LIAM (The Rylee Adamson Epilogues, Book 2) (12 page)

Not normal, not easy to take in, but life just the same.

I raced up the stairs, letting Levi come at his own pace, leaving him behind.

Which was a mistake.

He was a floor below me when the ogres burst out right behind him. “Liam!”

I spun and saw the ogres as they launched toward him. I lifted my gun and squeezed off a round, nailing the ogre closest to Levi in the shoulder. The big brute spun backward and took out the ogres behind him like a big fat set of dominos.

“Hurry your ass up, kid.”

Suddenly, Levi was beside me, step for step. Mind you, his face was white as a new sheet of paper and his breathing was ragged enough that I figured if he hyperventilated much more, he’d pass out. We reached the top floor just as his legs wobbled and his eyes rolled back in his head. I caught him around the waist and helped him through the door. I set him off to one side, turned, and threw the deadbolt lock on the door. Beside Levi was a large concrete planter. I tucked my gun behind my belt and grabbed the edges of the planter. Maybe it would give us an extra few minutes if we were lucky. One could hope.

As I grasped the edge of the planter, I noticed a handprint on it, bright red and wet. The scent of Mai hit me along with the smell of blood. That was not good. She was injured and stumbling. I could almost see her fall out of the door and use the planter to right herself before hurrying onward.

The gravel shrieked as I dragged the concrete planter across it. I got it against the door just as the first blow hit the steel. I grabbed Levi’s arm and hauled him up.

“Time to find Mai and get the fuck out of here.”

He said nothing as I pulled him along behind me. After a few steps, he got his feet under himself and he shook me off. “I’m good. I’m good.”

I said nothing, only kept my attention on the smell of a wounded Mai. “Mai!”

There was no answer, of course not. Her scent trail led to the edge of the roof. I looked over the edge, searching for more bloody handprints.

“Did she jump?” Levi asked.

There were no prints that showed her scaling down the building.

“Not like you’re thinking.” I pointed to the building across from us. It was about four floors lower than the one we stood on, and easily forty feet away. Forty. There was a scuff in the roof that looked like hands and feet imprints to me. “She jumped across there, and we have to follow her.”

“Are you crazy?”

I glanced at him. “No. I’m not. But I can’t leave you here because those assholes know you’re with me and Mai now. And that does not bode well for you.”

“I can hide,” he said. “I’m good at hiding.”

“This isn’t like your dad, Levi. Hiding won’t work. They’ve got your scent.” I shook my head.

He swallowed hard. “Then how are we going to get across there?”

I grinned at him, the wolf in me surfacing a little, liking that what I was going to say would make him squirm.

“Remember the zoo fence?” I asked.

He groaned. “Are you serious?”

I pointed at the far building. “I’m going to boost you. Get back there, close to the door, and then run at me with all you’ve got. I can throw you across, but only if you’re going full speed.”

“You’re serious?” he squeaked again, and behind him the door echoed his sentiment.

“No time to argue. You’ve got elemental blood in you. You’re tougher than you look, so this is not going to hurt like you think. Trust me.” In other words, hurry your ass up, kid. I need you to trust me or we’re both going to die, and I can’t leave you here and just save myself. A pack doesn’t work like that.

He backed away about twenty feet and I crouched at the edge of the roof. “Get your foot on my leg here, where my hands are. We’ve got one shot at this.”

Levi’s jaw tightened, and a wave of determination seemed to roll over him. He bolted toward me, timing his step and jump just right.

As his foot touched down on my leg and cupped hands, I stood, using the strength in my limbs to vault him over my head. I didn’t even look to see if he made it; he was free flying now. I turned and backed up, prepping my own run. The door behind me burst open and the ogres spilled onto the roof like a disturbed ant nest as they hurried to get around me. Fuck, I couldn’t even count how many there were. But Pic was there at the front of the group. “I thought we killed you.”

“Surprise.” I flipped them off and ran for the ledge of the building. I got my foot on the edge and pushed off as hard as I could, arms pinwheeling as if that would somehow help me across the distance.

The sound of guns going off popped through the air. I was hit twice in the back and spun sideways as I fell. Grateful for the flak jacket, I knew it wasn’t going to help me if I hit the ground from this height. Survive I might, but badly injured I would be. And then I’d be at the mercy of the ogres who wouldn’t just throw me in a Dumpster this time. I knew that much.

This all went through my head in the split second I spun and fell toward the far building. I saw a flash of Levi’s big eyes as I missed the roof of the building he stood on. Calm flowed through me. I wasn’t done yet.

I reached out and caught the window ledge as it whipped by me. My body snapped hard with the sudden stop, yanking my shoulder from its socket, pulling at muscles and tendons, tearing through several. But I stopped myself. Actually, I slammed into the brick building so hard, the blow knocked the wind out of me. More gunshots rattled off the building around me, the impacts spraying concrete and dust as the bullets bit into the wall.

Hanging there, I pulled one gun and aimed it at an ogre standing at the edge of the far building. I pulled the trigger, he screamed and fell over the side. I shot two more before they backed off. I tucked the gun away and climbed up the wall, using the divots from the projectiles as well as the window ledge. Difficult with one good arm, but manageable. I got to the top and flopped over the edge. I put my shoulder back in its socket, hard and fast before I could think about how much it was going to hurt. The tendons and muscles were already knitting back together. At least I had that much going for me.

