"We'll be careful," I said, moving toward the embankment that led to the road. I bent over and climbed, poking my head up and looking the direction the car had gone. I hoped that it had wiped out the roadblock of guys they'd left for us, but when I looked I realized we weren't that lucky. I saw guys swarming all over the SUV. It was still mostly intact, though it was burning, a small fire on the hood keeping the guards from going into the front seat, which looked to be filled with smoke.

The gate hung off the front about four feet on either side, but it had bent badly upon impact and mangled it further. One of the guards was barking orders at another, but my hearing had suffered from the explosion and my ears were ringing enough that I couldn't tell what he was saying. I watched three of them point in our direction, and I heard the whistle of gunshots over my head.

I reached down and drew my pistol, firing two quick shots, more to discourage them than anything; I wasn't likely to hit them at this range. Something big moved to my left and I realized with a shock it was Scott, running across the road. He jumped, sliding down the embankment next to me and I was following him a second later, running away from the road, Reed just behind me.

By unspoken agreement, we cut a ninety degree path away from the road for a couple hundred yards before halting. None of us were breathing heavy, and I stopped to listen. Behind us, I could hear the shouts of guards; with our superior speed, we had left them behind. Also, I could have sworn there were some coming from our right, toward the perimeter fencing. "We need to head this way," I said, pointing away from the fence.

"You don't think maybe we should get out of here for now?" Reed's head was swiveling around and suddenly his eyes widened. "Never mind, I hear it now. Guard squad coming from that direction."

"Yeah," I said. "If we're gonna escape we'll need to run parallel to the fence for a while. But I don't want to try and get out of here until we know a little more about this place."

"This place has some stiff security," Reed said, pointing back the way we came. "That's not just a sweep team; they don't get armed with rocket launchers. This is a serious installation, and they clearly mean to keep whatever's here protected. We may want to retreat and come back with more forces because with just the three of us, this could get really ugly."

I heard the logic behind his words, knew he had a good point, but I heard Ariadne's words echo in my head, about Omega and fighting blind, and as I thought about it, something occurred to me. "If M-Squad is stuck down in Kansas, our only backup will be human agents. Not good enough to a.s.sault this place without a lot of casualties."

"Yeah," Reed said, "but it would be us plus them. Right now, it's just us."

I thought hard about what he said. "But it's our responsibility."

He let out a long sigh. "I get the feeling you'll be the death of me, Nealon."

"There are worse reasons to go," I said to him with a wink. He grimaced and I shrugged; guess I can't pull it off like Charlie can.

"You got your gun?" I asked Scott, who stood behind me, looking dazed. He nodded, reaching under his jacket to pull out his Beretta. "You might be able to take them out at range with your powers; I can't."

"Gun's gonna be more effective than a blast of water at the range we're dealing with," Scott said. "But they look like they're carrying submachine guns and rifles, so they've got the advantage over us."

"Yes, let's all not get shot," Reed said. "That sounds like a winning strategy."

"I have a backup gun." I looked at Reed. "Do you want it?"

"Nah," he said. "I've never used one; I'd probably end up shooting one of you. Besides, I'm gonna see if I can make things a little more hostile in here for gunplay, maybe level the playing field." He closed his eyes for a moment and the wind picked up around us, howling through the trees. I heard the branches stir and bend, and a strong gale nearly knocked me over. Reed's eyes opened. "Sorry about that," he said to me. "I can control it well enough if I'm paying full attention, but since we're gonna be running, you might get hit by a few unintended breezes."

The wind was roaring now, I heard branches cracking and falling through the forest, and the shouts of the guards were inaudible under the rushing of the tempest. "This way," I said, struggling to be heard as we headed away from the fence. The rattling of the trees and force of the winds blowing past us was an absolute contradiction to the blue, sunny skies above us and the sweltering heat that pressed in as tightly as the countless turtleneck sweaters I'd worn since discovering my powers. It was almost otherworldly, being in the midst of a veritable hurricane in the middle of a hot summer's day.

