Breed of Havoc (The Breed Chronicles #3) (42 page)

I lay still, listening to the sounds around me. After a second, I realized they were hushed voices. I tried moving and opening my eyes again but still couldn’t. It was like my mind wasn’t attached to my body and I had no control over it. Was I tied down?

Panic bubbled inside me, had my heart pounding. Someone said my name and I forced the panic down, forced my heart to slow so I could listen.

“Do you really think the girl is part of Project Faith?” someone said. It took a second before I realized who the voice belonged to: the crazy woman doctor.

“Don’t you?” Creeper’s voice. “You know what they’re doing. You know what he’s capable of doing. Why else would he protect her? How else would she have survived a vampire bite? How else is she as strong as she is? She’s not normal, doctor. You and I both see that clearly. If she’s not part of Project Faith, then tell me how she survived. Give me better answers. That’s why I brought her to you, so figure this out and tell me what she is.”

Gritting my teeth, I waited. No one spoke again, or if they did, they were too far to hear.

What was Project Faith and why did they think I was a part of it? I wasn’t part of anything. And who was the ‘he’ Creeper’d referred to? Greene? Someone else?

Every single person here was freaking insane. And Creeper, he was the worst of the bunch.

*~*~*

Screams and yells woke me. This time, I managed to move and sat up, swinging around in time to see guards running by the outside door. I couldn’t hear what the voices yelled, but it didn’t sound good.

One of the guards watching me glanced at his partner before turning and pointing an accusing finger at me. “Don’t move.”

I rolled my eyes. “Where do you think I’m going? I’m locked in a room, you idiot.”

He shot me a glare and inched toward the doorway. After a few steps, he paused, looked back at me like I was going to do something, and then continued to inch forward.

“Sounds like trouble,” I said brightly. “I sure hope so.” A big ass load of trouble in the form of CGE people.

There were more shouts, followed by running footsteps.

“Grab the girl. We’re leaving.”

I spun around. Creeper. I turned back to see Watcher guy slowly walk toward my cage. I stepped back and smiled wide.

His gaze went beyond me, to Creeper.

“Scared of a girl?” I scoffed.

He didn’t answer, only narrowed his eyes at me.

“If she tries anything,” Creeper said, his voice casual, “stun her.”

Creeper walked away as my smile faded and one formed on Watcher Guy’s face. He pulled a stun gun from his weapons belt and tested it. I saw the electricity—bright blue, almost white—sizzle out. He reached in his pocket for something with his other hand and pulled out a small remote looking thing. “Don’t try anything,” he warned. With one last look at me, he pressed a button on the remote.

The door pushed out an inch, then slid smoothly out and along the wall of my cage.

Watcher Guy may have been smiling, but he was cautious and his eyes darted side to side as he entered my cage. I saw his gun hand shaking.

I had absolutely no idea what was happening, but if they were trying to move me in a hurry, it had to mean the cavalry was here, right? My heart flipped in my chest. My rescue!

“Stop smiling at me.”

I blinked innocently. “Why?”

“Because—because I said so!”

I rolled my eyes again. “Great reasoning.”

There weren’t any more shouts, I realized. Or footsteps—except for Watcher Guy’s as he shuffled back and forth. He must’ve noticed the same thing, because he grinned at me a second later.

Did my rescuers get lost? Did they need rescuing?

No, they didn’t. They were just…taking care of things. Like kicking some ass and searching for me. And as soon as I got away from the joker in front of me, I’d make their search easier. Some masked guy wasn’t going to stop me from escaping, even if I was weaponless and he had a stunner. I’d have to knock him out, but I liked the idea of that so I didn’t mind. The more I took out the better.

When I stepped toward him, he jumped back and raised the stun gun.

“Wow, you’ve got an itchy trigger finger,” I muttered.

He moved away from me and motioned to the door. “Go. Move.”

I kept my movements slow as I started for the exit. His partner watched me through narrowed eyes from outside.

Watcher Guy shoved me again. I stopped, so he gave me another shove with the gun.

“Get moving.”

This time when he tried to shove me, I twisted around, grabbed his arm, and disarmed him. I kicked him in the knee and smiled as I raised the stunner.

