Into The Fire (The Ending Series) (20 page)

The electrical current immediately vanished, and my entire
body filled with the most intense pins-and-needles sensation I’d ever
experienced. I felt Mase remove his hand from my back, but I couldn’t tear my
eyes away from Dr. Wesley.

“MA-one, release her restraints right now,” she said. “Take
her to my office and wait for me there.”

Mase didn’t seem to be having nearly as much trouble as I
was with the aftereffects of the twisted electroshock therapy. He unstrapped
me, slipped his powerful arms beneath my shoulders and knees, and picked me up
effortlessly.

Once we were in the hallway and out of Dr. Maxwell’s sight,
I wrapped my arms around Mase’s neck, buried my face in his scrubs, and began
sobbing. “Thank you…thank you…thank you…” I repeated over and over again. He
hadn’t prevented the pain altogether, but he’d shared it and had done what he
could to make it stop.

We walked for a short time, Mase carrying me and me crying
uncontrollably, but eventually his steps ceased.

“Camille,” he called. “Let me in. I have her.”

But it wasn’t Camille who responded. There was the sound of
a door opening, quickly followed by Gabe’s demanding voice. “Here, set her down
over here. How far did he get in the process? What was the highest level he
reached?”

When Mase tried to lower me onto a couch, I tightened my
hold around his neck and whimpered. I wasn’t ready to let go.

He made a low, rough sound—almost a growl—and turned, still
cradling me in his arms as he seated himself on the couch. “Dr. Max just raised
her to level six,” Mase said. He started rubbing gentle circles on my back as I
continued to cry against his shoulder.

“Level six! Her synapses must be fried!” Gabe exclaimed.
“Dani? Can you hear me?” His voice was closer, more urgent. “Do you know who I
am?”

Someone too small to be Gabe sat down beside Mase, lifting
my feet and resting my legs on his or her lap
. It must be
Camille.
She slipped slim fingers beneath the rolled cuff of my too-long jeans, wrapped
her hand around my ankle, and started humming an unrecognizable lullaby. Her
angelic song, or maybe it was her touch, was so soothing that I felt my body
begin to calm, the pins and needles begin to fade.

“Dani?” Gabe repeated.

I felt hands on my hair, brushing it back and trying to turn
my head. I tensed and pressed my face harder against Mase’s scrubs. Twice he’d
helped me in the past few hours. In such a foreign, friendless place, he’d
proven himself to be an ally…to be safe. I wasn’t ready to let go of that
security. I missed my friends—my Jason—and being held by someone I could trust,
at least for a little while, was like ice on a burn: it wouldn’t fix the pain
and loneliness forever, but it was a damn good temporary salve.

“Please, Dani,” Gabe said, again trying to turn my head.

Mase’s chest rumbled against my ear. “Let her be.”

“I can’t…I need to know if she’s…if she’s still…” Gabe made
a choking sound, and his hands dropped away from my hair. “Oh God, what have I
done? How could I have brought her here? It’s just like before…it’s always
going to be like before. Forgive me. Please…forgive me.” From the sound of his
voice, I was pretty sure he was crying.

“She spoke earlier, when we first left the electrotherapy
lab,” Mase said quietly. “I don’t think she’s broken.”

“But…how? Level six—” Gabe’s voice was strained. “Even if it
was only for a few seconds…”

“He starts me on ten. Level six is nothing to a Re-gen,”
Mase said.

“What are you saying?”

I felt Mase briefly raise his shoulders. “I shared it.”

“You
shared
it?”

When Mase spoke, he sounded a little uncomfortable. “When
she was at level three, I touched her here”—he ceased his back-rubbing for a
moment to lift up the hem of my shirt and lightly touch my lower back; the
patch of skin felt tender, almost like I had a bad sunburn—“and the electricity
flowed through me, too.”

“How did you know it would work?” Gabe asked.

“I didn’t.”

“I’m so proud of you, Giant,” Camille said, pausing her
hypnotizing song.

After a long moment filled only with Camille’s humming, Gabe
said, “You two aren’t like the other Re-gens, are you?”

I jumped at the sound of the office door opening. “Camille,
Mase, I need you both to get back to your usual duties. We can’t have anyone
asking questions about you two,” Dr. Wesley said.

“But—” Mase said, raising me a little for emphasis.

