Omega (13 page)

I stopped to listen and let my senses read
what they could from my surroundings. A good ten meters of open
space stretched between me and the building I wanted to be in.
Cameras had been placed in the corners of the courtyards, all
facing the sky rather than the open area, and no guards. In fact,
the courtyard was silent, the calm eye of the compound. I began to
think the twenty or thirty guards – some out front and some I had
seen in the courtyard – were the only other people present. The
large compound was a ghost town.

Despite the fact I saw and heard nothing to
alarm me, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I didn’t move
for a long moment, waiting for whatever it was to pass, but the
sensation remained. It was more than being watched, more than the
surge of adrenaline in my system. If my senses hadn’t told me it
was clear behind me, I’d almost think someone was there.

Herakles had trained me to trust my
intuition over my eyes. I gripped the handgun more tightly and then
whirled.

The man with the red patch was behind me,
close enough to grab me. He reacted with agility that stunned me,
arcing back and knocking my arm away while whipping out his own
handgun and pressing the cold metal muzzle to my forehead.

Within the time it took for me to gasp, I
had gone from in control to being at his mercy. I went perfectly
still. I had never seen anyone move with such speed, even Herakles.
His weapon was centered on my forehead. My weapon was trained
uselessly beyond his feet.

The mask obscured his face. Unlike the
others, the commander didn’t wear body armor or carry a rifle, as
if it were rare for him to leave the compound or maybe, because he
was confident enough not to need such things. He was a good head
taller than me, lean and sinewy where Niko and Herakles were thick.
He even breathed silently.

“
You’re fast,” I said,
unable to help the honest words. “Like really fast.”

“
So are you.”

I tilted my head. His soft, gravelly voice
was familiar. I didn’t think it possible I had ever heard it
before, and I searched my thoughts for why I recognized it.

“
Can you use that gun?” he
asked.

“
It may come as a
surprise, but yes,” I replied. “Though why it continues to amaze
you people that I’m not a defenseless little girl, I don’t
understand.”

“
I tend to give my
opponents the benefit of the doubt, whether or not they appear to
be defenseless little girls.” He nudged my head back an inch with
the weapon. “You’re brave.”

“
I’ve been told I’m stupid
not brave,” I said.

“
Entertaining,
too.”

“
Um, thanks.”
What in the name of the gods … this guy is messing
with me.
“Anyway, I’m just going to
leave.”

He nudged my head with the gun again as if
to remind me of its presence. As if I could ever forget.

“
You don’t want me dead,
or you would’ve shot me. You want me scared enough to obey. Which
I’m not.” I eased back. “I’m leaving. You can shoot me if you want,
but either way …” I held out my arms and backed away, not about to
lose the gun but sensing this guy wasn’t going to be the one who
pulled the trigger.

He didn’t lower the weapon but stepped with
me with grace and silence I envied. Perhaps I should’ve been more
cautious. The man was a predator of a different kind, one without
the moodiness of Niko or the friendly warmth of Herakles. Something
about the way he spoke to me … the fact I was pretty certain that –
however improbable – he had been standing behind me long enough to
shoot or subdue me and chose not to … the uncanny sense he wasn’t
going to call for backup … the suspicion he was as intrigued by me
as I was by him …

The masked man was a freaky enigma, one even
this brave fool knew was the most dangerous person I’d ever
met.

“
Are you a gambler to risk
your life like this?” He sounded curious.

“
No,” I replied. “I’m
weird. Everyone says so. But at least I can run fast.”

“
Faster than
me?”

What in Hades? I meant it as somewhat of a
nervous joke. I didn’t get why he was standing here talking to me,
or why I didn’t feel the need to run. If anything, something
unnatural held me here. It wasn’t my will or fear or anything else
I controlled. It was … him. Was it a trick? Magic? He moved like no
human. Could he be a demigod?

“
Maybe.” I cleared my
throat.

