The agent rolled his eyes and opened the bathroom door to
reveal a bald man with tribal black tattoos over his head and around his
eyes—fully clothed—on the toilet. His hands and feet were handcuffed together
and a rope around his waist secured him to the plumbing. His black eyes bore
into hers over a silver strip of duct tape.
Lucy reached over and yanked it off, pulling more than a few
whiskers from his short black beard and mustache. She spoke before Morrison
could throw a fit. "I can't question him if he can't talk. Now, if you'll
excuse us, I don't think we have room for a party in here."
She shouldn't push so many of Morrison's buttons, but it was
just too easy—an ...entertaining distraction.
Morrison left and Luke took his place. He gave her the look,
the one that said, "Shut up, Sis, I'm not leaving you alone with this
guy."
Luke had her back, and there was no one in the world she
trusted more.
Time to get this party started.
"Hello, and
welcome to the hostage tour. I'm Lucy, your tour guide. And this is Luke.
What's your name?"
Her attempt at levity fell flat on the man whose eyes looked
dead.
"Beleth." His voice came out like black oil, low
and deep.
Lucy knew enough mythology to know that name.
"Beleth... that's the name of a demon or fallen angel. What? Parents
didn't like you?"
The power of the large man, a block of solid muscle,
surrounded Lucy and pushed against her almost viscerally. It wasn't a
para-power, just his physical presence and energy holding her in its grip. She
tried to shake it by baiting him. To no avail.
"Okay, no chit chat. Fine by me. Look, we can help you.
We can offer you security, freedom, even protection, if you help us free those
kids. I just need to know what we're up against. Who's guarding them? How many?
Does anyone have para-powers? What's the best way in? That kind of thing. Just
information. You don't need to do anything else."
Drake would have been mighty useful about then. He could
just compel the guy to tell them everything, if he hadn't been stripped of his
powers and then abandoned Sam and their baby.
Damn him.
Beleth didn't twitch a muscle as he spoke, his face and body
as solid and still as granite. "You're a fool if you think that you can
stop what is happening, if you think you can stop paranormals—those gifted with
power. We won't let you destroy us."
Lucy listened with her own power and knew he believed
everything he was saying. To him, it was the truth. "My brother and I both
have para-powers, and yet we're working with IPI to help these kids. Would I be
working with them if they were trying to destroy paranormals? We're trying to
help, to give people a fair life, to give them freedom. The children in that
facility don't deserve to be kept prisoner and used."
A pocket of turbulence shook the plane and jerked Lucy from
her feet. Before she could crash into the wall of the small bathroom, Luke used
his para-power to solidify the air around her and catch her.
Once steady, she smiled at him. "Thanks, Bro. Owe ya
one. Guess we're getting some weather. Great."
Beleth seemed unaffected, and continued speaking in his
commanding voice. "What will happen to them once they are free? Will you
release them into a world that would reject them as freaks and use them to test
and experiment on? And what will happen to the powerless? Children with no
control will create chaos everywhere they go. Some have powers that are benign
and harmless, but what of those who are dangerous? Can you imagine the
headlines? Angry ten-year-old sets fire to entire class. Overactive toddler
freezes her teacher to death. Three-year-old throws temper tantrum and destroys
an entire apartment complex. You really want to be responsible for that kind of
damage?"
The Seeker had given Lucy a similar speech before they revolted
and broke free of Rent-A-Kid. Before he'd died saving Sam. He, like Beleth,
truly believed that paranormals needed guidance and protection, for the safety
of everyone. Lucy didn't disagree with the premise, merely their methods.
They'd impregnated her best friend without her consent, and experimented with
genetics, not to mention drugging them into compliance.
Luke shifted behind her until he stood next to her—a cozy
arrangement in the cramped quarters. He spoke to Beleth. "They will be
protected, and given a new home. They won't be a threat to themselves or others
and they won't be used and experimented on. We will protect them."
Beleth's laugh came out bitter and harsh. "So that's
it? Those kids are just trading one facility for another. IPI just wants them
for their own experiments. With you, they'll be lab rats. With us, they have
purpose, a greater mission in life. We do what we must, and make the hard
choices for the greater good of our kind. You're being used and you don't even
know it."