“Thank you for what you did today, Mase, but Dr. McLaughlin
and I will take it from here. She’ll be safe with me, I promise.”
Dr. McLaughlin…is
that Gabe?
“Just set her on the couch and return to Dr. Maxwell’s office.
Camille, I believe General Herodson is expecting you for today’s batch?”

“Yes,” Camille said, and she and Mase shifted me around so
they were no longer under me. I was suddenly alone on the couch.

I curled up on my side facing the back cushions and squeezed
my eyes shut. How had the world turned into such a nightmare?
Will it ever
get better?

I heard two sets of footsteps, and then the sound of the
door opening and closing again.

There was a heavy, female sigh. “Well?”

“Well, what?” Gabe asked.

“Just say it already. I’m too tired for these games,
Gabriel.” Dr. Wesley really did sound exhausted.

“You’ve been keeping secrets from me, Wes,” Gabe said, his
voice low and accusatory. All signs of his earlier grief had disappeared. Now
he sounded pissed.

Dr. Wesley laughed, a sound that was equally rough and
musical. “I keep many secrets from many people. Just part of the job, I
suppose. But those two are a couple of my
best
secrets.”

“You’re playing with fire, Wes. If he discovers the truth
about them, that the Re-gens aren’t all under his absolute control—”

“I’m fully aware.” Even more exhaustion laced the doctor’s
voice. “But what could he possibly do to me that he hasn’t already?”

“Wes—”

“I’ll give her a sedative,” Dr. Wesley said, ignoring Gabe’s
single, plaintive word. I could hear her moving around behind me, opening a
drawer, tearing open a plastic package, stepping closer to me. I didn’t care.
“She’ll be out for a few hours, but when she wakes up, she should be back to
normal, more or less. You’ll have to inform her of the initial and long-term
side effects of the electrotherapy.”

I felt the prick of a needle in my upper arm, but didn’t
react.

“You can come back down here and take her home when your
shift is over.”

“I want to stay with—”

“No.” Dr. Wesley’s voice was soft, but firm. “You need to
get back to work. You’ve missed too much lab time as it is. It doesn’t do any
of us any good if you get caught—especially not her.” She paused, and I heard
Gabe sigh. “You need to stay in control, Gabriel, otherwise…”

Their words faded out as I sank into unconsciousness’s
gentle embrace.

“Eat,” Gabe said. He was sitting across from me at my
kitchen table, watching me move unenticing food around on my plate. He’d
hustled me home shortly after I woke up in Dr. Wesley’s office, about an hour
ago. He’d only left me for a moment to change out of his work clothes at his
house, which turned out to be right next door. “Please, Dani. After what happened
today, your body—you need to eat.”

I dropped my fork, letting it clink loudly on the
brown-speckled stoneware plate. The last thing I wanted was to take a single
bite of the roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and peas he’d brought from
the cafeteria near his lab. In fact, I didn’t want to eat another thing that
had been prepared in the Colony. I didn’t even want to breathe the air. Who
knew if it held some repulsive mind-controlling agent, some failsafe in case
the General’s grasp slipped.

“After what happened today,” I said, repeating his words.
“Why don’t we talk about
what happened today
.” As I spoke, I speared him
to his seat with an accusing glare. Based on what he’d said in Dr. Wesley’s
office, he obviously knew quite a bit about the ridiculously painful
electroshock torture I’d been subjected to. I needed answers…an explanation…
something
.

“What do you mean?” Gabe asked, lowering his eyes to stare
at the far corner of the table.

“What
did
happen today, exactly?” Before he opened
his mouth, before I even knew if he would answer, I added, “What are Re-gens?
How are Camille and Mase different? What secrets has Dr. Wesley been hiding
from you? And why the hell is someone in
your
building electrocuting
people?” It took an effort to keep myself from shouting. “Would a warning have
been
so
difficult?”

Sighing and slouching in his chair, Gabe finally made eye
contact with me. “Re-gens are…they’re complicated.” He shook his head. “I’ll
drop you by Wes’s office first thing tomorrow. She can explain it a lot better
than I can; after all, she’s the one who created them. As for those two—Camille
and Mase—all I know is that they’re apparently different from other Re-gens.”
He frowned. “I don’t know why, or how.”

“And the electroshock crap? Is there some sort of purpose,
or do you Colonists just get a sick kick out of torturing people?”

