Breed of Innocence (The Breed Chronicles, #01)

by Jordan, Lanie

  She kicked me in the gut hard enough to have me flying back into the door. I heard a familiar banging sound and whipped my head to the side. I was eye-to-eye with the demon. I’d never looked one in the face before, not this close. I expected to see some demony expression on its face. I didn’t. I saw awareness and something else.

  Something almost like anticipation.

  I turned back a second later as Felecia rammed a fist into my stomach again. With my back already against the door, I had nowhere to go. Her shoulder crashed into my stomach, sending my breath out in a loud whoosh of air. There was a bang as I hit, then a weird scratching sound. I shoved Felecia back and stole another quick glance into the room. The demon was at the side of the door, scratching at something.

  “Felecia, stop!”

  She didn’t listen. Before I could tell her why to stop, she charged me again and again. Each time my breath rushed out of my lungs. Each time I heard that scratching sound. On the third slam, I felt the door shudder slightly, like it was giving way. The scratching got louder, faster, almost frantic.

  I brought my knee up when she tried rushing me again. She collided into it and stumbled back, doubled over.

  “Felecia,” I said, hunched over as I wheezed and tried to suck in air, “I think the door is breaking.” She was standing upright again, glaring. “If you want to keep fighting, fine!” I was practically shouting now. “But can do we do it somewhere else—somewhere away from the demon?”

  For a moment, I thought she was going to agree so I relaxed a fraction. She saw it and took advantage. I jumped to the side at the last second, hitting the ground hard, and Felecia ended up flinging herself face-first into the door.

  There was a split second where time seemed to move slower. She hit, a weird creak sound followed, then the door caved in and began to fall.

  There was a loud thud and the clang of metal as it hit the ground. The demon howled when the door fell on him.

  I jumped to my feet. A scream was lodged in my throat, making my lungs burn because I couldn’t get any breath passed it.

  Slowly, Felecia rolled to her hands and knees near the entrance. The demon was still trapped underneath her and the door. He began pushing on the door, lifting it, and Felecia, up.

  She slid as she tried scrambling to her feet, and then backed out of the room slowly. The demon’s low growl sounded like a hungry, wild animal. Felecia’s eyes darted left and right, as if she were looking for an escape route.

  I wanted to run. At one point, my legs tried going in one direction while the rest of my body stayed planted to the spot. My mind kept telling me to run, run, run! And I wanted to obey. I wanted out of there. I’d seen that demon in action before and I didn’t want to see it again. I didn’t want to be on the charging end of it, not when I didn’t have Peter or other hunters here with tranquilizers ready.

  It started that shrieking sound again. Immediately, my ears were screaming in pain and I knew Felecia’s had to be too. When the screech got louder, I realized the thing hadn’t come out yet, but it would at any second. Without thinking, I ran at Felecia and tackled her to the side of the entrance. We hit the ground hard but I was back on my feet immediately, pulling and dragging her with me down the hall.

  “Get up!” I shouted when she kept trying to let her weight drop. I couldn’t carry her, and if I had to drag her, we were both done. “Get your ass up unless you want to be demon food!”

  My words did the trick, or maybe she got some sense back. Either way, she jumped to her feet and we took off running. We were halfway down the stairs to the third floor when I could make out the sound of running footsteps.

  Felecia fell a few seconds later, down the last few steps, rolling into the wall at the bottom between the third and second floors. She hit with a dull thud. “Come on,” I said, trying to pull her up. “Get up!”

  The footsteps got closer, but were distanced now, like the demon wasn’t in any great hurry and was taking its time. Dimly, I realized the screeching had stopped too. I wanted to be happy about the slower pace and lack of ear-bleeding sound, but I wasn’t. It couldn’t have meant anything good.

  “Felecia, let’s go!” I whispered loudly, tugging on her once more.

