by Lucy Smoke
“That would be me,” I say. “Climber of death, right here.”
“Great,” she says. “Glad it’s not me. Good luck.” With that, she motions for Levi to follow her and then heads back out into the hallway. The two enforcers who had followed Vincent in, turn to follow her as well.
I glance at Vincent when they are all out of sight. Vincent sighs and shakes his head. “It’s difficult trying to control her,” he says. “But she really is one of the best enforcers Tartarus has ever had.”
“I never even knew women could apply to be enforcers. It’s dangerous.”
Vincent nods. “More so here. She’s a hellion, though, Tilde. She and Penelope have become good friends, so there’s no getting rid of her now, anyway.”
At the mention of Penelope, I want to ask him what exactly got her exiled to Tartarus, but I suspect it’s a touchy subject and I definitely don’t want to piss off the man whose power reaches even above the Chief of Enforcement.
“Alright,” Noaz says, turning around in his chair. He stands up grabbing a pebble sized, piece of dark colored tech from the table and hands it to me. “Thayer and Aaron are meeting up with Levi and Tilde. Haze is en route to pick you up. Put this in your ear.”
I frown, but do as he says, wiggling the little piece of metal in my ear. Like headphones, it has an elastic, plastic piece that allows it to stay in. Noaz turns back to his desk and rummages through the piles of similar tech objects. He extracts a tiny square and peels a clear piece off the back of it.
“Raise your arms,” he commands. I do, but when he goes to lift my shirt, I let out a startled yelp and yank them back down.
“What are you doing?!” I snap.
He sighs before waving the square in my face. “This is a tracking device. Everyone else already has one,” he explains. “You need one too.”
“Where are you going to put that thing?” I demand.
Noaz rolls his eyes before bending down to lift my shirt again. I squeal as he presses the sticky side of the metal tracking device against my hip. It’s hidden by my underwear and pants.
“There, now,” he says with a smirk. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Vincent chuckles behind us as my cheeks heat. “Why didn’t you just tell me where you were putting it?” I huff.
Noaz shrugs. “What would be the fun in that?”
“You two are lucky this room is insulated and soundproof,” Vincent says as someone knocks on the door.
I continue to shoot daggers at Noaz when Haze steps into the room, clad in all black as well, with an equally inconspicuous colored backpack hanging over his shoulders. The loose sandy strands of his hair at the top are slicked back close to his head. His angular jaw tilts in my direction as he takes me in. He examines me and apparently finds me suitable because he turns to Vincent. “Tilde is waiting on your signal,” he says. Vincent nods and leaves. Haze turns to Noaz. “Is she equipped with everything she needs?” he asks.
“I’m standing right here,” I say.
Haze looks at me. “I can see that. I’m simply making sure he’s given you everything you need.”
“Oh.” I thought he was ignoring me or something. He seems quiet, hyper-focused. I mistook it for irritation. Maybe this is how he always is on a mission.
“Ready to go?” he asks.
I take a deep breath, looking down at myself. Boots, check. Dark clothes, check. Soul crushing defeat and fear, double check. “Yep,” I say. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Then let’s get over to the neighboring building and head up to the roof.” Haze holds his hand out and I take it gratefully. If I’m to get through the rest of this night, I’ll need his strength.
We head out and over to the building across the street next to the Tanks’ pod complex. I suspect that Haze continues to hold my hand to give the illusion that we’re a couple heading home. I worry over how obvious we must look in our dark clothes, but it doesn’t matter because as we pass by the Tanks’ pod complex there isn’t a soul outside. I go to pull away from Haze’s hand, but he grips mine harder, leaning down to whisper close to my ear—the one not blocked by Noaz’s tech.
“They could have cameras watching the exterior,” he warns.
Not wanting to give ourselves away, I don’t reply or nod my understanding. We reach the front doors of the building next door and Haze swipes a card that I assume he got from Noaz. The light for the locking mechanism blinks green to let us in. Haze doesn’t even look towards the elevators. We take the stairs two at a time. My phobia has given me one thing at least, killer legs.
