I’m pretty sure we’re stepping on the gas all on our own.” Shaking her head didn’t help to clear it, so Marci eased off his lap and blew out a sharp breath. “Six hours.”
“Six hours.” His gaze swept over her before he looked away. “But if you’re going to spend them naked, we’ll be in trouble.”
Damn it. Marci snatched up the blanket and covered herself. “There are a few security weaknesses I’ve found that I can exploit. I’ve been saving them, just in case.”
“And you didn’t exploit them to get away from me?”
She hadn’t had time, not before she’d started climbing him. “Honestly, I didn’t really have the chance, or I might have.”
“Mmm.” A smile tugged at his lips as he eased a hand into his pocket and pulled out a compact tablet with a shiny silver back and a clear screen. “Trip used some sort of hacker trick to download a list of what he needs onto my handheld. Most of it means nothing to me.”
“May I?” She held out her hand and took the tablet. A quick skim of the list left her nodding. “I can handle it.”
“In six hours?”
“Maybe less,” she told him with no small amount of pride.
His appreciation showed in his eyes. “Good. You’re the expert with this. But once we get out…” He paused. “Have you ever spent time topside?”
It was unthinkable. “Only in transport. When I had to.”
“Demons are damn close to blind in the dark, but it’s going to be near dawn by the time we get out. We’ll have to move fast, down river, and spend the day in my bolthole. Stick close to me, and I’ll get you there safely. I promise.”
Skeptical, Marci squinted at him. “If they’re so blind, how are they still so dangerous?” He hesitated, long enough to make it clear he didn’t want to tell her. But he did anyway, voice quiet and firm. “After they pop humans, they can use their eyes to see, control them like puppets. A popped human doesn’t come back. Soul’s just…gone. Body keeps living though, as long as the demons want it to.” Nausea twisted in Marci’s stomach, sharp and sour. “Oh.” Gabe rose in one graceful movement and closed his hands around her shoulders. “First off, that’s only humans. A summoner who gets popped can come back. Second, it’s damn hard to pop someone who’s been marked. That’s the point, Marci. It’d take them a long time to do it, and I’d kill ’em before it happened.” So he kept saying. She’d never seen him fight, but he looked like someone who could take care of himself—and her too. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated, rubbing his thumbs over her skin in a soothing rhythm. It didn’t ease all her tension, but it helped. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Five
Three hours in the network, and Marci was starting to see double.
She ground her teeth and dropped her head to the desk. “That was it—my last idea.” Across from her, the blond tech—Trip—clucked his tongue and waved a hand. One wall of the makeshift room vanished in a dizzying rush only to reappear as a computer screen with the Gold Mills schematic traced in glowing lines from floor to ceiling. “We’re most of the way there. Alarms are down. Alerts are rerouted. No one will know you opened a door…if you can open a door.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do,” she shot back. “Every little hole is secure.”
“So we move on to the tiny ones.” Trip rose like a cat. The man seemed full of lean, leashed energy, even virtually. “The cracks. And if we can’t find them, we can make one or two.” It had been drilled into her head from her first day on the job. “They’ve always said the only way to reverse a lockdown is a mainframe-generated keycode.” Trip scratched the side of his face and considered the map. “That’s a damn dangerous game to play, unless you figure everyone in the building’s replaceable.”
“Everyone irreplaceable stays in Nicollet,” Marci muttered. It wasn’t right, but she
“Six hours.” His gaze swept over her before he looked away. “But if you’re going to spend them naked, we’ll be in trouble.”
Damn it. Marci snatched up the blanket and covered herself. “There are a few security weaknesses I’ve found that I can exploit. I’ve been saving them, just in case.”
“And you didn’t exploit them to get away from me?”
She hadn’t had time, not before she’d started climbing him. “Honestly, I didn’t really have the chance, or I might have.”
“Mmm.” A smile tugged at his lips as he eased a hand into his pocket and pulled out a compact tablet with a shiny silver back and a clear screen. “Trip used some sort of hacker trick to download a list of what he needs onto my handheld. Most of it means nothing to me.”
“May I?” She held out her hand and took the tablet. A quick skim of the list left her nodding. “I can handle it.”
“In six hours?”
“Maybe less,” she told him with no small amount of pride.
His appreciation showed in his eyes. “Good. You’re the expert with this. But once we get out…” He paused. “Have you ever spent time topside?”
It was unthinkable. “Only in transport. When I had to.”
“Demons are damn close to blind in the dark, but it’s going to be near dawn by the time we get out. We’ll have to move fast, down river, and spend the day in my bolthole. Stick close to me, and I’ll get you there safely. I promise.”
Skeptical, Marci squinted at him. “If they’re so blind, how are they still so dangerous?” He hesitated, long enough to make it clear he didn’t want to tell her. But he did anyway, voice quiet and firm. “After they pop humans, they can use their eyes to see, control them like puppets. A popped human doesn’t come back. Soul’s just…gone. Body keeps living though, as long as the demons want it to.” Nausea twisted in Marci’s stomach, sharp and sour. “Oh.” Gabe rose in one graceful movement and closed his hands around her shoulders. “First off, that’s only humans. A summoner who gets popped can come back. Second, it’s damn hard to pop someone who’s been marked. That’s the point, Marci. It’d take them a long time to do it, and I’d kill ’em before it happened.” So he kept saying. She’d never seen him fight, but he looked like someone who could take care of himself—and her too. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated, rubbing his thumbs over her skin in a soothing rhythm. It didn’t ease all her tension, but it helped. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Five
Three hours in the network, and Marci was starting to see double.
She ground her teeth and dropped her head to the desk. “That was it—my last idea.” Across from her, the blond tech—Trip—clucked his tongue and waved a hand. One wall of the makeshift room vanished in a dizzying rush only to reappear as a computer screen with the Gold Mills schematic traced in glowing lines from floor to ceiling. “We’re most of the way there. Alarms are down. Alerts are rerouted. No one will know you opened a door…if you can open a door.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do,” she shot back. “Every little hole is secure.”
“So we move on to the tiny ones.” Trip rose like a cat. The man seemed full of lean, leashed energy, even virtually. “The cracks. And if we can’t find them, we can make one or two.” It had been drilled into her head from her first day on the job. “They’ve always said the only way to reverse a lockdown is a mainframe-generated keycode.” Trip scratched the side of his face and considered the map. “That’s a damn dangerous game to play, unless you figure everyone in the building’s replaceable.”
“Everyone irreplaceable stays in Nicollet,” Marci muttered. It wasn’t right, but she
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