Yvonne licked her lips. “My intended will be pleased.”
“Who’s your intended?” Grace asked, searching wildly for a way to escape.
“Ulric, of course,” Yvonne said.
Grace coughed. “You know, they say genius and madness are the flip side of the same coin.” Grace listened carefully for any sound of movement from Benny. She had to get him to a medic. “It’d be really nice if you stopped talking like you were from the dark side of a howling moon.”
Almost casually, Yvonne struck Grace with the gun.
Grace’s head flew back and she gasped, pain bursting through her cheekbone. “You bitch.”
Yvonne laughed. “That’s nothing. You should see what Terre can do when he’s motivated.”
“Terre?” Grace asked, her face pounding as hard as her heart. Her lungs felt too full, and her hearing was fuzzing out from fear.
Brian turned around. “My real name.”
Grace shook her head to focus, ignoring the ache throughout her entire face. “What was the point of this complicated ruse? Dating me and then the two of you acting like a young family and my friends? You could’ve taken me any time that day.”
“You’re not the only prize,” Terre said, his long hair dark against his pale skin. “We were hoping you’d lead us to the other Keys.”
“How did you find me?” she asked, feeling the rope on her right wrist give a little bit.
Brian, or rather Terre, sped up, driving onto the Interstate. “Enough talking.” He flipped the visor down to protect his face and reached for dark sunglasses. Maybe his exposure to sunlight still had to be limited. “After we discovered your location here, our guys went to work on the security system. It’s good. We needed the full time you were away to drain it to the point we only needed a few explosives to get through the electric fence. Now shut up while I drive.”
Grace sat, quietly working on her wrists while listening for signs of movement from Benny. Nothing. Had he sustained a head injury? When she’d looked, she’d only seen the back of his head. He had to be healing himself. She’d be ready for the moment he lunged over the seat.
Darkness was beginning to fall before she spoke again. “Where are we going?”
“Secondary location in New Mexico,” Yvonne said, sounding tired. “We have a small headquarters and a much larger holding just a few miles away. We moved the Cyst there because it’s better defended, and they must be protected until Ulric returns.”
The woman was all in, that was for sure. “You’re human?”
“Yes. Enhanced. Like you, but better.” Yvonne smiled.
“Then this plan Ulric has for enhanced females, whatever it is, will kill you, too.” The skin around Grace’s wrist was bleeding, so she set her hands on her jeans and kept working away.
Yvonne shook her head. “No, I won’t die. You will, however.” She leaned to the side. “How much longer, Terre? I need to use the facilities.”
“Half hour,” Terre said, taking off the sunglasses.
Grace’s heart rate hadn’t slowed down any. She felt like a coke bottle that had been shaken up, and her skin prickled. Was it adrenaline? Terror? “Adare is a good fighter, Terre. One of the best. Are you sure you want to piss him off?”
Terre laughed. “Adare’s dead by now, pretty Key. He wouldn’t have expected an ambush in full sun, would he?”
A rock, sharp and solid, dropped into Grace’s gut. Nobody knew that the Kurjans could go into the sun, and Adare never would’ve seen them coming. He wasn’t in top shape right now, either.Oh, God. Her shoulders shook and her teeth chattered.
“I think you terrified her,” Yvonne said to Terre.
He looked at Grace in his rearview mirror. “Don’t pass out on me, girlfriend. We have a lot of talking to do later.”
“Talking. Right,” Yvonne clicked her tongue. “So that’s what you kids are calling torture these days.” She leaned to the side as if telling a secret. “I’ve seen him work. He can make it hurt so bad you can’t even scream.”
Grace reacted without thought, dropping her head and smashing her forehead onto Yvonne’s nose.
There was a pop and blood burst forth. The blonde yelled, clapping a hand over her nose. “You fucking bitch.”
Grace’s ears rang. They were going to torture her and then save her to kill when they got the other Keys. Reasoning with them wasn’t going to work. Might as well make them bleed first.
