The Smuggler

by Leslie Georgeson

  I paced again.

  Back and forth. My mind in turmoil.

  Had Alissa gotten my message? Were the dregs coming for us? Did they know where we were? The soldier had knocked the phone from my hand before I’d been be to say too much. Had it been enough for them to find us?

  The click of heels out in the corridor announced Darcy’s return.

  I paused in my pacing and turned to face her as she stopped outside of my cell. She hesitated, her gaze meeting mine, then looked away. If I could reach her, I swear I would wrap my hands around her throat and strangle the bitch for what she’d done.

  “You know you won’t leave this place alive, Grace,” she whispered. “I wish I could help you, but if I let you go, you’ll bring the authorities back here and the facility will be shut down for good.” She paused, glancing at me. “I’m sorry it had to come to this. But I have to do what’s best for me.” She spun away. A tiny clang followed as a small key clattered to the floor and bounced just inside my cell. I glanced after Darcy in surprise, but she was striding away, unaware that she’d dropped a key, the click-click of her heels echoing down the corridor. Had she meant to drop that key? Or had it been an accident?

  I bent and retrieved the key, palming it in my hand. Was it the key to my cell? It had to fit. I refused to believe otherwise. I now had a chance to escape. A chance to save Tony.

  Darcy would get her due eventually, even if I had to deliver it to her myself. If I ever saw that bitch again, I was taking her down.

  How long did I have? Were they still holding Tony in the lab? Had they moved him to a different location? Could I find him and get him out of here before they did anything else to him? What if he was out cold when I found him? How would I get him out then? I couldn’t carry him.

  Worry about that when you find him. First, you have to get out of your cell, manage to avoid getting caught, and then free him.

  One thing at a time.

  I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I guessed at least another hour went by.

  Then darkness fell and the lights clicked on out in the corridor. An eerie quiet filled the building, indicating most of the people had probably gone home for the night. How many worked the nightshift? Had Darcy left?

  I waited another few minutes, listening for sounds of life, but nothing by silence met my ears.

  I reached through the bars and slipped the key into the lock. Holding my breath, I slowly, carefully I turned it. The lock clicked. Yes!

  I gently pushed the cell door open.

  A loud squeak echoed down the corridor.

  I froze, then slipped through the foot-wide crack I’d made, not wanting to open it anymore.

  Then I ran back toward the lab, moving as quickly as I dared, trying to be as silent as possible. I peered around the corner and spied two soldiers stationed outside of the lab, one on either side of the door. Their expressions hinted at boredom as they stood there silently, stiffly, almost like robots.

  Tony must still be in there. Was he awake yet? What were they doing to him? They’d said something about experiments. I needed to get past those soldiers and free him.

  Suddenly, the door swung in. The soldiers both startled and jerked around as something came out of the lab with a faint stirring of air.

  Something invisible.

  My heart leapt into my throat as the gun flew out of the hand of the soldier on the right, then disappeared. The soldier on the left grunted, his head jerking to the side with a thwack, then he dropped to the floor and lay still. Before the soldier on the right could react, his head cracked to the side, and he too dropped to the floor with a thud. I let out a soft gasp, unable to hold it back.

  Only Tony could make himself invisible like that. He must have escaped.

  Pride swept through me.

  I’d just witnessed him in action again. Except this time, it wasn’t in darkness. This time, I could see what was going on. Well, I hadn’t actually seen him, but he’d knocked out two guys while remaining invisible. I was awed. Fascinated. Slightly breathless.

  My warrior. My stud muffin.

  God, he was so feckin hot.

  Then Tony materialized in front of me. He held out one of the guns.

  I took it from him, my eyes swimming with tears. “Are you okay?”

  His face was pale, his eyes weary. Whatever they’d done to him was taking its toll.

  “I’m fine. Thanks for unbuckling my hand. You made it possible for me to slip free and escape.” There was gratitude in his eyes.

