The Smuggler

by Leslie Georgeson

  Grace

  I watched an invisible force snatch up Antonio, freeing him from his captors, knowing instantly that it was Tony. He must have been watching and waiting for Darcy to return. Knives and throwing stars and bullets all flew at him in a steady stream. There was no way he escaped being struck by at least one weapon.

  Tony had risked his life to save the boy. But he could be wounded. I jerked my gaze after Darcy as she raced into my apartment. That bitch was not getting away with what she’d done. I was ready this time. I was taking her down.

  “I’m going after her,” I told Nate and Alissa.

  “Stay here!” Nate barked, but I was already sprinting across the parking lot and up the sidewalk after her. I dived into the bushes and waited while the dregs battled it out with the Black Dragons.

  Peeking out from behind the shrubs, I watched as Ryan, Luke, Noah, and Logan all took down the Dragons and dragged their bodies into the bushes.

  Then Tony reappeared next to Nate and Alissa. He handed Antonio to Nate and said something to him. Nate and Alissa took the boy and ran to Nate’s Escalade. Tony’s right arm was covered in blood. I couldn’t tell from this distance if it was a bullet wound or if it was from one of the throwing weapons. How serious was the wound?

  More cars screeched into the parking lot and a whole swarm of Black Dragons emerged, heading toward the apartment complex, striding along the sidewalk past the bushes where I hid.

  Suddenly Jacob appeared, and with a small gasp of wonder, I learned why he was called The Fighter. He moved so fast, it was just a blur, attacking the Dragons and knocking them down one by one. Thwack. Smack. Thud. Crack.

  Then the other dregs were there, helping him fight off the gangsters. Even Nate. He must have left Alissa behind with Antonio. They all fought like professionals with smooth, dangerous moves, but Jacob was truly a sight to behold. I was more than impressed. These guys all knew their stuff. The only dreg I couldn’t see was Tony, who’d made himself invisible again, so I had no idea where he was.

  Please be safe, Tony.

  While the dregs continued fighting the last of the Dragons, I slipped out of my hiding place and hurried up the stairs to my apartment, holding my gun in front of me.

  It was time to take Darcy down before she hurt anyone else.

  I was in full cop mode as I gently pushed my apartment door open and checked for danger, keeping my gun in front of me, my finger on the trigger and ready to fire.

  Left.

  Clear.

  Right.

  Clear.

  I stepped cautiously inside, my gaze scanning for danger.

  Livingroom.

  Clear.

  Kitchen.

  Clear.

  I headed down the hallway. Slowly. Cautiously.

  Bathroom.

  Clear.

  Second bedroom.

  Clear.

  The only places left, besides the hallway closet, were my bedroom and the master bath. I crept forward, heading across the hallway to my room, my heart racing.

  Darcy lunged out of my bedroom, slamming into me, knocking me to the floor in the hall before I could fire a shot at her. The gun flew from my hand, thudding against the wall behind me. We grappled across the carpet like wrestlers, each trying to gain the upper hand. Feck, she was strong! It was like fighting a gorilla. I remember her being extra strong the other night when I’d tried to wrestle the gun from her hands, and the dregs had also said something about Darcy having superior strength. Was she like the dregs? A super-human?

  “You stupid bitch!” she hissed, cracking the barrel of her gun into the side of my head. “Why didn’t you die?”

  I moaned as pain exploded in my skull. My head spun, blood oozing down my face. I breathed in deeply, then out. Tried to keep from passing out.

  Stay calm, Grace. Talk your way out of this. You don’t want to die.

  “I helped you,” I reminded as I focused on her angry face. “I took care of you. Selflessly. Please. You don’t want to do this. Put the gun down, Darcy.”

  She hesitated, breathing heavily, but she didn’t lower the gun. “I know you helped me. You’re the only one who did.”

  “Please, Darcy. I know you don’t really want to kill me. Deep down, you’re a good person. I know you are.”

