“You don’t have to come with me,” Dade said.
“Yes, I do.” It was time to show him that she was on board with whatever he wanted, that her plans didn’t trump his. That she was an equal partner.
“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” he said.
“That’s not the only reason I’m doing it.” She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. “Maybe I just wanted to see you do your thing in a skintight suit.”
He gave her a flat look. “You see me in a running suit all the time.”
She gave a breathy sigh. “Yes, but we’re always so busy. This time I’ll have the opportunity to enjoy it.”
He leaned forward and kissed her. It was fast but passionate, and it left Arden tingly. “Thank you for helping.”
“Let’s just hope they haven’t changed where they keep this cache of VitD,” she said.
She had considered how Uri would handle their stash and decided that it made no sense for him to arbitrarily move it. To make sure, they’d gone into Venz’s system, and she’d had Saben check the cams in this part of the city. There was still a lot of foot traffic in this area. Arden had recognized most of the people, so she was fairly confident they were still using this warehouse.
Besides, there weren’t that many places in Undercity to hide things. They couldn’t just burn one they already had set up. It was unlikely that Uri would move all their product. Doing that on a large scale would be next to impossible.
So basically, they’d gambled this entire night on her hunch. It was a lot of work and effort, not to mention dangerous, to break into a warehouse that could yield nothing.
She checked the street one more time. “You ready?”
“After you.”
They left their hiding place and approached the warehouse on swift, silent feet. Their phasers were out, and each watched one side of the street as they ran. She liked that they’d worked together so much at this point that they’d synced their movements, giving hand signals and acting like extensions of the other.
Two cams focused on the door. They were discreet, small, the red indicator light blacked over so that no one could tell it was on. Arden shot them out with her phaser. Lasair didn’t have enough people to monitor them constantly. Eventually someone would notice, so they needed to move quickly.
Dade took out a datapad and began the unlocking code.
Arden kept her back to Dade while he worked. Stepped in close with her phaser directed into the dark street, ready for trouble.
He unlocked the door quickly, and then they were inside. They kept the lights off as they cleared the warehouse. Then went to work by glo-wand.
She raised her hand, tapping her mask to turn on her infrared eye shields. It was a new design by Venz, incorporating the halo-glasses within the mask much like he had his goggles. He’d made them in preparation for their break-in to the CRC. They’d be able to see maps, temperature readouts, detection screens—all while working their job. Plus it added night vision. She didn’t feel bad about taking it out for a spin. She had to know if it worked as well as Venz claimed.
Arden looked at Dade and waited for his nod. Then they were off, moving through the warehouse. They slunk between stacks of boxes, clearing each row as they went.
The amount of stolen product inside was staggering. Normally Lasair didn’t have this big a stockpile of VitD. Some they saved to use, but mostly they resold it as Shine. It was a brisk business. Making money meant keeping a productive turnaround time between stealing, making Shine, and reselling. This looked like they had hoarded VitD for some time. The boxes were packed all the way to the ceiling. She looked up, impressed at the sight. They could fill a hundred hoversleds, the flat hovercarriers that were used to haul heavy items throughout Undercity, and still not clear out this warehouse. What they’d take would barely make a dent in the cache.
Arden felt a twinge of frustration. She should have thought ahead and planned two hoversleds, one for the mission and one for profit. Her mind ran through the calculations of how much they could have made. After all, they needed to be able to support themselves after they got away from Mina. They couldn’t leave with nothing again.
She’d nearly walked the length of the warehouse, checking behind stacks of boxes and moving from aisle to aisle, when she heard a click. The sound was faint. But in the silent, dark room, it sounded like the blast of a phase-shot.
It was followed by a hiss. Then another hiss and another as nozzles turned on throughout the room. Steamed air, thick and white, began to fill the warehouse. It cut off her vision. She was trapped inside the swirling mass. Blue lights clicked on along the ground, small glowing beacons that lined the aisles.
At the sound of the first hiss, Arden held her breath. She pulled out her air-breather, sticking it into her mouth and clicking it on. She let the pump expunge the air from the disk before she exhaled and then pulled in her first deep breath.
All around her was a noxious cloud of poison gas. She knew this trick. The fumes, once inhaled, would shut down a person’s circulatory system in less than a minute. And then the person would die.
The poison was pervasive and corrosive. Her air-breather wouldn’t be able to vent the poison for long. The poison ate at the nanotech, and it broke down systems that filtered it. Knowing that the breather would work for only a few minutes, and that it had to last while the poison cycled through the warehouse, she kept her breaths even. Too much air intake would cripple the breather prematurely.
Arden ran down the aisle to the outside wall, looking for a control panel. She pressed against the walls, hoping for something to open. Her fingers ran along the metal sheeting.
She had less than three minutes before her air-breather broke down. Her internal clock monitored the time. As each thirty-second chunk went by, she became a little more panicked. If she failed, they’d both die.
A blast of phase-fire lit the opposite side of the room. She jolted, startled. Her heart raced. At first she thought someone had shot Dade. But then another blast shot straight upward, hitting the ceiling of the warehouse, and melted a hole in the ceiling.
