From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) (5 page)

“Croygen, Ryker and I will take care of the
men. You wait here. When they’re dealt with, you bring Lexie
down.”

“Can I leave the rodent?”

I ignored Croygen’s question. “You run up
those stairs to the top level. I don’t care whatever locks, alarms,
or blockades are put between you and freedom, go through them. We
are too close now. When you exit the door, there will be a tunnel.
Go to the left and just run. The outside door is a block from
there. “And if anything happens to me. You get out. Rapava wants me
more than anyone.”

“Zoey—”

“This is not up for debate. Not this time.
You get my sister out of here,” I growled. He should have been
gone, far from here, but he came back for me. To save me. “Ryker,
you ready?” I didn’t wait for a response before I bent down. The
vibration of someone landing behind me shook the metal.

“I’m with you, human.” His deep voice snaked
up through my hair to my ear. “Till the end.”

“If you have the opportunity, you better run
too.”

“Not a chance.” He stood so close I could
feel his hot breath on my neck.

“Okay, on three.” I leaned over, grabbing a
ceiling panel.

“One,” he said and jumped down.

“Fucking fae.” I grumbled and dropped down
after him. My feet hit the laminated flooring, ready to fight. Five
men dressed in military garb stood sentinel in front of the stairs.
Ryker pounced on the one who went for his walkie-talkie. He twisted
the soldier’s neck so harshly it did a one-eighty, winding his
spine like a clock.
Crack
. The Wanderer pushed the limp
figure away, eager for the next.

The second man came for me, drawing a gun
toward my head. I spun out of the line of fire, knocking his arms,
rocking him to the side. He caught himself, volleying back, bashing
the weapon into the side of my face. Blood instantly coursed down
my cheek.
Bastard
. I grappled for the gun, latching on to
the dangerous end and twisting it out of his grip. The moment it
was in my hands, his fist crashed into my face, exploding pain
through my temple, his fingers greedy to take it back.
Hell.
No.
I twisted around as he struck my arms; the gun slid from my
fingers and away from both of us. His eyes went to the weapon. I
took the moment to strike him in the stomach, ramming his groin
with my knee. He hit the floor as I swiped for his dart gun.
Click
. The tranquilizer flew from the gun and embedded
itself deep in his heart.

The faster it got into this blood system, the
better.

He gaped in surprise, looking at his chest
then up at me before he fell over. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting a
girl my size to kick his ass so fast.

“They’re here! Stairs on the east side,” one
of the guards yelled into his walkie-talkie. My fist came around,
plowing into the soft part of his throat. He bent over, gasping and
choking. I swung my elbow up, sending it crashing down into his
upper back as my knee jammed up into his face, snapping his nose
against my thigh. He dropped hard.

When I turned to check on Ryker, the two
other men fell to the floor like sacks of rice. Fresh cuts and
bruises lined Ryker’s face.

“I always forget how good you are. You didn’t
even need me.” A slight grin hitched the side of his mouth then
twisted around. “Croygen, we’re about to get company,” Ryker
hollered up, standing below the opening. Lexie’s body dropped,
falling ungracefully into Ryker’s arms, but she didn’t even stir.
The drugs kept her deeply unconscious. Sprig’s sleeping form
roughly landed on her, then Croygen followed. I kept quiet,
thankful Croygen had pitched Sprig down at all.

Without a word, Croygen took Lexie back from
Ryker, tucking her into his arms. I whirled for the door, bolting
up the stairs. My body shook with fatigue, but the stone pulsed up
my leg with excitement, giving me just enough to keep going. It was
as though the adrenaline and fear burning through me stimulated
it.

I burst through the first set of doors at the
top, hitting the tunnel. There were still so many things that could
go wrong, but the taste of freedom slid over my skin. Shouts and
alarms rang in my ears as we bolted through the fae detectors. Men
streamed behind us like ants.

