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“Protein,” Jane said. “Think about it. In battle, there’s always a source of protein around. Living or dead. It’s just good strategy. ”
Bryn leaned against the stairwell wall, suddenly faint. She collapsed to a sitting position on the stairs.
“Don’t give up,” Riley said. “Bryn, don’t give up. ”
“Let Annie go,” Bryn said. “She’s not infected. Let her go, and I’ll stay. I swear. ”
“Oh, sweetie,” Jane said softly. She had a remorseless look in her eyes. “It isn’t even vaguely a possibility that we’re negotiating here. ” A door opened above her on the landing, and she glanced up, but not with any surprise; she was clearly expecting reinforcements. “See? You’ve got zero shot here, ladies. Absolutely ice-cold zero. ”
“I’d recalculate that if I were you,” said Patrick McCallister, as he leaned over the railing and pointed a P90 directly at Jane’s forehead. “Hello, Jane. ”
“Hello, Pat,” she said. Other than a flicker of her eyelids, and a slight tightening of muscles, her self-control was impressive. “How’d you get in?”
“I had help,” he said. “On your knees, Jane. Face the wall, hands up and flat—you know the drill. ”
“You’re a fool if you think you can take them out of here. Oh, it can be done, but you have got to ask yourself, Pat—should it be done? Because what you’re taking out of here isn’t your sweet little not-quite-dead girlfriend. This thing inside her skin, it’s not really human anymore. And it’s weaponized. ”
Patrick’s face tightened, and he failed to hide his fury; it shone in his eyes, impossible to miss. “Not going to say it again. Knees. Wall. Hands. ”
Jane shrugged and followed his orders, and that was when Bryn realized that McCallister wasn’t alone. Joe Fideli was at his back, and Liam, and—dear God—Manny Glickman, wearing body armor and carrying a truly badass machine pistol. Pansy Taylor was with him.
“Joe,” Patrick said. “Secure that bitch. ”
“Securing the bitch, aye. Hey, how ya doing, Jane?” Joe jumped down onto the landing, pulled Jane’s right arm behind her, snapped on cuffs, and then the left. He made sure they were tight, then zip-tied her ankles. “I thought you were dead. ”
“I was,” Jane said. “And you’re going to wish you were, too. Especially if you don’t listen. ”
“Knew I forgot something,” Joe said, and pulled a strip of duct tape from a row of them stuck to his pants. He put it over Jane’s mouth. “Now you’re secure. ” He wasn’t taking chances. He searched her and removed anything that could have possibly constituted a weapon, or a lockpick, and propped her into the corner. She was trying to yell through the gag, and her eyes glittered furiously.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Bryn said. She felt horribly numb now and resigned. “None of you should have come. ”
Joe turned to Bryn and gave her the warmest, most heartbreaking smile she’d ever seen. “Hey,” he said. “Come on, cheer up. This is a rescue, not a wake. ”
Riley put her hand on Bryn’s shoulder and said, “If we stay here, they’ll burn us. There’s no question about it. Annie, too. ”
“And if we go?” Bryn raised her head and stared into Riley’s face, saw the flash of silver in her eyes. Knew it was in her own. “My God, Riley. Look at what we are. ”
“We’re what they made us,” Riley said. “And we’ll have to deal with that. But we will. ”
“No,” Bryn said. “I can’t. I won’t take the risk. ” She pulled in a deep breath. “Patrick. Jane’s right. You can’t take us out of here. We’re infected. ”
“I know,” Patrick said. “Manny figured out the incubations, and what they were planning to produce. We’ll take precautions, but I’m not letting you stay here and burn, Bryn. I can’t. ”
“You can’t trust me. And I can’t trust you,” she said, and met his eyes. She saw him flinch, and knew he was having the same reaction she’d felt on recognizing Riley’s change. “Go. Take Annie and go. ”
“Shit,” Riley said. “You mean that, don’t you?” She looked pa
st Bryn, and her eyes widened. “Annie, don’t!”
It was a bluff, and it worked, because for a split second Bryn took her attention off the threat in front of her, and looked toward her sister…who looked utterly shocked, and definitely not attacking her.
Damn it.
Even her nanite-fueled reaction time wasn’t enough to stop Riley from crushing her neck.
Bryn came back to life strapped down to a gurney—not with Velcro, but with heavy-duty leather and chains that would probably have held a ship’s anchor, much less a somewhat woozy woman. Without leverage, there was no way to break free.
She was in the back of a van, and the van was moving.
