From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) (41 page)

“How about that weapon now?” Croygen said. We
had no choice but to stand our ground. To fight our way out. I
tugged one of my extra knives set against my hip and handed it over
to him.

“How many?”

“More than us.”

“That’s what I figured.” Croygen gripped the
blade, trying to steady himself on his feet.

I lifted the gun, turning the way of the
commotion. Nerves bounced with electric static inside my
muscles.

A door opened behind me, and a hand slid over
my mouth. I yelped as my body sailed back in the room. Terror
turned me into a stiff block.

Croygen jumped on my captor. Sprig made a
squeaky sound, grabbing on to Croygen’s neck.

“Get in here now,” Ryker hissed behind
me.

“Fuck, man.” Croygen bolted into the room,
shutting the door. “I think I just pissed myself.”

“Definitely not the first time.” Ryker
dropped his hand from my mouth, but his arm stayed around me. I was
thankful because I felt a little woozy from the shot of adrenaline
to my heart.

“Or the last,” Croygen mumbled, voices
speaking over him.

“This way.” A man’s familiar voice echoed
down the hall. “I heard something.” Peter.

“
Bhean
, look.” Sprig pointed.

My head swung to the far bed in the corner.
My heart leaped from my chest.

“Lexie!” I cried, moving toward her.

Ryker’s hand slipped over my mouth, pulling
me the opposite way of my sister. Instinct caused my arms to fight
his hold, to reach her no matter what.

“Zoey, stop,” he said into my ear. “She’s
alive. You need to stay that way too.”

“Check on the girl,” Peter ordered. “They’ll
be searching for her.”

There was nowhere to hide in the room. The
moment the door opened, we would be discovered.

“Sprig.” I pointed to Lexie. “Go!” The
thought of him getting hurt again... No. I couldn’t take it. The
best place was for him to curl up and hide with Lexie.

He sprang from Croygen’s shoulder and
scrambled to Lexie, just making it when the outside door
jingled.

Ryker released me and pulled out his knife.
Croygen copied his action. I bounced on the balls of my feet,
watching the door swing open, my heart thumping in my chest.

The blond, six-foot, ex-special-ops figure
stepped into the room. Matt, his seer partner, and two military men
rushed in the room behind him. For the briefest moment they
stopped, their eyes landing on us.

Then everything ignited with a tornado of
movement and voices yelling. A blur of bodies ran for each other.
Ryker slammed into Peter, both men sliding across the room into the
wall. The two military men went for Croygen while Matt lunged for
me.

Seer vs. seer.

Packing or not, he should have known better.
I always won with him. I swung for his face. He threw his arm up,
blocking my strike. Peter had trained him by the book. Daniel liked
the rules, but he had not been afraid to show me how you really won
a fight. Plus, my experience in the ring taught me how dirty I
could play.

In the background I could feel people
wrestling around me, but I kept locked on Matt.
Don’t lose focus
on the fight in front of you
. Daniel’s lessons weren’t always
fun, but they came with a reason, and he made sure I learned
them.

Matt reached out to grab my arm. I knew the
move, he wanted to pull me in, get a hold of me. I twisted the
opposite way. Pain erupted from my eye as Matt’s fist collided, his
knuckles plowing deep. I tipped back, already feeling the pounding
of blood circling it.

His arm went to his side grabbing for his
gun.
Shit
.

My knees hit the floor with bruising force,
my fist knocking into Matt’s kidney, bending him over. I sprang up,
my elbow ramming down on his gun arm, breaking his hold. The gun
listed forward, clattering to the floor. He staggered to the side
as I struck the soft part of his throat. He grabbed the injured
area, bowing over, struggling to breathe. My knee slammed into his
face, the cartilage in his nose shattered, and he screamed in pain.
Somewhere down the road I might feel bad for beating Matt to a
pulp, but my motto was kill or be killed. And there was no room for
sympathy. It only caused hesitation. Hesitation got you killed.

