by L. L. Raand
“Let’s go down the stairs by the elevator and work our way around the core,” Jody said. “Someone must know the perimeter has been breached by now, even if they’re monitoring remotely. We don’t have much time.”
“They’ve clearly abandoned this installation. Maybe they expected us to return,” Niki said.
“Or hoped we would,” Sylvan growled. She couldn’t believe Katya and Gray had been mere pawns in some elaborate trap to draw her out, but she couldn’t discount the possibility.
“Ten minutes,” Jody said, “and then we need to abort. Becca thinks there are three more wings mirroring the ones we know about.”
“Then we need to hurry,” Sylvan said as Lara and Rafaela came around the corner and joined Jody.
Lara tapped her fist to her chest in salute. “The stairwells are clear, Liege, as are the other wings on this level.”
“We’re going down to search the underground labs,” Jody said to Lara. “You’re with me. Post Rafe and Louis to secure the exits.”
“Yes, Liege.” Lara turned to Rafe, her gaze passing over Niki without a pause. “Post Louis outside. You coordinate interior coverage with the Were.”
“Yes, Warlord,” Rafe said, spinning to face Niki. She grinned. “Try to stay out of the way of any bullets, Wolf.”
“Don’t worry about me, Vampire,” Niki rumbled. “Just watch your back. I’ll worry about my Alpha.” She pointed to the fire door to the right of the elevators. “Last night their forces set up cross fire from in there. Be careful.”
Rafe nodded, her amused expression growing sharp and hard. “We will. One-minute security checks?”
“Roger,” Niki said, pulling the two-way from her pants pocket.
“If we’re not back in ten minutes,” Sylvan said to Niki, “take Drake back to the Compound. We’ll make our own way home.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Sylvan and Jody started down the stairwell and Jody glanced at Sylvan. “Do you still think this is a trap?”
“I know it is. Even if this installation is marked for deactivation, someone should be here.”
“Why bother looking, then?”
“I think you were the one who mentioned earlier that it’s a bad idea to base decisions on appearances. We won’t get another chance to search this place.” Sylvan paused at the door to the lower level and listened. Nothing. She pushed through and surveyed another long, dim, empty corridor. “I’m not even sure who the target is here. After all, it was your consort who received the call. Maybe you’re the one they’re interested in luring out.”
“With the threat of imprisoned Weres?” Jody smiled grimly. “A convoluted plan at best.”
Sylvan said, “You don’t need to stay, Vampire. You made the initial pass and cleared the way for us. No need to risk yourself or your soldiers.”
Jody’s mouth lifted slightly. “As one, remember, Alpha?”
“Then let’s get this done. I want to get back outside. This place is like a tomb.”
Jody laughed. “I was thinking I rather liked it.”
*
“Prima,” Dasha said, pointing to the woods behind them, “the wind shifted. I scent someone.”
“What do you think it is?” Drake asked, her attention riveted on the building. Sylvan had been gone almost ten minutes. With every passing minute, the foreboding pressure in her chest grew. She expected to see a caravan of Humvees filled with armed mercenaries converging on the installation any second.
“At least one human, on that ridge above us,” Dasha said.
“Find them, bring them back.”
“The Alpha said I was not to leave you.”
“The Alpha isn’t here right now,” Drake said sharply. She understood the ingrained, immutable instinct to act upon the Alpha’s commands, but she needed the Weres to obey her in Sylvan’s absence. They could not question or hesitate. Lives might depend upon it. “You have your orders. Find him.”
“Yes, Prima.” Dasha’s smile in the moonlight was feral.
“Alive, Dasha…and able to talk.”
Dasha growled. “They tortured Katya and Gray.”
“I know. That’s why I want to know the names of everyone involved. One death will not be enough.”
Dasha glanced toward the building and back to Drake. “The Alpha will be upset if I don’t stay here.”
“The Alpha is my concern.” Drake softened her words. The wolves would adjust to the new order in the Pack in time, but time was something they didn’t have with Sylvan in the field, in possible danger. “Go now, before we lose him.”
