Arachna

Chapter 31: Not Again

Kaela dashed up the stairs. Her legs and lungs burned.

She reached the next floor, and as she peeked into one room, she paused. A different layout faced her. Boardrooms dotted the floor. Kaela only had to glance through the large glass windows to see that nobody was in them.

One boardroom, its blinds closed, sat against the wall at the very end of the room.

Kaela's gut told her to run. Her legs turned to concrete as she took the first step toward it. She almost sheathed her dagger at her leg, but something stopped her. Instead, she tucked it into her waistband, covered it with her shirt, and kept her gun at the ready.

The silence in the room was more deafening than the gunshots downstairs, and the ringing in her ears didn't help.

Kaela crept to the door and placed her hand on the cold knob. She rested it there for what felt like forever, every muscle in her body urging her to turn back, to let go of the knob. But she ignored that urge, and with a deep breath, she shoved the door open, painting a careless look on her face.

Even with the careless look, she flinched at the sight of Caleb.

She'd expected soldiers, maybe even a tied-up Lance, but he was alone.

Caleb was sitting on a chair, leaned back and looking at a large TV that nearly covered the entire wall. Dozens of camera feeds, showing areas where Kaela hadn't even seen any cameras: the back entrance, the stairwell, Derek fighting the soldier. Fighting... Rob? Her heart dropped to her stomach, not only at the sight of Rob infected with the nanobots, but Caleb whirling around in his chair to face her. She raised her chin at him, and his smile widened.

"What a pretty neck," Caleb said. "I can't wait to wrap my hands around it."

Kaela spat in his direction, for what little it did. "You sent Rob so Derek wouldn't come up here."

Caleb laughed. "I made sure not too many soldiers took the stairs. I wanted to tire you out, not kill you. But you two were still moving along rather nicely, so yes, I ruined the surprise a bit early and sent Rob down there. It worked, didn't it?"

Kaela's heart pounded, and her legs twitched. Her body screamed at her to run. "So you got what you want. Why do you want me dead, of all people? Why not find a way to lead Eric up here?" She scanned the TV for Eric or Lance, but Caleb shut it off, plunging the room into near darkness. Moonlight shone through the bulky windows.

"Because I see an opportunity," Caleb said. "And I don't like to pass up an opportunity."

A shadow disturbed the moonlight. Kaela whirled, but a dagger plunged into her side before she could avoid it. The gun slipped from her fingers. She gasped, and tears trailed down her cheeks as she sank to the ground, looking up at Amari's face.

She wore a sleek black dress, and her veins glowed a vibrant purple.

She met Kaela's eyes with a lopsided smile. "Hey, sweetheart. How do you like the new look?"

* * *

Eric reached the main floor. Gunshots rang out like rumbling thunder. Three soldiers took cover behind the corner of the hallway, one of them holding a riot shield.

Eric grinned. Well, isn't that cute?

They fired relentlessly toward the entrance, bullets whizzing past them. Eric stabbed the first one, covering his mouth so that he couldn't yell. The soldier with the riot shield died with a blade in his neck. With a swipe of his scythe, the final soldier's head rolled into the lobby. Eric ripped the shield from the dead soldier's iron grip.