Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) (13 page)

“Yeah, well, they’re also mine,” Deyzre said, snatching them from his hand and tucking them back in her pocket.

Rook spared her a wry glance then
stood, flex
ing his cutting hand. He
sent a swift kick to the fence. A large piece of it fell away in a lopsided circle, clattering loudly on the other side.

“Aren’t we exposing the humans to the Rogues by leaving this unprotected?” I asked as I slipped through after Rook. A strand of my hair caught on the wiring
,
and I precariously untangled it.

“Yes,” Rook finally said. He pulled off the gloves and tossed them to the side. “But we have no other options. It’s either sacrifice one defense barrier, or wander the tunnels and risk getting caught down here with another pack of Rogues.”

I
gulped down my nerves. “Where
ver this leads, we need to make absolutely certain we cover up
the
exit
. We can’t risk the human
s
’
safety any more than we already have.”

Dezyre st
epped through the opening
and rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. We won’t risk any more of your precious humans.”

I gave her a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She turned to face me, one hand on her hip. “It means that we’re basically at war, and you’re going to have to get used to the idea that there might be some casualties.
”

I stepped closer to her so my face was only a few inches from hers. “Of course I know there could be casualties. That doesn’t mean that we have to increase the risk, though.”

“Ladies,” Rook said, stepping between us. “Now is not the time to get worked up over something that we have no real control over. We need to keep moving. It must surely be nightfall or close to it by now.”

Dezyre and I glared at each other for a few hot seconds before I tore my gaze from hers, my jaw flexing.

“And who knows how much ground Orion’s been able to cover,” Rook added softly, looking at me.

The possibility we might not catch him, that he was already too far away for us to reach, occurred to me, and it sent a bolt of fear straight to my heart. “You’re right. Sorry.” I blinked a few times to clear my head. “Which way do you think we should go?”

Rook pointed to our right. “Since the tunnel
to the left
leads to a dead end, I figured we’d go with the only other choice.”

I looked
in the opposite direction
. Sure enough, it was completely blocked off by a wall of solid steel. “Right it is, then,” I said, turning back around.

We started walking. Dezyre didn’t say anything as I passed her, though I could feel the resentment and the loathing oozing off of her in acidic waves. And there was something else, a nervous edge to her emotions that almost made me stop to study her.

Almost.
The thought of losing Aden because we’d wasted more time occurred to me, and I quickened my pace, determined not to stop no matter what.

The rest of the tunnel was pretty straight forward, and after about a half a mile, we came upon a ladder. It was nailed to the side of the tunnel, shooting straight up into the shadows for about fifty feet or so. “Where do you think it leads?” I asked.

“Only one way to find out,” Rook said, grabbing hold and starting to climb.

I followed after him, anxious to get out of the tunnels. Though we hadn’t actually run into any Rogues, that didn’t mean they weren’t there. The feeling like we were being
followed
never really went away, and I tried to dismiss it to the fact I had watched way too many horror movies when I was a kid.

The rungs were tiny. M
y stomach lurched at the way the ladder groa
ned and trembled as we climbed.

“You sure this thing can hold all our weight?” Dezyre called from beneath me. She tried to sound vaguely concerned, but the fear in her voice couldn’t be masked.

“We’re fine,” Rook called. “Hey, I think
I found a man
hole cover. I’m going to crack it open and take a peek.”

Gripping onto the ladder for dear life, I
held my breath as Rook lifted the cover. I half expected a beam of stray sunlight to blind him, but to my immense relief, it looked like wherever the ladder led to was dark.

“I think it’s a street, but I can’t tell exactly where,” he said. “Seems pretty quiet. I’ll go first.”

Setting the cover to the side, he lifted himself out and looked around, studying his surroundings.

“Well?” I called.

“Nobody’s around,” he said, though his gaze still remained alert. “I’d say it’s clear to come up.”

Eager to get out of the creepy tunnels, I hastily climbed the rest of the way and planted my hands on either side of the hole to haul myself up. Standing and stretching out my tense arms, I looked around.

It appeared to be the northern part of Pittsburgh, where all the illegal trade happened. Not too far away stood the tall, thick steel wall encircling the heart of the city, blocking it off from the Red Sector. Beside us, a Scarlet Steel factory spewed red smoke into the sky, which was darkening from scarlet to purple. The air had a funny smell to it that burned my nose, like pepper. I hadn’t noticed it when I was a human.

Rook must have noticed it too, because his nos
e also looked a little pinched. “It looks like they’ve built more factories.”

“Yeah, sure looks that way,” I said, a little distracted by the itching sensation in the back of my throat. I hated that, the constant feeling like I had to sneeze.
I must be allergic to all the Scarlet Steel particles floating in the air.
Eyes blurring, I turned around
and sneezed
as Dezyre climbed
out
.

“Ew,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Aim your disease-infested self away from me.”

“If anyone has a disease, it’d be you,” I said, sniffling. “The way you tend to dress comes off as advertising to me. But then again, I know a girl’s got to stay in business somehow.”

Outrage flared on her face as her mouth dropped open. “Well, of course I wouldn’t expect someone from
your
side of town to appreciate fashion.”