“
Down the hallway to your
left is a fountain. Make it there and back before I do, and I’ll
let you walk out of here. Fail and you remain as my master’s
guest.”

“
Did you just challenge me
to a race?” I asked, startled.
This guy
definitely plays with his food before he eats it.
Herakles said this kind of opponent was the worst
and to be drawn into their game was the greatest kind of danger in
existence.

But … if I really did have a chance to walk
out of here by simply outrunning him, I’d be a fool not to play a
game I could win.

“
Ready.”

He put his gun away. At least it was a race.
I stood a chance. I kept telling myself this despite the warning
from Herakles beating mercilessly against my brain.

“
Set.”

I put my weapon away, too, tucking it into
the waist of my pants at the small of my back.

“
Go.”

I ran. I beat him to the entrance of the
hallway but he soon pulled ahead, making it look easy to
outdistance me when I knew how fast I was. Pushing myself harder, I
caught up to him before the dry fountain and nudged him aside to
take the inside track. I pushed him a little too hard – he caught
himself against a wall – and I silently apologized and sprinted
ahead.

The man soon caught up to and passed me. I
was two steps behind him, my instincts screaming for me to escape
before I lost and he devoured me for dinner. The moment we hit the
courtyard again, I bolted off towards the wing where I hoped to
find Herakles, counting on putting distance between me and the
commander before he noticed I wasn’t playing his game anymore.

For several steps, I was convinced I’d done
it – outsmarted and out distanced him.

And then something smacked into me, driving
me to the ground.

I rolled and leapt to my feet, barely
putting up my arms in defense of a kick that was aimed at my head.
I stumbled back but soon let my instincts take over, the way they
did when I sparred with Herakles.

The commander fought with the same agility
with which he ran. I struggled to keep up with his pace and when I
thought for sure I was about to face plant and end up dead, he
eased up.

It hit me then he was testing me. It was a
matter of survival to me, but it seemed to be the next level of his
game to him. Uncertainty turned to mild panic, and I suddenly had
the urge to back down. I wasn’t good at games. I didn’t like them,
and I never, ever won. Something about the mental manipulation
component defied my preference for direct confrontation.

I fought and looked for my out. He could’ve
killed me ten times over by now, but I had one secret weapon. I
dropped my defenses completely and snatched the red cord off my
wrist. If I couldn’t win fairly, I was going to win however I had
to.

The cord fell away. The man snatched my
wrist and yanked me into his body.

I caught myself against
his wide chest and cursed silently. His arm coiled around me,
pinning me in place. He figured out, or maybe just knew, whoever
else was in my space wasn’t going to be affected by the wave. But
it wasn’t this that startled me most. It was how I
experienced
him. I had
hugged Herakles, the priests, the nymphs. But I couldn’t recall
noticing them – the shape of their muscles, the light scent of
their bodies, even their warmth.

Which was silly, because they were no
different than this man. Flesh, blood, yadda yadda.

Why did I find it fascinating that I could
feel his heartbeat beneath my right hand? Why was I breathing in
deeper to try to taste his scent? Why was his smell as familiar as
his voice, and I’d never experienced either before?

The shockwave was stronger this time, and I
twisted to see behind me at the damage. The earth around us shook
while the ground beneath our feet was perfectly still. Alarms
erupted once more, along with the sound of glass shattering.

“
Dammit!” I murmured
breathlessly and pulled at his grip. I was losing my chance to
act.

He didn’t release me but bent and grabbed
the cord to replace around my wrist. The moment it was secure, the
world around us ceased trembling. “It’s foolish to unleash power
you cannot control,” he told me. He gripped my neck with one hand
and stripped my weapons from my body, tossing them away. He whipped
off his mask next and tapped the microphone on his shoulder,
speaking one word into it. “Courtyard.” His gaze fell to mine.

