Burning Midnight (17 page)

“We don't stick the cash in our trunk. We take it straight to a bank,” Dom said.

Sully doubted Holliday was going to hand them ten million dollars to begin with. It wasn't that ten million meant that much to him, but if he gave it to them, he couldn't claim total victory.

This was payback for Sully's lawsuit after the Cherry Red fiasco, for turning down Holliday's job offer and insulting him in the process. Holliday wanted the Golds, but he also wanted to rub Sully's nose in it.

“We can still beat him,” Hunter said.

“How do we do that, exactly?” Mandy asked.

Hunter looked right at Sully. “By burning them.”

It took a moment for Sully to grasp what Hunter had just said.
Burn
them? Whatever ability the Golds gave, you couldn't divvy it up four ways.

“No!” Dom shouted.

“Keep your voice down,” Hunter said.

“If we burn them, one of us gets all the benefit,” Sully said. “That wouldn't be fair.”

“We draw straws or something,” Hunter said. “What's unfair about that?”

“I don't
want
to burn them,” Mandy said. “Was I not clear on that point? What if they do make you immortal, and you can never, ever die, no matter what? Or what if they make you grow six extra limbs?”

“It's not something bad,” Hunter said. “It's never something bad.”

Mandy threw her hands in the air. “Well, excuse me if I'm not willing to bet my life on that.”

“Fine. If you win, you can choose who burns them.” Still holding the Gold, Hunter rested her left arm against her side.

“I don't want to do it, either,” Dom said. “I want the money. That's the deal we made.” He looked at Sully. “Right? That was the deal.”

“I know,” Sully said. “It was. I'm just not sure how we do that now.”

Dom pointed at Sully. “What if we call Jin Bao, or one of the other big dealers? We make a deal on the phone, and
he
can fly down and handle Holliday.”

“How long do you think Holliday is going to wait out there?” Hunter asked.

Dom turned on her. “If you burn them, you're stealing from us, and you're no better than he is.”

“Hang on,” Sully said, raising his hands. “Everyone slow down. We're just talking. Everything should be on the table; that doesn't mean we've decided anything.”

He turned to Hunter.

Searching his eyes, she held out the Golds. “You do it. Whatever gift they give, I'm giving it to you.”

“Hey,” Mandy said, “who put you in charge? You own exactly thirty-five percent of one of those.”

“Sully”—Dom pointed at the Golds—“I own a piece of one of those too, and I'm saying right now, I'm not okay with anyone burning my share.”

“What's your better idea, again?” Hunter asked.

Lips pressed tight, Dom glared at Hunter.

“Right.” She turned back to Sully. “Do you want them or not?”

Sully's phone rang.

“Go ahead.” She pressed them into his hands, ignoring the phone.

Sully nudged the Golds away. “We have to find another way.”

“There is no other way.”
Hunter narrowed her eyes. “Let's show him. Let's hold on to that apple harder than Holliday ever would have guessed.”

Sully's phone went on ringing. His head was spinning; he needed time to think. Was this really their only option? Could they overpower Holliday and run for it, assuming there were no armed bodyguards out there with him? Could they cut a deal with the Mexican government, negotiate a finder's fee, and turn the Golds over?

“Wait,” Mandy said. “What if we just threaten to burn them? One of us holds them close to our temples, and we use that leverage to walk out, or demand a million dollars each.”

“What stops Holliday's bodyguard from shooting whoever's holding the Golds? It's hard to burn marbles after you've been shot,” Hunter said.

There was a crash outside the bathroom. The door to their room had been kicked in.

“Take them,” Hunter said to Sully.

“Sully,”
Dom said, his tone a warning.

Sully looked at Hunter, then down at the Golds. Burn them? Him? Whatever they did, he knew it would be monumental; it would change him and his life forever. Was that what he wanted?

The truth was, Sully had never dreamed of being extraordinary by burning spheres. It seemed like a cheat, just like stepping on someone else's throat to get where you wanted to go was a cheat.

“I don't want them.”

Hunter lifted the spheres toward her head, then paused, looking at Sully, waiting for his okay.

“Hunter, I'm warning you.” Dom stepped toward her.

