Page 144 of Resist

I coughed, breathing in ragged breaths as I tried to get on my feet. I looked back at Raúl. Stumbling, I started to charge him when something hit me from behind. I went flying forwardonto my face, hitting my nose that I was sure was broken. Tears flooded my vision from the sting as something grabbed me, lifted me off the floor, and then sent me hurtling across the lab, into a glass cabinet that shattered into a million shards all over me.

“It’s no use, Mara,” Raúl gloated. “Even if you manage to get this remote, nothing will change. I have dozens more, and with Sally’s handiwork, we would just simply deactivate this remote and activate a different one.”

I moved, wincing as every shift dug glass into my skin, drawing blood.

“Even if you escaped with him now, he would never escape my control.”

I slowly got to my feet, coughing up more blood.

“Jacob will always be a civil servant of his country,” Raúl stated proudly. “There’s no undoing it.”

I stumbled, panting ragged breaths. “We’ll save him…I’llsave him,” I said weakly.

Raúl smiled, looking at me like I was a little girl playing with dolls. “My dear Mara, he’s mine. The implant is permanent. Try to remove it, and you’ll kill him.”

My eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

This time, his smile was devious, sinister. “It’s quite brilliant, actually. Think of it as an anti-theft device. Any tampering with the nanochip causes it to send out one last electrical charge, too powerful for the brainstem to handle.” He snapped his fingers. “Dead. Just like that. You see, the only way your brother lives is if he stays with me.”

Oh my god…I shifted my eyes to Jacob and watched as he grimaced, tipping his chin downward, defeated. With a heavy breath, he lifted his head again, tears glistening in his eyes.

“You see, Mara, I will always win. In fact, I already have.” Raúl sighed, pulling back on his sleeve, and looking at his tab. “Well,it seems like we’re out of time. Your pathetic rebellion should be all but destroyed out there, and I’m sure your mother will want us home for dinner. So, it seems like it would be best to finish this part and get on with it.” Raúl walked to Jacob and patted him on the back. “Come now, son. Let’s get this part over with.” Raúl pushed the red button. Jacob shuddered for a moment, set his gaze on me, and charged.

This was it. There was nothing left to do. Nowhere left to run. My stunner was gone and there was no way I was going to shoot my brother. I was out of options,except… I glanced around and saw Jacob’s backpack on the floor several yards from me.

The bomb.

I made a beeline for it, knocking over chairs as I went, throwing any obstacle I could in Jacob’s path. I leaped, sliding across the ground, snagging the satchel, and then whipped up onto my knees. Tearing open the bag, I snatched the detonator and held it up high as I flipped open the protective casing and pushed the red button. “Call him off or we all die!” I screamed.

“Stop!” Raúl yelled, and Jacob came to a screeching halt only three yards away from me. We were poised like a triangle, with me now between the two of them.

“I have enough explosives in this bag to destroy this entire floor, and I’ve already pushed the button. We’ve got exactly ten minutes to get out of here or we’re all going to die,” I explained through ragged breaths.

“I don’t believe you,” Raúl sneered.

I stuck a hand into the bag and pulled out a digital clock connected to wires and several packs of TNT. And with each passing second, the red numbers counted down. “Believe me now?”

Raúl glared at me. “Stupid girl. Disarm it or I’ll have him kill you.”

“You’ll have him kill me either way. Give me the fucking remote, or I’m going to let this thing count down and smile when it gets to zero!” I was out of options, and this one was one hell of a Hail Mary. I didn’t know how to deactivate a bomb, but Raúl didn’t know that. And if Raúl gave me the remote, maybe Jacob knew how to deactivate the bomb? That, or we were going to have to run like hell to get out of this place before it exploded.

Raúl looked from me, then to Jacob, and back to me. “I never thought you had it in you.”

“I guess you were wrong.”

“You’ll never free him, you understand?”

I swallowed, the sting of his words needling me. “I’m a very determined person.”

Raúl narrowed his eyes at me. One second ticked—two, three—and then, with a sigh, Raúl looked at Jacob. “It really is such a pity.” He blinked, his eyes flickering, as he set his gaze back on me. “Have it your way then,” he said. Unceremoniously, he pushed the green button and tossed the remote at me just as Jacob collapsed to the ground.

“Jacob!” I screamed. I scrambled across the ground as he convulsed, eyes closed and body thrashing like a rag doll, until he finally stopped. Blood began to drip from his ears. I whirled on Raúl. “What did you do to him?”

Raúl shook his head in that condescending way. “Not whatIdid to him, Mara. But whatyoudid to him.”

“What?”

“I told you the only way he would live would be with me. But you left me no choice. So now he’ll die. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

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