  She let out a bitter laugh. “I was never a good person, Grace. I have my father’s evil blood in my veins, don’t you know? I killed Ron because the asshole left me to rot in jail, but you probably already knew that. He was the reason I was there to begin with! I was only doing what he ordered. Now he’s dead and the other shareholders are probably afraid I’m coming for them next.” She let out another laugh, this one hysterical. “I showed them, didn’t I? The others don’t know about Tony’s rare DNA. Ron was the only one I shared that information with. He never told the other shareholders because he was a power hungry bastard like our father. Now he’s dead, too, and I can continue the research on my own. Privately. I just need Tony to cooperate for a little while, then I’ll let him go. I promise. You can help me, Grace. We can be partners. You can convince Tony how much good he will be doing by donating his blood. Please, Grace. Help me.”

  Darcy had truly lost it. Did she seriously think I would try to convince Tony to let her use him as a lab rat indefinitely? I had to be very careful what I said right now or I might set her off.

  “Let me go,” I urged gently. “And I’ll see if I can convince Tony to cooperate with you, okay?” I glanced around discretely, searching for my gun, trying not to be too obvious. I couldn’t see it anywhere. It must be somewhere behind me, out of the line of sight.

  Darcy suddenly jerked her head away, reaching into the pocket of her jacket and pulling something out. She was fast, almost like Jacob. She whipped around, flicking her wrist, and flung something down the hallway.

  A grunt followed. Then a thud as someone fell to the floor.

  Tony materialized several feet away, blood oozing from a fresh wound in his neck. He lay back against the wall, clutching at the wound, trying to apply pressure.

  I let out a soft gasp. There was a lot of blood. Too much blood. It was pooling out of his neck in a steady stream. Darcy had nailed him in one of his carotid arteries with a throwing star. I couldn’t tell if the star had simply sliced the artery or if it had completely severed it.

  If she’d severed the artery, he could be dead in a matter of minutes.

  No. I wasn’t losing him.

  How had she known Tony was there?

  Tony’s head tilted sideways, his eyelids drooping. His hand fell away from the wound.

  Then Darcy pulled something else from her pocket—some kind of lab collection vial—and knelt before Tony, pressing the vial against his wound, collecting his blood.

  “That star is laced with an anesthetic,” Darcy announced. “You’ll be asleep in a matter of moments, Tony—assuming you don’t pass out from blood loss to the brain first. I don’t think I severed the artery, just nicked it good. I can collect enough blood right now to get started. By the time you wake—if you wake—you’ll be back in the lab. You should have just cooperated with me, you know. Then none of this would have been necessary.”

  I snapped out of my stunned stupor and located my gun. Snatching it up, I spun around and pointed it at Darcy. “Get away from him!”

  Darcy ignored me. She pushed a rubber stopper into the vial, then stuffed the vial in her pocket. She removed a second vial and began filling it with Tony’s blood.

  “Get away from him,” I repeated. “Or I’ll shoot you.”

  “You won’t kill me, Grace. You’re a cop.” Darcy filled a third vial and pushed a stopper in the top. “Bet you’re wondering how I knew Tony was there, aren’t you?” She pulled a fourth vial from her pocket and began filling it with blood. How many of those things had she brought with her?

  “Remember I told you I allowed myself to be experimented on like the dregs? And that I came away with abilities, too? I sensed Tony’s presence.
I felt his energy. I knew he was there. I have superior senses like the dregs, but mine are even more acute. When Tony becomes The Smuggler, he makes himself invisible to the human eye, giving off the illusion of nothing but air. A normal person can’t see him. The other dregs can’t see him, even with their superior vision. But I can sense his energy. I can actually see the outline of his body when he becomes invisible. I knew exactly where to throw the star because I could see him. That’s my special talent. I can see everything, even things that are invisible to the naked eye. I came prepared. And now it paid off.”

  We’d all underestimated Darcy. Especially me. If Tony died, it would be my fault. I’d brought Darcy here in the first place. It was because of me that she knew how to find him.

  My finger twitched over the trigger. I was a cop. I’d been trained not to shoot unless my life was being threatened.

  Right now, my life wasn’t being threatened. But Tony’s was. The longer I stood here and let Darcy drain Tony’s blood, the less of a chance he had of surviving.

