Touch (Denazen #1)(61)

She was right. This was my one shot. But mimic two people? One had been nearly impossible. What were the odds on two? I had to try, though. For Kale. And if it worked, if I survived it, maybe I wouldn’t need the Reaper to get Mom out. Maybe I could do it on my own.

I grabbed both her hands and closed my eyes, concentrating on what I wanted. The pain surged and a scream built. This time, though, there was no holding it back. Clammy hands clamped over my mouth as tears trailed down my cheeks.

And then it hit me. Like a jet falling out of the sky…and then passing through me. It felt like being ripped in half. Slowly. Cell by cell.

“Deznee? Dez, get up.”

I opened my eyes and saw—me. Mercy. Mercy as me. Wow. Someone needed to get some sun. I let her help me to my feet, clinging to her arm for support. The pain in my head buzzed, almost drowning out her words, and the ground felt like it was tilting sideways, determined to flip me over. “I guess I lied. I would be caught dead in something like this.” The cheap material made my legs itchy, and the blazer was stuffy and too confining.

Mercy snorted and pulled away, tugging at the bottom of my shorts. “You? How do you think I feel? These shorts are downright indecent! I look like a harlot.”

Managing to stay upright on my own was a chore, but I managed. I snorted. “Are you high? I’ve got killer legs and a great ass. I’d be an idiot not to flaunt ’em.”

A black sedan pulled into the lot. “Showtime.” She slipped me her security badge. “All you need to do is go up to the ninth floor and tell them you’re taking 98 for questioning. Bring him back to my office. Then make an excuse and take him outside.”

Make an excuse? Like it’d be that easy? “Then what?”

“Then I suggest you both run like hell. It won’t be long before they realize I’m not where I should be. Well, you’re not where I should be.” She stepped up to the car as it pulled along the curb. “Is there anything I should know?”

“Stay up in my room. I don’t know when Dad will be home but if he does get there before me, ignore him and lock the door. Flip him off if he tries to barge in, whatever.”

Mercy looked mortified. It weirded me out to see the expression coming from my own face. I didn’t do mortified. “Flip him off?”

“There’s a key taped to the underside of the front porch. Have a nice trip.” I waved and pushed her to the car. She slid in and closed the door. As soon as the car left the lot, I slowly started back to the building—miraculously without collapsing. I didn’t know how long I had, so wasting time wasn’t an option, but moving faster than just above a crawl was impossible. The mimic had sapped all my energy. The only thing keeping me from passing out was the thought of Kale. If I didn’t keep it together, he’d be lost.

Pulse pounding in my ears, I strolled past the first floor desk clerk and to the white elevator doors. Once inside, I swiped Mercy’s card and told the elevator to take me to level nine. I’d half been expecting sirens and flashing lights. Blaring alarms and gates crashing down from the ceiling to trap me in the car. Maybe even those laser beams you see in the movies—the ones to keep jewel thieves away. But when the car began its ascent without incident, I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. So far so good.

As the doors opened to the red walls and concrete floor of level nine, I did my best impersonation of the uptight, stick-up-her-ass Mercy.

“Morning, Mercy,” a small-framed woman said from behind the main desk. I nodded and made my way around the corner and down the hall. Thank God I’d been here with Dad or I’d be screwed. Someone probably would’ve noticed if Mercy asked directions.

“Who’s getting questioned today, Merc?” the guard at the end of the hall asked. He turned his key to open the door, giving her a flirtatious smile. Maybe Mercy wasn’t as frigid as I thought. I winked and returned the smile. He seemed surprised—but happy. “One last round for 98 before curtain time,” I said. The man raised an eyebrow, but waved me ahead. Crap. I needed to think like Mercy. Talk like her. Think long-winded and boring.

“I’ll send Jim up with a suit to bring him down. You can meet him in your office.”

“That’s fine. I’ll wait here and go down with them. I’d like the extra time to—observe him.”

Apparently, it was the right thing to say. I started down the hall full of glass cages while the guard picked up the phone to call for someone. Everyone sat exactly as they had been the other day. Like they never moved. All in the same place, with the same expressions on their faces. Even the blankets on their cots looked undisturbed.

All except Kale.

Wedged in the corner of his cell, he stared straight ahead. When I stepped in front of the glass, he didn’t blink and I worried he might be drugged. I was about to say something to let him know it was me, but he spoke.

“I told you everything I had to tell. More questions won’t change that.”

At the far end of the hallway, a man in one of the moon-man suits came through the door. So much for giving Kale a heads up. “There are always more questions to ask, 98,” I said as the man approached.

“Level five?”

“Yes. My office, please.”

The man opened the door and hauled Kale up. His color seemed a little better than last time I’d seen him, but he still wobbled on his feet. A little bit further and with any luck we’d be clear.