Tested (22 page)

Missy ran her hands down his sides, pressing in hard. He moaned, his body stiffening when he realized he'd done so into the phone. Missy couldn't help but giggle.

"No, nothing. Sorry," he said quickly, throwing a narrowed look at her.

She smiled cheekily.

"I'll figure something out." he said. "Once I come up with a plan I'll let you know. If anyone there can think of a way over for us, let me know. I'm open to any suggestions." He nodded. "Aye, me too Pete. It's good to hear your voice again. I'll call back soon."

They said goodbye and before she could even register him moving, he turned and lunged at her, pinning her to the bed. She squeaked in surprise, her breathing picking up as he pressed his hard length against her. "Poking at a lion, love? You shouldn't tease a man like me."

She smiled. "I'm not the one poking," she pointed out, making him grin in return. "And I wasn't teasing," she added, innocently blinking at him, "I was just trying to relax you."

He hummed in reply, unconvinced, as he dipped his head to lick at her pulse. Running her hands down his back, she decided that they wouldn't be figuring out a way back to her home for a while yet - not that she was complaining.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"Sir, the planes have returned."

"Hmm?" Ludwig blinked over at the two soldiers standing just inside his office, pulling his eyes away from the streets below. How long had he been staring out the window? He wondered. His mind was frequently drifting like that, his thoughts a million miles away from the events happening around him. His focus sliding to things he'd never given much thought to before now.

"The planes..." the man said again, hesitantly this time. "They've just returned to the base. The raid is over."

"Oh. Right, right. Excellent. Have the captain give me a report when he's ready."

The soldier nodded. "Sir," he saluted, turning to leave. Xavier, the other soldier who had been standing there, remained, watching him curiously.

"Something else?" asked Ludwig.

"What would you like me to do about the girl?" he asked.

Ludwig turned to look back out the window, his thoughts already drifting back to just that - the girl. "We'll watch her for now," he answered. "No one is to make a move until I say otherwise."

"Yes, Sir."

Bridgette gripped Roman's hand tightly as they hurried through the streets. The sounds of distant explosions could no longer be heard - thank God. She didn't know what was going on, but she'd been terrified when they'd first heard them. Pulling her hood further down to shield her face, she ran behind the man before her, knowing that at the very least she was safe from any threats street level with him by her side.

When they entered the house, everyone was already gathered in the living room, turning to look at them as one. All except Missy and Tyler who were currently over in the exact area that had just been bombed. It was one of the reasons she'd felt sick as soon as she'd heard them.

That, and all the other people she had grown to care for while living in the desolate area. Phoenix and Trent were also missing, a fact that was nagging at all of them. So far none of their searches had turned up any answers regarding the van that had taken them. There were too many players on the board for her to keep track of, just like Seamus had said before. And it was hitting their group hard, it seemed.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Seamus said.

"Hiding," Roman answered plainly, ignoring Seamus' annoyed tone. "There was a bombing in the eastern ghetto," he continued, looking straight at her sister. Some unspoken exchange went between them.

"Yeah, we're aware. Thanks for the update, Captain Obvious," Seamus replied. Bridgette squeezed Roman's hand to keep him from losing it on her friend.

"Give it a rest, Seamus," she said tiredly. Sometimes it was like dealing with a child.

"We weren't sure if they were coming this way too so I found an empty building to hole up in."

"Do you think they will?" Pete asked. "Come this way?"

Roman looked to Charlotte again. "Hard to say, I have no idea what's going through his head right now. Without either of us there to appeal to his sensible side, I'm afraid we're going to see a lot more of this kind of thing. Left to his own devises Ludwig can be quite impulsive."

"You were his sensible side?" Seamus snorted. "Wow, you did a bang up job so far."

"Mate, I'm not getting between you two when he finally gets sick of your shit," Pete said to him.

"I wouldn't ask you to," Seamus said, grinning at Roman in a way that said he relished the thought of them fighting.

Bridgette rolled her eyes. She'd be more worried if she didn't know just how patient Roman could be. He wasn't easily goaded. Unlike Seamus and the others, Roman Adamson was no hot head. He was a trained soldier and one of the most level headed people she knew. Who else could run with her away from a live grenade about to explode and remain completely calm? Even going so far as to make jokes to her at the same time.

No, Roman wasn't the one she was worried about. She was more concerned it would be she who ended up flipping out and attacking Seamus. She had moves up her sleeves he didn't even know about. Roman leaned down in that moment, his lips close to her ear.

"Easy champ," he whispered, laughter in his voice. She looked up, surprised he'd guessed just where her thoughts had gone. He winked, turning to look back at Pete.

They filled them in on their conversation with Tyler. Bridgette breathed a little easier knowing they were safe - for now. But they still had to figure out a way to get them back home. She sat down with a weary sigh as they discussed theories as to what Ludwig was up to, how to get Tyler and Missy home, and how to locate Phoenix and Trent. If it’s not one thing it's another, she thought, wondering when they would finally be free of all this drama. She was beginning to think there was no such thing as happily ever after anymore.

