Ducking into an office, Ava closed and locked the door while I raced to the window and peered cautiously through the glass. The empty construction zone stretched away into the black, but past the barren lot I could see the lights of civilization in the distance, tantalizingly close. Question was, could we get across that flat, open plain without taking a bullet to the forehead?

“Cobalt!” Ava hurried to my side, her voice a warning growl. “They’re coming.”

Shit. Out of time. “Stand back,” I told her, and grabbed an abandoned fire extinguisher from the floor. Raising it over my head, I smashed it against the window, feeling the impact jar my teeth together. Cracks appeared on the first hit, spread out on the second, and on the third, the glass finally shattered. I bashed the window a few times more, making a large enough hole, then threw the extinguisher down and beckoned to Ava. “Go!”

A heavy blow rattled the door behind us. Ava sprinted three steps and dived gracefully through the glass, then rolled to her feet like an acrobat. I followed, hunching my shoulders as I plunged through, feeling shards catch on my leather jacket. But then I was on the other side, scrambling upright, and we were running across the empty lot, hearing shots fired as we fled into the concealing night. Nothing hit us, but we didn’t stop running until we reached the edge of the pavement, scrambled over the fence and darted across an empty street. Into the safety of civilization and away from the Order at last.

Taking refuge behind an auto-repair shop, I slumped against the brick wall, sucking in deep, gasping breaths while I waited for my heart to slow down. Ava leaned beside me, head back, silver hair spilling over her shoulders.

Damn, we made it. Edging to the corner of the building, I peered back at the hotel, making sure we weren’t being followed. Past the streetlights and the fence, I could just make out the helicopter, still circling the empty lot, and smiled grimly. Still a lucky SOB. Now, if only Ember and the others made it out.

“Okay,” I muttered, hearing Ava step up behind me. “Looks like we’re in the clear. We’ll lie low for a bit, see if the others got out okay. If we don’t hear from them in ten minutes, you go on to the hotel. I might have to go back for Ember and Faith.”

“No, Cobalt,” Ava said, her voice low and grave. “I don’t think you will.”

There was a sharp pain in the side of my neck, like a hornet’s sting, hot and piercing. Alarmed, I started to turn, but the ground swayed, tilted beneath me, and everything went dark.

Cobalt

Cobalt

Twelve years ago