I...didn’t like that he was upset. Why?
“Who do you think has been feeding Emma information all this time?” the Helen lady snapped. “Me. Now, do you really want to leave this building without taking care of Rebecca? Because the choice is yours. If it were up to me, I’d rather you did something. I love my daughter and never want to go through something like this again.”
Daughter? Throb, throb, throb.
Cole cracked his jaw, nodded. “Fine. Lead the way. But if this is a trap...”
“You’ll what?” she quipped. “Yell at me?”
He snapped his teeth at her. Mimicking a zombie?
She moved through a hall I didn’t recognize. Cole maintained a tight grip on my hand. Up an elevator she had to hot-wire, since the fire alarm had shut off every cart. Down a flight of steps. Down another elevator.
Finally, Helen stopped at the end of a dim corridor. “Ali. Your hand.”
What—
Cole moved me to the front, pushed my palm against the ID box. Warmth. A click. The door opened, and it wasn’t long before we were in another room I’d never seen. One with the twenty or so Witnesses I’d cleansed, trapped in a special cage with electric pulses that rode the length of the metal bars.
Slayers stopped and stared, flabbergasted.
“What. The. Hell?” Blondie said.
“They were zombies. Like those.” I pointed to the other cage and the undead. “But I cleansed them.”
“Cleansed?” Cole repeated.
I yanked from his grip and went to the cage of Witnesses. Another ID scan, and just like that, they were free. They floated out, thrilling with excitement and relief...rising...soon vanishing through the ceiling.
I went to the cage of zombies.
“No, Ali,” Cole shouted, stomping after me. “Don’t.”
“But I can cleanse them, too,” I said, turning to face him. Didn’t want him at my back.
A zombie reached through the bars and grabbed me. Because he was collared, he was solid to me and managed to sink his teeth into my arm. It hurt, and I yelped, but it wasn’t anything to send me to my knees. In fact, it was better this way, being free of the shackles.
Cole was suddenly in front of me, pulling me to safety. Scowling, he punched the zombie in the face.
He faced me, tenderly framed my cheeks with his big hands. Just like in the memory. “In a minute, there’s going to be two of me. My hand will light up. I’ll push the flames inside your wound. It’ll hurt but—”
“There’s no need,” I said. The bite was already healing, the burn in my veins already cooling. “The toxin doesn’t affect me.”
“Impossible.”
“Cole,” Blondie said. “Look at the zombie.”
Cole twisted in time to watch the gray fade from the creature’s skin, the red dim from his eyes.
“I don’t understand,” Cole said.
“Hello. Anyone remember Rebecca?” Helen clapped her hands to gain our attention. “Zombies can wait.”
But—
Cole tugged me down another hallway. We stopped in front of a metal door. Ethan sprawled in front of it, motionless, practically floating in a puddle of blood.
I wasn’t sad, I realized, and that confused me all over again.
Helen waved her hand at the door. “When you stopped the pulses around the building, I went straight to Ali. When I realized her memories had been covered, I knew Rebecca had stolen her slayer abilities, and went after her. So, Cole, you’ve got another choice to make. Kill Rebecca now and end her reign of terror, but in the process, ensure that Ali will never get her abilities back. Or take Rebecca with you and cage her. When Ali remembers her past, she will be able to take her abilities back.”
Stolen abilities? Covered memories?
“The code is...” Helen rattled off too many numbers to remember.
Cole glared at her for a long while before jabbing his finger into the keypad. He extended his crossbow as the door slowly opened.
I waited, more uncertain than ever. What would we find on the other side? Rebecca, as promised? Or a trap?
Which did I prefer?
If Rebecca was in there, the slayers would win. If it was a trap, I might be able to get away.
But did I really want to get away?
A smile lifted the corners of Cole’s lips. “Hello, Rebecca.”
Chapter 32
SEVERED HEADS
OR TANGLED TALES
I paced the confines of my new room. Well, not mine, but his. Cole. This was his bedroom. He was letting me borrow it, though I knew he wanted to stay here with me. Last night, when he’d brought me here, he’d said so, about a thousand times. I’d said no. Of course.
He was still an unknown.
Could I trust him?