When the top landing comes into view, Haze slows down and puts a hand out to stop me. I wait on the stairs as he creeps toward the door to the rooftop. He slides the card once along the side, waiting. The locking mechanism on this door doesn’t so much as flicker red.
“Shit,” I hear Haze curse under his breath. He leans down and presses something inside the collar of his shirt. I jump as static erupts in my ear.
“We’re locked in at the roof,” Haze’s voice filters through the stairwell as well as in the tech comm unit in my ear.
“Working on it,” I hear Noaz reply.
We wait for several more minutes until Haze huffs and presses into his collar again. “What’s taking so long?”
“It’s complicated,” Noaz shoots back unperturbed. “The company’s building that we’re using has had issues with people up on the rooftop. They had an employee commit suicide up there, so they’ve doubled up security for it.”
“Great,” I moan.
“Don’t worry, I’ve almost cracked it.” As soon as he says ‘it’, a green light flashes over the locking mechanism and Haze slams down on the handle, stepping out onto the rooftop. I follow him.
“Going comm silent,” Haze says with his fingers still on the inside of his collar. He pulls them away and takes my hand again, leading me towards the edge of the roof closest to the pod complex.
“What if they do have exterior cameras?” I ask. “Won’t they be able to see us?”
Haze’s eyes sharpen on mine and using his grip on my hand, he turns us so that he’s backing me into the lower half wall that surrounds the top of the roof to keep people from just going over the edge. My heart thuds in my ears as I hold back a gasp.
“W-what are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m making sure that whatever they manage to see on their cameras, it’s what we want them to see,” he whispers. Dipping his head to my neck, he slides his backpack off his shoulders and lays it in front of my feet. “Kneel down,” he orders.
I do as he says, my hands going to the zipper on the backpack as his go to my hair. He pulls my hair out of its ponytail, spreading the strands over my shoulders. I shiver as I reach into the backpack and pull out the zip wire rope.
“So, this is a clandestine meeting then?” I whisper, unwinding the rope. His hands trail down grabbing my hands and helping me loosen the rope.
“That’s what they’ll see,” he murmurs. His lips get frighteningly close to my mouth.
“Right,” I say trying not to gasp. Holy hell, these guys are…electric.
“Put your arms around my neck and press your chest against mine,” he orders. “I want to get out the crossbow.” I shiver and drop the rope between us, doing as he asks.
“Crossbow?” I whisper, touching my lips to his cheek. It’s the closest I’m willing to get.
Whatever it takes for Kida, I remind myself.
“A zip wire crossbow,” he affirms, hands searching through the bag as he tilts his head down against my shoulder. Lips brush my neck, sending shock waves through me. “The zipcar companies have more advanced technology to attach their zip wire ropes around to various buildings. This is temporary. We only need it to hold us, not a car full of people.”
I nod my head, my mouth grazing against the underside of his jaw. I like his scent. He smells like strawberries, the rich juicy fruit, and midnight champagne.
“Almost got it,”
he says. I nuzzle against his chin, partially wishing he would hurry and guiltily hoping he takes all night. No, that’s wrong. I shouldn’t want that when I have…
Haze snaps his head up from my neck and slams me forcefully against the half wall, bending me nearly in half. His mouth slides over mine and though I feel something at the small of my back as he presses against me, I’m absorbed in what’s happening to my front. Something jerks against my back—the crossbow I assume—as Haze’s mouth turns ravenous and he opens his mouth against mine.
Guilt swarms me. It isn’t right. No matter how good it feels. I squeeze my eyes closed and Haze finally pulls away. “Are you okay?” he asks. I nod, keeping my eyes closed. First Levi, and now Haze. I know it’s for the mission now, but I’m still wracked with the horrible feeling of being a cheating whore.
“Hey,” Haze says, gripping my chin. “It’s okay, the shot made it. We’re almost done.”
