Firestorm Read online

  After all this, I would bring Darcy to this place.

  7950 and I came to a stream, and we paused for another precious minute to sniff with our snouts before we drank at length. The water tasted fresh, untainted. It filled me with coolness, and then warmth.

  Perhaps this world wasn’t as forsaken as I’d been led to believe.

  We leapt the stream, and as we ran, still following Zara’s scent, I knew that if 7950 and I could work together to save one woman, then there was hope for us. Not just humanity, but the clones that we were.

  A half-mile later we emerged from the forest into a hilly, bare landscape. Here the grass tapered again to dirt and rock, and the scent grew strong.

  Either they were slowing, or we were moving faster.

  "We’re close," 7950 whispered to me.

  "Maybe a couple miles," I whispered back. "Are you still with me?"

  Beside me, 7950 huffed through both nostrils. "I don't go back on my word."

  Good, I thought. I was starting to like 7950. "That makes two of us."

  5:23 a.m.

  Blaze

  We were close. The land had turned hilly, and mountains rose bulbous and barren in the distance. Which made it a good sort of place to find caves. Caves were good homes if you weren’t fond of the sun.

  Speaking of. I sensed it rising to the east, a gray hue in the darkness. In my silver form, even the promise of it sent a strange feeling through me.

  I’d been running for hours in this form, but I hadn’t felt the exertion of it. My body was massive, muscular, all four legs working in synchrony to carry me much faster than I was capable on two legs.

  And the scents. Everything smelled like it was just in front of my nose.

  Even Zara. Especially her—a human, who suddenly smelled like the perfect nourishment for my muscles. Perfectly edible. Which was a strange, since I had never been a creature of instincts. I’d always been strong-willed, but in this form, I had to work to maintain my presence of mind.

  Save Zara. Bring her back to Darcy. Protect them all.

  With the sun coming up, the silver who’d taken her had stopped. His scent and hers came powerfully clear as we bounded up a hill, came to the crest at a crouch.

  To our right, the gray sky had turned a dull pink, and my night vision bled away as I stared down at a rock overhang set into the side of the next hill.

  "She's inside there," 7950 whispered to me.

  "And six silvers are with her," I returned.

  We hung a moment on the hillside, contemplating. Her scent in the air was still vital, which meant she was very much alive. Why hadn’t they killed her already? Humans were precious food, and with six of them, she should already have been…

  And then I realized: it was a pack of males. They intended to turn Zara into one of them. A female for breeding.

  I thought back to how the silver venom worked. Immobilization within a few hours, turned or killed within a few days.

  That was if they gave her a superficial wound with those claws or teeth. The wound I’d been given when Darcy and I escaped the facility had punctured my thigh almost to the bone, and I’d been immobilized within a few minutes.

  I needed to get her out of there immediately. Even if there were six on them, I had an unstoppable force on my side. And 7950.

  "What's your plan?" 7950 asked.

  "Straight-shooting. Go in, destroy all six, retrieve her." I sensed him eyeing me, and I glanced over. "You aren't keen on that plan?"

  "I have an amendment," 7950 whispered. "We go in as humans. We make them think we're meat."

  A smile tugged at my mouth. "You're pretty cool-headed for a Gale."

  "And you're pretty intent on getting killed for a man who has escaped death twice over."

  "I'm not intent on it," I said, staring pointedly at 7950. "But it seems people keep wanting me dead."

  He snorted lightly, and I gestured toward the den.

  He lowered his head in a slow assent, and we stalked along the crest of the hillside, still in our silver forms. Darcy had told me infiltrators had been engineered scentless to them, which meant they wouldn’t sense our presence unless we made too much noise or strayed into their vision.

  But with these paws, I could move across the hill soundlessly. And with the light coming up, their vision was worsening by the minute.

  We passed along the opposite hillside until the rock hang was nearly out of sight, and then we darted into the valley and up the opposite hill which the silver den had been burrowed into.

