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

I grunted, flipping over, and kicked at
Liam’s fingers. Ryker kept tugging me, pulling me backward. The
motion parting me with my shoe.

“Let go.” I wiggled out of Ryker’s grasp. The
doors banged against my knees, trying to seal. I shuffled forward
and pushed my foot deeper into the boot. Liam’s lids were
half-mast, the drug kicking in, but he held on with all he had
left. I crossed my other leg over and slammed the heel of my boot
into his face. Blood burst from his nose, and he loosened his grip
on me. I yanked my foot back, scrambling back into the wall. The
doors slid shut.

During a moment of quiet, only our breaths
could be heard.

“You really like those shoes.” Croygen broke
the silence, his eyebrows lifted in amusement, adjusting Lexie in
his arms.

“Yeah. They’re my favorite pair.” I shrugged
and got to my feet, snatching Sprig on the way up. “They are also
my only ones.”

Croygen and Ryker knew perfectly well why I
fought so hard. The Lia Fáil, the extremely powerful, mythological
Stone of Destiny, lay unceremoniously in the heel of my boot.

So many enemies had come after us for the
gray rock, and they’d stop at nothing to get it. Especially Vadik.
Ryker had put it there when we were in Peru, knowing if he were
caught, they would search him. It had a chance to stay undiscovered
with me.

Vadik, that evil son-of-a-bitch demon, was
Ryker’s father. It turned out Ryker was part demon. Only twenty
minutes earlier he had told me this while trying to kill me. My
mind still struggled to accept this news. I couldn’t fathom how
Ryker was taking it.

Focus, Zoey. You can think about that
later
.

The elevator shot up, passing each floor.
Almost there. Almost there
. I bobbed on my feet nervously. I
should have known it was too easy.

The elevator dinged, alerting us we were
arriving at level two, when an intense grinding sound clanged above
us. The box came to a sudden rattling halt.

“That’s probably not a good thing, huh?”
Croygen glanced at Ryker and me.

I swallowed and set Sprig on Lexie’s chest.
My free hands investigated every elevator button, searching for any
kind of override switch. Of course Rapava would have complete
control of the elevator system, just in case a situation like this
presented itself. “We need to get out now. The stairs out to street
level don’t go below level two.”

“But there are six more levels down.” Croygen
secured Lexie higher in his arms, rustling Sprig.

“I don’t know where those stairs are. Did you
ever see any on the floor they kept us on?”

“No.” A hint of panic coated Croygen tone. “I
didn’t.”

“The top two levels of DMG are for the
hunters, offices, and government-approved testing labs. Everything
below those floors is hidden from the world, probably even from
parts of the government itself. He doesn’t want to make it easy for
anything locked up below those levels to escape.” I ran my hands
along every panel, desperate for anything to help us. I knew what
was coming, and it didn’t take long before my fears were
confirmed.

The elevator gave an abrupt jerk, my stomach
slipping down to my feet.
Shit!
Ryker and I both flew for
the doors, digging our fingers in the space to pry them apart.

Frantic terror ripped through my body as the
doors fought against us, stealing the last seconds we had to get
free. Finally with a grunt from Ryker, the doors gave, opening to
another pair of doors, a number two painted on them. Instantly,
Ryker and I began to tear into them, separating them enough to fit
through.

The elevator jolted again, this time lurching
us down, dragging us back to the depths of hell.

“Croygen, go!” I screamed.

Croygen tossed Lexie into Ryker’s arms and
took a running start, the second-level opening starting to shrink.
He got through and spun, motioning for Lexie. “Hand her to me!”

Ryker offered Lexie and Sprig to Croygen in a
blink of an eye. The opening thinned, collapsing with every second.
I could barely breathe. Croygen was not gentle as he yanked Lexie
and Sprig, her head scraping the top of the elevator as we
continued to plunge.

I didn’t even have time to feel relief as her
body slipped through the tiny gap before Ryker turned to me. He
grabbed my legs, lifting me to the ceiling.

“There should be some kind of emergency exit.
It’s probably locked, but you can break it open!” His hold on me
tightened as he shoved me higher up. With his momentum and my
adrenaline it took me only two hits to pop open the lock and shove
off the cover. I pulled myself up on top of the box.

