Breach (The Blood Bargain) (28 page)

There was a shout. Male. A loud metallic thud, a gun hitting the floor. In its wake a gurgled lament faded as quickly as it had begun. Oh god, it was just around the corner.

Immediately falling to my knees I backed up until I was under the cherry desk tucked inside the hollow meant for a leather chair. I did not breathe, my heart pounding in my chest despite my commands to cease entirely. Consumed with a need to know I did something dangerous. Peering out the hole meant for Ethernet cables I saw Ethan standing not ten feet from the other side of the desk.

A fist protruding from the center of his chest. Bone and skin bowed outward, red spot on his shirt widening by the second. Covering my mouth with shaking hands I forced my terror inward. Blood was starting to pool on his boots from the steady drip above.

Whomever was standing behind him retracted their hand, his limp body falling to the ground with a sickening plop. Ethan's soulless eyes appeared to look directly at my location, long hair cascading over his jaw shielding my view from his final expression of surprise.

His murderer wore tennis shoes. Standing with his profile to me in a dark colored warm up suit was a vampire. His facial features appeared British; cleft in his chin, nose upturned slightly, high pronounced cheekbones. A stoic yet smug expression on his face despite the horrible act he had just committed.

"I feel you...lurking in caliginosity." Accent confirmed my assumption, the King's English thick on his tongue. Raising his blood covered arm he smiled. A long tongue extended from between his fangs, running up his bloody hand from palm to the tip of his middle finger. "The salted stench of sweat in every droplet along your flesh." He turned toward me, taking a step forward. "Hear the accentuated fright woven within your heartbeat." Another step.

"
Ahh...crescendo, the primal siren song of adrenaline." Waving his bloody hand in the air like a conductor, droplets of blood hit the ground not a foot away from my tucked legs. Oh god...he was right on top of me. Tears welled in my eyes, both for my dead comrade and my own pending fate. We had been so close. So very close...
Dimitri
....

Finger tips tapping on the desk above my head. Each a spike against my sanity.

"Should you not flee? Or shall I ferret you out of your rabbit hole?" My hand resting on the hilt of the short knife at my belt I mentally prepared to rise and strike. I was sure I would die without landing a killing blow. Perhaps I could wound-

"No need." A feminine purr that preceded the resonating smack of a fist against skin. A deafening crack followed some ten yards away. What the hell?

Through the small hole in the back of the desk I got a clear view of a perfectly toned ass in tight jeans, hips rolling as she walked forward. Candice. I exhaled sharply just as the brit vamp let out an inhuman howl of rage, his body a blur as he picked up Candice like a dodge ball and tossed her through a pile of cubical walls some fifty feet away. Oh shit...Candice..

It didn't faze her in the slightest, back on her feet and smiling she met him halfway. Blow to blow. At least I assumed as much, the most my eyes could detect was furniture breaking, wood bits and paper flying through the air like an indoor tornado. Sheer chaos.

"Liv!" That was Rylie, barely audible above the commotion. Crawling out of my hidey-hole I saw him at the end of the hall, motioning for me to hurry the hell up.

Didn't have to tell me twice.

With no regard for stealth I ran towards him, dodging flying particle board, wayward paper slapping at my skin.

Soon as I reached him,
Rylie pulled me around the corner to where China had just finished picking the lock of a stairwell door.

"In. Now." She hissed.

"But Candice-"

"Move!"
Rylie practically shoved me inside. Behind me the metallic click of the door fell back into place, the fighting-still very much in progress-beyond far less audible.

"Are you injured?" Standing close together on the landing I could smell the mint on his breath. Must have lifted some gum from the gas station. It beat the pungent after taste of dried travel rations.

"I have a paper cut." I blurted out, showing him my thumb.

China snorted. 'And
its me, the scav, that you think is the loon."

Without breaking eye contact with me,
Rylie trained his gun on China's head, pulling back the trigger. "You best lead the way, or I'm going to assume you've outlived your usefulness."

Her arms flew up in frustration. "Alright...calm the hell down. It's this way."

Up a flight of stairs, she paused. "You may want to conceal your weapons, just beyond this door is a tightly controlled civilian environ. We don't want to draw attention."

Frowning,
Rylie tucked the berretta into his pants at the small of his back. Reaching behind me I felt empty air where bow should have been. Cursing myself internally, I remembered leaving it on the roof next to Ben. All that was left on me was my short knife, tucked away under my jacket. Ben...now Ethan...who knew about Candice... We were dropping like flies and barely inside the building. How long till Rylie was next? Hell...how long till it was me?

There was a large palm on my shoulder.

"Are you sure you're okay?" That steel gaze was in my face again. Blinking quickly, I nodded.

"Yeah, why?"

"I've said your name three times now."

"I'm sorry...guess I-"  He smacked me in the side of the head, not hard but enough to get my attention.

"Get your head back in the game Younger. We are up to our asses in enemy territory and I can't take you home in a body bag. We clear?"

"Yes Sir."

"Aww...that's cute." Her voice was high pitched and full of mockery, "You're both soooo adorable. Combat ready Romeo with his bumbling sidekick of a Juliet...why if only I had a camera I'd-"

"One. More. Word."
Rylie pressed that barrel into her temple, pushing against her head till it tilted in submission. China pulled a charades act on us, zipping her lip shut and throwing away the key with an eye roll.

The hallway beyond the door was teeming with life, none of it human. Ferns, flowers, potted trees lined the halls. "What's with all the plants?" I asked quietly.

"Oxygen. Plus no one here has stepped outside in over a decade, the greenery keeps the suicide rate down. Or that's what they say." We followed China through a series of corridors, snaking around the floor until we came to an old pharmaceutical dispensary.

"
Here."

