“I’ve come forward because we are all in danger.  We are not the only species hiding within the human population.  There is another species, Urbat, who are very similar to us in appearance but not in nature.  They would see the human population devastated.”

“Urbat,” Penny said slowly as if testing the word.  “Why do they want our population devastated?”

“Because your numbers are a threat to their goal.  They want to rule.  The population, the planet, everything.”

“What are we supposed to do?”

A very muted knock on the window startled Penny.  Winifred and I both looked over and saw Gabby motioning for us to hurry up.

“Our time here is over.  The Urbat are coming for us because we’ve shared what they didn’t want us to.  Find Blake Torrin, their leader.  Cut off his connections.  He’s everywhere and has enough money to do much damage.”

Winifred stood and grabbed her bag.

“How are we supposed to tell you apart from the Urbat?” Penny said, standing.

“There isn’t much difference.  Only the nails.  Ours are grey, theirs are black.  Good luck, Penny.”

Winifred stepped toward us, ignoring the cameras that followed her.  Carlos opened the door, and I quickly stepped out.  The emotions in the booth were thick.  I pulled as much as I could.

“How close?” I asked Gabby.

“Two are in the building.”

“Isabelle, I need you to lead,” Charlene said.  “I need to maintain my hold until we are out of the building.”

“Perfect,” I said with a nod.  “Gabby, Clay, and Grey can ride down with Carlos and me.  I’ll see you on the bottom, whole and healthy,” I said to Bethi, pulling away her fear.

She nodded.

Our small group struck out the door, the rest following.  The people we passed in the halls and open workspaces watched us, but no one moved to stop us.  The emotions were a blend of disbelief and curiosity.

When we reached the elevator bank, the main part of the group hung back near the reception desk while we took the first elevator that opened.  As soon as Gabby was in, she ran her hand down the first twelve floors.

“Um...”  I gave her a questioning look.

“They’re right here,” she said as the doors closed and the elevator started to descend.

“What do you mean?”

“They’re standing right in front of us.  On one of the floors.”

I looked at Grey.

“Tell Charlene to hold the other elevators so the Urbat can’t jump onto one.”

“Done.”

I stared at the doors with Gabby as we slowed.  Clay nudged her behind him.  Grey made to step forward so he was at the front.

“Stay by Gabby,” I said.  “There are only two, and I need the fight.”  Too many emotions were floating around the building.  As we descended, I absorbed mostly fear and suspicion.

The door slid open.  Two people stood waiting.

“Not this elevator,” Carlos said, holding up a hand when they would have entered.

Puzzled, the man and woman stepped back; and the door slid closed.

We checked each floor down to the third.  Before the doors glided open, I knew we’d finally found the two we were looking for.  I felt the impatience and anger rolling off them.

“Get ready,” I said.

The doors slid open to reveal two men standing side by side.  On the floor behind them lay a bloody security guard.  The rest of the area near the elevators was empty.

“Hello, boys,” I said with a smile a second before I stepped forward and planted my fist in the right one’s face.  His head snapped back, but he quickly brought it forward and growled at me.

“Which one are you?  The dreamer or the fighter?”

I hit him again.  The blow drove him back a step, spiking his anger.

“Which do you think I am?”

I ducked under his next swing and danced around him so he was further from the elevator.  Not that he noticed.  He dove for me, and I stepped back several more feet.

Carlos didn’t touch the other man.  Instead, he dodged the blows and neatly maneuvered him away from the elevators as well.

“Let the doors close,” he said to Grey.

I could have hugged Carlos.

As soon as they shut, I pushed.  The men fell to their knees.  Carlos hit his opponent hard enough to knock him out, then turned and knocked out mine before I could protest.

“We need to move.  The rest are coming down.  Charlene says police are coming.”

He pulled me toward the stairwell, and we raced down two flights of stairs.  It was good to get my heart pumping and relieve some of the lingering tension.

On the main floor, we burst into the lobby and complete chaos.  Clueless visitors to the building stood in frozen panic as police poured in through the front doors.  Gabby, Clay, and Grey had almost made it to the exit.

“No one leaves!” one of the uniformed men shouted.

I glanced at Carlos, wondering how the heck we’d get out of there.  He reached for my hand, and I gladly held on.  He pulled me close to his side as someone shoved past us.  The police were using their shields to push people back into the room.  People began to panic and shove against the barriers, causing a ripple effect of jostling bodies.  Carlos was my rock, my mountain shelter.  No one touched me.  Yet, despite his physical protection, the emotions of everyone in the room were getting to me.  I started pulling and pushing emotions, just to keep from going under.

Across the room, the elevator doors opened, and Charlene stepped out.  All motion stopped.  Just froze.

She walked forward, weaving her way between the bodies.  The rest of her group slowly followed.  Carlos started leading me through the crowd as well.

“We are not the ones to fear,” Charlene said, her voice carrying the length of the room.  “The ones you seek are on the third floor.”

She continued to move toward the door, joining Grey, Clay, and Gabby.  A few of the people around us slowly started to move toward the exit, too.  The police and security remained stationary.

As soon as we cleared the doors, everything inside went back to normal speed.  We walked among the crowd of those who also sought to escape the madness.  As we walked, I breathed in and out, barely sampling the emotions around me.

On the sidewalks, people were stopped, staring down at their phones or other devices.  Disbelief ran rampant.

“They will discredit what they saw,” I said, walking beside Winifred.  Oddly, no one seemed to notice her walking around in a robe.

“They might have.  But they now have two Urbat,” Charlene said.

I felt her disquiet at the thought.  Was she imagining what the government would do to them?  I was.  Because, since the day I’d figured out what I could do, I’d wondered what would happen to me if the world knew.  I shivered.

Eighteen

“What do you see, Gabby?” Winifred said.

We walked together in a cluster—the same arrangement we used for practices—toward our vehicles that we’d parked several blocks away.

“Mass movement in their facility to the north.  So many are fleeing it.  I see Olivia’s spark moving too.”

“Keep an eye on her,” Bethi said.

Gabby nodded.

“So what now?” I asked.

“We wait and see where they take Olivia and go after her,” Bethi said.  “She’s the last of us.”

“And when we find her?”

We entered the parking garage, and my last word echoed around us.

“The Taupe Lady has been a little vague on that part.”

The who?

“But I’m still having dreams and learning.  By the time we find Olivia, I hope I’ll know more.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.  It was a huge maybe.  I could see Bethi didn’t like it, either.