  If his carotid artery had been severed, he could bleed out in a matter of minutes. He could have a stroke.

  Tony could die if I didn’t stop Darcy right now. This very feckin second.

  The door to my apartment burst open.

  I didn’t wait to see who it was.

  I took aim at Darcy’s head and pulled the trigger.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  Tony

  I’d once told Nate that he wasn’t a fucking cat and didn’t have nine lives.

  But apparently, I did.

  I woke in my bed at the underground maze, my mind swirling with the remnants of violence and death. Slowly, the nightmare faded and the silence surrounding me took hold. I blinked, glancing around.

  I was alone.

  I sat up slowly, noting my left eye was blurry.

  For a moment, confusion swamped me.

  Then a memory pressed forward.

  Darcy with a gun pointed at Grace. Grace, calm and collected, gently talking to Darcy, trying to get her to put the gun down.

  Then Darcy spinning around and flinging a throwing star at me.

  She’d struck me in the neck. In one of my carotid arteries. Where the hell had she learned to do that? Had she fooled us all along? Or had the abuse at the hands of the Sureños forced her to find her own strength and use the Black Dragons to teach her how to fight back?

  Right now, I wasn’t sure of anything. Except that I was alive.

  Grace.

  Where was she? Was she okay? What about little Antonio? And the other dregs? Had they defeated the Black Dragons?

  I recalled hearing sirens right before I’d passed out, which meant someone must have called the cops. But since I was in my room now, I had to assume we’d all gotten out of there alive.

  I slid my legs over the side of the bed, my head spinning. I sat there for a moment, waiting for the dizziness to pass, then rose and headed into the bathroom. After relieving myself, I glanced into the mirror above the sink. I looked like shit. My left eye and the left side of my mouth both drooped down slightly. I pursed my lips, trying to make the muscles respond. They did, slowly, almost reluctantly.

  What the hell?

  My apartment door opened, then footsteps sounded before Nate appeared in the bathroom doorway. His gaze met mine in the mirror.

  He studied me critically, his gaze sweeping down, then back up. “I may not have nine lives,” he said with a soft chuckle, “but you obviously do.”

  I let out a snort. I’d thought the same thing just moments ago.

  I shrugged. “I guess so. What’s wrong with my face? And my left eye is a little blurry.”

  “I’m guessing you had a stroke. Just a mini one, luckily. That’s what happens when you suffer from blood loss to the brain. The only way to know for certain if you suffered a mini-stroke would be for you to submit to an MRI.”

  I shook my head. No way in hell was I lying in a tube, unmoving for twenty minutes, with earplugs stuffed in my ears to try to block out the loud clicking noises that echoed all around me. I’d had enough MRIs in my life to know I didn’t want another one.

  “No, thanks.”

  Nate’s lips twitched. “If it was a mini-stroke, then your symptoms will only be temporary, probably gone within twenty-four hours or so.” He paused as I turned away from the mirror and faced him. “When we stormed into Grace’s apartment, Darcy was leaning over you, collecting your blood in a vial. You were out cold. Grace had a gun pointed at Darcy’s head. Grace didn’t even look at us. She just fired, killing Darcy on the spot. She did what none of us wanted to do. She’d make a great warrior, you know.”

  Shock rocked through me. Grace had shot Darcy in the head?

  “She really killed Darcy?” I whispered.

  “Yeah. It was a clean shot. Killed her instantly. Blood and brain matter all over the wall behind her. I saw it all happen. She was trying to save you from Darcy.”

  The gore didn’t bother me. I was a soldier. A dreg. I’d seen plenty of gore. Witnessed plenty of violence. Killed many men myself.

  Grace had killed Darcy.

  With a bullet to the brain.

  To save me.

  That bothered me. I hadn’t wanted Grace to have to kill for me. But she had. Many times now.

  Grace had done what none of us had wanted to do. She’d killed a woman. She’d disposed of Darcy, who had turned out to be a huge threat that none of us had seen coming.

  Grace wasn’t the woman I thought she was. I’d always known she was strong, tough, brave.

  No, Grace wasn’t the woman I had originally thought.

