In the Shadows (Metahuman Files Book 3)

by Hailey Turner

  Alexei helped Trevor to his feet. “All right?”

  “I’ll live,” Trevor said, bracing his gun against his shoulder again. “Let’s do this.”

  “Ten hostiles are out of commission,” Katie finally informed them. “The rest are yours to deal with, Apollo.”

  “Move out,” Jamie ordered, signaling for the others to follow.

  Alexei was more than willing to follow his captain into the fight.

  16

  War Was In Color

  North Star International’s training facility was more along the lines of a fucking ant hill of soldiers than a proper company at the moment. Sean was supremely grateful that Jamie had vetoed the order from SOCOM brass to give him a partner for this fight. If he’d had to hold onto someone for the entire run through the facility, not to mention the hundreds of meters fall through the sky without a parachute, he’d be so fucking annoyed.

  Not needing to watch out for a partner meant Sean was practically unstoppable as he worked his way deeper into the sprawling facility. He left a lot of victims of friendly fire behind as he followed the mental map burned into his mind, Katie telepathically guiding him as she handled who knew what else on her side. Sean tried not to take away too much of Katie’s attention, but when he finally made it to the center of the facility where the communications nerve center should have been, he had no choice but to reach out to her.

  Viper, the maps are wrong, Sean said as he ran through walls, counting the rows of empty offices on this level. It didn’t make any sense.

  Go below, Wraith, Katie told him, her voice echoing in his mind. He could tell she was focused on some other problem, but she spared all the attention she could for him. I’m sensing a lot more people beneath your current area.

  Sean slowed to a stop in the middle of an office that had a number of solar-powered toys lined up on the window, unmoving in the darkness. How many?

  They’re clustered together. Maybe twenty or so, but their numbers are dwindling.

  He grimaced, shaking his head. That would still be enough to man a nerve center similar to the sort the MDF ran when large missions required more eyes.

  Copy that, Sean said.

  He let himself drop through the floor, phasing down to the next level, and then the next. He kept going, vision going dark every time he passed through the building’s structure. When he made it to the first floor, he kept dropping. His vision was swallowed by the black nothingness of concrete and then dirt that seemed to last forever before he fell out of it.

  His vision cleared, the bright lights of an underground corridor searing his eyes. Sean settled onto the floor and took a moment to get his bearings. His momentary pause was all it took for a large bolt of familiar-looking energy to cut through his torso, crashing into the wall at the far end of the corridor with a sizzling crack.

  Sean stared at it for a second or two before spinning around to face the people who’d shot him with—

  “Is that a neuro-jammer RPG?” Sean asked, unable to keep the sheer incredulity out of his voice. Viper! Warn the teams!

  He could hear her swearing in the back of his mind, but Sean ignored her in favor of the potentially destructive weapon being handled by two of Declan’s North Star International security personnel.

  The two men brandishing the weapon seemed surprised that it hadn’t worked. The high whine of the shoulder-carried weapon charging up again made Sean start running. He sprinted toward them, taking the next attack head-on. The bright streak of energy passed harmlessly through his upper chest and neck, crashing against the far wall again.

  The men, realizing that the weapon couldn’t incapacitate him, turned to run. But Sean had a head start and a definite advantage. He cut them off by running at an angle, passing through walls. Coming out into the opposite hallway, he phased through the two men and the weapons they carried. The neuro-jammer RPG crackled as its electronic components fried due to Sean’s phase power, rendering it useless. The man in question opted to drop the dead weight rather than carry it any farther.

  The knife slashing through Sean’s chest did nothing other than piss the other man off, judging by his snarl. Sean unholstered his Beretta M90 tactical pistol and took aim at the man in front of him.

  “The MDF demanded your surrender,” Sean reminded him.

  “Fuck the Feds,” the man spit at him.

  Sean sighted down his gun at the thin area where shoulder met torso that wasn’t covered by thick tactical gear, but a thinner combat uniform. He pulled the trigger, and while his gun remained phased, the bullet became solid the second it left his phase field.

  It slammed into the man’s shoulder, but he’d already moved, taking the bullet in the protective armor covering his upper arm. The bullet ricocheted off, slamming into the wall. Sean holstered his gun again, knowing that he wasn’t good enough to make the difficult shot to get between people’s tactical armor. He wasn’t Kyle, who had an uncanny ability to make near-impossible shots.

  Sean still had a job to do and only a limited amount of bullets. He couldn’t kill everyone who got in his way, nor did he want to.

  He sank through the floor, ignoring the two men as they accessed their comms, giving whoever was commanding their defense a heads up that he was coming their way. The sublevels beneath the facility were definitely reminiscent of a military base, manned by ex-military, the majority of whom were raising hell above. But what passed for Declan’s war room was two levels down, so Sean kept phasing his way to his target.

  To your left, Katie told him when he finally phased through to the secure level amidst a hail of gunfire.

  My left is where everyone is shooting, Sean retorted.

  It’s not like the bullets can hurt you.

