by Ciara Graves
“We’ll cause some sort of distraction to get everyone out of the hotel then make our move on the cages.”
“Just like that?”
She shrugged. “You got any better ideas?”
“Yeah, come back when there’s more than three of us trying to save all these people.”
She kicked me under the table.
I grunted, scowling at her. “You’re going off the notion that everyone is going to be at this event and they’re going to leave the cages unguarded.”
“Never said they wouldn’t be guarded, but if they are, we’ll take care of them.”
“You said they were hybrids.”
“And?”
I shoved the paper back to her. “And what if Envy’s here? What if the hybrids are as strong as he is? You expect to be able to face them all down, just you, Joseph, and me?”
“Why not?”
“How about I’d like us to walk away in one piece.”
“Joseph said he was bringing something that would help us break through the shields around the cages. If we can get them open, then all we need is a distraction big enough to empty the hotel.”
I tapped my fingers slowly on the table. “Thought you said there was a second entrance.”
“I did, but we can’t use it.”
“Why not? Better than dragging everyone back up through the hotel.”
“The tunnel empties out by the reapers’ mansion,” she explained. “The rest of the passages branching off it would take weeks to see where they lead, and we don’t have that kind of time. You want to deal with the reapers or the covens? I’ll let you decide.”
The second we started a fight with the reapers, we were sure to end up with casualties. “What kind of distraction?”
“What else are witches and warlocks afraid of? Fire.”
“You want to start a random fire.”
The smile that spread across her face was far from nice. She wanted some of these witches and warlocks to get killed in the rescue attempt. “Who said anything about random? Trust me, I’ll take care of it, and while I’m doing that, you can help Joseph rescue everyone in the cages and funnel them upstairs.” She shifted the papers around until she found the one of the hotel layout we’d put together. “There’s loading docks off the kitchen. If we can get them out that way, there’s a good chance we won’t be seen.”
“I don’t have magic. You should be the one to help Sycamore.”
“And you can’t set a fire that thinks for itself. I can.”
“How sure are you about that?”
She clenched her jaw. White and gold flames flickered to life at her fingertips. “Damned sure. If he needs me for my magic, we’ll work out a new plan, but if all he needs is his back guarded, you can do that. I’ll meet you down there and get them out.”
Nothing about this plan sounded plausible, but until Sycamore showed up, it was the best we could hope for. I studied the hotel diagram again, wondering if there was another exit we’d missed. I’d taken some time a few hours before, wandering around the main floor, searching for ways in and out of the hotel. The docks were closest to the elevators. There had to be a set of stairs leading to the basement, but I had yet to find a stairwell going below the main level.
“Wait, if there’s a fire, the elevators will be shut off,” I pointed out. “Everyone will be trapped in the basement.”
She puffed out her cheeks. “I didn’t see any stairs leading down, did you?”
“None.”
“Great, looks like we might have to use that tunnel after all. Wesley said it took us close to the reapers. If we keep quiet, don’t cause too much commotion, we might be able to slip past them unseen.”
“Think Gigi will be up for a spell by then?”
“Depends on how hurt she is. There are other witches, too. We might need their help.” Mercy sifted through the papers some more, but there were no more answers for her to find.
We barely started planning, and already it was going to shit. I did not have high hopes for this succeeding.
“We need another set of eyes in that tunnel to make sure it’s clear all the way to the end.”
“We need more backup,” I argued. “Mercy, we have to come back and do it later.”
“You really think we’ll be able to find these people again?” she whispered, her tone warning me I was on dangerous ground. “As soon as they realize Gigi and Wesley are gone, what do you think they’ll do? Security will amp up, and they’ll disappear. We might never find them again. There’s kids down there, Rafael, kids.”
“I heard you the first time.”
“Then what’s the problem, huh? You never liked any of my plans, but you went along with them.”
“You never gave me a choice,” I snapped as I stood abruptly, knocking over my chair.
“You’ve always had a choice. You just choose to stay by my side.” She hurried around and took hold of my hand. “Whatever you feel for me doesn’t matter. There are countless lives down there, and they’re losing hope of being rescued. If this is where my life ends then so be it.”
“You don’t mean that.” I squeezed her hand back.
“I do. I’m tired of going after one pathetic bad guy after another when there’s someone so much worse ready to tear our world apart. If we do this, we can start hitting back hard. Let her know we’re not going down easy.” Her eyes searched mine, those white and gold flames flickering in their depths. “What do you say? Follow my craziness one more time before you pretend what we have isn’t real?”
Mercy was no longer a bounty hunter. Something changed in her over the last few weeks. Something hadn’t been around to see. Something I hadn’t even noticed until this moment. She was always a fighter, but now she was so much more. A soldier. A warrior. Because that’s exactly what we were stepping into. A war against an unknown number of enemies wanting to destroy everything of our world. When I fought my way out of the slums, I’d seen the same look in the faces of the demons who’d stood beside me. They’d known they were probably going to die, but they fought anyway, to save those too weak to fight back.