  7950 and I followed the valley toward their den, backed by the sun. The first rays had sprung up behind us, and they felt uncomfortable at first. Within a minute, they burned. And then they scalded.

  So this was what it felt like to be caught in the sun as a silver.

  Which was fine by me. I dropped to a crouch as the sun rose, closed my eyes. Shifting back to human form—my natural form—was as simple as willing it, like water filling a glass.

  When I opened my eyes, I was crouched naked on the ground. All my senses had shrunk back to their limited human capabilities, but I wasn’t burning anymore.

  Beside me, 7950 crouched on the ground, claw marks still covering his chest and neck. But they were already scabbed and healing.

  I glanced up at the sky, shielding my eyes. The sun peeked over a far hill, and it felt like pleasant warmth on my face.

  7950 and I rose, and we continued toward the silver den. We would enter their den naked and weaponless, and what silver would be able to resist that?

  Closer, the rock overhang rose much larger than it had appeared from the hillside. It cast a long shadow into the valley, and before we stepped into that shadow, I thought of Darcy.

  My talisman. My love.

  The word entered my chest like a struck chord, vibrating all at once. I loved her. I would do anything to protect her and those she loved.

  My hands folded unconsciously to fists as we entered the chill of the den’s shadow. Even with human ears, I heard the low growl that emanated in the darkness ahead.

  Thirteen

  Saturday, May 10, 2053

  5:23 a.m.

  Darcy

  How was I to explain who the hell a Scarlet was? A glorious, terrifying amalgam of the killer's instinct and the seducer's allure. She could bring a man to the heights of ecstasy and kill him with the same finger.

  I just stared at Aiden, and then my eyes drifted back to the woman who’d been ushered through the gates without a second thought.

  The woman I’d created. The one who had been sent to neutralize me and Blaze.

  She had a limp—probably an affect to gain the sympathy of the townsfolk, and the men in particular. She was a Scarlet, after all, and had been designed and trained to be the ultimate seductress.

  “Whoever she is, I can see why you call her Scarlet,” Aiden said, his eyes on the long mass of her red hair. She was already affecting him. My eyes traveled around this end of the square, found every man in view staring at her.

  "That's not why we call them Scarlets," I murmured. It was because of their nature: red hot, whether for blood or pleasure. But Aiden hadn't even heard me.

  As she came forward like a hurt creature, an arm around each of the guardians at either side of her, I grabbed Aiden by the bicep and yanked him alongside the nearest building.

  “Whoa, Darcy." He looked like he'd been slapped out of a stupor. “What’s going on?”

  “Where are those two taking her?”

  “They’re escorting her to the hospital to be checked over.”

  “That woman is dangerous,” I hissed. “She’s from the facility.”

  “The facility where you were a geneticist making super soldiers?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You don’t believe me.”

  Both his hands came to my arms, his fingers ginger on my bandaged right arm. “I believe you.”

  But I sensed that wasn't entirely true. It was a foundational sort of belief, one based in kno
wing the other person—not on proof. It meant: "I want to believe you."

  I needed more than want. I needed him to be with me.

  “Listen," I began, "I know the whole story sounds totally crazy, and that’s okay. I would think so too. But Aiden—please, you need to restrain that woman as soon as humanly possible.”

  “Because…” he said slowly, waiting for me to fill in the rest.

  “Because she’s one of them. She could kill everyone in this outpost tonight.”

  He stepped back, adjusting his stance so his crossbow creaked against his hip. “We’re not helpless children.”

  “To her, you absolutely are. You’re less than helpless children—you’re like infants.”

  He was only looking more skeptical; I needed to take a better tack.

  “I know you’re not an infant," I said. "You're a member of the Guardians’ Guild and you’ve been training to fight for years. But you have to understand that every mote of Scarlet exists to be what she is.”

  “Which is a soldier.”

