her feet. A bed of dry, crumbling leaves crackled beneath her. Like the ones beneath her sister’s feet as Sarah stopped running to look back.
Maddie had never felt stronger. Freer. There was no weakness in her now. No fear. Only hate. Sarah’s hate for the Raven.
And Maddie’s, for the men trying to hurt Jarred. She wouldn’t let them take him away from her, the way the storm and the truck had taken her father…
Jarred’s guards were down. Maddie’s eyes had gone dark. Her expression was a numb kind of blank that terrified him. There were security officers collapsing all over the hallway because of whatever Maddie was doing. If he could just get to her, maybe he could stop this. But he couldn’t make his body move. She wouldn’t let anyone move.
“Stay with me, Maddie. Don’t do this. This isn’t you.”
“Of course it is.” Her smile was the saddest thing he’d ever seen. The men who’d been holding Jarred rolled to their backs, their eyes open and staring blind, their chests straining for oxygen. Maddie admired her handiwork. “I can’t let them take you away, too…I won’t let them…They have to—”
No, they don’t, Jarred argued with his mind. I’m here. No one’s taking me away from you.
There were tears in her eyes now. She’d heard him. Good girl.
Let me get you out of here, he said, before—
“Ah!” A sharp pain bloomed in his upper arm. Buzzingroared through his ears. Then the ground was rushing toward him. He landed on his guards. A scream sliced through him. Maddie’s silent scream of rage as she clutched the dart sticking out from her neck. Their minds were still joined, and together their worlds misted to a vision of a bird soaring down the hallway, transforming into a flesh-and-blood man.
Raven! Maddie said in the dream. Sarah’s Raven.
Jarred blinked the real world back into focus, only to see the same man standing over him, blood oozing from a gash in his forehead. He trained a very real semiautomatic on Jarred.
“Release my men, Ms. Temple,” he ordered. “Or your doctor friend dies.”
C HAPTER S EVENTEEN
“No one inside this room but me,” Richard instructed the security team guarding the holding suite.
He wiped at the blood trickling down the side of his head, trying to piece together the various ways his and Sarah’s escape had gone completely to hell. Culminating with her bashing his head in with her gun and running on her own. Then he’d barely stopped Madeline Temple from either killing a center security team, or getting herself killed by them. Now Richard had her and her companion, both of them tranquilized, to deal with before he could disengage himself and his work from the center for good.
He applied his palm to the security scanner. Leaning in, he waited for the secondary system to verify his retinal imprint.
“But what if—” the security guard to his right muttered.
“No one!”
“But the directors—” The man was one of the guards Madeline had been strangling downstairs. He grabbed Richard’s arm. “They’ve ordered the center locked down and the intruders isolated. The directors want to interrogate them themselves.”
“Then by all means.” Richard ripped his arm away.“Escort the directors here personally—after you show them how well you’ve secured every last inch of this facility. That should take at least a half hour once they arrive, wouldn’t you say? I’ll have completed my examination of our guests by then, and you’ll be free to personally introduce Madeline Temple to our illustrious board. She should be awake and thrilled to see you again.”
The guard swallowed. Hard.
Weak little shit.
Richard pushed into the room. Recessed lighting blinked from dim to full, triggered by motion sensors. Dr. Keith and his patient were laid out on side-by-side, stainless steel tables. A fast-acting sedative had taken care of Keith downstairs. Richard hadn’t been nearly as accommodating with Madeline. He’d custom
Maddie had never felt stronger. Freer. There was no weakness in her now. No fear. Only hate. Sarah’s hate for the Raven.
And Maddie’s, for the men trying to hurt Jarred. She wouldn’t let them take him away from her, the way the storm and the truck had taken her father…
Jarred’s guards were down. Maddie’s eyes had gone dark. Her expression was a numb kind of blank that terrified him. There were security officers collapsing all over the hallway because of whatever Maddie was doing. If he could just get to her, maybe he could stop this. But he couldn’t make his body move. She wouldn’t let anyone move.
“Stay with me, Maddie. Don’t do this. This isn’t you.”
“Of course it is.” Her smile was the saddest thing he’d ever seen. The men who’d been holding Jarred rolled to their backs, their eyes open and staring blind, their chests straining for oxygen. Maddie admired her handiwork. “I can’t let them take you away, too…I won’t let them…They have to—”
No, they don’t, Jarred argued with his mind. I’m here. No one’s taking me away from you.
There were tears in her eyes now. She’d heard him. Good girl.
Let me get you out of here, he said, before—
“Ah!” A sharp pain bloomed in his upper arm. Buzzingroared through his ears. Then the ground was rushing toward him. He landed on his guards. A scream sliced through him. Maddie’s silent scream of rage as she clutched the dart sticking out from her neck. Their minds were still joined, and together their worlds misted to a vision of a bird soaring down the hallway, transforming into a flesh-and-blood man.
Raven! Maddie said in the dream. Sarah’s Raven.
Jarred blinked the real world back into focus, only to see the same man standing over him, blood oozing from a gash in his forehead. He trained a very real semiautomatic on Jarred.
“Release my men, Ms. Temple,” he ordered. “Or your doctor friend dies.”
C HAPTER S EVENTEEN
“No one inside this room but me,” Richard instructed the security team guarding the holding suite.
He wiped at the blood trickling down the side of his head, trying to piece together the various ways his and Sarah’s escape had gone completely to hell. Culminating with her bashing his head in with her gun and running on her own. Then he’d barely stopped Madeline Temple from either killing a center security team, or getting herself killed by them. Now Richard had her and her companion, both of them tranquilized, to deal with before he could disengage himself and his work from the center for good.
He applied his palm to the security scanner. Leaning in, he waited for the secondary system to verify his retinal imprint.
“But what if—” the security guard to his right muttered.
“No one!”
“But the directors—” The man was one of the guards Madeline had been strangling downstairs. He grabbed Richard’s arm. “They’ve ordered the center locked down and the intruders isolated. The directors want to interrogate them themselves.”
“Then by all means.” Richard ripped his arm away.“Escort the directors here personally—after you show them how well you’ve secured every last inch of this facility. That should take at least a half hour once they arrive, wouldn’t you say? I’ll have completed my examination of our guests by then, and you’ll be free to personally introduce Madeline Temple to our illustrious board. She should be awake and thrilled to see you again.”
The guard swallowed. Hard.
Weak little shit.
Richard pushed into the room. Recessed lighting blinked from dim to full, triggered by motion sensors. Dr. Keith and his patient were laid out on side-by-side, stainless steel tables. A fast-acting sedative had taken care of Keith downstairs. Richard hadn’t been nearly as accommodating with Madeline. He’d custom
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