“Five minutes from the location,” said Heath, from the driver’s seat.
Lincoln patched into a secure comms link with Hive Two, which he opened so everyone could hear. “Any updates?”
“There’s movement on the ground,” said Colton Manners, one of the remote base’s team members. “Picking up a dozen individuals being moved from a vehicle into the theater.”
“That will be the hybrids,” said Anastasia. “Can you get a visual?”
“Not possible,” said Colton. “The State have been jamming most of our comms links. They must be worried about us.”
“They need to be,” said Kade.
“When we get there, Anastasia is leading the way in,” said Heath. “She knows the building.”
“I certainly should,” said Anastasia. “I’ve performed there.”
“What did they make you do?” asked Honor.
Anastasia’s gaze turned hard and cold at the memory. “Anything they liked.”
“We go in under the radar,” said Heath. “Don’t engage unless necessary. There will be more guards than us. Anastasia makes contact with the other hybrids first, lets them know what’s going on, and we get them out. Back in the vehicle within ten minutes.”
Everyone nodded and completed final weapons checks, as if sensing the mission might not as simple as planned.
Kade looked over at Honor and saw how tightly she gripped her gun. “You can stay here.”
“I’m coming with you,” said Honor.
“I mean, you don’t have to,” said Kade. “It’s good you want to be up close to what’s going on, but you can meet the hybrids once we’ve gotten them out of the theater.”
Honor shook her head. “You keep telling me there’s something wrong with the State, but I can’t figure out what it is. Perhaps by seeing this traveling circus, it will change my mind.”
“There’s only one way that will happen,” muttered Lincoln, who sat opposite Honor.
“Not now,” snapped Kade.
“Focus on the mission,” called Heath. “It’s time to go.”
Kade felt the truck stop, and he pulled open the back door. The evening was gloomy and a fine mist shot through the air on the breeze. They were parked on a side street that ran parallel to the Palladium. The building looked derelict, its windows smashed and a lack of light inside.
“Keep your comms links open.” Heath stood in front of the small group. “If I tell you to leave, then go.”
“I’m not leaving anybody behind,” said Anastasia.
“Then you’ll die,” said Heath. “The State doesn’t want us alive. And when they realize you’re working with us, they’ll be happy to add you to their kill list.”
Anastasia grumbled under her breath for a moment, but then nodded.
“It won’t come to that,” said Kade. “Everyone just stay alert and out of trouble.”
Anastasia led them through the shadows to the back of the theater. A small flight of stone steps led to a closed door.
Kade broke the lock on the door and then shadowed Honor, keeping her beside him, Lincoln watching their backs.
Anastasia slowed. “There’s movement ahead.”
“I see nothing.” Kade squinted through the gloom.
“Thank my dragon vision,” Anastasia murmured. “Two State militia.”
Heath gestured to Kade and Lincoln and they slunk through the darkness, quickly overpowering the guards before returning to the group.
Whispering and the chink of metal made Kade pause and turn. He peered through the crack of a door and grimaced. Inside, ten scantily clad hybrids were chained together; eight women and two men. Many of them had visible dragon scales on their skin.
“In here.” Kade pointed to the door. He let Anastasia go first, so as not to spook the hybrids when they saw armed strangers in front of them.
The room was bare, apart from metal links cemented into the wall from which the hybrids were chained. They all turned and looked as Anastasia entered, Kade close behind her, and the others following.
Anastasia raised her hands in a peaceful gesture. “We’re not here to cause trouble.” She looked around the room and let out a sob as her gaze settled on a hybrid. “Bella!”
“Tazzie!” A slender woman with the same flame colored hair as Anastasia flung herself toward her, limited by her length of chain link. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting you out.” Anastasia ran forward and embraced the woman.
“You can’t be here.” Bella stared at the rest of the group. “The owner will be back here any second. Got some VIP group in tonight, and he wants to make sure we don’t mess up and humiliate him. Needs it to be a real special show.”