  The hairs on the back of my neck rose and I knew the demon was close behind, even before I saw Felecia’s look of terror. I took a deep breath, held it in as if I’d need the reserve of oxygen soon.

  Finally, Felecia got to her feet. She did what I’d been trying to get her to do and took off down the stairs. But not before I heard the footsteps closing in on us.

  And not before she shoved me into the arms of the demon.

  CHAPTER 10

  I sucked in a breath and held it as I waited for my death.

  It didn’t come like I’d expected.

  My stomach dropped when I saw disfigured hands at my waist, and the breath I was still holding started to make me lightheaded.

  The irony of being saved from a would-be painful fall by my would-be killer wasn’t lost on me.

  Instinct told me to move, to use what’d I’d learned and do something defensive, but every body part refused to obey. I broke out in a cold sweat. What if fighting made it worse? What if standing here doing nothing made it worse? I couldn’t decide which one was the safer option.

  There was a strange sound above me, like a dog sniffing at something. I cringed when I realized it was the demon smelling me. One of the hands at my waist moved to my hair and tugged back hard. I let out a yelp and struggled to keep my feet on the ground.

  It started making a sound between a hum and a buzz that made my heart pound harder and faster. Something wet and cold touched the back of my neck and I shuddered uncontrollably as I realized it was his mouth. The hand around my stomach tightened and I heard a low, throaty growl.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  I felt like I was watching a horror movie, right before I knew one of the characters was about to die because the viewer could see the killer creeping closer and closer. Except I was the character. But the killer wasn’t creeping up on me.

  It already had me.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. If I was going to die, I wanted to be as blind to it as possible.

  The pressure on my stomach increased until it was almost unbearably tight. Air was hard to suck in. Do something, you idiot! My eyes flashed open and I kicked back, praying I hit something sensitive. The hand around me eased and I shoved away, scrambling down the stairs. I took them two or three at a time. Footsteps echoed behind me. It wasn’t moving as fast as I knew it could—it was toying with me.

  I neared the bottom floor and jumped the last five steps. My feet screamed in agony as I landed awkwardly, but I pushed through it and kept running. Straight, then a right, and I’d be back at the side exit—the way we’d come in.

  I can make it. I can make—

  Hands went around my waist again. I was swung around and then tossed back before I could react. It was the same thing Peter had done that first day, except I didn’t land in semi-soft grass. I ended up rolling and crashing into a wall shoulder first. My left arm went tingly.

  I pushed up, clutching my arm to my side, and watched as the demon made its way toward me.

  Think of something! You’re training to be a hunter, you idiot!

  I read about the Sharphynx demons on my own, after Celina’s attack, so I knew what would kill it: fire and genetically engineered anti-venom. But I didn’t have either of those things, and I didn’t have any kind of weapon to defend myself with.

  So basically, everything I’d learned in Demonology was useless, and so was Tracking when I was the one being tracked.

  The demon was only a few feet from me now and I couldn’t tear my gaze away. Come on, Jade! You’ve taken some Combat training. If you don’t know what will work on the demon you’re facing, then go for a neutral location. Eyes, arms, and legs.

  Here goes nothing, I thought, pushing myself up until my legs were almost beneath me. The demon st
arted to bend over, to pick me up, and I blocked his arms, shoving them to the side. The move threw it off balance slightly and I swung my leg out, like I’d done to Linc a bunch of times when we sparred together. The demon fell back, landing on the tile with a solid thump. As it tried scrambling to its feet, I did the same and ran.

  I barely made it five steps before my legs were pulled out from underneath me. I had just enough time to block my face and turn my body slightly to protect my face before I hit the ground. Every bone in my body rattled from the impact and my teeth jammed together painfully. The demon flipped me over and pulled me closer. It opened its mouth wide. I was prepared for the screech sound, but it never came.

  I pulled one of my legs free and kicked it in the face. As I tried getting to my feet, I lost my footing twice—once because my shoulder wouldn’t hold my weight, and a second time when my hands slipped.

