Instinct Ascending: Rabids Book 2

by Amy Cook

  “No-hopper. I don’t think I know that one,” Pell mused, pulling out his little blue notebook in which he had the habit of writing down all of Cajun’s Aussie slang.

  “Fool,” Cajun supplied, leaning back against the desk with a grin.

  “Ahhh.” Pell quickly scribbled down the word. Cajun smirked over at Harley, waiting for his snarky comeback about the exchange. It never came. Harley stared blankly across the room, thoughts clearly bouncing around in his head.

  “Is R. Morris on duty today?”

  Pell pecked away at the keys once more.

  “Yes, on the west gate. His shift ends in about ten minutes, however.”

  Knuckles white as he clenched his fists, Harley shoved away from the desk, stalking toward the doors.

  “We’ll talk later, Pell,” Cajun promised.

  “Yippee,” Pell grumbled. Cajun grinned before running after the retreating form of his brother.

  “Hold up, Harl!” Cajun’s heart winced when Harley flinched under the pat he offered his shoulder. Secrets had a way of driving a wedge between people; and as much as it killed him, he wasn’t going to remove that wedge. Harley had protected him for years; now it was Cajun’s turn to protect Harley. Cajun pushed past the momentary awkwardness. “Uh… so, what’s got the fire under your backside today? What are we going to be beating R. Morris up for?”

  “We ain’t beatin’ him up. I am.”

  “Nope. I’m not missing out on this one.”

  “Stay outta this, Caj.”

  “Can’t make me. Tell me or I hawk a loogie in your hair every thirty seconds until you do,” Cajun returned juvenilely. He’d actually done that a few times as kids, and apparently the memory still held sway, because it seemed to work.

  Harley stopped short, staring him down hard. Cajun offered a charming grin. He couldn’t help it. He wanted their relationship to be more distant so when he died it would be easier for Harley to let him go. But he didn’t want the guy to hate him. They’d been through too much for him to be okay with that. And if it was one thing Cajun knew about his brother, Harley couldn’t stay mad at a genuine grin. Finally Harley caved, shoulders dropping slightly from their defensive position.

  “The thug that attacked Amiel the night we met, and again the night she sleepwalked. He jumped us last night.”

  Cajun felt his pupils immediately dilate, and he fought to force that side of him back into submission. Harley’s eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed the change, too. Cajun’s heart raced as he fought for control, finally pushing it under the surface. Harley watched him carefully as he continued.

  “He’s dead now.”

  Cajun swallowed in relief, knowing his Hybrid side couldn’t argue with that.

  “He had a watch. Took me down and tased the kid. Nearly got us both.” Harley looked around, always cautious in Foundation when he spoke of Amiel. Cajun was stuck on the fact that someone had nearly taken out his brother, and he had had no clue. He swallowed against the rising fury within once more, pushing it down as Harley continued.

  “Told me he got it off some drunk guy in a bar who was braggin’ about workin’ here. The dude conveniently passed out so that the Cut could steal the watch. I got the drunk’s name outta him before he died. Darvey.”

  Cajun saw red. “Why waste time on the guard — let’s go straight over to kill your rat.”

  “No. We need to know how deep this goes. Did Derp steal it from a guard, or did the guard hand it over willingly? If it was willing, we may have more of an issue on our hands than Darvis,” Harley stated.

  “Like another war on Hybrids from the inside,” Cajun guessed. They had more than their fair share of people here who hated them. But all they needed was a covert war being carried out, picking them off one by one.

  “Somethin’ like that. For now, we gotta feel it out.”

  We. Cajun grinned at Harley’s word usage, knowing he’d managed to get back on Harley’s good side, at least enough he’d take him along.

  “Let’s go, then.” Cajun wrapped an arm around Harley’s neck, yanking his head down to give him a good, hard noogie. Harley shrugged him off, but couldn’t hide the small smile that quirked his lips.

  Ten minutes later, they stood waiting in a shadowed corner of Foundation, near the locker rooms. Right on time, R. Morris came waltzing through the hallway, loosening the collar of his uniform. The kid couldn’t be more than sixteen. Foundation snatched them up early. Harley slipped through the shadows, stealing up behind the door as the kid opened it, watch arm fully exposed. Harley grabbed his wrist, yanked him into the shadows and slammed him up against the wall. With watch hand pinned against the wall, and body pinned by Harley’s hand curled around his jugular, the boy stood perfectly still, eyes wild with fear.

  Cajun sauntered forward, easily slipping the watch off the boy’s wrist, alleviating any sort of danger he could pose toward them. Harley leaned close, issuing a growl as his teeth bared. Cajun knew Harley’s eyes would seem huge, leading the kid to think he was one second away from killing him. In reality, the shadows dilated their eyes, making them appear in full-out Hybrid attack mode, while allowing them to only have the Hybrid out for a peek. It was a fun little trick they’d learned to scare the pee out of people when needed, yet allowing them to keep that darker side of them carefully locked in.

  “What are you doing?” the guy gasped in shock. “You can’t do this to me!”

  “Do we look like we’re worried about bein’ seen?” Harley growled, glancing over at how close they were to the locker room. Anyone could walk out, or around the corner, and see them, and then it would be game over. That wouldn’t be good. But if they could get the info out of the kid fast enough, their brazen attack would work to their advantage. The kid swallowed hard, eyes bulging.

