Azure (The Silver Series Book 5) (19 page)

“
We're here to get you
out,” I said softly. I knew they wouldn't believe me, but it felt
better than saying nothing.

A werewolf stepped forward with a bolt
cutter and began to cut his way down the row. The gun felt cold in
my hand. I shoved it behind my belt and opened the first cage. The
bite of the silver was harsher having been away from it, and I
regretted not bringing gloves. The werewolf inside stared at me
with baleful, hazy eyes. I stepped toward him and he cringed
against the back of the cage.

“
No, don't,” I said
quietly. His bare back touched the bars, but he was numb to the
pain. A tremor ran through my limbs in response as I bent and
gathered his frail body in my arms. He didn't protest when I
carried him from the cage and handed him to one of the werewolves
under the vent.

I watched as he was lifted up to the pipe
and pulled carefully inside. The werewolves and Hunters that lined
the ventilation shaft up to the mouth would help him climb the
steep rise; others beyond were set to rush each werewolf to a
waiting vehicle.

Jaze and Jet were already inside the next
two cages. I hurried to the fourth where Nora stood staring at a
form inside. I used the hem of my shirt to pull open the door, but
I could tell by the odor of decay that the werewolf had died a few
days ago. I covered the still form with the ratty blanket discarded
in the opposite corner, which told me more about the occupant than
I could put into words. I touched the body one more time, then
closed the cage door behind me feeling as though I left a piece of
my soul inside. One more night and I would have died like him.

“
He's dead?” Nora
whispered, horror tightening her voice.

I nodded, realized her vision was limited in
the faint lighting, and forced my voice to remain calm despite the
way my heart pounded in my ears. “Yes, but we need to worry about
the other werewolves now, the ones we can save.”

“
My father will pay for
this,” she said, rage giving her voice strength.

“
That's why we're here,” I
reminded her gently.

I pulled open the door to the next cage,
then bit back a growl when I saw the condition of the occupant. She
was curled in the corner, the scraps of her blanket inadequately
covering her lashed body. Black whip burns covered her skin from
head to toe and my own scars gave a sympathetic throb.

I pulled off my shirt and wrapped it around
her. She lifted her head weakly and gave me a small smile. “I knew
you'd come back,” Gem's voice drifted from the battered body. I
blinked and recognized the pixie cut blond hair and blue eyes
despite her bruised, swollen face.

“
What did they do to you?”
I demanded.

She shrugged, then winced and seemed to curl
in on herself to stop the pain. “They wanted to know where you
went.”

“
That's ridiculous. You
weren't even there when I escaped.” An inferno of rage flowed
through my body so swiftly my hands shook and I had to take several
breaths to keep from phasing.

“
Apparently one of the
other werewolves told them we talked sometimes.” Anger must have
flashed through my eyes because she set a frail hand on my arm.
“They said it to save their skin, and it wasn't a lie. They didn't
know this would happen.” She took a shallow breath as though her
ribs hurt. “When they couldn't find out anything, they separated us
so we wouldn't help each other. If anyone talked, they came in and
beat us again.”

“
I'm getting you out of
here,” I said. I picked her up as gently as I could, but I heard
her breath catch at the pain of each movement. Her head lolled
against my shoulder. “I'm so sorry,” I whispered.

“
I told you I'd be
rescued,” she replied with a shadow of a smile that hinted at her
former self.

“
You were right,” I agreed.
My heart ached at her pain and soared to be near her again. I
wanted to protect her from everything bad that had happened, to get
her far away from Lobotraz and help her escape the haunting
nightmares that would follow as they did for me. I had to remind
myself that other werewolves needed me. As much as I wanted to take
care of Gem, our rescue was bigger than just the two of us. I
carried her gently down the aisle between the cages.

Jet waited under the vent. I was reluctant
to let Gem go, but the chance of seeking revenge against Rob was
too great to turn away now. I passed Gem to the black-haired
werewolf. “Take care of her,” I said.

