Hunted (A Sinners Series Book 2) (21 page)

Zeus barks louder, making me jump in my own skin. His fur stands straight up on his back, and his tail moves in a measured manner, all while his posture remains tight. He cocks his head to the left.

“What the hell is his deal? He looks confused,” Bruno says, sweat glistening as it rolls down his biceps.

“He’s trying to get a sense of what he’s hearing,” I say.

“You’re kidding, right?” Bruno asks.

“Nope. Zeus has the best intuition, especially when it comes to people we don’t know. If he trusts them, Cole does. So that’s enough proof for me.”

“Come on, follow me,” Cole says to Bruno. Cole takes the flashlight from me.

They move forward with their guns raised, the small light fading as they travel farther into the dank hallway. Zeus takes off after them, sniffing along the way.

My body shivers, and I wrap my arms around myself, but it doesn’t help. My heart’s palpitating so fast, I need to sit down. Without that little bit of light, the room gets darker and darker. All I can think about is the last time I was here with Keegan, as the only sound coming from the hallway is the drip of water.

The very thought of water makes me lick my lips. My throat’s so dry, it feels raw.

Grace sits down next to me. It’s so dark that if I didn’t feel her warmth, I wouldn’t even know she was there. I lean my head on her shoulder.

“Don’t move,” a voice says.

My breath catches in my throat. It’s hard to make out where the voice comes from. Grace tenses up beside me.

“Why are you here?” the voice asks, in a demanding tone. “I didn’t invite you, did I? I don’t recall inviting anyone.”

“Why are
you
here?” I ask right back.

“I live here. Well, I hide here,” he says.

The man is in front of me, off to the right, and although I can’t see him, I detect the slight smell of alcohol permeating his breath when he speaks.
Great, he’s been drinking, and he’s probably armed.
He shines a light in our faces. I blink my eyes and turn my face away as he cackles. Grace links her arm through mine.

“Well I’ll be damned. If it isn’t Lusty Lexi.” He laughs a deep, throaty laugh.

“How do you know me?” I scrunch my forehead to protect my eyes, and he flicks off the light.
Lusty Lexi? Who used to call me that?

Just then, Zeus barks, and I hear footsteps heading toward us. Cole’s flashlight appears. The man puts his light back on and shines it toward Cole and Bruno. That’s when I get a good look at him. The scraggly hair and missing teeth give him away immediately.

“Stop right there, or I’ll smack them,” he says. “Or should I say kick them? My legs are stronger.”

Zeus parks his body at the edge of the light and ducks his head down. His butt goes straight into the air, like he wants to play. He dances around the man wildly.

Cole and Bruno stop dead in their tracks, pointing their guns at the man who points a gun at me and Grace. Cole’s eyes track Zeus, looking for cues.

“If you so much as touch them, I’ll blow your brains out,” Bruno says.

The man laughs. “Lusty, your guard’s alive; that’s great,” he says. “Or maybe it’s not, depending on if you like him. Do you?”

“Former guard,” Cole says with an edge in his voice. “And yes, she’s with me, so I suggest you back away from her.”

Zeus continues to pop up and down. He almost runs into the man, who attempts to push him away. Trying to follow Zeus while keeping track of the conversation isn’t easy.

“Cole, you know him,” I say. The man’s eyes flick to me, a grin spreading across his face as I stare down his barrel.

Cole shakes his head.

“You don’t recognize him? It’s Bill,” I say.

A look of recognition crosses Cole’s face.

“Ah! You remember me?” Bill asks, clapping his hands and jumping up and down. I’m not sure why he’s so excited; you would think he had just won the lottery or something.

“Yeah … ” I say.

“Bill? Crazy Bill?” Cole steps in closer with his gun pointed at him. “Of all people, how the hell did
you
manage to survive?”

“By eating and drinking, and I forget what else. Maybe breathing?”

“No, you moron. I meant the revolt, how on earth did you manage to survive?”

“I came down here.”

“When?” Cole asks.