“I won’t be long.”
“Do what you have to do, and, Dasha—”
“Yes, Prima?”
“Be careful.”
Dasha shifted, and her sleek brown wolf bounded soundlessly into the forest. Drake scanned the road leading down from the mountain on the far side of the installation. She might have been looking out over a ghost town. She checked her watch. She’d give Sylvan another three minutes and then she was going in after her.
*
“Lara,” Jody said, “clear this wing.”
“Yes, Liege.”
Lara disappeared so quickly Sylvan almost blinked in surprise. She’d gotten so used to Lara being at her side—as she’d grown up, as she’d assumed the mantle of power, as she’d faced her enemies, public and private. Lara had been with her, as Niki had been with her, unchanging, unchangeable. And now she was gone. Not just from sight, with the uncanny speed of the Vampires, but gone from Sylvan’s life, leaving aching loss.
“She needs this,” Jody said, as if reading her mind. “Without purpose, she would be dangerous. I cannot allow Vampires to exist who might threaten all of us.”
“I could have given her purpose,” Sylvan said.
“But not control her—not now.”
Sylvan couldn’t disagree, and it rankled that she had to concede power to anyone. But if she had to entrust one of her wolves to someone outside her Pack, she’d choose this Vampire. “Just take care of her.”
Jody laughed. “Always so concerned.”
Sylvan growled, checking the rooms they passed. Laboratory benches, most of them still holding equipment, with obvious gaps where some had been removed. Desks with books still on them. Trash bins waiting to be emptied. It was as if the people who populated this building simply got up and walked out in the middle of whatever they were doing. Maybe they had. Maybe there’d been a biological breach or a chemical spill. Maybe there’d been a viral contamination. If that were the case, the safety gates recessed in the ceiling at regular intervals should have come down, isolating the areas at risk. Some of these labs had to be Level 3 and 4 labs. They would have been the first to be locked down if there’d been an industrial catastrophe, but all of the pressurized portals appeared to be functional. None were locked.
“It’s as if everyone was ordered to evacuate, but nothing seems to be wrong.”
Lara appeared beside them. “This wing is clear, but I think there’s another area beyond this one.” She pointed to a solid metal barrier that blocked the far end of the corridor. A retinal sensor on the wall next to it appeared dark—inactive. “Behind there, I scent Were.”
Sylvan charged to the door, pressed her hand against it. Sniffed the air. She sensed nothing. She stretched her awareness, felt Niki floors above her, Andrew, Jace, and Jonathan outside. In the distance, Drake and Dasha. But nothing inside. Nothing beyond the cold metal. “I don’t scent anyone.”
“They’re there,” Lara said. “The spoor is clear.”
“How can you tell if I can’t?”
“I don’t know,” Lara said, “but somewhere beyond that barricade, there are other Weres.”
Jody said, “There may be silver residual in the air or the walls. Lara’s Vampire blood may give her resistance to it.”
Sylvan nodded. Another unexpected change in Lara’s abilities. No time to consider what that meant. “We need to get in there.”
�
��There might be a way to trigger the sensor if we can activate it,” Lara said.
“We don’t have time.” Sylvan drove her clawed fist into the metal. The barricade buckled but did not give. With a roar, she struck again and again until a rent appeared big enough for her hand. She tore the door from its frame, the metal peeling down like the lid of a tin can. Beyond the shredded gateway, darkness beckoned.
*
A faint ripple in the air alerted Drake to movement in the underbrush behind her. Dasha returning—with a human. She smelled blood and fear and watched Dasha drag a human male in camo fatigues and dark boots from the forest. Dasha pushed him down on his knees in front of Drake. About thirty, big, but not fat. Nothing remarkable about his shaggy brown hair. The skin above his unshaven chin was faintly pock-marked and smudged with dirt and sweat. Blood seeped from scrapes on his left cheek and jawline. He appeared to be otherwise undamaged. Well done, Lieutenant.
“He says he has information,” Dasha said, her wolf still ascendant. Her long canines and heavy jaw made her words thick and gravelly. “So I didn’t kill him right away.”
