Page 65 of Captured Immune

Without a word, I make my way toward the elevators as if to sayI didn’t see nothing. I sense them stay where they are while I press thedownbutton. My heart thrashes against my ribs because if those two weren’t busy worrying about getting caught in their own dirty affairs, they might question why a field agent was in the weapons room.

Ding!The elevator arrives, and I rush into it.

When my ride lets me off at the living quarters, I step out with a dry lump in my throat.

In the community room, half the tables are occupied by agents playing poker. It must be tournament night, which explains why it’s so empty on the third floor. As a kid, I used to stand outside those glass windows and watch them play, knowing exactly who was bluffing and who wasn’t.Couldn’t poker night be any other night but this one?Why couldn’t they all be in their rooms, where they can’t see me?

A few of the agents glance up as I pass by. I keep my face impassive, even though my heart is pounding like I’ve been running laps around a football field. One guy stares a little longer than he should.Is he an Empath too? Can he sense me freaking out?Eventually, his head drops back to his cards and he goes back to playing the game.

The closer I get to my old bedroom, the shorter my breaths get. What am I gonna say to that hulk-like Shrinker who’s always guarding Arella’s door? The same story I was gonna sell him before? But Katie said my idea was dumb. I should come up with something else, and I’d better do it fast because I’ve got less than thirty seconds.

I turn the corner.Fuuuck.Craig eyes me as I saunter down the hall. I hope I look casual enough. The man’s energy swings at me, all alert and defensive. I brace myself for the burn that rips through my body whenever he shrinks me, just in case he decides to.

When I reach him in my normal size, I offer him a tiny smile. Not too big, where he’ll think I’m up to something, and not too small, where it looks super fake.

“What are you doing here?” Craig says like it’s peasant-minded of me to even think I belong in his breathing space.

“I’m here to take the Immune to Victor.”

“What for?”

I begin to think of a lie until the truth hits me. If Victor had actually told me to bring Arella to him, he wouldn’t have told me why. He would have simply said, “Just do it,”so I shrug nonchalantly. “Dunno. He didn’t tell me. Just ordered me to come pick her up.”

Craig steps aside to allow me access to the keypad.

Suddenly, my brain freezes up.What was the code again?

A heartbeat passes. Then another. And another.

“You ain’t got the code?” Craig’s wariness spikes inside me.

“Nah, I got it.” I type in some numbers as I silently pray to the keypad code gods.Please be correct.

When the light blinks green, it takes everything in me not to let out a sigh of relief.

I open the door and step into the dark room. I’m about to close the door when a hand slams against it.

Craig peeks his head in. “Where’s Victor’s assistant? Wasn’t she at the infirmary with you?”

The lie comes out easily. “She was. She’s already with Victor. She said something about getting there before me so she could have him approve some notes.”

“I see.” The door shuts.

This time, I do let out a sigh of relief.

“Arella?” I flip the light on.

She sits up and squints with a hand cupping her forehead. “Trey?”

The sound of my name coming from her lips is like hearing my old favorite song for the first time in years. It’s familiar. It’s soothing. It’s everything I’ve been living for.

I wave a hand over the handcuff around her ankle. It falls to the floor with a clank.

She rubs her ankle. “What’s going on?”

“Just follow me and stay close, okay?”

Like the stubborn person she always is, she crosses her arms over her chest. “Tell me where you’re taking me first.”

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