ColorBlind (Book #2 of S.H.A.D.E.) ✔

All That Glitters...

27.

I drive back into the city.

I wonder about Copper as I pass the numerous streets. I expect him to burst into my head any minute, furious, but I know that my powers cut our signal, or whatever it is, for a bit.

Probably for the better. I don't want to be persuaded from what I'm doing. The memory of that axe planted into Copper's back makes me sick.

I won't lose Copper. I just won't.

I drive, following Indigo's instructions, until I come to a towering skyscraper.

I stare up at the imposing structure, puncturing the sky. The pink hues of the horizon reflect off of it, making it look like a torch burning in the middle of the city. Although it is early, people are already milling about, preparing for a day of business and money-making.

I pull into the parking lot, feeding some coins I find into the parking teller. I drive all the way at the top of the parking quarters, where no one is around yet, and start unloading the guns that are packed in the back seat the moment I park.

I clip a belt around my waist that has multiple holders for knives and guns. I generously equip myself with as many weapons as possible, even with a hand grenade, which freaks me out just to touch, but will probably be useful at some point. I have to leave Bellona behind.

To conceal my inventory, I reach in and grab the old familiar, black hoodie of Copper's. It has been on the floor of the back seat ever since I took it off after the fight at Onyx's apartment.

Even that seems like a lifetime a go, though it's been a mere couple of weeks.

I pull the sweater over my head. I pause to press the fabric to my nose, and smile when I find that it still smells like Copper, a light, manly scent. I close my eyes and take a breath, strengthening my resolve.

I hope I am able to walk out of this building. I hope I can survive this so I can see Copper again.

Before I leave, I grab the two suit cases filled with the brain chips, and I also pick up the sack I have prepared to present to Gold. The one with Gray's severed head in it.

Maybe also delivering Micheal Benson to S.H.A.D.E. would have upped my chances of negotiating my freedom with Gold, but I find that I am content with my choice to let him go. I don't want to be a monster, not anymore than I have to be.

I understand, with the thudding of Gray's head against my thigh as I walk down the brightly lit flights of stairs that will lead me to the walkway of the building, that I am also not a hero. Not at all.

All I am is a girl who loves a boy, and wants the safety of her family, and the safety of her own life for that matter.  And I want to live for me, not for them. And for other people too, to help them escape this nightmare.

I know I am being watched the moment I approach the building. 

I do not match the scenery of the tidily dressed corporate types shuffling in and out of the austere skyscraper.

I am black and blue, dressed in a baggy hoodie, and conspicuously carrying two suspicious silver suit cases and a ruddy looking sack that is blotched an undeniable red, limping my way through the entrance.

I hear the static of security radios, and see the men in black suits moving within the perimiter of the large, posh lobby.

A woman sits at a mahogany desk, bright lipped and stylish.

This place fronts as a CEO building for marketing, where moguls and those in commerce meet to discuss business plans, expansions, and liquidations of companies.  I'm sure that all really happens here, but S.H.A.D.E. also uses this building to conduct its meetings and to gather the head of its Primaries, the Red, Blues, and Greens. Gold's office rests at the very top, naturally.