Chapter 36 #2
Cipher looked at me. “I found additional records about Helios’s rehabilitation program. There’s a connection to Halcyon that—“
“It’s impossible,” Havoc cut in, his jaw tight.
“Tell me,” I said to Cipher, ignoring Havoc’s interruption.
Cipher glanced between us before continuing. “Part of Helios’s ‘rehabilitation’ included a six-month rotation as security detail at the Vault.”
The blood drained from my face. “The Vault? Where they’re keeping Halcyon?”
“That’s what the records show,” Cipher confirmed, his eyes never leaving mine.
Havoc must have seen the horror written across my face because he immediately stepped forward.
“Annie, no. It can’t be Halcyon’s influence.
The Vault has the most sophisticated security system in existence.
Even if Helios had direct contact, Halcyon couldn’t have affected him with the power dampeners they have in place. ”
“Havoc,” I said quietly, “what if you’re wrong?”
Havoc shook his head. “It’s impossible, Annie.”
“Then explain this,” Cipher said, motioning to one of the screens showing a complex network of financial transactions. “How the hell does Helios have access to Alexander Mercer’s accounts? The transactions began six weeks after his rotation at the Vault ended.”
I watched Havoc’s face carefully. In all my years with him, I’d rarely seen him rattled. But as he paled, I realized something I never thought I’d see, Havoc was afraid.
“What you’re suggesting,” Havoc started, his voice dropping to a near whisper. He couldn’t even finish the sentence.
“We need to tell—“ I stopped myself.
Tell who? The Alliance? The same people who threw Helios under the bus when his powers destabilized because of them?
The organization that treated him like a lab rat and covered up their mistakes instead of helping him?
They’d just bury this too. Another “unfortunate incident” swept under the rug.
I wasn’t sure the Aegis would be any better.
I straightened, a cold clarity washing over me. “We need to warn the Vault, at the very least. If there’s even a possibility that Halcyon is influencing people from within his cell, they need to know. They need to check their containment systems, tighten security. Something.”
The very thought of Halcyon extending his reach from captivity made my skin crawl. The phantom sensation of his power lingered in my mind from when I’d used it. That moment of connection, brief as it was, had been enough to glimpse the depthless void of his malice.
After a long moment, Havoc nodded. “You’re right. I’ll contact them immediately.” His expression hardened. “But more importantly, we need to find Helios. He must be contained.”
“Contained?” I echoed.
“Annie, there’s no doubt he’s responsible for these murders. The evidence is overwhelming.” Havoc’s voice carried that decisive tone he used when issuing orders that weren’t to be questioned.
“The Alliance is responsible! Whatever they did to him, the ‘neural suppression experiments,’ the cover-up, they broke him and then pretended nothing happened.”
Havoc’s eyes widened slightly at my outburst.
“She’s right,” Cipher said quietly.
I turned to him, genuinely surprised. Cipher wasn’t exactly known for his compassion toward other Supers, especially not Alliance Heroes.
“Yes, he should be contained,” Cipher continued. “But we can’t blame him outright. Not until we know whether it was him in control of his actions or something else.”
Havoc ran a hand over his face. “Contained or not, Helios is dangerous right now.”
I looked from Havoc to Cipher, my heart pounding with a terrible certainty. “I need to be there when you contact the Vault,” I said.
Havoc hesitated. “Annie, I understand your concerns, but—”
“This isn’t a request. If Halcyon is somehow reaching beyond those walls, I need to hear it firsthand.”
I could feel Cipher’s eyes on me, watchful and intense. “I’m coming with you,” he said. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
I looked to Havoc but he didn’t argue, only nodded. “Let’s get it over with, then.”
We left the aircraft and as we approached Havoc’s office, Simmons stood from his post at his desk outside.
“Simmons,” Havoc said, “lock Helios out of all Tower systems. Blacklist his credentials across the board.”
Simmons’s eyebrows rose slightly, the closest he ever came to showing surprise, but he nodded. “Right away, sir.”
I touched Havoc’s arm. “Go ahead, I need a minute with Simmons.” Glancing at Cipher, I added, “It’ll only take a moment.”
For a second, I thought he might refuse, but he nodded. “Don’t leave this hallway.”
I waited until they disappeared into Havoc’s office before turning to Simmons. He had been the last one to see Helios before he’d run off last night and I wanted to ask some questions about what he’d noticed.
“You were going to ask me something, Miss Bishop?” Simmons inquired, his fingers already flying across keyboard to implement the security changes.
