Avenged (Altered #2)(44)

Ahmed. That was a piece of work. Arrogant, zealous… He wanted Kitty? He’d need to go through him first.

There wasn’t time to think on this. They were exposed here. They needed to move.

He spun their options in his head and scanned the hall, trying to think. There were a few doors farther down before it dead-ended. “We need to leave them somewhere.” He nodded to the soldiers. “I can’t hold them forever. Besides, someone will notice.”

“I’d suggest our cell, but that’s a long walk. Someone will notice them drifting along.” She shook her head.

“No. We’ll need to put them somewhere here.” He opened the nearest door. A closet. Nope, too small. The next door was an office—that of someone fairly important, if the large space and upscale interior were an indicator. This would do.

He floated the five of them into the room, closing the door behind them. He inspected the doorknob. It locked from the inside. That wouldn’t work. “I’ll lose hold on them when I can’t see them anymore. We’ll need something to block the door.” He tallied the room, looking for a barricade. “Empty their pockets.”

Kitty nodded. She fished out cell phones and a walkie-talkie. She went to the desk and yanked the phone from its jack. She opened the window, a utility window, not big enough for a person to fit through, and tossed the contents outside. “There. That should slow these guys down.”

“Grab the chair,” he said. “We’ll use it to block the door in the hall. It’s not perfect but it’ll buy us some time.” It was a swivel chair. He ripped the wheel apparatus off the bottom of it. “There. Now it can’t move.”

She studied them, her mouth thinning. “We need to take one with us.”

“What?” He shook his head. “Why?”

“We aren’t going to be able to fight our way out. At least, not from here. Goldstone might not be here, but there are still too many people, and we have no idea where the exits are. But if we have one of them, we’ll be able to move around easier. Find an exit.”

He didn’t like this. There was too much room for error. Too little control over the circumstances. “I can break down the walls. I watched Blue do it.”

“Don’t you think it would be easier if we could leave without breaking things?” She inhaled. “I’ll convince him he wants to help us.”

He narrowed his eyes. He’d watched her tell people what to do. This sounded way past that. “You’ve never controlled a person that long before.”

“No. I’ve done one thought at a time. But it’s our best chance. It’s much less dangerous than trying to fight this many of them by ourselves.” She picked up the chair. “And it needs to be Jeremy.”

“Why?”If he never saw his old roommate again, it would be too soon.

“He was the one in charge. It won’t make sense if it’s one of the others.”

He didn’t like this one bit. Too many variables. But she was right—if they fought, things became more dangerous. “Fine. Let’s go.”

She pulled the chair to the door. She glanced out, probably to check if it was empty, before she waved him to follow her. In the hall, she handed him the chair. Then, she inhaled and closed her eyes. A long second ticked by, too long in his estimation, considering they were out in the open, completely exposed. “You can let Jeremy go.”

“Are you sure?” He’d rather not. She’d never done something like this. How did they know she could do it? If she couldn’t, how was he going to protect her and still hold the other four off?

“Now, Nick.” Her jaw firmed as she stared at the bastard.

Tensing, in case this didn’t work, he dropped Jeremy. True to her word, she made Jeremy walk toward them, subdued.

“The door, Nick.” She didn’t look at him, her eyes focused on Jeremy.

He closed the door and wedged the chair under it. Inside, the trapped guards began shouting, calling out. “We need to move fast.”

“Lead us to the front door. Lead us to the front door,” she recited.

“I’ll lead you to the front door,” Jeremy repeated. He sounded brainwashed. It creeped Nick out.

Like a zombie, Jeremy started off down the corridor. Kitty followed him, her face tight in concentration.

God, he hoped this worked. He fell in line behind Kitty, trying to look like the bad guys looked when they were caught in movies.

From the outside, they looked authentic enough. He and Kitty still had zip-ties at their wrists, and they followed along behind Jeremy in their jumpsuits, like obedient prisoners. But if anyone looked too long, they might wonder why only one guard was escorting them. Nick hoped they passed the quick glance test.

He wished they’d move faster, though. Jeremy trudged along, much slower than he normally walked. Nick wondered how much he was fighting Kitty.

A pair of guards turned the corner in front of them. As they passed, one of them—a guy Nick recognized from when he and Kitty were recaptured at the creek—glared at Jeremy. “Yo, Rickles. Their cell is that way, you tool.”

“They are being moved,” Jeremy responded. His voice was monotone. It sounded off to Nick’s ears. He held his breath.

“They are?” The guy dropped his eyebrows. “Under whose authority?”