  She was so much more.

  She was fucking incredible. A true warrior.

  “Where is she?”

  Nate cocked a brow, but there was mischief in his eyes. “Who?”

  “Grace,” I grumbled. “Where is she?”

  “She’s home. She has that little boy to take care of now, so she had to leave. She said to tell you she would be waiting for you there. The cops showed up right after Grace killed Darcy. Grace explained what had happened, and the cops let us all leave. The town of Eatonton loves us now. They’re saying we’re all heroes, that we saved them from the Black Dragons.” He let out a soft chuckle. “The police chief told us that we were welcome in his town at any time. He asked if he could call upon us for help with criminal activity, if necessary.”

  “No shit?” That was unexpected. “What did you guys say?”

  “We said we’d be glad to. But just so you know, Alissa and I are leaving soon. We’re taking a trip, getting out of here. Thought we’d head across country to Idaho. Tracker and Jacob are still here, but they were just waiting around for you to be all right, then they’re heading back to their families.” Nate paused again, his gaze turning serious. “You gonna be all right if I leave with Alissa?”

  I snorted. “Yeah, man. I’ll be fine. You two need to get away from here, anyway.”

  I headed back into my bedroom and pulled on a pair of sweats. Nate watched me, then said, “You said you see ghosts.” He sounded almost apologetic for making the comment.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and glanced up at him, wondering where this was going. “Yeah.”

  “So, if you see ghosts, when Gordon died, did you, uh, you know, see his spirit leaving? Did he talk to you?” Nate had never sounded so unsure before, as if he feared he shouldn’t ask that.

  I drew in a deep breath, slowly puffed it back out. The night Gordon had died had torn me up. Losing him had hurt all of us. He’d been a good guy. I still felt his loss.

  “Yeah, I saw him.”

  Nate’s gaze sharpened. “And? Did he say anything to you?”

  I hesitated. Nate might be offended that I’d kept this from him. “Yes, he did.” I looked away, staring at the front of my dresser, noting a pair of boxers sticking out of the top drawer. “He said goodbye, and that he would miss all us fuckers.” I paused, looking into Nate’s eyes. “He said
he hoped we all found love like Tracker had with Jessica. And that someday, he hoped to see us all on the other side.”

  Nate nodded. “That sounds like Gordon.” He paused, then went on, “I’m not mad that you didn’t tell us that earlier, but I do think you should tell Tracker at least. I understand if you don’t want anyone else to know you see ghosts, and I’ll keep your secret if you want me to.”

  “Thanks, man.” I rose from the bed. I was done keeping this secret. It was time the other dregs knew. “I need some fresh air. I’m heading to the surface. You can send Tracker up there, and the others, too, if you want. I’ll tell them all the truth.”

  I went to my dresser and removed a T-shirt, quickly pulling it on.

  Nate was quiet as I finished dressing and headed for the door, pulling on my jacket as I reached the door.

  “What about Grace?” he asked. “Are you going to see her? You two are together now, right?”

  I paused, my hand on the doorknob. Grace had apparently gone back to her life.

  She had no choice. Antonio needs her.

  She said to tell you she would be waiting for you there.

  Was she truly waiting for me to come to her?

  “She waited, you know,” Nate murmured from behind me. “She waited to make sure you were going to survive before she left. She wanted to stay and watch over you, but she has that little foster kid to take care of now.”

  My heart squeezed. “I know, man. She did the right thing.”

  Grace was gone. Gone.

  She left me.

  She had no choice. Antonio needs her.

  That kid’s so lucky.

  I swallowed hard.

  I need her.

  I didn’t respond to Nate’s question. Instead, I went out into the corridor and headed for the surface, needing to be alone.

  Not surprisingly, Josephine appeared, quickly following after me as the urge to get to the surface and breathe hit me hard.

  I ignored Josephine’s persistent questions until I reached the surface and gasped in fresh air.

  “Whatcha doing, Tony? How come you’re always so grumpy? When are ya gonna be nice?”

  I didn’t answer her. It was dark, fortunately. Nighttime in full swing. I welcomed the darkness. The silence of the night.