“We need to see what’s down that tunnel,” I finally said. “I’ll do some recon of my own once the hotel’s quiet.”
“I should be the one to go. I’ve already been down there.”
“No. With Morris missing, I don’t want you leaving this room. Not until you have to.”
“I can handle one warlock.”
“And if he’s not just a warlock?” I tugged my hands free, and gathered up my gear for venturing out in a few hours. “If he’s a hybrid and you haven’t realized it yet?”
“He’s not, I’d sense it.”
“Either way, you’re going to stay in this room until we’re ready to move. Deal?”
Sycamore would be arriving sometime soon, and I wanted her to be in the room when he arrived. I holstered my pistol at the small of my back and slipped my amulet over my head. I wouldn’t make a move for the basement level until the lobby cleared out, but I might as well do more recon on the place while I had time to kill. Mercy handed me her daggers.
“Just in case,” she said when I raised my brow. “Just take the damned things.”
I did as she ordered and tucked them inside my boots. “You going to listen to me this time?”
“Don’t get used to it.” She grinned, but it didn’t last long.
I strode for the door when she grabbed hold of my arm and yanked me back. Her arm wrapped around my neck and she dragged me down for a kiss that left me burning.
I lifted her off her feet, ready to keep the moment going, but a voice in the back of my head warned me that I was just going to leave her again once we were out of this mess.
I was getting ready to break away, but as if she heard my thoughts, she pulled back suddenly and disappeared in the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.
A whirlwind of emotions threatening to tear me apart, I exited the hotel room and made for the lobby, unable to forget a
bout the dragonborn who I was never going to be able to get over.
Chapter 11
Rafael
There was still no sign of Morris. I remained in the lobby for most of the evening and into the night, watching as witches and warlocks eventually sauntered off to their rooms. When only a few lingered here and there, I casually walked to the elevator and headed down to the basement level. Mercy said the shifter guards hadn’t been there when she arrived, and I held my breath that it would be the case tonight.
When the elevator dinged, I reached around for my pistol, but there was no one at the double doors. I expected them to be locked, yet they opened easily enough.
Cautiously, I slipped inside and stayed low, using the stadium seats as cover. The room was empty, but all the lights were on, as though they had either finished an event or were getting ready for a new one. I probably should’ve waited longer before coming down here but sitting in the lobby made me anxious to get a move on. Getting Mercy back to Sector 21 safely was my main priority, no matter what she said about getting the captives out. I’d do my best, but I was not leaving here without her.
As I approached the cage door leading to the short tunnel, I noticed it was open. Wet blood pooled in the center of the area, along with bits of what appeared to be flesh and bone. Clanking came from beyond another set of doors just ahead.
I drew a dagger for a silent kill if the need arose and tested the door handle.
The door opened easily. This was not how Mercy said. As soon as I cracked it open, several voices met my ears. Staying low, I stepped inside, pressing my back to the closest thing I could use for a cover.
It just happened to be a cage holding a very large, very pissed off looking shifter. He snarled at me.
I waited for him to call out an alarm, but then he saw the dagger in my hand and settled down.
He crouched low, eyes darting around then whispered, “You with the bounty hunter?”
Shit. Had Mercy taken off her amulet down here? “Yeah, you saw her?”
“Saw someone in here. She told some vampire she was going to get us out.” He straightened, peering through the other cages. “You got an army coming, right?”
“Sadly no, but we’ll get you out,” I promised. Did I really just say that? “The tunnel, where is it?”
“Far end of the room, but the others, they’re here now. You won’t get around them.”
“How many?”
“Ten.”
More than I wanted to deal with, especially if they were all hybrids. But I came down here for a reason, and I wasn’t leaving until I inspected the tunnel, which was our only way to get everyone out.
The shifter waved at me to go around his cage to the right, and I did, trusting he wasn’t sending me right into them. He didn’t, but what stretched out in front of me nearly stopped me in my tracks. The sheer number of cages had me biting my cheek to stop from snarling aloud.
Mercy telling me about what she witnessed one was thing. Seeing these innocents trapped, many bleeding and bruised, sporting legs or arms that were clearly broken was a knife to my gut.
I blinked, and I was back in Sector 2, watching the mages torture my race. Except now, this torture affected anyone these bastards could get their hands on.
I shifted around another cage that held a fae who could barely keep her eyes open. The sight against the wall made me sick. Bodies of the dead were piled high, waiting to be removed, I supposed. So many, and they’d been killed by unwilling participants in this game.
Gripping the dagger so hard it made my palm hurt, I pushed on toward the tunnel, reminding myself I was not strong enough to take on ten hybrids alone and win. I was here to do one thing and one thing only. Fighting had to wait. Each time I passed another cage, I waited for the victim inside to turn on me, but none of them did. A quietly few urged me to get out before I was caught.
The guards were closer, but I had yet to make them out through the maze of cages. I was thankful I hadn’t spotted the kids yet. Wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle that. Wesley and Gigi were here somewhere, but I hadn’t seen them either.
