For a minute he just stood there staring at me, and I thought for sure he was going to argue, that I would have to leave him behind here in a forest full of jotun and hostile humans. In the middle of a war. That would be almost as bad. I would lose him to.
But he just nodded. "Hold on one second."
I watched, surprised, as he strode over to one of the dead soldiers and pulled the scabbard from his belt, clipping it onto his own. Eli slid the sword into the sheath and then turned back to me, his face grave. "All right. Now we can go. I guess you don't need a weapon."
"I am a weapon." I turned for the spotlight sweeping through the trees, heading for it instead of ducking away from it. My limbs felt strangely light. Like they didn't belong to me. I wasn't sure if it was fear or elation that was pressing up against the insides of my chest. I was going to get Gunny, Eli was coming with me. But we were walking straight toward my old cage, and the room with the burnished steel and sterile tables and plastic chairs. Was the floor still painted with Kali's blood? Would I walk in to see the faint reminder of her violent death etched into the cement beneath my feet?
Bile rose in my throat, and I forced myself to swallow hard and press on.
This was incredibly foolish, like walking into the iron jaws of a bear trap. But what other choice did I have. Besides, with my ability, no one should be able to stand in my way.
No one would stand in my way. I corrected myself.
As we neared the clearing the source of the spotlight came into view. It was mounted on a wide metal pedestal just in front of the door. I jerked as the echo of gunfire reached us across the clearing and between the trees.
That's why there were no guards at the back door, the owner of the spotlight was the guard. And armed to the teeth, by the sounds of it.
"You don't have a vest on." Eli's voice was tight, and he dug one finger into my ribs a little harder than necessary. "A semi-automatic will kill you as fast as it would kill me."
"I just have to get close enough to him, and make sure he doesn't see me." I chewed my bottom lip, anxious. I could barely sense the guard now. He kept slipping out of my mind's reach. It would be impossible to do anything from this distance.
"And how are you planning on doing that?" Eli wrapped one hand around my wrist, as if he were afraid I might sprint forward at any minute. "You can't dodge that spotlight."
My eyes went wide. "What if you put yourself right in it instead of dodging it? Like a decoy."
His eyes narrowed and my stomach sank, guilt already chewing at my insides. "Never mind, it's a horrible thing to ask you to do. I just thought—"
"That I'm obviously one of them." Eli rubbed one finger over his jaw, his dark eyes fixed on the spotlight as it tracked groups running through the trees. Obviously the guard trying to get a clear shot. "It's true. It's the only way this will work. It will also take out this bastard. Pretty sure he's killing a lot of your men."
I bit my lip, hard, and stared at him. He had to decide this one for himself. It was dangerous so there was no way I was pushing him into this. But if he said no...
I had no plan b.
"All right," Eli said finally. "He shouldn't shoot me. I think." Before I could say anything he stood up and started walking towards the spotlight platform, hands tucked into his pockets.
My hand flew over my mouth and I started to get to my feet, then froze, as the spotlight swung around and hit him full blast, clearly illuminating him in the dark forest.
"Hey," Eli called out, and shielded his eyes with one hand. "Do you mind?"
I pressed my hand harder against my mouth, crushing my lips into my teeth, almost drawing blood. Eli had become someone else. Speaking in an arrogant drawl, borderline insolence. He swaggered forward, still shielding his face with one hand.
"Point that elsewhere, you idiot." Even his body language was different.
He'd become Cain.
My stomach slithered and churned. I felt sick. But there was no time to think about how easily Eli had slipped into his brother's mannerisms. He wasn't his brother, he was the opposite. And he was doing this for me.
I forced myself into action, turning and slinking a little deeper into the woods, darting my way around the clearing to the other side, closer to the compound. Now I'd have to leave the cover of the forest and count on Eli to be completely distracting.
The guard called out over the noise of distant gunshots and screaming. "Cain?"
"Of course, who else? Do you mind not blinding me?" Now a hint of sullenness. It made my stomach flip to hear that familiar voice, and I had the completely irrational urge to bolt. To turn around and run for the ship.
Coward.
I clenched my jaw and snuck forward. As I did, Eli raised his other hand upwards in a sharp motion, shaking one hand at the guard like he was swatting a fly.
"God, what is wrong with you? Are you going to shoot me? Grandfather will redecorate the office with your head on a pike."
"Sorry sir." The guard's voice was reluctant and a little bit shaky. "But I thought you went inside."
The light swung to one side, and I froze, wincing. It didn't move again, and Eli started moving forward slowly, hands still shoved in his pockets, like he was walking in the park and not in the middle of a war zone.
Right, he had to walk slow because if he got too close the guard would recognize him, he'd realize it was the wrong brother. I had to act fast.
I darted closer, another ten feet, another five.
It finally hit me all at once. I could feel the outline of the guard behind his station, his hands still lifted and resting on something. The machine gun, probably.
His voice rang out in the clearing again. "Wait, Eli—?"
I clenched my teeth, settled my senses around the water in his body, and pulled.
There was nothing graceful about it. I was so on edge that it was sloppy. Not out through his throat or stomach, just...everywhere. The same way I'd done it the first night I escaped.
The guard exploded.
I could feel it, even though the stand blocked him from my view. And by the way Eli's face looked, even in the dark, I could tell it had been messy.
Gods, he'd probably want nothing to do with me by the end of this. Because I wasn't going to stop doing this. Hell, I wasn't even going to feel bad about it. I'd do it to his brother in a heartbeat. I might even enjoy it.
My stomach clenched, and I ignored it, darting for the heavy metal door set into the cement wall of the compound. I could hear Eli coming up behind me, feet shuffling. I glanced back once, and he wouldn't meet my eyes, so I turned on my heel and yanked at the door handle, cheeks burning.
It wasn't locked.
I'd half expected it to be, but Cain and his grandfather had been going in and out, so clearly they didn't want any obstacles in case they had to retreat or something. They'd thought they were fool proof with the spotlight machine gun set up.
They were fools.
The corridor we stepped into had probably been brightly lit at one time, but now the electric lamps along the walls were flickering on and off. Obviously powered by a generator, and one that wasn't doing too well at that.
I wished Kalda were here. If the power went out she would have kindled a flame in her palm and lit the place up, illuminated our path.
But it was just Eli and I, and the sick feeling in my stomach surged, so I forced myself to stop thinking about her and press on. Down the hall a few feet.
There were doors set in the hall, and I glanced back over my shoulder at Eli, brows raised. I didn't remember this place very well, I'd be running scared the last time I'd been here, and I didn't think I'd been this way either. It didn't look familiar, so I must have gone out a side door or something.
"The cages?" My whisper echoed down the empty hallway, and we both winced. Eli pointed silently, straight ahead.
Great. A long walk down the hall, totally exposed.
And the flickering lights made it one hundred times more terrifying. I crept forward, heart in my throat and pulsing in my neck. My shoulders were up by my ears, I was so tense. Eli kept his hand on his sword the entire time, and I stretched out my senses, probably the corridor and the rooms behind the doors as much as I could.
I couldn't sense anyone nearby. Probably all the lab workers had fled at the first sign of us, or they were all hunkered in a bunker underground somewhere.
That was good, I hope they were scared to death. Those cowards.
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