“Who are you?” Drake asked. “Tell me now why I shouldn’t let my wolf finish what she started.”
“My name is Martin. I’m the reason you’re here.”
*
“Wait,” Lara said before Sylvan could step through into the murky hallway. “Let me go first.”
“No,” Sylvan said. “If there are Weres here, they are my responsibility now.”
“And if it’s warded with silver, you’ll be useless to them.”
Sylvan snarled.
“Stop!” Jody tilted her head, listening. “Rafe has found something. She’s on her way down.”
Rafe appeared behind Jody, her face tense. “I searched the elevator shafts to be sure no one could circle behind you. This entire complex is cantilevered off that central core, like spokes on a wheel, and the core is packed with explosives.”
“Did you find detonators?” Sylvan asked.
“No. They’re probably set for remote detonation.”
Sylvan glanced over her shoulder into the catacomb on the other side of the opening. “Two minutes.” She vaulted over the door, telegraphing Niki, Find Drake, get her back over the mountain. Do it now.
Lara followed. Together, they loped down a narrow passageway. The only light filtered in from behind them, but Sylvan had no trouble seeing in the dark. “How many?”
Lara frowned. “I can’t tell. There’s something off. Their signatures are all wrong.”
“Maybe they’re not Weres.”
“No, they are. But—not.”
“Dead?”
“No,” Lara said. “Not all of them.”
At the end of the tunnel, they found another barrier like the one they’d just come through. Lara ripped it free, wrenching it so far off its hinges the door clattered against the opposite wall and spun away like a discarded hubcap.
Sylvan growled at the miasma of scents that accosted them from the dank space. Blood, disease, death. Rows of beds surrounded by monitors along the opposite wall. Most were empty, but not all. She held back a howl of rage and fury and strode across the room. The female in the first bed was dead, her body bloated, her features unrecognizable. The two in the beds beside her still lived. Sylvan leaned over them, sniffed. Not Weres. Humans, infected humans.
“Were fever,” Lara said flatly. “We should kill them.”
“Please,” one of the young girls moaned, her face glistening with sweat, her feverish eyes wolf-tinged. “Please help us.”
Sylvan thought of Gray and Katya, chained, tortured, abandoned. Already these girls were part Were, but their chance of surviving was zero. She owed them justice. And mercy.
*
Niki stiffened, struck by a wave of wrath and urgency. Danger. The Alpha was in danger. She raced toward the fire stairs, stumbling when the command rifled into her consciousness.
Find Drake, get her back over the mountain. Do it now.
She took one step toward the stairwell, driven to find Sylvan, to protect her. Find Drake. Get her back over the mountain. Do it now. She whined deep in her chest, torn by loyalty and love. Abandoning Sylvan went against everything she was. But obeying Sylvan, especially in this, defined everything she believed in. She spun around and charged toward the exit. As she reached for the door, it opened and Drake barged inside.
“What’s happening? I felt Sylvan. She’s in trouble.”
“We need to leave.” Niki grasped Drake’s arm and pushed her toward the exit.
“I’m not leaving her.” Drake pulled away. “Where is she?”
“The Alpha ordered—”
Drake grabbed Niki by the shirtfront. “Don’t make me repeat this. Where is she?”
“Downstairs. I don’t know what’s happening, but there’s danger. Prima—the Alpha can take care of herself. You have another duty.”
“She’s my mate.” Drake twisted her fist in Niki’s shirt, her face morphing, her dark eyes splintering with golden shards. “Show me the way.”
A tremendous explosion rocked the floor beneath Niki’s feet and she fell to her knees. Drake dropped beside her. The elevator shaft exploded into a fountain of flame, littering the hallway with burning shards of glass and metal. Her ears rang as thunder rolled down the hallway, battering her senses. She shielded Drake as best she could from the flames lapping along the walls. Rafe staggered out of the stairwell, her shirt on fire. She tore off the flaming material. Her face was scorched, the skin on her chest bubbling and crusting even where the shirt hadn’t burned. She gasped, “UV radiation.”