Dom and Mandy were right—it wasn't Hunter's decision to make. But there was no time for democracy. There was no time for another plan. Sully nodded. “Do it.”

Grunting from the pain of keeping her injured arm raised, Hunter touched the Golds to her temples.

“No.”
Dom dove at Hunter. Sully reached out to block him, but Dom barreled past and knocked the spheres out of Hunter's hands. Hunter screamed in pain, clutched her left arm as the spheres hit the floor. Sully grabbed Dom's arm and yanked him away from Hunter just as the bathroom door crashed open, knocking Sully against the sink.

The tall, lean bodyguard stood in the doorway, aiming a handgun at them. Everyone froze.

Raising his hands over his head, Sully knelt. Very slowly, he picked up the fallen Golds.

The color was dimming.

Sully gaped at Hunter, who had sunk to the floor, and tried to wrap his mind around what she'd just done.

Still holding her arm, Hunter looked up at Dom. “I'm sorry. I'll find a way to make it up to you. I promise.”

Holliday appeared behind the man with the gun. He stared at the spheres in Sully's hands.

Sully underhanded them through the doorway; they thumped to the carpet, rolled past the two men. “They're all yours.”

Holliday watched the Golds roll to a stop. He looked up at Sully. “You're dead. All of you.”

A jangle of terror ran through Sully. “A hundred witnesses saw you chase us here.”

Holliday pointed at him. “Shut up. Don't say another word. Not another word.”

Hunter inhaled sharply. Her eyes went wide. “Oh, God. What—” She glanced around, her head snapping left, right, up, in quick succession.

“Hunter?” Sully knelt beside her.

“What's happening?” she breathed. She covered her face with both hands.

Holliday was standing over them, one shiny black shoe inches from Sully's knee. He grunted. “Maybe she did me a favor.”

Hunter screamed from deep in her throat. It was the sound of someone in hell.

Sully touched her face. “I'm here.” There was something wrong with her skin. It had a strange pallor.

Mandy leaned in close. “Jesus. What's wrong with her?”

It wasn't just her skin: her hair was also lighter. Her eyes were almost glowing.

“We have to get her to a hospital,” Mandy said.

“No,” Hunter said. “Take me home. I want to go home.”

“Jesus. That's one messed-up girl.” Holliday bent, studied Hunter up close. Sully wanted to shove him away, but the bodyguard with the gun was watching from the doorway.

He flinched as Holliday patted his back. “Like they say, you broke it, you bought it. Good luck. I'll be in touch.”

As Holliday walked off, Hunter clutched Sully's wrist. “I want to go home.” She clenched her eyes. “Oh, God, make it stop.”

As gingerly as possible, Sully reached under Hunter's arms. “Dom, get her legs.”

Dom slid one arm under her legs, then slipped his other arm around her back. “Just let me have her. We'll move faster if I take her.”

Sully handed Hunter off.

As he did, he saw her skin was worse. It was bad enough now that he could see what was happening.

Hunter's skin was turning gold.

Dom drove like a bat out of hell. The sound of the engine filled the car as they flew past vehicles on Route 10, the burned Gold spheres rolling around on the floor at Sully's feet whenever Dom changed lanes.

“No.
Get away from me,
” Hunter said, pushing at the air with her right hand.

Sully kept holding her. He didn't know what else to do. She wasn't sick, didn't have a fever. It was like she was lost in another world and couldn't get out.

“What is that?
What is that?
No.” She pressed her hands over her ears. If her left arm still hurt, she wasn't showing it.

Mandy held a water bottle out to Sully. “See if you can get her to drink.”

Sully took the bottle, put it to Hunter's lips. She knocked it out of his hands, sending the water spraying.

Her skin glistened. It wasn't as bright and lustrous as the Gold spheres had been, but the rich hue seemed to grow sharper by the minute.

The spheres were supposed to do something. They were supposed to give Hunter some wonderful ability or shower gifts upon the world. All the Golds had done was drive Hunter crazy.

“Assuming the car isn't impounded for us speeding, it's going to take about thirty-two hours to get home,” Mandy said. “Maybe we should stop halfway.”

