The Dawn of Dae (Dae Portals Book 1) (40 page)

“Good job, Colby. Alexa, how do I turn off the disc so I can reset it? Without cutting power to yours, that is.”

My arms refused to cooperate with me, and shuddering at how helpless I was, I told him how to do it. Instead of Rob doing the work, Colby clung to me and manipulated the controller. I had no idea how a conglomeration of noodles and cheese had the ability to depress the switches, but after several long moments, the glass and metal detached from the disc and tumbled to the ground far below.

Colby grabbed Rob’s disc and clambered up the side of the skyscraper. When it reached the maximum length of Rob’s cable, it sliced a hole in the glass, turned the disc, and crammed it into the opening, disappearing within the building. When it reemerged, Rob freed his hand from its hold, grabbed his line, and gave a tug.

It held.

“Now would be the time for a bright idea, Miss Daegberht.”

“Winch and walk.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“Use the winch.” Drawing a deep breath, I explained how to activate the mechanism. “When it pulls you up, walk up the building.”

“It’s strong enough to handle our combined weight?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe,” he echoed. He sighed. “Maybe isn’t good enough.”

“As long as my anchor keeps holding, you can pull me up after you’re at the top. Get yourself up first.”

“Unacceptable.”

“Don’t get us both killed being stupid,” I hissed. For all of his faults, I didn’t want Rob to end up dead because of my malfunctioning gear. Tears burned in my eyes, and I angrily blinked them away.
 

Sliding along the glass, Colby came to a halt beside my head. “Mommy.”

“She’s being stubborn,” Rob complained to my roommate. “She thinks I’m going to listen to her, leave her hanging here, and save my ass first.”

“Mommy! Mommy, Mommy,” Colby scolded before slapping me across the face. My head snapped to the side from the force of the blow and stars burst in front of my eyes.

I gasped, tears stinging my eyes.

One thing was for certain; I’d never think of macaroni and cheese the same ever again. Colby packed quite the punch, and I wondered if I’d have a bruise to show for its temper. Probably.

If I lived through the night, I’d explain to both of them the method to my madness—and why it was for all of our benefit to sacrifice the deadweight, me.

“Let’s try this again. We are going to the top, and we will figure out how to get to the street level after I have had a chance to see how badly you’ve been hurt. The keyword here is ‘we.’ So, how do I get us to the top, Miss Daegberht?” Rob paused, and in a rueful tone, he added, “This is not my expertise.”

“What isn’t? Hanging around getting in the way? I thought it’d come naturally for you,” I mumbled.

He laughed and tightened his hold on me. “You’re really something else. You’ll just have to suffer, as I’m going to ignore your arguments and do what I want anyway. Any ideas on how to get up this skyscraper, or am I going to have to get creative?”

In a way, I was curious to find out how creative Rob could get, but instead of testing my luck, I said, “Your second anchor’s already tangled in my harness. So long as your primary anchor doesn’t break through the window, I’m not going anywhere. It’ll be faster and safer for the both of us if you get to the top first. I’m a liability like this.”

“Shit. You’re serious.”

“I have one trick right now, Rob. I can hang around and wait. Will you
please
just get to safety?” I begged.

With luck, we’d both escape alive, but if my harness or the anchor binding us together broke, at least one of us would survive.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Rob secured both of the cases filled with drugs and electronics to his harness with Colby’s help. The details of how he had gotten both of them were a bit of a blur, along with Colby making hand and foot holds for me in the glass. My body refused to move quite right, but I had sufficient strength and coordination to keep myself from swinging away from the building.

If I had any say in it at all, I would never climb out of anything higher than a first story window ever again.

While I waited, my worry for Rob and Colby growing with each passing minute, I systematically wiggled my fingers and toes to convince myself I hadn’t done permanent damage colliding with the skyscraper. The movement hurt, with the worst of the pain radiating from my neck and shoulders. So I wouldn’t stare at the ground far below, I fixed my gaze on the blinking blue light above. If my anchor detached, all of my weight would end up hanging from Rob’s harness.

If I fell, I’d take him with me, and it worried me so much I considered slipping my harness to make certain he reached the top alive. The dae climbed hand over hand to my anchor, and he gave my cable a tug. A faint glow radiated from Colby as my roommate worked with Rob.

Despite my attempt to remain close to the skyscraper, the instant they deactivated my anchor, the slack in the line dislodged me from the building, and I swung out into open air. I spun, and when I hit the glass, it was with my shoulder and back. Blinding pain stabbed down my spine, and my entire body jerked. I bounced against the skyscraper a second time before I twisted around and clawed for one of Colby’s holds. My fingers caught on the opening, but before I could secure a grip, Rob hauled me up an entire story.

Without anything to cling to, the gusting wind blew me along the glass, spinning me. I squeezed my eyes closed, and my fear of falling choked off my breath. Rob and Colby were all that stood between me and death, and my inability to influence my fate terrified me even more than the thought of splattering on the ground below.

While I was vaguely aware of Rob and Colby working with my anchor disc, I lost track of time. The dae’s hands under my arms, hauling me up onto the skyscraper’s roof, woke me to the fact he had pulled me to safety. He dragged me away from the ledge, and while I shuddered from relief, he stretched me out, his hands cupping my throat to check my pulse.

At the rate my heart was pounding, I was impressed I hadn’t keeled over dead yet.

“You’re fine. I have you,” the dae murmured, going to work freeing me from my harness. “Just give me a minute to get you out of this mess.”

