Page 20 of Emerge

I scratched my jaw, willing myself not to break down in tears. I'd cried so many tears since it happened that I could have filled a tank. "For a while, I thought she'd come out of it. She was young and healthy. There was no reason for her to get this sick. Others who were older with other health problems recovered just fine from the same thing. It's not fair."

She was quiet, and I looked over at her to see tears streaming down her face. Fuck. I bit my lip and reached with my free hand to wipe her tears.

"I'm sorry." She sniffled and wiped the other cheek. "I'm so sorry my family did this."

I pulled on her hand and guided her to sit on my lap. She wrapped her arms around my neck as I buried my face against her. "Your father did this and he's paid the price."

It had been so easy for me to get caught up in seeking vengeance for my sister that I had ignored my brain telling me Riley had nothing to do with the pain I was feeling. Hurting her to try to get to Robert was one of the worse decisions I'd ever made. Order or not, there was always my free will.

We stayed a little longer and then left the room. We were almost to the exit for the medical facility when an alarm sounded and secondary doors slid shut throughout the facility, closing off all patient rooms from the hallway.

"What's happening?" Riley was panicked as I pulled her to a stop to wait for direction. "Are we stuck in here?"

"Just certain doors and areas lock down. The beep is a panic beep. It means we need to wait for instruction. Most of the time it happens when a ship gets too close or something like that." I heard the medical personnel at the end of the hall talking, but they didn't sound frantic.

A loud boom shook the floor and the overhead lights flickered. Riley clung to me and I moved us back to the door of my sister's room. The door was still sealed, but through the glass it looked to be business as usual.

The loud noise sounded again, and this time the lights went out and the emergency lights turned on, casting a red glow down the hallway. The main power had been compromised.

"All nonessential personnel, please evacuate immediately through the escape pods and tunnels," the prerecorded voice blared over the loudspeakers. What the hell had happened?

"Fuck." I took one last look in my sister's room and then grabbed Riley's hand, running down the hall.

We were the only ones in the corridor since all medical personnel were essential and we were the only guests that were in the hall when the rooms locked. I didn't want to leave my sister behind, but the security doors wouldn't open without an admiral overriding them.

"Jax, I'm scared." Riley was already shaking as I opened the escape room door. I knew she hated the escape pod, but it was the only way we were getting out of the facility.

The ground shook again with what I could only assume was another explosion, and I quickly pressed the button to ready a pod. In an emergency, access cards weren't needed to evacuate. The pod didn't open, and I pressed the button again.

"Motherfucker!" I went to another pod and then another, none of them functioning.

What the hell had exploded and caused the pods to be compromised? The escape path had to be blocked by something because they would turn on otherwise.

"Riley." I turned to her and shut my eyes for a moment, trying to stay calm. It was hard when the woman you had just promised to protect was in danger. "We're going to have to go without a pod."

"What?" Her voice was an octave higher and it made my head go fuzzy.

I rubbed at my temple and blinked several times, clearing the disorientation. The last thing we needed was for me to be incapacitated or confused.

She backed up and ran into a pod, nearly falling over it. She was starting to breathe heavily and brought her hand to her throat. I didn't exactly know what happened, but I was fairly certain she had just used some siren mojo on me.

"I need you to stay calm so that doesn't happen." I kicked off my shoes and started yanking off my socks. "Strip down."

"Strip down?" She had rested her ass against a pod and bent over to put her hands on her knees. "I don't know if I can do this, Jax."

Another boom exploded, and the emergency lights went out. My eyes instantly adjusted, and I touched Riley's arm so she'd know where I was. "I need you to get undressed. We can't risk you shifting with clothes on."

We both finished undressing. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked around the room. I didn't know how well sirens could see or if she even had that capability yet.

I took her hand and led her to the door leading to the emergency exit. Once we were inside, it sealed shut and we went through another door, which did the same thing. The room started filling with water and I pulled her against me.

"It's going to come in fast in a second, and once the room is full, the outer door will open so we can get out of here." I kissed her gently. "Can you hold your breath for thirty seconds? That's how long it should take me to get us to the surface."

"I think so." She buried her face against my chest. "What about the pressure of the water?"

I sometimes hated how smart she was. "I don't know. We're going to have to take the risk. If you were human I'd be worried, but you aren't."

The intercom system made a horrible squealing noise, and we both covered our ears. "This announcement is for someone special. He's coming for you."

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