I could feel the sweat running down to the tip of my nose and rubbed it against my shoulder, trying to dry it. The heat was intense, the humidity drowning me. The beads of salty liquid were springing out on my forehead more from the weather than the exertion. The winds that Reed had stirred were hot, like the breath of h.e.l.l itself was chasing us through the woods.

The smell of the greenery was carried on the wind. I could taste the salt from the sweat that was dripping onto my lips as we tore through the woods, three metas outpacing the humans that were pursuing us. I hoped that there weren't any of our own kind hunting us; that would suck. A break in the trees ahead of me gave way to a view of a concrete wall. As we emerged from the trees, I saw that the wall was part of a sprawling building in front of us. It was two or three stories tall, though it was hard to tell because there were no windows. There was a loading dock to our left, pavement running all the way around it. To our right, a smooth, empty wall was unbroken by anything but a small, square vent cover.

"There," I said, pointing to the vent cover. "Entry point."

"So in we go?" Scott asked as the wind howled around us. "Maybe we should contact HQ and wait for reinforcements."

"Whatever this Andromeda project is," Reed said, "it's sensitive. Omega will either evacuate it from here or destroy it by the time we get back. h.e.l.l, they may already have started to do so." He wore the look of a man doing something he desperately didn't want to. "This is it. We do it now or it'll be gone."

"I guess it's now, then," I said. "But we do this as a team and stick together, coordinating our attacks."

Before they could respond, I heard the squeal of tires and a Jeep came to a halt about a hundred feet away from us, not far from the loading docks. I counted four guys that jumped out, every one of them carrying an AK-47 a.s.sault rifle. The winds around us started to whip harder and I looked over at Reed, who was deep in concentration. Rather than powerful, straight line winds, I watched the dust on the pavement begin to swirl in circles, gathering power as it made its way toward the Jeep.

The twisting currents of wind formed a funnel cloud just in front of the Jeep, catching it and swirling it around within. I watched the vehicle buck and twist, hitting two of the men taking cover behind it, hard. One pitched over, blood splattering on the ground next to him. The other went flying, landing on his neck. The other two seemed to be holding onto the sides of the Jeep as it spun into the air, higher and higher, cresting at almost a hundred and fifty feet before the tornado dissipated and the car came crashing to the ground with joint screams from the men holding onto it. I didn't watch.

I looked back to where it had landed and saw red on the pavement, then turned away and started toward the vent. I heard tires squealing in the distance and hesitated.

"Go!" Reed gave me a gentle push. "We're committed now, we can't go back!"

"At some point we have to deal with all this security," I said, my feet pounding against the asphalt. "They're not just gonna a.s.sume we left, they're gonna keep looking until they find us."

"Or until we kill every single one of them," Scott said, exchanging a look with Reed. "And it seems like you don't have much problem with that option."

"Omega's at war with you guys," Reed said as we came to a halt in front of the vent, which was a rectangular solid metal panel that fit into the wall flush. "They've been at war with Alpha for years, so I've learned not to show a lot of mercy, because they're not renowned for showing it to us." He held out his hand and the panel started to rattle, then burst from its mounting. "Ladies first," he said with a c.o.c.ky smile.

"a.s.s," I said, but didn't argue. "I'll go first because the range of my powers is limited, not because I'm a lady." I bent nearly double and stopped. A long metal duct ran in front of me, and off to my left. I felt a flash of familiarity, looking down the metal tunnel, and my breath caught in my throat. It was like the box.

But it wasn't, not really. I could feel air circulating through, and over it I heard more tires squeal and looked back to see two big trucks full of guards, unloading on the pavement about a hundred feet in front of the panel. "Let's go!" I called to Reed and Scott.

"Shall we hold them off?" Reed said to Scott, who had his gun in one hand and his other fist extended.

Scott fired a couple shots. "Seems the gentlemanly thing to do. Got any ideas for that?"

