Deviation (Clone Chronicles #2)(41)

My jaw hardens. “No.” The affection I felt from her a moment ago evaporates. She’s lying. Has she always lied? Why now? “Has something happened to Linc?”

She doesn’t need to say a word to confirm it.

I shove her aside and wrench open the door.

“Raven, wait,” Josephine says from behind me. I don’t wait. “You can’t go down there.” I speed up. “Raven!” she says and her tone has changed to ice. She means it. I wonder how far she’ll go to stop me.

I break into a run.

The carpet in the hallway is warm under my feet, but mostly it provides more traction against my bare toes. I sprint as fast as I can, ignoring the pounding against my temple and Josephine’s cries from behind me. She hasn’t caught up yet and I wonder if she doesn’t really want to. I don’t have the energy to keep this pace up but the hallway isn’t long. I round the corner at the far end and stop short.

Two guards stand at the far end of the row of cells, arms crossed and scowls set. When they see me, their eyes widen and one of them takes a step forward. I scan the space and my decision is made. The door to Daniel’s cell is open. The sound of heavy grunting and shoes scuffling alerts me to movement inside.

Behind me, I hear Josephine call my name again. In front of me, one of the guards is moving slowly toward me, measuring his steps and eyeing me like one would a wounded animal. I dart forward and sidestep him, ducking into Daniel’s cell before he can recover and grab me.

The scene inside the cell is the last thing I expect.

Linc is here but not as a prisoner. He has Daniel pinned against the far wall and his fists are pounding into Daniel’s body, his face, his stomach, his ribs. Over and over, he lands punches. Each time, Daniel grunts, but he looks like he’s past the point of fighting back or even blocking the blows. There is an open cut underneath his eye. Blood streams steadily from the wound and down his face, soaking into his shirt. His nose is crooked and also bleeding.

I gag a little at the sight of the blood trickling into his mouth and down his chin, mixing with saliva as it drips to the floor. Linc lands another punch against Daniel’s jaw and a mouthful of saliva and blood spews sideways from Daniel’s swollen lips.

“Linc!” I scream because nothing about this makes sense. Where is Titus? Or Alton?

Linc turns at the sound of my voice and our gazes lock. The skin underneath his left eye sports a bruise a horrific shade of purple and there’s a small amount of blood trickling out of his ear, but he doesn’t look nearly as bad as Daniel. I breathe in relief, but then I see Daniel cocking his arm back and my mouth tightens.

“What are you doing?” Linc asks at the same time I yell, “Watch out!”

Daniel’s fist lands with a cracking sound across Linc’s jaw. “No!” I scream as Linc’s head is flung sideways with the force of the impact. He stumbles back, putting distance between himself and Daniel. I take a step, intending I don’t know what. To get between them. To make them stop. But a rough hand closes over my wrist and another wraps around my shoulders and I’m yanked back.

Linc rights himself and glares at whoever’s behind me holding me in place. “Let go of her,” he snaps. The grip loosens but doesn’t release. I twist, trying to free myself.

“Deitrich, let her go,” Linc repeats, this time venom coating his words.

“Boss says she can’t interfere,” Deitrich says. There’s a pause and I can hear a faint trace of a voice in his earpiece before he adds, “He says finish it. Then I can let her go.” Daniel lets out a groan.

Linc’s fury is tangible. I can taste the bitterness in the air as he crosses to the guard. I have absolutely no doubt what will happen if this man’s arms are still restraining me when Linc closes the distance. With one final yank, the collar of my pajama shirt rips and I am free. I meet Linc before he can reach the guard.

“Don’t,” I say, my hands braced against his chest. I don’t have the physical strength to hold him but he stops the second I touch him and glares past me at Deitrich.

“It’s okay. I’m okay,” I say.

Behind me, Deitrich mumbles into his earpiece and waits for instructions. When he doesn’t move to restrain me again, I relax a little. Linc isn’t so easy.

Eventually, he breaks his stare and looks down at me. He blinks as if seeing me for the first time. Regret, sympathy, rage, and a thousand other emotions wash across his features. His face pales and he raises a hand to the knot on the side of my face. His fingers stop short an inch from my skin and hover there as if he’s terrified to touch me.

“What are you doing down here?” he asks in a choked voice. He casts a nervous glance sideways, his eyes not quite reaching the mirrored wall, but I take the hint. I might not have seen Titus or Alton but they can see me.

“I could ask you the same,” I say, keeping it strictly business when all I want to do is throw myself into his arms and never let go. If I could speak freely in this moment, I would beg him to take me away. I would run and never look back.

He shifts his hand to my unmarred cheek and brushes his bare knuckles over my skin. “I … I’m—” He trails off and his eyes squeeze shut. He leans forward until our foreheads touch, his head hanging. He blames himself. He doesn’t have to speak the words for me to know it.

“It’s not your fault,” I whisper. He looks like he might argue so I add, “You saved us.”