Encrypted (67 page)

Francois set his jaw against such petty manipulations.

“Four!” Ronnie shouted.

He did not know what the woman spoke of. It did not matter. Ending
Lino
’s
life
was his only concern.

“
Batisk
.
Rommey
. Floret,”
Lino
went on to list Francois’ contacts. “Dead because you were too much
of
a simpleton to know they allowed you to live only so that you might lead us to them all.”

Blinking
,
Francois tried to deny the truth in the young man’s words. It could not be. They had been so very careful. And after Francois had left the Hidden Hand, he had been so bent on finding all the paintings
that
he hadn’t given it a second thought to the others. Francois had just assumed
that
they disapproved of his seeking the angels
’
paintings on his own. To know that they all died because of him?

“Three!”

The woman’s countdown mattered not to Francois. The time to feign weakness was over. Francois cut up with his staff. The wood shaft should have connected with
Lino’s
chin, but the young man sprang backward
,
bringing his own heavy log down upon Francois’ shoulder.

Ten years ago Francois would have not have fallen to his knees. Twenty years ago Francois could have dodged the blow. Thirty years ago
Lino
would not still have been able to strike the blow.

As it was, Francois slammed into the floor
.
O
nly the thick carpet beneath his knees broke
his
fall
. His
m
angled arm let loose of the spear as it tumbled beside him.

“Two!”

Francois looked up into
Lino’s
hard
,
dispassionate eyes. Even with all his err
or
s and the blood upon his hands, Francois realized
that
he would have done it all over again, without hesitation.

* * *

“One!” Ronnie yelled to Zach
, and
then turned to Francois. “Get down!”

Zach’s throw catapulted the Cipher-
meister
, Quirk’s mastermind, toward the ceiling. Damn
,
that guy had an arm on him. The case flung open before hitting the stone. The plastic shattered on impact, exposing the platinum
-
coated electronics within.

She grabbed Zach’s wrist
,
dragging him down to rug level as the air sucked upward, creating a wind that lifted her hair.

“What’s happening?” Zach asked, but Ronnie couldn’t answer him. Not with
Lino
about to clobber Francois.

“Shoot!”

“But you said
—
”

She didn’t have time to explain that hydrogen was lighter than air. As the internal vortex strengthened, she simply pointed to
Lino
.

And even through his doubts, Zach raised his gun and fired, clipping
Lino
in the arm. The spark the firing pin ignited a nearly invisible flame that climbed to the ceiling as the air drafted it up, catching the tent on fire. That white
-
hot hydrogen flame crackled along the edge of the fabric, sparking a yellow
-
orange fire. This conflagration stayed suspended mid air caught by the updraft of the hydrogen flame.

Suddenly the wind shifted, pulling the flaming cloth toward the opposite wall.
Lino
must have exited
,
for he was nowhere to be seen. Francois was on the floor
,
but Ronnie couldn’t tell if it was because he was following her orders or
if he
had collapsed there.

“We need to get out of here!” Zach yelled over the growing din of wind and fire.

“No!” she shouted back, tugging him to the carpet. “We’ve got to stay down!”

Even though it was becoming harder and harder to breathe, Ronnie calculated in her head exactly how much oxygen his rescue was going to consume. Would she save them from burning alive
,
only to kill them through suffocation?

Zach pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her as the fire danced and snapped above their heads. Even the plastic case hovered near the ceiling as sparks shot out of the electronics.

Come on, come on, come on.

Between the hydrogen displacing oxygen and the fire downright consuming it, they didn’t have much air left to breathe.

“What is happening?” Zach asked.

“Nothing, damn it,” Ronnie answered. “The platinum in the electronics should be acting as a catalyst to
—
”

Then an explosion rang out above, shattering the case. Anything that wasn’t platinum fell to the floor, but all of those tiny platinum
-
coated parts? Those stayed suspended, helping hydrogen to bond with oxygen.

Mirroring the storm outside, thunder clapped overhead as water poured down.

“How?” Zach asked, trying to catch his breath as the oxygen level lowered even more.

“
‘H’ two ‘O,’
” Ronnie commented. “Hydrogen just needed a little help to get together with oxygen
,
to
create water.”

“That’s why it
’
s harder to breathe?” Zach commented, gulping for air now.

Ronnie nodded
,
trying to conserve her own
air
. They just needed to ride out this phase until the combustible hydrogen was consumed then they could
—

Without warning
,
Zach rose up, aiming his gun at the stained glass window. “Let’s get some air in here.”

“No!” Ronnie shouted
,
but it was too late.

