Luc tapped the space bar, and the camera moved to the right. A gate came into view. “Here’s the dealio: Sunday evening at nine p.m. is going to be your best bet. It’s a shift change and staffing is at a minimum—only two guards will be patrolling this gate. ’Cause, you know, Sunday is kind of a down day.”
Paris whipped out a pad and a pen.
“This gate is your first obstacle of choice. You’ll need to take out the guards, but that’s a duh. I’ll make sure the cameras are down between nine and nine fifteen—you know, pull a Jurassic Park moment. You’ll have fifteen minutes to get in, get your buddies, and get the hell out. So don’t let a spitting dragon take you down.”
Daemon choked on a laugh.
“Fifteen minutes,” Blake murmured, nodding. “Doable. Once inside the compound, the entrance leads to elevators. We can take them down to the tenth floor and go right up to the cell.”
“Great.” Luc tapped his finger on the gate. “The code to this gate is Icarus. See a trend?” He laughed. “You get inside the compound, you’ll see three doors side by side.”
Blake nodded again. “The middle door—I know. The code?”
“Wait. Where do the other doors take you?” I asked.
“To the great Oz,” Luc said, tapping the space bar until the camera was now focused on the doors. “Actually, nowhere interesting. Just offices and actual FEMA stuff. Anyone want to guess what the code to this door is?”
“Daedalus?” I threw out.
He grinned. “Close. The code to this door is Labyrinth. It’s a hard word to spell, I know, but make sure you do it correctly. You get one chance. Enter the wrong code and it’ll get ugly. Take the elevator to the sixth floor like Blake said and then you enter the code DAEDALUS—all caps. Voilà!”
Daemon shook his head, doubtful. “There’re only codes to enter? That’s their security?”
“Ha!” Luc hit a few buttons and the screen went black. “I’m doing more than giving you codes and taking down cameras, my new BFF. I’m going to take down their eye recognition software. It can go down for about ten to fifteen minutes a day without raising an eyebrow.”
“What happens if we’re still in there and it goes back up?” I asked.
Luc raised his hands. “Uh, kind of like being on a plane that’s about to crash. Stick your head between your knees and kiss ’em good-bye.”
“Oh, that sounds great,” I said. “So you’re like a mutant hacker, too?”
He winked. “But be careful. I’m not taking down any other security precautions they may’ve decided to put up. That will raise concerns.”
“Whoa.” Daemon frowned. “What other security precautions could they have?”
“They rotate the codes every other day, I’ve discovered. Other than that, nothing but guards, but it’s a shift change.” Blake grinned. “We’ll be fine. We got this.”
Paris handed over a sheet with the codes scribbled down. Daemon snatched it before Blake could and slipped it into his pocket. “Thank you,” he said.
Returning to the couch and his DS, Luc dropped down, his smile fading. “Don’t thank me yet. Actually, don’t thank me at all. I don’t exist, you know, not until I need my favor.” He flipped open his DS. “Just remember, this Sunday at nine p.m. You have fifteen minutes and that is all.”
“Okay.” I drew out the word, glancing at Blake. I would love to know how these two met. “Well, I guess…”
“We’ll be going,” Daemon supplied, taking my hand. “It was nice, kind of, meeting you all.”
“Whatevs,” he said, thumbs flying over the game board. Luc’s voice stopped us at the door. “You have no idea what waits for you. Be careful. I would hate for my dealing to be one-sided if you all get yourselves killed…or worse.”
I shuddered. Nice way to close the conversation with a healthy dose of freak-us-out.
Daemon nodded at the other Luxen, and we headed out, Blake closing the door behind him. Only then did I realize the room was soundproof.
“Well,” Blake said, smiling. “That wasn’t too bad, was it?”
I rolled my eyes. “I have the feeling we just made a deal with the devil, and he’s going to come back and want our firstborn child or something.”
Daemon waggled his brows. “You want kids? Because you know, practice makes—”
“Shut up.” I shook my head and started walking.
We hurried through the club, around the still-packed dance floor. I think all of us were ready to get out of there. As we neared the exit, I looked around Daemon and Blake, my eyes drifting over the dance floor.
Part of me wondered how many, if any, were hybrids. We were rare, but like I sensed at first, there was something different about this place. Something really different about the kid called Luc, too.
Pro Wrestler greeted us at the door. He stepped aside, massive arms folded across his chest. “Remember,” he said. “You were never here.”
Chapter 16
We got home late from Martinsburg, and I went straight to bed. Daemon followed, but all we did was curl up and sleep. Both of us were exhausted from everything, and it was nice with him there, a steady presence that relaxed and soothed my frazzled nerves.
I was a zombie on Thursday, and Blake’s disgustingly chipper attitude in bio made me want to hurl.
“You should be happier,” he whispered as I hastily scribbled down notes. No doubt I’d failed the exam yesterday. “After Sunday, everything will be over.”