At the brothers' apartment, Gabe and Cale crowded around Grange, peering at the screen of the mini-tablet in his hand.
Grange showed them the real-time security schematics of Hermann's lab that he had hacked. Several dots glowed green, one red.
"One security camera isn't registering. Three guesses as to who took it out," Grange said.
"Alex and Rile," Cale said.
"We'll follow their trail of bread crumbs," Grange said. "I should be able to access that hand scanner without much problem."
"Bread crumbs?"
"Earth idiom. Never mind. Let's go."
***
Alex watched, frozen, as Morgan dragged Rile through one of the larger metal doorways. This one had tiny lights embedded in the metal doorjamb, all glowing red.
"Who are you really?" Alex's voice wavered slightly as she addressed the stuff of her nightmares, the nightmare that made her freeze, useless.
The nightmare that should be dead.
"Alex, follow me," Morgan commanded and placed his hand on the hand scanner at the doorway.
There was a fritz of electricity and the tiny red lights turned blue. He dragged Rile into the lab, Alex trailing them. There was a crackle of electricity as they passed through a force field.
Once through, the tiny lights blinked to red again. The lab was jammed with machinery, one containment cage like Cale had been imprisoned in, and an unassuming wooden door in the back.
Alex pressed against the wall next to the doorjamb, trembling. "I saw Morgan's head fly across the room."
Back to her, Morgan knelt over the unconscious Rile, working on something that she couldn't see. He looked over his shoulder at her and touched the side of his head where a huge pinkish-grey scar glistened like a giant earthworm. "That loser? The Great One gave me his implants. I plan to kill one that has a slipstream generator in his chest so I can fly like you."
"The Great One?" Alex asked, confused. She rubbed her throbbing temples.
"Losers like you and these lizard things call him The Adversary."
"So The Adversary made a clone of Morgan and gave you his implants?"
Morgan scoffed. " You're stupid and ignorant, just like these reptiles. They never told you about alternate timelines? Or were you too dumb to understand or remember?"
Pain flared in Alex's head and she clutched it. She honestly couldn't remember if they had told her.
After some deep breaths, she said, "Another timeline Morgan." Alex forced herself to loosen her fingers, to move her toes, despite the raging short circuit in her head. "That makes sense. Why are you here? Why don't you bother your own Alex and dragon brothers?"
Breathe and open and close your fingers. Move your arms, just a little. Time to hero up and save Rile.
He shrugged. "Apparently you come first. Fine with me. Hope these lizard things are more of a challenge in my timeline."
He stood and kicked Rile, sprawled on the floor, eyes closed, completely limp. His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. "What do you think you're going to do? Wave your little fingers at me? I know your powers don't work on me, you piece of toilet paper."
Alex shivered at the memory of his counterpart's words shouting in her mind: 'Your powers don't work against me because you're nothing but the toilet tissue I wipe myself with. You know you're trash and your blocked powers are proof. Otherwise you would blast me. But you know what you are. Anyone who saw how useless you are against me would know it, know you really want me, love me, love how I use you.'
Breathe. Move. Rile and the brothers could die because I was too selfish and scared to tell them that my powers don't work on Morgan. Move! Your powers are blocked, not your body.
Slowly, her fingers unfreezing bit by bit, Alex reached for the holster that was part of her zippered sports bra.
Thank you, gungoddess.com
"No, I'll wave this," Alex said once she withdrew her gun.
The sound of the Glock slide was loud enough and distinctive enough to make him stop.
Alex looked at him over the sights of the gun. "Turn around and hands up, nice and easy. Your counterpart left his Glock in the gutter one night. I loaded it with hollow points. Don't want the bullets leaving your body. Did you think I would just accept a block on my powers and not compensate?"
Alex moved the tip of the Glock just a hair. "I found a firearm instructor after I first escaped from you. A good one. A female one. She was very sympathetic when I told her how your counterpart beat me. She saw how bruised I was. She even taught me psychology of battered women and overcoming their handicaps about their abusers. I can shoot you, Morgan, even if I can't blast you."
I wish I had listened and learned more of that psychology. Then maybe I wouldn't freeze around Morgan.
Morgan turned around, but with an ugly look of glee on his face. With a sinking feeling, Alex saw that he held a syringe attached to tubing that ran into Rile's arm.
"Mexican standoff, babe. One wrong move and your lover boy here goes to the big pet store in the sky. Drop the gun."
