Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“No one is dragging me into anything,” I say. “I went to Area 51 to help. Nothing has changed. We need that drive data decoded.”
“I’ve never met a government code I couldn’t crack,” he assures me with a cocky wink. “Creed might be better at scorching someone with a single dark look, but I’m the man with the computer skills.”
I laugh at the familiar, friendly jabs he throws at Creed, and Creed scowls in return. I’d missed this dynamic, and the hint of tenderness in Creed’s eyes tells me he’s aware of what I’m feeling.
And he feels it, too.
More and more, I see the truth in why Creed left, and I can’t imagine the hell he’d gone through inside Zodius Nation with Julian. He’s strong—so very strong. I’m proud of him, and I think he needs that from me because he feels none for himself.
“Let’s take a fast look,” Jensen says, indicating to the hard drive. “We don’t have much time. You two need to go before the Trackers find Addie.”
Unease ripples through me, and Creed slides a comforting arm around me, guiding me toward the building.
A few minutes later, I stand in a room full of computer monitors, munching on a protein bar, and drinking orange juice while Jensen works his magic, a crazy code on a screen in front of him. Creed’s on his sixth bar, has downed some sort of liquid supplement drink, and is now popping the top on a second.
“How do you feel?” Creed asks softly, studying me.
In other words, am I still sick? “Better,” I say, truthfully. For now. “Just tired. Wishing I was like you guys right about now and needed only a couple hours of sleep here or there.” I really wish for the past right now, I add silently, before any of this happened, maybe reliving a night curled into Creed’s side after eating a great meal and watching a movie.
He stares at me a lingering moment, as if he too might be thinking of the past, and then cuts Jensen a look. “We’re on borrowed time here, man. What do you have?”
“Hold your breath and count to sixty,” Jensen calls over his shoulder. “I need one more minute.”
Creed’s eyes fall on a newspaper on the table next to Jensen’s arm, and he curses, grabs it, and curses again. Jensen cuts him a look over his shoulder. “There are similar stories in four states.”
“What is it?” I ask, stepping closer to Creed to try to eye what he’s reading. “What’s going on?”
Creed tosses the paper down. “More missing women,” he explains. “Most of whom are probably already dead.”
Bile gathers in my throat. “Dead? I thought they were just experimenting on them.” Just experimenting. God. That sounds horrible.
“Ava has a new fertility treatment she’s developed from her pregnancy hormones,” he says. “Problem is, the women only have a fifty percent chance of surviving the process.”
My brows shoot up. “She’s pregnant?”
“Giving birth to the devil’s spawn,” Jensen mumbles, his fingers still pounding away at the keys.
“That was the unavoidable situation that kept Caleb from calling you the night we gave you that phone,” Creed adds. “We rescued fifty of the hundred women in Zodius City. I had to blow my cover to get them out.”
Oh God, I think. “What about the other fifty?”
“So brainwashed, they stayed,” he replies dryly. “At least half of them are probably dead now.” He scrubs his jaw. “And I’m not sure what saving the ones we saved did. They just replace them. New women, new trauma, new families thrust into heartache. We can’t win no matter what we do.”
“That’s not true,” I assure him. “You saved fifty women, and it will take time for them to replace those women. Time we can use to shut them down. No matter what, fewer women will die.”
“Not unless we actually stop Julian,” he counters.
Jensen rotates his chair around, running his hands down his legs. “I’m working with law enforcement to spread certain abduction profiles around the country. Bulletins are going out with public warnings.” He shifts the topic. “But back to the data. To start, Lawrence has two hundred troops headed to Dreamland in a few days.”
“I knew that,” I say. “They’re training to fight Zodius.”
“I don’t like it,” Jensen says. “Not with the threat Red Dart represents to the Renegades.”
Creed is fast to agree. “I say Dreamland needs to have a little mishap that keeps those soldiers from reporting.”
My rejection is instant. “If anything happens to Dreamland, my father will be suspicious.”
“I’ll see if I can hack West’s email,” he says. “I should be able to redirect their orders. Have them sent somewhere else. Make it look like a computer hiccup. That will buy us a few days to find Red Dart.”
I nod my approval. “That should work.”
“What else?” Creed presses, “Because we have to roll.”