"Elementally, dear Watson," Reed said, another tornado forming in front of him. "Elementally."

I heard Scott give off a cackle and I started to say something smarta.s.s and join them, my gun drawn. I stopped when I saw one of the guards on the truck aim an RPG launcher right at me.

"GO!" Scott shouted, launching himself to the left. I saw Reed go right, leaving the RPG pointed at me. I saw the flare of the tube as I dived into the duct, running as fast as I could whilst bent double.

The RPG exploded behind me, the force of it yanking me off my feet. The ductwork took an abrupt, ninety degree right turn that I couldn't quite make as the explosive force drove me forward into the metal. I burst through the soft aluminum, my head ringing, and realized I was hanging, suspended in mid-air for almost a second before gravity caught me. I fell, dropping, down, down, down into the darkness of the room below me.

Chapter 19.

I hit cold metal, my shoulder landing first, then my torso, and all my breath left me. I gasped, pain shooting through me. I couldn't hear anything but ringing in my ears, again, only worse this time, like someone had set off a fire alarm in my brain, rattling the d.a.m.ned bell so hard I couldn't concentrate on anything else. One by one, little agonies began to work their way into my consciousness; a searing pain in my shoulder, a feeling in my knee like I'd been hit with a hammer, and the taste of blood flowing in my mouth.

I worked my way to my knees and opened my eyes. I'd landed on a metal catwalk and below me was inky blackness. I looked above, to where I'd come from, and far up there I could see a smoking bit of ductwork, mangled by the explosion and my pa.s.sage through the metal. Tracing it back toward the wall, it was ballooned comically, as though someone had pushed the sides out with all the ease of crumpling tinfoil. I wondered if Scott and Reed were all right, but something told me that even if they were, I wasn't going to be seeing them come down the way I had.

I gripped the railing of the catwalk, trying to force myself to my feet. It seemed to be harder this time than I could recall it being in the past. I had pains everywhere, but after a minute of solid effort I made it to my feet, leaning on the railing for support. I looked both directions the catwalk extended, and decided I needed to pick one. I finally decided on right, not totally at random, but close. Why? Because it was the right way. I couldn't bring myself to even chuckle at my horrible pun, such was the pain in my body.

I staggered along, my right leg starting to numb the more I walked. I didn't think it was broken, but I knew I was going to have one b.i.t.c.h of a bruise on it later. I kept my right arm close to my body because the shoulder cried out in anguish anytime I moved it. I had lost my main gun in the explosion and fall, but I had pulled my backup, a much smaller weapon with a smaller magazine, a Walther PPK. Unfortunately, all I had was the seven shots it gave me, and then I'd be out.

My shoes clanked on the catwalk, and I hoped there was no one hiding below that could hear me. It was so dark underneath that it would be near impossible to tell. I took a fragment of duct that had blown loose from the explosion and dropped it over the side of the catwalk. I listened, but either because of the ringing in my ears or the distance it fell, I didn't hear it land.

Ahead I saw the outline of a door, a big, heavy metal one. I urged myself forward, resting more and more weight on my wounded leg. It still stung, but I knew now that nothing was broken, which meant that all I needed to do was fight through the pain. The bad news was, there was quite a bit of it to fight through.

I reached the door and grasped the handle, turning it slowly. I pushed the heavy metal with my shoulder, trying not to rush or fall through. I cracked it and looked inside, finding a concrete room with some lockers along one wall and a set of double doors that went on into the room beyond.

I led with my gun, limping into the room. Some caution signs were posted on the double doors, but they didn't stop me. The doors swung open for me, and I found myself in another room, walking on metal catwalks that led to a center platform with something sunken in the middle. I felt a chill; the room was like nothing I'd seen before in anything other than a movie. Large, cylindrical metal tanks were cl.u.s.tered below in hexagons, ominous chemical configurations written on the sides with warnings not to disturb the contents.