  "An assassin," I corrected. "And the most irresistible seductress you’ve ever met. She’s exactly what this outpost wants: a young woman. I know, Aiden—I know they need women here. That’s why she was sent in through the front gates.”

  He closed one eye, considering. “So she’s basically a Trojan horse.”

  So he’d paid attention in primary after all. He’d always complained about the uselessness of books and learning, but maybe Aiden Waters had more to him than I’d realized.

  “Yes,” I said. “And once inside, she’s destruction and death. You need to put her in a cell.”

  He nodded, though I didn’t know what that meant exactly. “Come with me,” he said, turning toward the center of Beacon.

  I fell into step with him. There wasn’t any sight of the Scarlet anymore. “Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to the hospital.”

  “You’re going to take her into custody?”

  He shook his head. “I’m going to interrogate her after Dr. Sorin looks her over for silver wounds.”

  I turned fully toward him, sidestepping as we walked. “That's useless—she'll just give you a pretty story to lull you before she kills you. Also, since when do you do interrogations?"

  “She won’t be able to kill me because she’ll be heavily restrained in the guard tower. And I’m the head interrogator, Darcy. A lot has changed in the five years you’ve been gone.”

  Restraints. If they used anything but super-bolted metal restraints, she would find a way out of them. He didn’t even have a clue how capable she was.

  I set one hand at his arm as we walked. “She'll use every wile she has on you. You can’t believe what she says.”

  “It’s my job to parse truth from lies. I’ll be able to tell,” he said, not acknowledging my touch.

  We were coming to the hospital doors now, and I realized that Aiden had at least some belief in me: he was bringing me here to watch the Scarlet get checked over by Dr. Sorin. He wouldn't have done that with an ordinary civilian.

  I blinked, retraced back through my thoughts: checked over by Dr. Sorin.

  A wave of inspiration swept through me. Aiden was a step ahead, about to open the door for me, but I rushed in front of him and yanked it open.

  She was about to be checked over. Dr. Sorin would be looking for silver bites or claw marks, but he wouldn’t be looking for the right things. He wouldn't known to look for the things that would demonstrate the truth.

  Inside, I heard her crying coming as a faint noise from down the hall. So she had continued her helpless act.

  I dashed through the primary room, following the Scarlet’s pitiful sounds. My body thrilled with adrenaline, and the baser part of me wanted to turn around and get as far from her as possible.

  But I had to go forward. I had to reveal her for what she was.

  I came to the small examination room, stopped sudden at the window. Through the closed door, I could see that Dr. Sorin had just sat the Scarlet on the cot.

  The two guards stood outside—young men—shamelessly stared through the window with me.

  I stepped past them to open the door, but one noticed me. He lifted an arm to block my path. “Hold up.”

  “I need to talk to Dr. Sorin,” I said. “I know who that woman is.”

  But the arm didn’t lower. And this young man, barely more than a teenager, eyed me from his half-foot height advantage. His acne gleamed in the hospital's lanternlight. “Who are you?”

  I heard footsteps behind me. “She’s a member of the Scientists’ Guild. Let her in.”

  I glanced back; Aiden stood almost directly behind me, like a shadow.

  “Yes, sir,” the pimply one said, his blocking hand now lowering to the handle, pushing the door open.

  I took a bolstering breath, leaned just through the doorway. Dr. Sorin straightened up and around, and the Scarlet’s eyes rose to me through her veil of red hair. For a flash, I saw murder in those eyes. And then the mask descended again, and she became a hurt, scared woman.

  “Doctor,” I said, eyeing the space between me and the Scarlet. I couldn’t stand within grabbing distance of her, and I had to make sure I could close the door between her and me in a half-second. “I need to speak to you for a moment.”

  He nodded slowly—he clearly didn’t understand what I was about—but he stood from his stool. “Certainly.”

  When the door had closed behind him, I brought him down the hallway, away from the guardians' hearing. “What is it, Darcy?"