“Go. Use the cables attached to the elevator
and climb up.” He pointed at the pulley running the elevator up and
down.

“What about you?” I looked back down on
him.

“Don’t worry.” His eyes darkened and his
pupils became vacant. “I’m coming for you, human.” He leaped up,
his hands gripping the edge of the opening, starting to pull
himself up.

I knew that look. From the guy who wanted to
kill me.

Shit!

Climbing a rope was one of the training
exercises I hated most. I would have rather sparred or done pretty
much anything else. Because of that, Daniel made me do it all the
time. I caught on quick. Right then I had to admit to being glad he
forced me do it so often.

Every Collector in this place, along with an
enraged Viking, was up my ass. His eyes were set on me with
determination as he tugged himself through the opening and latched
on to the pulley.

“When I get my hands around your neck this
time, no one will be around to save you.”

Sweat trickled down my face, my arms shaking
as I heaved myself higher. The second-level opening still remained
over a floor away.

My smaller frame gave me speed, but Ryker’s
arm strength outperformed me. He rapidly gained on me, rage
radiating from his eyes and coiled muscles.

“Come here, little human.” His fingers
wrapped around my ankle, tugging me down.

“Ryker, stop.” My arms trembled violently,
trying to pull myself away from him.

“I’ll stop when you’re dead.” He yanked at my
leg again. I squirmed to free myself from his grasp, but he held
on. I bit down on my lip and did the only thing I knew to do. It
had worked with Liam. With as much energy as I could muster, I
slammed my heel into his forehead. A burst of energy exploded
inside me and down my leg.

Wanderer
. The stone’s voice sounded
like a harsh shove. Ryker’s neck snapped back, his body sliding a
few feet down the rope.
She is mine.

Ryker’s white-blue eyes blinked, and within
them I saw the man I knew. He swore, turning his head away with
guilt.

Wow. The stone wanted to protect me. That was
interesting.

“Come on. We don’t have time for awkward
apologies.” I continued up the rope, and the second floor came into
view. Croygen was gone. Hopefully hiding or well on his way
out.

Ryker moved quickly behind me, swinging the
rope till I got close enough to jump. The edge of the floor crushed
into my ribs as my fingers scrabbled on the tile for purchase. I
grunted, forcing my knees up enough to push myself to my feet.

Ryker leaped and moaned in pain when his legs
bashed into the ledge.

“Serves you right.” I leaned down to grab his
arms.

“Don’t.” He hissed through his teeth. “Don’t
touch me.”

The quick stab of rejection stung, but I
swung around searching for signs of Croygen.

“They’re on level two! Near the north
elevator,” a man’s voice barked from the maze of hallways. “Orders
are shoot to kill. Except her. The doctor wants to keep her
alive.”

I’d rather they just kill me.

Ryker tapped my arm and ran down the
corridor. Toward the voices. His gaze narrowed on an open corner
room.

I ran after him. Sometimes the best escape
was letting them pass you. We slipped into the room. Ryker shut the
door, leaving a sliver to watch through.

“If you keep sneaking into my room,” a voice
whispered from behind, lips nipping at my ear, “your boyfriend’s
going to get the wrong idea.”

“Holy shit.” I spun around. The dark,
almond-eyed bandit stood there with a smirk on his face. Lexie and
Sprig lay on the open bed. “Don’t do that.” I smacked his
chest.

“Shut up.” Ryker glared at us before looking
back out the gap, his muscles rigid. We were inches from being
discovered.

“Doors are open, sir. They are somewhere on
this level,” a man’s voice I didn’t recognize spoke from right
outside the room. My curiosity got the better of me. I knew all the
Collectors’ voices. I slipped soundlessly next to Ryker, peeking
through the gap.

A man a few inches taller than me stood so
close on the other side I could reach out and tap his shoulder. He
appeared to be of Asian descent and someone I remembered seeing in
the cafeteria on the lower level a few times. But he was a
scientist. Why would he be in on the search?

A muffled voice over a walkie-talkie
responded. I couldn’t make out the words, but I recognized Rapava’s
evil tone.