The whole room was cold, bitterly so, as bad as winter, and I wished for the first time that day that I'd been wearing my gloves and jacket. I felt gooseb.u.mps rise on my arms as I approached the center of the room. The catwalk gave way for the circular platform, which looked like it had a segment of metal in the middle that was removable. Exactly what it slid away for, I wasn't sure, but it was obvious that it was patterned differently than the rest of the platform.

"Sienna?" The man's voice caught my attention, turning me around. He was behind me, in front of the doors I had just come through, his face barely visible in the dim light of the room. He was wearing a tight shirt, no b.u.t.tons, and jeans that would have stirred my imagination even if I hadn't seen him naked the night before.

"James?" I let out a deep breath, all tension. "You found me."

"It wasn't that hard," he said. "There's only one Omega facility in eastern Wisconsin * or anywhere east until New York." He walked down the catwalk, approaching slowly, his hands extended. "G.o.d, it looks like they tore you up...what happened?"

I brushed a strand of bloodied hair out of my face. "They fired an RPG into the duct I was using to enter the building." I laughed under my breath, a dark chuckle without any real humor. "I wish I'd stayed in Eau Claire with you. I think it would have been less painful."

"No kidding." He was only a few feet away now, easing closer, when he came to a stop. "I don't mean to be rude, because I know we're in the middle of kind of a hostile place here, but are you gonna keep pointing your gun at me?"

"For now, yes," I said, and the playfulness was out of my voice. "Sorry, James. I don't really know you all that well, do I? You turn up in an Omega base at a convenient moment, and although you may genuinely be here to help me, I can't rule out the possibility that you're working with the enemy."

He flushed but managed to keep his expression under control. "Ouch. So our time together doesn't count for much, does it?"

I stared at him evenly. "Our time together was less than a c.u.mulative hour. So, no...I don't entirely trust you. I'm sorry if that offends you. If you turn out to be on the level, I promise I'll make it up to you in spectacular fashion, but you're going to have to forgive me if I don't trust you with my life yet."

He looked at me in cool amus.e.m.e.nt, hands at his sides. "You were going to sleep with me not twelve hours ago."

"I was. I might still, depending on how this turns out."

"Do I need to point out how screwed up that is?" he asked.

I c.o.c.ked my head at him. "I've yet to touch another human being for more than ten seconds without killing them. Just because I wanted you badly doesn't mean I unconditionally trust you. My life is on the line here. Respect that, and we can see what Omega is up to together."

"I'm afraid I can't respect that," he said, one of his hands coming to rest on the railing. His face was calm, still, almost a mask compared to the sly, seductive man that had been unable to keep his hands off me for the last two days. "It hurts, Sienna." He turned his face away, clutching the railing with both hands. "It really hurts." He looked back at me and I caught a glimmer of something that scared me. "But not as much as it's going to hurt you."

The railing snapped off in his hands and he whipped it at me. I fired, missing him twice before the metal rail hit me in the hands, jarring my gun out of them and sending it spiraling away. The end of the rail hit me in the side of the face as I tried to dodge, drawing a cry of pain and causing me to fall down, landing on my back, the metal of the catwalk clattering as I landed.

I felt the pain running down my spine, but I only had a moment to feel it before he was there, grabbing both my arms and forcing me down. He was strong, and his face was twisted with rage. All the handsomeness that I had admired was gone as he put his weight and strength into holding me against the catwalk. He slammed my head into the hard metal and I felt the room spin. "You should have stayed with me in Eau Claire." He was spitting as he said it, little flecks dropping onto my face.

"I can't tell you how glad I am that I didn't," I said as I brought my leg up and hit him on the side of his thigh. I aimed for the groin but he had angled himself so that I couldn't. He grunted and slapped me, hard. I gasped at him in surprise and bucked my entire body, flexing the muscles in my abdomen, bringing my forehead up fast. I felt it make contact with his nose, and I heard the break, felt warm blood wash down my face as he rolled off, shouting and cursing.

