I headed straight for them...was almost within reach. “I’ll go without a fight, but you have to stop. Now.”
One of them grabbed me. The other shoved a black sack over my head. My hands were tied behind my back, and I was patted down for weapons. For once, I didn’t have any.
I was picked up and thrown into the car.
Chapter 29
LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!
As the car motored down the road, my mom whispered, “I’m so sorry, Ali. I heard Juliana talking to someone on her cell. She said she’d have you outside in five minutes, for the troops to wait in back. I hoped to lead them away from the house, didn’t know zombies were coming...or that bombs would go off and you’d be trapped inside. I’m so sorry.”
It was nice, knowing she was with me.
“Emma’s frantic, trying to get here to see you, but I’ve made friends throughout the years and asked them to stop her. Gently.”
“Thank you.” I didn’t want my little sis to see me like this.
“Quiet,” one of the Hazmats snapped.
“I would appear to Cole,” Helen continued, “and tell him where you are, what’s happening and where you end up, but he wouldn’t believe me.”
No. He wouldn’t.
And maybe that was for the best. I didn’t want to be found.
“I’ll think of something. Just...remember what I told you,” Helen said, and then I think she left me.
Remember...what?
I didn’t have to ponder long before the answer hit me. The fingerprint ID. How she had died protecting me. How she had made arrangements for my future. I couldn’t let her down.
Like I’d let Kat down.
I’m not sure how far we traveled. Finally, the car stopped and I was hauled outside. The men dragged me inside a warm building, only to release me and push me inside...a cage, most likely. That was Anima’s usual M.O. I stumbled, my shoulder brushing against a cold metal bar. Yep. A cage.
Footsteps. Angry muttering.
I sat. Something pulled at the ties around my wrists, and suddenly I was free. I removed the hood and blinked into focus. The cage was a four-by-four with bars on every side. The floor was made up of dirt and more dirt. I had a cot and a toilet, nothing more. Been here, done that. Anima needed new material.
The only piece of furniture outside the cage was a long metal table. Papers were scattered across the surface. A pen.
Weapon.
Fingers snapped at my ear.
At least there were no men in lab coats milling around, pretending not to scrutinize my every move.
The fingers snapped again. “Ali.”
Slowly I turned my head, blinked when I realized Justin occupied the cage next to mine. Well, well. I’d finally found him. In the proof-of-life video, he’d worn only underwear. Today he was fully clothed.
He pulled off his shirt and handed it to me. I pulled the material over my head as he gripped the bars between us. The swelling in his eyes had gone down, revealing the desperation swirling inside.
“Tell me what’s been going on,” he pleaded. “Men come and rough me up, bragging about slayers they’ve killed, and I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. How’s Jaclyn? Is she okay?”
“She’s...” I paused. Last time I’d seen her, she’d been unconscious. “Still breathing.” It was the best I could offer. “Trina, Lucas, Cruz and Collins are dead. Have been since the night you were taken. Today, Anima bombed Mr. Ankh’s house. We were all there. Mr. Ankh died.” My chin quivered. “Kat...” I couldn’t get out any more than that.
Had the antidote had enough time to cleanse her of zombie toxin? Had it been strong enough?
Would her spirit rise, dark and hungry?
Not knowing what was to come...
Being so far away from her...
In some ways, I felt as if I was falling into an endless pit of despair. No, not a pit. A grave. Falling, faster and faster, with no way to save myself. But the truth was, I’d already hit rock bottom.
Kat had wanted a life, had decided to fight for more time. Time, so precious. Every second mattered. And now she had no seconds left. They’d been taken from her. Every. Single. One.
I’d never get to tell her I was sorry. Or that I loved her. Or that she meant more to me than oxygen.
I’d never hug her. Never see her. The pictures we’d taken that night in my room, when she’d made such hard-core love to the camera she’d created a baby, were gone. Lost in the rubble of Mr. Ankh’s home.
Rage...stronger...
Justin sagged against the bars. “I hate myself. I used to work with these people. Used to help them strike at Cole.” He laughed bitterly. “How stupid was I?”
“Save your pity party for later.” Good advice. Wished I could take it. “How often are you left alone?”
“More often than not.”
“Did the men who brought me here say anything about when we could expect a visit?”