Alex rolled her eyes in impatience. "You incompetent racist," she snarled and then allowed herself a wicked grin. "You got the wrong one if you wanted my so-called lover boy. What an idiot. They all look alike to you, right?"
That stopped him for a minute. He looked down at his prisoner in confusion then looked back up at her, eyes glittering with hate.
"My guess is that you care enough about any of them not to let me paralyze him to death. No more breathing. It's a horrible death, too. He knows everything that's going on, even if he is paralyzed." He tapped the syringe, watching her closely.
He smirked when she couldn't conceal her dismay. "Drop the gun. I have a standing offer of a million bucks for this freak, dead or alive."
Alex didn't flinch in her aim. "Morgan, Morgan, Morgan," she clucked. "I was naive, but never stupid. Why should I drop the gun? Rile is doomed either way, so why should I be deprived of the pleasure of splattering your ugly brains all over the floor?"
It was his turn to look dismayed.
"Lucky for you," she continued. "I do care somewhat about Rile. With his attitude problems, he'll resent me the rest of his life for saving him, but oh, well. Drop the syringe and I'll let you live."
"Now you must think I'm the stupid one."
Alex resisted agreeing and watched him, expression granite.
"I let go of this syringe and it's payback time, either from you or them." He jerked his head at something over Alex's shoulder. "Tell them to keep back or their friend is so much dead meat." He pushed the plunger on the syringe a fraction.
Alex watched as Rile's breathing became shallower. "The old, something-behind-me trick?"
Alex spared a glance behind her anyway. To her relief, it was true. Grange, Cale, and Gabe were rushing towards them.
She motioned for them to stop. Cale was sharp-eyed enough to spot the force field's control panel. He motioned for Gabe to stop, and then tested the doorway with the tip of his staff. It sputtered and sparkled and he withdrew the staff with a shake of his head.
"Calm down, Morgan, they would have made gumbo of you by now if they could get through. Of course, there's still me." She motioned slightly with the gun. "Ease up on that syringe."
"It looks like I'm the trapped one." Morgan shook the syringe. "Give me a reason why I should be deprived of the pleasure of killing this freak."
"Whoa!" Alex's panic satisfied him. "I didn't say we couldn't make a deal. Ease up . . . please."
She looked back behind the force field. Grange punched on the controls above the hand scanner, his face set in concentration.
Gabe motioned to Alex and she realized that they were not alone for long. Josef Hermann's men were on their way.
"Here's the deal. I know the back way out. You drop the syringe, I drop the gun, and you're on your way," Alex said.
"How can I trust you?" But Morgan looked eager for an arrangement.
"Hand Rile over to his brothers. I'll drop the gun before they actually have him and if I don't, you inject the syringe. Deal?"
"Lower the force field? Are you crazy?" Morgan asked.
Alex blew out an exasperated sigh. "Didn't you research this lab? Hermann installed that one-way force field at the entrance of his private sector for security. He could screen everyone who entered, but not have to be bothered when they wanted to leave."
"How do you know this?" Morgan challenged.
"Hermann's been a pet project of mine ever since he kidnapped one of my friends. I spent all my breaks and lunchtimes at my various jobs researching him. When I was online, I remembered some links and passwords that gained me access to locked sites."
Grange muttered, "Good thing. It's how I found her. Electronic trail of electronic bread crumbs."
Alex, oblivious to Grange, motioned with her gun. "Now hand Rile halfway through and I'll drop the gun. Okay?"
Morgan nodded and dragged the limp Rile over to the protected doorway. He began to push him through and Alex made a show of dropping the Glock.
"Stop."
Alex whirled at the voice. Faster than she believed possible, Morgan hauled Rile back through the doorway before his brothers' eager fingers had a firm grasp.
He held the limp Rile in a choke-hold of his elbow and kicked the gun. It skittered across the floor, disappearing under a panel of machinery.
Dr. Hermann inclined his head toward them. "I believe we can come to an understanding. After all, Morgan, is it? I allowed you to break into my building after these two."
They all stared at the white-coated figure standing in front of the plain wooden door.
"One million dollars for that dragon creature and I'll take care of your friend, gratis," Dr. Hermann said.
"I could take you out with one blast," Alex countered.
"Forget it. One spark and I'll kill him," Morgan said.
