Return to Zero by Pittacus Lore

Author:Pittacus Lore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-06-24T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CALEB CRANE

ISABELA SILVA

LE ROYAL MANSOUR—CASABLANCA, MOROCCO

RAN WAS CRUMPLED IN A HEAP ON THE FLOOR NEXT to the hog-tied bodyguard. Duanphen was also unconscious and looked half-dead, clutched in Isabela’s arms. A lot of blood. Too much blood. And Isabela wild-eyed, grasping for him.

Caleb took all these details in quickly, seconds after he kicked open the balcony door. He’d been dropped off there by Five, the Loric flying at top speed back to their cloaked skimmer. Einar had stayed behind in the penthouse garden to keep an eye on Derek King. If Lucas was still here, it was too dangerous to risk his possessing either of them. It was up to Caleb to sort this out.

“She attacked me,” Isabela said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

If Lucas had been controlling King’s bodyguard, then he must have jumped to Duanphen when she used her electrified touch. Then, Caleb reasoned, he must have used Duanphen to take out Ran, but encountered trouble when it came to Isabela. Caleb knew that Isabela could handle herself in a scrap, could be vicious. She might have knocked out Duanphen and sent Lucas flying back to his own body.

Or . . .

“I think I hurt her too bad,” Isabela said shakily. “I didn’t mean to. Please, Caleb, help me stop the bleeding.”

She didn’t quite sound right, but then, that could’ve been on account of Duanphen bleeding to death in her arms.

Still, there was only one way to know for sure.

“It’s okay, baby,” Caleb declared. “You’re safe now.”

Swift strides carried him across the room, where he knelt down next to Isabela. She smiled at him and grasped his hand.

“Calling me baby! What the hell is wrong with you, you stupid, stupid boy?” Isabela seethed, watching through the tiny doorway as Caleb came too close. She saw her hand reach out to pass along Lucas. Her fingers brushed against Caleb’s in what felt like slow motion.

The disco ball hovering overhead stopped moving, beams of light frozen in midair. The warehouse began to come apart in chunks. It was like Isabela’s world was a puzzle and that puzzle was sliding off a table, the pieces breaking free from each other. Through the gaps, she could see the real world through her own eyes—Caleb, Duanphen, the hotel room. She felt herself being pulled into that space. Released.

Lucas was letting her go. Which meant he was taking over Caleb.

She readied herself. She would have only seconds to react. She’d need to hit Caleb hard and fast, put him down before Lucas could create any duplicates. The idiot had a good punch in the mouth coming for falling so easily into Lucas’s trap.

“Come on,” Isabela said, psyching herself up, clenching her fists in this bullshit dreamland and hoping that would make her hands ready when she regained control of her body. “Come on!”

But then, suddenly, the warehouse snapped back into place.

Lucas still had her.

The moment Isabela had taken his hand, her frightened mask slipped away and Caleb saw that same crooked smile he remembered from Italy.

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