“Um. Give me a minute.” We all stare while he counts using his fingers.

“Forget it. How did you know the underground even existed?” Cole asks impatiently.

“I’m a nosey person. I watch people. I watched them coming and going from the opening. I love secrets; they’re so much fun. Don’t you think?”

Cole’s face has confusion and annoyance written all over it. Bruno inches closer, gun pointed at the man’s head. So I decide to change the subject before Cole or Bruno punch him—or worse.

“Hey, Bill, do you have any water?” I ask.

He scrunches his eyes at me, looking me up and down, slowly lowering his gun and placing it in the waist of his pants.

“I do, I do. I’ll get you guys some, and then you can leave?” He glances at Bruno and Cole, who haven’t lowered their weapons.

Bruno jumps forward, holding Bill at gunpoint. “You’ll give us water and food, but we’re not leaving.” Bill laughs, even as Bruno shoves the barrel into the side of his head.

“I like your style. Straight to the point. So now we’re roommates? That’s great, I love roommates. Okay, be right back.”

“I believe Bill has fallen off his rocker,” I say to Cole.

“Yeah … he’s … crazy all right,” Cole says, laughing and shaking his head.

“Or it’s an act,” Bruno says.

A while later, we sit in the old training room, in the middle of the floor, sharing water and snacks. Bruno stands over us, gulping down as much as he can handle. The lights are dim, only a few still work.

The feel of the hard mats under my hands reminds me of my training. All the times I wrestled with people in my group, ran sprints, and worked to build strength come back to me. But most of all, I feel Keegan’s presence.

“For the main operation, we divided everyone into teams. I’m assigning you to mine. One, because I love you, and two, because you’re that damn good,” Keegan had said.

I close my eyes and remember the way he looked at me when he said it. He cracked his neck like it was no big deal. But it meant everything to me, my older brother believing in me that much.

“Lexi, water?” Cole’s voice snaps me back to the present.

“What kind of question is that?” I have to shake away the memories, or I’ll drown in them. I tip the bottle to my lips and concentrate on just hydrating myself. Keegan would want me to be strong.

If there’s one positive thing about the Hole right now, it’s this—the first taste of water I’ve had in days. In order to keep from getting sick, I sip it. But part of me just wants to dump the whole thing all over me like a shampoo commercial and sing out loud.

“Why’re you keeping this all to yourself? Don’t you have any friends?” I ask Bill, who sits to my left. “I don’t get it.”

“Lusty, you silly girl. If I shared this with the outside, you wouldn’t have any right now. See what I mean?” He casually tips back a bottle of water and sips it. Then he pulls out another container, a round one with a cap on it. He bites off the cap, and I smell the stinging burn of alcohol. He takes a long swig before putting it away.

“There’s no one around up there to take the stuff, man,” Bruno says. He shakes his head and squints his eyes.

“Things have been happening since you all … ” He throws his hands in the air. “Left.” He leans back, putting his hands behind him, and glares at Bruno. “Oh they’re out there all right. Hiding. Oy vey, did you see that bug? That was a nasty one.” We all turn to see what he’s pointing at, but there’s nothing there.

“Bill, why are they hiding?” I ask.

“So they don’t get taken. Being taken never has a good outcome.”

“Taken?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “By who? Why?”

“You’re so full of s—” Bruno starts.

“Help!” someone yells. It’s a man’s voice, but I don’t recognize it.

I stop mid-drink and look around as everyone goes silent. Zeus’s ears stand up, and he cocks his head sideways.

“Someone help me!” the voice yells.

“Who is that?” Bruno asks Bill.

Bill gives him a sheepish grin. “Oh, I totally forgot about that guy. I don’t know him, so that makes me not like him,” he says.

Bruno brings his gun up and shoves it against Bill’s temple. His lips turn down, and he narrows his eyes. “I don’t trust you, man,” Bruno says.

“Who is it?” Cole asks. He’s standing now, his shoulders tense and his eyes ablaze. Bill doesn’t answer. He just gulps more of his pungent drink. “Tell us now.”