I nod and suck back my tears, opening my eyes. I’ll have to come clean when this is all over. It’s the only way I’ll be able to live with myself.
“You ready?” he asks. I nod again, and he hugs me close, my head over his shoulder as he shoots the other half of the wire into the half wall of this building. He reaches up and presses against the inside of the collar of his shirt again, he must have some sort of honing button attached there.
“Noaz, can you make sure any cameras are jammed for the next ten minutes?”
“On it,” Noaz replies.
I pull away, startled. “Why didn’t you ask him to do that before?” I demand.
“If the cameras are down for five or ten minutes that’s one thing, but any longer and they would be suspicious. I couldn’t ask until the last minute.”
I glare at him, but I can’t fault his logic. It makes sense. We wait to break away from each other until static sounds in our ears again and Noaz says, “All clear.” Haze reaches over the side and tugs the rope to test the tautness. He reaches back into the backpack after making sure it’s suitable and pulls out two harnesses and four metal clips.
“These are going to be attached to the zip wire rope for each hand,” he explains holding the clips in his hands. “Your lower half will want to drop down and hang at first,” he says. “You can’t let it.”
“Do I put this on?” I ask, holding up a harness.
He nods his head. “Go ahead and do that,” he instructs, pulling his own on as well before doing it up and then checking mine. I blush when he checks the crotch straps. “You’re going first, you okay with that?”
“Gotta die sometime,” I reply, nodding.
He frowns before releasing a snort of amusement when he gets my meaning. He shakes his head instructing me to lean over, front to the wire as he attaches it to my harness. “So long as you follow my instructions,” he says, “you’re not gonna die tonight.”
He finishes attaching my harness to the wire before handing me gloves to strap on. I do so, and he then hands me the clips. “I’m going to have you put your feet against this wall and push off. Keep the clips in your hands. If you drop them, you’ll have to use your hands. With the gloves it’s not so bad, but still pretty uncomfortable and it’ll take longer. Do you understand?” he asks.
“Yes.” I nod emphatically.
“Good,” he says. “When you push off, your body is going to rotate—it’s startling, don’t scream.” I nod again and take a deep breath. “Okay, then,” he continues. “After you push off and turn, snap your clips to the rope and then use them to pull yourself to the other side, once you’re already a little over halfway, I’ll follow. We’re on a time limit here, so hurry it up.”
“Got it,” I agree.
“Go ahead and push off,” he orders.
My belly quivers at the thought, but I don’t think, I just do. I press my feet against the wall and shove with all my might, trying to get as far down the rope as I can in one leap. I manage to get myself a fifth of the way at least. It feels odd falling attached to something, but as my body turns like Haze warned me it would, it jerks against the zip wire rope, holding steady. Thank God for small favors and Haze’s skill with climbing shit.
I snap the clips he gave me to the zip wire rope and start to pull myself across. It strains my muscles, pulling against them. Huffing, I yank hard and manage to slide myself another fifth of the way, but I lose my clips.
“Dammit,” I gasp, hands gripping the rope.
“Are you okay?” Haze asks. I duck down, looking under me as best I can. He’s already on the rope, slowly edging his way towards me.
“I lost my clips,” I whisper call back.
“That’s okay,” he replies. “Just use your hands, the gloves should protect your skin from any burn.”
I nod and realize he can’t see that. “Got it,” I call back.
Gripping the rope, I pull harder. Already over halfway there, the second part of this climb-pulling experience seems to take excruciatingly longer than before. Breathing heavily, I manage to hit the other building. This time, it’s not the rooftop, but an exterior balcony half wall. I reach for the railing and using the last of the strength in my shaking muscles, I pull myself back until I’m facing the ground again, something I hadn’t looked at before. It was a good thing I hadn’t. It’s over ten stories down.
My thighs hit the wall and my knees and lower legs drop down the inside. Once there, I release a breath and reach up to start undoing the straps of my harness keeping me attached to the zip wire rope. Haze is almost to me, so I back up, waiting on the balcony until he gets closer. His brow is wet with sweat when he swings his legs over, similar to the way I had, and unstraps himself.
