Robyn and her team ran at full steam, no longer worried about discretion, their images casting a malicious glow against a black backdrop broken only by long shadows. Their heavy breathing filled Lucy's head and reminded her of a prank caller in a horror movie.
She shoved that mental nightmare aside and directed them through the compound. "Go through the hangar. Hurry!"
Flicking back and forth between cameras, Lucy monitored the team, and the duo of Hunter and Luke, who trembled with exhaustion from their ongoing battle with Beleth, even as bruises swelled on their body and blood trickled from wounds. Black blades extended from each of Beleth's hands, and the clank of metals, as Hunter fought him off with his own sword, reverberated through their comm units. Luke bobbed from one foot to the other, waiting for an opening to get to the vent and unleash the sleeping gas in his pack. The clash of steel and the shuffle of steps, the grunts of those fighting—these sounds sat suspended in their own world, seemingly disconnected from the scene in front of her, like a badly dubbed Japanese movie.
A slash from Beleth's blade created a crimson line on Hunter's arm, and Lucy's heart dropped into her stomach. She squinted, imagining the cut, like fire, on her skin. She wanted to ask if he was okay, but knew she shouldn't distract him from the fight.
Instead she switched to Luke's comm. "You have to help him!"
Luke pointed to the crushed remains of his pistol, courtesy of Beleth. "I can't. No weapon."
Lucy nearly clawed through the computer screen in frustration. "Use your powers."
After a brief hesitation, he nodded and ran up behind Hunter, shadowing him as he raised a force field up to block Beleth's spider legs and sword attacks. Lucy could tell that they were not in synch. Luke's shield blocked Hunter's strikes as often as Beleth's, and they couldn't seem to find a rhythm that worked. Had the stakes not been death, their clumsy dance might have been almost comical.
Another click back to Robyn. They were almost at the door. Hurry. Hurry. Please hurry.
Another click. Sam and Drake had gone to find Ana and Steele. Just as she zoomed in on the correct camera, she saw them slip into a room and disappear from her radar. She searched, but could not find a camera for that room. It either didn't have one, or it was totally blocked from her. She sent a silent plea that they would be careful and successful, then focused her attention back on Hunter, Luke, and their friends.
Robyn stopped at a junction. "Left or right?"
Lucy looped through camera feeds. "Left."
They ran down empty hallways.
Beleth continued his fight against Hunter and Luke, and the screech of metal filled the air.
Sam and Drake were off her radar. Why was it so quiet? Why hadn't Beleth raised the alarm and alerted the whole compound of the breech?
And why had he said he was sorry? That man wasn't what he appeared, but she didn't know what to make of him. The tracking device that she'd removed from her laptop sat on the table, and Lucy looked from it to the guard's soda can and back, then dropped the device in the soda, letting the acid eat it away.
She watched the screen helplessly as one of Beleth's spider legs caught against Hunter and threw him against a wall, exposing weaponless Luke.
Hunter tumbled to the ground and lay still, even as Lucy's heart sped up.
Luke scrambled away, but Beleth stopped him. "Fight! Fight me."
Huh? It wasn't as if they were filming for a pro wrestling show. Why didn't Beleth kill him then and there? Not that Lucy was complaining, but she didn't like having an enemy she didn't understand.
Luke's breathing came through the comm harsh and jagged, full of fear. His face glistened with sweat.
Lucy kept her voice low and calm. "Luke, you can do it. I know you can. Don't give up, Bro."
She had to stop before her own panic filled her words, as she watched Hunter slumped into a heap in the corner, unmoving. He had to be just knocked out. No way he could be dead. Her mind refused to consider the possibility.
Tension built as Beleth stalked the silent Luke, who acted as if he hadn't heard either of them. Beleth seemed almost hesitant, resigned in his task, as though he didn't really want to kill Luke.
Lucy yelled at her brother. "Damn you, don't give up. There's something more going on here, and I need your help to figure it out. Get up!"
Beleth towered over her brother. Oh, God, no. "Fight me. Or will you do nothing? Will you sit by and watch, like you sat by while they killed your mother?"
Why was he taunting Luke? None of this made any sense. They hadn't even been there when their mother died; they'd still been at Rent-A-Kid, under lock and key.