He raised his hands up as his partner ran into the cage and yelled, “Drop it!”

“I don’t think so.” I moved around behind the other guy and pulled him to his feet so I could use him as a shield. I held the stunner against his neck. “Drop yours first.”

Neither of us budged.

Watcher Guy started to wiggle, so I pressed the stunner against his skin even harder. “Keep it up. I don’t mind stunning your dumb ass.”

“I said, drop it!” his partner repeated.

I aimed the stunner at him and pulled the trigger. He dropped to the floor, his scanner sliding across the ground as he started to convulse.

“You won’t get out of here,” Watcher Guy murmured.

“Maybe, maybe not.” I shoved him away from me and kept the stunner aimed at him. “Slide over the controller for the door. Don’t even think about it,” I added when I watched his gaze go to the fallen guard’s stunner.

He shot me a glare and slowly pulled the controller from his pocket and slid it to me. Slowly, keeping him in my line of vision, I knelt and picked it up. I debated stunning him then and there, but instead, I walked over and kicked him. My foot connected with a body part that was, quite literally, below the belt. I made a quick note to myself to never mention that to Linc or Chris.

Watcher Guy’s eyes went glassy and rolled back. I started to move around him, but then I stopped and turned around. I wanted to see their faces.

I checked the stunned guy and then checked the other. They were both so…unremarkable. They could’ve been any random person off the street. How were they so normal-looking on the outside when their insides had to be twisted and ugly? Shouldn’t kidnappers look different? Evil or something, like Creeper?

Grabbing the front of groin-clutching Watcher Guy’s shirt, I lifted him and waited until his eyes focused (mostly) on me. “I know what you look like now, and if I see you again, you’ll regret it. You hear me?”

His head bobbed.

When I dropped him, he looked up at me with angry, pain-filled eyes. I almost left, but instead, I aimed the stunner at him and pulled the trigger. His body twitched and convulsed like his partner’s. I should’ve felt bad, but I didn’t feel a twinge of guilt, not after what he and the rest of them had done. They may not have been behind this all, but they were willing participants. They’d been given a choice, not me.

Before I left, I checked to see if either man had the same tattoo as Creeper. They didn’t. For some reason, I expected them all to have it. I’d hoped they would, so I’d have a way to identify them.

You’ll just have to be more careful, won’t you? I thought, then made my way out, locking them inside my cage.

I paused at the exit of the room to make sure the coast was clear, then headed in the direction I’d last heard the voices coming from. Minutes passed and I didn’t see or hear anyone. I didn’t find anything that looked like an exit. Everything looked the same. Same narrow hallways with unfinished, plaster-spotted walls. Grungy concrete covered the floor. The cold seeped through my sock-covered feet. Above me, tiles were missing from at least half the ceiling. Long, fluorescent lights hung down, making that eerie buzzing sound. They cast menacing shadows on everything.

I was in an unfinished building. But where? There were buildings like this scattered throughout New Orlando—hell, all over Florida and across the states. I didn’t think they’d taken me to another country (I hadn’t heard any foreign accents), but I could be in another town or state. Who knew how long I’d been unconscious either time they’d drugged me? The only thing I knew for certain was they hadn’t moved me since I’d woken up the first time.

Not a lot of help, though. I sighed. Doesn’t matter. Escape first, then find a way home. I forced myself to keep moving, to go as quick as I could while staying quiet.

I hadn’t gone very far when I heard voices. I stopped and pressed my back against the wall. Orders. The voices were delivering orders. They didn’t know I’d escaped yet. That left me with a slight advantage.

I started moving again, careful to keep my steps quiet. The lights overhead flickered and I nearly jumped out of my skin. There were footsteps now, but they were further away, in the opposite direction of me. Retreating?

The urge to run, to speed my way through this maze of walls, hit me hard. I wanted to move, to escape as fast as I could. I caught myself gaining speed more than once and forced myself to slow down. Forced myself to think clearly, to use what I’d learned, in my classes and what I’d discovered here. Pausing briefly, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sounds around me, the scents. Muted car engines coming from my right, footsteps all around me, and muffled voices. I sniffed the air and frowned when I smelled…gas? It wasn’t far away like the cars, but close.

