Chapter Twenty-Eight
Lincoln and I speed-walk across the LaGuardia tarmac. The place is like something out of a nightmare. There are people everywhere, but it’s super quiet, except for the stomping of boots and the growing chorus of screaming babies. The air smells of airplane fuel and dead fish, probably a combination of all the H-E tech getting ready to take off…along with the nearby Hudson River.
“All guards report for duty. All guards report for duty.” All around us, Razor Guards pour out of the different exhibit tents and race toward the tech lining the runways. My heart lightens. Hopefully, the tent holding CHUCK will get emptied out, too.
Hey, a girl can hope.
We quickly locate the tent in question—it’s is a long and low structure made of black fabric. Beside it there stands a platform overflowing with satellite dishes and mini-towers made of mesh-like metal. I’m guessing they’re for communications, but what do I know? All that really matters is what’s inside the tent anyway.
Please be there, Cissy.
There’s a sign on the entrance flap: “Razor Guards Only.”
Perfect, that means we won’t have to deal with the possibility of human collateral damage. This plan is looking better by the second. Lincoln and I step inside the tent. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the low levels of light. These bandages are a bitch to see through, even in the best of conditions.
What I see makes me smile.
The huge tent is all but deserted. There are rows of tables, all of them covered with Ethan’s stupid toys. The far wall of the rectangular tent is one massive monitor. A small table sits before a monitor that holds a keyboard and what looks like a black ball. Whatever. That’s not what’s important.
Nope, the big news is that Cissy’s sitting before the small table, typing away at the keyboard. A pair of guards stands behind her. Sweet. Zeke sits off to the left-hand side of the massive monitor. Another set of guards flank him as well. My bestie’s boyfriend looks pretty beat up, but still conscious. Considering how things could have gone, I consider Zeke being awake and alive a mark in the “good for us” column.
Lincoln and I pause just inside the tent’s entrance. When Lincoln speaks, his voice is so low, only I can hear him. “I’ll take the guards on Zeke.”
I take care to whisper as well. “I’ve got the ones with Cissy.”
Walking in sync, we march across the tent floor. Considering how we both look like good little Razor Guards, no one says boo as we approach. A few of the guards look over their shoulders at us, shrug, and go back to staring at the far wall monitor. For this first time in hours, I feel the thrill of a good fight coming on. My mind slows down and goes into battle mode. There is nothing but these two guards and the attack vectors to take them down. I’m vaguely aware of Lincoln tightening his gloves.
Wait a second, gloves?
It takes me a moment to remember that Lincoln can mush Ethan’s magic metal like it’s putty. He’s been working on the “Hulk smash” style boxing gloves that he formed while we were back fighting Armageddons in the laboratory. Since then, he’s been smooshing them down into what look like sleek black leather gloves.
I’m sure they still pack a wallop, though. Just because the black metal is mushy to Lincoln, that doesn’t mean it isn’t deadly to everyone else.
It’s enough to make me almost feel sorry for the Razor Guards behind Zeke.
Almost.
Lincoln and I march over until we stand just behind the four guards. Zeke’s guards turn around.
“Shouldn’t you be assigned to a vehicle?” asks the far left guard.
Lincoln shakes his head while my tail taps the shoulders of the two standing behind Cissy. They can’t see my tail, being that they’re human and all, but they will feel the tap on their shoulders. Sure enough, the pair slowly turn around to face me.
I pull off my Nazi hat and loosen the bandages on my face. “You have a choice between getting quietly tied up or killed.” I cup my hand by my mouth. “By the way, that’s my best friend and her boyfriend you’re holding, so I’m really pulling for death in your case.”
Cissy swivels around in her chair. Her lip is bleeding, and she has a bruised cheek. For the record, now I’m really itching to kill.
“Myla, you’re here!” Her golden retriever tail wags behind her. I love Cissy.
Lincoln removes his hat and bandages as well. He gestures between the two guards behind Zeke. “Same goes for you two.”
There’s a long moment that lasts forever where all the guards stare between one another. For a second, I think they might actually not be dumbasses here. After all, I never kill without giving the bad guys an out.
In this case, the bad guys in question are Ethan clones, so I’m not holding out of hope for a logical response here.
Sure enough, they don’t disappoint. All four Razor Guards reach into their jackets and pull out their guns.
I leap toward the far right Razor Guard, leap up until my boots hand on his shoulders with enough force to send the guy onto the floor. While the Razor Guard tumbles to the floor, my tail spears the Guard beside him through the chest. Once the Guard beneath my boots hits the floor, I grab his head, twist it to one side and snap his neck.
I look over to Lincoln. He’s also gone for a torso attack. Using the extra power of his new gloves, my guy has punched both of his Razor Guards right in the larynx. A pair of roundhouse kicks later, and the last two Razor Guards are laying dead on the floor. I scan all four of them. I should feel bad about this—after all, all life is precious, even if it is an Ethan clone. But then Cissy rises, and I see more bruises along her cheek and neck.
