Delete: Volume 3 (Shifter Series) (23 page)

I dug deep within me, to a place I’d been trying so hard to block out and found strength. His strength. I put on a burst of speed.

I raced across the street, past a plain car parked to the left of the doors. And somehow I knew the Emperor was already here. The doors were already closing. They were a quarter closed. A half. I threw my feet out from under me, ignoring the warnings from the sentries, and skidded under the closing gap, scraping my back off the rough ground as I slid inside the Hub.

The door clanged closed behind me. Whatever was going to happen next, I was locked in here with everyone else.

“Commandant?” I looked up to see a solider standing over me. “Are you OK?”

I pushed myself to standing. “Get a message out, we’re under attack,” I shouted, racing through the hangar, past the row of vehicles and for the lift. I placed one hand on the keypad and slammed on the wall with the other. “Come on!”

It seemed to take forever for the lift to arrive, and even longer for the doors to close once I was inside. In the agonisingly slow seconds it took for the lift to descend one hundred feet, I paced inside the silver box, like a caged animal.

When the lift doors finally opened, I ran out and scanned the Hub. It was packed with S3 officers and support staff. They’d all come out to see the Emperor arrive.

“Emperor Tzen,” I shouted, pushing people out of the way.

At last I saw him standing on the far side of the hall, surrounded by his Shifter guards. They all turned to me, their bodies poised for a fight. Tzen just smiled at my approach. But the smile didn’t last long.

“Get out!” I’d shouted, staggering towards him. My legs were finally giving up. “It’s a trap!”

I saw a look of concentration begin to form on the faces of the
Banjai Gonsi
. They were going to Shift and at least they would be safe. And without the Emperor here, maybe Hedges wouldn’t go through with the plan.

“
Stop
,” Tzen said, resting his hand on the shoulder of one of the Little Guards, who was about a foot taller than him. “Commandant Tyler, I would say it is good to finally meet you. But judging by your expression, this does not seem to be the case.”

“I don’t have time,” I said, scanning the gathering crowd for Hedges. “You have to get out of here. It’s not safe.”

The boy next to Tzen started pleading with him in rapid Chinese, his face tight with concern.

Tzen held his hand up and the boy stopped. “This treaty is more important than me.”

I rolled my eyes. This was not the time for honour. If he got out of here, the treaty could be signed tomorrow. Or the day after. If he stayed here, he would die with the rest of us.

I pushed him aside, to the outraged grunts of his guards. If he wasn’t going to leave, I only had one choice. Find Hedges.

I didn’t need to look for long.

Hedges stood in the middle of the room, a look of beatification on his scarred face. He was a man at peace, a man ready to embrace his destiny. What had happened to him? What had turned him from loyal S3 solider to holy warrior? I would never know. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and something flashed purple in the light. He raised his fist to shoulder height and lifted his first finger.

I patted my belt for my pistol. I’d forgotten it was missing.

I saw Aubrey push her way through the crowd.

“Scott, what’s going on?” She took hold of my hand, trying to get my attention, but I didn’t take my eyes of Hedges. He lifted his second finger.

I yanked Aubrey towards me, grabbed the gun from her belt and raised it. Time seemed to slow as the bullet cut its way across the room. Hedges had time to lift his third finger from the vial before the bullet punctured his forehead, just above his left eyebrow. Blood sprayed out as the bullet drilled deeper into his skull. His eyes widened in shock. His last act before his brain shut down was to raise his last finger.

The vial spiralled to the floor as he toppled backwards. It bounced once, twice, three times on the hard, tiled floor of the Hub and rolled away towards the shocked onlookers. Cain stopped it under the toe of his boot.

No one in the Hub moved. They just stared from Hedges’ dead body, pooling blood, to me, the gun still pointed straight ahead, to the vial under Cain’s foot. For a terrible moment, I wondered if Cain was part of Ladoux’s plan. All he needed to do was tip his weight forward onto the vial and it would all be over.

Cain bent down, lifted his foot a fraction of an inch at a time, as if removing his foot from a landmine, and picked the vial up from the floor.