  I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed him tight, hugging him to me. He tensed, his entire body stiffening. I was making him uncomfortable, but I held on anyway. He needed to learn to accept my touch. Because once I convinced him that he was mine and I was his, I planned to touch him often.

  “Grace.” He squirmed, struggling to extricate himself from my arms. I took pity on him, and finally let him go. If he really didn’t want me to touch him, he could have easily dislodged me, but he hadn’t. It had almost been reluctant acceptance. I swore I was going to make him like my touch someday soon.

  He stepped back. “Let’s go. Don’t shoot that gun unless you have to. It will draw attention to us. If we can silently take out any threats, then that’s the best way.”

  “Okay,” I whispered. “And for the record, in case you don’t know what that just was, it’s called a hug. It means I care about you. A lot.”

  Color crept up his neck and into his face. He jerked his head away and peered around the corner. I held back a laugh. I’d obviously made him uncomfortable and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. How long would it take for him to readily accept my touch? How long before he accepted me?

  Baby steps, Grace. Too much too soon, and you’ll lose him.

  I instinctively knew that was true with Tony. I would have my work cut out for me trying to convince him to open up to me. But I was in love with him, and I wouldn’t give up on him. I would be patient.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but he held up a hand to keep me quiet. Then he moved forward, waving me after him. I followed silently.

  Around the corner. Down a long corridor.

  Another corner. Another hallway.

  This place was like a maze, lined with corridor after corridor. Intentionally?

  As we slipped down a third hallway, Tony came to an abrupt halt. Three soldiers stood at the end of the corridor, talking quietly, their backs to us.

  “Stay here,” Tony whispered.

  Then he disappeared.

  He attacked the other men while still invisible, and I watched as he knocked each one out. Because he remained invisible, I wasn’t able to see exactly what he did, but from the way the soldiers jerked and fell back, I had to assume he was using some type of martial arts moves. Finally, all three soldiers were lying on the floor.

  Tony reappeared and waved me forward.

  I hurried after him, eager to get out of this place.

  But the fight didn’t go unnoticed. Just as we reached another corridor, a group of soldiers came barreling toward us, their guns raised. Tony grabbed my arm and yanked me back around the corner.

  “Stop them!” someone shouted. “Aikens said you can kill the woman, but he needs The Smuggler alive!”

  We’d been spotted. Time to use our guns.

  Time to kill.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Grace

  You can kill the woman…

  Feck that. They weren’t killing me. I wasn’t going down. I wasn’t leaving my man behind. I would fight for him, to the very end.

  “Don’t be afraid to kill them,” Tony whispered beside me. “They’re not good people.”

  I took aim, firing at the first man who came around the corner. He went down with a cry, his gun crashing to the floor.

  “Nice shot,” Tony praised. He patted my arm and turned away, firing around the corner, then coming back to crouch beside me.

  We hunkered down, peering around the corner and fi
ring bullets at our pursuers for the next several minutes. The noise was deafening, gunfire exploding all around us. While it wasn’t as physically exertive as fighting the Black Dragons had been the other night, it was every bit as dangerous. We were dealing with bullets now. One shot could take us out.

  Another several minutes passed while we fired at them and they fired back.

  Then I was out of bullets.

  Tony handed me his gun. “There’s still three rounds. Use them wisely. I’ll be back.”

  Then he disappeared.

  My heart pounded. I had no idea where he’d gone.

  Be safe, Tony. Please come back to me.

  I glanced down at the fallen soldiers littering the hallway before me. Blood soaked the floor beneath their bodies. Their limbs splayed out in awkward positions. Some with their eyes open wide. Others with their mouths open in a silent scream.

  Dead.

  I’d killed some of them.

  Bastards. They deserved to die. All of them.

  A grunt from down the corridor jerked me back to the situation at hand. Tony must be fighting off the soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. I peered around the corner in time to see a soldier drop to the floor.

  Another soldier, who was standing a few feet from the first, suddenly stiffened, his head jerking to the side with a crack before he toppled over.

