Tremble (Denazen #3)(73)

“Dad’s office. It’s in there. We almost had it but— How did you know I was sleeping?”

“Kale told me they drugged you with some pretty hardcore stuff. Forget about that now. Listen carefully, Dez. Uncle Marshal wants to make an example out of you. We need to get you out of here.” He closed his eyes and for a second, I swore he faded in and out like a hologram. It reminded me of something you’d see in a sci-fi flick.

“This is Kale’s fault. He should have never suggested this.”

“Technically, Vince was the one who had the idea…”

“Dez…”

I shook my head and leaned closer to him. This was a dream. We were inside my head. Still, Brandt smelled like Brandt. I inhaled and let my head fall against his shoulder. “No. This was the only way. Did he get the vial?”

“Kale’s having some issues. Cross has armed agents standing at the end of the hall now. He’s not taking any chances.”

“Where does that leave me?”

“I told Ginger. She knows what’s going on and they’re coming.”

The scratchy fabric of his sweater itched against my skin. “Okay…”

“But I don’t know if they’ll get here in time, Dez. Or if they’ll even make it inside. We need to get you out now.”

I tried to shake my head but sharp pain prevented it. “No. Kale’s close. Don’t give up yet. Please. Give him one more chance.”

“Getting you out is more important right now.”

“Give it another day. Just one more day.” Although the idea sickened and terrified me, I wasn’t ready to give up. Without that vial, it didn’t matter if I got out of here alive or not. Without that vial, I was a goner. So were the other kids.

“You don’t understand.” Brandt pushed me away. His eyes bore holes in mine. “We don’t have another day. Cross is staging a very public termination in a few hours. Like I said, he intends to make an example of you. I know what they gave you is strong, but you’re stronger. You have to wake up and get out. Now.”

Wake up? “Exactly how am I supposed to do that?”

“Try. You can do it. You have to, because that’s not even the worst part,” Brandt said.

“Not the worst part?” How the hell did it get worse than termination—AKA death? And a public one to boot?

“Brandt, tell me what’s going on.”

He looked uncomfortable. “Cross plans on having Kale do it.”

…

When I woke from the dream everything was filmy and raw. I was alone and still in the holding room; Brandt was nothing more than a shadow passing through my mind. Whatever sedative I’d been given was wearing off, taking the comforting numbness right along with it. My arms felt like they’d been ripped from their sockets, and my wrists were more than likely perma-bruised from holding all my weight in the cuffs.

The moments right before passing out came flooding painfully back. Marshal Cross wasn’t my dad. Kiernan wasn’t my sister. The revelation should have made me happy. Knowing I didn’t share any tiny bits of genetic material with those whackjobs should have had me Snoopy dancing until the cows marched home on Judgment Day.

Marshal Cross was a mind-twister, though. There was always a slim possibility he was lying just to mess with me. Kiernan and I shared similar facial features and the same went for Dad. But I supposed if you looked hard enough at most people, you could find similarities among them. I decided, for now, that he’d told me the truth—and that it was good news.

I needed good news.

With that out of the way, the next order of business was to find a way out of this mess. If what Brandt said was true, my clock was ticking. Ginger was sending people, but even if they could get inside, we didn’t have nearly enough manpower or resources—despite Dax and his big fat bankroll—to launch an all-out raid on a place like Zendean. I hadn’t seen much of the complex, but from the way Kale spoke and the things Brandt said, it had to be massive with huge amounts of security. The building itself had stretched on forever—I’d peeked as we pulled into the lot.

Cringing, I tugged on the chains to test their security to the wall. They didn’t budge. Not that I could have reached, but now would have been a perfect time to test that hairpin theory Brandt had about picking locks.

I sighed and accepted the truth. Getting free from the chains was going to be impossible. At least without a key. So that simply meant I had to get someone to unlock the cuffs for me.

I scanned the room. On first sweep I didn’t see a thing. There was the desk in the corner, the chair Dad had pulled closer, and a small table a few feet away with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter sitting on top of a stack of papers.

Papers.

Wow. My focus issues were getting worse. Why worry about picking a lock when I could simply mimic my way out of this mess? I closed my eyes and pictured paper. It was a small object, resulting in nothing more than a tingle, which was a relief. After mimicking Kiernan and myself earlier, there was no way I had another full-body swap in me. At least not for a day or so.

The familiar tingle raced up my spine, and when I opened my eyes, I tore the cuffs from the wall with ease just like I had with Ben’s at the airport. That’s why Dad had put me to sleep. Since my ability had surged, it was the only way to keep me under control. But how long did they think I’d be out? And how long had it been? There was a good chance they’d be back any minute to haul me off to their public hanging. Brandt was right. I needed to be gone by then.