He didn’t bother to turn when he heard the other man enter the room behind him. “Damages,” he demanded.

“It’s hard to say, General. The entire eastern side has been hit. It will take us days to really know the extent.” He paused. “The Institute has been destroyed.”

Douglas looked over at his second. “Completely?”

John nodded slowly. “There would be no way to repair it, especially without the proper materials and machinery.”

He sighed deeply. Why did everything always have to go to shit? Was it too much to ask for one thing to go his way? He was sick of dealing with incompetence and Ludwig’s anarchy. Things would be changing though, soon enough. The rebels had something up their sleeve that would finally put the damn New World leader in his place.

“Are you looking for a new location?” he asked.

“Already on it, sir. Unfortunately there are few options. The raid destroyed most of the larger buildings.”

“What of the patients?”

“The ones that were flagged were saved, but the others are presumed dead,” he replied.

Douglas toyed with the pen lying on the desk before him. “Patient 2140?”

John grinned at the use of his number instead of name. They both knew fully well 2140 was Tyler Scott, but Douglas wasn’t going to give the lying, betraying rat the honour of being addressed by his name. He had chosen to follow McKay and his band of deranged deserters, and therefore deserved to be treated like all the other scum they scooped off the street for their testing.

“He wasn’t released,” was all he said.

“That doesn’t really answer my question, does it?” Douglas said slowly.

“It would be hard to confirm, sir. The building is still smoldering. It is literally falling apart second by second. I can’t see how he could have gotten out.”

Douglas rubbed his jaw, reining in his rising temper. “Find the girl then,” he barked. “If he got out, he’ll be with her. I think we’ve left her alone long enough. It’s time to find out who she really is and just how she is connected to Tyler.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll send someone out to find her. The technicians let her go right before the raid began. She couldn’t have gone far, if she made it at all.”

“Fine. Find her and make sure he’s not with her. If he is, I want them both taken care of. Understood?”

He nodded. “Sir.”

“What of our other issue?”

“It’s been rescheduled. We’ll be ready in time.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, eyebrows raised challengingly.

“Yes, sir. We will be more than ready.”

He smiled coldly. “You’d better be.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

After a long and rather distracting shower, they ended up finding some canned food that was still good and sat eating it cross-legged across from one another on his bed. Both were still wearing only towels, and what should have been an awkward situation, for some reason wasn’t. Missy couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so relaxed or at ease. There was something about Tyler that made her feel completely comfortable in her own skin.

She happily ate the tasteless food, simply enjoying the person she was with. The city around them was literally in chaos, they had no way of getting home just yet, her sister was probably freaking out right now and getting ready to throttle her by the time she got home, and yet she didn’t feel any urgency to leave the small apartment.

“What are you thinking about that has that pretty mouth smiling like that?” Tyler asked, narrowing his eyes playfully at her. “You look like you have a secret.”

Maybe she did, she thought. There was no way she could express the feelings that had been growing for him over the past weeks, solidifying now that they were together and he was back to normal. Putting herself out on the line like that was still a bit out of her comfort zone. Baby steps, she decided. Instead of telling him the truth she shrugged and simplified it. “I’m just happy right now,” she said.

He raised both eyebrows. “We almost just died in a burning building, had to run through a city that was recently bombed, can’t get back to where our friends are, and are stuck in my small, messy apartment eating canned food, and you’re happy?”

She blushed. It sounded even more ridiculous when he said it like that out loud. She just shrugged again, her smiling slipping a bit as she looked down at her food. How could she explain how she was feeling without revealing that it had everything to do with him?

The mattress dipped as he leaned in to her, his knees hitting hers when he brought his face closer, forcing her to look up and meet his gaze. He stared at her in silence, those green eyes of his searching hers – for what she didn’t know, but all she could do was stare back. Finally he smiled softly, leaning in the rest of the way to plant a tender kiss on her lips.

“I’m happy too, lass,” he said quietly. “But we can’t stay locked up here together forever.”

She almost,
almost,
said why not, but bit it back. Of course they couldn’t stay hidden away forever. Even if that sounded like heaven to her. Going back to her house meant going back to her father’s watchful eyes, and her sister’s overbearing protectiveness. It meant dealing with prying eyes and curious minds. What she had with Tyler was so new and exciting, she wanted to keep it just for herself.

With a sigh, she looked away from him, stuffing a mouthful of food in her mouth. “I know,” she said around it. “What do you suggest we do?”

Tyler sat back and resumed eating his ‘meal’. “Any entrance to the western ghetto where the two fences meet will be impossible at this point. The northern one is too far, and the southern one is destroyed now by the bombing. That tunnel would have been our best bet if they hadn’t destroyed the institute. The only logical way is to go through the Upper section.”

She laughed doubtfully. “That might be the most logical, but it sure isn’t the most realistic. The gates to the Upper section are monitored by soldiers twenty-four, seven. We’ll never get by them. Especially not after that raid. There’s no way they’re letting anyone from here into the Upper section.”