Unbounded - The Escape Part 6

In the hallway, I reached out again, searching for Mari's mental signature. I found her down a floor, probably looking for Keene in the infirmary. But there were no other life forces on that floor. I hurried to the stairs and sprinted down them, taking two at a time. When I emerged, she was already heading back to the elevator.

"Hi, Erin." She didn't quite meet my gaze.

"I think Keene is upstairs in Cort's office."

"I should have checked there first."

I laughed. "No, he should be here, but since he's an idiot, like most men, he's probably not resting."

We'd reached the elevator and she jabbed her finger at the b.u.t.ton. "I'd say you pretty much described all Unbounded, not just the men." Her smile returned. "You know, I used to like vacations, but now the idea of sitting around on a beach seems rather dull."

"Give it a few months." Because sitting around on a beach without worrying about what the Emporium was up to sounded like heaven to me.

"Okay. Then maybe we'll go together. Somewhere warm."

I waited until the elevator opened on the third floor to say, "I warned Oliver to keep his trap shut."

Her face whipped to mine. "You threatened him?"

"Kind of." My muscles tightened waiting for her disapproval.

"Oh, Erin. You're the best!" She hugged me before exiting the elevator.

"I don't know about that." I wanted to ask about her and Cort, to know if she really did have a thing for him, but I'd just pay attention and wait for her to come to me. She'd been seriously broken up by her husband's death, and I wasn't about to add to her pain. Hopefully, his betrayal was helping her get over him quickly.

In Cort's office, Keene sat on the shiny brown leather couch, fully dressed in gray jeans and a long-sleeved, white V-necked T-shirt, topped by a gray suede vest. I was relieved to see him looking so well after last night's adventures.

Cort looked up from his desk and cleared his throat. "Ah, there you are."

I took a seat on the couch while Mari ignored the chairs and perched on the arm next to me. "Missed you both at workout this morning," I said.

Cort shrugged. "I did it last night. Couldn't sleep with all the excitement."

"As for me," Keene said with a lazy expression, "I was just playing hooky."

I stifled a smile. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, thanks to Dimitri and Cort." He met my gaze briefly before looking away.

"Should you be up?" Mari asked.

"Well, we have a visit to make, don't we?" Keene stared down at the phone in his hand. I couldn't see what was on it, but apparently it was fascinating.

"Sorry," I said. "You're not going. Ava's orders. Mari and I can shift out if we have to, but you'll be a liability."

"Then you grab me and take me with you. I know shifting is limited to what you can carry, but if you're linked with Mari and shifting together, the two of you should be able to take us at least to the next room."

During our practice the past few weeks, we'd been successful at doing that with Jace, but it hadn't been easy. Alone, Mari hadn't shifted Jace more than a few steps. "What if that's not far enough? You can't fight anyway. Not with that hole in you. What if you get us all killed?" Or worse, captured.

Keene's eyes narrowed. "I won't. But if that's the way you want to play it, good luck. Let me know how it goes." He shut off his phone, put it in his pocket, and arose, the stiffness in his body belying the casual words.

"What about the introduction?" Mari said.

Keene smiled. "Only if I go with you."

"No," I said at the same time Mari said, "Okay."

I glanced at Cort, lifting a hand in appeal, but he shook his head with obvious enjoyment. "I've given up trying to talk sense into him. He has never listened to his older and wiser brother."

"My ancient brother is too conservative," Keene retorted. "Besides, you need me, Erin. There are certain handshakes and so forth that you don't have time to learn."

I rolled my eyes. "What are they, Masons?"

"Kind of."

I came to my feet, facing him. "You almost died last night. You should be in bed, not visiting Hunters. What if that Unbounded with Emerson attacks us?"

Keene took a step. "Then I'll watch you dispatch him." He shook his head and blew out a sigh. "Look, with me there, nothing will go wrong-we'll be their allies not their enemies. Besides, Dimitri patched me up great. I'm at least as well as I'd have normally been in three or four days with any ordinary doctor."

"Really?" This I put to Cort, because while Keene didn't lie, he might not understand Dimitri's ability.

Cort nodded. "Dimitri is that good, and my brother is that stupid."

Mari let out an amused snort.

"Besides," Cort said, hesitating, "we also tried out some other things we've been working on with nanites and regeneration since he couldn't protest."

It was Keene's turn to roll his eyes. "Guess I'm a guinea pig. So what's the verdict? Are you coming or am I doing this alone?"

I could call Ava and she'd set this to rights in an instant, but I didn't want to be someone who always went running to her. I had to learn to fight my own battles, and that meant weighing Keene's stubbornness against my desire to fulfill the mission. The mission had to come first.

