Free Dying Light by Kory M. Shrum

my god,
why?”
    She doesn’t answer me. Instead, she
stares at the back of the door as if waiting for Nikki to pop back
in.
    “ I hope you’re
kidding.”
    “ Anything is possible.”
Gloria slips back into her seat at the table, her sketches spread
out before her. “Sometimes the only option is to kill the one we
love.”
    I sink into a chair at the table.
“Surely you didn’t send her down for a pizza just to let me know
you intend to kill her.”
    “ No. I thought you could
use the time to work on the partis. Have you weeded them out
yet?”
    Guilt washes over me. Was I that
obvious? I thought I handled the situation back in Tate Tower
pretty well. When we were locked out of the rooms, I was near
frantic. My laptop, papers, and Brinkley’s journal were still
tucked under the bed. What if Nikki had found them while I was
away? Luckily, I was able to scoop everything up while Nikki packed
her own bag.
    “ How many do you have
left?” Gloria asks, prompting me again to spill it.
    “ I just crossed off two
more. There are still twelve people I’m checking into.”
    Gloria nods, pulling her own laptop
out of her bag. “Keep searching. We need to know everything we can
about the others with powers. I think there are eight partis left,
including Jesse and Caldwell.”
    I gather up my bag and open it. It’s
relief more than anything that I feel when I pull out the laptop
and power it on. I always hated sneaking around. More often than
not, I wondered who exactly I was protecting and if it was even
worth it.
    “ I assume you don’t want
Nikki to know what I’m doing then.”
    Gloria flicks her eyes up to meet
mine. “She is loyal to Jeremiah and Jeremiah does not want what we
want.”
    My stomach churns. I trust Gloria’s
judgment, but I also hope that Nikki is on my side too, even if she
and Jesse mix about as well as oil and water.
    “ Then maybe we shouldn’t
work for him,” I tell her.
    The lines between Gloria’s brows
smooth over. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
    She has a point. Jeremiah
is serving his purpose, I suppose. He provides support and a home
base here in Chicago so we can be closer to Caldwell. He has
resources we don’t and he is doing some good. And Nikki is a good person, if
nothing else.
    “ How did you know I was
researching them?” I ask Gloria while waiting for the black screen
to blink to life.
    “ I saw you.”
    I can only assume she means while
viewing me. “And?”
    “ You should keep doing it.
We may need that information very soon.”
    “ Why?” I type in my
password and I’m rewarded with the article on Monroe Dupree. His
haunted face bores into mine.
    Gloria’s eyes fall on her sketchbook.
Her fingers reach out and trace the edge of the yellow cover.
“We’ve got company coming.”

Chapter 13
     
    Jesse
     
    “S o what’s the plan?” I ask and push myself out of Caldwell’s
arms. “More mind rape? Or would you rather bury me in a box and let
me suffocate repeatedly? That was fun.”
    “ You have no reason to
trust me,” he says, running his hand through his hair.
    “ Nope .”
    “ All that I ask is that
you listen to what I have to say.”
    “ Isn’t that what the devil
always says? Then you find yourself getting pitchforked from
behind, 24/7 for eternity.”
    I take a turn about the room and
realize I have no idea where we are. No windows and no doors. Shit.
It’s another kind of coffin.
    “ Walls can be knocked
down,” Gabriel reminds me, his voice faint in the back of my
mind.
    “ This room isn’t doorless
to contain you,” Caldwell says and crosses to the sofa on the far
wall. “It’s for my protection. No one can come in and out of here
except me.”
    “ So why am I in your safe
room?” I’m trying to figure out where to put myself. “You plan to
leave me here to starve to death? Because I will totally blow this
room apart.”
    “ I wanted somewhere
private for us to talk.”
    “ Where’s
Winston?”
    “ He’s safe with