“No, I’m here.”
Her voice as strong and clear as ever, Beth walked around from behind Darr, long blonde curls piled on top of her head. Her eyes were dark with liner, accentuating her alabaster skin and giving her face a surreal appearance.
Darr jerked his head in Sawyer’s direction. “He killed Marks.”
Beth stopped at Darr’s side, her hand resting lightly on a pistol holstered at her hip. Her face was blank, devoid of recognition, but her voice was rich with hatred. “You want to tell us what the fuck you’re doing here before we kill you and throw you all to the rats?” Darr’s hand dropped to the small of Beth’s back as she took a step forward. Were they together?
Her voice was a cold snake down Sawyer’s spine, a direct link to his past and the man he had once been. Now she was looking at him, her gaze burning with a familiar cold fury. If she was in charge here she was their only hope of freedom, unless Garrick and the others produced something out of their hats. Sawyer desperately wanted to scan the higher walkways that rose above his head, but didn’t.
“This one’s trouble.” The red haired man turned and spat on the floor, eyeing Sawyer.
“When I want your opinion, I’ll ask you for it. Now shut the fuck up.” Darr’s tone was sharp and the red haired man lowered his head in deference.
Sawyer ground his teeth, flexing his bound hands behind his back. Unyielding hard plastic bit into his wrists.
Beth took a step closer. “I know this one’s trouble.”
Julia inched forward, her head held high. “We’re here to help.”
“You killed one of my men.” Beth’s voice was level. A statement.
Julia faltered. “It was an accident—”
Sawyer interrupted. “Your man attacked us.” There was nothing to be gained by apologizing. Besides, he wasn’t sorry.
“Your friend doesn’t say much.” Beth gestured at Hardy as she approached him. Hardy grunted and rolled his eyes, rocking on the balls of his feet as Beth walked around him, trailing her hand across the solid expanse of his abdomen.
Sawyer continued, “We wanted to warn you.”
Beth laughed and tilted her head in amusement. “Warn us?”
“There’s a new Chittrix nest. Two of them attacked our base. You should move your people.” Sawyer gestured toward the back of the station where the children huddled. “Especially the children.”
“Damn, you’ve just got so much love to share.” Beth’s eyes widened in sarcastic disbelief.
Darr gave a low throaty growl. “Convenient. You see all this here. Space, light, plants growing, none of it above ground where all the giant insects are crawling around. It’d be mighty handy if we just moved out.” Darr widened his stance. “Just exactly where is this nest?” He tapped the nose of his rifle on Sawyer’s chest armor. Sawyer glanced down at the weapon touching him. He’d let this one pass. He could be different. Be the man Julia thought he was.
“We’ve seen mutated Chittrix, adapted for the water. Two of them attacked our base, and we tracked them here.” Sawyer inclined his head to the pumping station around him.
Darr shook his head, bemused. “So where is this base of yours?”
Sawyer remained silent. Why did doing a good deed have to be so damn difficult?
“Thought so.” Darr grimaced, his tone dry.
“You have children and women here. We’re telling you so you can take them somewhere safe,” Julia repeated.
“I have better things to do than risk my life coming here for a chat.” Sawyer added.
“Yeah, that’s the whole point, pretty boy. We don’t believe you. No one does anything for nothing anymore. Everyone’s out to get one over on everyone else while trying to stay alive. The only people surviving anymore are those who’ve learned the hard way.”
Sawyer’s gaze slid involuntarily to Beth. Darr clocked him.
“You like what you see? Wondering if it’s up for grabs?”
This was a waste of time. Sawyer shifted his feet, exasperated. It was going even worse than he’d anticipated.
Leven poked him in the side with the nose of his pulse rifle. “Don’t look like you’re risking your life. Just looks like you’re snooping around here where you don’t belong.”
“I’m not the threat. The Chittrix are.”
“Chittrix are mostly dead around here. Didn’t you see the primary hive go boom?”
Sawyer stared at Beth, ignoring Leven. “My people destroyed the primary hive, so we’re well aware of that, thanks. There are different ones, swimming in the sewers. We’re sure there is a new hive or nest.”