Gabe pulled the elastic band away from the base of his skull
and let his golden hair fall around his face. “The electrotherapy—that’s what
we call it—is the quickest way we’ve found to strengthen a person’s Ability.
The effects are unprecedented.” He paused, pain and regret filling his eyes.
“But we’ve learned that it’s too dangerous to use on humans.”

I fought the urge to pick up my fork and throw it at him.
“Then why the hell did that psycho Dr. Maxwell have a full schedule of people
to electrotherapize?”

The corner of Gabe’s mouth twitched. Apparently, my little
tantrum was amusing him.

If he smiles, I’m throwing my plate at him.

“It’s too dangerous for
humans
—not for Re-gens,” he
told me.

I scoffed. “Mase and Camille looked pretty human to me. If
it walks like a duck, talks like a duck…”

Gabe said nothing, simply stared at me.

“Oh, come on. You’re not saying they’re not human!” I
exclaimed. “That’s ridiculous!”
Is it?
I recalled how different their
minds had felt—closer to animal than human.
But they’re people!

A single, blond eyebrow rose over Gabe’s eye.

“Fine,” I said, sitting back and crossing my arms. “Say I
do
believe you and they’re—I don’t know, aliens or something…why doesn’t the
electrotherapy hurt them like it does humans?”

“It has to do with the process they go through when becoming
Re-gens.”

“Which is…?”

Gabe’s mouth did quirk up at the corner that time.
“Something you’ll find out from Wes tomorrow…
if
she decides to explain
it to you.”

Sensing I wouldn’t get any more information on the Re-gens
out of him, I changed the subject. “So…I didn’t die from the electrotherapy.
Does that mean my Ability’s going to be stronger?”

Too impatient to wait for Gabe’s answer, I tried to use my
telepathy—and hit a brain-numbing electrical wall. “Ahhhgggg!” I cried out,
hunching over, clutching both sides of my head.

Large, gentle hands covered mine, and I looked up. Gabe was
standing beside my chair, gazing down at me with sympathy-filled eyes. “Yes,
you will…but not until the electrical charges fully integrate with your natural
synapses. It usually takes about twenty-four hours. Until that happens, using
your Ability will be impossible, and attempting to do so will be extremely
painful. Also, your Ability may fluctuate—a lot—over the next few months. It
might even change, to some degree.”

Attempting to do so will be extremely painful.
Through
clenched teeth, I said, “Painful…you have no idea.” Painful was an
understatement.

He offered me a small smile. “Actually, I do,” he said
softly.

Stunned, I stared up at him. He was telling me that he’d
gone through the whole process too, probably months ago. It explained why his
dreamwalking Ability was so strong.

“Now, will you please eat?”

I shook my head and pushed my plate away, glaring at the
food. “This…it’s pretty much the product of slave labor. I—I just can’t.”

“And you wasting away during a hunger strike—what good would
that do anyone?”

I shrugged.

Gabe reached out and placed his hand under my chin. Gently,
he tilted my face up so I was looking at him. “How about if I make pancakes.
Would you eat those?”

My stomach growled, and I failed to hide my eager grin.

Gabe laughed softly. “So it looks like you’ll be living off
a steady diet of pancakes and spaghetti until you get out of here, since that
pretty much exhausts my culinary repertoire,” he joked.

I chuckled until I fully comprehended what he’d said.
Until
you
get out of here.
“
We
,” I clarified. “You meant, ‘Until
we
get out of here,’ right?”

“Dani…” Gabe turned away and started toward the kitchen, but
not before I saw his pensive frown.

“No!” I jumped to my feet and followed him, snatching his
wrist to stop his retreat. “You have to come with me, Gabe—you and the woman
you told me about. Promise me,” I urged. He’d been spending so much time with
me, there was no way the General wouldn’t catch onto his free state of mind
once I escaped; I might as well have installed a neon sign inside his office
blaring
GABE IS A TRAITOR!
I needed to get out of the Colony, but Gabe’s
life wasn’t an acceptable price.

He shook his head, avoiding my eyes. “Dani, I—”

“You owe me,” I practically growled. “Promise me you’re
coming with me when I leave.”

The moment between my demand and his answer was tense,
filled only with the sound of our breathing. “Fine,” he eventually said.