Page 92 of Captured Immune

I knock on the women’s bathroom door. “Arella?”

No answer.

I knock again, harder this time. “Arella?”

I curse that I can’t sense her. I turn the knob, expecting it to be locked, but it opens. The bathroom is empty. My stomach plummets.

I sprint across the aisles. “Arella!”

She’s nowhere in sight.Did she return to the car?

I bolt out of the store. At the car, I peer through the windows. She’s not here.Where the fuck is she? Did they find us? But how?I would have sensed them arrive. Arella would have screamed, and I definitely would have heard that.

A spike of anxiety comes from inside the store. I still only sense one person. Why are they suddenly—it hits me.She’s asking for help.

I rush back toward the store with so much adrenaline that I almost forget about the agony in my torso. The bell above the door rings as I sprint inside. Exactly like before, no one’s at the counter. Not missing a beat, I jump over the counter and burst through the office door.

At least, that’s what I wastryingto do.

Instead, my body slams into the locked door, and it ignites a fire throughout my rib cage. I brace myself against the wall and groan as I press a hand against my side. It takes me a few seconds to recover. Once I do, I wave a hand at the doorknob and stumble in.

A thick man wearing glasses sits in a rolling chair behind a messy desk, with a cell phone pressed to his ear. He takes one glance at me, then his fear whips me in the face.

“Could you explain that again, sir?” a woman says from the phone.

I march up to the pudgy guy with thedennisname tag pinned to his polo shirt. I snatch the device from his hands and glare at the screen. The numbers 9-1-1 flash back at me. I press the big red End Call button, then chuck the phone onto his desk. “What did you tell them?”

Dennis puts his hands up in surrender. “I—I told them that some people appeared out of nowhere and kidnapped a young woman out of the store.”

“What?”

“I—I saw it happen on the security cameras.” He points to a computer monitor showing a bunch of empty aisles.

“What do you mean, some people appeared out of nowhere?”

“Like they j—just appeared. Like out of thin air. Then they disappeared.”

I pull at the ends of my hair.You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.I just went through hell getting her away from them, and they stole her back within mere seconds with a goddamn Teleporter?

How did they even track us here? Arella assured me she was making me immune the whole time and—Wait...How did the Teleporter pop Arella out of here when she’s immune? There’s no way. Also, why did this man’s anxiety only spike now and not while I was in the bathroom when he would have seen it on the cameras? He’s lying, and I bet I know who told him to.

I grit my teeth together as I grab Dennis by his polo and yank him toward me. “Where is she?”

“I—I told you! They took her!”

“No, they didn’t.” I shake him. “Where. Is. She?”

The man shrinks into himself. “Please! Don’t hurt me! She just told me to call the police and to tell you that some guys appeared like magic and took her. I just did what I was told. She looked like she was bleeding. I thought I was helping her!”

“No!I’mthe one trying to help her! Do you realize what you just did by calling the police? Nowtheyknow exactly where she is. They’re probably on their way right now.”

Some rustling comes from the other side of a door markedsupplies. I drop Dennis back into his chair and run to the supply closet as the door swings open.

Arella slams into my chest on her way out. My ribs light on fire again. I take a moment to gasp for air, then I lay it on her.

“What the hell are you doing?” I grab her by her shoulders and shake her. I’m not trying to stay calm anymore. I can’t. I’ve never been so angry with her. “Why did you tell him to call the police?”

She shoves me off her. “Because I want someone I can trust to come get me.”

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