  Tony had just twisted the man’s neck, breaking it and killing him. Tony was an invisible machine, moving through the soldiers, either knocking them out or killing them. I was in awe of his skills. Feckin impressive!

  A bullet whizzed past me, narrowing missing my head. I fired back, hitting the shooter in the leg. He cried out and fell back. Another soldier grabbed him and dragged him away.

  Tony reappeared beside me. He’d taken a bullet to the thigh, the blood oozing down his leg in a steady stream. He was even paler than he’d been earlier, the loss of blood obviously affecting him. I wrapped an arm around his waist.

  “There are still two soldiers left, but they’re waiting for backup. Now’s our only chance.”

  I nodded, my heart pounding wildly. “You lead the way out, and I’ll do my best to help get us there.”

  He jerked his head in a nod. “I don’t have the strength to become invisible anymore. Let’s get the fuck out of here before more soldiers arrive.”

  We went around the corner, racing for freedom.

  Gunshots echoed after us, pinging all around, but we kept forward determinedly. Pain skewered through my arm as a bullet ripped into my flesh, but I ignored it as we rounded another corner.

  We paused, leaning against the wall. Tony was extremely pale now. I feared he was about to pass out. “Hang in there,” I whispered, hugging him against me. “You can’t die on me now.”

  His gaze turned serious. “They already drained half of my blood supply back in the lab. And now I’m losing what’s left. I won’t lie to you, Grace. I might not make it. If I pass out, you should just leave me and save yourself.”

  I would never leave him behind. Never.

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  He held my gaze. “See that door at the end of the hall?” He jerked his head down the corridor. “That’s the exit. We’re almost there.”

  I lifted my chin as a new wave of determination swept through me. I was going to save him. I had to.

  I tightened my arm around his waist. I had two bullets left. “You ready?”

  Tony nodded. We stepped forward out into the hallway, hobbling toward the exit.

  A bullet whizzed past. I swung around, firing back, hitting a soldier in the neck. Another kill. These bastards would not take away the man I loved. I wouldn’t let them.

  One bullet left.

  Tony sagged heavily against me as we reached the front desk in the lobby. Then he dropped to the floor, falling out of my grasp.

  “Tony!”

  More bullets flew past, slamming into the desk behind us. I crept back, pulling Tony with me. He pushed himself along, helping me to get him back behind the desk. Then he passed out beside me, his head falling into my lap.

  The blood roared in my ears, my adrenaline rush high. The exit was only about twenty feet away. But there was no way I could drag Tony’s two-hundred-plus pounds to that door and outside. I wasn’t superwoman.

  How would we get away?

  Focus, Grace. You have one bullet left.

  A soldier crept down the corridor toward us.

  Closer. Closer.

  I waited until he was almost to the desk, then fired my last shot at him.

  He dropped with a thud, his gun clattering to the floor.

  I crawled out, grabbing his gun, and slithered back to where Tony lay.

  Tony stirred then, his eyelids fluttering open.

  “We’re almost to the exit,” I whispered, looking into his slightly dazed eyes. “Can you get up and walk with me?”

  His gaze slowly cleared as he focused on me. Then he struggled to his feet. I wrapped my arm around his waist, helping to keep him upright.

  “Give me your gun,” he said. “I’ll hold them off while we head for the exit.”

  I handed the gun over.

  And then we ran-hobbled for the exit.

  Bullets whizzed past, slamming into the walls, narrowly missing us. Tony fired back at them as he stumbled along beside me, sheer willpower keeping him upright. A trail of blood followed in our wake, dripping down his leg and onto the floor. How much blood could one person lose?

  I shoved the thought aside. We were going to get out of here. We had to.

  The exit loomed closer.

  Closer.

  We reached the door and I hit the panic bar, shoving it open.

  And we stumbled out into the night.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Grace

  I gulped in air, trying to keep Tony upright. But after only two steps, he collapsed in a swift rush. He slipped out of my grasp, hitting the ground with a thud. The gun clattered to the ground beside him. He was out cold.

