Hot tears spilt over her lids. She let them fall unchecked. “No, please, Dorran, don’t. We have to stay together.”
“Shh. Trust me.” He bent to kiss her. Warm lips, salty with her tears, lingered. As he pulled away, he whispered, softly enough that it wouldn’t carry, “Wait until he is away from the room, then go for the gun.”
Dorran raised his eyebrows, and Clare’s breath caught. He has a plan. She leaned into him, searching his eyes, silently asking for confirmation. He gave a very small smile as he stepped back then turned to face the glass separating him from Ezra. “I’m ready.”
“Good. Good.” Ezra backed towards the control panel. His fingers shook as he adjusted its settings. Clare’s focus drifted from the buttons to the pistol perched on top of the panel. Ezra seemed to have forgotten about it.
Go for the gun when he leaves the room. When? How are you going to make this work, Dorran?
“This is what we’re going to do, big guy.” Ezra faced them, one hand poised over the switches. “You’ll move into the second chamber. You won’t try anything. You understand? No heroics, no attacks, nothing sneaky. Because if I get even a hint of reluctance, I’ll press this button. That’s going to activate the thanites in your friend’s chamber.”
Clare shivered, and Ezra tilted his head to give them a piercing stare.
“You know what that means, right? There are still plenty of thanites floating through the air. Even if you got the upper hand over me, you’d have to watch your girl turn into one of those mindless, soulless creatures you’ve been killing. So no fast movements, because it would be awfully easy for my hand to slip. Right?”
“I understand.”
Clare wanted to reach out to Dorran. His voice was flat, and it seemed to cost him effort to keep it that way. Please, Dorran, whatever you’re planning, be safe.
“You, Clare, step back against the far wall. Yes, just like that. Don’t move.” Ezra waited a second to make sure she was following his instructions, then he pressed a button. The chamber’s door hissed as the seal was broken then whirred as it slid open. Dorran stepped through. Unease crawled over Clare as she watched him go.
As Dorran stepped out of the room, he subtly reached behind himself, holding his ID tag out of Ezra’s view. He slipped the plastic card into the closing door. It caught, its cord dangling, as he stepped away. Clare’s breath hitched. The ID tag lodged in the door’s lock, leaving the glass panel a millimetre ajar.
“Into the other chamber.” Ezra hadn’t noticed. His attention was wholly focussed on Dorran, and the strain in his voice betrayed his stress. His hand hovered over the button, fingers trembling. The unit beside them opened with a muffled hiss.
Ezra gagged as the air inside was released. Clare couldn’t smell it, but she guessed the hollow must reek as badly as Peter’s corpse. Dorran’s expression remained impassive. He gave Ezra one slow, calculating glare then stepped into the second chamber. The door hissed closed, and Ezra nodded as he removed his hand from the control panel.
“Good. Good. All right.” Ezra rocked back on his heels. He looked happy. “I was hoping you’d volunteer, big guy. You look strong enough to brush off any side effects. You should be fine.”
Dorran glanced towards the dead hollow at his feet. He folded his arms and faced the glass, silent and unreadable.
Clare couldn’t so much as breathe. Her pulse was deafening, her eyes burning. She held perfectly still, not even letting herself look down, terrified that movement might draw Ezra’s attention to the door’s lock, where the ID tag was pinned.
Clever, Dorran. But how are you going to get him to leave?
“Good, good…” Ezra typed on his computer. Code flashed across the screen. “You won’t need to do anything. Just stand there.”
Come on, Dorran, you don’t have much time. What’s your plan?
Dorran steadfastly faced forward, refusing to meet her eyes or give her any clues. His instructions had been to wait until Ezra was gone before running for the gun. But Ezra wasn’t showing any sign of leaving. He was typing on his control panel.
And Dorran still refused to look at her.
A terrible idea occurred. He wasn’t trying to barter with Ezra, manipulate him, or coax him outside, because he knew it wouldn’t work. Dorran expected Ezra to leave the room… after the experiment.
“Wait,” Clare choked out. She hit her palm on the glass wall between her and Dorran. The deep reverberations rattled through her enclosure. “Stop—”
Ezra ignored her. He lifted his head, and shadows haunted his cheeks and the hollows under his eyes as he smiled at Dorran. “Good luck.”
He pressed a button. A sharp blue light flashed at the top of the chamber. Clare thought she heard a high-pitched note ringing from the room, but the sound was so piercing, she couldn’t tell if it was real or in her imagination.
Dorran crumpled. The effect was instantaneous; one second, he was standing straight, reliable, unyielding. The next, he was gone. He landed heavily, facing away from Clare.
Ezra’s eyes widened, his smile frozen, as he watched in cold fascination. His finger didn’t lift from the button.
Clare slammed her shoulder into the door. The lock, propped open by the nametag, gave way as she forced the glass open. She launched into the main room, desperation and fear driving her.
“Wait—” Ezra swivelled, shocked. His finger came off the button. The high-pitched noise faded. “You—”
Clare’s fist hit his jaw. He slammed into the wall and dropped, one hand cupped over the bruised skin, his eyes wide.
The gun was within reach. Dorran had wanted her to get it. He’d expected her to use it to protect herself if he never came out of the test chamber. But Clare ignored the weapon. Dorran lay on the cold tile floor, horribly still, and every other necessity paled