Yes, Zach’s shot blew out the window, and yes
,
the remaining hydrogen was sucked outside
.
U
nfortunately
,
because of the
built-up
pressure, Zach too was pulled to the window. Ronnie grabbed hold of the heavy
,
gilded throne as the Khan’s body was lifted up and out
of t
he broken pane.

Zach tried to scramble for purchase as he involuntarily headed for the window. She clutched the hem of his pants, but the wet fabric slipped through her fingers. Their eyes met as he gripped the broken edges of the window. If there were any way humanly possible, he would stay.

Unfortunately
,
physics dictated that he
should
go.

“Zach!” she cried as he vanished out the window in a final gush of air.

Tears streaming down her face, Ronnie held tight to the throne even
as
it was raised a few inches off the floor. Then with a
thud
it came back down. Rising to her feet
,
she rushed over to the window.

First Quirk. Now Zach.

CHAPTER 32

Cutler, Maine

5:01
p
.
m
.,
EST

Zach felt raindrops hit his face
,
then
splash off. The rain was cold—
icy cold
—
yet Zach didn’t seem to mind. Weird. All he knew was that not just every joint in his body ached, but every attachment to every joint seared with pain as well. And what in the hell had happened to his kidneys?

Something scra
tchy but soft lay underneath
him. He probably should check what it was, but hey. He deserved a few moments, right? Zach let the raindrops fall and splash and fall and splash.

Then a voice, sounding distant yet urgent
,
called his name. “Zach!” A woman’s voice. A determined voice.

Slowly
,
he opened his eyes and peered through a hole in the wooden roof to find a woman lean
ing
over a stony ledge. He smiled. She burst into tears.

“Hang on!” she yelled. Why was she crying? Then she turned to the room behind her. “No! Francois! Don’t leave without me.”

The woman turned back to Zach. “I’ll be right down.”

“It’s okay,” he said even though he wasn’t quite certain that was true. “Go after him.”

“Are you sure?” she asked from the second
-
story window.

Even though it made his head spin, Zach sat up, at least partially. “I’m sure.”

She gave him a
radiant
smile, despite the tears,
and
then bolted from view. He was sad to see her go and had a hard time remembering her face. He loved her. Of that there was no doubt
,
yet it felt as if he had only met her a few days ago.

Again. Weird.

Still
,
he could feel her lips against his. Wait. Could he remember that? They had kissed, right? With all of this passion built up inside, they had to have consummated it, didn’t they?

That mystery could probably wait though since his priority might be to figure out exactly why he had fallen out of a castle window into an apparent hay shed. He might want to start there.

Rolling to his side, he stopped short. There lay a mummified corpse. A corpse with a crown.

Memories flooded back as Zach pushed away from the dead man.

Khan. Genghis’ grandson if he wasn’t mistaken. Who died
from
the plague. Urgency fueled Zach’s muscles. Time to get the hell out of here. But another sparkle of gold caught his eye. A gilded dagger. How many innocents had died by that blade? Given the fact he’d lost all his weapons, Zach didn’t have time to be choosy.

Taking the dagger off the corpse’s belt, Zach rolled out of the hay and onto the slick paving stones. The rain now beat down, streaking down his face, dripping from his nose.

Things were still a little hazy, but he knew one thing for certain.

Ronnie needed his help.

* * *

Ronnie raced down the passage
,
trying to catch up with Francois. Forget bell or leash, the guy needed a freaking cattle prod. To make her leave Zach like that? Sprawled out, who knew how injured? But not even her feelings, her big time feelings for Zach, could matter now that they were so close.

Sprinting
,
she heard Francois going up another flight of stairs. Normally
,
she would ask why in the hell he was going up the stairs instead of down them toward the vaccine vault, but she already knew why.
Lino
.

The Hidden Hand’s boy toy. The plan had been to draw him out, but not quite this far out
,
and certainly not up.

And why in the hell couldn’t Francois trust her? She had a plan. Yes, it was dangerous, and yes, given every statistic and probability, it was going to fail spectacularly, but which of her plans didn’t have those riders?

Francois’ lust for revenge overshadowed their need to secure the vaccine.

Ronnie wished she could say she was running after him
because of
some warm connection. Like he had become her father figure or something, but the fact of the matter was, she feared he would take on
Lino
and succumb too quickly. They needed
Lino
distracted until they made their move.

Which had been explained to Francois like ten times. Clearly
,
Francois did not understand exactly how hard it was to break into one of the world’s most safeguarded mainframes while running down a stone hallway.

Ronnie checked her lenses. Her hack was nearly complete. Well, it looked nearly complete. She’d never really gotten this far before to know where “complete” lived. She only needed a few more minutes to be sure.

Then a cry. Angry, pained
,
and aged
,
echoed off the walls.

Francois must have found
Lino
.

* * *