Eternal Void (Isabella Espinoza Book 2)

by K Hanson

  Dammit. Jack and I should have come up with a stealthier approach. The plan had seemed good when he had suggested it. He just had to distract them long enough for me to get into the compound, find Amari, and escape. And who could have predicted that they would have asked so many questions about cheap booze?

  “Put down your weapons,” the guard said. “And come with me now. If you give the prisoner back, we’ll just let you go into the night.”

  I gave him a slight smile. “No, you won’t. I’ll give you one chance now to set your gun down yourself. You don’t know who you’re aiming it at. I will kill you if you make me.”

  His gaze flicked between us for a second.

  I yanked on Amari’s arm, tugging her behind the trailer.

  The bang of a gunshot filled the air.

  I glanced back. Amari sank against the trailer, clutching her left shoulder. Blood seeped between her fingers and ran down her arm.

  Dammit.

  I pulled her further along the trailer and helped her lower to the ground. She leaned back against the tires of the trailer, wincing. At least she knew to keep the pressure on the wound.

  Footsteps pounded across the ground toward us.

  I waited until they reached the corner of the trailer and then jumped out in front of the guard.

  He jerked his gun up, but too late.

  I lunged toward him, under his arms, and shoved him to the ground. He dropped the gun and reached toward his belt.

  He had a pistol in a holster.

  As he grabbed it, I wrestled it away from him. I jammed the muzzle right under his sternum, pointing it up at his heart, and pulled the trigger.

  His eyes went wide, and then he fell still under me, his face white.

  Blood pooled beneath him as it ran out of his wound. The coppery scent woke the hunger of my inner monster.

  It enjoyed the kill and wanted more.

  Fuck, this was supposed to have been a clean mission. Now, the body count for the night was up to two.

  I shook my head, shoved myself up, and went back to Amari behind the trailer.

  “How are you doing?” I asked her.

  “Just great. I love getting shot. But it seems like it’s feeling better already.”

  “That’s just the adrenaline numbing you to the pain.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  “Let’s get going,” I said as I helped Amari to her feet.

  Footsteps and shouts approached us from the direction of the warehouse.

  “The gunshots came from this way. And I heard Jim calling for help,” someone yelled.

  We didn’t have much time.

  “Can you move?” I asked Amari.

  She clenched her jaw with a determined look and nodded. “I think so.”

  “Good.” I supported her under her right arm.

  “I can walk,” she said. “I got shot in the shoulder, not the leg.”

  Even so, I didn’t let go of her arm. I wanted to make sure she stayed with me. Civilians sometimes did weird things in dangerous situations, and I didn’t want her running off and getting herself killed.

  We dashed a couple of trailer rows over. Footsteps closed in toward us. More voices sounded from the direction of the gate on the other side of the compound. If Amari hadn’t been injured, climbing the fence might have been an option. We needed somewhere to hide and think of an exit plan.

  I scanned the area around us. Nothing presented itself as a good option. The only place to hide was under a trailer.

  With no better ideas, I tugged Amari along as I ducked under the nearest trailer and slid behind one of the tires. It was just large enough to conceal us. Or at least most of us. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do.

  We would wait until we had an opening to leave.

  Boots crunched on the ground next to the trailer that had held Amari.

  “Fuck. They killed Jim,” said a man with a squeaky voice. “And the prisoner is gone.”

  “They can’t have gone far,” another guard said, his voice confident. “The only way in or out of here is the front gate. A few guys are watching it now. As long as the guards don’t leave their posts, the intruders won’t be able to get out.”

  The only escape was the front gate? If so, that would be a problem. They only had to stop us from getting through it. It made a tough bottleneck if we wanted to sneak out. Amari couldn’t just jump the fence like I could.

  Sure, I could fight most people and take them out without a problem. But a whole group of guards with guns was still dangerous. I’m pretty badass, but I wasn’t bulletproof.

  “Should we split up?” the first guard asked.

  “No. Whoever did this can fight. We stick together.”

  Footsteps crunched in the gravel as the guards started their search.

  “Hmm, I think I see something,” the confident guard said from a row over.

  The steps drew nearer. They headed straight toward Amari and me.

  The patrol of guards rounded the corner of our trailer. They were getting too close.

  “Ah, yeah, it leads right around here,” said the guard at the front of the group.

  What did he mean by that? I chanced a peek out from behind the tire. The guard in front of the group stared at the ground. A dark trail of drops dotted the gravel, leading them to our tire.

  Blood from Amari’s shoulder.

  The guards were going to find us. We couldn’t wait here anymore.

  “Come on out from behind that tire. Time to go back into your cage. If you’re a good girl, maybe we’ll be nice to you.”

  Amari let out a soft whimper next to me.

  It was time to do this.

  I crawled out from behind the tire, and then charged at the nearest guard, drawing my knife.

  He swiveled to aim his gun at me. I swiped my knife at his arm, slicing through his forearm. He let out a yell of pain. I pivoted and jammed my blade right between his ribs. He sunk to the ground, grasping at the bleeding wound.

  Something struck the side of my head, and I reeled back a couple of steps.