Arden realized that it was Dade’s way of getting her attention and took off at a run. Her vision was compromised from the smoke, and the boxes made a maze of her path. She kept her hands in front of her so as not to crash into a wall of boxes, which further slowed her down.
She found Dade standing before an open panel. He was pushing numbers into the light board, his fingers flying. Yet it was clear that his actions were having no effect.
Shoving him out of the way, she set to work, trying to remember everything she was taught. Turning the gas off was far more complicated than it seemed. It required numerous codes to be input in the correct order within a set amount of time. Trouble was she was awful at remembering the order. Being under pressure didn’t help.
On her first try, she must have entered the wrong sequence of numbers. When she pressed “Enter,” a loud air horn blasted, and then the mist started blowing heavier.
Cursing herself, she tried not to let the frustration make her fingers clumsier than they already were. She had to start over. Her mind strung out endless combinations of numbers. And she knew her three minutes were almost up.
Her second try proved no more successful than the first.
Dade shifted uneasily beside her. She could feel his nervousness, but she could also feel his silent encouragement.
On her third try, she knew this was her last opportunity to get it right. Her air-breather vibrated its warning, nearing the end of its lifespan. Her hands were unsteady from adrenaline and fear. She shook them out, stretching her fingers before trying again.
Stress caused her breath to thin. She focused on her fingers and how they hit the light board, hoping with all her might that this was the right combination. If it wasn’t, they’d be dead.
She could do this. Arden knew the right combination. She needed to think. To focus: on each number, each sequence. Concentrate only on tha
t and let every other thought in her mind fall away. When the last number was entered, she pressed the button once more and waited. The moment was tense, and she felt herself balancing on the edge of panic.
The annoying air horn ended its horrific whine. And then the gas slowly stopped blowing. It was almost a full ten seconds before she realized she’d managed to turn it off.
They weren’t out of trouble yet. The gas in the room still needed to be cleared. She set to work, turning on the decontamination filter. Just as she began the keystrokes to start that, their breathers gave a low, constant wail, indicating that they were on their last thirty seconds of air.
This would be close. She pounded away at the light board. She was nearly there.
Just a bit more.
Their breathers clicked off as she hit the final button.
The decontamination filter whirled to life.
There was a loud boom as the fan kicked on. It sucked the air up toward the ceiling vents. The suction was so intense that Arden felt the pull on her body. She grabbed the console and Dade’s hand simultaneously, holding them in place. Dade reached forward and also grabbed the console. In the next minute they were both lifted off their feet.
One second, two seconds, ten seconds. Her lungs burned. She wanted to release her breath, draw in some new air, and fill her lungs. Her eyes watered. The strain from hanging on and not being able to breathe made her muscles shake. Her fingers began to slip. Arden gripped harder, fighting against the strain.
Around them, boxes flew through the air. Breaking open, their contents becoming flying missiles. Arden tucked her head between her outstretched arms, trying to protect herself from being knocked out.
Finally the decontamination filter kicked off. Everything crashed to the ground. Arden fell, her body crumpled. She pulled out her air-breather and panted in a series of deep breaths.
Dade took out his air-breather as well, and after he got his breath back, he grinned at her. He was sexy in the devil mask. It made his jaw look even more chiseled. “That was close.”
Arden snorted. They hadn’t loaded the VitD yet, and she was already exhausted.
She checked the time. They had less than a half hour till their appointed meet time with Saben. It would be cutting it close.
“Let’s get to work.” Dade stepped around the debris and made his way to the bay door.
They opened it and moved the hoversled inside.
Loading the boxes was tedious and backbreaking. Though physically exhausted, she pushed herself on, arms shaking with fatigue. They needed to get as much VitD as possible. Arden was determined to keep working, even though her lungs burned and her body protested.
Dade showed no signs of tiring, lifting without pause. She refused to look his way and get distracted.
Once the hoversled was loaded, they took a black tarp and covered the top. It would blend with the other hoversleds moving through the city. There would be cams that could track them, but at least it gave them a fighting chance of getting lost in the streets.
They were late. Hopefully Saben would still be at their designated spot. He’d take the hoversled to convene with the others who would pick up the merchandise and act as the middleman. The boxes of VitD would be broken down onto smaller hoversleds, which would then travel to other meeting places, only to be broken down again. From there, they’d be delivered to the hospitals and child centers Dade had advised. And, of course, the men and women who’d made a deal with Saben to deliver them would take a cut off the top as payment.
“Now there’re two Ghosts?” The words were chilly, spoken in a deep, cruel voice. “How fortunate that you came together. Now I can kill the both of you and be done with this.”
Arden’s body seized. Then she turned. Her body felt like it was not hers, the sensation like that of an out-of-body experience.
There, standing in the aisle, was Uri. He had a phaser in his hand, aimed at her and Dade. His expression was thunderous. She saw the hatred in his eyes.
It felt as if she were looking into the face of a stranger. He appeared worn, ragged, more so than the last time she’d seen him. Being in charge hadn’t done him any favors. She could have told him that would happen. That the weight of power usually crushed, especially when one was without friends or apparent loyalty.