“Good job,” he commends, dropping his harness next to mine on the balcony floor. I smile at the compliment but don’t reply as he reaches inside his shirt once more. “We’ve made it,” he says to his comm unit. “Heading inside now.”
“Cameras are back up,” Noaz replies. “Be careful.”
Haze takes my hand and pushes up the sleeve of my shirt revealing my wrist scanner. With a smirk, he rolls up his own sleeve and reveals a similar model. He presses them together and then starts tapping furiously at the miniature screens.
“Okay,” he whispers. “I’ve linked us up and shared the blueprints and layout of the building.”
I pull it up on my scanner as he talks. “What exactly is the plan for us?” I ask.
Haze levels me with a serious look. “We infiltrate, find the target, and determine from there.”
“What do you mean, determine from there?” I narrow my gaze. “If we find Kida, we’re getting her out of here.”
He shakes his head. “If it’s feasible tonight, then yes. If it’s too dangerous, we fall back and wait for further instructions.” I suck in a breath, but before I can lead into a tirade, Haze grasps my arm and squeezes lightly. “We won’t leave her here, Cassie. Vincent wouldn’t do that. But if just the two of us can’t rescue her, there’s a plan set in motion for another team to head for her. We’re simply getting the information and if we have the opportunity to grab her, we will.”
I release my breath and nod. “I’m sorry,” I say. “We just…I have to get her out of here.” Haze looks at me strangely, brows puckered and lips frowning. “What?” I ask.
“You seem to be extremely close with Vincent’s goddaughter,” he says.
“She’s my–”
“Yes, I know she’s your best friend,” he interrupts.
“It’s more than that,” I say.
He sighs, releasing my arm and backing away. “It seems as though you’re so close with Kida that you ignore anyone and everyone else.”
“There is no one else,” I reply, confused.
“Exactly,” he says. “That’s what I mean. You’re so focused on your friend that you don’t have anyone else. You push other people away. You don’t have any friends.”
For a moment, I’m stunned. I had thought that we were friends or becoming friends at least. Haze catches my h
urt expression and when I go to turn away from him, he doesn’t let me. He corners me against the balcony railing, both hands coming down hard on either side of me.
“I don’t mean that you aren’t making friends now,” he corrects himself, tipping my chin up when I try to keep my gaze averted. He grips it hard when I try to yank it out of his hand. So, instead of blissful avoidance, I’m left glaring at the douchebag with unfiltered irritation.
He sighs. “Think about it,” he urges. “Before you met me, who did you talk to?” Before I can open my mouth, he answers for me. “Kida, you talked to Kida. You live with Kida. You work with Kida.” He releases my chin and backs up. “I don’t know how Kida is with you, but according to Vincent, she’s been disappearing regularly more and more lately—before this all happened. She’s been ignoring her family in favor of you, I suspect. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,” he quickly explains when I frown at him. “I think you just need to look into why you may be so dependent on each other.”
“We’re not,” I say.
He sighs and, with a shrug, turns away. “Whatever you say,” he replies. I growl in frustration, wanting so badly to punch him in his face. I take another step forward to do just that when he closes the distance between him and the balcony doors leading inside and says, “We need to get going.”
Why is everyone questioning my relationship with Kida? I ask myself as Haze and I covertly move through the dark hallways of the upper floors in the Tanks pod complex. It’s not like she and I are completely alone in the world. She has Vincent if she needs him. It’s not just her and me. I know that wouldn’t be healthy…
I know Haze isn’t intentionally trying to be cruel and neither are the others—not Thayer nor Levi. But they can’t really understand me or even Kida without knowing us, and they don’t yet. I want them to, eventually. My thoughts spiral into their observations and warnings. I didn’t even know that Kida was pulling away from Vincent. I know Haze isn’t suggesting that it’s my fault, but now I feel like it might be.