know I can pass along my memories,” he said, brushing two fingers across Ally’s cheek.
The touch sent an electric shock pulsing through me. I inhaled deeply.
A grin spread across his face. “But I want to see if we can access yours.”
Closing my eyes, I waited for the visions to unfurl from his touch, but after a few seconds the pressure of his hand against Ally’s cheek disappeared. I opened my eyes and Jackson was gone. I scanned the lot. Where had he gone?
“What the hell, Maggie?” Jamie said, storming up the lot, holding the crutches in both hands.
I shushed her, shaking off the residual fluttering inside me.
“I thought,” she said, her voice low, “we were in this together? You could have waited.”
If I’d waited I wouldn’t have found Jackson, or maybe I would have and at the same time revealed Jamie’s gift to the so-called enemy.
“Sorry,” I said sincerely, taking the crutches from her, tucking them under Ally’s arms. “I was just checking this place out; no one is around out here.”
“Thank God for that. What if someone saw you without your crutches?” She stopped and shook her head. “I sound like my grandmother.”
“Let’s go inside,” I said. “I want to be back at the house before Cooper gets there.”
The office door opened easily. Jamie and I shook off the cold rain from our coats and continued further into the building, passing through a door at the back of the office into a cavernous room. All the lights were off, except for a few emergency lights scattered on the walls that created hulking shadows across the equipment. Jamie and I moved closer together as we walked.
A crash from the second floor stopped us in our tracks followed by a high-pitched scream that echoed through the room. I dropped the crutches and ran to the wooden steps at the far end of the room taking them two at a time, Jamie only a few steps behind me.
At the top of the stairs, a small hallway branched off into three doorways. Light shone out of the bottom of one of them. A girlish whimper sounded from behind it. Without thinking I grabbed the door handle, twisted it, and pushed through into the room. The door drifted out of my hand as I tried to comprehend the sight in front of me.
Seth and Krystal.
Their grins turned to open-mouthed stares. Krystal was down to her skirt and bra, her legs straddling Seth’s body. Her dark skin was a stark contrast to his naked cream-colored chest. A broken chair was on the floor under them.
I barely noticed Jamie gasp as she took in the sight before us.
Black spots filled my vision and Ally’s limbs went numb. I leaned on the door frame as pin pricks jabbed into her legs. The black dots soon turned to red ones. Blood-red. I tried to focus but, between the rush of air whirring in my ears and the smell of blood enveloping me, I eventually succumbed to it. A familiar heat fluttered in my stomach. I nearly passed out before a vision flew to the front of my mind.
The images flicked by as quickly as they had before, unable to decipher one from the next. I closed my eyes, willing them to slow down, but, even though I couldn’t see them, I felt them. The taste of betrayal flooded my mouth. The coppery scent of blood wafted into my nose. A girl’s scream pierced my ears. A mix of shouting and sobbing voices rang in my head. I tried to decipher what the voices were saying but my ears still roared with the sound of my heartbeat. Hot tears streaked my face. But through everything there was a sense of satisfaction that completely overruled the rest of my emotions.
“Ally!” Seth’s shout broke my trance.
I blinked, focusing on Seth and Krystal’s faces. Seth stood in front of Krystal, his body blocking hers. His bright white skin seemed more vibrant against hers. I was closer to them. When had I moved? Something heavy weighed in my hand. I looked down. One hand gripped a baseball bat. Where did that come from?
Krystal was shaking violently and crying—the sound cut the thick silence of the room.
“Jesus, Ally,” Seth said while holding his arm out for protection.
My fingers slowly loosened and the bat fell to the floor and rolled under the desk.
“You weren’t supposed to find out this way,” Krystal said through sobs. “We were going to tell—”
A hand touched Ally’s arm and I whipped around, raising it to the unseen threat.
Jamie shrunk back into the hallway.
“What is she doing here?” Krystal asked between sniffles.
I turned around slowly, facing the people who had betrayed Ally. The girl who I was meant to protect. Too bad I hadn’t held onto the bat.
“How could you do this to her?” I spat. “She trusted you,” I said to Krystal then turned to Seth. “Loved you. And now she’s gone.” I let the simple fact settle deep inside of me. If the Guard hadn’t found her by now, was there any hope left of finding her before her transformation?
“Ally.” Seth stepped forward, reaching out to me.
Krystal grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “She’s referring to herself in the third person. I don’t think she’s well.”
I shot her a glare. That strange yet strong energy flowed through me again. I could bring these two down without a second thought.
“Ally,” Jamie said from the hallway. “We should go.”
“No,”