Roman shook his head as he wiped his hand over a screen, carving a trench through the thick layer of dust. “No. This hasn’t been touched in a long time. Something isn’t right here.”
“It’s as I said. Ominous.” Tan moved deeper into the room. “Hey Boss, I’ve got an idea where Spencer may be hiding.”
Roman followed his gaze. In the back corner of the room there was a staircase leading down. Roman didn’t like the idea of being lost in the dark down there, waiting for Spencer to ambush them, but he didn’t have any other choices. He warily began to descend the stairs. “Wait here,” he ordered Tan.
“Bugger that.” Tan folded in arms defiantly. “I ain’t letting you get yourself killed without me.”
Roman sighed. “I don’t know how big it is down there, and if Spencer slips past me and escapes, then this is all for nothing, isn’t it?”
“I don’t like leaving you alone.”
“Leaving me alone, or being alone?”
“Either one.”
“I understand. But wait here anyway, okay?”
Tan scowled. “Just be careful.”
Roman crept down the stairs as silently as he could. By the time he reached the bottom step it was nearly pitch black. He stretched out both hands to touch the walls. He was in a hallway. Slowly, he walked forward. He could still faintly hear the sounds of fighting coming from above, but other than that and the pounding of his own heart, it was silent.
There was light ahead.
Candlelight.
A voice carried down the hallway. “Candle? That you?”
Roman paused. He knew that voice. He had heard it once, at the Haven. Ashton Spencer’s voice.
“Guess again, fucker,” Roman called back, keeping his gun raised as he moved closer to the light. It was coming from an empty door frame at the end of the hallway, on the left.
Spencer didn’t respond.
Roman slowed as he neared the doorway. He barely dared to breathe. His every muscle was tense, ready to move at the slightest threat. But all was still. He could almost believe he had imagined Spencer’s voice.
Crouching, he paused just outside the door. He stole a quick peek inside. Half a dozen candles were scattered around the bare room. He couldn’t see Spencer. Was it a trick? Was Spencer in another room?
No point delaying the inevitable. Roman burst into the room, gun raised.
Spencer sat in the corner, his thin, bruised face half-hidden behind his tangle of dark hair. In his lap he held a book. He slowly looked up at Roman, sighing wearily. “Candle’s dead, isn’t he?” Spencer asked. There was no hint of fear in his voice.
Roman didn’t know how to react. How was Spencer so calm? He didn’t even try to stand or move or anything. Instead, he just looked Roman up and down, not even twitching as his eyes passed over the gun pointed at his chest.
“I guess I’m not surprised,” Spencer continued, turning back to his book. “I didn’t think we ever really stood a chance. But still, I hoped. It’s hard not to. I guess that’s part of being human.”
“Why did you free Candle?” Roman knew he didn’t have time to waste, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking. He had to know.
Spencer sighed again. “I guess I finally found my conscience. Too late, as is always the case. But, well…” he paused, hanging his head so that his hair covered his face completely. “After everything I’ve done, I thought that maybe if I could save one of them, I could redeem myself. Didn’t work. But still, I think I’m ready to die now… Not that death gives a fuck whether I’m ready or not.”
Roman hesitated. “But what about the serum you were working on? The one to permanently deactivate the Adrenalites.”
Spencer looked up, brushing his long hair behind his shoulder. “Huh?” He cocked his head, his confusion clear. “Who are you?”
“The serum, the one—”
“Wait… you’re Roman aren’t you.”
Roman didn’t answer, too shocked to speak. Spencer looked genuinely confused. That meant…
“So you’re Juliette’s dog,” Spencer continued. “Her little pet. I should have guessed it would be you who came for me.”
“I’m not her anything. Get up, now.”
Spencer didn’t move.
“I said, now!” Roman stepped forward. “You’re going to tell me—”
A scream echoed down the hallway. Tan’s voice.
Roman froze.
The book fell out of Spencer’s lap. Beneath it, he was holding a pistol. “I’m not going back. I won’t. Juliette can find someone else to do her dirty work. Maybe you. You seem so damn good at it.”
Roman didn’t move. Tan’s scream still rung in his ears. Spencer slowly began to raise his gun. Roman’s finger tensed over the trigger of his own.
Spencer pressed the barrel of his gun against the side of his own head.
Roman dove forward. “Wait!”
Spencer fired.
31
Ruby froze when she heard the first gunshot. She tried to ignore her horrifying mental images of finding Roman dead. Along with Tan, Caleb and Sparks. That can’t happen, she told herself, after everything I’ve done, that would be too unfair. But she struggled to believe that — nothing else in life had ever been fair.
Ruby pushed her anxiety away and set off again. She held her bow tightly as she descended the wreckage of two buildings. Judging by that gunshot, the militia weren’t far away now.
Why are they here, of all places? Ruby had spent the last couple hours debating that and had yet to think of a good answer. Her first thought had been that the wind farm had been attacked by Candle, and so Juliette was rushing to defend them. But that made no sense. The wind farm was miles outside the city, there was no way Juliette could make it in time. And that gunshot… that had come from within Legacy.
There was a power station around here, wasn’t there? Ruby wished she knew what was going on, or whether Roman had even followed the militia. Anything to stop her feeling so useless.
Another gunshot echoed down the street. She broke into a run.
Sparks felt like the city’s biggest idiot. Who else could be so damn mad at Caleb, but still feel guilty for leaving him. It was insane. Does Caleb hate me? He couldn’t stop the question repeating in his mind. Why the hell did he even care what Caleb thought of him? He had gone rogue; he shouldn’t have to care about Caleb anymore. But he did, and he hated it.
Sparks ran through the station, finding nothing but bodies. For every dead Adrenalite he came across, there were at least a dozen militia killed. But when the Adrenalites were so outnumbered, each death mattered more. And there was a lot of deaths.
Maybe Sparks could change that if he could find Juliette. She had to be here, somewhere, and he was going to kill her. Yes. But he was lost. This place was like a maze. Every building looked the same. Grey and ruined.
Sparks leapt atop of the nearest building, feeling it shake beneath his weight. He looked around for someone to fight, but there was nobody nearby. For the first time, it was nearly silent. He scowled. The battle couldn’t be over, not yet. He looked towards the nearest tower, standing over fifty yards high. If he could climb that, he would have a view of the entire station. Jumping from roof to roof, he headed towards it.
The tower was easy to climb; it was just a hollow frame of interlocking steel beams, so Sparks propelled himself from beam to beam effortlessly. Blood still trailed down his side from the hole the strange crossbow bolt had left behind. He ignored it. Being activated would help it heal before he lost too much blood. Hopefully.