It was pitch black. The fire that Dedrus had started had gone out.
“Dedrus? That you?”
He felt a jab at the back of his neck.
“Move,” a voice whispered, “and I'll slice your fucking head off.”
Kinzer recognized the voice. It was Craetis. The Raze had found them.
But how?
***
Treycore pushed a door open and peered into a bedroom. The blue morning glow showered through a window, cascading across a mattress set against the wall. Next to it, a table that appeared to be substituting for a nightstand had magazines scattered across it.
“Dedrus? Kinzer?”
Lero had teleported he and Kid to a cabin with the coordinates he’d given him, but where was everybody? Surely, they wouldn’t have just up and left without them.
Treycore walked back into the main living area, where Lero was waiting. Kid stepped out of the kitchen, looking puzzled.
“Is this the right place?” Treycore asked.
“It’s the right place alright,” Lero said. “You can’t smell that? I would’ve thought as long as the two of you were together, you would’ve been able to pick up on it a bit. She’s been here. Very recently.”
“So you should know where she is.”
“Oh no,” Lero insisted. “It’s not that recent.”
In the same way Teleporters were able to differentiate each other’s scents, they were able to follow one another’s paths, especially if they’d teleported recently. It was a bit of information Treycore’d gleaned in his relationship with Vera.
“Are you bullshitting me, Lero?”
As Lero made eye contact, Treycore knew that he was.
“Seriously, Treycore?! You know that bitch would be so eager to pass along intel to the Almighty about where I am. I don’t need that. I’m doing good for myself. I’m happy.”
“You have to take us there. Please. I can’t tell you why. You just have to trust me on this.”
Lero’s head shifted in spasms, clearly struggling to make a decision.
“Please,” Kid begged.
Lero’s attention shifted between them. “I’ll take you as close as I can without her being able to detect me, but that’s it.”
***
Kinzer's face hit a concrete floor.
Craetis stood over him, laughing.
Support beams lined the chipped, concrete walls. White stripes scattered across the raked floor. They were in an empty parking garage, surely abandoned.
Dedrus had snuck back into the cabin while Kinzer was sleeping and had been captured with Maggie and him. After Vera had teleported them to this location, she’d teleported again, presumably to retrieve Veylo.
“Ow!” Maggie shrieked. She stood behind Kinzer, her hand on her belly.
Deter had shot her up with a syringe that Kinzer assumed was to force her into labor.
