Hellbender - Dana Cameron Page 0,50
It’s what, like a foot square? And just how high up are we, anyway?”
“I figure four stories. So . . .”
“So not necessarily fatal. Possibly just massively and painfully maiming.”
“Yeah, okay. But there’s still a way to use it.”
“I’m listening.”
“Take off your pants.”
My horror returned, only to be replaced by doubt as he told me his plan.
“Hey!” I shouted. “Hey, anybody out there?”
“Shut up in there!”
“Hey, if you’re going to keep me in here, you might give me something to eat. Or a bucket to pee in or something.”
“I said shut up! I’m warning you!”
“And a blanket! It’s fucking cold in here, what with the window open and all.”
“What?”
“Ever since that hairy monstrosity jumped out the window—”
“Bullshit.”
But then I heard scratches at the door and knew Halle’d got the keys out. I braced myself, knowing what would come next.
I wasn’t wrong. The first thing that happened when the door opened was that when I tried to grab her, I got a jolt of Taser. “That’s for being a pain in the ass. Again. You’ll get worse when I find out you’re—”
I fell, but as we’d hoped, Halle’s eyes were drawn to the open window. Blood was spattered around the floor. It was only for a moment, but it was long enough to slow her reflexes when Max stepped from around the door.
Max grabbed her by the back of the neck, claws extended. He ripped down and it was like a class introduction to the musculature and bones of the back. Her head lolled around, not quite detached, as the rest of her body collapsed. The weapon fell with a clatter.
He picked it up, hefted it. “Can you walk?”
“Yes. Get her keys, her cards—”
“I’m on it.” He rifled the corpse’s pockets and then scooped me up with his other arm, helping me walk.
Up close, it was strange. I didn’t have the urge to attack him, nor he me, apparently. I’d never been so close to one of his kind without being in fear for my life. Fangborn were drawn to their evil scent, synthesized by the Order to lure us in.
Instead, Max smelled like a wet dog had rolled around in salami, as well as the metallic smell of the blood he’d drawn from his body to create the illusion that he’d forced himself out the window. My eyes were watering, but to be fair, I was pretty sure I didn’t smell like lilacs, either. Captivity hadn’t been kind to either of us, and our joint exertions in removing the bars—my rust-stained scrubs gave us a little extra grip and leverage—hadn’t helped.
We didn’t meet any resistance, but we weren’t convinced our luck would hold. Eventually, my strength came back, and I was able to keep up with Max’s pace. It was like moving out of a fog, my vision clearing, my brain working better with each step.
A little opposition came up suddenly, and we took care of them swiftly. So far, we’d managed to avoid raising a wider alarm.
Max paused outside one door. “Hang on a sec.”
“We don’t have time for this!” I hissed.
“They had me in here when I came in. They took my phone. I need it back.”
“Your phone?” I shook my head incredulously. “They’ll have destroyed it, long ago.”
“Yeah, but not before I made a copy of it. Trust me. You’re going to want it, Zoe.”
Well, he’d gotten me this far.
The late Penny Halle’s magnetic card worked and the doorknob turned easily enough, so I didn’t have much hope he’d find what he was looking for. I gave Max a look, but he dodged in. After a minute’s cursing under my breath and pacing, I slipped in after him.
He’d hidden his copy of his phone on a DVD of security records. A duplicate with a date in different ink.
“Ha! Knew they wouldn’t check their own files!” He looked around, patted himself. “It has pics I took of their operation here and a copy of their files for this facility. Just a little taste of how they’ve been kidnapping people—Normals and Fangborn—and experimenting on them.” He paused. “Uh . . . I seem to have lost my pockets. Help a brother out, Zoe?”
I would have stopped to marvel if we had time: I had the Order’s undoing in my hands. I found my pack and sword tossed carelessly onto a shelf until it could be examined. I stashed the DVD away in my bag.
“Wait!” I said, remembering. “There are other people here!”
“Zoe, like you said, we haven’t got much