An unhappy grumble shot around the room.
“There won’t be a show. Let’s get you out of these chains.” Heath gestured Lincoln and Kade toward the startled-looking hybrids. “We’re getting you all out of here.”
“There’s no time,” said Bella, backing away from Lincoln, as he tried to loosen her chains. “You must go.”
“I would never leave you,” said Anastasia. “As soon as I got out of the Pleasure Dome, I figured out how to find you.”
“How do you know each other?” asked Honor.
“We’re sisters,” said Anastasia. “This is Bellatrix.”
Kade looked over curiously. Anastasia and Bellatrix were similar in appearance, although Bellatrix was thinner, and had a haunted expression.
“Get them out of here,” ordered Heath. “We leave in five minutes.”
The first of the hybrids were free and standing by the door when it opened, and a thickset man carrying two guns appeared.
Kade rushed forward and shielded Honor, raising his own weapon.
The man’s piggy eyes widened for a second, but then he smiled when he spotted Anastasia. “Glad you stuck to our agreement. Thought maybe you would let me down. But I shouldn’t have worried. You always were my most obedient hybrid.”
“What’s he talking about?” Kade kept his gaze fixed on the man, a swirl of dread wrapping round his spine. “What agreement?”
Anastasia clutched Bellatrix closer. “I had no choice. I had to get my sister out.”
“You betrayed us,” said Honor.
HORROR SPREAD THROUGH Honor’s veins, as three more men appeared.
“I had to,” said Anastasia. “My sister couldn’t survive in a place like this.”
“So you sold us out?” Honor glared at her, disappointment hitting her in the gut. She’d liked Anastasia, and now the woman had betrayed them.
“Anastasia saw an opportunity and she took it,” said the piggy-eyed man. “Just as I realized what an opportunity I was given, when Anastasia contacted me and said she would exchange her sister for an Ember brother. I didn’t expect to get three though. I’ll be able to retire on the bounty the State will pay me for your heads.”
“Not going to happen,” growled Kade.
The man smirked. “It will. Or you’ll die.”
“We can go,” said Anastasia. “That’s the deal, Seamus. The hybrids leave the circus in exchange for the Ember brothers.”
“You can have your sister, but the rest stay.”
“That wasn’t the deal.”
“The terms have changed.”
“You said yourself you’ve got a good deal out of this,” said Anastasia. “You won’t need to run the circus after you’ve cashed in the bounty.”
“Thanks for that,” growled Heath. “We trusted you.”
“Then you’re a fool.” Anastasia’s cheeks flushed, but she kept her chin up. “Seamus, all the hybrids must leave.”
“Be grateful I’m letting you go anywhere,” said Seamus. “Take your sister and go, before I decide this deal is off and keep all of you.”
Anastasia’s eyes glowed red as she unclasped the chains from her sister’s wrists.
“Tazzie! You can’t leave everyone else,” said Bellatrix.
“Yeah, Tazzie,” spat
Lincoln. “Why betray us after we gave you a safe place and helped you out?”
“Because Bella is my only family. And thanks, now you’re helping me some more.” Anastasia turned her back on the group as she pulled her sister close and glared around the room. “We’ll disappear. And I didn’t tell Seamus about what you’re doing. Your secrets are safe.”
“For now,” said Seamus, his tongue sliding over his pudgy lips. “But I’ll get everything I need for the State. The Ember brothers are finished, thanks to you.”
Anastasia slid toward the door, gripping her sister’s hand. She looked at the group and ducked her head. “I’m sorry.” She shot out of the door and vanished.
“Take them,” said Seamus, waving his three guards forward.
Honor backed away toward the huddled group of hybrids, not knowing which guard to shoot first. Her fingers ached from how tightly she held her gun, and she jumped as rough fingers touched her arm.
“I won’t hurt you,” whispered a male hybrid with long, black dreadlocks, and a scar running down his right cheek. “I can cause a distraction and give you a chance to get out.”