The final two blows dropped him to his knees
before my boot cracked into his temple, knocking him out. He would
need hospital care, but he would live. Reaching down I snatched
Matt’s gun from the floor and whirled around to take in the
scene.

The room was a jumbled mess of men. One of
the soldiers struggled to get his gun out of Croygen’s grip, the
barrel facing the pirate. Croygen remained nowhere near his full
strength, sweat shining off his features as he nudged the man back.
The gun went off, echoing in the small room like a bomb. Blood
soaked into Croygen’s sleeve.

“No!” I screamed, rising from the ground, my
finger wrapping around the weapon. Fae bullets killed.

Peter flew across the room, stopping my
progression, his head bouncing off the floor. Ryker roared and
turned for Croygen.

It was like watching a scene on fast forward.
Peter shoved himself up, grabbed his gun, and directed it straight
at the Wanderer’s back. The click of the trigger resonated in my
ears as his finger clenched down.

My brain shut off, only reacting on primal
instinct. Killed or be killed. My hand strangled Matt’s gun. A raw
wail thundered from me as my finger yanked back.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Bullets zinged in the room, fear gripping my
heart, not knowing if it came from my gun or Peter’s.

My ears rang. My arms were frozen in
dread.

Peter fell back against the wall, his body
slumping to the side, smearing blood across the eggshell paint.

My eyes darted back to Ryker. His gaze caught
mine, full of astonishment and appreciation. Relief flooded me. He
was all right. He turned back around, grabbing one of the guards by
the throat, and twisted the man’s neck. Between Ryker and Croygen,
they quickly dispatched the last guy.

I struggled to move, my gaze back on the form
before me. I just killed Peter, Daniel’s old friend and one of my
fellow hunters. We didn’t always get along, but I had not felt one
ounce of hesitation to kill him. I stared at his body, watching
blood leak from the holes in his neck and side. A crimson-drenched
bubble formed out of the gap, and he gave one final shudder.

Holy shit. He was still alive.

My eyes lifted from the puncture up to his
face. His lids were narrowed on me. He swallowed, causing more
blood to gush from the wound.

“Yo-you chose them.” He briefly closed his
eyes before trying again. “One. Of. Them…dis-gusting. F-filthy
whore.”

Boom
.

A gunshot tore through the room, and I cried
out as Peter’s brain burst onto the floor.

My heart and breath slammed in my chest, and
I stared at Ryker. He stood with a gun in one hand, glaring down at
the body. “Fucking asshole.”

“Remind me not to call you a filthy whore,”
Croygen quipped, motioning to me.

“Croygen.” I shoved the pistol in my pants
and went over to him, reaching for his arm. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it just grazed me.” He looked down at
it. “Hurts like a bitch though. And it’s gonna make me feel like
utter crap soon. Like I don’t already.”

I inspected his wound, making sure it wasn’t
deadly before letting myself exhale.

“We need to get Lexie and get out of here.”
Ryker bent over, claiming the weapons on the ground. “But I’m not
leaving this time till I find my axe. Hate these things.” He shoved
a gun into the back of his pants.

“Especially if you shoot your own ass off.”
Croygen took the other one Ryker offered and turned for Lexie,
stumbling to the side.

“Whoa.” I grabbed him. He had been unsteady
before, but now he had enough goblin metal pumping in his system to
make him sick.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you aren’t.” I steadied him. “All I need
you to do is hang in long enough to get yourself and Lexie out of
here.”

“You’re not coming?”

“No. I need to end this.” I glanced over at
my sister. A tip of a fuzzy tail could be seen from underneath her
curly hair. Knowing Sprig he was probably fast asleep. “You know
that.”

“Yeah, but I thought…” Croygen trailed
off.

“That I would forget or let it go?” I jerked
my head back and forth. “No, I’m not leaving till I face
Rapava.”

“Luke, I am your father,” Croygen
spouted.

