Page 85 of A Touch of Treachery
I swallowed the rest of my crazy chuckles.“Because Section 47 doesn’t negotiate with anyone.And you’re not taking me anywhere.”
Niles’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses.“In case you’ve forgotten,I’mthe one with the gun.”
I was still clutching the second pom-pom, and I hit the hidden button and tossed the fuzzy ball at Niles just like I had done with Steig.The chemist yelped and swatted it away with his free hand.The second pom-pom landed on the ground.
Boom!
The pom-pom exploded, sending up a large spray of snow and dirt.
Niles cursed, turned in my direction, and aimed his gun at my chest.I surged forward, lowered my shoulder, and rammed into him, sending us both tumbling to the ground.
The gun flew out of Niles’s hand and flipped end over end through the snow.I got up onto my hands and knees and scrambled after it.The instant my fingers closed around the weapon, I snapped it up and spun around.
Niles was towering over me, a long, thick tree branch clutched in his hand.He yelled and drew the branch back like a baseball bat.
I pulled the trigger.
Crack!
My aim wasn’t the best, given my low, awkward position, but I hit him in the shoulder.Niles yelped, and the tree branch slipped through his fingers and dropped to the ground.
I scrambled to my feet.Niles was clutching his shoulder and staggering in the opposite direction.Oriana had vanished without a trace.
No one was left to stop me, so I clutched the gun a little tighter and sprinted into the woods.I had to save Desmond.
Iranthroughthewoods as fast as I could.My boots slipped on the snow and the loose rocks and fallen tree branches underneath, but I powered through the awkward slides, maintained my balance, and kept going.
Henrika and her men had left a trail of footprints, which made them easy to follow.I sprinted forward, my breath steaming out in thick clouds of frost and a dagger of pain slowly knifing its way deeper and deeper into my side.Right now, I would have given anything to be an enduro with enough stamina to run for miles and miles and never tire.
I wasn’t an enduro, but my worry for Desmond drove me onward, and I forced myself to ignore my aches and pains and move faster.
Slowly but surely, the trees thinned out, and the sandy shore appeared in the distance.I quickened my pace yet again, even though my legs quivered like warm gelatin and my lungs burned as though I’d swallowed one of the pom-pom bombs.
A few seconds later, I burst through the tree line and skidded to a stop in the sand.My head snapped left, then right, and I spotted a long, wide dock that stretched out over the lake like an accusing finger.Henrika, Bryce, and the guards were already on board a boat at the end of the dock.So was Desmond, who had been slung down into a seat like a lifeless mannequin.
My heart wrenched, but I sucked down a breath and ran toward the dock.
DANGER!DANGER!DANGER!
My synesthesia screamed a warning out of nowhere.Even though I didn’t see anything threatening, my instincts took over, and I veered sharply to the right, away from the dock.
BOOM!
A massive explosion ripped through the air, and the shock wave lifted me off my feet and tossed my body through the air like a leaf caught in a hurricane.
One second, I was racing along the lakeshore.The next, I was face down in the ice-crusted sand, wondering how I had gotten there.The back of my body felt like it had been used as a punching bag, and a dull ringing filled my ears, like someone was pressing a doorbell over and over inside my skull.
I spit out a mouthful of sand, pushed the pain away, and scrambled to my feet.Somehow I’d managed to hang on to the gun, although I staggered back and forth, my balance completely thrown off by the force of the explosion.
White stars exploded in my eyes, but I ruthlessly blinked them away.The buzzing in my ears died down, and my vision slowly sharpened.
Most of the dock was burning, and the red-orange flames licked at the wood like an overeager puppy and spewed out clouds of noxious black smoke at the same time.I staggered to my right a few steps and peered past the destroyed dock.
The boat had pulled away from the dock and was picking up speed.Henrika shoved her brown hair off her face, lifted her hands to her lips, and blew me a cheeky kiss, while Bryce raised his gun to his forehead and snapped off a mocking salute.The guard driving the boat revved the engine, and the vessel picked up speed, skimming across the lake.
I stood on the shore, completely helpless, and watched while the boat became a smaller and smaller speck before vanishing altogether.Worry spiked through my heart, pounding in time to my still-ringing ears.
Henrika was gone—and so was Desmond.