  I glanced up as another guard with neatly cut black hair advanced toward me. He was just lowering the butt of his gun. That’s what had hit me.

  He raised the barrel of his gun as he stepped toward me.

  I dropped to the ground just as he pulled the trigger. A burst of shots hit the dirt behind me.

  I chucked my knife at his leg. It stuck a couple of inches into his left thigh. He winced as he dropped to one knee.

  A quick burst of footsteps pounded next to me. Someone landed on top of my back, pinning me to the ground. A cold dot of steel pressed into the back of my neck.

  “Stop fighting, or I’ll pull the trigger,” a man growled into my ear. “Spread your hands out on the ground ahead of you.”

  I took my time stretching my hands out in front of me.

  When they were flat on the ground, I asked, “Okay, now what?”

  “I’m going to stand up, then you’re going to come with me. Looks like we have a new volunteer. Our cages are empty right now, so we have plenty of space.”

  His weight lifted off me.

  As he stood up, a soft squishing sounded, followed by a gurgling noise. I rolled over onto my back.

  The guard with the black hair dropped onto the ground, clutching his bleeding throat. Amari stared down at him, holding my knife loosely in her hand. Tears welled in her eyes.

  “I had to do it,” she said, not looking at me. Her voice had an empty sound to it, her eyes blank. “He was going to kill you. I had to do it.”

  After hopping to my feet, I rushed over to her and gently took the knife from her. I put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know you had to do it, Amari. You did well.”

  “Did well? I just killed someone. I’ve never done that before.” She trembled as tears dripped down her face. She wrapped her arms around herself in a hug and rocked back and forth a bit.

  “That man was going to kill me
and put you back in that storage container,” I said as I held her shoulders. “I have no idea where they were going to take you, but I don’t think it was going to be anything good. You have nothing to feel bad about. When we’re out of here, you can cry as much as you want. If you want to talk, I’ll listen. Before that, though, we have to survive. Can you help me out and focus, just for a bit? I’ll find us a way out, I promise.”

  Amari sniffed back her tears, wiped her face dry, and then nodded. “I’m ready. Let’s leave.”

  Another patrol came toward us from the front gate. We could try to fight again, or move farther back into the compound. I chose to move away.

  Amari held onto my arm as we made our way through the compound, her grip tighter than necessary, but I didn’t say anything about it.

  After we rounded another corner, we came face to face with the boss. He had a scar that carved from his left temple, across his nose, and down his right cheek. It was a scar that could write a book.

  He glanced at Amari and smiled. “Ah, there you went. We hadn’t even gotten to know each other yet, and you’re leaving so soon? You should really stay and see how well we treat our guests.”

  Amari pulled closer to me. Her grasp trembled through my jacket. I stepped in front of her.

  “Let us go,” I demanded.

  “I don’t think so,” he said.

  Anger bubbled up inside of me as my frustration cooked, and my more beastly nature demanded an escape.

  So I let it out.

  I charged right at him and shoved him to the ground. I wrapped my hands around his neck. He tried to push my grip off of him, but his strength was no match for my preternatural abilities.

  I pressed harder, crushing his windpipe under my hands. Even as his trachea broke under my force, I kept going.

  His eyes bulged, nearly popping out of their sockets. His legs kicked involuntarily as he tried to escape his death.

  No use.

  I held his neck until his body stopped struggling.

  My pulse pounded in my ears. A smile crept across my lips. I had tasted death, and I loved it.

  “Holy shit,” Amari said from behind me. “What are you? How could you do that?”

  The presence of another person jolted me from my bloodlust. I gazed down at the dead man beneath me, and then rolled off him and looked up at Amari.

  She took a halting step back. “You killed someone with your bare hands.”

  “Yeah, I had an accident a while back that made me strong. I can tell you more later, but let’s go while we have the chance.”

  I reached toward her to steady her, but she pulled away from me, though she didn’t retreat any further than that.

  Fine, she could be freaked out by me. Everyone else was. Didn’t matter as long as we got out of here. I could be annoyed by it later.

  I scanned around for the best way out. The front gate was still heavily guarded. With my beast just settling down, I didn’t want to give it any more excuses to surface.

  A series of loud shrieks cut through the air.

  Night stalkers.

  They were coming from near the corner of the compound, not far from one of the guard towers. That gave me an idea.

  “Come on, Amari. I might have a way out.”

  She followed as I dashed over to the base of the tower. It was the one I had set fire to earlier. The fire had gone out but had left two of the supports as burnt-out husks, barely holding the weight of the tower. Worked just fine for me.

  “Amari, stand back here for a minute.” I nudged her to crouch behind a set of crates, away from the fence and tower.

  With a running start, I charged under the tower and straight for one of the burnt supports closest to the fence. My shoulder crashed through it with a jolt of pain through my collarbone. Not broken, but I’d definitely be bruised for a bit. I hurried out from under the tower.

  The tower leaned toward the corner that had lost its support. I ran back toward Amari as the structure continued to list dangerously to the side.

  The second burned support snapped, and the tower toppled to the ground, crushing the fence beneath it.