It was sickly appropriate. Rapava was my
creator. He and Dr. Holt had given me life. They were my mother and
father. “No saving him from the dark side. He can’t be left alive.
That’s why I need you to take Lexie and run. Please, Croygen. I
know how much you have already done for her, for me, but I beg you
to do this last thing. Then you can get far away from this mess.
From us.”

“Zoey, I told you. I’m not going anywhere.
And you never have to ask me to protect her.” He nodded to Lexie.
My arms flew around him, and he hissed as I hit his bullet
wound.

“Sorry.” I stepped back.

“Just warning you. You are going to have to
get her out of here through the elevator where death, mayhem, and
destruction are at every turn.” Ryker smacked his good
shoulder.

Croygen shrugged. “I’ve been in far worse
predicaments, but it was usually getting away from a jealous
husband. There was a benefit in it for me.”

“Okay, just imagine this being like that,” I
replied. “Except without the chance of getting laid before or
after.”

“And no alcohol, opium, or treasure.” Ryker
smirked.

“Yeah, you guys are really selling this.”

“You will have my undying gratitude.” I
winked.

He lifted his lip in a snarl, but I knew it
was all for show.

“Can I exchange that for a geisha?”

“No, but I’m sure
some
girl will take
pity on you. Someday,” I teased. It was a complete joke because
Croygen could have women lining up just to be near him.

“
You
could always kiss me
again
.” Croygen smiled coyly with a wink.

Ryker’s head jerked. “Again?”

“Oh, wow, we really need to get going.”

“What does he mean
again
?”

“What, Lexie?” I backed up to the bed. “I
think she’s waking up.”

Croygen chuckled as he passed, and I punched
him lightly in the stomach. He only laughed harder.

Damn pirates.

“Okay, so who’s ready to get stabbed, shot,
and possibly tortured? No different from some of my nights out in
the Orient.” Croygen clapped his hands, staring down at Lexie’s
sleeping form. “You with me, little shark?”

“
Bhean?
” Sprig tugged my earlobe.
“Have we passed the cafeteria? They have those honey packets there,
right?”

“Zip it, furball,” Ryker whispered harshly at
my shoulder. Sprig had actually been awake when I went over to
Lexie. I found him cuddling his backpack, Pam’s head poking out,
and stroking his tail soothingly. Loud noises, especially gunfire,
really scared him.

“But it gives me superpowers! Without it,
Supersprite is far less super,” he whined. “And my tummy is SUPER
cranky.”

“I’m about to stuff that tail in your mouth
and thread it through your ass if you don’t shut up,” Croygen
snarled.

With Lexie wrapped tightly in Croygen’s arms,
I was having serious
déjà vu
of when we escaped here the
first time. Part of me felt like maybe I had never gotten out and
life above ground had all been a dream. Maybe I remained locked up
in the room, my arms strapped behind me as I rocked in the corner,
so deep in my mind I couldn’t tell reality from the world I
created.

If that were true, I’d pick the dream. As
long as I could actually feel Ryker, I was happy.

“Okay, you go as far as you can. At least get
to level two. There are stairs leading out near the elevator. You
lie, steal, cheat, or kill, but you get her out of here. We will
follow.” At least I would be sure Ryker and Sprig did.

Croygen nodded. The elevator dinged and the
doors opened. I leaned in and swiped the card to access the lower
levels. Croygen held Lexie’s sleeping body close as he stepped in,
a gun in one of his hands.

“Croygen?” I was at a loss for words. “Thank
you.”

“Oh jeez, just say you love me. Make it
really dramatic.” The doors started to close.

I grinned. “I love you.”

“Wow! That lacked finesse.” He frowned.

“Stay safe, asshole,” Ryker snarled.

“Kiss my honey muncher,” Sprig added.

“See, now those had flare. I believed
them.”

The doors shut.

Please, please, let them get to safety.

Shouts came from down the hallway where I
found Croygen. There had to be other ways in and out of these
levels, but they were well hidden. I knew we wouldn’t find obvious
exit signs or pictures of stairs. Rapava probably only showed those
who needed to know how to get out of here. I had never been on that
list.