“I promise, sir. They will not get past us. I
have men stationed at every corner and entrance. If they are here,
we’ll find them.” He put his hand on his hip, brushing back his lab
coat. On his hip he had the government-issued guns: one dart, one
fae-made.

When Ryker had kidnapped me the first time,
stashing me away in a grungy hotel room, the FBI had come searching
for Sprig and me. I understood Rapava had access to the FBI, if
needed. I never realized he had people right on the premises,
undercover. How naïve had I been?

A call from down the hallway took the
scientist away from the door. Ryker shut and locked it, whirling
around to me. “What the hell, Zoey? Did you know Rapava had
undercover agents here?”

“I had no clue.” I rubbed my head. “I knew he
could call on the FBI in case of emergencies, but not that they
were here, posing as doctors.”

“He might be a doctor, but he’s also been
trained to be a soldier,” Ryker responded curtly.

“How do you know?”

“I just know. I’ve been around for a long
time. They hold themselves differently.”

“And I can guarantee every man he has
‘stationed’”—Croygen curled his fingers in quotes—”around this
level is trained as well.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised. Rapava’s
paranoia about a fae attack had long been acute. I should have
expected he would have more than just the Collectors trained for
battle. How many men did he have here? How many on call? I realized
now I’d never known the true depth of the secrets and lies to
Rapava’s scheming.

“What the hell are we going to do?” Croygen
broke into my thoughts. “It’s not going to take them long to find
us. And we can’t just stroll down the hall.”

“No, we won’t be using
those
passages,
but…” My eyes drifted up.

Croygen followed my gaze. “Oh hell no.”

“We have to.”

“Are you kidding me?” Croygen exclaimed,
knowing what I planned. We had done it plenty of times before.
“Lexie’s out cold and Ryker probably won’t even fit in the
openings.”

“What choice do we have?”

Croygen opened his mouth and then shut it
with a sigh.

“We drag Lexie and Sprig on a sheet behind,
like a cart.”

“And let me guess, I’m the horse?” Croygen
rolled his eyes at us.

“More like a nag,” Ryker muttered.

I grinned. “You do like the fillies.”

Croygen glowered at both of us but shrugged.
There was no other way.

“It won’t lead us out or to the first floor,
but it will get us closer to the stairs,” I continued.

“Then we jump down and go kung fu on their
asses and run out.” Croygen put his hands on his hips.

“Exactly.”

“Excellent plan, Zoey. Stellar, really,”
Croygen said dryly.

“I thought so.”

We all knew it would be nowhere near simple,
but time was running out and our window of surprise was shrinking
to a sliver.

###

The vents squeaked with our weight, even
though we spread out as far as we could. Ryker struggled to scrunch
his shoulders narrow enough to writhe through the small space.
Being the leader, I checked on our location status, while poor
Croygen dragged Lexie and Sprig in the middle, and Ryker brought up
the rear, staying as far from me as possible.

If Rapava was aware of my use of the vents,
he had yet to block them, for which I felt grateful. I couldn’t
believe just a few hours ago Delaney had given me the code to get
Ryker out. I had crawled up into these vents and set this whole
plan in motion. The “borrowed” elevator card dug into my hip. If we
did get out of here, I hoped neither Kate nor Delaney would be
suspected of aiding us.

I slipped down onto the pipes and peeked
through a panel.
Shit
. Rapava had this place a lot more
secured and ready for an attack than I thought. Five men dressed
like they were about to stop a deadly bank heist blocked the door
to the stairs, primed and ready for action. Armed with bulletproof
vests, walkie-talkies, helmets, each appeared to be prepared to
shoot the fae guns they were holding, while automatics and stun
guns hung from their belts.

With a sigh I set the board down lightly and
twisted to face the guys with only my head poking into the vent. It
was almost pitch dark, but I could just barely make out their
outlines. “Good news. We’re here. Bad news. There’s the cast of
S.W.A.T.
team watching the stairs.”

“Dammit,” Croygen whispered.

“It’s clear he has his own soldiers
permanently stationed here, ready to go on a moment’s notice.”
Ryker’s quiet voice held a note of annoyance.

They’d probably been here the whole time,
disguised as staff or kept hidden from view.