Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) (8 page)

No such luck.

The first one didn’t work, so I tried the second. Then the third.

About the fourth key, my knees were starting to tremble with the effort of maintain
ing my position. T
ension knots had balled up the muscles under my right shoulder blade, making my arm cramp. Wincing at a particularly excruciating
spasm
, my arm flinched half an inch, brushing against the bars. Though
the sweater covered my skin
, I still felt the acid eat away a hole in the
thin
fabric and
bite at my forearm.

My mouth dropped open in shock
,
and a sob slipped out before I clamped down on my tongue.
God
, this hurt.
On my “Shit List of Bad Memories,” being burned by Scarlet Steel was near the top of the list, if not
at
the
top.

I cursed when the fourth ke
y didn’t unlock the cell either
,
and forced myself to move on
to the final key. The smell of burnt flesh drifted toward me, and I made my mind a blank slate, refusing to acknowledge that it was
my
flesh. O
therwise
,
I’d lose my resolve and never try the last key.

A
fter some noodling, I heard the almost inaudible click of the lock opening. I pulled my arm back inside and covered up my other hand with my sleeve before bracing myself and gripping the bars. The material didn’t completely cover my fingers, leaving them exposed to the metal’s mercy. It ate at my flesh as I
yanked
on the door
with a cry of pain, jerking my arms back to my body as it banged open, rattling the floor.

“About time,” Paris snapped. “Now let me out.”

I mumbled a few things that would have earned me a slap, but luckily she
didn’t hear them.
I stepped out of my cell and scurri
ed over to the lock holding her door
closed. It took me a while to find the right key
again
, but it wasn’t nearly so time consuming since I was actually facing the lock and no
t guessing where the hole was.
At last, the lock gave and I awkwardly shoved the door open with my elbows and the tips of my sneakers, which were too wide to fit between the bars all the way.

Paris stepped past me, looking annoyed. Her sharp gaze was fixed on the door Orion had taken his leave through. “We have to go after him. If he leaves this facility, then any chance Aden has of surviving is gone.”

I had to think a minute about what she was saying for it
to
make sense. The thing about Paris
was
when she
got
mad, her accent
got
heavier.

A reply was forming on my tongue when a weird itching sensation spread over my forearm and my hands. I glanced down. My skin was literally sc
abbing over and healing in fast-
forward. Mouth gaping, I watched as the raw, bloody sores came toget
her and formed new skin, returning
to normal
as if nothing had ever happened.

“Wow,” I breathed, holding my hand up in front of my face and examining it.

“Yes, you’re healing faster,” Paris said, waving a hand as if this
were
a trivial thing. To someone who hadn’t been a vampire for very long, it was pretty amazing. I thought about all the fights I used to get into in
grade
school, and how this little ability would have come in handy and saved me from
being
grounded many times.
Dad would never have known about my
scuffles
if
the evidence
had
simply vanished.

“What the hell are you doing?”

I blinked, my eyes refocusing on Paris, who
was staring
at me with disdain.

“Security will be here any minute wondering what’s happened,” she said. “We need to be gone before they arrive.”

Nodding, I followed after her as she carefully stepped over the strewn bodies, her pumps splashing
in the blood-soaked floor. Slapping her badge to the scanner, I watched as
the light
flipped from red to green and the door swung open. Paris barreled through, with me following in her wake. The floor was already slippery enough without having the soles of my shoes slicked with blood. Upon those first few frantic steps, I slipped and slid into a wall, but I didn’t let it slow me down. Paris looked like she was having just as much trouble, eventually stopping to pry off her pumps and carry them with her fingers hooked in the heels.

“Why don’t you just ditch ‘em?” I called over the
wailing
siren.

A look of complete and utter shock came over her. “You do
not
ditch
six thousand dollar Christian Louboutin heels
! They’re rare to find now, practically vintage!”

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. “How much did
you say
those things cost?”

She
didn’t have a chance to answer
because right then a dark form came flying around the corner
,
and we nearly slammed into Rook.

My heart leapt to my throat, nearly choking me. Paris froze, going paler than she normally was, her eyes wide beneath her glasses.

The three of us stared at each other, panting and tense with indecision. Rook’s eyes were
wild, glancing from me to Paris
and back again.

I swallowed against my suddenly dry throat.
If he calls for backup,
we’re screwed.

I didn’t care how much history we had between us. Going back to that cell wasn’t an option. If subduing one of my closest friends was what it took, then bring it on.

I balled my hands up into fists like I’d been taught, ducking into a defensive position. The art of “ass-kickery” wasn’t new to me, and I was already scanning Rook’s body for possible openings when he gripped his
rif
le
, locked eyes with me, and barely whispered, “Charge me and grab my gun. Take out the cameras.”

