Countdown

fears, but I considered adding it to the growing list, along with darkness and heights.

We'd entered on the ground level, but the elevator took us down farther.

Joe had told us that the room with the artificial intelligence server was in the subbasement.

Joe hadn't put up a fight when the White Coats entered the gaming room a half hour ago. In an act of cowardly self-preservation he'd slunk back into the shadows and tried to pretend he wasn't even there. And it had worked. They didn't bother with him at all, since they were focused on us.

However, they did grab Colin. He hadn't accompanied us in the car, so I had no idea what had happened to him. Frankly, I didn't care. If I allowed myself to think about that bastard too much I wasn't going to be able to see for the blinding rage I was feeling at his betrayal. Maybe he'd get a reward. I guess everyone was out for themselves. Not that this was news.

I felt a small lurch as the elevator stopped and the doors opened up on a whole lot of white. Since heaven probably wasn't located five floors underground, I was going to have to assume that I wasn't dead yet.

I figured my odds of getting into heaven were slim to none anyhow.

Gareth soundlessly stepped off the lift, and a firm grip circled my upper arm, crushing enough to bruise, and one of the men pulled me along another hallway.

All white. Everything was white and smelled of metal and antiseptic.

Never had pristine cleanliness looked more like death to me.

'Where are you taking us?' Rogan demanded.

The White Coat whacked the gun against the back of his head. Not enough to knock him out, but definitely enough to hurt like hell. Rogan turned his head to glare at the man with uncensored fury, his upper lip curling back from his teeth.

'Do that again,' he snarled, 'and I'll shove that gun up your ass and pull the trigger.'

The man laughed, obviously feeling unthreatened.

Joe said that he hadn't wanted to work here. Despite the perks, of which I'm sure there were many, he couldn't stomach the sadistic nature of being controlled by a walking, talking computer virus.

This guy, however, didn't seem to have a problem with it.

Gareth nodded at a door ahead. 'In there.'

It looked exactly the same as the room where I'd spoken with Gareth before, which meant I'd already been here. They'd taken me here by helicopter after Level Four, when I'd been blindfolded. However, I could have been wrong. There wasn't much to mark it as a unique room. It was all white, with a table in the middle. Two chairs on either end. Both white, the monotone giving it a strange, almost surreal feeling.

Rogan and I, wearing our borrowed clothes from the safe house and heavy Countdown black boots, were pushed into the chairs so we were facing each other.

Rogan met my gaze and held it. His handsome face was lined with worry and stress, his brows drawn together in a deep frown. The slash of his scar was red against his pale face. I saw a small amount of blood trailing down the side of his neck from where that asshole had hit him with the gun.

His hands were still locked behind him in metal cuffs just like mine.

He didn't say anything and neither did I. It was evident on his face what he was thinking, as I'm sure it was on mine.

Don't lose hope. We 're not dead yet.

I remembered the touch of his lips brushing mine, the feel of his body moving against me, inside of me. My stomach clenched at the thought that the time we'd had together might be all we ever had. A couple of days with the only man I'd ever truly been in love with.

Don't lose hope.

'Leave us,' Gareth said, glancing at the men who stood there brandishing weapons that seemed so black against their white clothes. 'And send him in when he's ready.'

Send him in. My gaze left Rogan to go to the door. Send who in?

The White Coats left and then we waited. It felt like hours, but I'm sure it was only minutes until he walked in. My mouth dropped open.

Colin.

Definitely not unconscious anymore, although he looked slightly out of sorts. There was a red mark on his head from where he'd been knocked out against the side of the table.

He wore an Ellis Enterprises security-clearance name tag against his otherwise casual clothing-ripped jeans and his H-logo T-shirt. He seemed no different from the Colin I'd known for a few years, other than the fact that he now stood beside the man who wanted to kill us.

Colin looked at me, and his brow furrowed slightly before he turned his attention to his new boss.

'Colin?' I managed. 'What are … what are you doing-'

Gareth's lips curled. 'Colin works for me now, don't you?'

Colin nodded. 'Yes, sir.'

Gareth moved toward him and slapped him twice on the back. 'The boy's a genius. I always have room for geniuses on my staff. He was hired in a low level position a few days ago, but his association with you, Kira, made him suddenly all the more interesting to me. I've decided that he will be my personal assistant in all things.'

I ran my tongue over my very dry lips and tried to find enough moisture in my mouth to form words. Gareth's personal assistant? Colin? I'd felt the ridge in the back of his scalp where he'd obviously been fitted for an implant, and knew he'd taken a job here, but I didn't expect his connection to Gareth to be so close.

The thought didn't fill me with reassurance. Anyone could be bought. Even someone you thought was your friend.

Gareth's smile held. 'Yes, after his inconvenient run-in with you at the mall he was held for questioning. His computer was thoroughly examined. Are you aware, Kira, that the boy has pictures of you of a very personal nature? He's obviously quite enamored with you. However, I am quite sure you were completely unaware of these pictures even being taken, but they were there on his drive, along with evidence of very accomplished programming and hacking skills. I offered him more opportunities should you contact him in the future, and you did. I always follow through with my promises. Isn't that right, Colin?'

Colin nodded, his expression guarded. 'That's right, sir.'

Gareth's gaze slid over me with distaste. 'I honestly believed that you had gotten the better of me with your little escape.' His expression darkened. 'You can imagine how delighted I was when we were informed of your whereabouts.'

I fixed Colin with an icy glare. I'd thought that he'd done it out of sheer stupidity or the wish to protect himself from harm. Either of those reasons I was almost willing to forgive. I was mad as hell, but I had the capacity for eventual forgiveness. But to sell us out just to get a cool new job?

I couldn't forgive that.

'You said that you wouldn't hurt her,' Colin said after a moment of silence. He seemed suddenly incapable of making eye contact with me.

Gareth laughed. 'Sentimental fool, aren't you? Humans and their complicated emotions. Yes, yes, I did promise that, and I do try to keep my promises.' He looked at me. 'Since Colin has an implant, he's been able to follow along with watching you compete on The Countdown. I truly believed that after the reward level his desire to protect you would fade. No man would like to see the woman he loves enjoying the intimate touch of another.'

I scowled at him.

'Now, on to other business.' Gareth clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace the room slowly, moving in a slow circle around our table. My gaze flicked to Rogan for a second, but his attention was now fixed on his brother's possessed body. 'Inspect him, if you would be so kind, Colin.'

Colin moved toward Rogan, and I saw that he had a small metal receiver in his hand that flickered with green and yellow lights. He moved it over the back of Rogan's head and he studied the light reading.

'What the fuck are you doing?' Rogan tried to move his head away.

'Brother.' Gareth leaned against the table, his back toward me. 'Please relax. Colin is simply checking the validity of your implant.'

'Jonathan was kind enough to remove it before you had him killed,' Rogan growled.