Razor's Traitorous Heart: The Alliance Book 2 (5 page)

Razor turned his gaze to look out over the
remains of the city. He could clearly see the border separating the
southern half of the city from the northern half. A crude barrier
of collapsed building rubble had been piled up to make a twenty
foot high wall that went in both directions as far as the eye could
see.

It didn’t keep all the intruders out. That
was evident from the conflict he had observed earlier. Parks didn’t
have enough men to guard the entire length. Instead, small teams
patrolled the line. Kali’s group was one of dozens that moved
through the shadows of the city.

For a moment, he became lost in thought as
he remembered back to that fateful night two weeks ago when Kali
had risked her life to save his. He resisted the urge to rub his
leg where she had pulled the shrapnel out of it. The wound was
already healed. It had been minor compared to what would have
happened if she hadn’t suddenly appeared. He would have been dead.
He had no illusions of what his fate would have been without her
assistance. For that he owed her a life debt, something that did
not sit well with him.

“Razor,” Cutter said, breaking into his
thoughts. “Did you get the information that I sent to you?”

Razor gave a brief nod before he pushed his
memories aside. He wanted to know what would drive two men who had
been friends at one time apart to the point they were trying to
kill each other. He also wanted to know how two men with such
different views could have been friends at one time. The more he
studied the situation, the more questions he discovered he had.

In frustration, he turned off the tablet and
stared out over the ruined Earth city. He had seen the same
countless times before on other worlds. The difference with this
species was they were the ones who had destroyed their own cities
as panic overwhelmed the population. They had refused to believe
the initial first contact when greetings of peace had been
given.

So far, he wasn’t impressed with this
species’ ability to contribute to the growth of the Alliance. The
humans still held too tightly to their various superstitions. This
was one of the things that hindered their progress. The only thing
the humans had going for them was their will to survive. They
adapted, some faster than others, but they adapted. They had little
choice now that they knew they were no longer alone in the
universe.

Kali moved silently through the underground
corridors of a fortified former mall that was the current
headquarters of her brother, Destin. She nodded to the few people
she passed, but didn’t speak with them tonight. Her mind was
focused on what had happened earlier.

Even though she was only twenty-three, she
moved with a quiet confidence that spoke of strength and power. She
was in charge of her brother’s personal security team, in addition
to helping patrol the perimeter that protected the people living in
the northern section of the city. Those responsibilities left
little personal time that she could call her own. She was
constantly on the move, either meeting with the members of their
security team, evaluating and planning defensive maneuvers or
working out to make sure she was in the best condition possible if
her brother needed her protection.

Over time she had come to know and care
about those living out on the streets and in the inner city they
had created. While the times and the world around them had changed
dramatically, the people remained the same. They were still the
ones that laughed and scolded her and Destin when they ran through
the streets as children causing mischief and enjoying their
freedom.

A small smile of remembrance curved her lips
when she remembered their carefree childhood. She had never worried
about what would happen. Destin, older by three years, always had
her back as she had his. They were not only brother and sister, but
best friends. In a crazy world, they had lived a crazy existence of
freedom, roaming the streets and rooftops like the city was their
personal playground. Her lips drooped before tightening when she
remembered the only other person that she had trusted above all
others at one time – Colbert.

He had begun to change long before the world
had its first contact with aliens. They had reunited when that
happened six years ago, but he had become a stranger to her and
Destin. He ruled over the southern half while Destin took the
northern half. It was easier to work together to protect and care
for close to a million residents who refused to leave the city.

Kali had hoped they could become friends
again when they banded together after the world dissolved around
them. For a short period, it seemed as if they had, but everything
changed two years ago when Colbert… Kali’s mind shied away from the
memories as her eyes burned. She refused to think about what had
almost happened. Instead, she focused on the present.

She nodded to an older woman and young
child, Mary Clark and her granddaughter, Beth. They both smiled
back at her before turning a corner leading into the common area.
Her heart pulled when she thought of all the destruction on the
other side of the city. Destin was trying so hard to rebuild the
city and the people living here while Colbert was tearing it
further apart.

Kali cared about the people living here. She
would do whatever she could to make their lives better.
Unfortunately, her compassion came with a price. Her heart ached as
she remembered the men and women who had died to protect those
living here.

She had earned her position as Destin’s
chief of security by sacrificing a piece of her soul. Every time
she sent one of her team members out and they didn’t return, a
piece of her died with them. What almost suffocated her, though,
was when she took a life like she had tonight. Then, then the dark
fear of what she was becoming threatened to choke her.

Knock it off,
she admonished herself
silently.
If I’m not careful, I’ll become as crazy as
William
.

“Kali, wait up,” William called out from
behind her.

Kali hid the grimace when she heard William
call her name.
And that,
she added to herself,
is why I
should never think such thoughts. William will invariably
know.

“Troy said you killed two men tonight,”
William stated breathlessly as he tried to keep up with her
quickening pace. “Do you want to repent for it?”

Kali ground her teeth together to refrain
from saying anything that would hurt William’s feelings. William
had decided to become a born again preacher who believed in every
faith known to mankind a few weeks ago. At seventy-two, she didn’t
know why he bothered. If he hadn’t found religion before now, and
from what she knew of his past he had not, she honestly didn’t
understand why he even wanted to at this late date. The only thing
she could think of was that he hoped it might give him an edge if
Colbert broke through their defenses, not that Colbert cared about
what happened to his black soul.

If that son-of-a-bitch does break
through, he’ll be the one needing to repent,
Kali thought
savagely as hatred burned like lava in her gut.

