Oath Bound
Page 81
I couldn’t tear my gaze from that spot of blood. Until I noticed another one. And another, leading to a larger stain where the donor’s elbow might have been. Had the donor woken up and struggled? Had something gone wrong with the IV? Had Julia simply cut her losses on a couple of the more fragile donors, who might not be worth the trouble of moving?
“I’m sure Kenley wasn’t one of them.” The compassion in her voice drew my gaze.
“She wasn’t. Julia can’t afford to let her die.” But she wasn’t truly letting Kenni live, either. “Stay put while I check the bathrooms.”
Sera’s brows rose over what she evidently saw as an order.
“Please,” I added as an afterthought, and she gave me another small smile.
“See? That word really can work magic.”
I laughed, and as I crossed the floor toward the bathroom, I began composing a mental list of every possible way to use her “magic word” in my own favor. The entries were not all G-rated.
The men’s room door was open widest, so I checked that one first, careful not to turn my back on the ladies’ room, even with Sera there to shout if someone tried to sneak up on me. The men’s room was small and empty, and far from fresh, in spite of the fact that Julia’s people obviously kept plenty of bleach on hand.
The ladies’ room was just as small and empty, and only marginally cleaner.
With the restrooms clear, I crossed the room to tug on the padlock bolting the exterior door, then gave the rolling bay doors a tug, too. Everything was locked up tight, from the inside.
“Well, the cleanup crew didn’t go out this way,” I said, but when I turned to glance at Sera, she was gone.
“Damn it!” I drew my gun again and rechecked the bathrooms. “Sera!” I hissed, on my way up the steel grid steps, but the office and its supply closet were both empty. She hadn’t gone past me into the warehouse, so the only other option was...
“Sera!” I called again in an angry whisper as I backtracked into the well-lit hallway. The doors Kori and I had checked were still open, and all of the rooms were still dark, except for...the bathroom we’d traveled into. The door was barely ajar now, and the light inside was brighter than the hallway.
Would it have killed her to tell me if she had to pee? Or to go in the warehouse restroom, where I knew there was no one waiting to decorate the walls with our splattered brains?
I did a cursory scan of the rooms between me and the bathroom to make sure no one was luring me down the hall, only to sneak up behind me, and I was two doors from the lit restroom when I heard Sera’s voice. Whispering.
“You don’t have orders to kill me, do you? That’s why you hesitated,” she said, and my trigger finger twitched. Who the hell was she talking to? “That means you know who I am, right?”
Who she was? A Jammer? A Blocker? What did those have to do with why someone—Julia’s someone, most likely—had no orders to kill her?
I edged forward slowly and peered into the dark room on my right, but no answer came from whoever she was talking to—no verbal answer, anyway—and I was starting to wonder if she was talking to herself in the bathroom mirror. I hoped she was talking to herself, because if this was a trap, and she’d walked into it, she had no way to defend herself. Not without a spray bottle and a toilet plunger, anyway.
So why didn’t she sound as though she needed to be defended?
The room on my right looked empty at a glance, and a glance was all I had time for, if Sera was stalling, waiting for someone with a gun to show up and bail her out.
“And if you know who I am, you can’t kill me, can you? Not even if she tells you to. You can’t even raise a hand against me, right?”
Silence met her latest question and my heart beat harder as I crossed the hall silently to peer into the last room between me and Sera and...whoever was in the bathroom with her, real or imaginary.
“I think I’m starting to figure this out. You can’t hurt me, just like you couldn’t hurt her. Same game, new dealer, right?”
“Honestly, your guess is as good as mine,” a man’s voice said, and I stopped in my tracks. Either she’d actually found someone, or the other half of her split personality was decidedly unfeminine.
“You can call me Sera,” she said as I pushed that last door open, my pulse rushing so loud in my ears that it threatened to drown out her soft words. How close was she to getting shot? Why wasn’t she dead already? Was it true that he couldn’t kill her—whoever he was—and if so, why not?
“What else?” Sera said as I stared at a vaguely person-shaped outline in the last shadowy office between me and the bathroom. “Can you lie? That’s a stupid question, isn’t it? Even if you say no, how do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“I can lie, unless you tell me not to,” the man said as I aimed my gun at the person-shaped shadow. It didn’t move, so I pulled a penlight from my left pocket and flinched when the power button clicked beneath my thumb. But neither Sera nor the man with her heard, and the shadow turned out to be a custodian’s uniform hung on the top handle of a filing cabinet.
“Okay, then, let’s try this out. Are you here alone?”
