“What?” I’d asked, surprised.
Keep your voice down. There are guards out in the halls. That was why he’d chosen to communicate telepathically with me.
Sorry, I answered, letting him continue. You were saying the government turned you away? Why hadn’t he told me sooner?
We turned in the vent heading further down the hallway. They didn’t elaborate. Just told us we weren’t invited to speak with the governing body and to leave the capitol city of Torv. If we didn’t, we’d be arrested for acts of treason.
So, you decided to see what they were hiding? Just a short time ago we’d been invited to the city during the restructuring of the government. Something was definitely amiss.
Well, I tried. Joshua admitted. We turned through the ventilation system, further along the third floor. Gavin and I were discussing sneaking into some of the labs, looking into what was so secretive. We didn’t expect to find much. He paused as we shifted through another narrow vent and stopped over a grate for me to climb down this time. That’s when Hunter found us with a plan of his own.
It all seemed convenient, Hunter finding Joshua and Gavin but I didn’t bring it up. We’d spent enough time with Hunter since rescuing the women that I was confident he wasn’t a spy for the government. If he had been, we’d have been dead long ago. I pushed aside the metal grate. While Joshua had been lucky with the previous two rooms and the ceiling tiles, the grate was heavier and louder as I shifted it, metal against metal. I grimaced pausing momentarily to make sure the guards weren’t coming. There were footsteps and voices but they passed by the door and I shimmied my way down into the room with a thud. I ducked behind the desk, waiting a moment as their shadows passed again but neither guard opened the door.
I glanced up at Joshua exchanging nods before easing myself off the floor. My fingers rummaged the top of the desk. Papers were askew but nothing I could understand. There were equations and research but it all looked like a foreign language to me. Sure I took math in school but this was far beyond anything I’d ever learned. My fingers worked the desk drawer open, grimacing with the squeak of its hinges as I fingered through the papers inside. I paused finding several files with names I recognized, including my own.
The office door swung open and the guard flashed his light in my eyes. “Isaura,” he stared at me, “I apologize for barging in. I hadn’t realized you were in this late.” The guard studied my face for a moment longer and the glamour wouldn’t last forever.
“Shut it,” I commanded. I gestured towards the door.
“I’ll close the door behind myself,” he assured me, shutting it with a click in place.
How the hell did you do that? I heard Joshua’s voice and the glamour vanished. I grabbed the files lifting them towards the ceiling for Joshua to take while I held his arm and maneuvered myself back up into the ventilation system. We replaced the metal grate and scooted through the vent to the office, files in hand. “What’d you find?” Joshua asked, handing me the files as I sat back down on the sofa. I pulled the blanket up around my legs feeling a slight chill in the air.
“I don’t know. There were several files and I was one of them.” I flipped open my file once again, having another glance at it.
“You still didn’t explain the glamour.”
Joshua had never witnessed me using a glamour before. “It was how I managed to be Jacqueline while I was in Genesis.” Joshua had known the plan, hadn’t he?
“Right.” He smiled. “I forgot. Tomorrow when we’re in the lab, you should glamour yourself.”
I sighed, nudging Joshua. “I’m not sure someone else with the ability couldn’t see right through it. It’s better if I hide and not make myself her intended target.” Joshua had to agree with me. There was no way he would ever want to put me in harm’s way. I stretched out on the sofa, plopping my feet onto Joshua’s lap. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow,” I yawned, letting my eyes close as I pulled the blanket up further around me.
I felt Joshua shift against the sofa and I whimpered in protest. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel his shadow before he leant down and dropped a soft kiss to my forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?” I murmured, reluctantly opening my eyes as my hand reached out to catch his arm. “Stay here.” I didn’t think he’d try and sleep in the vent all night.
“You know I can’t.” He kissed me again. “I want to,” Joshua whispered and his thumb grazed my cheek as my eyes fluttered closed again.
“Please,” I whispered. I didn’t want to beg but we both needed to be on our best game tomorrow and there was no way Joshua would be if he was awake all night. “In the morning you can go back up and hide before Fabian comes back.” Through heavy eyes I lifted the covers for him to join me. Joshua waited only a minute before slipping out of his shoes and sliding in beside me on the sofa. There was hardly any room at all but I didn’t care. It was nice to know that even in such a small space, we were both comforted by each other.
CHAPTER 22
As dawn broke, light seeped through the shutters past the slits forcing my eyes open. The sound of heavy footsteps falling outside the door didn’t help either. “Joshua!” I woke him forcefully, pushing him up and off me all at once. He slipped his shoes on and climbed back up the vent while I moved the sofa back to its rightful place. There was a slight indentation in the carpet from where it had been situated the last twelve or so hours. I had to hope Fabian wouldn’t notice.
Fabian used his key, taking his time jiggling the lock for an additional moment or two of warning to me that he was coming inside. I was relieved as it gave Joshua time to secure the ceiling tile back into place as Fabian stepped inside the office, turned on the light and shut the door behind him.
“Are you ready?” he asked me. Of course I wasn’t ready, but I didn’t have any other option.
“Are you sure there’s no one outside?” If Fabian intended to parade me down the hall it was only a matter of seconds before someone would see me.
“It’s shift change,” Fabian answered. “We have only a few minutes before the guards come on duty. We should go now.” He cracked the door open, making sure all was silent as we maneuvered through the hall towards the elevator. My stomach somersaulted and I let out a heavy breath, knowing I’d be okay. Joshua would follow. I just hoped he’d be able to get from floor to floor without too much trouble. Stepping into the elevator Fabian pushed the button for the seventh floor. The seventh floor, Josh. I hoped he heard me and knew where we were heading.
I’m nearly there, he answered and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’ll be fine,” Fabian glanced at me. I could see it in his eyes. Maybe the plan had been his but there was still some hesitation, some concern that everything was riding on me getting this right. I couldn’t trap Isaura. I had to kill her. I wasn’t a coldblooded murderer. Isaura was evil though. She’d kidnapped me, would have killed me if she had the chance. She experimented on women, held them against their will and maybe she was smart scientifically but she had no morals. She had to be stopped.
Fabian led me down the seventh floor. It looked familiar though I hadn’t been on this floor before. All the halls with test subjects looked the same. Fabian opened the door to the room: it was unlocked. “Janessa’s in here,” Fabian assured me as we stepped into the room. She lay on the table, the switch had been made. She turned her head, showing me she was awake and her eyes opened giving me a brief smile. “Not now,” he commanded. “You need to look sedated when Isaura comes in.”