Mariah stood behind him. She hung back, her eyes wide. She too had a phaser in her hand.
Arden hadn’t heard them come in. They’d gotten the drop on her, and later she’d flail herself for it. For now, though, she didn’t feel fear. There was no place inside her spooling pit of anger for that.
She didn’t want this confrontation here, not now. There would be better times, after she slowly stripped away his life. Yet she couldn’t waste this opportunity to at least taunt him a bit.
She took a step closer to Uri. Her hand reached up, and she ripped off her mask. Perhaps exposing herself was a dumb move. But she needed to. If she was going to destroy him, she wanted him to know why. Who was behind it. So that when he suffered, he could do nothing but think of her.
Uri’s eyebrows rose. “Arden?”
“You betrayed us.” Her body vibrated with pent-up rage that needed to escape. It stretched inside her, making her ache. “How could you do it?”
She didn’t expect an answer, and he didn’t give one, his only response the uptick of one corner of his mouth.
“From now until you die, I’ll make every moment of your life miserable,” she promised.
Dade moved then, his foot kicking the phaser out of Mariah’s hand.
Arden didn’t bother to reach for her own phaser. This was about her anger and aggression. Giving in to the need to feel the physical connection of pain. She got the first hit in, a solid punch to Uri’s mouth followed by her arm knocking his phaser loose. It went flying with a clatter against the stone floor.
Uri returned the hit. Landing his blow against Arden’s nose and mouth. She felt his knuckles connect. Felt the solidness of it and the bite as her skin separated. Blood filled her mouth. Her head snapped to the side, moving with the punch to lessen the impact.
Arden didn’t have the strength he did, but she was smarter, faster. Skills she could use against him. She let the blow flow through her, already swinging her body around, her foot coming up. She kicked her boot into the side of his face and sent him flying.
Bloodthirst got the better of her. She pulled her phaser, aiming it at the center of Uri’s chest.
“Arden, stop,” Mariah screamed.
“Arden.” Dade’s voice was calmer, but it still had an edge to it. “Let’s go.”
Lowering her phaser a couple feet, Arden shot Uri in the leg. She wanted to end him even though it wasn’t the best move. If she wanted to control Lasair, it had to be a public fight. Though not necessarily fair. Otherwise her former gang wouldn’t accept her as its leader. She’d need support from the inside to pull this off.
Uri screamed as the blast shot through him, much to Arden’s satisfaction.
“Arden,” Dade said, repeating her name, softer this time. He held Mariah, choking off her air, his arm around her throat. His other hand pressed his phaser to her temple. “You don’t want to kill him.”
Mariah stopped fighting him. She stared at Uri, then turned her gaze to Arden. Tears streaked her cheeks, but she didn’t beg for their lives.
Arden wished she would. Then at least she wouldn’t feel the sour pit in her stomach as she made the decision she knew she had to.
She spoke directly to Uri. “I want you to suffer. I’ll do everything in my power to see it happens.”
Then she spat a wad of blood at his feet.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Dade sat at the glass table in the command center. Before him the vid-projector flickered, and he swallowed his frustration as he watched it. The meeting had already been scheduled, but dealing with the message that played had been a last-minute addition to the agenda. It was not something anyone in the room took lightly.
W
ell, besides Arden.
She sat beside him, doing nothing to temper the smug look on her face. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she leaned back in her chair indolently. Her feet were perched on the table beside her own personal hologram feed.
The room was silent as they watched the vid. The feed wavered, making the image crack and spit. It was clear how much damage Arden had done to Uri’s face in the hologram. Half his face looked distorted, swollen, and broken. The contrast and the hollowness of the laser projection probably made it look even worse than it was.
Uri’s expression was menacing. And though the vid was distorted, the vibration of his body came through with visual clarity. They’d pissed him off well and good. That hadn’t been precisely Dade’s plan, though it obviously had been Arden’s.
“I want my stolen VitD.” His lips were thin, curled over his teeth when he spoke. The entirety of the vid had been a venom-soaked rant. “And I want Arden’s head. If I don’t get both within five days, I will declare war on you, Mina, and everyone who works for you.”
The vid abruptly ended.
Inside the room, the atmosphere had risen to uncomfortable levels. Everyone was angry, though they all wore it differently.
Mina stood at the head of the table. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She’d paced during the feed, clearly upset and barely holding her agitation in check. The clearheaded frustration of a leader, even as she shot looks at Arden that promised a bloody beating.
Nastasia was imperious. Roan, seething. Coco was somewhere between frustrated and awestruck that Dade and Arden had pulled off a job of such a large scale right beneath their noses. While Annem looked sad but thoughtful.
Then there was Niall, who had been invited to the meeting because apparently he was going with them to break into the CRC. He too was pissed, but it looked like his anger wasn’t focused on Arden. No, his rage was directed at the vid, at Uri. He could barely stay seated as he watched.
Dade didn’t know what to make of Niall. He’d stayed in lockdown since they’d rescued him a few days ago. Dade didn’t know if he was even recovered enough to do the job. Niall still had bruises, and his hands still shook at times.
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