House of Royale (Secret Keepers #4)(66)

Maya nodded, hugging us both and sprinting back the way we’d just walked.

Emma and I wasted no time hurrying after Callie, who was just about to step out of the cave and into the morning light beyond.

“Come on,” I said, gripping Emma’s hand, picking up the pace so we could catch up.

Luckily we did, because the moment the stone left the round room, the entrance started to close. We had to dive through to avoid being crushed, and I felt the burn of stone right across my arm as I leapt.

“What is happening to her?” I asked, trying to piece it together in my head. “How is Laous controlling her like this?”

Emma’s face went pinched. “It has to be the … the Soulstealer goo.”

The what now?

“Callie was taken by him and placed in this tank of goo,” Emma explained. “It’s a weapon, designed to wipe away the enemy’s mind and make them more compliant to suggestion. Laous wanted to use it to control her … all the secret keepers. We thought Callie had fought it, that her bond with Daniel kept her mind safe. But what if…?”

“He’s still managed to control a small part of her,” I finished.

Emma nodded. “Yes, it must have been dormant, just lying in wait until he could use her.”

She tripped over a stick and I caught her before she faceplanted. We were pretty close to Callie now, who had also started running.

“Come on,” I said, “we can’t lose her now.”

The fields were catching fire behind our fireball of a friend, which definitely made the chase more difficult as we dodged flames that were starting to spread across the dead grass and scrub. The sound of a helicopter grew louder in the distance, a few miles away across the open area. When it appeared, I let out a relieved sigh—it was the craft we had taken here. But then as it landed and the first figures appeared on the steps, I knew we were in big trouble. Laous, the bitch, and the dude who never said anything had somehow commandeered the aircraft and were now waiting for their prize to run to them.

They were here for Callie.

“Maya should have gotten back to the guys by now,” I said, fear lacing my tone. If Laous was here … where were our guys? There’s no way they would have let him just walk away from them without a fight, especially when we were out of sight.

Emma didn’t say anything, but her grip got tighter on my hand and I knew she felt the same worry.

“Callie!” I shouted, praying with everything I had that something would get through to her. “Fight him, Callie, you are stronger than Laous.”

Her footsteps slowed, but she didn’t turn back to us.

Emma joined my chorus. “You got this, Cal. There is no one tougher in this world. You can fight him.”

Her footsteps slowed again, and she shook her head more than once.

“We’re getting through to her,” Emma cried, picking up the pace, her breathing heavy and gait uneven. But she didn’t slow down or stop, she kept powering along.

“Come to me!”

That voice boomed unnaturally across the land, and I looked past Callie to see Laous standing on the top of the stairs, his hands raised to the sky. Whatever small part of Callie had been trying to fight was lost then. She started to full-on sprint, the stone held out in front of her.

More of the land lit up in her wake, and the heat and smoke from the fire was starting to get to me. My breathing turned into a series of coughs. Emma was in the same position. The next time she tripped, both of us went down in a heap, barely managing not to land in a bush blazing with flames.

The fire moved fast, so I rolled to the right, dragging Emma with me. My skin screamed as I scraped it across the ground, but hitting the fire would be much worse, so I just gritted my teeth and kept moving.

The air was a lot clearer down here, and both of us sucked in deep breaths when we got out of the main path of the flames. Cool wind brushed across my skin, and I looked up to find Lexen in the sky above. I could have cried as he zeroed straight in on Emma, diving down for her.

She was on her feet in an instant, screaming and pointing toward Callie—who was almost to Laous. Lexen’s fury washed across the sky in a rush of dark clouds and lightning, and when I peeked around the corner of our bush I was relieved to see strikes slamming into the area where the bitch and quiet creep had been. We needed to take out Laous’s backup. Then we would only have him to deal with.

“Avalon!”

I swung my head around to find Xander running so fast he was almost a blur. Daniel was close to his side, moving just as quickly. The moment Xander reached me, I was up and in his arms, his chest heaving as he held me close. “What the hell happened?”

Daniel didn’t wait for an explanation, storming past in a rush of heat and growling.

“Laous is controlling Callie somehow,” I said, already tugging him out into the open so we could follow.

“It’s from the Soulstealer goo,” Emma added. “It has to be.”

Xander swore, then the three of us were sprinting. Xander had to slow down to keep pace with us—we had no chance of catching Callie at this stage. Even Daniel and Lexen looked like they weren’t going to make it in time.

“Are Chase and Maya okay?” I asked, wondering why they weren’t here.

Xander nodded. “Yes, we had a little trouble with some of the locals right after you left. The timing was conveniently good. I’m guessing Laous and his guys used the distraction to slip away and get the aircraft. Maya and Chase are just cleaning up the last of the trouble.”