Blake frowned. “I want to get them out just as badly as you, man, but we have a limited gap of time. That’s all.”
“We stick to the plan.” Daemon’s gaze met his brother’s in the window. “That’s it, Dawson. I’m not losing you again.”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong, anyway,” I interjected before it turned into a royal rumble in the car. “Everything will go as planned.”
I focused on the road. The highway was four lanes and heavy trees crowded the roads on the south and north lanes. It was a blur of shadows. I had no idea how Daemon would find this road, but he started to slow down and merged into the left lane.
Pressure settled on my chest as he turned onto a barely visible road. There were no markings—nothing signaling that there was even a road there. Two headlights followed us up the narrow opening that was more dirt and gravel than pavement. About two hundred feet in, under the pale moonlight, an old farmhouse sat to the right. Half the roof was missing. Weeds choked the front and sides.
“Creepy,” I murmured. “I bet your ghost guys would say this place is haunted.”
Daemon chuckled. “They say every place is haunted. That’s why I love them.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Dawson said as we parked and Matthew pulled in beside us.
Both cars killed the lights and engines and with no other source of light, it was black as oil. My stomach pitched. Five till nine. There was no backing out now.
Blake’s cell went off again. “He’s just making sure we’re ready.”
“God, he’s an annoying little kid,” Daemon muttered, facing where Matthew parked. “We’re getting ready to do this. Andrew?”
He slipped out, murmuring something to Dee and his sister. Then he turned, throwing up what I’d swear were gang signals. “I’m ready steady.”
“Geez,” Blake muttered.
“We stick to the plan. At no time do any of us”—Daemon directed this at his brother—“deviate from the plan. All of us are coming back tonight.”
There were murmurs of agreement. With my pulse racing into cardiac arrest territory, I opened the door.
Daemon placed his hand on my arm. “Stick close to me.”
My vocal chords seemed to have stopped working, so I nodded. Then the four of us were out of the car, breathing in the chilled mountain air. Everything was dark—with slices of moonlight cutting across the access road. I was probably standing next to a bear and had no idea.
I moved around the front of the vehicle and stood next to Daemon. Another moved beside me and I realized it was Blake.
“Time,” Daemon said.
There was a quick flash of cell phone light, and Blake said, “One minute.”
I drew in a shallow gasp, but it got stuck. I could feel my heartbeat in every part of my body. Out of the darkness, Daemon found my hand and squeezed.
We can do this, I told myself. We can do this. We will do this.
“Thirty seconds,” Blake said.
I worked on my mantra, because I remembered reading something about the laws of the universe and believing in something will make it happen. God, I hoped they were right.
“Ten seconds.”
Daemon gave one more squeeze, and I realized he wasn’t going to let go. I would slow him down, but there was no time to protest it. A shudder rolled through my arms. I felt the Source rattle and wake up. My weight shifted back and forth.
Beside me, Blake bent forward. “Three, two, go!”
I kicked off, letting the Source rush through, expanding each cell with light. None of the guys were glowing, but we all were running, practically flying. My sneakers skidded over the road. Up we climbed, sticking to the side of the road, avoiding the streams of light. In the back of my head, I realized that keeping up with them had never been the issue.
It was seeing where to go.
But Daemon’s hand remained in mine and he wasn’t pulling me, more like guiding me through the night, around potholes the size of craters, and up the twisting mountain road.
Seventy-five seconds later, because I counted, a twenty-foot-tall fence came into view under spotlights. We slowed down, coming to a complete stop behind the last stand of trees.
I dragged in air, eyes wide. Red and white signs marked the fence as being electrical. Beyond them was a football-field length of open space and then a massive structure.
“Time?” Daemon asked.
“One minute after nine.” Blake ran a hand through his spiky hair. “Okay, I got one guard at the gate. Do you see any others?”
We waited for about another minute to see if any were patrolling, but as Luc had said, it was shift change. Only the gate was covered. We couldn’t wait any longer.
“Give me a second,” Andrew said, slipping away from the trees, creeping toward the guard dressed in black.
I was just about to ask what the hell he was doing when I saw him dip and place his hand on the ground. Blue sparks flew and the guard started to twist toward him, but the surge of electricity reached him.
A violent tremor ran up the man’s body, and he dropped the gun. A second later, he was lying beside it. The boys headed forward and I followed, sneaking a glance at the guard. His chest moved and fell, but he was out cold.
“He doesn’t know what hit him.” Andrew grinned as he blew a breath over his fingers. “He’ll be out for about twenty or so minutes.”
“Nice,” Dawson said. “I’d have fried his brain if I tried that.”
My eyes widened.
Daemon was on the move, approaching the gate. The white keypad looked unassuming, but it was the first test. We could only hope Luc took the cameras down and had given us the right codes.