Understanding showed in Jet’s dark eyes so
stark and painful it was as though he knew exactly what we had gone
through. “She’ll be safe with me,” he said in a voice full of black
emotion that echoed the tormented places in my heart.

I watched her disappear into the pipe above,
took a calming breath to collect myself, then hurried with Nora to
the other end of the room.

“
Is she a friend?” she
asked in a whisper.

“
She was in the cage next
to mine,” I replied. A memory of her handing over a cup of water to
wash the silver from my feet flashed into my mind and I blinked
back tears. “She was beaten because of me.”

“
She was beaten because of
my dad,” Nora replied. “You can't help that you were a prisoner
here. It's my fault they caught you.”

I shook my head, but didn’t reply. Gem was
all I could think about. Her beaten body and the look of suffering
in her eyes stilled my heart. She had gone through all of that
because of me. My heart clenched at the thought of her in pain and
I couldn’t forgive myself for how long she had waited for us to
come back. She hadn’t given up.

Gem was so strong in ways that dwarfed
anyone else I had met. The fact that she was still alive brought
tears to my eyes. I vowed to see her pain-free and healthy again,
full of food that would help put weight back on her skinny frame,
basking in light and sunshine, and under starlight and the
reassuring presence of the moon. I would take care of her. I
gritted my teeth and turned back to the job at hand. Nora
hesitated, then hurried after me.

Jet and Jaze were lifting the final werewolf
to the Hunters above when someone pounded on the door at the end of
the room. Jet had slipped a chain through the handles and secured
it with a snap hook. The last werewolf cleared the vent opening and
Kaynan and two Hunters jumped down to join us as the vent was
closed tightly from above.

Jaze pulled a gun from behind his belt. He
flashed me a serious look. “Ready?”

I pulled the gun from my belt as well and
slid off the safety. “Ready.”

Jet and Kaynan waited on each side of the
door. Nora kept back with the Hunters past the last row of cages to
be out of the heart of battle. Jaze and I reached the door on
silent feet. The banging had stopped, but shadows blocked out the
light from the hallway beyond and angry voices came through.

Jet silently unfastened the snap hook and
lifted the chain out of the door handles, careful to not make a
noise. He coiled it around his right hand. He didn't carry a gun,
but he pulled a knife that looked just as deadly from a sheath
around his ankle.

Kaynan made similar preparations on the
other side, except the knife he used came from a wristband on his
arm. I didn’t see how he pulled it out, but he unfastened the band
and then a blade glinted in the darkness. He and Jet exchanged a
charged glance. Both looked ready for whatever would come through
that door. I wondered what kind of a lifestyle involved an
expectation toward killing.

Chapter 17

Jet looped two fingers loosely around the
door handle and waited for Jaze's signal. Jaze listened to his
headpiece, then nodded. My heart thundered in my chest. I wondered
if I would recognize the guards, if they would be the pair that
jostled prisoners the least, or the four who made every day a
living nightmare. Maybe Rob had replaced all of his guards after my
disappearance. I didn’t have to imagine what he would do to anyone
who got on his bad side.

Jet pulled open the door and Jaze shot the
first two forms that appeared. I didn’t have time to see their
faces against the silhouette of the neon lighting in the hallway
before they slumped to either side. Jaze glanced back just as
someone else forced his way through. A gunshot sounded next to me
and the body collapsed. I looked back to find Nora with a gun
raised, the acrid scent of smoke wafting from the end. At my
shocked look, her cheeks touched red and she dropped her eyes.
“Somebody had to do it.”

“
Thanks,” Jaze replied. He
took a steeling breath, then pushed through the door with Jet at
his side. Kaynan and I followed them at a swift trot down the hall
to a set of double doors at the end. The Hunters and Nora went
slower to intercept anyone who came up behind us. Before we could
reach the doors, shots rang out.

I spun and dropped to one knee, taking aim
like I had done a million times at Two during practice. The
forty-five in my hand weighed more than the one I was used to, but
it responded to the slightest squeeze of the trigger. A succession
of bullets rang out from our side, bringing down the six guards who
appeared at the corner.