“He’s lying.” Beth’s voice was slick like honey.
She slid around Darr’s front, running her hand up his bicep. On tiptoe, she whispered in his ear. Sawyer strained, but they were too far away, and the rush of water obscured her words.
His jaw tightened with annoyance, frustration pulsing through him. “Fine. If you don’t want to listen to me, don’t. Give us our weapons, and we’ll go.”
Red haired, freckled-man laughed a wet, throaty rumble.
Darr stared at him. “You think we’re going to let you walk out of here now? Go running back to your people? You’re even more stupid than I thought.” He poked Sawyer in the chest with a calloused finger.
“Maybe you people have things we need?” He fingered the thick, flexible material of Sawyer’s body armor. “What is this shit anyway?” He raised an eyebrow.
Sawyer ignored him. “We already know what you have here. If we wanted what you have, we would have taken it.”
Darr let go of the body armor, his face dark. He jerked his head toward the far corner. “Get them out my sight until we decide what to do with them.”
Leven reached for Sawyer’s restrained arms but Sawyer lunged sideways, toppling the man. He dropped to his knees, his fingers stretching behind him for his knife lodged in Leven’s belt, but Beth was faster, her gun cracking down on the bones of his forearm. Pain lanced up Sawyer’s arm in teeth jarring pulses and he collapsed to his knees, grey flashes blurring his vision.
Iron hands grabbed his shoulders and hauled him to his feet.
Darr.
As soon as Sawyer’s soles connected with the dirty concrete, Darr catapulted him back to the ground with an effortless blow to the jaw.
Sawyer plummeted. Without the protection of his hands, he landed head first, his teeth piercing his tongue. He rolled, sucking in air and swallowing blood, the rough concrete crushing the soft flesh of his ear. Fuck. “There’s a certain irony in this,” Sawyer finally gasped as the pain subsided.
A solid knee connected with the space between his shoulders, pinning him to the ground while soft, female hands locked metal handcuffs around his wrists.
“Just to be on the safe side,” she murmured, her lips hot on his ear.
Beth stepped away and Darr hooked his waistband, dragging him to his feet.
Sawyer heaved in a breath composing himself and spat coppery blood into the dust. He addressed Beth directly. “You’re making a mistake.”
“Enough.” Darr shoved him toward Hardy and Julia, who were being frog-marched in the direction of some crates.
Leven kicked the back of Sawyer’s knees, forcing him to stagger forward to join the others. Sawyer risked a glance over his shoulder at Beth but she already had her back to him, following Darr.
The woman he had known was gone. He just didn’t know if it was his doing or the Chittrix.
18
Julia was shoved forward as Leven secured her wrists to a pipe on the wall. Her arms ached from the awkward position, but she kept her mouth shut. She was grateful when Hardy was tied to the pipe next to her. There was some comfort in sitting next to his sheer physical size, although she had no idea how the hell they were going to get out of this. The pipe appeared original to the Victorian construction, solid cast iron. It didn’t budge one iota when she leaned away from the wall. It was built to last and she wasn’t going anywhere until so
meone cut the cable ties.
Sawyer was thrown against the wall, hitting the ground on his side. His eyes were squeezed shut as Leven secured the handcuffs behind his back to a high up bolt. He was only a few feet from Julia, but he might as well have been on the moon. Her practical side wished he’d kept his mouth shut. Sawyer inched his body up into an awkward sitting position. He blinked blood from his eye and his face was already puffy and swollen.
Julia shot him a glare. “That went really well. We should get you doing all our PR.”
“She’s right,” Hardy said.
Sawyer glanced away from Hardy’s damning agreement. “They were going to lock us up no matter what we said or did. I’m not going to let them tie me up or kill me without a fight.”
Hardy settled his considerable bulk against the wall. He checked the scavengers had moved away before continuing. “I didn’t even see Garrick and the others disappear.”
