Deviation (Clone Chronicles #2)(71)

Obadiah nods solemnly as his hand closes around the door handle. He leans forward and presses a quick kiss to my cheek. His lips are cool on my flushed skin. The moment the car stops, he pushes the door open and climbs out. It shuts with a soft click and Obadiah takes off at a run back the way we came. I have no idea if the driver noticed but, a second later, the light changes to green and the car rolls forward again.

“Linc, I’m scared,” I admit.

He wraps his arm around me, pulling me close. He cradles my bloody arm between us, still pressing his jacket against it to staunch the flow. I press my face against his shoulder and inhale. Even with a newly pressed shirt and jacket, the smell of gasoline and soap clings to his skin. A few threads around the knot in my gut loosen.

“It’s going to be okay,” he says, his lips tickling the edge of my cheek.

“We need Daniel now.”

I can feel his shoulders tense but after a pause, he says, “I know.”

“They said he’s helping a terrorist group. Do you think they mean—” I swallow. “The others?”

“I’d like to know who this anonymous tipper is,” Linc says in place of an answer.

“We have to get to him first,” I say.

“We will. And Ven?” He uses his fingertip to nudge my chin up so that our eyes lock. “You have to leave too. You can’t save all of them. Not tonight.”

He means the new Raven. The one that has taken my place. And as much as I hate it, he’s right. “I know,” I say.

The driver pulls to a smooth stop in front of Rogen Tower. “Keep pressure on your arm with this,” Linc tells me, guiding my hand to take the place of his where he holds the jacket against my wound. I take it and press down. Linc pushes the door open and the doorman holds the lobby door ajar. We rush past without a word. The entire time, I discreetly search for signs of police but both the street and the lobby are empty.

By the time the elevator arrives on the top floor, I’m shaking again. Linc takes my hand and soothes it with circles made by his thumb. It gives me something to focus on but it doesn’t stop my shivers.

The house is quiet and still. Too still. My footsteps bounce off the walls on either side as we hurry down the hall. I stop and kick off my heels, running in my bare feet instead. Linc pulls me along, faster now that my steps are normal-sized again. Still, the fact that I could run in them at all is proof of how far I’ve come as Raven Rogen.

Where is everyone?

We make it to the back of the house without seeing anyone. Linc’s phone is at his ear as we slip into the stairwell. “Who are you calling?” I ask.

After a beat, his mouth tips downward and he disconnects. “The line to the security tower. No one’s answering.” With his phone in his pocket, he shoots down the stairs at lightning speed. I hurry to keep up without tripping.

“What does that mean?” I ask between breaths.

“I don’t know. We always answer that phone. It’s supposed to be for emergencies.”

We don’t talk anymore after that. I have a million questions about what he thinks and why no one is answering a phone that is always answered. But I save my breath for the multiple flights of stairs yet to come.

The stairwell at the far end of the apartment is empty and echoing. At the bottom, Linc stops and catching me just before I barrel into him. “What?” I ask, shoulders heaving.

He holds a finger to his lips and carefully eases the door back. When the opening is big enough for him to fit his head through, he peeks out. I hover behind him, my fingers twitching near the base of his jacket, ready to pull him back to me if necessary. A second later, he pulls the door wide and motions for me to follow. Again, he holds his finger to his lips. I nod and creep into the basement hallway close at his heels.

The hallway is dimly light and smells as dank as always. I hope that means it remains undisturbed by the presence of others. I have to assume the presence of half a dozen or more police officers would’ve stirred the stale air.

Linc and I keep to the wall as it curves toward the far end where Daniel’s cell is. The silence is a buzzing in my ears. All of my nerves stand on end. I’m waiting, anticipating … something. I don’t know what.

We round the bend and find the hall outside the cells empty. All of the doors are closed. Linc inches forward and stops outside the viewing room. He turns the metal handle and pushes it open. The light from the hall behind us is just enough to show us an empty room.

He pulls me inside and hits the switch to illuminate the view through the reflective glass. The dim light in burning in Daniel’s cell is nothing more than a glow, a nightlight. Shadows envelop most of the space. I can just make out the shape of a body where Daniel lies on his cot. He’s facing the wall and his shoulders rise and fall in a steady rhythm.

Something very close to relief floods my veins. It mixes with a spurt of adrenaline; the kind that usually follows a dangerous experience. But there’s no danger here. No police. No SWAT. And Daniel is safe.

“Now what? How do we get him out?” I ask.

“I’m going to swipe a key from the security tower. I should’ve gotten it on the way down but I didn’t want to tip off whatever guard was there. And I thought someone would be down here.” He frowns and I know he’s wondering where everyone is. “I want you to stay here and wait for me,” he adds.