Chapter Eighteen
Acollege? Interesting.
I didn’t know how to wrap my head around it, honestly. I would’ve expected to find ramen-fueled study sessions here instead of covert Luminary experiments. Even so, I had to admit it was kinda cool, and pretty darn effective.
The building wasn’t the biggest on campus, but it was still surprisingly spacious. I guess I’d expected a cramped, shadowy dungeon—mostly just because Gabby was the one running it, which wasn’t fair to her. It was funny how the mind clung to certain images.
Every time I thought of her powers, I flashed back to that gloomy conference room at the Org, where all ours were turned off.
It had been so dark in there, it left me picturing Gabby bleeding the light out of any room the second she turned them on.
But here, the sunlight was streaming through the windows, making everything nice and bright.
I caught Kevin chuckling to himself. “Why are you laughing?”
“Nothing. I think it’s ironic that we’re here,” he said. “In a place of learning. Because, you know, we’re about to school Park on what happens when you mess with the wrong group of Luminaries.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh God, Kevin. Seriously?”
“Come on, you know it’s funny.” He pointed at Gabby. “See? She’s laughing.”
“I guess it would be funnier if it wasn’t freezing.” I couldn’t help but shiver, wrapping my arms around myself. “Is it just me, or is it like the Arctic in here? Why is it so cold?”
Kevin, ever the gentleman, didn’t hesitate. He draped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in for some much-needed warmth. “I’ve got you, babe.”
Gabby smiled. “Sorry, guys! I forgot to warn you. We keep the temperature down on purpose, as part of our anti-detection measures.”
I tilted my head, curious despite the cold. “How does that work?”
“Well, it’s all about heat signatures,” she said. “Our powers generate energy, which in turn creates heat. The Org’s tracking technology picks up on these heat bursts. So by keeping things cool, we hope to mask any spikes. David wasn’t convinced it would make any difference, but we do it anyway.”
“You wouldn’t happen to keep jackets here, would you?”
Gabby shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. The whole building is kept this cold, except for a couple of rooms where we actually work. Those are more comfortable.”
Kevin raised an eyebrow. “But doesn’t it defeat the purpose to keep the other rooms warm?”
“Maybe,” she said with a slight shrug. “But it gives me a sense of security, knowing there’s at least a slim chance we’re flying under the radar, thanks to the cold and me power-blocking the room.”
As I glanced around the lab, trying to ignore the chill, Gabby caught my puzzled look.
“Oh, this isn’t our main lab. Consider this a decoy.
We claim to be scientists who are researching Luminary blood.
” She pointed to the blood bank refrigerator.
“Which we actually have samples of. So if anyone comes snooping, they find exactly what we’ve told them we’re doing. Nothing more.”
“That’s clever,” I said as a cold prickle swept over my skin. Ironically, it wasn’t from the cold. The lengths we had to go to stay hidden were such a harsh reminder of the dangerous game we were playing.
“Yeah, but they’ll look through everything else.” Kevin frowned, staring at the very obvious door she was holding open for us to go through. “They’ll still find the other rooms.”
“Will they?” she asked, smiling.
“Won’t they?” He stared at her.
She gave us a wink and said, “In you go.”
We walked into the room to find Dr. Ryder and David. They were busy arguing over some formulas on a whiteboard.
Kevin nodded. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is all still very obvious.”
She pointed to the ceiling. “See those sprinklers? David created a custom spray that can melt everything on contact before bursting into flames. He worked on that formula for ages.”
“That’s harsh,” I said. “And really dangerous.”
“But it’s very much needed.” She looked at me. “And yeah, once we activate it, anything in here will be destroyed before the new Org can find it.”
“What if someone is inside?” I asked.
“We’re the only ones who use this building, you know, thanks to a sizable donation. So it will only be us, and we won’t activate it until we’re all out. Then, the building will burn,” she said, smiling. “Accidents happen in labs.”
“But they’ll investigate everyone here,” Kevin said. “And if it all burns down, it’s more suspicious.”
“It’s a risk we have to take.” She looked at him. “Once we get the alert from the cameras, we have to run. Either way, we have backups off-site to corroborate our story.”
“Like what?”
“David’s fake computer setup at home, plus documents and journals.”
“You think that’s enough?” Kevin frowned.
“Well, just in case, he also keeps some low-level Luminary blood samples from the black market.” She shrugged. “It’s the best we can do.”
