Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) (29 page)

My breath caught.
Arika.

Hope made my heart skip a beat. If the others were here, we could grab them and get the hell out before the Scarlet Guard rained on this little parade.

“Leo,” I shouted, “I think I saw Arika.”

His gaze immediately sharpened, and he scanned the area, totally alert. “Where?”

“Over there
.
”

We walked along the other side, bypassing the bathroom for now. I frowne
d. A throng of people stood around the edge of the stage
, dancing and gr
inding to the music. Apparently
the stage had only so much standing room, so the rest spilled over onto the sides.

I couldn’t concentrate as the music grinded against my skull, the smell in the air making my nose tingle and my eyes water.
Flashes of unfamiliar faces lit up with neon light
s. One in particular looked hauntingly familiar
.

The realization of who it was
hit me like a blow to the head, knocking the breath from me and rendering me immobile and speechless for a few seconds.

Leo nearly slammed into me as I
came
to a sudden halt. “What?” he shouted, trying to get me to look at him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

I didn’t even realize I was shaking until I tried to speak and my voice warbled.

“Orion,” I whispered, staring straight ahead.

I’d know him anywhere – the dark hair, light brown skin, and wicked glint to his eyes. As if sensing me watching him, his eyes caught mine and he smiled, licking something
darkly colored
from his
lips
.

Though I didn’t want to, I finally blinked because my eyes were w
atering so badly. When I looked back up,
he was gone.

Everything else faded away as I searched the crowd. Finding him was the only thing that mattered.

Without realizing what I was doing, I let go of Leo’s hand and fished my way through people, parting them like water, my eyes searching, scanning, hoping.

“
Sloane
,” someone whispered.

I whirled – Orion’s face flashed with neon red light right before he wrapped an arm around a giggling girl’s waist, leading her into a dark hallway.

My heart thudded violently in my chest as
I went after him, each breath and
footstep
achingly slow.

Bursting through t
he crowd, I ran into the hall
.

It was pure black. The light from the rave only reached so far, illuminating two figures at the far end in murky red, green, and blue light.

Feeling my muscles coil with te
nsion, I slowly stalked forward
. Someone was moaning; as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the shadows became tangible. A tall man in a leather jacket and dark jeans had a girl pinned to the wall, one wrist in his
grasp
while
his other hand
cradled
her neck. He had his head buried in the curve of her shoulder. Had I not known better – had I not smelled the heavy wave of blood saturating the air – I would have thought they were a couple trying to get some privacy.

I stopped behind him, not bothering to sneak up because I knew he
had
heard me. “Hello, brother,” I said in a low voice.

Orion chuckled darkly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he turned to face me. The girl, riding a vampire endorphin
high
, slumped to the ground, a goofy smile on her face. For a moment, Orion eyed me up and down, his cool countenance unruffled. “I was beginning to think you weren’t capable of living up to my expectations,” he said, his low voice smooth as oil. “But then again, I always did underestimate you.”

A wave of roiling resentment tore through me; liv
ing in his shadow, never being good enough
for Mom, had become something I’d grown numb to over the years – or so I’d thought. “You’re so predictable,” I spat, my lip rolling up in disgust as I eyed the girl, wh
o had begun to pull at his pant
leg, begging to be bitten again. “Given the chance to do the right thing, you
always
slip back into your old ways.”

“And who’s to say my ways aren’t right?” he asked, holding up his arms. Kicking the girl aside like she was a dog, he stalked toward me. I backed into the wall, and he put his arms up on either side, blocking my exit. His eyes g
lowed red as he leaned into me, sniffing. “You smell different. More animal,” he said, the red light flashing off his fanged smile. “I see you’re embracing your inner goddess.”

“I’m not embracing anything,” I said, my throat tight as I remembered Leo’s almost drug
ged state after I had
fed from him
. “I do what I need to survive, and that’s all.”

“Oh, but you know you want to do more,” he purred. “Admit it: When you feed from a human, some part of you wants to drink every last drop.”

His words scared me, paralyzing my thoughts for a second or two. Orion’s eyes flashed knowi
ngly. “You could join me, S
is
. We could rebuild this world into a utopia.”

I barked a laugh, though there was no warmth to it. “Knowing you, ‘utopia’ means ‘dictatorship.’”

He feigned to be hurt. “Do you really think so little of me?”

I arched a brow, nonplussed. “You painted the picture of the villain for me.”

Something moved to my right, just outside my line of vision. Someone was creeping up on us. A tendril of blood-scented air wafted toward me, and my heart skipped a beat in fear.

Leo.

I wanted to yell at him to stay back, to run as far away from my monster of a brother as he could.

But when the air erupted into screams and gunfire, Orion was the last thing on my mind.

Both of our heads
snapped around to the hallway entrance
. The girl Orion had fed from started screaming; she scrambled to her feet and ran down the hall, locking herself in a room.

Orion was faster than me – he started to run, but I caught hold of his jacket, jerking him back.

Hissing, he whirled and made a fist, driving it toward my head, but
I ducked and it sailed over me in a flash of silver, the light from the rave reflecting off his ring.
Using my legs to spring
upward, I came up with a palm
strike to his chin, which he narrowly avoided. Eyes like fire, he snarled and tackled me to the
ground, pinning me to the cold,
concrete floor with his forearm. I gasped for breath as he leaned in, his mouth right next to my ear.