“No,” he said. “My partner took the other wing.”
“Just one man?” Sera paused as I snuck back across the hall, and I had the feeling she was considering. “He doesn’t stand a chance.”
“I’m sure Kenley wasn’t one of them.” The compassion in her voice drew my gaze.
“She wasn’t. Julia can’t afford to let her die.” But she wasn’t truly letting Kenni live, either. “Stay put while I check the bathrooms.”
Sera’s brows rose over what she evidently saw as an order.
“Please,” I added as an afterthought, and she gave me another small smile.
“See? That word really can work magic.”
I laughed, and as I crossed the floor toward the bathroom, I began composing a mental list of every possible way to use her “magic word” in my own favor. The entries were not all G-rated.
The men’s room door was open widest, so I checked that one first, careful not to turn my back on the ladies’ room, even with Sera there to shout if someone tried to sneak up on me. The men’s room was small and empty, and far from fresh, in spite of the fact that Julia’s people obviously kept plenty of bleach on hand.
The ladies’ room was just as small and empty, and only marginally cleaner.
With the restrooms clear, I crossed the room to tug on the padlock bolting the exterior door, then gave the rolling bay doors a tug, too. Everything was locked up tight, from the inside.
“Well, the cleanup crew didn’t go out this way,” I said, but when I turned to glance at Sera, she was gone.
“Damn it!” I drew my gun again and rechecked the bathrooms. “Sera!” I hissed, on my way up the steel grid steps, but the office and its supply closet were both empty. She hadn’t gone past me into the warehouse, so the only other option was...
“Sera!” I called again in an angry whisper as I backtracked into the well-lit hallway. The doors Kori and I had checked were still open, and all of the rooms were still dark, except for...the bathroom we’d traveled into. The door was barely ajar now, and the light inside was brighter than the hallway.
Would it have killed her to tell me if she had to pee? Or to go in the warehouse restroom, where I knew there was no one waiting to decorate the walls with our splattered brains?
I did a cursory scan of the rooms between me and the bathroom to make sure no one was luring me down the hall, only to sneak up behind me, and I was two doors from the lit restroom when I heard Sera’s voice. Whispering.
“You don’t have orders to kill me, do you? That’s why you hesitated,” she said, and my trigger finger twitched. Who the hell was she talking to? “That means you know who I am, right?”
Who she was? A Jammer? A Blocker? What did those have to do with why someone—Julia’s someone, most likely—had no orders to kill her?
I edged forward slowly and peered into the dark room on my right, but no answer came from whoever she was talking to—no verbal answer, anyway—and I was starting to wonder if she was talking to herself in the bathroom mirror. I hoped she was talking to herself, because if this was a trap, and she’d walked into it, she had no way to defend herself. Not without a spray bottle and a toilet plunger, anyway.
So why didn’t she sound as though she needed to be defended?
The room on my right looked empty at a glance, and a glance was all I had time for, if Sera was stalling, waiting for someone with a gun to show up and bail her out.
“And if you know who I am, you can’t kill me, can you? Not even if she tells you to. You can’t even raise a hand against me, right?”
Silence met her latest question and my heart beat harder as I crossed the hall silently to peer into the last room between me and Sera and...whoever was in the bathroom with her, real or imaginary.
“I think I’m starting to figure this out. You can’t hurt me, just like you couldn’t hurt her. Same game, new dealer, right?”
“Honestly, your guess is as good as mine,” a man’s voice said, and I stopped in my tracks. Either she’d actually found someone, or the other half of her split personality was decidedly unfeminine.
“You can call me Sera,” she said as I pushed that last door open, my pulse rushing so loud in my ears that it threatened to drown out her soft words. How close was she to getting shot? Why wasn’t she dead already? Was it true that he couldn’t kill her—whoever he was—and if so, why not?
“What else?” Sera said as I stared at a vaguely person-shaped outline in the last shadowy office between me and the bathroom. “Can you lie? That’s a stupid question, isn’t it? Even if you say no, how do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“I can lie, unless you tell me not to,” the man said as I aimed my gun at the person-shaped shadow. It didn’t move, so I pulled a penlight from my left pocket and flinched when the power button clicked beneath my thumb. But neither Sera nor the man with her heard, and the shadow turned out to be a custodian’s uniform hung on the top handle of a filing cabinet.
“Okay, then, let’s try this out. Are you here alone?”
“No,” he said. “My partner took the other wing.”
“Just one man?” Sera paused as I snuck back across the hall, and I had the feeling she was considering. “He doesn’t stand a chance.”