“I have some holy water that I found in St.
James Cathedral over on Huron and Wabash,” William added holding up
a battered whiskey flask.

Kali bit back a derisive remark when she
glanced at the hopeful look on William’s face. The water in the
flask was probably rain water from the spring showers that had come
through a few days ago. With a shake of her head, she stopped and
looked at the withered face of the former Bookie and street corner
Hot Dog vendor turned evangelist. Taking a deep breath, she gently
covered the hand holding the flask up.

“William, I have nothing to repent. I think
you should stay closer to the compound. We ran into some of Allen’s
men tonight,” she calmly replied. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt
if you should accidently run into any of them.”

“I...,” he started to argue before he
clamped his lips tightly together at Kali’s look of warning. “I’ll
see if Mabel would like for me to hold a prayer session.”

“You do that,” Kali encouraged him before
turning back to the lower section of the building. “Just make sure
you stay at least a foot away when you do. Mabel is likely to hit
you again if you start tossing water on her,” she called out over
her shoulder as she walked away.

“I’ll stay at least three feet from her,”
William called out behind her. “She’s using a cane now.”

Kali shook her head and chuckled as she
thought of William’s current love interest. Mabel was as chipper
and optimistic as they came. At almost eighty, Kali suspected she
just started carrying the cane to keep William from tossing water
on her again.

Turning the last corner, she pushed open the
double doors, noting with satisfaction that Jason and Tim were
standing alertly by the thick metal door leading to her brother’s
office. She nodded to them, murmuring her thanks when Jason opened
the door for her. She brushed past him, ignoring the way his eyes
lingered on her. She knew he was interested. Unfortunately, she
wasn’t.

She had no desire to complicate her life by
getting involved with anyone. She had made a promise to herself
after the Earth was invaded that she would not think of her own
desires until it was free again. What she hadn’t expected was that
it would be the humans who would cause all the chaos and
destruction. She realized now that she had been young and
naïve.

It had taken two years for her to finally
learn that the aliens had come in peace, not to conquer them. Even
so, she still didn’t trust them any more than she trusted – anyone,
except for Destin. Her brother was the only one that she trusted to
never betray her.

“Destin,” she greeted softly as she entered
the room. “We need to talk. Colbert’s men are becoming more
aggressive and… and I believe the Trivators are about to make a
move into the city.”

Her brother’s frown pulled at the scar along
his left cheek. He glanced at the door to make sure it was closed
before he nodded toward the seat across from the battered metal
desk he was sitting behind. Kali crossed the worn floor and sank
down into the equally worn leather chair.

She knew better than to say anything until
he finished with the report he was reading. She hid the grimace
when the frown on his face darkened and he shot a fierce glance at
her. Troy or Richard must have already submitted their report
before she got back. While they had all been together on the
perimeter check and when they encountered Colbert’s men, she had
stayed out a bit longer afterwards.

Kali shifted slightly in the chair as she
thought of the reason for her delay in returning. She had known
‘he’ was watching again. Every night for almost the past two weeks
he had been waiting… searching… watching.

She glanced down so Destin couldn’t see her
troubled eyes. He had enough to worry about without her adding her
nagging feelings to the load he carried on his broad shoulders. It
may have been a mistake to save the alien, but she couldn’t leave
him once she knew he was alive and injured. She just hoped it
wasn’t a mistake she lived to regret one day.

“Tell me,” he demanded, his deep voice
echoing in the quiet room.

Kali shuttered her feelings behind the calm
mask that she had learned to hide behind after Colbert’s betrayal.
She lifted her head and stared back at her brother, noting the
lines of fatigue around his eyes and mouth. She also saw the
concern.

She released a sigh and tucked her short
brown hair behind her ear. “You know about the three men tonight?”
She said more than asked.

“Yes,” he replied, tapping the report in
front of him. “Colbert’s growing brasher. You were lucky you
weren’t killed tonight, Kali. Troy said that you were caught out in
the open.”

“I knew they were there,” she replied in a
soft voice. “I caught a glimpse when we were topside, but lost
them. They were almost five blocks inside the barrier. That is the
farthest they’ve made it so far. I wanted to know how they were
getting through. We followed them, but lost sight again as we got
closer to the line. I couldn’t let them get back across.”

“So you used yourself as bait?” Destin bit
out. “I need you alive, Kali. Foolish decisions like that won’t
keep you that way.”

Kali’s mouth tightened at her brother’s
quiet reprimand. Her fingers curled until her hands were fisted in
her lap. She fought and won the battle with her temper. She didn’t
lose it often, but when she did, shit usually hit the fan.

Instead, she counted to ten and drew in a
deep, calming breath before replying. “We needed to find the weak
area. I did, in the form of a traitor. Jeffrey was with them.”

Destin’s head snapped back in shock before
his eyes narrowed in rage. Jeffrey was a relatively new member of
the city who claimed to have found his way here after coming down
from Canada. He had recently been assigned as a perimeter
guard.

“Damn it. I should have known,” Destin
cursed out as he stood up. He ran his hand through his own short
hair in frustration. “What did you discover?”

“There is an underground utility tunnel that
we missed,” she replied. “I’ve given the information to Mason. He
and his crew are sealing it even as we speak. That’s why I was
late. There may be others. I’ve instructed Mason to go back through
the archives to see if there are any more building plans available.
From the look of the tunnel, I would have to say it was built at
the beginning of the last century.”

“Damn it! You went down there? Alone?”
Destin asked, glaring angrily at her. “What if there had been more
of Colbert’s men down there? Kali, if Colbert gets his hands on
you…”