His voice was
barely
loud enough for me to hear over the sirens,
thanks to my vampire hearing. I blinked, not sure if I’d
heard him right.
H
e discreetly motioned with his
gaze
to something behind and above me. Warily p
rying my eyes off Rook, I spared
a quick glance over my shoulder, seeing a mounted, shiny lens peer
ing back at me from the ceiling – a
camera.

Now that he had pointed it out, I noticed more black dots I had mistaken for holes along the ceiling, no doubt zooming in on us this very second.

I hesitated, not sure if I could trust him.

“Quickly!” he hissed. “Before the rest of the unit comes down here.”

Going with a gut reaction, I let out a battle cry and
charged him. I kicked out, aiming for his stomach, which he in turn blocked with the gun. I grinned.
Exactly what I was counting on.
Now with the
rifle
within reach, I grabbed it and jerked it hard. It slipped out of Rook’s meaty grasp without much resistance, which puzzled me until I realized he had
let
me have it.

“Take out the camera!” h
e
hissed
, pretending to lunge for the gun.

I easily
sidestepped
him and whirled, closing one eye and aimi
ng at the ceiling. Paris ducked.
My arms shuddered
as the bullet sailed out of
the gun
, barreling right into the lens and shattering it. Glass shards rained down from the ceiling.

“Take out the other two!
” Rook
hissed
.

I lowered the gu
n, about to s
hoot Rook – or at least pretend
to –
and grabbed the gun, jerking it toward the ceiling as I pulled the trigger over and over again. Shots rang out, eviscerating the tiles and whatever cameras were left at the other end. The
mechanism
began clicking, indicating it was empty.

I thought we were home free when I spied another little black circle, right above us.

One more.

Using the gun as an extension of my arm, I punched Rook across the jaw
hard enough to make him stagger,
and
then planted my foot in his side, using it to propel myself upward. The camera didn’t stand a chance. Raising the gun, I slammed it into the lens, smashing it to pieces. I fell to the floor, landing on both feet without breaking a sweat.

Rook’s fist flew out of nowhere. All I saw was a dark shape zooming closer, which
I naturally turned to look at.

POW!

Pain exploded along my jaw, jerking my head sideways. “Shit, Rook!” I said, staggering and rubbing my now aching jaw. It hurt to even talk.

Rook stopped, glanced at the decimated cameras all around us, and then blushed sheepishly. “Sorry,” he said, running a hand over his dreads. “I suppose we can drop the act now.” He reached for his walkie
-talkie
, bringing it to his mouth. “The suspects are heading toward the south exit. I repeat, the suspects are heading toward the south exit. All units converge there.”

I relaxed, despite the fact my face felt like it had been hit by a mace.
“I thought you were
coming to kill us
,
”
I said.

Rook shook his head, a sly smile on his face.
“No, that was just a ruse.
I h
ad to play along so Frost wouldn’t suspect anything.
I
knew what she planned to do
to you guys. She’s been trying to find a way to get rid of you, Sloane, since you got here. Had the Council ultimately ruled in your favor, she would have found a way to override it and execute you
anyway
.
I knew I had to stop her before that could happen, and being on her good side was the best way to go about doing that.”

My brows raised; even Paris looked impressed.

“Sorry I doubted you,” I
said,
smiling
. E
ven that hurt. Truth was, I still didn’t know if I should fully trust him, but he
had created a great diversion. T
hat had to count for something.

“I w
as coming to bust
you guys out,” Rook went on, “
but
I see
you’re
way ahead of
me
. Come on. We need to move fast.”

He turned and started sprinting toward the far end of the hall, where another door was.
Pitching the spent
gun
to the side,
Paris and I followed
after him
.
I scowled, annoyed.
Every footstep rattled my sore jaw, sending knives of pain throughout my neck and the rest of my face.

Rook paused before the door, swiping his badge. It swung open –

And there stood five flabbergasted guards.

We all stood there, frozen
.

“Captain…?” one of them asked,
and
then Rook cut him off with a punch to the temple that sent him crumpling to the floor.

“He’s been glamoured!” one of them shouted, raising his gun.

I almost snorted
but held back. All the better if they thought I was somehow controlling Rook. Rushing forward, I kicked one guy in the stomach, sending him flying into another. Behind me, another guard went for his
radio
, at which point I spun around and kicked it out of his hand, following up with a
palm strike to his jaw. His eyes rolled back as he dropped his gun, stunned, and I swiped it up and struck him hard across the temple with the butt. His limbs slackened and he fell to the ground atop his buddy, unconscious.

Gunshots fired a little fa
rther down the hall, and Paris cursed, ducking and all-around trying to stay out of the way. When
the noise
stopped, the ceiling was shredded.

So were the cameras.

I grinned.
Nice move, Rook.

As I prepared myself to face the remaining three guards, I paused, seeing two of them had already been subdued.
“Honestly,” I s
aid, looking at their crumpled
forms. “Did you not leave any for me?”

“Oh, there’s one more for you,
s
weetheart,
” someone said behind me, right before I heard a gun cock. “Drop your weapon.”