Echo Into Darkness: Book 2 in The Echo Saga (Teen Paranormal Romance) (33 page)

Connor's lips pulled back in a grimace. His breath hissed through clenched teeth.

The instinct to avoid pain at all cost made me hesitate. I was not made for this. I was not strong enough. But then, pulled by a force higher than myself, I moved toward him.

"Get away from me," he cried.

"Motion to assist denied," Luma said. "So much for true love."

I ignored them both and clamped my hand onto Connor's shoulder. My mouth formed
omigod
but my throat closed. The feeling that tore into me could not be described as pain. I had experienced the ache of a twisted ankle, broken ribs, a bruised skull. The sensation coming through Connor tore at my consciousness, threatened to send me into a blackout. The days of cumulative torture poured out of his body and into mine.

As if from a distance, I heard myself wail. My legs gave out and the sheer force of energy flow flipped me backward, landing me at Keenan's feet.

"Let him go! Let him—" My plea was cut short by the sound of a bone snapping. Connor screamed. I threw up on Keenan's shoes.

"Disgusting." Luma wrinkled her nose.

The smell of acid and bile sent me into dry heaves. Keenan pinched his nose against the odor.

"Luma, finish the lesson," he said and hurried out of the room.

She telekinetically bent Connor's middle finger backward. "This is for Echo making a fool of me in the testing center."

"Echo, leave." Connor's voice was husky from pain. How he had not passed out was beyond my comprehension.

"No!" The savage that they had mined for came alive. I swept my arm across Luma, hurling gales of pent up violence and rage, and sent her flying across the room. She collided with the elevator door with frightening impact and collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Chapter 39

Smoke billowed from my arm, and if I hadn't already barfed, the sizzling flesh would have sent me over the edge.

"I knew it," Connor said, on the edge of consciousness. "I knew you could do it."

I patted down Luma's limp body. "Where are the keys? We need them to get out of here."

She let out a low moan. Her pockets were empty. I helped Connor to his feet and carefully wrapped my arm around his torso. He swayed and his full weight buckled my knees. I steadied us both.

"This way," I said, hobbling toward my bedroom.

I opened every door on the way down the hall. We found bedrooms or closets, no stairwells, no more elevators. My heart sank. What had I been thinking? The central elevator was the only way out.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm so proud of you," he rasped.

In the bedroom, I rested him in a chair. He sat hunched over, clutching his broken arm. "About what I said back there, about this being your fault. I was trying to throw them off. I thought it would help if we looked like we were breaking apart."

I nodded and concentrated on barricading us in. With my telekinesis, I shoved the dresser in front of the door, then the bed and the desk. That would hold them back for a few minutes. Then what?

"Connor?"

"Yeah, babe?" He floated his green eyes over my face.

"I'm feeling like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

"Should I know these people?"

"They didn't have a way out. We don't, either." I knelt in front of him, resting my hands on his thighs. "I don't know what to do."

He registered the terror in my eyes and cupped my face in his good hand. "What's outside the window? Can you see the river from here?"

"Yes."

"Open the window."

"They don't open."

"
Make them
."

"And then what? Hide on the ledge? We're twenty floors up!"

"You need to blow out the glass and levitate down the side of the building."

I nearly choked. "I've never levitated more than a few dozen feet."

Our conversation moved at a rapid-fire pace.

"You can do this, Echo. You overrode the chip."

"I know I'm strong enough; it's the height. Connor,
I can't
." I got dizzy thinking about getting near the ledge. "You have to fly us down. I'll levitate us across the river."

"I was lying back there," he said. "I've got nothing left. Why do you think we're still in this situation?"

"We'll fall to our death!"

"We won't. Now go to the window and put your hand on it. Imagine there is no glass, only air."

I did as he instructed, and the cold glass pane quivered beneath my palm. As I concentrated, it shimmered and dissolved. Wind gusted into the bedroom strong enough to push me off balance.

"Oh my God." I backed away.

Loud voices boomed in the hallway. Someone rattled the doorknob.

A thought crossed my mind, one that was both sickening and reassuring. The two-hundred-foot drop was our only way out. Once we stepped on that ledge, Connor would figure out a way to get us to the ground safely. He would never let anything happen to me.

"Let's do this," I said and reached to help him up. He didn't move.

"Once you're on the ground, it's only a few hundred yards to the river. When you get to the other side, find a place to hide," he said.

My entire body went numb. "I'm not leaving you here."

"Someone will be searching for me with the portal. They'll find you and you can tell them I'm at Feller Tower."

"Keenan will kill you!"

"Listen to me. If I take us out that window we are as good as dead. I cannot fly us down. Do you understand this? Tell me you understand." He squeezed my arm and tried to shake his words into me.

"I won't go without you. They'll have to kill us both." I swallowed hard.

"That's exactly what
cannot happen
. You have to survive this."

A body slammed against the door. The furniture shook.

"No," I whispered.

"Get her out of there!" Keenan bellowed from the hallway.

"Go!" Despite his injuries, Connor dragged me to the window and tried to shove me out. The wind plastered my hair against my face.

"I'm not going!" I grabbed his waistband.

The bed flew away and smashed against the far wall. The dresser sailed across the room and splintered to pieces. The door opened.

Keenan's face was blaze red. Roth, Jaxon, and Ivan came in behind him. They froze when they saw me leaning out the window. Keenan's expression did a one-eighty. He forced a smile.

"Falling to your death is so theatrical. Come away from there and Connor can be included in our conversation." He spread his hands, a gesture of surrender.

