Page 26 of Legion

Dante paled. Just a little; he hid it well, but his skin turned ashen all the same. “Look, Idon’t knowwhat happened at the crash site,” he insisted. “The evidence and the reports came in late this afternoon, but I haven’t had the chance to look at them yet.”

“And where are these reports?” Riley asked.

“Back in my office.” Dante crossed his arms. “But you’ll never get there, not without tripping the alarms or running into security. If you try to force your way in, you’ll have the police swarming this place in a matter of minutes.”

Riley was silent for a long moment. I could see him thinking, see the indecision in his eyes as he struggled with what to do next. Finally, he opened his door, slammed it behind him and stalked around to our side. Wrenching open the passenger side, he pointed his weapon at Dante. “Get out.”

Stone faced, Dante complied. Quickly, I opened my own door and scrambled out, while Garret watched the proceedings warily, a hand on his own weapon. “What are we doing, Riley?” I asked, coming around to their side. Dante stared at me, his gaze shadowed and dark, making my insides twist.

“We’re going inside,” Riley said. “And Dante here is going to escort us.”

My stomach dropped. “Inside? But this is a Talon office. Guards, security, alarms, traps—isn’t that what you told me? Why are we going to risk going in?”

“What else are we going to do, Firebrand?” Riley gave me a weary look. “We’ve come all this way. Everything we’ve done until now will be for nothing if we don’t figure this out. Yeah, I know, it’s Talon. It’ll be a risk either way, but at least if we have the boss with us, no one will try anything. Isn’t that right,Mr. Hill?”

Riley turned, giving Dante a dangerous grin. “I’m sure you know your way around the office and past the security,” he said as Dante stiffened. “So this is how it’s going to work. You’re going to get us through the doors, past the cameras and all the alarms. If we run into anyone, you’re going to convince them that absolutely nothing is wrong, or you’ll be down one less employee.” His eyes narrowed, his voice turning cold and hard. “If the police or anyone from Talon shows up, I have no problem using you as a hostage. Or a meat shield. You get me, Chameleon?”

Dante glared at him, then gave a tight nod.

“Good.” Riley gestured him forward with his gun. “After you, then.”

We started across the parking garage, Dante leading, Riley close at his back. Garret and I trailed close behind. I saw a pair of legs behind a pillar—Dante’s guards, I guessed—but beyond them and us, the garage was empty. The office building, too, seemed unnaturally dark and still. Dante let us in through the garage door, using a key card to get in, and said nothing as he led us to an elevator at the end of the hall. A uniformed guard sitting behind a desk straightened quickly as we approached. I saw Riley tense, his hand straying toward the gun hidden beneath his shirt, but Dante strode up without hesitation.

“Good evening, sir.” The guard gave Dante a pleasant smile, then eyed the rest of us over his shoulder. “Everything all right?”

Dante nodded. “Just giving some friends a tour of the building,” he said, sounding perfectly at ease. I held my breath, knowing how we must look: a trio of vagrant-looking young people trailing another teen in a very expensive suit. But the man behind the desk immediately nodded.

“Of course, sir. I’ll let security know.”

He waved us through. We passed the desk and entered the elevator at the end of the hall.

When the elevator doors closed, Riley suddenly pushed Dante into the wall, the gun beneath his chin. “That,” he growled as I flinched at his brutality, “was entirely too easy. No one in Talon lets three strangers waltz in off the street. What are you playing at, Chameleon?”

“Who do you think you’re dealing with?” Dante’s voice was equally as hard, and he glared back at Riley with cold green eyes. “Some low-level computer monkey? Iownthis place. Everyone here answers to me.”

Stunned, I stared at him. I’d always known Dante was ambitious. He had rarely talked about his plans for when he finally got into Talon, but I knew he had them. But an executive? A corporate partner? How had he risen so far in such a short time? He was sixteen, same as me. Either his Chameleon talents were nothing short of miraculous, or there was something else going on.

Either way, I didn’t like it. And neither did either of the boys. Garret’s posture was tense, his eyes shifting between Dante and the glowing numbers above the door, climbing steadily upward. Riley, still pinning Dante against the wall, gave a grim smile.

“Just remember, Mr. Hill,” he warned, pressing the gun to his chest. “I expect you to get us in with no problems. Any alarms ‘mysteriously’ go off, or if we run into any trouble, I’m putting a hole through you first.”

I clenched my jaw at Riley’s threat but didn’t say anything. Dante wasn’t our friend, I reminded myself. He was a Chameleon. I couldn’t think of him as my brother right now, though it still made me slightly ill, seeing him like this. I wished it could be different, but Dante didn’t seem inclined to leave Talon, no matter what I said to convince him otherwise.

The elevator stopped, and as the doors slid open, we all tensed, half expecting a line of guards on the other side, taking aim with their guns. The dark, empty corridor that greeted us didn’t make me any less nervous. Dante stepped forward, but Riley reached out and grabbed his shoulder, pressing the gun into his ribs.

“Slowly,” he growled. “Don’t get too far, Chameleon. Like you said, you’re just giving us a tour.”

“Yes,” Dante said in a tight voice. “And they’re certainly not going to expect anything if I go creeping through the halls with you, hostage-style.”

Riley chuckled darkly and released him. “Just remember, I can shoot faster than you can run. Let’s go.”

We entered the floor. Past the elevators was an open floor of cubicles and desks, all empty and dark except for the flicker of computer screens. Dante led us across the room, our shoes clicking against the tile, and down another corridor with individual offices lining the hall. These, too, sat vacant and still, large glass windows showing off the night sky and the blinking cityscape below.

“I don’t like this,” I whispered to Garret. “It’s too empty. I thought Talon would have more security, or alarms, or something. This is too easy.”

“Agreed,” was the low reply. “Stay on your guard.”

“My office is through here,” Dante explained as we reached a door in the middle of the hall. “The reports are logged into my computer. One moment while I unlock the door.” He slid his card into a key slot, then pushed the door back to reveal an empty, darkened room.

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