“They’ll be back for us.” Julia swung her attention to Sawyer, pinning him with a laser stare. “You want to tell me what that was all about? Out there?” I saw the way you looked at her. She wanted to give him a chance to state his case. It had better be good.
“I knew her before,” he said, his head hanging with exhaustion.
Julia waited patiently, studying the soft, shorn hair across the top of his skull.
Sawyer sighed. “We worked together. When I was in the police.”
“I see.” She thought for a moment, choosing her words. Damn, she was going to sound like a jealous wife. “Were you together?”
Hardy shifted, clearly uncomfortable at the direction of the conversation. Julia ignored him, her attention solely focused on interpreting Sawyer’s expression.
Sawyer voice was barely audible. “We met when I was undercover in a drug distribution ring, before the invasion.”
Julia held his gaze, waiting for a telltale slide of his eyes, unsure if he was avoiding her question purposefully or not.
Hardy glanced at her, raising his eyebrows. Let it go, Julia.
She sighed and tipped her head back until it rested on the wall behind her. The surface was cold and solid under her head, unlike the world she lived in which changed every time she thought she understood what was going on. Her hands ached to touch Sawyer, to stroke his cheek, anything. “Was she Police too?”
He laughed softly. “No. Nothing is ever that simple, is it? Her brother was convicted because of me.”
“Oh.” Nice one, Julia. She studied the ceiling. Curls of paints hung in damp tendrils from the ceiling.
Sawyer’s shoulders stiffened. “The Chittrix are the stuff of nightmares brought to life, but I’ll choose the simplicity of killing them over the shit we manage to conjure up as humans any day.” He yanked at his restraints. “Could really do with Foster and some of his sneaky pocket booms right now.”
Julia gave him a half smile, the best she could manage while cable-tied and secured to a wall by scavengers while aliens roamed the sewers. Her wrists stung, raw from the sharp plastic edges. They were going nowhere until someone got them out of here. She craned her neck, squinting to see the upper level of the pumping station, but the crates were too close and obscured her view.
Gunshots rang out, and Julia went rigid. But the shots were followed by laughter of men messing about. Her spine sagged in desperation. What was going on beyond the stack of crates? The voices were too far away for her to make out what they were saying.
A rat ran over her legs from out of nowhere, its clawed feet digging into her trousers and piercing her skin. She screamed and jerked her legs violently sideways, knocking it to the floor. It landed on its back, claws frantic, body scrabbling to escape. Julia screwed her eyes tight and kicked it hard, ignoring the sickening crunch of tiny bones and soft, pliant weight against her boots. The rat squealed and skidded before disappearing into a shadowy crevice between two stacked boxes.
She yanked angrily at the ties again, scraping skin from her wrists under the immovable grip of the plastic bands. Nothing gave. She sat back, catching her breath in large, hitching gasps, fighting the hot constriction in the back of her throat. “Shit. We—”
Fingers knotted in her hair and slammed her head against the wall. Agony exploded from the back of her skull.
“Watch your mouth.”
Cold metal touched the side of Julia’s head as Beth loomed over her, the snub-nose of a SIG Sauer resting on the pulse of Julia’s temple.
19
Sawyer wrestled against his restraints, rushing adrenalin numbing the fierce pain that ran from his shoulders to his wrists.
“Beth.” He tried to stand, his feet scraping uselessly on the floor. Anything to distract her. Julia’s eyes were scrunched closed, her face blanched.
Beth turned to face him in a lazy circle, keeping her weapon trained on Julia. But she was on her own. Maybe he could connect with her and persuade her to do the right thing. He refused to believe she was lost completely.
Long seconds ticked between them, and finally Beth dropped her hand, letting her gun point to the floor. Sawyer exhaled a slow, silent breath.
Beth strolled toward him, her eyes traveling the length of his body in a leisurely examination. She stopped next to his legs, her back to Julia, and bumped Sawyer’s thigh with the scuffed toe of her boot.
Leven and his red-haired friend appeared. Beth pointed to Julia and Hardy. “Darr wants these two. Leave this one here.” She turned on her heel, focusing on Sawyer as Julia and Hardy were unclipped and hustled away. Julia squawked, fighting Leven in a futile effort as he dragged her out of sight.