"You don't need him, just the girl," Jaxon said.

"Nonsense. Both of you are important to me. Luma won't be allowed to lay a hand on either of you. You're too young to die."

"I welcome it," Connor said.

"Please. Don't do this," I begged.

Connor leaned back, shoving me out beyond the ledge. Blood pounded through my head. I saw the ground below and my vision got fuzzy. I latched onto the window frame to keep from falling out.

"Bring her back in and we can talk," Keenan said.

"Or what? You'll sic your soldiers on me? If you had much ability of your own, you wouldn't have to surround yourself with gifteds. One day, they'll all turn on you."

The lamp hit Connor in the head so fast, he never saw it coming. Roth and Jaxon charged us.

A glance over my shoulder sent streaks of panic into my limbs. Leaping out of the tower would end in death. I was certain of this. Or was I?

The only thing I knew for certain was that if I did not make a move, our lives would end in that room.

Connor reeled from the blow to his head. "Echo, go!"

"Not without you." I lashed my arms around his chest and let our weight carry us backward out the window.

Keenan's howl clashed with my scream. The wind thundered in my ears, whipped and snapped at our clothing. The tower whizzed by in a gray blur.

And though the seconds ticked perilously by, the irony of the situation was not lost on me. Not long ago, I would have welcomed death. All I'd wanted was to move into my next life, to find my soulmate and start our life together.

In my effort to save us from Keenan, I had unintentionally set this very future in motion. Except this wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. Connor's body was warm against mine. In another few seconds, both of us would be stone cold.

I did not want him to die. I would not let my soulmate perish like this.

With that intention firmly entrenched in my mind, my body heated and my forehead buzzed. The chip sizzled. Our descent began to slow. Gradually, resistance formed between us and the earth until we were suspended on a downy cushion.

The wind pushed us toward the building, and I used my remaining strength to drive us closer to the river. My knees crashed into the wet soil. I draped Connor's good arm over my shoulder and dragged him to his feet. I levitated us off the ground a few inches and fell back into the mud. It was no use. I was done.

"Stay with me. Just a little further," I said.

Blood poured from the gash in his head. His one leg was near useless. The last fifty yards to the river may as well have been a mile. But we made it.

At the pier, I searched frantically for the motorboat. The ferry was docked on the far side of the river and the boat was nowhere to be found. We splashed into the water. Connor's knees gave out.

"Up! Stand up!" I barked, hitching my shoulder into his armpit. His head lolled back.

"We'll levitate for buoyancy, okay? And we can paddle across. It's not so far." But it looked so very, very far. The dark water was freezing cold and moving fast. Mud sucked at our shoes. His leg dragged. I scanned the waves for passing traffic. Barges and fishing vessels navigated the Columbia River constantly, but there wasn't a boat in sight.

Two cars raced from Feller Tower toward the river.

Connor's body suddenly took on more weight. "Connor, wake up." I splashed water on his face. He opened his eyes. "Please don't leave me," I whispered.

The vehicles sprayed gravel on the waterfront. Keenan and his men scrambled out.

"Someone get the boat!" he yelled. Then, "Echo, come back to shore."

"I'll get her." Jaxon jogged to the waterline, peeling off his shirt and shoes. A well of anger pumped into my forearm. I took the last of my reserves, raised my palm and blasted him in the chest. He fell to the sand, struggled to get up and fell again. He moaned and a part of me wished I had the strength to finish him off. They strove to turn me into a monster with little regard for life; they had finally created one.

My breaths came in short gasps. The attack took more out of me than I anticipated but I did not want to stop. I shot at Keenan's head. The bolt was weak and poorly aimed. It nicked his thigh, sending sparks into his men. He shrieked. His team marched backward.

"Go after her!" he yelled.

The soldiers took tentative steps toward us. I pulled us deeper into the river. We'd have to swim for the other side. Connor stumbled and fell to his knees, and the water flowed over his shoulders.

I heard a motorboat's engine buzz across the water. Over the cresting waves, I saw a watercraft headed in our direction. A Mutila boat. Carrying Mutila people.

My teeth chattered violently. "Get up!" I screamed. Connor sank deeper.

"You'll never make it across," Keenan called from the bank. "You don't have to end things this way." His soldiers waded in up to their knees.

"Stay away from us!" The freezing water licked at my chin. A wave curled over us and we went under. I kicked to the surface and coughed water.

Connor gave one last push. His eyes went glassy.

"Connor! Connor!" He didn't respond.

"Bring them in," Keenan ordered.

I cradled Connor's face above the water. "Wake up!" I cried. "Please wake up."

The boat steered next to us and the soldier looped a rope around my midsection. A spiny current clawed at the top of my head. I fought against it, flailing my free arm at the force that now took over my body. An electric sensation buzzed down my spine, into my arms, and into Connor. His beautiful, lifeless face glowed with pale white light. He began to fade.

Chapter 40

Angels surrounded me. They swooped in to wipe my brow and soothe my fever. They bathed me in warm light. When my breath halted, angels sighed life into my starving lungs. When I screamed from visions of demons, angels held me tenderly and chased the evil away.

One of them, plump and with a crooked face, was a constant at my side. His hand stayed wrapped around mine, his touch always gentle, reassuring.

I sank into my newfound peace on the way to my next life. The transition brought on by my death was much easier than I imagined. I had a vague sense of the hell I had endured, of events gone wrong that I had failed to fix. But the horror and fire, the fear and blood, were behind me.