“Sure you won’t reconsider my offer?” he whispered.

“Never,” I growled. He had just enough t
ime to blink before I head
butted him, skewing his balance. He
teetered
to the side, and I bucked him off, scrambling to my feet as he
rolled away. I grabbed for him
but only managed to get a fistful of his jacket, which he deftly maneuvered out of before saluting me and running toward the shadows.

Adrenaline pumping, I started to go after him when someone yelled my name. I drew up short as Leo appeared
at my side
. “Did he hurt you?” he asked,
examining me
.

Heat flooded my cheek
s
and I blinked, shocked. Gulping to moisten my dry throat, I said, “No.” Wooden chips flew toward us as a shower of bullets ate away at the walls, and my eyes darted to the chaotic, smoky dance room. “What’s happening?”

“It’s the Black Cross Guild,” Leo said, and my eyes rounded. I was fully expecting him to say The Scarlet Guard was behind this. “Some of them were
already here, dressed as party
goers and running surveillance.”

I nodded, trying to think through the noise. “We need to get to the lobby, which means –”

“– crossing the room,” he finished grimly. “I know. Let’s go.”

Grabbing my hand, we tore off toward the room, pausing at the hall exit to watch for an opening. People ran screamin
g in every which direction, chased by the slow, lethal hunters, who appeared as calm as if they were running a training exercise.
Some of the hunters were finishing spray-painting something along the wall in red paint – “LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN.”

Leo was the first to take off. I followed his lead, crouching low as we wound our way over dead bodies and around the stage. Anger prickled under my skin. They say they’re trying to protect mankind, but what about the innocent dead laying around us? Who was there to protect them?

I clutched
Orion’s
jacket as we sprinted toward the exit. Two people locked in battle spilled onto our path, and I dodged but not before the girl knocked into me. After kicking
her
opponent in the
chest
, following up with a flash of red metal as she gutted him with a crimson sai, she whirled on me, a hot glare on her petite face. The anger in her eyes flipped to surprise as her mouth dropped open. “Sloane?”

“Arika!” I almost hugged her
but thought better of it. “Where are the others?”

“They’re here
too,” she said. “We were looking for a place to hide, an
d figured a crowd of washed
out, vampire-humping teens was as safe a place as any. Where’s Leo?”

“Arika,” Leo said, appearing beside me, gawking.

Something passed between them, and the emotion in his eyes was unreadable. Jealousy tutted and waved a chastising finger at my conscience, but then I blinked. Getting out of here alive trumped any confused feelings I might be experiencing right now.

“Where are Rook and Dezyre?” I asked, gripping Arika’s arm.

She jerked her arm away, which actually made me relax. At least some things hadn’
t changed. “They were right behind me when the Guild tried to stop us from escaping.”

“Yeah, well, that didn’t work out so well for them.”

I turned as Rook, sporting a busted lip, walked up to us, one arm supporting a limping Dezyre.
Her dress was torn and her lab coat was missing.

I closed my eyes briefly and heaved a long sigh. Words couldn’t express how glad I was they were all right.

“You can rejoice later,” Arika said. “We need to get out of here.”

For once, I couldn’t argue with her. We ran toward the exit; hope fueled every step as I spied the glowing red
exit
sign at the end of the hall.

A shot
exploded
behind us
and Rook
yelled
in pain
. In slow motion, I whirled around. Rook was falling to the ground, a screaming Dezyre trying to hold him up.

The sharp smell of Scarlet Steel and burning flesh filled my nose, making it crinkle as dread gripped my throat. Running forward, Leo and I caught Rook before he could hit the ground as Arika raced past, flinging a sai toward our pursuer. It flipped several times, cutting through the air like a knife, before embedding itself in the hunter’s chest.

As she went to retrieve her weapon, I flipped Rook over as Dezyre sobbed beside me. My heart nearly stopped beating.

His breath was coming in stutters as blood bubbled out of his mouth. In his chest, where his heart was supposed to be, was a gaping, smoking hole.

CHAPTER 18

I thought my lungs and arms would give out by the time we reached shelter. Leo kicke
d in the door of the old
Laundromat
, its windows boarded up long ago by some unlucky owner who had gone out of business,
probably
post-Eclipse.

The
doorjamb was so rusted through that
it had been easy to kick open, especially with vampire strength. The inside of
the place was sad in a way; it looked abandoned and unwanted. Everything was
covered in dust and whit
e sheets,
a reminder of what once was
and what could never be again – normal, blissful yesterday, far removed from the terrors of reality.

We went straight to the back in case anyone was chasing us, and Leo and I dragged Rook to a shadowy corner. Arika
started to follow and scowled as she
was smacked in the face by a dangling cord. When she pulled it, a little white light ghosted to life above us, threatening to give out at any moment.

I should have thought about Aden, and how I had possibly let his only chance at survival get away, but I just couldn’t.
Nothing else seemed to matter when
my friend
’
s
life
was slipping away.

Rook was freezing to the touch; goose bumps riddled his skin as he shivered uncontrollably. It dawned on me that I was still clutching Orion’s jacket. “Here,” I said, draping it over him. “Sorry about the asshole smell on it.”