Levi squatted beside me. “Holy shit, you hit them! How come they couldn’t hit you and you could hit them?”

“Because they can’t aim worth shit and I’m a marksman. Top of my class,” I grumbled as I sat, breathing hard and letting my body have a minute to heal before I got up.

Faris’s body would have some new scars after this little adventure. I shook my head, more rattled than I cared to admit.

I forced myself to pull it together and drew in a breath, finding Mai’s scent easily. “She went this way.” I stood and broke into a jog, following Mai to the other side of the building. But . . . I backed up a few steps. She’d backtracked again. I followed her backwards. “Clever girl.” I ran back to the edge of the building. All the ogres were gone from Mai’s apartment building and currently swarming across the street toward this one. My mind put the pieces together and I couldn’t help smiling. “Mai, you clever, clever ogre. I am glad you’re going to work with me, and not against me.”

“Why would you say that?” Levi asked.

I pointed at the blood spots and scuff marks. “‘Cause she’s damn smart. She leapt back to her apartment building after leading a scent trail as if she hopped to the next one.”

Levi groaned. “Tell me we aren’t jumping back.”

I grinned at him. “All right, I won’t tell you. But only because you already know it.” I grabbed him by the shoulder. “Ready?”

“If I say no, does that change anything?”

I laughed. “Nope.”

THE JUMP BACK
to Mai’s apartment building went as fine as a forty-foot jump with a twenty-foot drop can go. Mai’s apartment was higher, but there was no way we were going to hit the roof. As it was, we dropped a solid twenty-five feet and ended up landing on the second floor. I tossed Levi and managed to land him on a larger balcony, right on a lounge chair that crumpled under his weight. I was able to land so I ended up hanging from the same balcony, but this time I was ready for the sudden stop and didn’t pop either of my shoulders out.

We slipped through the sliding glass door and into the apartment of an older gentleman who didn’t even look up as we passed behind him. His eyes were glued to the TV; a hockey game was playing. As if he were with them on the ice, he flinched and bobbed along with the players as they battled back and forth. To be that oblivious to the world around you, I wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse.

We let ourselves out into the hallway, and I knew where we were headed. The backtrack method . . . if she stuck with it, we would find her at her apartment, I was sure of it.

We made it to the fourth floor with no problem, though we passed a trio of grumbling maintenance men as they headed toward the seventh floor and the jammed elevator. Levi and I shared a look, but said nothing. They were in for a shock when they got the elevator open and three wet, dead ogres tumbled out. Of course, being human, all they would see were oversized men, but still, it was going to be a shock.

The fourth floor was quiet and reeked of ogre, thick and heavy, centering around Mai’s door. It overlapped everything else. Again I knew Mai was smarter than the average ogre. Under the layers of ogre scent, I picked out her signature smell, and the blood that was uniquely hers. At her door, I paused, and then knocked softly. “Mai, we lost them.”

The door creaked open and there she was. Sweat dripped down her face and she clutched at her middle. “I don’t think I’m going to do you much good, Liam. They . . .” She spread her hands so I could see the wound in a quick second before she covered it.

The view of internal organs and intestine was bad, but not insurmountable. “I’ve seen worse.” I stepped in and Levi shut the door behind him, quietly this time. Looked like the kid was learning.

I helped Mai back to her room and laid her on her bed. Around the apartment were signs that there had been a child, and not that long ago. The smell of milk on Mai made more sense now too; the baby hadn’t been gone long enough for her milk to entirely leave her.

An empty crib. Blankets folded on a change table. A basket of toys in one corner of the room. I didn’t want to think about the possibility of Rylee and me seeing the same emptiness.

I shook my head. “Let me get a better look.”

“What, are you a healer now, too?” She panted for air around the words.

“No, but I’m trained for emergencies like this.” I put my hands over hers. “Let me see if we can stem some of the bleeding at least.”

“You don’t understand, they scrambled my guts. They know they’ll be able to find me eventually, and I can’t heal this. This is a mortal wound.” She put her hands over mine. “They know they’ve got me. This isn’t the first time they’ve hurt me bad. They did something similar when . . . when my boy died. But they had Bly heal me.”

I frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. “What are you talking about?”

She drew in a slow breath and grimaced, her lips twisting tightly until they bled of color. “They did this to show me that I have no one left who would stand with me. To show me that I am no longer of the tribe, and that I will be slowly killed and tortured as an outsider.”

“The ogre who helped you?” I asked, glancing at Levi and he nodded.

“He’ll be dead by now. He was my boy’s father. He’s been helping me hide out, but this time . . . this time, they’ll know he turned on them. They’ll send a squad after him.”

Fuck. I scrubbed my hands over my face and checked the clock. I had at best thirty-five hours before I was out of time. My mind skittered away from the possibility of not making it, a hard thing to do considering the things around the room that all but rubbed in my face the results if I failed. I could leave Mai and try to find another female but . . . I already knew the truth. Mai was a part of our pack now, to the end. Which left me one path.

“I have a few questions. How long can you survive like this?” I asked.

Mai’s eyes closed and her lips trembled. “Maybe six hours. I’ll fall asleep in the next two, and then I’ll just fade. Even if you could get me healed and away from here, they would follow. They will want to kill you all.”