“She wants them all moved tonight,” one of the male voices said as I shifted a few rows over. “Including the dead.”
“Why don’t we just burn them?”
“Why burn good product?” A few of the guards chuckled.
I shut my eyes, focusing on the voices. If I could remember them now, I could pick them out later and stop these assholes from doing this fighting ring all over again.
“She’s got a big show planned for the end of the conference, and she needs the space.”
We were running out of time to get Wesley and Gigi out of here then. I peered around another cage, empty this time, and spotted the group of guards moving through the grisly scene. One of them had a clipboard while the other was pointing out certain cages.
“We have one more show to put on with these guys though. Once it’s over, we’ll get them out of here and back to her place.”
Her place. They had to be talking about Shuval. I waited for one of them to give a location, but there was nothing, just more instructions on how to move the cages and when. They were packing up the markets too from the sound of it. If we were going to call in a Fed raid, they’d never get here in time. Everything was going to be cleared out in the next forty-eight hours, give or take a few, including Shuval.
“What about the witch?” a voice I did recognize this time said.
“She’s on the docket to be sold.”
Gigi? Were they talking about her? They were going to sell her, but to who? The reapers?
“That’s a shame. You know for how much?”
“Oh, come on, Morris, you can find a witch who actually cares for you, instead of that one. She’s likely to tear your face off if you give her half a chance.”
“I could break her.”
Suddenly I was very glad I’d come down here to investigate the tunnel and not Mercy. At the sound of Morris wanting to break Gigi, and from the sound of it enjoying it far too much, she would’ve been around these cages in a shot, intent to kill him. The voices moved toward the door, and I silently continued toward the tunnel exit. I was nearly there when I passed by a cage with a woman lying in it. Her hands and feet were bound, and she was unconscious.
“Gigi?” I dared to whisper when I neared the bars. She wouldn’t recognize me as me, but Mercy wasn’t sure if she even knew we were here. “Gigi, wake up.”
She stirred, but her eyes remained shut. Whatever they’d done to her had hurt her badly. We had to get her to a hospital fast, before Morris decided to make his move early and take her away from here. Or before Shuval sold her to god knew who. I left her cage behind, and after checking to ensure the guards were out of sight, I rushed to the far wall and peered around the half-circle entrance that led to the tunnel. There was no door and from what I could sense, no magic protecting it either.
Throwing one more glance over my shoulder, I ducked into the tunnel, following it for a solid ten minutes. There were no other doors the entire way. But that wasn’t what made me decide we couldn’t come this way. It was too damned easy. Even if we did get everyone inside this tunnel, they could easily collapse it with all of us in it. Or have an army of hybrids waiting at the other end. We had to use the elevator or find a set of stairs that led to the basement. The tunnel wouldn’t work. Convincing Mercy was going to be a pain in the ass, but I’d find a way.
I sprinted as fast as I dared through the tunnel and to the room filled with cages, trying to text as I went. I wasn’t sure if the message was sent or not since the signal down here was spotty. When I reached the end, I figured I’d try to find Wesley and give him a head’s up, then return to Mercy. I was only a few rows in when Morris appeared from behind a cage that was completely enclosed.
“Roger?” He frowned, glancing around. “What are you doing down here? How did you even get in here?”
“I walked,” I replied with a smirk.
&n
bsp; He laughed with me, but it was fake.
“After the other night when we saw the fight, I don’t know, something just called to me. I found my way down here. I’m sorry, I know I probably shouldn’t be.”
“No, you shouldn’t.”
“Right, I’ll head back to my room. Never saw a thing,” I said and turned to go.
“Roger, hold up.”
I swallowed my growl and stopped to let him catch up to me.
“I’ll walk with you. I was hoping to see Maggie actually.”
“She’s in the room. Is a touch upset with you, to be honest.”
“Is she now? For what?”
“Hasn’t seen you at all since that night. Thought maybe you were upset with her.”
He scratched at his chin. “Not at all, but what I am curious is why you’re lying about why you’re down here.” He clapped me on the shoulder when I grimaced. “Tell me the truth, man, why are you down here?”
I was clamoring to come up with something believable when a door slammed open and a voice I never expected to hear so soon slammed into me. I froze even as I told myself I needed to run and get the hell out of there. The dark magic from the amulet hummed, vibrating against my chest. I wanted to reach up to see if it would stop, but I didn’t dare move.
“Morris, who is that and why is he down here?”
“Just a friend who lost his way. I’ll see him out.”
“Wait.”
My chances of reaching the door and getting out of here were zero. With no stairs, I’d be stuck waiting for the damned elevator. No chance was I going to get past them all.
Heavy steps shuffled closer, and the hairs on my arms stood on end from the immense power flowing off the hybrid in waves. The scars on my back throbbed in a way they hadn’t in months.
When the hybrid came around and looked at me, I met his suspicious glare with a blank face, willing him to let me go.
“And who are you?”
“Told you, just a friend,” Morris replied.
The hybrid’s dark green glare flickered toward him, and he fell silent, taking a step away from me.
“Well?”