Jane glanced at her sister. “Another bunch of crazies experimenting on us? But it was proven that there’s nothing in our blood to make us different from humans.”
“Exactly.” Peter scratched his jaw, eyes troubled. “If what they need is blood, then everyone they’ve abducted is dead by now.”
Jane’s heart sank.
“No, wait,” Pain said, leaning forward on the table. “If all they needed was blood, they wouldn’t have taken the risk of delivering our guys to the lab alive. Chris escaped only because of that.”
Jane nodded. “Right. If they’re doing experiments on Ghosts, they need them alive. Or maybe…” she trailed off as the hope she’d felt at first gave way to horror. Her hand flew up to her mouth. “Oh God.”
Peter’s eyes stabbed into her, all light drained from them. “They keep our people as blood bags.”
The girls exchanged horrified looks as Peter dragged a hand through his hair, his eyes wide, unblinking.
“We have to get them out of there,” he said. “Fast.”
Chapter 12
Dave was floating in a sea of darkness, lulled by its rhythm. It was coming from all around him. Like waves on a shore, it rose and fell, echoing through his veins. The corners of his lips curled up in a slow smile. I told you it would be nice to go to the ocean together.
There was no reply.
The first pang of panic came together with a violent shudder that threatened to turn the darkness around him into a crushing tsunami. Elena? His mind reached out, searching for her presence, but she wasn’t there.
The sound changed, turning into a thin, persistent beeping that pulled him further and further away from what he knew now was a dream.
Returning to reality was like a bucket of icy water on his head. For a split second, his subconscious came up with an explanation, and his heart slowed somewhat. I fell asleep in the infirmary. It’s her heart, it’s beating.
His eyes opened, revealing a stupefying picture: he was the one in bed, in the chair next to him was Doc, and Elena was nowhere to be seen.
The beeping quickened.
Dave scanned the dark space of the infirmary again. “Where is she?” he rasped.
A straw pressed to his lips, and he cast his eyes down. Doc was holding a glass in his tattooed hand, his features sharp in the faint yellow light.
“She’s gone. I’m sorry, Dave,” he said in a half-whisper.
Dave swallowed the water with an effort, nauseated. He pushed the straw away and looked up at the ceiling. His heart thundered in his chest.
“If I brought her home right away, if I woke up sooner—was there a chance?”
Doc’s silence screamed louder than words. At last, he said, “No. I don’t think so.”
Dave nodded, his eyes squeezed shut to keep the emotions in. He rolled onto his side, away from Doc, and lay twisted into a knot, his inner voice mute and his heart numb from pain. He couldn’t even find the strength to blink. His eyes had begun to burn, when he felt Doc’s hand on his shoulder.
“It’s not your fault.”
“It is,” Dave hissed, the two syllables filled with so much bitterness that his eyes stung.
“It’s the Commandos. They weren’t supposed to attack you in the car. Our squad was supposed to cover you. You can’t blame yourself for all of that.”
The bed creaked when Dave spun around. “When the Beasts killed your partner, did you not blame yourself?”
Eyes darkening, Doc averted his gaze. “Oh, I blamed myself all right. Long after I got tired of blaming them.” He leaned back in the chair, folding his arms on his chest. “But I was a professional. I deserved the blame. You don’t.”
Dave stared at the wall in stubborn silence. Vaguely, he noticed a strange presence deep in his chest, something stirring slowly, adding weight to his being somehow. But the numbness clouding his whole body prevented him from dwelling on the feeling.
“Chris woke up yesterday,” Doc said, changing the subject. “He said they had taken him to some kind of lab. What about you?”
“Same. There were bodies, people, lots of them. Some machines. I grabbed Elena and ran. They said the door was locked. I couldn’t get out. Then…” He took a deep breath. “She started bleeding and… There was light, and when I came around, I was already over Brooklyn. I guess their door wasn’t as secure as they thought.” He listened to his own voice as he spoke, distant, as if coming from someone else. “You were hoping I knew where to find them.”
Doc’s head bobbed. “Of course, we were.”
“There was a snowy field, some trees… It was dark.” Dave shook his head slightly, giving up on trying to remember anything. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll find them anyway.”
“We know very little about your condition,” Doc said, a note of protest in his voice. “There’ll be time for revenge.”
“Would it have stopped you?” Dave said, glaring at him. “When your partner—”
“You want to know about my partner?” Doc snapped, cutting him off. “Maybe then you’ll shut up about it. Drink your water.” He pointed at the glass on the nightstand, then got up and went to his desk, producing a small bottle of Johnnie Walker and a glass.
Dave’s stomach knotted. “I don’t want it. I feel fine. Maybe it’s gone, whatever they’ve done to me.”
Doc smirked without humor, tired lines around his eyes. “You wish. Drink if you want me to start talking.” His lips stretched in a sinister smile as Dave picked up the glass, and Doc poured himself some whiskey.
“My partner’s name was Kyle. That night, I was working