Honor shot a wide-eyed look at him. “Not without all of you.”
“That’s sweet of you,” said the hybrid. “But Seamus owns us. And he always collects. Better you leave us and get out.”
“You must come with us,” whispered Honor. “I promise you, we can set you free.”
He gave a small shake of his head. “That’s a lovely dream. Ready for your distraction?” The hybrid let go of Honor’s arm, took a step back, and shot a ring of fire around Seamus and the guards.
Seamus roared as the flames hit him and flung himself out of the door, closely followed by his guards.
Poorly aimed laser fire shot into the room, and Honor felt Kade grab her around the waist before pulling her down.
The dragon fire had set the wooden door frame alight, giving the group a protective barrier, preventing Seamus and his guards returning. But the door was also their only way out, and they’d have to go through it to get to the truck.
“So much for not drawing attention to ourselves,” gasped Honor, as choking smoke filled the room.
“If only it were ever that easy.” Kade fired through the doorway, and Honor heard a yelp as his laser made contact.
“Don’t know what you’re complaining about.” Lincoln grinned at them from his crouched position, his gun leveled on his forearm as he aimed through the flames. “We’ll be back at base and sipping coffee before dawn.”
“Sounds pleasant,” said Honor. “I’ll have an espresso.” A blast of enemy laser shot past her ear, and she ducked.
“That was too close,” muttered Kade, yanking her closer.
Honor turned to see where their hybrid savior was and let out a strangled cry. He was slumped on the floor, blood seeping out of his stomach. She pushed away from Kade and flung herself to the ground.
“No!” She rolled him onto his back, but there was no life in his eyes. “I promised you’d get out.” A sob shot from Honor’s mouth.
“Incoming!” yelled Lincoln.
Honor raised her head and was dazzled by a flash of light. The blast of the bomb smashed her against the wall. Her head whacked against concrete, and laser fire punched through her arm as she landed in a pool of hybrid blood.
Every part of her went numb and Honor felt as if the world had frozen. Suddenly, the pain in her head and arm vanished, and she jumped up. Looking around, Honor spotted the others on the floor, all affected by the shock of the bomb. It felt like fire burned through Honor’s veins, as her vision sharpened and the ringing in her ears faded.
She grabbed a gun, aimed it at the doorway and fired three times. Her aim was perfect, and Seamus’s body slumped into the room, his gun spinning out of his hand toward her.
Her hands were coated in hybrid blood, and a primal urge whispered through her. She wiped her hands down her cheeks, her skin flaring to life as she did so.
Kade staggered to his feet and his eyes widened as he took in Honor’s blood-streaked cheeks. “You’re injured.”
“This isn’t my blood.” Honor shook her head, not sure what just happened, but glad to be alive. “Let’s get everyone out.”
Kade nodded and staggered to the door. “The guards are dead.”
“I killed them,” said Honor. She tilted her head, picking up the faint sound of running. “More will be coming. Let’s get the hybrids to the truck.”
Heath and Lincoln were on their feet, staring around the room and shaking their heads. They gave Honor a surprised look before unchaining the rest of the hybrids and leading them toward safety.
Honor stood next to the body of the dragon hybrid whose blood she now wore in streaky lines on her face. She couldn’t leave him behind. She had no clue what he’d done to her, but everything felt different. The world was alive with color, and she felt like she had the strength of ten superheroes.
And that wasn’t the least of it. It felt as though a dulling film had been wiped from her brain. She was staring at a dragon hybrid. The hybrid who had saved her life. And she knew. She believed. A choked laugh blasted out of her.
“Let’s go,” shouted Kade.
“We take him.” Honor pointed to the hybrid’s body.
“It’s too late for him.”
“You don’t understand. I’m not sure what he did, but somehow, he healed me. We have to help him. And, Kade. I remember.” She stared up at him and laughed again. “I remember everything.”
Chapter 17
Kade stared at Honor, as they carried the hybrid’s body along the corridor and back to the truck, where the rest of the group waited along with the hybrids.