“Wait, there’s Luminary blood being sold?” I asked.
“Not anymore. It ended up causing people more trouble than they bargained for. But this is believable enough, and the punishment is just paying a fine. It would make sense for David, as a scientist, to be interested in studying the blood.”
“And Park knows David,” I said.
“Right. In his journals, there are entries that show how much he adores her. He also has a whole plan written down for how he’ll impress her with his research so he can convince her to hire him again.” She shrugged. “The stage is set for fooling them, hopefully.”
“You’re going the obsessed scientist route.”
“Exactly,” she said. “It’s not ideal for him, since we might lose him if Park decides to make him work for her. And they’ll definitely keep an eye on him after that, but it’s the best option to keep everyone safe.”
“How does he feel about that?” Kevin asked.
“It was his idea. He knows the risks and is willing to help with the cause as much as he can.”
“But now that your dad is here, she’ll definitely know he’s not an adoring fan,” Kevin said.
“True.” She looked at her feet. “We’re trying to come up with a plan for that. I haven’t figured it out yet.”
“Umm, maybe he could be in handcuffs. David could say he’s forcing your dad to work with him. If David’s playing cray-cray, why not add one more thing to his list?”
“That might work,” she said. “But the greater danger is Park getting her hands back on Dad. We can’t let that happen.”
“Well, you have to trust that all the precautions you’ve taken in keeping this facility safe from discovery will be enough. They’ve worked so far.” I placed a hand on her shoulder. “And they’ll continue to keep everyone safe. You’ve done an amazing job, Gabby. Truly.”
“Thanks.” She sighed. “But it’s all easier said than done. Anything can go wrong in the moment. Panic isn’t our friend.”
“It’s a solid plan all around,” I said. “And I think it’s genius that it’s all in a college. Especially when the fire starts.”
“Exactly. We can escape as students and teachers. We’ll hopefully get lost in the crowd.”
“Check them out,” Kevin said, pointing to the two men gesturing wildly at each other. “I sure missed that.”
I watched Dr. Ryder and David, engrossed in an intense debate over several formulas scribbled across the whiteboard. It was entertaining, actually. Almost like witnessing a silent intellectual tennis match. They each had a different color marker in one hand and a board eraser in the other.
They seemed fiercely determined to prove a point, taking turns erasing the other’s formulas just to rewrite their own. It was funny because each modification was comically followed by a few seconds of staring before they shook their heads heatedly at each other.
“What are they arguing over?” I asked Gabby.
“Ah, yes, young lady.” Dr. Ryder, who seemed to be listening to us even in the middle of erasing David’s latest formula, motioned us over. “Come, come. You see here? Much like you can amplify and Ms. Logan can energize? We believe we can combine even more powers for bigger outcomes.”
“Bigger?”
“Yes, the bigger the fusion, the bigger the boom,” he said, raising his hands and whooshing air through his mouth, mimicking the burst of an explosion.
I looked at the board and didn’t understand it any more than I would’ve understood Latin written in the simplest of alphabets. “Like the way we combined our powers for the time jump?”
“Yes, yes! There are some amazing coincidences when we combine certain powers. Some highly effective, but listen, young lady,” he said, moving in closer to whisper. “They may come with extremely grave consequences.”
“And what happened? You two don’t agree on how it works?” Kevin asked.
“We’re in agreement on how it works, Kevin,” David said. “And hello, you two! I haven’t seen you in years. Glad you’re well. But the problem here is we’re not in agreement on the idea of pursuing it further.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because, young lady, it is unlikely we can stop the negative effects of our incredible findings.” Dr. Ryder aimed the marker in my direction and the eraser at Kevin, then swiftly crossed them, forming an X, before letting his arms fall dramatically to his sides.
With his specific brand of scientist brain, Dr. Ryder seemed to think that this particular gesture explained everything with absolute clarity. It didn’t. But who had time to get anything else out of him?
I turned to Gabby, taking off my dampener bracelet. “All right. Let’s test this thing!”
Gabby closed her eyes, concentrating deeply.
She slowly lifted her hands, her fingers spread wide as if she was physically grasping the air around her.
It felt like a current rippled through the room, but I couldn’t be sure I didn’t imagine it.
It was like stepping into a pocket of different pressure, where the atmosphere felt supercharged.
It hummed with a quiet power, unseen but undeniably present.
And I wasn’t even trying to sense anything. Damn!