"You b.i.t.c.h!" He was clutching his face, a splatter of red smudging his mouth as I struggled to my feet. He rose, a few feet away, glaring at me, his eyes on fire with rage, a world of difference from when he had been kissing and caressing me only the night before.

"So, you're with Omega?" I kept my distance; my right shoulder still in agony, my leg hurt unbelievably and was slowing me down. In addition, I had a host of aches and pains that filled my body, and made me want to just lay down and die. "They sent you to sleep with me?"

"No, they sent me to recruit you," he said, holding his nose with one hand while he watched me. "The sleeping with you would have just been a bonus. I usually don't get to take my time with a woman, you know. They all die so quickly, and it's not much fun then. I mean, don't get me wrong, the rush from the absorption is amazing, it's like a drug, but when that's done they just lie there*"

"You're quite the disgusting pig." I felt a shudder of revulsion run through every part of me. I wished I could parboil my skin off and replace it with a new set. For all I knew, I could and it would just grow back.

"I preferred the sweet nothings you whispered to me last night," he said, jumping at me, swiping out with his hand to grab me. I dodged and maintained my footing, just barely, but my leg screamed in pain. He came at me again, grasping with his hands, and I caught one of them and pulled, taking him off balance. He started to fall and dragged me down with him. Had I been in peak condition, I would have been able to avoid it; as it was, I just tried to land with a knee in his belly. He grunted and slapped me again. I felt a sharp pain and blood started to trickle down my lips as I landed on him.

I tensed my guts, trying to protect myself, and tucked my elbows close, using my left to hit him across the face. He took another swipe at me but I fended it off, keeping my elbows locked and my hands up, guarding my face. I hit him in the nose twice, causing him to cry out, then his whole body heaved as he bucked and threw me forward. I tried to catch myself and roll out of it but my head hit the metal of the platform and I saw stars. My body came to a landing, pain racing down my back, and while I was trying to shake the colors out of my vision he got on top of me and punched me in the face twice.

I was stunned and he grabbed hold of me by the front of my blouse, holding me up while he hit me again. I heard the cloth tear and felt my head hit the cold metal, a fog surrounding me. "It could have been really nice between us, Sienna, but you just had to go and screw it all up." He was pacing around me now, and I saw him raise a leg and then felt a searing pain in my ribs. "Now you've exposed our location, you've ruined any chance of us having a pleasant evening, and what am I supposed to tell my bosses when I bring you to them? I was supposed to deliver you alive, but honestly, I don't think that's gonna happen now." He kicked me again, and I heard a scream, and it took my sluggish mind a minute to work out that it was my voice doing the screaming.

"I mean, look at this." He grabbed me by the face and shook me, forcing me to look at him. "You broke my nose. Sure, it'll heal, but n.o.body does that. Not to me. Especially not some little teenage b.i.t.c.h that should have been grateful I even took the time to pay attention to her." He punched me in the face again, but I could barely feel it by this point. "I mean, it would have been good between us. Better than you'd ever have again, that's for sure. But you had to go and*"

I had steadily inched my left leg up, resting the bottom of my foot on the ground. I hoped he would just a.s.sume I was trying to curl up in the fetal position. I wasn't, although I was sure that'd feel better than the way I was laying presently. My hand reached down, grasping, trying not to be obvious, while he was directing all his hatred at my face. I pulled the knife Glen Parks had told me to carry as a backup out of its strap. I was grateful, not for the first time in the last few minutes, that James had never gotten me out of my pants, or he would have seen it.