"Okay," I said. "You come. But after we're in, you follow my lead. I'll know what they're thinking."

Was that worry emanating from Cort? Did he feel I'd made the wrong decision? Or was he simply tired of losing siblings?

Cort caught my gaze and the emotions vanished. He had one of the strongest shields in our group, and if I wanted, he'd let me try to break in, but now wasn't the time to practice.

Grunting in approval, Keene swept up his coat from the couch and headed for the door. He moved carefully but without any visible sign of pain. His torso had more bulk than I remembered, probably from the layers of bandages under his shirt. Mari hurried after him.

I followed them, pausing at the door. "You watching Oliver today?" I asked Cort.

His mouth twitched. "Yes. We're going to run through a few practice illusions before we take our turn at the compound."

"That's actually something I've been meaning to talk to you about." I glanced at Keene and Mari. "Can I have a moment? I need to run something past Cort. I'll be right down." Curiosity peeled from both of them, but neither voiced it, so I pretended not to notice.

"Sure, I need to get a gun anyway," Keene said.

"And how about more of those nano knives?" Mari suggested.

Keene shook his head. "I doubt he'll have a metal detector, so regular knives will do, and if I give him the right codes, we may not even be searched."

"After what happened at the hotel last night, he might be more careful," Mari said.

"We'll see."

I shut the door as they turned away. Cort leaned back in his seat, watching me as if I were one of his science projects, which I supposed I was. He'd been a constant in my life since my Change, drilling me on my experiences as a sensing Unbounded, teaching me about my new life, and planning multiple tests for my ability. But most of all, he was my friend.

"About Oliver," I said, walking to his desk and placing my hands on top. "I've been thinking how Stella can change her appearance by communicating directly with the nanites in her body, which in turn are the only things that can keep up with our regeneration and healing abilities."

Cort cleared his throat. I didn't usually notice how many times he did that before he talked, but sometimes it could be annoying. "Nanites have been used on other Unbounded but simply aren't advanced enough to work on programming alone. We've been able to keep our bodies from rejecting the tracking chip, but it's too complicated for so many nanites to change someone's appearance without constant updates."

"Basically, you need a computer in your head."

He grinned. "Yep. Or to be a technopath. Or in your case to be connected to one. But even then the appearance doesn't change much. That would require more sophisticated nanites, which is still far down the road, even for us."

"Okay, but in that same vein, what about an illusion instead of a physical change? Could Oliver create a realistic enough illusion over his own body to pa.s.s himself off as someone else?"

Cort rubbed his chin, his gaze intensifying. "And could you do the same by channeling his gift?"

"Exactly. As a temporary measure, or course, like during an a.s.sault. Or some other operation."

"I don't know. It's been so long since an illusionist existed that no one really knows what they're capable of. I'll do some research and a few experiments with Oliver." He coughed. "I might have had an answer for you already if we hadn't been so occupied since Oliver and Mari joined us."

I understood. He'd been presented with two new abilities, plus my own developing one. Unlike Stella with her connection to computers all over the world, Cort had to find information the old-fashioned way, a piece at a time. "Maybe Stella could help?"

He rubbed his chin. "Maybe." He was already lost in thought, studying patterns that only he could see. If anyone could help Oliver do what I wanted, it would be him.

"Thanks, Cort." I was pretty sure he didn't notice me as I left. Five hundred years, and you'd think he'd be a little better with women. Perhaps he'd given up. I knew he'd been married several times and had children, including two Unbounded who lived in Europe. I wondered if he might decide to try again with Mari. She wouldn't die and leave him like the mortals had.

Unless the Emporium killed her.

Pushing back the thought, I strode to the elevator. I could sense two life forces heading for the garage, so I punched that level and waited for the doors to close.

My mind shifted to the pending meeting with the Hunters. If they had any idea who we were, they'd shoot us on sight. We had to be ready. Whatever happened, we couldn't leave the Unbounded bodyguard with them for long, even if that meant exposing his nature. The choice didn't leave much room for my conscience since revealing that he was Unbounded to the Hunters he was infiltrating was the equivalent of ordering his death. The alternatives were almost as brutal. I didn't know if I would ever become accustomed to choosing not between good and evil but between evil and worse evil.

Regardless, the Unbounded bodyguard could be close to retrieving the Hunter records that would lead him to Renegade posterity. We had to protect them at all cost.

