Untouched (Denazen #1.5)(12)

Her lips tilted upward and a grin lit her entire face. Leaning close, warm breath caressed my neck as she whispered, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“If something were to happen—”

She stole the rest of the thought away with a kiss. Soft lips moved across mine and all else was forgotten. Fingers threaded through my hair and grazed the back of my neck.

“Ahem,” Kiernan said loudly. “You two should really get a room.”

Dez giggled. “Maybe later. Now we need to get out of here.” She looked around. “What the…”

To our right was a bench with a skeleton man reading a newspaper. Behind him, the Statue Man was standing by a cart. He was handing food to a lifelike statue of a small girl with a white ribbon in her hair whose face appeared to be melting. Bits of it dripped to the floor and collected in a puddle at her feet while some clung to the front of her pink dress. I was about to touch her, curious for some reason about what her fake skin felt like, but then the light—what little there was—went out.

“That is just…” Dez whispered. “Eww. Like what—”

“Shh!” I clamped my hand down over her mouth. “Someone’s coming.”



Kiernan turned to the door. “Yeah. Another customer, maybe?”

I didn’t get the chance to respond. Footsteps pounded the floor behind us as, a moment later, Samsen and several agents came through the door.

“I know what you’re thinking, 98.” Samsen laughed. “But don’t. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt. Hand over the girl and we leave. Won’t even use my ability on you.”

“Kiernan stays with us,” I growled, covering my ears. I couldn’t drown him out completely, but the harder he was to hear, the harder it would be to gain control. Beside me, Dez tensed, ready for a fight.

“Kiernan? No, no, no. I’m talking about Miss Cross.”

“M-me?” Dez stammered. “I thought you were here for Kiernan.”

Samsen shook a finger and clucked his tongue. “I was. Changed my mind. I think you’d be a much better choice. So if you’re willing to switch places, I’ll take you instead of Miss McGuire.”

Dez looked from him to me, then sighed. “Fine.”

“What?” I let my hands fall away, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back a few inches. “No!”

Dez smiled, tilting her head to the left. She leaned close, and I could feel her breath puff out across my cheek. “It’s okay. You got this. Give us, like, five, then come bust me out.” With a wink, she kissed me and turned to Samsen. “You leave them alone, right?”

He smiled. “For now.”

If she thought I was going to stand here while she handed herself over to Samsen…she’d be right. Dez had seen it before I did. There was nothing I could do. Not now. Not like this. All it would take would be a few words and a little extra effort from Samsen, and I’d be dragging Dez across the floor and handing her over myself.

“We’re not finished,” I said as Samsen took Dez and began to back from the room.



He grinned, pushing Dez toward the door opposite the one he’d come through. “I’m counting on it.”





8


“Did she just…”

“Yes,” I growled. “That’s who Dez is. She saved you—now you’re going to help me save her.”

“I—of course.” Kiernan looked at the door. “But why?”

“Why?”

“Why would she do that? You guys could have handed me over and gone home.”

“Dez would have never done that—and neither would I. I told you, it’s who—”

“She is,” Kiernan finished, pale. “Right. So, what do we do?”

“We beat them to the exit.” I began moving through the room, searching for something that could be used as a weapon.

“But how do you know where they’re gonna go? They could double back and go out the way we all came in.”

“Because Samsen knows I’ll come for Dez. He’s not done yet. He’ll be sure to go where I can find him. He likes to toy with me.”

“Well, the employee exit is in the last room. The Master’s Chamber. We’re not far, but they’ll see us coming. It’s only got one door leading in and out.”



That wouldn’t work. We needed the element of surprise on our side—what little we could have. I tilted my head up.

“Oh! I have an idea!” Kiernan said. “What about the air-conditioning ducts?”

“The what?”

She moved across the room and pulled open the door next to the one Samsen and Dez had gone through. “Two rooms over. We can climb up into the ceiling and get to the Master’s Chamber that way.”

…



I’d had enough of this place. We’d entered another room. Another room and another scene. This one had statues of men in long white coats standing over hospital beds. The whole thing reminded me of a particularly gruesome scene I’d witnessed as a child. A Six with the ability to liquefy internal organs. Cross had tested it on an agent. I’d never forget the dying man’s screams.