The man who could outrun, outsmart and
outfight me was a kind of beautiful I didn’t know existed.
Green-blue eyes surrounded by long, feathery lashes beneath thick
eyebrows were so bright, they almost glowed in an olive-toned face.
His features were too perfectly chiseled to be natural. A shock of
black hair clashed with his bright eyes. He was clean shaven, hard
of expression and too strong and nimble to be real.

I knew him. Or at least,
like his voice, I
felt
like I did. It was the same weird instinct I had felt when I
touched the gem Father Ellis gave me. Like this man belonged to
me.

Which was the craziest thing yet in my
adventures since setting foot outside the boundaries of the
forest.

“
Quick, Lyssa.” Niko’s
voice broke the spell. “Get out of here.”

I twisted to see him emerge from the depths
of one hallway, armed with two weapons trained on the beautiful
stranger. “Did you find him?” I asked eagerly.

“
Not this time. We need a
better plan. Exit that way.” He motioned with his weapon to a hall
I hadn’t been down.

“
Ni–”

“
Now!”

If I weren’t rattled by the man I’d just
met, I would’ve probably argued more. As it was, I wasn’t feeling
quite right about all that happened. I’d met someone I couldn’t
physically beat, and I wasn’t about to stick around to find out
what happened next. I pulled away from the stranger and went in the
direction Niko indicated.

But something stopped me
before the first intersection. I was so close to Herakles, I didn’t
want to leave, especially since I didn’t think I’d be able to use
the same trick twice to get in here. After running into
him,
I didn’t want to
risk a second meeting either.

I halted then turned, creeping back down the
hallway towards the courtyard at the center of the buildings. Niko
had sent me into the north building but I was determined to go to
the east.

Niko and the man were talking. Niko’s guns
were down, and their distance bespoke the comfortable distance
between acquaintances rather than enemies. I edged closer and
strained my senses to hear what they said.

“…
as agreed,” the
commander was saying.

“
Yeah, well, it cost more
than I expected to get her here. The finder’s fee doesn’t cover my
expenses.”

Finder’s fee. Coldness trickled through me,
and I thought about what Dosy had insisted to be true about
Niko.

“
You’ll be compensated for
expenses,” the commander replied. “And docked ten percent for not
contacting me before bringing her here. We had a plan, Niko, and
you bulldozed it as usual.”

“
Come on,” Niko
complained.

“
I also won’t tell your
boss you brought her to me instead of him.”

“
Total dick
move.”

“
Take it or leave
it.”

Niko started to bristle. Just then, three
guards filed out of one of the hallways into the courtyard. Not
that the man he faced needed help. Niko didn’t know how dangerous
he was.

I didn’t know how dangerous
Niko was.
Betrayal hurt more than leaving
my home. It made me more desperate to find the only person I’d ever
trusted, the man who could right the world tumbling rapidly out of
control.

“
I’ll take it,” Niko said
reluctantly, eyes on the newcomers.

You bastard.
He had tried to warn me against men like him, and
I assumed he was talking about everyone else. I didn’t think he’d
be the one to turn on me. If not for Dosy’s insistence about what
he’d done, I’d suspect him of murder rather than mercy-killing the
priests.

The commander motioned someone forward.
“Take him to John and escort him out,” he instructed.

“
What happens to her?”
Niko asked.

“
Not your concern anymore,
now is it?” came the cool response. “Oh, and Niko?”

“
What, Adonis.”

“
I know you aren’t here as
a merc. Whatever your boss is planning, assume I’m going to bill
him.”

Who was Niko’s boss? How were Adonis and
Niko connected? The questions were tumbling around my brain, and
the only answer I cared about was how I was going to find Herakles
and escape.

After several lewd curses, Niko lingered for
a fraction of a second then left.

A heavy feeling sank into my stomach. This
had been his plan all along. Dosy was right, and I’d been too
worried about Herakles to care what Niko’s motivations were for
helping me. I was a fool of the worst kind, one Herakles would be
disappointed in for letting my emotions lead me into danger instead
of rationally thinking my suicide operation through.