Soulless The Girl in the Box - By Robert J. Crane Page 0,71

opposite direction, where there were two bodies laying on the ground, wearing black suits. “Are those ours?”

He was out of the car, Kurt and Scott a few steps behind him. Scott ran the fastest, pounding across the pavement and off the road. I followed, aided by Andromeda and Reed. When I came up over the edge of the road, I could tell it was definitely Directorate agents, prostrate in the grass, tire marks in the dirt around them. One of them was stirring as Zack slapped him gently across the face.

“Jackson!” Zack shook him, and the agent blinked his eyes a few times. I recognized his face, but didn’t know his name. “What happened?”

The agent named Jackson blinked again, staring up at him. “Zack? Where am I? What are you doing here?”

“You were supposed to be backing us up at the Omega site,” Scott said. “What happened?”

The agent looked surprised, then pondered that. “I...don’t know. I don’t remember.” He looked around, startled. “I have no idea how I got here.”

“Where’s Kat?” Scott was looking around, frantic. “Where is she?” He went back to Agent Jackson. “Where’d Kat go?”

Jackson stared at Scott blankly. “I don’t know. Was she with me?”

“Wake the other one,” Kurt said.

“It won’t do any good,” Reed said. “He’ll have had his memory drained too.”

Something vague and totally improbable caused the wires in my brain to cross. “Just like those convenience store clerks.”

Reed raised an eyebrow at me. “Finally getting it now?”

Scott stared back and forth between the two of us, impatience on his face. “So who did it? What kind of meta can steal memories out of someone’s head?”

“A succubus or incubus.” Reed stared back at me, not breaking eye contact. “But only one that’s disciplined enough that they don’t want to kill.”

I thought about it again, about the whole trail. A willingness not to kill innocent people even when it was inconvenient. Discipline. That ruled out Charlie, and James as well, actually. Only one left. The rest of them were staring at me, but Reed was the only one who did it knowingly.

“Mom.”

Chapter 23

Someone Else

I kept calm all the way out of the room, able to keep myself from looking back at Sienna only through years of ridiculous, rigorous discipline. After I was through the doors, I started to run, making my way through Omega’s labyrinthine base. I burst through the exit and smashed the window out of a car that was parked outside. This one looked like something one of the Omega guards might drive, a sedan that didn’t look too old. I hotwired it, and it started without a bit of fuss. The engine roared to life, and I paused, taking a breath after what I’d just accomplished.

“Good luck, kiddo,” I whispered as I put the car into reverse and made a three point turn, angling it toward the road that would lead me off the premises. “If anyone can do it, you can.”

I gunned the engine, scaring the hell out of a few guards. I picked up a few bullet holes on the way out, but nothing too serious, I thought. Then I felt the pain in my shoulder. I looked down, and sure enough, blood was streaming down my arm. Dammit. I hoped my daughter had better luck than I’d had. She should. After all, now she had Andromeda looking out for her.

I swerved as I made my next turn; the wheel was getting harder and harder to control and I felt a little faint. I shook my head, trying to clear the little sparkles of light from my vision. Something was in front of me though, big and black, and very close. I jerked the wheel to the right and my car went off the road. After all this time, I finally had a decent car and I ended up—

I woke up after a few seconds, I thought. I was still bleeding out of my shoulder. I forced the door open and pulled myself out, to my feet. I snuck a quick look in the rearview mirror; at least I didn’t look as bad as Sienna had when I left her behind.

I walked across the road in as close to a straight line as I could manage. I recognized the car when I got closer; government plates, men in suits in the driver and passenger sides. The first one was getting out as I got close and I used my meta speed to cut the distance between us, putting my hands