USUALLY WITH THE UNBOUNDED GENE pulsing through my veins, I felt like the nearly immortal that I was: confident, bold, and a bit arrogant. Not today. I was too nervous. Gone was my a.s.surance of last night. There were some things Unbounded feared, and the truth was that I'd nurtured a private unease about Hunters since my Change when they'd attacked us and I'd ended up sharing s.p.a.ce with my first bullet. Subsequent encounters had gone downhill from there.

It didn't help my worry that even this early on Sat.u.r.day there were a lot of people in the streets, glowing life forces filled with unshuttered emotions zinging around and begging to be noticed. Love, hatred, greed, and worry. The stronger the emotion, the more it pleaded for recognition.

As I drove to the address Keene put into the GPS on the dash of the white rental sedan, I clamped down on my emotions and strengthened my mental barrier. In and out, I told myself. Nothing to worry about. Ritter's philosophy hadn't worked all that well at the hotel last night, but that didn't mean things wouldn't go smoothly today. I'd feel better if I weren't taking either Mari or Keene along. It was one thing to risk my own life, but I felt responsible for them.

"I told them I was bringing my girlfriend," Keene said from the pa.s.senger seat. "They think we're all Hunters from Arizona. And don't forget that my undercover name with them is KC Farrell."

I scowled. "You talked to Emerson? Why didn't you say we were just friends?"

"I talked to him about an hour ago. And I didn't mean you. I meant Mari." He smiled at her in the backseat. "You don't mind, do you? Hunters tend to get their families and such into the business."

Mari shrugged. "I guess not. If it helps."

Why did that make me more irritated? I stopped myself from honking as the driver in front of me slammed on his brakes for no apparent reason. The traffic was terrible for a Sat.u.r.day morning, but I should have expected as much of downtown Manhattan.

"I thought you never lied," I muttered.

"Cover stories are different. For today, we are our cover stories." A fine example of why even Keene's truth was sometimes not really the whole truth.

"My Hunter contacts gave me such glowing recommendations," Keene continued, "that Emerson agreed to meet with me. Fortunately he happened to be free this morning."

Happened. I didn't like the sound of that. Coincidence usually meant trouble.

"Relax," Keene said. "No one has plans the night after a big fundraiser. Too busy sleeping off the booze."

"Then why's he awake?" Mari asked, leaning forward so much that the ends of her blond wig fell over the front seat.

"Liver trouble." Keene shrugged. "Or so they say. Not much of a drinker at any rate."

That meant three of us because Unbounded didn't usually waste their time on alcohol that never stayed in our bodies long enough to do anything wonderful or destructive.

"Commuting to his ranch outside the city isn't always an option," Keene went on, "so he owns a thirty million dollar townhouse in West Village. That's where we're going."

Mari whistled. "Must be some townhouse."

At least it wasn't the hotel from yesterday, where we might be identified this close to the night of the attack. "We're almost there," I said. We'd entered an upscale area where a variety of townhouses lined both sides of the streets-brick, brownstone, stucco. Some looked alike, while others screamed out individuality.

The GPS directed me to a large, red-bricked corner building, but I drove past several equally impressive townhouses and parked down the street. Keene gave a little groan. "So far away?"

"Hey, you're the one who decided to come along." Like always, I checked the mirror for pursuit, but there was nothing suspicious. "If things go bad there's no use making our vehicle noticeable." The traffic here was considerably less than near our safe house, which would be nice if we had to start shifting. Or if Mari had to shift. Because I knew I wouldn't be able to leave Keene behind.

"I think you should leave some of your weapons here," Mari said to me. "In case they ask for our coats. It'll be weird if you refuse, won't it?"

"Okay. Okay." I opened my coat and took out the sai, placing them in a black duffel Mari retrieved from the trunk. I hoped Ritter never knew I'd left them. After Stella's comment, I had the sneaking suspicion they might be worth more than I thought. At least they should be safe in this part of town.

Keene's green eyes followed my movements as I laid my machete in its scabbard on top of the sai. I almost wished I'd left the weapons at the safe house, but I might need them if things turned nasty.

Moments later, I felt positively naked as we walked down the street. The air was crisp and cold, searing my throat, and the slight smell of ash wafted down from several nearby chimneys.

"So," Keene said, keeping pace with me, "those aren't your ordinary sai."

I tucked my hands inside my pockets, holding the leather of my coat closer to my body, glad the top part was lined with a flannel-like material. "They're Chinese."

"Did he give them to you?"

"Who?"

"Ritter."

I stopped walking and faced him. "Yes. He thought I should learn a new weapon. Is that a problem?" I expected Keene to laugh and make some witty comment, but he didn't. His expression remained sober as he studied my face.