Lucy's blood pressure spiked as she thought of all the ways
Rent-A-Kid had manipulated them. "Your organization ruined my best
friend's life. You killed our mother, killed one of our guards, and destroyed
so many lives I can't even count. People, good people, are dead because of your
'
greater good
.' How dare you claim that you're better than IPI or anyone
else. How dare you stand behind some grand purpose to justify the abuse you
perpetrate. The ends, even if I agreed with them, do not justify the means you
use to obtain them." She stepped closer, fighting the urge to beat the
crap out of this guy.
He finally moved his head, just enough to stare into her
eyes. "Those deaths mean nothing compared to what we fight for."
Her hand flew at him as if powered by its own force. Her
palm stung at the force of the slap. His head didn't even budge at the force,
nor did his skin show signs of the impact. He remained unflappable, and Lucy
burned with anger.
In the same cold voice, Beleth spoke. "Aren't you the
reckless one? Certain times call for being still. If you can't quench the
flames that burn within you, they will consume you."
Is this guy seriously giving me Zen advice? Whatever.
If he wouldn't give her the information she needed, they'd do it the hard way.
They'd had tougher assignments. Like their recent Russian
adventure—genetic experiments, shootings, and... Adam. He'd been one of their
mutations—part man, part beast, but the heart of a true friend. He'd run into a
spray of bullets to save her.
She didn't need crap from this guy. She'd do it her own way.
She turned to walk away, but Beleth's next words stopped
her. "You're not so different from us. When the time comes, you'll do what
it takes. When hard decisions have to be made, you'll make them."
Lucy whipped her head around. "No. I'm nothing like you
and your kind. I'll make the right decision, or none at all."
Beleth dropped his head. "Sometimes there are no right
decisions, and you are left with the lesser of two evils."
More turbulence threw Lucy off balance once again. Before
Luke could use his para-power to steady her, Beleth's arms reached out, his
hard muscles stopping her fall against the sink. Thunder shook the plane and
flashes of lightning lit up the windows. Lucy used Beleth's body to balance
herself and stand again. His skin was cool under her hands, his gaze
unwavering, and with each flex of his muscles, his tattoos came alive and
seemed to crawl over his skin like living ink.
Lucy removed her hands from his body and nodded her head.
"Thank you."
A small smile touched Beleth's lips, and Lucy wondered what
secrets lurked behind his dark eyes.
The plane shuddered again, and as Luke and Lucy turned to
leave, Morrison approached them. "We have a problem. The plane is slowing
down... on its own. The pilot can't do anything about it."
With a skipping heart, Lucy looked out the window. The storm
that caused the turbulence was in full rage and the plane appeared to have
stalled in midair. The power of the sphere pulsed like her own heartbeat,
faster and faster as Mother Nature whipped them around. The increased frenzy of
the sphere was Lucy's only warning that powers beyond nature had hold of the
plane. She gasped as the tail of the plane tilted up as if on a string that
someone jerked.
"Hold on!" Her warning was too late, as everyone
on board slid toward the front of the plane. She held tight to a chair, but
gravity forced her to let go and she crashed into Luke.
Morrison looked almost comical as he tried to right himself
and regain control of his team. "Everyone, just stay calm as we figure out
what's going on."
Before the agent could follow through on his plan, the back
hatch of the plane, where they would have parachuted from, screeched open as
metal twisted and snapped apart. The cabin pressure quickly changed and pulled
at them.
A panicked pilot hollered from the cockpit. "I've lost
all control of the plane and there's a helicopter hovering above us."
Everything clicked for Lucy as she looked into Bethel's
eyes. "Paranormals. They're attacking the plane."
Bethel's head dipped slightly to acknowledge her words.
"Now is the time for stillness."
As if on command, men in black poured into the cabin, some
carrying guns, and others... she guessed they didn't need guns. That worried
her even more.
Agent Morrison pulled his own gun and aimed it at Beleth's
head. "This is what you're here for, right? Him? Don't move or I'll blast
his brains out, I swear."