I snorted. That barb had little effect on me anymore. I was used to hearing jabs at my family’s poor income, of how we had to live in one of the worst areas of the city
when my parents split
because we simply couldn’t afford to live anywhere else off my dad’s measly textile factory wages.
That all changed after he died and my mom
was elected
Sovereign
of the Pittsburgh White Sector
. Suddenly, we had more money than we knew what to do with. But no matter how many designer clothes she forced me to wear, I never forgot my roots – or the hard work my late father had done to get us by.

I gave her a bored look. “If you’re going to insult someone, then attempt to make your remarks a little more, well, insulting.”

She stalked toward me. “Would slapping you across the face be insulting enough for you?”

“Please. I’d break your arm before –”

“Enough!” Rook snarled.

We both froze, our eyes snapping onto his. Fury seemed to light his pupils from within. “
I did not risk my life breaking you out of prison so you could get us killed with your petty arguing.”

My mouth dropped open and then closed again as I struggled
for an answer. “I – it’s just –” I sighed hard, gritting my teeth. “I’m sorry, Rook. I promised you I’d stop fighting with her, and I haven’t. Old habits are hard to break.” I shot her an even glare, which she returned with equal hatred.

“Well, I’m not apologizing,” Dezyre said, tossing her hair back over her shoulder with a jerk of her head. “I’m not the one acting like a brat.”

“Actually,” Rook said, turning on her, “you’re acting like more of a brat than she is. And that’s saying something.”

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered, crossing my arms.

Dezyre looked flabbergasted. “I am
not
a–”

Rook didn’t even give her time to finish. He was upon her in a flash, a fistful of her lab coat clenched in his fist. He jerked her toward him, so close she had to lean back to keep from smacking her face into
his
.

“
You’re not on base any
more, P
rincess. Got it?” he said in a low voice. “No one here is going to kiss your ass just because you’re beautiful
,
or
because
you’re Paris’
s
star pupil. No one gives a damn about that up here, so either get along or go back.”

I arched a brow, impressed. Before seeing “vampire Rook,” I wouldn’t have pictured him ever getting up in someone’s face and chewing them out, let alone a girl. Then again, he had seemed a little edgy since we left the base, and not that I blamed him. Running for our lives while being solely responsible for bringing back a
lunatic
was a lot of pressure, not to mention he was doing so while trying to figure out how he felt about his pseudo-girlf
riend dying. I’d be a little on
edge too.

Dezyre stared at him, her bottom lip quivering. For a moment, I thought she might
cry. B
ut she pushed her lips together and nodded once, never removing her eyes from his.

He searched her eyes, breathing hard, before at last releasing her. “Remember what I said.” He pointed a finger at her. “If you cause any more drama, I’ll toss you over the fence myself.”

Her face blanched and I resisted the urge to snicker. Oh, how I had
longed
to see that jerk get what she deserved.

Rook squeezed his eyes
shut
and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, he opened his eyes, seeming calmer now. “We shouldn’t waste a good night. We need to start searching.”

“Yeah, but where?” Dezyre
said
, seeming to have composed herself
as well
. “This city is still huge, and he could be anywhere.”

“Hmmm.” I thought of every place that might hold any significance to Orion.

Just as I opened my mouth to start throwing out some ideas, a flash of red came at the side of my face
,
and I turned my head in enough time to catch a Scarlet Steel club to the jaw. It felt like someone hit me with a baseball bat, not that I had anything to c
ompare it to. It hurt like hell
and sent me reeling.

Time seemed to slow as the ground came up to meet me, and I threw my hands out to catch myself. The moment I felt the burn of pavement across my palms and cheek, my arms were jerked behind my back and my wrists lit up like someone had set them on fire. I bit my tongue to keep from crying out, not wanting to appear weak in front of
whoever had descended upon us. I heard the snap of cuffs and felt a boot being pressed against my spine, holding me down. From the corner of my eye, I could see Rook and Dezyre in similar positions, each being bound with Scarlet Steel cuffs. Dezyre looked like she was on the verge of tears, but her proud face also held a lot of determination n
ot to cry.
I had to give her credit for that. She was turning out to be tougher than I thought she would be.

A pair of scuffed up combat boots came into view as someone walked around in front of me. “Well, what have we got here,” drawled a deep voice. “Looks like we caught ourselves a McAllister.”

My eyes narrowed.
I know that voice.

A few shadows snickered, the glint of red metal in their hands. My eyes widened slightly. Every bit of it was Scarlet Steel, and they had us outnumbered three to one. Without Scarlet Steel, those numbers wouldn’t mean a thing, but with it, it significantly upped the odds in their favor. Some of them had what appeared to be ordinary guns, but I’d bet my life – quite literally – that they were loaded with Scarlet Steel bullets.

A man who looked to be in his late twenties knelt in front of me, a set of
dog tags
dangling around his neck.

I’d know those tags anywhere. “McGuiness,” I growled.

McGuiness was the undisputed leader of the Black Cross Guild I belonged to. He’d spent some time in
the military in his late teens and
early twenties, and
he
ran his chapter like we were part of the military.
He looked like he had gotten bigge
r –
not that he was ever small
. Veins popped out along his bulging arms and neck, and his buzzed hai
rcut made his head look smaller
,
but
maybe
that
was because his muscles were so big. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was using steroid
s now. His dark eyes were mean.
I saw myself in them, my eyes reflecting red like a cat’s.

He spit on me. “You disgust me. I knew there was something off about you when you disappeared and then suddenly came back like the prodigal
daughter
. I should have trusted my instincts then and gutted you on the spot.”