Nope, not feeling too guilty. They had an out and didn’t take it.
Cissy wraps her arms around my neck. “Myla, you’re here!”
I lean back and cup her face in my hands. “Are you all right?”
“I’m hanging in there.” Cissy rushes over to Zeke. “Are you okay, baby?”
Zeke straightens himself in his chair. “I’m great.” It’s like he’s talking through a mouthful of cotton, though.
The zoom of jets sounds through the fabric walls of the tent, reminding me that Ethan is basically trying to start another world war. “We have to stop Ethan, Cis. We need you to work your magic on the computer.”
Cissy leans in and kisses Zeke’s head. “Ugh. That Ethan guy is such an asshole. After I unlocked his stupid systems, he made me stay and monitor his plans to rule all the humans.” She looks over her shoulder and focuses on Lincoln. “Are you the real guy? Did Myla finally rescue you?”
“We don’t have time for chatter,” says Lincoln. “Myla and I came here for a reason.”
Cissy shakes her head. “You rescued the right one this time. The real Lincoln is always focused on his duty.”
I move my grip to her shoulders. “Lincoln’s right. We need your help with the computer systems.” I gently guide her away from Zeke and back into her chair before the computer console.
Okay, that’s a total lie.
I maybe push Cissy back into her chair, but this is a serious situation here. “Look, Cis. You have to stop this. There must be a way to shut the computer down and erase whatever Ethan did to the humans with his black magic.” I twiddle my fingers at the console. “Do the thing with the thing. Make the jet planes stop and everything.”
Cissy winces. “I don’t know how to do that.” Another jet roars overhead. “I just got lucky when I locked up the computers last time.”
Zeke clears his throat. “Cissy used her envy powers to challenge one of the researchers that he couldn’t open up the password systems as quickly as she could. He took her up on the challenge, and she told him to go first.” Zeke’s beat-up face melts into a loving grin. “My girl totally mind controlled him.”
“That’s all really special,” I say quickly. Now, a bunch of choppers take to the air. The whirring rotors make the walls of the tent ripple in the night. “But there are Razor Guards flying out from freaking LaGuardia to take over the human world.”
Cissy slumps in her chair. “I’m sorry, Myla. I don’t know how to hack into these systems.”
I stifle a groan. This plan is a total bust. The ground shakes as the tanks start rolling out over the tarmac. There has to be something I can do. I close my eyes and call out to Iggy one last time.
“Iggy, are you there? Did you get my father to close the gates of Heaven and Hell again? Can you please come here and help us?”
My hand warms once more. A sense of peace and joy moves through me. Yes. Iggy is coming. I call out with my soul once more.
“I need you, Iggy. Please. Hurry.”
My palm turns hotter than ever before and then cools to nothing. I rub my fingers over my palm. Lincoln steals up beside me.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“I tried to call Iggy again. It didn’t work.”
Lincoln wraps me in a hug. “We’ll figure out something.”
“Hey.” Zeke leans forward. “That one researcher was talking about the failsafe.” He turns to Cissy. “What was it, baby? Do you remember?”
Cissy’s eyes widen. “He did say something.”
I kneel before Cissy. “What did he say?”
A new voice sounds from the entrance flap. “A failsafe. Let me enlighten you.”
I turn around and gasp. Ethan is here. He raises his arms, and all the jet models on the tables burst into small columns of black flame. A second later, they all rise and turn toward Lincoln, Cissy, Zeke, and me.
Lincoln doesn’t so much as flinch. “Go on.”
“Kill me and it all ends. The brainwashing. The Razor Guards. The gray Armageddon clones. The black magic. We’re all linked. Take me down and they all disappear. It will be completely over.”
Wow. Once you get Ethan going, the guy is a major blabbermouth. Where was all this sharing back when I needed information?
I turn to Lincoln. Our gazes lock. The question is unasked but in my eyes. Is this true? After all, Lincoln knows Ethan better than anyone.
Lincoln gives me the barest of nods. Yes.
I round on Cissy and Zeke. “Get the hell out of here.” I don’t need to tell Cissy how to get back to Purgatory. As the Senator of Diplomacy, she has plenty of contacts that can transport her around.
Cissy puffs out her lower lip. “I won’t leave you.”
I shift my pleading gaze to Zeke. “Get her to safety. This is for Lincoln and me to end.”
Across the long tent, Ethan folds his arms across his chest. “Go get them, my sweet little models. Take down the King and Queen just like your larger versions will take down the world.”
The mini jets stop their hovering and start zooming toward us. I shove Zeke in the shoulder. “Go!”
Cissy protests, but she allows Zeke to guide her into crawling out under the bottom edge of the tent. Lincoln and I could do the same thing, but if taking down Ethan will end this whole nightmare? Then here is where we’re staying.
This ends right now, one way or another.