I brought the knife across his face with a blind stroke. I had aimed to land it in his temple, but he moved at the last second and I caught him with a jagged slash just under his left eye and punctured his nose. He let out a cry and screamed as he dropped me, my shoulders. .h.i.tting the metal catwalk again, but without much pain this time. I rolled to my hands and knees, still clenching the knife. "I had to go and what? Save myself from doing something I'd regret?" I spit blood in his face as I got to my knees. "Thank G.o.d. I can't believe I let you touch me, you soulless piece of filth*"

He yelled and jumped from where he lay to come at me, grabbing my hand that was holding the knife before I could attack him with it. He slammed me down again and I struggled, but I felt him reversing the grip. I poured the last of my strength into it, but he was too strong, too vicious. I stared into his scarred face as blood dripped down from his nose onto my forehead, smelled his breath, the foulness of it, all trace of sweetness gone. I felt the very tip of the knife against my belly, felt the first sting of pain as it pierced me, just a centimeter, as I fought to keep him from killing me.

He wore a satisfied leer, and the darkness and shadows made him look demonic. "You could have just had me inside*"

Something hit James in the side of the head with devastating force and he flopped off, unconscious. I was breathing deep, panting, and a gloved hand reached down, offering me help. "I wouldn't worry about it," Charlie said, looking at the little bit of blood running down my belly where he'd stabbed me. "I've been with him; you're not missing anything."

Chapter 20.

"Charlie," I said, breathing the word like it was the sweetest thing I'd ever said. She helped pull me to my feet. "Please tell me you're not with Omega too."

She laughed. "I'm not with Omega. I'm not with anybody."

I found the strength and balance to stand on my own, and she let me go. She was wearing a man's jacket, which she had kept between us while she was helping me up. I saw a watch on her wrist, a shining, gold one that looked like it was at least a couple sizes too big. As I stared closer at it, I realized it was a man's watch. She caught me looking and glanced down. "Oh, yeah, this? From that guy in the bar last night."

"Oh?" I didn't really care. My head was still spinning. "That was nice of him." I looked around and saw a small control panel a few feet away, built into the railing, almost nondescript. "I thought you were gonna stay in Eau Claire?"

She shrugged. "I did, until I got bored. Then I just looked you up through your phone's GPS and headed this way. Things got a little dicey when I found your flamed-out vehicle, but the guards were all pretty distracted by something going on over on the other side of the building. Sounded like a tornado or something."

I hobbled to the nearest railing and leaned against it. "Sounds like Reed. How long ago was that?"

She shrugged again, uncaring. "I dunno. Ten minutes? I came in through one of the unguarded doors while it was going down. Looked around the building until I stumbled in here. Looks like my timing was good. What are you doing here?"

I wondered how long I had been down here. I looked at the panel again, sliding down the railing toward it. "Omega attacked the Directorate. We came to find out what they were hiding here."

"Oh?" She made her way over to me, leaving James unmoving in a pile on the platform. "So what is it?"

"Something called Andromeda."

"Huh," she said, disinterested, as she looked over the edge of the platform. "Sounds boring. And old."

"I don't know what it is, honestly." I stared down at the panel, trying to make sense of it. There was only one b.u.t.ton lit up, and it was an option to unlock something, a thought which made me uneasy. I took a deep breath and thought it over. I was here to find out what they were doing, but what if it was a monster of some sort? Between Wolfe, Henderschott and James, Omega certainly loved their monsters. I stared at the unlock b.u.t.ton until a finger came down from behind me and pushed it.

I turned and Charlie was there, smiling at me, impish. "No guts, no glory, kiddo."

A slight rumble ran through the room and lights came on, casting it in blue and orange light. There were four different catwalk bridges that led to the central platform we were standing on. Below us, there had to be at least a hundred chemical tanks surrounding an oversized apparatus that was circular, and lined up perfectly so that something could be raised from the top of it into the center circle of the platform.

The control panel lit up, giving me a host of options. I stared at it, trying to take it all in. Charlie peered over my shoulder, her breath heavy and kinda sour. "What's this one do?" She pushed a big red b.u.t.ton, and I heard a rumbling from below us as machinery sprang to life. The circular grate in the middle of our platform squeaked and retracted to the side, leaving a hole in the middle of the floor.