“I’m glad Mike left,” Heather struggled to say. Tears were running down her cheeks as she fought for air.
Michelle felt tears on her own face, looking down at her best friend, who was slowly suffocating and dying.
Red-hot anger, like molten steam, flowed through her. How could anyone be so cruel? Omar was standing there nonchalantly, as though causing suffering and death meant nothing to him. Heather’s lips were turning blue. She couldn’t get in enough oxygen.
The depth of her distress made Michelle’s protective instincts come to the fore, filling her with a sensation of supreme energy that fizzed throughout her body, starting where her heart was located and quickly spreading to her arms and legs. It was an even stronger sensation than when the diamond gave her body a new supply of power after surgery.
This particular bubbling sensation she’d felt intensely once before, when her gift of psychic ability turned on. It was the last time she had confronted Omar, at the beach on the island of Kauai. She and Omar had fought then, physically, each a master in the Martial Arts. Then, like now, she was so furious at Omar she wanted to kill him. He had dropped her and Vincent into the ocean from his helicopter and they’d almost drowned. That was just to see if she could pass some kind of witchy test of endurance so he could be assured she was the perfect genetic and psychic mother for his children. Omar had also intended to kill Vincent, who couldn’t swim.
That night, after a short time, Michelle knew she would lose the battle. Omar was more powerful physically, and simply a better, more experienced martial arts fighter. But Vincent had survived the drop from the helicopter and was hiding at the back of the beach. He bashed Omar on the head with a large piece of driftwood he’d found while she and Omar were struggling. Then Michelle and Vincent had buried the unconscious Omar in a big hole they dug into the sand and waited there until help arrived.
Omar was a powerful person. Michelle knew physically attacking him now was useless, but she was frantic. Omar was slowly suffocating her friends. They were dying in front of her eyes.
She threw the diamond, not even thinking, just helplessly furious at the sadistic, merciless, inhuman creature in man-form standing before her.
When the diamond hit Omar in the chest, Michelle could see a kaleidoscope of multicolored sparks fly, like tiny bright stars, all around him. It was like he was hit with an explosive device or missile. She could almost hear a sizzle, and the bright display looked like the sparklers she had played with on the Fourth of July when she was a little girl. The diamond might be small, but it sure packed a wallop, she thought, surprised when Omar stumbled backward.
When he did so, Michelle saw Heather take her first deep draught of air, and then start panting, gulping in great chunks of life-giving oxygen. And in that moment also, when she looked up, she could see Rod moving. A strong agile man, he was able to jump to his feet.
Omar was dazed only momentarily. Then he bent down quickly to snatch up the diamond on the floor in front of him for himself.
Michelle felt like cheering when the diamond seemed to skitter away. It rolled right to her feet and she picked it up, holding it up like a shield.
A burst of white light shot out of the diamond, hitting Omar directly in the chest. As he stumbled backward, away from the funnel of light, there was an excruciatingly loud alarm that went off in the whole building. It was the noisy, awful kind of sound that grade school children hear when they have to go back inside after recess. It blasted on and on.
A fire alarm.
Michelle slowly moved forward, still holding the gem up, so the cone of light was hitting Omar square in the middle of his chest. And he was backing away, like it scalded him.
On top of the screaming of the alarm, there was another added distraction. The sprinklers in the ceiling, responding to the fire alarm, started hosing everyone down with a showering dose of cold water.
The shrieking alarm would galvanize the whole hospital. People would be coming to search where the fire was located. That was a good thing. They could use all the help they could get. Michelle was pretty certain Mike had run out of the room to set off the alarm in the hallway so the hospital personnel would have to come to this particular floor to investigate.
Omar was sneaky. He wouldn’t want to be caught here, although the hospital could only accuse him of trashing the laboratory. They’d never conceive he’d tried to kill anyone. He could act very charming and fool people into thinking he was a wonderful person, as well as being extraordinarily handsome.
Michelle heard the door open behind her. She turned her head, careful to keep the diamond aimed at Omar, and saw Mike burst through the door. He ran to Heather, pulled her up off the floor, and gathered her in his arms.
Michelle smiled as she watched them. Mike was gently brushing Heather’s hair with his hand, holding her close. Heather had tears running down her cheeks. She probably felt such relief, both because she could finally breath, and realized that Mike hadn’t abandoned her.
They weren’t out of danger yet, though. How long the diamond light would be able to keep Omar at bay was unknown. They had to take advantage of the situation, but Michelle couldn’t think of what to do. If she moved the diamond light away from Omar, even for a second, she was afraid he would gain back his power and harm her friends.
She could tell Omar was fighting whatever spell the diamond cast with the bright light. His eyes would