Inside the room there were two people with their backs to us.  A man and a woman, both decked in hospital scrubs hunched over a counter stuffing vegetables and herbs into mason jars.

"Alexis."  China spoke loud and clear.

"What do you..."  She trailed off as she turned around.  The mason jar in her right hand slipped, shattering on the floor. The old man jumped, whirling
around in the same I just saw a ghost shock.

"You're dead."  Alexis whispered, almond shaped brown eyes already pushing tears.

China laughed.  "Not exactly." 

Then the water works and hugs started.  It was probably a good twenty wasted minutes. 

"I can't believe your alive." The Alexis girl choked out for the fifth time, hugging China who was clearly uncomfortable with the contact.

She gently wiggled out of the lanky woman's grasp while she spoke.  "Well I am, and I need your help." 

"My help?" Brushing pale brown bangs out of her red watery eyes the girl stared forward blankly. In a way she reminded me of a deer; skittish with an elongated face and lanky body.  It made me want to shine a flashlight on her, see if she would really freeze in place.  At that point I knew if I kept looking at her I was going to giggle. Incredibly inappropriate, but a great way to cut through the stress building within me. Two of my friends unaccounted for, one dead and our fate rested on the reliability of the human deer woman. Great. I looked over at Rylie who's unreadable expression probably hid the same oh shit thought pattern I had.

"Whatever it is, she'll do it." The older man answered for her, wrapping an arm around her tiny shoulders. "You bet she will."  He gave her a good squeeze.

"Thanks Russ." His bald head bobbed in a nod. "We need clothes," China paused, "and keys."

"Clothes are easy. Keys."
Lex gulped tucking her hair behind her ears, a small diamond stud in each lobe twinkled from the motion. "They're going to know I helped you. They will kill me."

China tried to counter, shaking her head "No. They-"
Lex threw her hands up.

"Yes, they will. You know it as well as I do. And frankly," She took a deep breath, shrugging her tiny shoulders. "I don't think I care anymore.  I'll be right back
okay?" China nodded, pulling the pack of cigarettes out of her pocket, tapping the bottom of the crumpled box. 

The girl darted out of sight around the corner.
Rylie slowly moved to stand by the entrance, his hand not too subtlety on the pistol he refused to discard.

"Did any of the others make it out?" Russ asked the
scav, his left eye squinting while he spoke, the corner of his mouth seeming to kick up in tandem as though an unseen hand was squeezing his face.

China lit her cigarette with a frown.  After a deep drag she spoke, smoke wafting along with her words. "Bill and
Carley died in city limits. Got bit. Demarco, Tyisha and Anton made it out at least."

"Tell me."

"Demarco got cornered on a supply run, there was nothing we could do but listen to him scream. Ty lasted a few months but then she got sick, lockjaw from a rusted nail. Anton was shot in the head by scav's bout six months ago."

Again, eye twitch and smirk.

"That is a damned shame. Anton Jefferson was the best trauma surgeon I've ever known." China nodded in agreement, her face softening as she leaned into him. "How have things been here. Really?"

Deep wrinkles decorated his tan face as he frowned, reminding me of my father.  "Quiet. Haven't been any uprisings or protests since bout a year after you guys jumped ship. Everyone just does their job and cherishes their downtime. Guess you could say we're all a bunch of broken in horses."  The laugh that followed was hollow.  "So do your friends here have names?"

"Probably."  She replied, taking another drag off her cigarette.

"Lieutenant Commander
Everen."  Rylie stuck out his hand and was met halfway with a brisk shake.

"Dr. Russell
Leincroft."

"You've come a long way from medicine doctor."

"An unfortunate turn I would agree.  Can I borrow one of those China dear?"

"It's your lungs."  She threw him a smoke and a lighter.

"So how big is your team?"  He took a long slow drag off his cig.  "Damn, I've missed these."  Marveling at the little death stick he took another puff.  "I was wondering how long it would take uncle sam to get these blood sucking bastards out of our cities."

Rylie
shuffled his feet.  I wondered how many people assumed he was their savior because of his title.  That had to get rough after a while.

Russ kicked up an eyebrow. "Is it classified or something?"

"Military is long gone.  What you see," he gestured between us, "is what you get."

Lex
came back in with two stacks of teal scrubs. With a shaking hand she handed me a tunic and pant set.   "Put this on."  Her authoritative tone surprised me.

With no care for modesty I stripped off my jacket and tank top, pulling the scratchy hospital garb on over my head. It was long enough I didn't have to worry about my panties showing while I swapped out my jeans for flowing pants.

Out of the corner of my eye I got a partial look at China as she went through the same transformation. There was only word that resonated in my mind; scars.

Burns, tears, pockets, flesh addled with signs of a hard life. I wondered for a brief moment why my own body-equally battered-did not bare the same telltale signs. Hell, I had jumped off of a building and broken virtually everything and yet my skin was smooth, my scars faded as though they were decades old.

"I'm due in the vamp tower in about twenty minutes with meals for the humans currently residing there. Instead of the cart, I was thinking you gals could help me hand carry. I'll say it broke a wheel or something."

"Just the girls?" 
Rylies tone screamed 'I don't like this plan'.

"Sorry, Zhang doesn't let men in there, you have to stay here."

Rylie kicked up an eyebrow. "And that will work?"

Lex
just shrugged noncommittally. "I've had to bring help before, it’s not like it’s a big hairy deal. The guards don't bother with me, I'm not worth their time." She checked her wrist watch, frowning. "You guys wait here, I'll be back with the cart then we can divide up the meals and make for the elevator." Almost tripping over her own feet as she went out the door.

"Flighty that one."
Rylie muttered to me, pulling at the edges of the v neck collar that was a tight fit on his thick neck.