“If we take four-hour shifts, how many shifts is that each?” Sully asked.

Mandy looked up, calculating. “Three, more or less.”

Sully shook his head. “We can do that. Let's drive straight through.”

Mandy nodded. She studied Hunter. “What if it gave her the ability to read minds? What if she's in a thousand people's heads at once, and it's too much?”

That was a possibility. Hunter seemed completely overwhelmed.

“I can't see this,” Hunter muttered. “It's impossible. Impossible.”

Hunter was going to have to stay with Sully and his mom when they got back. He'd better let Mom know. He pulled out his phone.

“Did you find it?” Mom asked as soon as Sully said hello.

“We did, Mom. But there's a problem.” He told her about Holliday showing up, had to talk fast to convince her not to call the police immediately when he told her about the guy with the gun.

“Mom, listen. Listen to me. Holliday didn't get the Golds. Hunter burned them.”

The line went stone-cold silent. Then Mom whispered, “Oh, my God. What do they do?”

Sully looked at Hunter. Her head lolled to the left, then flopped to the right as she stared, terrified, at nothing. “She's turning gold, Mom. Her skin, her hair, it's all gold.”

“I don't understand. How do you turn gold? What does that mean?”

Sully took a deep breath. “You'll understand when you see her.”

When Dom pulled into the Garden Apartments parking lot, Sully felt such relief his chest hitched like he was about to cry. It was three a.m., but Mom came bursting out of the building door before Dom could turn off the ignition.

Mom opened Sully's door. “Let me see her.” She reached in, pulled back the hood of Hunter's coat, and gasped. “Oh, my God.” She lifted Hunter's chin so she could see her face.

Hunter's skin shone as brightly as the Gold spheres had. Sully was sure if he could hold a pre-burned Gold to her face, the colors would match perfectly.

Hunter let out a scream that sank into Sully's bones. Her golden eyes flew open, but she was seeing something entirely different from the rest of them. Something terrible. Something unspeakable.

“She needs to go to a hospital,” Mom said.

Sully eased out of his seat while keeping Hunter upright. “One look at her and they'll call the police, and the police are going to call the FBI or the CIA.”

Dom came around the car and lifted Hunter.

“She's not sick,” Sully said. “The Golds are doing something to her. A doctor isn't going to be able to stop it.”

He and his mom followed Dom toward the door. Mandy ran ahead to open it.

“Then we should call the FBI,” Mom said. “They'll be able to get her to someone who can help her.”

“No one even understands what these things
are.
” Sully gave his mom a pointed look. “If they take Hunter away, she's never coming back. You understand that, right? They won't ever let her go.”

Mom shook her head. “I shouldn't have let you go. I'm a terrible mother. I'm the worst mother in the world.”

“No you're not, Mom. This is Holliday's fault. Everything would have worked out fine if it wasn't for him.”

When Sully woke, Hunter was standing pressed against his bedroom wall, perfectly still, her head against the Kate Upton poster. His mom's white penguin pajamas hung from her, way too big.

“Get it away from me.” Her eyes were wide, her dark-gold lips trembling.

Sully slipped out of bed.

“No. Stay away. It'll get you.” She looked to her left, then back at him. “Don't you
see it
?”

“Hunter, there's nothing there. We're alone.”

“Oh, no, we're not.” She laughed, panicked, her throat tight. “Oh, no, we're not alone.”

She'd gone crazy. Maybe the Gold was supposed to do something else, but it had been too much. It had driven her crazy.

“What do you see?” Sully asked.

“It's like…” She looked to her left again. “I can't describe it. Can't you see it?”

Mom appeared in the doorway. “How is she? How are you, Hunter?”

“Wait a minute,” Hunter said. “I know why you can't see it. It's not out there. It's
inside
me.” She clutched her chest. “Oh, God, get it out of me.”

Mom stepped close to Hunter, brushed her cheek with the backs of her fingers. “What's inside you, sweetheart?”

“I don't know. Get it out. Please get it out.”

Mom took Hunter's hand and tried to lead her to the bed, but Hunter pulled free. “I can feel it moving around. Oh, God, it's trying to talk to me, but it has no mouth.”