The Annihilation Code

Chapter Eighteen ➹ Atlas Contreras ➹

I felt Chase reactivate our cerebral link. I was getting used to the feeling of having someone else in my brain. I sensed waves of distress coming from him. "Chase, what's going on?"

Chase sounded winded. How could he be hyperventilating inside his brain? "Oblivion is here! Well, kind of."

"What do you mean, kind of? Is Oblivion here or not?"

"The costume is here. I suspect the person within isn't far away."

"Where are you?" I asked.

"I'm in an office, nine doors down, in the right-wing."

"I'm coming to find you." I sprinted down the corridors, almost plowing into several party-goers, but I didn't care, Chase needed me.

"This is going to sound crazy, but I think Aunt Marjorie might be Oblivion. Why else would she have the costume in her house? She has a special place for it and everything!"

"You think your elderly, billionaire aunt is an assassin?" I couldn't keep the incredulity out of my tone.

"It's possible," Chase argued.

"She doesn't seem like the type to do her own dirty work. Doesn't this seem beneath her?"

Chase scoffed."The only thing beneath her is the ninth circle of Hell."

I rolled my eyes. "She doesn't seem spry enough to pull that off.

Chase thought about it for a moment, then muttered, "I hate it when you're right."

I fought back a self-satisfied grin. "She may not be Oblivion, but it is highly suspicious that she has the costume and gear in her house."

"I've been trying to tell you, she's no good!"

I slid to a halt when I reached the office door. I withdrew my knives and kicked the door open.

Chase let out a relieved breath when he saw me. "There you are! What took you so long? If this were a real emergency, Oblivion would've tried to turn me into flesh soup by now."

I pursed my lips in an exasperated expression. "Well, good thing this wasn't a real emergency."

Chase crossed his arms. "Don't look at me like that. I know you'd be inconsolable if your best friend was turned into flesh soup."

My eyebrow shot upward. "Are you implying that you're my best friend?"

"Of course I am! Who else would it be? Patch? Gabriel St. Martin? Your cat?"

I wanted to argue, but he had a point. I was lacking in the close companions' department.

The loud sound of heels clacking against the granite floors rapidly approached us. I dove behind the desk, pulling Chase behind me. The size of the desk, combined with the darkness of the room, should be enough to shroud both of us from view. As long as Chase's sparkly disco ball of a jacket doesn't blow our cover.

The sound of clicking heels grew louder as someone entered the office. "Do you want to explain yourself?" The voice belonged to Marjorie Spoketon. It sounded like she was talking to someone on her Holowatch.

"Not really." The person on the other end of the line replied. I recognized the grating, raspy voice on the other end of the line. Oblivion.

Chase and I shared an anxious glance.

"I'm not asking, I'm ordering you to tell me why you let them escape with a piece of the map! How careless can you possibly be!" Marjorie shouted.

"Relax, you old hag. I have a plan."