One man stepped forward from the group, a baseball cap on
his head, and raised his hands.
Lucy felt the sphere pulse as energy flowed off of him. His
pale eyes took in the group, and she knew he was the true threat. "Be
careful. He's the telepath that brought down the plane. He's very
powerful."
The man's eyebrow twitched. "Perceptive."
Morrison didn't waiver, and Lucy found herself finally
impressed by the man. "Don't even think about it. As soon as I feel this
gun budge, I'll pull the trigger."
Lucy pushed through the wind assault to face the man
directly. "What's your name?"
He looked almost amused as he answered. "Robert. And
you?"
"I'm Lucy," she said, then gestured to her
brother. "This is Luke. We're paranormals too. There's no need to attack
us. We're not your enemies. But I can assure you, Agent Morrison will pull the
trigger if you use your power. Are you willing to risk Beleth's life?"
Robert hesitated, then waved his hand. The room tensed in
anticipation, and beads of sweat dripped down Morrison's face, but his hand
held steady. Lucy prepped for the onslaught of power, but instead, the other
soldiers lowered their weapons.
The room let out a collective sigh. At least, those on the
receiving end of the weapons and power.
Lucy looked over to Beleth, relieved that his life had been
worth something to these men. A glint of black, something shiny like oil,
caught her eye. The transformation happened so fast. One second, his tattooed
hand rested by his side, the next, it extended into some kind of blade.
"No!" Lucy tried to dive toward Beleth, to stop
him, but the cabin pressure did not allow for a fast response. At least not for
her.
Beleth had no problem navigating the space. No problem using
his sword-hand thing to slice through the air, and into flesh and blood and
bone. No problem slicing Agent Morrison's gun hand clean off.
Time moved in slow motion as Morrison stood, stunned, not
seeming to realize his hand had been amputated. He looked down, his face
paling, and clutched his wrist. Bright red blood poured from the space where
his hand used to live, and he slumped to the floor.
Lucy couldn't make sense of what she was seeing. Breaking
out of Rent-A-Kid had resulted in plenty of bloodshed, but this... this looked
almost fake. So much blood, so bright and sticky, like the stuff they use for
movies.
Beleth, unfazed, walked to Robert, his black sword changing
back into a hand. "What's our location?"
Robert handed him a gun. "We're near the base,
Sir."
Lucy couldn't believe they could have a conversation like a
man wasn't bleeding to death in the corner. She pushed through the cabin,
ignoring the threatening glares of the soldiers, and reached for Morrison. She
pulled off her belt and tied it around his wrist. He didn't speak, but stared
at her with eyes that were losing their spark.
A soldier raised his gun and aimed it at Lucy.
Luke screamed. "No!"
Beleth put his hand up. "Not those two," he said,
pointing to Luke and Lucy. "Kill the rest."
The sound of bullets filled the small space. Lucy screamed.
Luke stood very still, channeling his power. The sphere pulsed stronger.
And the bullets stopped in mid-air.
The soldiers ceased fire and Beleth turned his attention to
Luke. "Interesting."
Luke seized the moment. "Why kill them? Just leave. You
have what you came for. There's no need for more bloodshed."
Beleth commanded that stillness as he stared at Luke.
"Someday you will understand. One can never leave a cancer to
spread." He flicked his wrist and the soldiers open fired on the IPI
agents and crew, carefully avoiding Luke and Lucy.
Luke threw up another shield, and the bullets once again
stopped mid-air, even as more joined them.
The
pow-pow-pow
of a hundred bullets deafened Lucy's
ears. More and more bullets cluttered the air, stopping at Luke's shield point,
but Lucy could tell Luke's energy was draining. The bullets shook, wavered,
pushed forward as if fighting against the shield. Luke wouldn't win the fight
for long, she knew.
With another flick of Beleth's fingers, the shooting stopped
as suddenly as it had started. He addressed Luke. "Join us. If you come
peacefully, we'll let the crew live."
Agent Morrison stirred under Lucy's hands. His eyes
sharpened to focus. "No! Luke, Lucy, don't go with them."