"Morgan, look, a million dollars is peanuts. I can offer you something worth more than mere money," she pleaded, a frantic edge to her voice.
"You?" he looked at her with condescension.
"Yes. Me. Think," she implored. "You can sell me to a lab. Man has dreamed of flying forever, what do you think he would pay for the chance to do it? Or to cut apart someone who could do it and learn how? Millions, Morgan, plural of million."
Morgan, unconvinced, clenched his jaw, lip jutting out in childish stubbornness.
Dr. Hermann held out a hand. "You wish to bargain, do you? Two million then, plus you may keep the body of your friend to sell. All I need is the dragon creature. He's priceless fame to me as a scientist. I'll be forever remembered as the man who discovered dragons."
Hermann's eyes unfocused. "I'll be in the ranks of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Immortal."
"Morgan, don't do it for the money, do it because it'll give you the one thing you want more in this world . . . revenge." Alex was fast on the uptake, like a used car dealer trying to land a sucker.
Gabe listened in, furious, his hand clenching and un-clenching around the hilt of his Guardian sword. "Grange, haven't you got it yet?" he snapped.
"This isn't a video game," Grange growled. "The man who designed this was brilliant. I'm a CIA agent, not a computer expert."
Gabe turned back to the scene behind the force field, frustratingly out of reach, unhappily compelled to watch and listen to the conversation in progress.
". . . to humiliate me, to have me at your mercy, to hurt me until I beg, that's what you really want." Alex held Morgan in utter fascination. "Say the word, I'll knock out Hermann, and we're out of here, together."
"You will have your revenge," Josef Hermann cajoled. "Give me that creature and I'll give you both the money and the girl to do with as you like. I only wish the dragon."
"Morgan, don't be a fool. He'll never pay you. Look at him. He'll turn you into gumbo the minute I'm gone. "
I know that stubborn look. Time for the desperation play.
Alex slammed her fist against the wall. "You're pathetic. You'll lose everything. Who can you trust:some crazed scientist or a girl you programmed to not hurt you? Your counterpart used those machines on my brain. Big, illegal machines. You're such a piece of human slime, no wonder I prefer a reptile to you, even after I was brainwashed to love you. That must really burn you, Morgan. Admit it: you want to punish me more than anything."
"Stop it. Stop goading him. There has to be another way," Gabe implored.
Morgan's mouth had dropped open and he licked his dry lips. He narrowed his eyes in hatred and croaked, "Okay, Alex."
Energy sizzled across the room. Josef Hermann avoided her first red blast, but she nailed him squarely with her second. She and Morgan exchanged long looks.
"Drop Rile," her voice was cold. "Or I'll leave you to Josef Hermann's mercy. Only I know the way out."
He shrugged and Rile fell heavily from his grasp. With a great effort, Alex shoved him far enough across the barrier for Cale and Gabe to grab him and pull him the rest of the way through.
Cale angrily yanked out the IV and, inspected his brother, said, "He's breathing better now."
"Alex." Gabe reached for her hand.
"Uh-uh, sweetheart, we have a date." Morgan roughly pulled her back. "Let's go, lover." He leered at her and she winced.
Alex hesitated.
If I stall, maybe Grange can drop the force field.
"Come on." Morgan nearly pulled her arm out of the socket. "Say goodbye to your freak lover or I'll kill you in front of his eyes."
"Blast him," Gabe cried out.
"I can't." She shrugged in helpless frustration. "Sorry," she called out as he yanked her almost off her feet.
Gabe smacked the force field with his fist, causing a hiss of sparks.
"Where is she going?" Grange looked up briefly from his work. "It's a dead end. That doorway is to a small office."
"I don't know." Gabe looked after them, knuckles clenched white on his sword hilt.
"She must have a plan," Cale said, clacking his claws.
Alex threw them a regretful look over her shoulder.
I do, but they won't like it. Goodbye, stalkers. Sorry I wasn't honest with you. So very sorry.
***
A/N
This was the other chapter that gave me fits!
Thanks to faithful readers who pointed out that the 'plant' of Morgan's hold over Alex wasn't strong enough, especially since I needed it to 'flower' here.
So I went back and changed chapters 2.2, 6.2, 8.3 in Book 1 for those who are interested.
Thanks astute readers [I don't know if Wattpad will let me list all of you]. I would be indebted if you re-read chapters 2.2. 6.2, 8.3