A gunshot whistled by my ear as did a command
I didn’t stop to hear, then a hailstorm of bullets. The darkness of
the tunnel kept them from finding their true targets. Their orders
were shoot to kill. We weren’t supposed to get this far.

We weaved, making it hard to get a clear shot
on any of us. The casings bounced off the cement ground as they
unloaded on us. My shoulder slammed into the final door, ready for
freedom to engulf me.

It didn’t budge.

Locked.

“Noooo!”

With a roaring bellow, Ryker’s body seemed to
triple in size along his shoulders, fury radiating off him. He ran
into the doors like a linebacker, cracking the lock with a single
hit. The exit flew open, all of us stumbling forward into the
budding light of day.

We didn’t hesitate. We burst out, bullets and
shouts thundering behind us. Dawn crept over the buildings,
coloring them in a golden glow. Not a good time to escape. The dark
shadows we could slip into were evaporating before our eyes.
Unsuspecting civilians were still snuggled in their beds, leaving
us with no witnesses against DMG chasing and shooting at us.

How easy it would have been if I could still
jump. But Ryker had the magic back. Didn’t he? If it did go back to
him, why did I feel a coil of energy lashing against my spine,
giving me that tingle like it wanted to jump?

A growl came from behind me, and I shot a
glance over my shoulder, Ryker’s face twisted with fury.

“Can you jump?” I yelled back at him.

He shook his head, his features
darkening.

“Can you guys see me?” Croygen asked,
cuddling Lexie close to his chest. Sprig curled on her stomach.

“Yeah? Aren’t we supposed to?”

“No,” he growled. Croygen was a chameleon
type of fae. He should have been able to blend so well into the
background he would disappear. It made him an excellent thief and
pirate. Several bullets whizzed by us. Croygen swore. “Why can’t we
use our powers? We’re out.”

Escape was the first item on our agenda. We’d
worry about everything else later.

“We need to get off the streets and find a
place to hide,” Ryker called over his shoulder as he ran
faster.

“This way. I know a place.” Croygen made a
sharp turn. We ran, twisting and turning through lanes, alleys,
streets, and vacated buildings. I knew we had lost the soldiers,
but we kept up our speed, wanting to put as much distance between
us and DMG as we could.

We had done it. We’d escaped. Croygen, Sprig,
and I had gotten Lexie and Ryker out. I knew we had a long, hard
journey ahead, but right then I let my heart feel the happiness,
the relief. Even if Ryker still wanted to kill me, he was alive,
and Lexie was here. We were all okay, though my gut sensed a
catastrophe coming, like it wouldn’t be long before danger came
calling, smashing us into little pieces.

Croygen led us to a gutted storage warehouse
under the bridge in the Fremont area, a rough-around-the-edges
place. Before the big electrical storm, the region was being
transformed by the twenty-something artists and computer geeks and,
like in so many expanding cities, it had started to show signs of
becoming hip. Now it was back in the hands of the homeless
reclaiming their territory. All were fighting for space under the
bridge next to the famous Fremont Troll, a stone carving, which
once brought tourists to the spot by the droves.

Now people left us alone as we ran through
the streets covered in blood, holding what probably appeared to be
a dead girl wrapped in a blanket with a monkey sleeping on her
chest. You know, pretty normal stuff. Sadly, they had probably seen
worse. Everyone kept to themselves, as though too scared to get
involved.

When we finally stopped, Croygen walked
around to a side door, Lexie still sound asleep in his arms. Sprig
curled up, snoring. “It’s a safe house I used a while ago. Lots of
room to hold any money or loot you want to hide until you can
launder it.”

“How long ago was awhile?” I asked.

“Uh…when was dropping acid the rage?”

“The sixties.”

“Then somewhere around there.”

My mouth gaped. “How do you know it’s even a
safe house anymore and not used by humans or other fae?”