The mess proved to be a tangle of cables, anchors, and the pair of cases. I had no memory of anyone securing our ill-gotten gains to my harness, but one of the metal edges dug into my side, and I hissed from pain when Rob rolled me over to work the straps out from under me.

“Can you move your hands and feet?” Rob demanded once I was freed. Bracing for the inevitable pain, I rotated my ankles and wrists. My left hand protested the worst, and dark splotches showed beneath my bandages.

“Better than I expected,” the dae confessed. “I was afraid you were paralyzed for a few minutes there.”

I had been, but I kept my mouth shut. Shaking my head, I sat up with his help, and when the world spun around me, I closed my eyes and leaned against him. “Thanks.”

“If we can avoid a repeat performance, I’d appreciate it,” Rob grumbled. He pulled me to the retaining wall of the skyscraper and leaned me against it, peering over the edge. “The good news? It doesn’t look like anyone noticed us while you were hanging around. That’s about the only good news I have for you, though.”

“I’ll take it. Beats being a pancake or spending the rest of my life in prison.”

“Mommy.” Colby hopped onto my lap and bumped against my stomach. While I was a little unnerved about touching leftover macaroni and cheese, I forced myself to give my roommate a single pat.

It was rather warm, a little squishy, and disgustingly moist. When I checked my hand, I was relieved it didn’t leave any neon-orange residue. “Good job, Colby.”

“Mommy!”

“Do you have any idea what happened?” Rob asked, sitting beside me. Sliding an arm behind my back, he tugged me to him until my head rested against him.

I should’ve protested, but he was warm. “Anchor failed, I guess.”

While I had my doubts, I had no proof. All I had was Monica’s warning. Alone, it wasn’t enough to point fingers at anyone, especially not Kenneth. My height and weight for the harness would have been enough to betray me, making my gear an easy target if someone had wanted to get rid of me.

“Sabotage?”

I shrugged. The motion hurt. “Possibly. Monica tried to warn me.”

“I’m going to enjoy ruining Kenneth Smith,” the dae grumbled.

“You’ll have to share him.”

“I’ll share Smith if you properly share Hasling.”

Without Rob, I would’ve been as good as dead or imprisoned, and I knew it. The words caught in my throat, but after several breaths, I choked out, “Deal.”

I couldn’t deny him, not in good conscious. Sighing, I closed my eyes. My entire body trembled, and while I was no longer at risk of falling to my death, anxiety cramped my stomach.

“Take deeper breaths. You’re fine. We’ll wait a while; once the building employees start arriving for the day, we’ll take the stairs to the ground floor and leave through one of the delivery entrances. Colby can take care of any surveillance cameras. We’ll walk out of here like we belong, take the long way to my car, and bust out of here. I’ll swing through the fringe and scout for Hasling’s place, go to Gibson Island, and take a look at what Moore was into.” Rob rubbed his hand over my chilled arm. “Ruining people is my specialty, and I look forward to destroying both of them.”

“There’s no proof it wasn’t just a faulty anchor,” I pointed out.

“If it weren’t for Smith, you wouldn’t have been in this position in the first place. I’m afraid you’re just going to have to accept it. Now, get some rest, and leave everything else to me and Colby. You’ve done enough for tonight.”

The warmth of wearing my coat and Rob’s jacket lulled me into a sleepy daze. Rob showed no sign the cold autumn air bothered him, and he fidgeted with nervous energy while he kept watch, pacing across the roof to check for any signs our hiding place had been discovered. When the first light of dawn brightened the eastern sky, he huffed his satisfaction.

“Almost time to go,” he whispered. “I’m going to need my jacket back for the next part.”

I shrugged my way out of both coats. While I liked the security of wearing the Beretta, I was too sore and achy to reach the weapon, let alone put it to good use. The holster gave me trouble, and when Rob realized what I was trying to do, he helped me out of the straps.

“I’ll make it fit in one of the cases,” he said, cracking open one of them to reorganize the collection of drugs and electronics. “Colby, can you deal with the harnesses?”

While I would have just tossed them off the side of the skyscraper, Colby’s solution to the problem was to eat the harnesses. I stared at my roommate, my mouth hanging open, as it devoured everything, including the electromagnetic anchors.

“Well, that’s one way to deal with them,” Rob muttered, shaking his head. “Think you can walk, Miss Daegberht?”

“Only one way to find out.”

Taking hold of my hand, Rob hauled me to my feet, and I staggered. My body had a different definition for the word upright than my head. Rob gripped my arm until I was able to stand without his help.

“Take your sweater off,” he ordered.

I blinked at him. Without the pair of coats, I was already shivering, and I hadn’t been exposed for more than a few minutes. “What?”

“Your sweater. Take it off.”

“Are you crazy? It’s freezing up here.”

“Only for a minute. I want to check you over before we go downstairs. With the sun up, I don’t want to do it in the car. It’ll draw suspicion.” As I had to him earlier, he snapped his fingers at me. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”

For a long time, I gawked at him, trying to figure out why he wanted to check me over again. He already had several times, though I hadn’t been completely with the program while he had been doing it. I hadn’t moved much, and the cold stiffened my already aching body, which clued me in on what he was doing. “You want to see if I can.”

He mocked me with a slow clapping of his hands. “You caught on reasonably quick. Take the sweater off—if you can.”

Rob was goading me into doing it, and despite recognizing what he was up to, I was grabbing my sweater to pull it over my head. I managed to lift the sweater halfway over my head before blinding pain stabbed across my shoulders and up into my skull.