  We had an opening, but so did the night stalkers.

  “Come on.” I tugged on Amari’s good arm and pulled her along as we dashed out into the open ground outside the compound, the collapsed chain link fence rattling beneath our feet as we ran on it.

  We leapt over the barbed wire where it lay on the ground, and then we were free in the open terrain, making it before the night stalkers reached the opening.

  The cries of the creatures approached.

  I nudged Amari to keep running as I glanced behind us.

  The night stalkers poured into the opening in the fence, drawn by the light and activity of the people inside. All except one.

  One of the creatures turned its attention toward us and charged.

  “Keep going over that hill, Amari,” I said as we ran. “A friend is waiting with his truck to pick us up. I know it’s dark, but hopefully, you’ll be able to see him. If not, just trust that he’s there. He knows to look for you.”

  “I can see just fine. Don’t worry about me.”

  Amari must have wonderful night vision. Even Jack had had trouble navigating in the dark.

  With Amari on the right path, I turned around to face the night stalker. I drew the knife from my belt.

  As the night stalker came closer, its ugliness became visible. It looked kind of like a panther, with the way it moved, but its head was drawn into a long snout. Its eyes flashed red, and its muscles bulged under leathery skin. The beast bared needle-sharp teeth as it ran toward me.

  I sank into a fighting stance and waited for it to reach me. One night stalker shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

  When it was a couple of strides away, it launched into a leap. I sidestepped it just as it came at me, then whirled around to face it.

  The night stalker skidded along the ground on its feet, dust kicking up into the air.

  It dipped its head and growled.

  I lunged at it and jabbed toward the side of its neck. The creature dodged out of the way.

  I swept a kick across its jaw. The creature staggered back, snarling. I lunged again, jamming the knife down into the base of its neck. As my blade severed its spine, it fell limp on the ground.

  I took a breath and glanced back at the camp. The enslavers fired their guns as they tried to fend off night stalkers. A couple people went down screaming as the monsters tore into them. Nobody was trying to follow us from the compound. Good.

  Amari was just about to the top of the hill, still sprinting despite the incline. I was surprised she didn’t even stumble in the darkness.

  I caught up with her, and we slowed to an easy jog as we made the rest of the way to where Jack’s truck sat parked on the road.

  As we got within a dozen steps or so, Jack stepped out of the driver’s seat.

  “You certainly made enough noise,” he said.

  “We’re out, aren’t we?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

  He shrugged and opened the door to the rear of the cab. Without a word, Amari climbed in and pulled the door shut behind her.

  Jack started toward the driver’s seat, but I grabbed his arm.

  He turned around with a soft smile, cocking his head to the side. “What is it, Isabella?”

  “I just wanted to thank you. You took a big risk helping me, and especially distracting the guards like that. I appreciate it.”

  “I know you’ll have my back the next time I need help with something,” he said.

  “You can count on it.” I allowed myself a smile. “When we get back, can you track down her uncle and let him know we found her? Here’s his address.” I pulled a note out of my jacket pocket and passed it to Jack. “I’ll stay with her at my office and look after her a bit. I think she needs a safe space after everything that happened.”

  “Sure, I’ll let him know. Let’s head back for a well-deserved rest.�
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  We were all mostly silent as we rode back. I tried to talk to Amari a couple of times, but she didn’t seem eager to chat.

  I understood that. She’d had a hell of a last few days.

  I hadn’t experienced being kidnapped, but I had been in a similar emotional place, where I wanted to be alone, while still being scared of being alone.

  We pulled into Glenview Station and drove up next to my office.

  “Thanks again, Jack,” I said with a tired smile.

  He tossed me a wink. “Anytime, Isabella.”

  I climbed out and moved around to help Amari, but she was already out. She moved quickly and easily for someone who had been shot not an hour earlier.

  Then I figured out why. Her wound had completely healed.

  CHAPTER 3

  Somehow, Amari’s gunshot had closed during the time we made our escape and drove back to the settlement. She had been bleeding quite a bit right after she got hit, so it had not been a glancing shot. That was the sort of wound that could take weeks to fully heal, and it often required stitches and surgery to stop the bleeding entirely. Had she been subjected to something similar to what had given me my abilities?

  “Hey, Amari, how’s your shoulder doing?” I asked, using a concerned tone. I didn’t want to come across as accusatory.

  She shrugged, keeping her gaze away from me.

  “It doesn’t look like it’s bleeding anymore, which is good,” I said. “These injuries don’t usually stop bleeding this quickly.”

  Amari glanced at me, then away at the front of the office. “What can I say? I’m a fast healer.”

  “That’s for sure. Are you hiding something, Amari?” I asked as we stood on the sidewalk. “Why are you looking away from me?”

  She forced herself to face me, but she frowned. A light outside my office caught a faint trail of a scar along where her jaw met her neck. “Look, I’ve had a hell of a day, right? I can tell you more, but can we please get inside first? I don’t like being out in the open like this. I don’t know who might see me. If those enslavers try to track me down again, I’d rather not make their jobs easier.”

  “I think those enslavers were pretty busy when we left them.”