“I think it’s a guard, if I remember correctly … He’s got a very nice uniform on.”

“Tell me you didn’t bring a guard down here,” Cole says.

“I’m not the enemy!” the voice says. It echoes off the walls and around the large room.

We all look at one another, unsure of what to do next.

“Bill,” I say. “Where is he?”

“I’ll show you, but don’t panic, because I don’t know who he is.”

“Let’s go,” Bruno says. “Now.”

Bill reluctantly stands up with Bruno’s gun centered on him. He pats his pants and shrugs his shoulders. When he begins walking, he stumbles and swerves.

“I’m about to confiscate your bottle, old man,” Cole threatens.

“No, no, anything but that,” Bill says. “I’ll do anything you say.”

He stands in front of the large metal door that leads into the hallway and past the women’s communal shower area. If it weren’t for the voice pleading to be free on the other side, the thought of a shower would thrill me.

“Please, let me out of here,” the voice says.

Bruno stares at Bill. Bill stares at Bruno. It’s a standoff.

Grace sighs, gun trained on the door, awaiting instructions from Bruno. Cole looks to Bruno, and the two exchange some kind of guy-guard-macho look. Bruno turns back to Bill and gives him the stare of death.

“We better not be walking into a trap, you drunk fool.” Bruno pushes his weapon against Bill’s head again.

Finally, Bill rolls his eyes and turns the knob. When Bruno pushes open the door, Zeus tears through it, disappearing into the hallway.

“Do you have no control over that dog at all?” Bruno asks Cole.

“You asked to see the captive. Remember that, if he’s dangerous, it’s not my fault,” Bill says. He leans against the doorframe, his eyes rolling in his head. “So here goes nothing.”

“Who’s there?” the man asks in a shaky voice.

I flip on the light.

Oh my God
.

Sitting in the hallway, duct-taped to a wooden chair, is a man. He’s been blindfolded. Just looking at the large shiner on his head makes mine throb. His chin quivers. His knuckles are bloodied and dirty. I push Bill aside as I file into the hallway to get a better look at him.
That’s no guard
. On his dark blue uniform is the United Powers emblem, right on the collar.

“What the hell, Bill! You’re holding a monitor hostage?”

“A what?” he asks. He stumbles into the space to my right. “He’s a computer monitor?”

“Oh hell.” Cole lowers his gun, whips out his knife, and immediately begins cutting the blindfold and restraints away from the man.

“He came down here, and I don’t know him. People I don’t know make me very nervous and on edge.”

“Bill, a monitor is a person the United Powers sent to help us,” I say, pushing him aside. “He’s not a guard.”

As the man is freed, he flexes his wrists and fingers. He blinks several times, revealing dark blue eyes that if you weren’t close enough, you’d think were black. He clenches his jaw and stares at us, seemingly unsure of what to do.

“Were there any other monitors who came with you?” Bruno asks. The man seals his lips while evaluating Bruno, who’s appearance would be enough to intimidate anyone.

“Hey, slow down a minute, give the man some water and a second to breathe before you jump down his throat,” Grace says.

I hand her a bottle, and she gives it to the monitor, who hesitantly takes it. He drinks it slowly, never taking his eyes off us.

“Thank you,” he says to Grace. His voice comes out raspy.

“Now … answer my questions,” Bruno says.

The man clears his throat. “How did you know there were others with me?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

“We just assumed someone as important as you wouldn’t have come to a place like this alone,” I say. His eyes rest on me, on my brand, and then he focuses on my eyes.

“I’m not sure if anyone else made it,” he says. “We were shot at, the lot of us. Somehow, I found a way down here.”

“So that’s it? You could very well be the only monitor that’s left. And from the looks of things, if Wilson finds out you’re still alive, he’ll try to kill you too.” Cole’s words are harsh, but they about sum up what’s happening. The little hope that sparked inside me when I saw this man’s United Powers emblem vanishes.