“I could get used to seeing you like this.” Beth squatted, her arms balanced on the tops of her thighs. Her hands hung between her knees, relaxed. “Before I have to kill you, that is.”
Sawyer held her gaze. Her grey eyes were steady, and he matched her calmness.
He wasn’t surprised Beth was alive. She was a fighter. She wouldn’t have survived the lifestyle she’d lived before the Chittrix otherwise. She was carved out of hard edges. He was just grateful she hadn’t run him through with a knife on sight, given the circumstances in which they’d last been together.
“I prepared myself for that possibility a long time ago. You’re not telling me anything new,” he said.
Her head jerked in a tiny motion of disapproval. “Yeah, I guess that’s why they gave you the job. You never were any better than us when the chips fell. You just liked to think you were.”
“I never claimed to be better than you. I tried to help.”
She snorted in disgust, her top lip curling. “Yeah. You tried to help. You just lied about everything else. Like who you were. Your real name. Why you were in my bed. Small shit like that.”
Sawyer blinked as sweat stung his eyes, his mind racing. He’d been paid to lie. But he had chosen to be in her bed. That had meant something. “I thought I was doing something good.”
“You were. You’re a good liar.”
“Beth—”
“Don’t ‘Beth’ me.” She ran her hand across his chin, stroking the stubble. “Keep telling yourself that it’s okay to lie and cheat people. Worm your way into their life. All kinds of fucked up stuff, and then tell yourself, I’m doing something good.”
She gripped his chin in a sharp pincer grip and her voice dropped to a barely audible murmur. “That’s the problem with you, Sawyer. You’re deluded. Always were. Like how you thought you could romance me into being a different person.”
She stood up, stretched her legs, and kicked him elegantly in the ribs. Pain roared through his chest as air exploded from his lungs. He rolled sideways, his restraints pulling him up short as he tried not to breathe.
“That wasn’t a lie,” he spat out.
“Liar.”
He sucked air into his bruised lungs, tuning out the lancing pain skewering his ribcage. “I tried to get you out of there, Beth. Twice I asked you to leave. To just disappear. Visit your sister. Take a holiday. Fucking anything, befo
re it all came to a head. But you wouldn’t leave Robbie.” He shook his head. “Robbie was always going down, Beth. You just didn’t see it. You were blind to what he was. You still are. That’s why you’re so pissed at me.”
She hesitated then, the tiniest inclination of her head. “Maybe.” She blinked. Looked away. “Doesn’t matter now anyway. Nothing matters anymore.”
Sawyer rattled the metal of his handcuffs against the pipe. “Beth. Let us go. This achieves nothing.”
Her face darkened. “You can’t manipulate me anymore.”
She dropped down beside him, fingering the bottom edge of his body armor. “You have clean clothes. You’re well fed. You’re doing okay.” She rubbed the armor between her fingertips. “I haven’t seen anything like this before. This isn’t standard police-issue. This is military-grade.” She flexed the chest bodice in her hands, tilting her head to appreciate the organic blue-green facets of the chitin. “The surface is weird.”
Sawyer was silent.
She trailed her hand across his forehead and down his cheek, her nails rasping.
“So where’s your safe place, handsome?”
“Let us go. You have nothing to gain by keeping us here.”
She laughed and her eyes narrowed, sharp and predatory. “Whatever. You’re not weaseling your way out this time.”
The woman he had known, with whom he’d once shared part of his life with, was gone. Some of the responsibility for that rested on his shoulders, but she wasn’t going to allow him to make amends. He saw that now.
Julia. He was damned if he was going to die here with these people and he certainly wasn’t going to let anything happen to Julia. He hadn’t chosen this life, but he would fight for what he had.
Beth continued. “You don’t get it, do you? You’re not going anywhere, but you are going to tell us where your people are based, and what supplies they have.” Her voice was cold. “Even if I have to cut it out of you.”
Panicked shouts echoed across the ceiling, and they both glanced upward. Three shots rang out.
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