Someone shouted that I’d escaped. I still didn’t risk running, but I moved faster.

The building was confusing because everything looked the same. Was I making any progress or was I just going in circles? I didn’t know. At the next hallway, I took a right instead of my usual left, and as I rounded the corner, felt something wet on my feet. The air around me was thick now with the smell of gas.

Were they planning on burning the building down to cover their tracks?

The question barely entered my mind when I saw Creeper up ahead. His eyes met mine. They’d always been oddly expressionless, but they were different somehow. Colder. Deader.

He had something small and black in his hand, like the remote thing Watcher Guy used to open my door. Over and over, he tossed it a few inches in the air and then caught it. “Come with me, Jade.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

Creeper tossed the thing in his hand in the air once more, and that’s when I realized what it was: a lighter. He caught it easily, then flicked open the top. The smallest of smiles lifted his lip. He lit the lighter, paused as if he were giving me time to change my mind, and then tossed it to the ground.

My eyes went wide. There was a whooshing sound as fire ran along the ground and up the walls. I turned and glanced behind me, but there was even more fire that way. Covering my head, I ran forward and turned at the hallway between Creeper and me. I turned fast enough to bounce off the wall. Fire licked at my skin but I kept running.

I jumped and ducked as wall after wall caught fire and smoke started to billow around me. The heat had me sweating and the smoke made my eyes water. I ran and ran for what felt like eternity, though it’d probably only been a few minutes.

Flames flew up, blocking every hallway I wanted to try before I could reach them. Whenever I hit a dead end, there was only ever one way to go. It hit me then that Creeper had to be orchestrating this somehow. My options were too limited. Go here, away from the flames and live, or go there, into the flames and burn.

I ran faster, tried getting ahead of the fire, trying to not go where he obviously wanted me to. The fire followed right behind me though, like it was attached to me by invisible strings. A ways ahead, I saw an open doorway and pushed myself faster, faster, to get there before my path was blocked. Yes! I cheered in my head. My yes quickly turned into a groan as four masked men stepped in front of the door.

Creeper—who had someone managed to avoid the fire and get ahead of me—was in the front of them.

Skidding to a stop, I wiped sweat and tears from my eyes. Flames flicked out and I dodged to the side to avoid them. I had nowhere else to go and I couldn’t avoid them indefinitely.

I almost laughed, because I’d still fallen for his stupid trap. “I really hate you,” I muttered.

“You’re out of options, Jade. You need to come with us and make it easy on yourself.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m going to pass. I’ll wait for—”

“Your friends?” He laughed now.

“Yes! They’re here, aren’t they?” Weren’t they? Wasn’t that why Creeper and his men were leaving?

Creeper gave a half shrug. “Maybe. Or maybe we’ve already disposed of them.”

“You didn’t. They’re—”

“What? Alive?”

“Yes!” They had to be. The CGE people were good. Too good. They couldn’t be…they weren’t. They handled demons for crying out loud. They could handle human monsters as easily. I refused to believe anything else. “They’re alive,” I said with more conviction than I actually felt. Creeper and his men had managed to not only get on the CGE property, but they’d stabbed at least one person and managed to grab me right under everyone’s noses.

“They’re dead. Their deaths were quick, Jade. Yours won’t be if you stay, and I know you don’t want to die like that.”

I’d be unconscious before the fire got to me, wouldn’t I? Isn’t that what I’d learned in school, that smoke inhalation killed more people than fire itself? But I didn’t think he’d let me die. If he was smart, all he’d have to do was wait until I was unconscious and get me. Or hell, wait until I had no choice but to run outside and straight into their arms. Literally.

Either way, my options sucked.

The fire got louder and hotter. Things were falling down, popping and sparking around me. The smoke was getting thicker. How long before the whole building went up in flames? Minutes, maybe.

There was another crackle, this one really loud and right behind me. But there was another sound that followed it. Softer. Familiar.

“Let’s go, Jade! Now!” There was desperation in his tone and I watched his gaze flicker to the side.

I heard the sound again, but this time I realized it wasn’t just a sound. It was a voice. I only caught one word of it, but that one word had me smiling. My name.