There was a small crack in the glass. But the vial was still sound. The virus hadn’t escaped. We were saved. Cain looked up at me, his face filled with questions, as my legs finally gave way.

Aubrey helped me to my feet. “You’re bleeding,” she said, nodding to a widening patch of blood on my thigh. I must have torn my stitches running. But it didn’t matter; everyone was safe. I wrapped my arm around Aubrey, on the pretence of letting her take my weight, but really, I wanted to hold her in my arms. If the whole of S3 hadn’t been watching us, I would have kissed her and not stopped till I ran out of breath.

“What in the name of sweet baby Jesus is going on, Tyler?” Cain shouted. “And what was Hedges doing with this?” The vial lay in his open palm, as if he was frightened to close his hand around it.

“He was working with the Red Hand. Ladoux, too.”

I explained to the room about their plans for the X73. There were gasps and mutterings as they realised how closely they’d all come to dying. The reactions from the
Banjai Gonsi
had a slight delay, as the boy Tzen had spoken to earlier quickly translated what I was saying.

“We’re lucky you made it in time, Tyler.” Cain’s face was a picture of open pride and admiration.

“Only on the third try.”

“What do you mean?” Aubrey said.

“Twice. I didn’t make it twice.”

The shock of understanding passed through the crowd. I heard my name being whispered over and over.

CP made her way through the crowd, dragging a crate. “You look like you could use a sit-down, sir.”

I nodded in gratitude and collapsed onto the upturned crate.

“The doctor should see to your leg,” Aubrey said.

“In time.”

Tzen walked forward. With me on the crate, we were eye to eye. He looked so much older than the last time I’d seen him, even though I knew it was only a few weeks ago. The grief of losing his father and the weight of being the leader of his country had hardened his once-soft features. He had the haunted look that I recognised from looking in the mirror. He’d seen terrible things, and yet I also saw hope in his eyes.

He placed one fist into the other and bowed. I copied it as best as I could.

“It appears you have saved my life, Commandant Tyler.”

“You should have got out when I told you,” I said.

Tzen pursed his lips, trying to stop himself from smiling. “I am afraid I am not very good at being told what to do. For example, my advisors said that I should not have come here today. I told them that wherever Commandant Tyler was, I would be safe. I am glad to have been proved right.” Tzen threw a look at the tall boy behind him, who bowed his head in apparent contrition. “I hope we will get a chance to speak later, Commandant. I think we have much to discuss.”

I remembered Vine’s warning. Could Tzen really want me to lead Britain as he led China? If so, he was going to be very disappointed.

“But now,” he continued, “if you will excuse me, I have a treaty to sign and a war to end.”

Cain stretched out one hand. “The Minister is this way, Your Majesty.”

Tzen nodded at me and turned to follow Cain, ignoring the body of the man who had attempted to assassinate him.

The crowd closed in around him.

Aubrey crouched down next to me. Her eye was wide with concern and more, a light I’d seen in the eyes of
my
Aubrey.

No, I corrected myself. This was my Aubrey. When the choice came, I made it. To stay here and die with her if necessary. And soon, the war would be over and we could build a new life for ourselves. Just like we’d always promised each other.

“We need to get you to the doc,” Aubrey said.

“She’s not going to be too impressed I messed up her stitches.”

“I think she’ll forgive you.” She helped me to my feet and I staggered towards the infirmary.

Frankie was changing the bandages on the girl with one arm when we walked in.

She turned and looked at me, an eyebrow raised in mild irritation “And what have you done to yourself now, Commandant?”

“Run two miles. In fifteen minutes.”

“On that leg?” She snorted in exasperation. “Well, better let me look at it, then.”

I hopped up on one of the beds and allowed Frankie to administer to my wound. Aubrey watched me the whole time, smiling. I desperately wanted to be alone with her again. But we’d have to wait.

“I go out for five minutes,” Zac strode through the doors of the infirmary, “and I miss all the excitement.”

“What excitement?” Frankie asked, threading the needle through my skin.

“Just Tyler saving the world. Again.”

Frankie looked at me as Zac, Aubrey and I burst out laughing.

