During the training process, the Alchemist had explained that every time he fired the Kaleidoscope, the weapon adapted a little more closely to his aura. It was a tuning process. The better the tuning, the more energy he could generate through the gun.
But the failure to kill Wells tonight had shaken him. For the first time he wondered if the Alchemist had lied. What if the weapon was not aligning with his aura? What if it was damaging his energy field instead? Maybe that was what had happened to Orston and Taylor.
No. The Alchemist had assured him that he was much stronger than those two.
He would worry about that later. He had to focus on what he had come here to do. His first priority was to recover the weapon.
He clicked the locator and aimed it at the floor. The otherwise invisible green line glowed in the darkness, marking the path through the maze to the door of the old lab. As long as he could see it, he would not get lost.
He shivered. The unnerving sense of dread was growing more intense. He forced himself to follow the radiant green line.
Relief spiked briefly when he reached the wall. This was where he had found Wells. He had dropped the weapon somewhere in the vicinity. He didn’t spot it with his psychic vision, so he took a penlight out of a pocket and methodically searched the floor.
There was no sign of the weapon. Another wave of panic lanced through him. What if Wells had made it out of the maze with the gun?
He made himself search a little while longer, but reality was setting in. The weapon was gone. Wells must have found it. This was not good news. But Trent would know how to handle the situation. Trent always had a plan. Trent would take care of everything.
He reached the intersection where the route to the lab met thepath the test subjects used to tour the installations. He hesitated, and then, unable to resist another look at his masterpiece, he hurried through the gallery.
He stopped when he reachedSuccubusand aimed the penlight at the sculpture. It washer. He had captured the monster in all her terrifying power. She had tried to destroy him but she had failed. Thanks to the weapon, he was the stronger one now. Soon he would conquer her. Control her.
He was enjoying the little rush of anticipation when he heard the slight movement in the shadows behind him. Startled, he almost dropped the penlight. He spun around to see who had followed him into the maze.
“Is that you, Wells?” he asked, trying to sound strong.
The figure stepped into the light. It wasn’t Wells.
“What are you doing here?” Vincent asked, bewildered.
He never got an answer. The paranormal strobe lights sparked, riveting him to the spot. Somewhere outside the gallery a siren wailed. He vaguely recognized it as the emergency evacuation signal. Back at the start, Trent had insisted that it be installed. But it was supposed to go off only if something went wrong in the lab.
Before he could begin to understand what was happening, he started the dark slide into unconsciousness. He had a flash of awareness and knew he was dying. Trent would not be able to fix things this time.
The darkness overwhelmed him.
Forty-Six
Sophy gripped the balcony railingand watched the commotion down below in front of the inn.
“Why is the siren going off?” she asked. “I don’t see any smoke.”
She and Luke and Bruce stood together, looking out over the brightly lit compound. The alarms blared into the night. People spilled out of the casitas and the hotel lobby. A handful of uniformed security personnel were attempting to organize the situation.
Luke studied the confused crowd. “There are two possibilities. Either there really is an emergency of some kind—”
The alarms ceased and an authoritative male voice boomed over a loudspeaker.
“Attention. My name is Sam Grayson; I’m in charge of security. This is not a test of the alarm system. I repeat, this is not a test. We have just received word from the weather service that a lightning strike in the mountains has ignited a fast-moving wildfire that is headed in our direction. If it reaches us, this valley has the potential to become a trap. We must evacuate immediately.”
Anxiety rolled through the crowd.
“There is no need to panic, but for your own safety, please move quickly. Hotel guests, return to your rooms. Pack your bags and then wait out in front of the lobby. Your cars will be brought to you. That way we will avoid congestion in the garage. Employees and resident artists will gather up only what they can carry and leave immediately. I repeat, do not panic.”
“Way to get people to panic,” Luke said.
Sophy looked at him. “You said there were two possible explanations for this evacuation. One was that it was for real.”
“The other is that Hatch and the Alchemist decided to clear out the compound so they can move forward with their project.”