Niki staggered to her feet as Drake pulled herself up along the wall.
“Where?” Drake coughed. “Where are they?”
Rafe shook her head. “Somewhere behind me—underneath us. If these floors collapse—”
Drake started forward and Niki gripped her arm. “No, Prima.”
“Let me go,” Drake snarled.
Niki yelled, “Help me get her outside!”
Rafe grabbed Drake’s free arm, and together, they dragged Drake snarling and thrashing from the inferno.
Chapter Eighteen
The building shuddered and the floor heaved under Sylvan’s feet. Chunks of tile, shards of metal, and flaming wood rained down. Sylvan pulled the girl from the bed, sheltered her against her chest, and yelled to Lara, “Get the other one.”
Without waiting to see if her order was followed, she sprinted toward the jagged opening Lara had made in the security barrier and leapt through. The hallway glowed red and a rush of heat struck her in the face. At the far end of the corridor tongues of fire lashed out of the stairwell, licking at the walls and floors. Portions of the ceiling had collapsed, and the piles of rubble formed a partial firewall, probably saving them from instant immolation. Jody slumped on the floor, her face and hands charred.
Sylvan knelt beside her. “Jody. Jody, how bad?”
“Feels like a walk in the sun. Weak. Burning inside.” Jody coughed and pushed herself up.
Lara said from behind Sylvan, “The explosives were either laced with UV emittors or the blast triggered a radiation surge from somewhere in the building. I’ll carry her—I’m not affected.”
Sylvan glanced up at her. Lara’s bronzed skin was smooth and whole, unburned. Jody’s flesh blistered more with each passing second. “Give me that one,” Sylvan said, indicating the unconscious human in Lara’s arms. “You take your Liege.”
“No,” Jody said. “We can’t get out the way we came in, but if you shift, your wolf might be able to.”
“I’m not leaving you down here.” Sylvan tightened her hold on the girl in her arms. “Or them. There has to be another way out. They would need to bring in supplies, equipment, and these girls without coming through the main complex. We need to find it.”
“Then I’ll walk,” Jody said. “Rafe was in the stairwell when it collapsed. She might have made it out.”
“So wil
l we,” Sylvan said. She wasn’t dying down here, far from Drake, from her young. Her Pack needed her, and so did these half-Weres left behind to be incinerated. She’d find who did this. “Let’s get out of this corridor. The walls of that lab may shield you from the radiation. Lara, go ahead of us and search for an exit.”
Lara picked up the human, her attention on Jody. “Liege?”
“Go,” Jody said.
“Can you make it?” Sylvan asked. Blood streaked down Jody’s neck and soaked her shirt.
“I’ll make it.”
“You can heal this, can’t you?”
“Not as long as I’m still in the radiation field.”
“What if you feed now?”
“Are you offering?”
Sylvan grinned. “One-time deal.”
Jody sucked in a shuddering breath. “I might take you up on it, but we need to get out of here first.”
Sylvan led the way back into the cavernous room, following Lara’s scent deeper into the underground labyrinth. The lights had gone out with the explosion, and the air was thick with smoke and particulate debris. Visibility was almost zero. Behind her, she heard Jody stumble through the piles of wreckage. From what she knew, UV radiation exposure to a Vampire was equivalent to walking into the sun, and since Jody was newly Risen, her system was especially sensitive. The burns on the outside were just a reflection of the internal damage. Her cells were leeching oxygen, she was suffocating, and her tissues were dying. She needed healthy blood soon.
“Jody—just take a minute to—”
“No,” Jody rasped. “I’m not going to be locked for eternity down here with you. Keep going.”
“Good point,” Sylvan muttered. Her respect for the stubborn Vampire tripled. Her lungs burned and her legs trembled. Silver in the air. “I’m not feeding you for the next millennium.”
The girl in Sylvan’s arms moaned. “Who are you?” she whispered brokenly against Sylvan’s throat.
“I’m your Alpha,” Sylvan murmured.