  The demon was blocking my way to the side exit, and I’d never make it to the front, so I went back up the stairs. It was too fast, so outrunning it wasn’t an option. I’d have to either overpower it somehow or outsmart it.

  Halfway to the second floor, I stopped, turned, and braced my hands on the railings. The demon ran up. I jumped, kicking it back with both feet. It fell backward and rolled to the bottom of the stairs.

  I kept going up, and when I reached the next level, went straight toward the other end of the building. I heard the demon as I neared the other staircase and jumped down the stairs, taking as many at a time as I could.

  I needed to get out of the building, into the open, where someone might actually see me. I’d get in major trouble, but it beat dying.

  The demon’s clunky footsteps were getting close again as I reached the first floor, so I pushed myself faster. I hooked a sharp right at a dead run and had to grab onto the wall to keep my balance. The front doors came into sight.

  Lights flashed outside, and when I saw shadows moving in, I could have wept. A rescue!

  Suddenly there were half a dozen agents dressed in black pulling the doors open as others ran inside. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder and saw the demon as it leapt for me.

  “Get down!” someone shouted.

  It wasn’t necessary since, even as the words echoed around me, I was already ducking and rolling.

  I heard the pop, pop of shots go off the second I hit the ground.

  The demon landed to my left, only a few feet from me. Its eyes were open, staring into mine. One of its hands inched toward me and the demon growled. I threw my hands over my face as I heard another pop.

  “Are you okay?”

  Slowly, I lowered my hands and saw someone I didn’t recognize kneeling beside me. He was dressed in all black and he had a gun in one of his hands. “I think so,” I said with a shaky breath. I pushed up and then scooted away from the demon. Unconscious or not, I didn’t trust the thing. Greene had already said it’d been harder to take out than it should have been, something I’d seen for myself now twice. I let out a harsh breath and scrubbed my hands over my face. “How did you know?”

  “That you were here or that there was a demon loose?”

  “Both. Either.”

  “We didn’t know you were here.” He held out his hand and helped me to my feet. “But every room that houses a demon has an alarm on it, in case of escape.” His gaze went to the demon.

  Felecia had just left me here, alone, and hadn’t bothered telling anyone I was over here. The realization hit me like a fist to the face. She’d just left me here with a demon loose.

  The only reason I was alive was because I’d gotten lucky.

  The guard looked me over. “Are you sure you’re okay? You weren’t hurt?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Sorry, I mean, yes, I’m sure I’m okay, and no, I wasn’t really hurt.” At least not bad enough to be sent to Doc. I could handle the scrapes, bruises, and knots.

  “Wait here,” he said and walked away. He said something to another agent who took off jogging.

  After a few minutes of standing around, my gaze went to the entrance and I watched Greene march toward me. His lips were set in a thin, angry line. He looked formidable, and slightly concerned, but mostly he just looked pissed.

  Then again, maybe I wasn’t so lucky. If I was dead, I couldn’t be expelled, and if the look on Greene’s face was any indication, that was about to happen.

  But instead of walking to me, he went to the agent who’d told me to wait. “How did the demon escape?” I heard him say.

  “I have someone looking into it more, but the initial guess is the electro-fence wasn’t reengaged after the power outage earlier, which allowed it to scratch the hinges off the door and break it down.” The agent shook his head. “You said this thing was strong, but we didn’t think it was that strong.”

  Greene said nothing else, just nodded and turned toward me. His eyes were hard. “I hope you have a good reason for being over here,” he said, stopping as soon as he reached me. His lips were pursed, his eyes hard.

  “I—uh.” Did I tell him the truth? Did I tell him that I’d let myself be manipulated into it, then got into a fight with a Felecia, and that, oh yeah, we were the reason it’d escaped?

  He hadn’t mentioned Felecia, and the other guy had said ‘you’ and not ‘you two’ like he even knew about her. So where was she, anyway? Hiding in a room somewhere, laughing about getting me killed, or worse, expelled?