  Sean couldn’t even begin to count how many bullets he took to the face as he ran toward the heavily guarded door that led to where he needed to be. Passing through fighters and the heavy steel door behind them, he made sure to swipe one hand through the control panel off to the side. The resulting dead screen satisfied him as he appeared within the cramped room full of terminals and holoscreens projecting the battle happening up above.

  Honestly, it was a good thing Sean didn’t have any criminal tendencies. His power made breaking and entering ridiculously easy.

  A circle of terminals surrounded a center space dominated by a long work table. At the head stood Declan, barking out orders to the people around him and over comms. Sean passed through the terminal directly in front of him, as well as the person seated there. The computer died, screen blacking out from his passage while the woman in question jumped up with a yell.

  Someone shouted a warning; someone else shouted not to shoot. Sean stepped out of the terminal bank and stayed on course for the center of the room where the main terminal waited. Declan’s head snapped around at his arrival, holding up a warning hand at the men and women who were grabbing for their weapons.

  “Sean,” Declan grit out, mouth twisting in a snarl.

  “Declan,” Sean replied as he phased through the second row of terminals to arrive in the center of the room, hitting as many as he could with his outstretched arms.

  The long table had a computer embedded in it, all terminals up and running. Multiple command windows and holoscreens were projected into the air above it, showing a live feed of the battle happening on the ground by way of helmet cams and security feeds.

  Sean walked through every last person who tried to get in his way until he reached the table itself, passing through it with measured strides. The windows flickered and wavered around him before cutting out, the data saturating the computer screen disappearing as everything went black. Declan watched him come with furious eyes.

  “Tell your people to stand down,” Sean ordered.

  “No,” Declan said, shoving himself upright. He turned to the man standing next to him. “Get the cargo and let’s get out of here.”

  “What about the metahuman?” someone asked.

  Declan grinned sharp
ly at Sean. “He can’t stop us.”

  Which was frustratingly true. While phased, Sean was invulnerable to attacks, but the downside to his power meant he couldn’t restrain anyone, couldn’t stop anyone from leaving. His only option was his gun, but he didn’t have enough rounds to take everyone out. If he returned to solidity, no doubt one of Declan’s people would quickly try to kill him. Considering how many weapons were trained in his direction, Sean knew they were just waiting for any hint he was no longer phased to pull their triggers.

  “You’re surrounded up there,” Sean reminded him.

  “You think I care what happens to those fools who claim allegiance to the Sons of Adam? Playing make-believe and dress-up in field gear is nothing compared to the reality of war. They’re learning that the hard way. My people and I always have a way out,” Declan said.

  The crowd of people closed ranks and Declan disappeared within them. People rushed to leave the room, what terminals Sean hadn’t ruined still up and running, but with a self-destruct failsafe having been triggered. Sean swore when he realized they probably wouldn’t get much information out of the business’ slagged servers. He only hoped the MDF had managed to hack their way in before the countdown to pull something—anything—from the files to reinforce their investigation.

  We’re losing data, Sean warned as he stepped out of the table, intent on following Declan. They’re getting cargo and leaving.

  Stay on them, but be careful, Katie ordered, sounding distant and occupied.

  Cargo could have meant any number of things—from armament to Splice. Sean needed to get eyes on it. He phased through a couple more terminals on his way out of the makeshift war room. He phased through the door in time to see a straggler adhere a device to the wall before racing after his fellow fighters. Sean didn’t need to get close to recognize the demolitions device for what it was.

  They’re setting bombs, Sean said, straining to get Katie’s attention. I think they’re going to blow the facility. Get everyone to clear the area.

  That was definitely one way to disrupt communications and destroy evidence.

  The timer was counting down from five minutes. That wasn’t enough time for everyone below to get aboveground and out of the building, especially if they’d planted more explosives throughout the facility.

  Sean knew the right decision would be to leave, to phase back up through all the levels for the surface, and make a run for it. But if they were going to lose a wealth of evidence to destruction, he was going to try his hardest to save some of it.

  Which meant following Declan.

  Sean ran after the group of men and women dedicated to Declan more than to their country. This sublevel had a snaking hallway with a few too many 90-degree turns that cut away from the main facility. He passed quite a few bombs plastered to the wall, their red numbers counting down the seconds.

  Viper! Sean mentally shouted as he ran.

  His lungs were burning when Katie finally focused on him. I heard you. I’ve warned all team leaders and we’re pulling back. Get out of there, Wraith. That’s an order.

  I need to get eyes on their cargo.

  You need to get your ass back to the surface and out of the blast zone.

  I’ll be fine.

  Wraith, I’m not kidding—

  The sound of a child screaming in fear stole Sean’s attention. He rounded the last sharp corner and phased through a pair of fighters who tried, once again, to stop him with a neuro-jammer RPG. The bolt of energy passed harmlessly through him. Sean didn’t stop his headlong run into the space they were guarding.

  Sean didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t a vertical launch hangar carved into the earth. Brightly lit, and big enough to house two combat jets, Sean’s attention was caught not on the primed-to-open roof coverings, but on the enclosed metal crate two of Declan’s people were hauling into the closest jet. The screaming was coming from there, a disjointed, raw sound that set Sean’s teeth on edge.