It was one of those perfect moments. The three of us together. I felt the warm glow of good friendship. Or maybe it was the drugs kicking in. Whatever, I felt more at peace that I had done in days. Perhaps even months.

Frankie shook her head and finished tying off the last of the new stitches.

As if the moment couldn’t get any better, I saw the door open and two small figures walk through. It was Katie and CP. Katie hesitated at the door as if she wasn’t sure if she should be there.

CP pushed her forward gently. “Get in there.”

I pulled Katie into a tight, shameless hug as soon as she was within reach.

“They said you nearly died,” she whispered into my neck, her voice chocked in emotion.

I didn’t correct her that we had
all
nearly died and tightened my hug. “It’s OK,” I said. “Everything is going to be OK.”

I had my sister and my friends around me. Life was good.

Which was when I heard the first explosion.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

A second explosion followed quickly after, shaking the walls of the infirmary. Dust rained down on the white floor. We all stood there staring up at the ceiling.

“What the…” Zac said.

Plans and backup plans, that’s what Ladoux had said. It appeared the Red Hand had yet another in store.

“We have to get to the command room.” I jumped off the bed, ignoring Frankie’s complaints that I needed to keep the weight off my leg, and ran for the door, Zac, Aubrey and the others trailing after me.

The Hub was a flurry of activity as everyone in S3 prepared for attack. I watched them as they armed themselves, checked their equipment and tried to stay focused and calm as yet another explosion rocked overhead. Some of them had clearly been woken and were still pulling on their uniforms. How many of them could be trusted? How far had the Red Hand infiltrated our ranks?

Everyone stopped as another, louder explosion was quickly followed by the sounds of screeching metal, as if a great beast was clawing at the doors overhead.

I crossed the Hub, ignoring the red stain where Hedges’ body had been, and pushed open the doors of the command room.

The scene that greeted me was one of barely contained panic. The intel officers were scrambling around, pushing buttons. The large screens were broadcasting feed from the security cameras showing what was happening on the streets meters above our heads.

On the live footage I saw the Emperor’s helicopter on its side, blades still turning, clawing gashes in the side of the building. Swarms of figures in red scarves surrounded the entrance to the Hub, armed with machine guns. The Emperor’s security force were putting up a good fight, but they were outnumbered. We watched as the last of them fell to the bullets of the Red Hand. And then a tank rolled into frame, a large Red Hand painted on its side.

“The bastards,” Zac said. “That’s one of ours. They could at least have the decency to not kill us with our own bloody tanks.”

I wondered if this was a touch of irony from Ladoux, revenge for the friendly fire that had killed her husband.

The only thing stopping the Red Hand from getting into the hangar was ten inches of steel. Only minutes ago, I’d been praying for those doors to buckle, cursing them for not letting me in. Now I was praying that they would hold and keep our enemy out.

The turret on the tank twisted, pointing straight at the doors. They’d withstood a rocket launcher, but could they stand against a tank shell? No one breathed as the tank fired. The impact shook the walls again and plaster rained down on our heads.

“How long will it hold?” Cain had entered the command room.

“Honestly,” one of the intelligence officers said – his name was Philips, I seemed to remember – “I don’t know.”

Cain slammed a red button with his hammer fist. A blasting klaxon sounded and all the lights in the Hub turned red. Not that anyone needed the level five protocol to let us know we were in deep shit. “Radio the army,” Cain said. “We need backup.”

“The network is down,” Philips said.

I’d forgotten about how I’d not been able to get through to Aubrey earlier. And now it seemed we were unable to get any messages out.

“Then get them back up again!” Cain shouted, pounding his fist on a table.

Phillips ripped a panel off the wall. Red, black and blue wires spilled out like guts. He started trying to trace the wires back.

“What other means of communication do we have?” I asked.

The intel officers all shared a look. None, it seemed.

“What about Morse code?” Katie stepped forward. “I was trained on it last week. Mr Morgan said it was how messages were sent in the old days.”

Philips jumped up. “Yes! I think I know where there’s a hard-wired transmitter left over from the last war.”

“Then get a message through to Morgan. Tell him the Hub is under attack and we need help.”