  This whole thing had been her crazy idea of prank, and when she’d told me, she’d fought me because she’d been worried I was going to snitch on her (which hadn’t been my intention). And then when I saved her ass, she’d shoved me into the arms of a demon.

  I had every reason to tell Greene the truth and little reason to save Felecia’s butt—again.

  I let out another breath and wanted to curse. But I didn’t know who to curse. Myself, Felecia, or Greene. Maybe all of us.

  “I overheard someone talking about demon victims being over here.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. I had overheard her…telling me. “You wouldn’t tell me anything about Celina and…I just wanted to find out something.” Again, it wasn’t a lie. “I know I shouldn’t have come here, but it’s been weeks without a word about her.”

  Ha. I wasn’t bad with the whole lying-with-the-truth thing. But it didn’t matter if he didn’t buy it. And right now, his expression was unreadable so I couldn’t even guess what he was thinking. Maybe I didn’t want to know.

  After what seemed like an eternity, Greene finally pulled me to the side and said, “Miss Hall, while I appreciate the fact you’re trying to protect Miss Fitzgerald, it’s unnecessary. I’m aware of the situation.”

  I blinked.

  The sides of lips curved upward. It wasn’t quite a smile though. “This is my facility, Miss Hall. Every inch of it. The South Tower may not have any cameras, but the North Tower does—as well as guards who patrol the grounds. One of them happened to overhear your conversation.” His not-quite-a-smile fell. “Unfortunately, he chose to let you two have some leeway because he believed it was some kind of initiation prank on Miss Fitzgerald’s part, and I wasn’t alerted until the demon broke free.”

  He didn’t know we were the reason the demon got loose. He just assumed it had busted out on its own.

  I don’t know why I didn’t tell him about Felecia leaving me here. It probably would have gotten her expelled, and I should have wanted that. But maybe she didn’t tell anyone because she’d been too scared or just not thinking. Maybe she hadn’t done it just to save her own skin or to avoid getting in trouble.

  I should’ve told him that, but I didn’t, and my next response was as thought-out as my last. “Oh.”

  “The guard in question will be reprimanded, and Miss Fitzgerald will be given a warning—as well as you.”

  I saw that coming from a mile away. “Okay.”

  “You are not—under any circumstances—permitted to be over here, Miss Hall. I thought I made that very clear when you joined. The demons may be
behind closed and locked doors or unconscious, but they shouldn’t be taken lightly. They’re dangerous. They’re not the only reason you and the other Prospects aren’t allowed in this area. Do you realize how much research we have going on here? Do you realize how many years we’ve worked to get to the point we are? All of that could have been lost, and more—including your lives.”

  “I know that.” My tone sounded defensive, but I couldn’t help it and didn’t care. I didn’t need the reminder about demons being bad. Hadn’t I witnessed that for myself? I’d known long before tonight—and before he’d found me—how dangerous they were. In fact, wasn’t that the reason I’d joined in the first place? Wasn’t that at least part of the reason he’d recruited me?

  He said nothing for a minute and then sighed. “I take part of the responsibility for allowing this to happen.” He lowered his voice. “I should have been honest with you about Celina and…I chose to try and protect you instead .”

  My hands started to shake, but I didn’t know if it was because my adrenaline was trying to wear off, or because of his words. “What are you saying?” I said, swallowing back a lump.

  “Miss Hall—Jade,” he corrected, his tone soft. “Celina didn’t make it. We thought she would pull through, but the infection was too far spread. I’m sorry.”

  I understood the words and their meaning, but my brain refused to accept it. “But you said she was fine. You said she was going to be okay.”

  “I know. The doctors thought she would recover.”

  “Did they?” I challenged, raising my voice enough that some of the agents looked in our direction. “I read the text-books. Their venom kills their victims slowly and painfully. And unless the books got it wrong, there is no cure.”