  “You trust me,” I said.

  “Of course.”

  “Then trust me when I tell you that that woman is the most dangerous thing that’s walked in through Beacon’s gates in the past three decades.”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Is she infected?”

  “No—it’s worse. I don’t have time to explain everything right now, but she’s not who she claims to be. I’m going to tell everyone what she is, but first I need you to confirm two things.”

  “Tell me.”

  “At the base of her head, where her spine meets her skull, feel for a square object beneath the skin. There should also be tattooed numbering on the inside of her left wrist. Four numbers in black. I need you to record these things on an official document.”

  To his credit, Dr. Sorin took all this in without so much as a blink. When I’d listed the items off, he just gave a single nod. “What else?”

  “Give the document to the council, and recommend her for an isolation cell until she’s gone in front of them for her trial. Emphasize how dangerous she is.”

  Sorin ticked his glasses up the bridge of his nose, considering everything I’d said. “I don’t doubt you, Darcy. But before I do this, I need you to tell me who this woman is I’m declaring a menace. She told me she was part of a scouting party from a far-off outpost.”

  “She’s not. You know there aren’t any other outposts left—at least, we’ve never seen evidence of one in twenty years.” I paused, glancing back to where the guards stood by the door to the examination room. The two who had escorted the Scarlet still had their eyes on her through the window, but Aiden was staring back at me.

  I turned back to Sorin. “I cloned her. She’s a soldier from an underground facility, just like the man I brought to you yesterday.”

  “The man who needed the operation?”

  “Yes. He had a chip in his head that connected him to the facility, and I needed to remove it. She has the same chip.”

  “And he wasn’t a danger?”

  “No—he’s different. Better.”

  “All right, Darcy.” Sorin took the fingers of my uninjured hand. “You were always a good one. One of the best. I trust the best to know them when they see them.”

  Tears sprung in my eyes, and I found myself suddenly unable to speak. If I did, I might lose some composure. I just squeezed his hand.

  Sorin returned to the examination room, and he
soon drew the curtain around the cot so he could perform a physical exam. I resigned myself to standing beside Aiden.

  He leaned sideways toward me. “What did you say to him?” he whispered.

  “I gave him the clues he needed to reveal her for what she is,” I whispered back.

  But when Dr. Sorin emerged from the examination room fifteen minutes later, he offered a helpless shrug as he closed the door behind him. “She’s all yours,” he said to Aiden.

  “What does that mean?” I asked, stepping forward.

  “It means that aside from an ankle sprain and an uninfected cut on her cheek, she’s completely clean.”

  “There weren’t any other marks on her?” I said, wording myself carefully in front of the two guards.

  “Not a one. But Aiden here can talk to her more about where she came from, and maybe we’ll get more insight into what happened to her.”

  I stood with my mouth open, staring at the doctor. He was a sincere man—had always been, and I knew he wasn’t lying about this. If he’d checked her over and found nothing, then he really had found nothing.

  They hadn’t put a chip in her. Or if they had, it had been removed along with the tattoo. After all, why send a Scarlet up here after me with those sorts of signifiers on her?

  "Was there a scar at the back of her neck, right at the base of her skull?"

  Dr. Sorin swiped his flat palms through the air. "Nothing—she's clean. Exhausted and terrified, though. She could use a good night's sleep. Might let her stay at the hospital."

  A good night's sleep. Little did any of them know, she wouldn't be sleeping. Not until she had completed her mission.

  I turned to Aiden. He looked exhausted, especially after the silver attack from a few hours before. I knew if he went near a bed, he'd probably collapse onto it without even wanting to. And I was sympathetic, but this was too important. "She can't stay here until the morning," I said. "Please."

  He ran a hand down his face, nodding. “I need to talk to her, make sure she's not a threat,” he said to Sorin. Aiden nodded toward the two guardians who had brought her in. “Escort her over to the guard tower. I’ll meet you there.”