The physicist grimaced as Amanda placed a bandage on his wound.
“To manipulate the flow of time on a living creature is to manipulate the flow of blood. If you reverse just part of a person, it creates chaos in the vascular system, which can lead to all things from blood clots to a fatal embolism. That’s why revivers are full-body devices, and why shifters only work in enclosed spaces.”
Zack felt a high scream in his throat. For all he knew, he’d just sent dozens of air bubbles on a murderous path to Rebel’s heart. He may have just killed a man.
Throughout all the blood and chatter, Amanda kept glancing at the frozen corpse of Eric Salgado. She fought back tears.
“Can someone please go find my sister?”
“I’m here.”
Hannah hobbled through the west archway, covered in scrapes and grass stains. She looked ten years older now, and utterly miserable.
Amanda moaned in relief. “Oh thank God! What happened?”
“Some asshole with a sword tried to kill me.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m all right. I got lucky.”
“Where’s the sword guy now?” Theo asked Hannah.
“Out on the front lawn. I hit him with a . . . Jesus, Theo! What happened to you?”
“Got stupid. Got shot.”
Mia glanced at the unconscious man on the floor. “I think that’s all of them. I only saw four people on the monitors.”
“I don’t care,” Zack said. “We’re getting out of here. All of us.”
“And going where?” Hannah asked.
Amanda finished placing her bandage on Czerny. “We have to get to the hospital as fast as we can.”
Czerny debated the notion of mentioning Beatrice, who was still hiding in his office. He figured her best chance for survival was to stay here, away from the targets.
“How exactly are we getting there?” Theo asked.
“Driving,” said David. He emerged from the north wing, an aerostretcher in one hand and a jingling key ring in the other. “I grabbed these from the security room. I assume one of them starts the Salgados’ van.”
Zack grabbed the keys from him. “Good thinking.”
“Are you okay driving? I’m not sure how differently the vehicles operate here.”
“I’ll figure it out. Let’s just go.”
Mia looked through the windows at their escape vehicle. She recalled the warning she’d received ten hours ago about Amanda. If she gets out of the van, they will shoot her. They will shoot her and she will die.
—
A large round portal bloomed on the wall near Rebel. A tall figure emerged from the whiteness. She was a young woman of Indian descent, as slender and pretty as Amanda. Her hair hung in a braid that extended all the way down the back of her black nylon bodysuit.
Her dark eyes popped at the sight of Rebel. “Oh no! Richard!”
Ilavarasi Sunder was the only one who called him by his real name. As his match, his mate, it was her prerogative. He simply called her Ivy. They all did.
A second figure stepped through the gateway. Gemma Sunder was a slip of a girl, barely five feet tall. She wore a sleeveless silk blouse over a black leather miniskirt, plus a garish amount of makeup. Her appearance was pure defensive strategy, a way to minimize the fact that she was technically ten years old.
Upon seeing Rebel’s unconscious frame, Gemma crossed her arms and scowled. “I warned him. I told him the breachers were fast learners.”
Ivy glared at her niece. “I don’t have time for your attitude. Just give me the picture.”
“Working on it.”
Once the MacDougals stepped through the portal, Ivy closed it shut. The redheaded brothers were short and stocky, and utterly indistinguishable from each other except for the color of their tracksuits.
The twins helped Ivy roll Rebel onto his back. She screamed when she saw his withered hand.
“Oh God, he’s been rifted!”
“He’ll be okay,” Gemma said. “He won’t—”
The girl’s head suddenly jerked back as if she just woke up from a nap. She looked to the stairwell in hot alarm.
“They’re getting into a van. Right now. They’re leaving and they’re not coming back.”
“Damn it!” Ivy shot to her feet, then pushed the MacDougals to the stairs. “Go!”
The brother in green pointed to his concerned face, then the ceiling.
“Forget the cameras!” Ivy yelled. “Just go! Stop them! Kill as many as you can!”
—
The weather inside Mia’s head was wet and foggy. She could barely hold a thought as she watched her friends in action. While Zack hurried around to the driver’s side of the van, David helped Amanda load Czerny’s stretcher into the back. Hannah stayed to the side with Theo, propping up his wounded arm as he kept a nervous eye on the lobby. Everyone seemed to have a task. Mia could only clutch her journal and ponder Krista Bloom, a woman who didn’t seem particularly crazy or evil. Why did she want them dead? Why did she make it sound so crucial?
She noticed Erin’s boots on the other side of the van and mindlessly moved toward them.