  I knelt over him, checking his pulse. It was slow. Too slow.

  Panic swept through me. I needed to get him out of here before those soldiers came after us.

  “Don’t you dare die on me,” I whispered. “I can’t lose you.” My breath hitched. My throat tightened with emotion. A sob burst free. Feck, I couldn’t lost him. I loved him. I grabbed his arms and tried to pull him into the trees, but he was too heavy. I couldn’t budge him.

  Frustration swept through me. Tears threatened to fall.

  A sound from the trees had me jerking my head upright. I dived for the gun Tony had dropped, snatching it up and aiming for the trees.

  “Grace!” a voice called. “It’s all right. Don’t shoot. We’re here. You’re safe now.”

  My arms shaking, I slowly lowered the gun, swallowing back another sob as Nate stepped out from the trees and strode forward.

  Noah and Logan followed him.

  Then Ryan and Luke.

  The other dregs were here.

  They’d come for us.

  They would get Tony out of here.

  They would save him.

  I let out a sob, relief slamming into me.

  The dregs moved swiftly as a group, lifting Tony and getting him out of there in the nick of time, slipping away just as the soldiers came out of the building after us. Alissa was waiting in the passenger seat of Nate’s Escalade that was parked in the trees. She jumped out and pulled me into a tight hug.

  I was in shock, the adrenaline rush still pumping through my veins. The dregs laid Tony on the backseat and I slid in next to him, gently cradling his head in my lap.

  Then we raced away.

  Nate pulled over in the trees a few minutes later, and he and Alissa attended to Tony’s leg wound, cutting through his pants so they could access it more easily. The other dregs gathered around outside the vehicle, keeping a lookout for danger. I stayed where I was, still cradling Tony’s head in my lap, gently running my fingers throug
h his hair. If he were awake right now, I seriously doubted he’d let me touch him like this. So I allowed myself to revel in the rare luxury of touching him. I barely noticed what Nate and Alissa were doing, I was so distracted by the feel of Tony’s soft hair between my fingers.

  Alissa came around my side of the vehicle and opened the door, leaning in next to me and gently patting my arm.

  Then Ryan climbed into the vehicle near Tony’s feet. Nate bent Tony’s legs, making room for Ryan on the seat. Then Nate hooked Ryan up to an IV line. I snapped to attention, my fingers pausing in Tony’s hair. What were they doing? While I watched, Ryan’s blood collected in a bag, then Nate gently squeezed a tiny pump that transferred Ryan’s blood into Tony. Fascinated, I stared. I’d never witnessed direct transfer of human blood. Was that even possible? Apparently so, if you were a dreg.

  “Sharing blood with another dreg helps boost the injured dreg’s immune system and promotes faster healing,” Nate advised, looking up at me. “This will give Tony a better chance at survival. And no, this would not be possible for a normal human. Only dregs can do direct blood transfer. Tony’s one hell of a fighter. He actually died not too long ago, but Alissa and I managed to bring him back.”

  “What?” I gasped. Was he serious? Tony had died once before?

  Alissa nodded. “It’s true. The night Tony died, Nate and I both donated blood that helped bring him back. Tony’s tough. He’ll pull through.”

  This was all so fascinating. There was so much I didn’t know about Tony. So much I wanted to know. Would he survive? And if he did, would he open up to me? Alissa had been right when she’d told me the dregs weren’t who everyone thought they were. They were so much more.

  “How bad are you hurt, Grace?” Nate asked.

  I’d forgotten all about the bullet wound in my arm. I shrugged. “Is Tony going to make it?”

  “I don’t know,” Nate answered. “He’s lost a lot of blood. I could feel his turmoil, his physical pain. It woke me from a sound sleep.” He waved at Tony. “It seems like more than a simple bullet wound. Did they do something to him in the lab? I see lots of puncture marks.”

  I hitched in a breath. “Yes. They had him hooked up to all kinds of tubes and things in a lab. He said they collected half of his blood supply.”