I let out a breath, then a dozen more guards
appeared. I ran toward Nora and pulled her into my arms, shielding
her with my body as Jaze’s team took out our attackers. Nora
trembled in my arms, but as soon as the firing stopped, she lifted
her gun, ready to defend us both.

Ballistic shields appeared next carried by
six heavily armed men. They ducked behind the thick metal as our
bullets ricocheted off. Submachine guns appeared at the top of the
shields. I knew the second they pulled their triggers, the entire
team would be wiped out. Jaze’s werewolves were behind me, and the
Hunters huddled around us. There wasn’t time for anyone to take
action.

I pushed Nora to the ground out of harm’s
way and took two running steps. I leaped over the shields and
phased in the air before I hit the ground. The guns followed my
path as the guards turned to defend themselves, leaving their backs
unprotected for a brief moment.

It was the split second we needed. Two black
blurs and one red one jumped over the forgotten shields and tore
into our attackers. Growls and yells rang out, turning the hallway
into a cacophony of pain-filled screams as we took down the threat.
Within minutes, only a mass of bodies lay at our feet.

Blood colored my muzzle when I looked up at
Nora and the Hunters watching from the middle of the hallway. There
was no disgust on Nora’s face, only fear that I hoped came from
being under fire by the guards. I stepped around the corner and
phased, then pulled on what was left of my tattered clothes. Jaze,
Jet, and Kaynan followed a few seconds later, their muzzles as red
as mine had been.

Kaynan’s crimson fur made him look like a
creature out of a horror story. I wondered what had happened to
make him so different from other werewolves. The two black wolves
beside him phased quickly and I found Jet watching me. “That was
brave,” he said quietly.

“
A bit foolhardy,” Kaynan
replied with a teasing light in his red eyes.

I smiled. “It was the first thing I could
think of.”

Jaze handed me my gun. “We owe you for
that.”

I tipped my head to indicate Lobotraz in
general. “Consider us even.”

He nodded seriously and they followed me
back up the hall to where Nora and the Hunters waited. Nora checked
me over quickly like she expected to see bullet holes dotting my
body, and finding none, she threw her arms around my neck. “You
need to be more careful,” she said in a chiding tone that almost
covered the underlying quaver.

“
I’ll try,” I promised her.
I glanced at Jaze. “Let’s finish this.”

He nodded and motioned to the double doors
at the end. He and Jet each took a door, then he checked his watch.
I wondered what they were waiting for. Anxiety filled my chest at
what we would find beyond. The noise in the hall should have
alerted anyone who waited in the central room. The element of
surprise was no longer on our side. Given Jaze’s attack plan, no
one could have escaped down the branching hallways from the center.
If Rob was there, we would have to use brute force to bring him
down.

A few seconds later, the lights went out,
flooding the entire compound in darkness. Jaze and Jet pushed
through the doors. I let Kaynan and one of the Hunters go by, then
fell in beside Nora. She threw me a grateful look, her figure
menacing with a gun held in her hands like she knew how to use it.
After seeing her shoot, I didn’t doubt her abilities. She pushed
strands of hair off her face and her brow creased with
determination. My heart thrummed at a steady, low pace, my phasing
instincts under control as long as we had the upper hand.

We followed Jaze’s team into the main center
of Lobotraz. Computers glared in stark contrast to the darkness
around us while a generator hummed noisily in a corner. A strange,
sharp odor colored the air, masking the scent of anyone who might
be hiding in the room.

“
Stay back,” Jaze warned
softly. He and Jet began to sweep the left side of the
low-ceilinged area while Kaynan and the Hunters took the right.
Both teams walked silently through the room like lethal shadows,
their footsteps barely audible on the cement floor.

Figures appeared near the front of the room
and shots rang out. The teams dove behind desks and returned fire.
I pulled Nora away from the doorway and we ducked down behind a set
of filing cabinets. Nora scooted to the far end. I followed her,
checking over my shoulder to make sure more guards didn’t appear at
the door.