  “Get in the air!” someone bellowed.

  The warning sirens pierced the hangar as high above the doors began to fold open. Sean ran for the jet with the cargo Declan wanted to ferry out of there. Bullets peppered the air all around him as Sean moved up the ramp and dove into the crate.

  He heard the crackling pop of the electronic lock frying and going dead. The crate door swung open as the jet jerked from the engines starting. Enough light filtered inside for Sean to see the tear-streaked face of a young girl, maybe no older than ten. The Faraday cage wrapped tightly around her skull was almost too big for her, and her hands were cuffed behind her back.

  Declan’s cargo was a child.

  An incandescent fury thrummed through Sean at the thought of Declan and Valerie Hayes terrorizing innocent people with Splice until they managed to beat the odds and gain a metahuman. Sean didn’t want to think about the number of people who must have died so this poor child’s life could be irrevocably changed.

  “I’m here to help,” Sean promised her.

  He solidified his hands for a few seconds, long enough to grab her firmly by the upper arms and push his phase power into her. The moment his phase field pushed through the Faraday cage, the electronic shackle sparked and fried before falling through her too-thin body. The second it was no longer attached to her skull, images bombarded Sean’s mind with a rapidness that instantly made him sick.

  The effects of a Faraday cage were more easily and quickly shaken off than the devastating effects of a neuro-jammer gun. Under normal circumstances, it should have taken a good few minutes to get her mind reoriented enough to use her power. Fear and adrenaline moved that timeline up.

  She fought him, but Sean didn’t let her go, even when they sank through the crate and the deck of the jet. His mind jumped through a flurry of places, looking out of too many eyes at dinner, at a movie, at coffee, at a lover, at files, at a victim, at—

  The seemingly never-ending searing flash of images cut off, leaving Sean lightheaded and sprawled beneath the jet with the child in his grip, both of them half-sinking into the ground.

  I have you, Wraith, Katie said into his mind in a strained voice.

  What was that? he asked, thinking the words slowly through the heavy ache in his head. It felt like someone had taken an ice pick and slammed it over and over into his skull.

  She’s a clairvoyant. I’ve blocked the flow of her power into your mind.

  Sean squeezed his eyes shut, clawing their phased forms back into the hangar and out of the molasses thickness of the earth. People were yelling all around them as the first jet took off, the backwash from the engines in such a tight space blowing people over.

  Wraith, you need to get out of there. You’re running out of time.

  Sean got an elbow underneath him, then a knee, managing to haul them both to an upright position beneath the jet. He wondered if he’d damaged the jet enough in his phased state that any reroutes of its systems wouldn’t work. The engines turning on disabused him of that notion.

  Phased, the backwash and heat couldn’t hurt them, but the girl screamed anyway, struggling in Sean’s weakened grip. He dug his fingers into her skinny arms, hating that he was hurting her, but it was the only way to keep her within his phase field and safe from the launch of the jet.

  The engines roaring made his ears pop, practically deafening him. Sean got his knees underneath him, then his feet, rising up with the child in his arms. She kicked him in the shins; he could barely feel her weak blows through the tactical armor he wore. Pulling her close, Sean bent his head and tried to get her to listen.

  “I’m with the MDF,” he told her. ”I’m here to help you.”

  He didn’t think she heard him, or if she did, couldn’t comprehend his help in the terrified state she was in. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Sean looked up at the circle of night sky far above them that the jet was flying through at high speed. Around them, the fighters who hadn’t made it onto either jet were panicking, racing for the exi
t that would lead them back into the base. Sean knew they wouldn’t make it out alive.

  Sean picked the girl up and held her tightly in his arms. He bent his legs and, with a grunt, jumped into the air, altering their density enough that they could float toward freedom.

  But escape was a long way from the bottom of the hole they were in, and the timers on the bombs never stopped counting down to zero.

  Wraith!

  Sean pushed his power to its absolute limit, the world blurring around them as they grew lighter and lighter. They just couldn’t rise fast enough to make it to safety.

  Down below, a red-orange eruption sparked beneath his feet as the bombs Declan’s people had set throughout North Star International’s training facility exploded.

  Fire rushed up to meet them in a searing column of heat they couldn’t escape.

  Sean!

  Alexei rammed his knife into the throat of the man he was fighting before tearing it sideways. The thick splash of blood slicked his gloved fingers as he flipped the knife in his hand for a better grip. Spinning on his feet, he lashed out with a kick to the last fighter’s chest that sent him stumbling backward right into Jamie’s waiting arms. The crunching sound of his neck breaking could barely be heard amidst the rapid-fire sound of guns going off at the end of the hallway where their squad was holding the line. Trevor had a telekinetic shield up, firing holes open for their Strike Force fighters to take out the enemy without taking hits of their own.

  Jamie dropped the body, already turning his attention to the others. Alexei holstered his knife before reaching for his rifle and bracing it against his shoulder again, guarding everyone’s six.

  “How close?” Alexei asked as he walked backward after Jamie.

  “Last push to the center of the labs. Viper says some people are still inside,” Jamie replied.