Ignoring the throbbing ache in his side from his injured ribs, Kade couldn’t believe what she’d just told him; she remembered the dragons. But how? And why was Honor covered in hybrid blood as if she’d been using it as macabre face paint?
“Get in.” He hoisted Honor onto the truck, and then, with Lincoln’s help, lifted the hybrid’s body up before climbing in. He slammed a fist on the side of the vehicle to tell Heath they were ready to go.
The truck sped off into the night, and Kade turned toward Honor, seeing her eyes bright and her cheeks flushed beneath the dried crimson streaks. “What’s going on with you?”
“I’m not sure. But something amazing happened in that room,” said Honor. “The flash bomb hit and I think I hit my head... and then I remembered everything.”
Kade gripped Honor’s hand. Hope and anticipation jumped through him. “Dragons? You remember them?”
“I do.” Honor let out another shaky laugh. “I remember everything. Dragons everywhere... and then the State killed them.”
Kade ran a hand down Honor’s arm and fingered a singed hole in her shirt. “You’ve been shot.”
Honor pulled aside the torn fabric where a bright-pink scar marred her arm. “I was.” Her fingers lifted to her forehead. “My head doesn’t hurt, either.”
Kade’s fingers grazed her forehead, but all he saw was a faint red mark. “How is that possible?”
Honor’s gaze went to the hybrid’s body and her manic smile faded. “What’s his name?”
“Called himself Falcon,” said one of the other hybrids, a skinny woman with jet-black hair. “He said he wanted to fly one day.”
“Falcon helped me.” Honor dropped to her knees next to his body. “I couldn’t leave him behind.”
“We’re damn glad you didn’t,” said the woman. “Because he’s not dead.”
Kade stared at Falcon’s body. “But he’s not breathing. There’s no heartbeat. He’s dead.”
“He’s hibernating,” said the skinny woman. “That’s what we do when we’re injured. We don’t regenerate as quickly as full dragons and need downtime to repair. But we heal from almost any injury. It’s something in our blood. You have to put in a lot of effort to kill a dragon.”
Kade’s eyes widened as the realization hit him. “That’
s what he did to you.” He touched Honor’s shoulder. “You were injured, and his blood must have gotten into your wounds and healed you.”
“It’s possible,” said the female hybrid. “Our ancestors used to do that. Dragon blood has incredible healing abilities. The State have stopped killing us and want our blood instead. They started taking us six months ago, and it’s getting worse. But we’re not letting them have our secrets.”
Honor flexed her hands in front of her. “I’ve been healed by dragon blood and Falcon’s alive?”
“This is your lucky day,” said the female hybrid, giving Honor a tired smile.
“Why stay at the circus?” asked Kade. “Can’t you fight your way out with your abilities?”
“We don’t have a choice but to stay,” said the female hybrid. “Much like Anastasia, they take our families and loved ones and hold them captive. My two boys were snatched six months ago.”
Honor sat back on her heels. “Anastasia messed up, but I get why she did it.”
“Doesn’t make it right,” said Kade. “She almost got you killed.”
“As you can see, I’m all healed.” Honor grinned. “I’m still struggling to believe what just happened.”
“If the hypnotic suggestion is breaking down, and your memories are returning, they could come back in pieces,” said Kade. “Some of it won’t make sense at first. My memories took weeks to return.”
“These haven’t been jolted back in though,” said Lincoln, who watched Honor with interest from the opposite bench. “Might be different.”
Kade nodded, his thoughts firing on overdrive at the possibilities presented. “Think what we can do if we replicate the healing properties of hybrid blood.” His injuries would already be healed for a start, and they could treat casualties who were hurt when they came up against the State. The odds of survival just grew brighter.
“We might be convinced to share,” said the female hybrid. “It appears we all owe you, since you got us out of the circus.”
Kade (sci-fi romance - The Ember Quest Book 2) Page 15