“Because there’s a spell on it. Humans will
look past it. Other fae will feel a spell on it and move on.”
Handing Lexie to Ryker, Croygen went to the door and typed a code
into the access buttons. “Hope this still works.”

I moved closer to Croygen, watching his
fingers move over the buttons. “It’s been over fifty years, you
really think they are going to have the same code?”

The door released from its hold, swinging
open. “You were saying?” Croygen’s lips turned up in a smug grin.
“Remember, fifty years to a fae is like a few weeks to humans.” He
opened the door wider, allowing Ryker and Lexie through, then
motioned for me to enter. “My lady.”

I stepped inside. The two-story,
rectangular-shaped building stood mostly empty except for two
chairs, a table, and bare storage racks, which dotted the vast
space. A filthy mattress with bunched-up blankets sat by itself
like an island against one long blank wall. There were a few doors
off the main room, but all opened to vacant offices, holding no
more than unoccupied shelving.

No bathroom. No kitchen.

“Nice.” I rubbed my arms, goosebumps rippling
over my skin. “Very homey.”

“Someone’s a bit of a snob,” Croygen
mocked.

Ryker moved straight for the bed, set Lexie
down, and covered her with the blanket, then placed Sprig next to
her.

“Stop that…it tickles,” Sprig giggled as he
stirred awake.

I stepped to them, bending down to check on
my sister. Ryker scurried away, putting distance between us. I
tried to ignore the stabbing in my chest and focused on my sister.
She breathed deeply, still under heavy sedation. Croygen’s
suggestion that Rapava used an elephant tranquilizer on her wasn’t
far off. She had barely stirred the entire struggle, her eyes
opening only once. She would have a shock when she woke up. I
touched her forehead, feeling the warmth melting my cold hands. She
felt hot but her body trembled with chills.

The place being full of metal and concrete
gave off no warmth, and the crispness in the air told me fall was
right on our heels. I had no idea the month or how long I had been
in the DMG hole. But if I went down in the summer and came out in
fall, it had to be more than two or three months.

“We should be safe here.” Croygen glanced
through a small opening at the side of the opaque windows, looking
out at the street. “At least till we figure out our next steps.
This place saved my ass a lot back in the day.”

“Do I ask?” I stood from the thin
mattress.

“No. Better not.” Croygen winked.

Ryker moved through each room, his eyes
taking in every nuance, like a trained warrior.

“Wh-where the hell am I?” Sprig popped his
head up, glancing around, his eyes glazed. “Oh no. The raccoons
have me again! Scary bastards. Tell them I’ll pay up this
time.”

“Sprig, calm down.” I stroked behind his ear.
He took a breath, waking up more.

“Why are my nuts tingling?”

I snorted. “Welcome back, buddy.”

He sat up, taking in the space. “We couldn’t
have chosen a diner or a grocery store?” Sprig huffed, rubbing his
eyes. He crawled over Lexie to me. “Was that too much to ask?”

Our protection remained priority, but I had
to admit a place with food, a bathroom, and a shower would have
been nice.

I searched the area and found another filthy,
scratchy blanket. In times of need, you couldn’t be picky, but I
still shook out the blanket. I went over to Lexie’s sleeping body
and laid it over her. My fingers weaved through her naturally kinky
hair. Dark and wavy and streaked with caramel, it had grown past
her shoulders, but it was knotted and frizzy from lack of care.

Her eyebrows smoothed out as I stroked her
face. She was such a beautiful girl. Half Puerto-Rican and half
African-American, her features were striking. Even at twelve,
almost thirteen, the boys had started to notice her. Though, I
could only see now how scrawny and sickly she had become. Her eyes
were sunken and her normally milk-chocolate skin looked ashen.

Lexie’s lips parted and a small groan drifted
out.

“You’re safe now.” I leaned over and kissed
her head. “I will never let them hurt you again. I promise.” I
tucked the blanket tighter against her body. I heaved a sigh,
stood, and turned to face the guys.