My mouth opened, the question about Helios’s behavior on my lips, but the elevator dinged. I turned, expecting to see security personnel making their rounds for the evening.
The doors slid open and Helios stood inside, his golden hair loose around his shoulders, his eyes unnaturally bright.
For one frozen heartbeat, we stared at each other.
Then everything happened at once.
“Look out!” I shoved Simmons aside as Helios raised his hand, unleashing a blinding beam of energy toward Havoc’s office doors. The blast hit with a terrible hiss, metal warping and melting, sealing the entrance and trapping Cipher and Havoc inside.
“There you are,” Helios said, his voice carrying an unfamiliar cadence. “I wondered where you’d gone off to.”
He moved toward me with unnatural speed, backing me against the wall. The heat pouring off him made the air shimmer.
“Simmons, run!” I choked out, but the old butler was already in motion.
“Emergency Protocol Sigma,” Simmons called out. The Tower’s security system responded instantly with a blaring alarm as reinforced barriers began sliding down over every exit. Simmons ducked behind his desk, emerging with an energy pistol I’d never seen before.
“Release her, Mr. Evans,” Simmons commanded, the weapon humming in his hands.
Helios laughed, but the sound was all wrong. “How quaint.”
The energy blast from Simmons’s gun never reached us. Helios casually flicked his wrist, releasing a wave of golden light that swallowed the shot mid-air. His eyes were molten gold now, no whites visible. They flickered toward Simmons.
“No!” I twisted in his grip, but Helios held me effortlessly.
Another pulse of light erupted from his fingertips. This one hit Simmons square in the chest, sending him flying backward. He hit the wall with a sickening thud before crumpling behind the desk, out of sight.
“Simmons!”
A thunderous boom echoed from the sealed office doors.
Cipher or Havoc, maybe both, were trying to break through.
The metal glowed red-hot where Helios had sealed it, but the Tower was working against them too.
All of the doors and walls were reinforced to withstand super-powered assaults, meaning with the doors fused, they were trapped in the office.
“They won’t get through in time,” Helios whispered, his breath scalding against my ear. “Havoc built this place too well.”
As if summoned by his name, reality tore open beside us—a jagged wound in the air ringed with crackling blue-black energy. Havoc stepped through, his eyes blazing with cold fury.
The chaotic energy surrounding him made my skin crawl, acidic pinpricks dancing across my nerves. It couldn’t hurt me but the sensation was deeply unpleasant.
“Let her go, William,” Havoc demanded, chaos energy swirling around his fists.
Helios yanked me in front of him like a shield, pinning my arms to my sides. “I wish we could catch up properly,” he said. “But I have business elsewhere.”
“This isn’t you, Helios. Fight it.”
“You have no idea who I am.” Helios’s laugh chilled my blood. “None of you ever did.”
Havoc struck without warning, a blast of chaos energy arcing toward us. He knew it wouldn’t harm me, but Helios—
Light erupted from Helios’s entire body, a supernova of raw power. The chaos energy disintegrated on contact and Havoc’s eyes widened in genuine shock.
“Surprised?” Helios taunted. “Didn’t you know? Helios hobbled himself. He was too afraid of what he could do.” Another blinding blast followed.
Havoc tried to counter, but the energy wave hit him. He flew backward, slamming into the far wall before sliding to the floor, unmoving.
“No!” I struggled harder, but Helios’s grip was unbreakable.
The windows behind Simmons’s desk liquefied under a stream of concentrated heat from Helios’s free hand. Cold night air rushed in as the glass dripped like water onto the floor.
Helios stepped toward the opening, dragging me with him and launched us outside. He banked sharply and leveled us out, hovering near the exterior wall directly in front of the launch bay doors connected to Havoc’s office.
The lockdown had caused a secondary door to deploy and Cipher was just breaking through that door.
Helios raised his free hand and unleashed a concentrated beam of white-hot solar energy. It struck the center seam of the bay doors with a deafening hiss. The metal frame glowed blindingly bright as it melted, Helios fusing it shut.
Cipher was trapped, not even the Hammer could get past the melted door.
Helios drifted sideways, carrying me along the exterior of the building. Through the reinforced glass, I could see Cipher, his face contorted with rage and fear, fists pummeling the window. Tiny fractures had begun to form, but not quickly enough.
“Don’t worry,” Helios called out. “I’ll take good care of her.”
Cipher’s eyes locked with mine for one agonizing second before Helios turned and flew us away from the Tower.