An alarm screeched overhead, and a red light flashed. Arlo halted his bike and spun around toward the exit. Someone was trying to break in.
JUNIPER SCOWLED AT the blank wall in front of her. She’d double-checked the readings on her handheld location scanner. This was the place. She was sure of it. Or was it? There was electronic activity around here somewhere, but its location kept scrambling. This was the third alley she’d tried. Every time Juniper failed to find the location of the Ember brothers’ base, she put herself at risk of being discovered by the State.
Every damn alley she’d tried looked the same. Juniper remembered coming here. She was so sure this was the right place. She let out a frustrated sigh. Or maybe not. She’d been inside the back of a Cobra when they’d first come here and had only ventured out once during her short stay. Maybe they’d moved on since then. They might need to shift location regularly to stay under State radar.
She shook the scanner in her hand. This out-of-date piece of junk must be malfunctioning. Juniper ran her fingers over the blank wall again, the mortar crumbling under her touch. There was no way in. She’d need to try another location. Or give up. But there was nowhere else to go.
The sound of scuffling had Juniper spinning around, her gun already drawn. It was nothing more than falling trash sliding onto the damp ground. Her scowl deepened as she kicked aside the trash, but she kept her gun out.
Juniper’s stomach grumbled, reminding her she’d been searching for the bunker all day and hadn’t eaten. Plus, she’d had to make two desperate dashes away from State militia when a drone had picked up on her snooping around. There was no way she would get caught by the State. If that happened, she’d be dead. As a dragon hybrid, she’d be shipped off to some testing center or more likely killed on sight. Juniper had seen it happen to too many of her friends. She was determined that wouldn’t happen to her.
Tucking the ends of her purple-streaked hair under the black cap she wore, Juniper did a final check of the alleyway. The ground was littered with open bags of trash. There was definitely nothing here. Despite all the time she’d wasted looking for the Ember brothers, she had a grudging admiration for how well they’d hidden.
When she’d first heard about what they were trying to do—bring down the State and bring the dragons back, she’d laughed. The State were too powerful. They crushed any dissenters and had a particular hatred for dragon hybrids. Although, more recently, they’d been manipulating hybrid abilities, testing them, breeding from them. To do what, she hadn’t a clue. But she’d rather burn herself out with a fireball than be captured and manipulated like that.
The first time she’d met Arlo and his brothers in the Badlands, she’d been suspicious of their motives. How could a handful of dissenters stand any chance against the power of the State? But as she’d gotten to know them and seen them in action, her mind had changed. These guys were dedicated to what they believed in. She got the impression they wouldn’t stop fighting until they succeeded.
Juniper had attempted to join them and stay at the base, to fit in with what they did. It had been a failure. She’d felt penned in. Trapped by the walls and the rules. She was so used to having things her own way, following no orders other than her own. It had been too much too soon. She hadn’t liked sneaking out in the middle of the night, but couldn’t face all the questions. And she knew there’d be plenty of questions from Arlo if she’d told him what she’d been planning.
That guy was made of explosives and heat. She’d never met anyone like him before. He had a dangerous gleam in his eyes and a way with explosives that took her breath away. He was fearless and possibly a little crazy. Arlo loved anything that went bang. He lived to destroy. But his unswerving dedication to his brothers and the cause he fought for was endearing. And he was funny. And smart. Juniper loved those qualities. He’d even been able to make her laugh a few times. That was unusual.
But she had to look after herself. Juniper couldn’t stay in the bunker just because she got along with Arlo. She’d dismissed the thoughts in her head that it had been more than friendship between them. He saw her as too young. She’d just turned twenty-one. Arlo was older than her by six years. She didn’t feel young, though. Juniper felt as if she’d seen several lifetimes of devastation and destruction while in the Badlands. Not that there were any Badlands to live in anymore. Not after what the State had done, blowing the hell out of anything that moved there.
She’d gotten a message from Arlo a couple of months ago inviting her back to the base. She didn’t dismiss it, but she liked her way of life, liked having to report to no one. Then the State bombs fell, and the volcanoes went crazy, and she’d had no choice but to leave.
And Juniper was glad she had. As she’d sped out of the Badlands, owning nothing more than the bike between her legs and a backpack full of possessions, she’d seen the carnage the State had caused. Not only had they dropped their bombs, the roads had been littered with the ravished carcasses of the last remaining residents. The mutant beasts the State seemed to control had been set free to attack anyone who tried to get away. She’d been grateful her bike was fast and reliable. If it had broken down, that would have been the end of her. It had been time to go. Time to go or die.
Now she was here and couldn’t find Arlo. This was a dumb waste of time. If she stayed out in the open any longer, she’d get picked up by the State. This ridiculous mission would have been for nothing.
Juniper stiffened as she caught a flash of movement at the end of the alleyway. She raised her pulse laser gun. Her eyes widened as she spotted two people dressed in black. They had their weapons aimed at her.
Her pulse raced, and the scales on her arms heated. But it wasn’t with anger. She inhaled deeply. Juniper recognized the scent of one of the men in black. It was Arlo. She’d been right all along; he was still here.
She raised her hands slowly, her gun facing away from them. Just as she did so, a blast from a laser gun slammed into her shoulder and she smashed back into the wall.
Arlo is available now – click here to continue your adventure
Lincoln (sci-fi romance - The Ember Quest Book 3) Page 24