  “What do you want?”

  “That’s the second watch you’ve lost in two weeks, Morris,” Harley snarled darkly. “I don’t think Foundation’s real impressed with your skills or loyalty at this point. That’s why we’re here.”

  “Please!” the kid gasped out. “It was an accident. I can’t lose this job.”

  “We want the truth. Whether ya lose the job or not is up to you.”

  “Truth about what?” the kid asked, eager to please.

  “The first watch ya lost. What happened?”

  “It got crushed in a garbage disposal.”

  Harley’s fingers constricted on the kid’s throat. “Yeah, they’ve heard that story. They ain’t buyin’ it.”

  “Really, I promise, it’s true!”

  “Here’s the thing,” Cajun said. “Some thug on the street attacked one of our Hybrids with a Foundation-issued watch — the watch you supposedly lost in a garbage disposal. That doesn’t look real good for you and your alibi, Morris.”

  Morris’ eyes widened, true surprise in his eyes. Harley jumped in.

  “There’s rumors goin’ ’round of an internal war on Hybrids, and Foundation’s gettin’ a bit pissed off. They spent a lotta money and resources on makin’ us what we are, and they ain’t too pleased about someone destroyin’ their hard work. You’re officially on their list of suspicion. So here’s your chance to clear your name.”

  “No! I had nothing to do with that, I swear! Look, I was at lunch one day, and this dude sits by me.”

  “What was his name?”

  “I don’t know, I swear. He was older, had gray eyes, black hair with a bit of gray in it. He never told me his name, and I couldn’t see his name badge. While we were talking, he accidentally spilled his coffee on my watch. He totally freaked and told me I had to take it off and let it dry out or it’d be ruined and it would come out of my paycheck. So I took it off and put it by the sink to dry. I’m new here, just came in three weeks ago. I don’t know anything about the watches, never even had to use one yet.”

  “Get to the point,” Harley growled.

  “Okay, okay! So, we sat there talking, and the guy gets up to dump his food in the disposal, an
d then I hear this clanking and grinding and I totally freaked, man. I just knew it was my watch. He said he accidentally bumped it and it fell in.”

  “Did you actually see it fall in?” Cajun tossed in.

  “No, but I saw what was left of it when he pulled it out and tossed it in the trash.”

  “He tossed someone else’s high tech watch in the trash without even seeing if it could be fixed? Those things aren’t cheap,” Cajun added.

  “Did you see the actual watch close enough to know it was yours without doubt?” Harley pressed.

  “No. He just yanked it out and tossed it. I only saw it for a few seconds. He said he’d put in a good word for me and I wouldn’t get fired over it.” The kid was shaking now.

  “Did ya ever think maybe he tossed his own watch in the disposal and then swiped yours?”

  “No… no, I didn’t.” The kid’s face fell. “I swear I didn’t know anything about this. Please, you have to tell them I was framed.”

  “Keep your mouth shut about this and you just might keep your job. Not a word to anyone, no matter how much ya trust ’em. Foundation doesn’t want the people behind these attacks to know they’re onto ’em.”

  The guy nodded eagerly. Harley leaned closer. “Foundation’s watchin’. If ya go back on your word, they’ll send me back, and no sob story’s gonna save ya.”

  The guard gasped in air as Harley shoved away from him, turned his back on him and swiftly walked away.

  “Take better care of your watches from now on, dude. They’re breakable and shiz.” Cajun tossed the watch back to the dude, swiftly moving to catch up with Harley.

  “Now we pay the Rat a visit,” Harley growled darkly.

  Chapter 30

  Harley

  He sniffed the air once more, searching for the rancid scent of Rat. Following the faint taint in the air, Harley strode through the underground facilities of Foundation, mind hell-bent on one factor: finding the Rat and making him pay out the nose.

  “So… Amiel’s got you by the clangers.”

  Harley tripped, stumbling a step before catching himself and turning a glare on his brother.

  “What?”

  “Don’t get your knickers in a bunch — it happens to the best of us.” Cajun smirked, holding his hands up. Harley’s frown grew.

  “Shut up.”

  “No need to be embarrassed about it, mate. It's a natural part of life; when a man loves a woman, magical things happen to the nether regions of a man...”

  “You don’t know anythin’,” Harley growled, continuing to walk.

  “I may not be up-to-date on everything happening in ‘the vast void of the love life of Harley Dip Face’, but I know women pretty well. And from what I gather, I’d say she’s got you one step away from a marriage proposal.”

  Harley tripped again, which caused a gut-deep chuckle to issue from his know-it-all brother.

  “Seriously? Now is not the time to try screwin’ with my head, Caj,” Harley warned angrily, his Hybrid already dangerously close to the surface in his anger over the Rat.

  “Fine, fine.” Cajun paused, mischievous grin growing as the silence stretched between them, and Harley knew it was only a matter of time before he opened his dumb mouth again. Seconds later, Cajun did just that. “Did you tell her you love her yet?”

  “Holy hell, Caj!” Harley growled.

  “Well, she deserves the right to know, don’t you think?” Cajun poked at Harley again, and this time he’d pushed too far. Harley stepped closer, lowered his voice, and took the gloves off.

  “She deserves the right to know? For all your claims of knowin’ everythin’ about women, ya sure don’t follow your own advice. How long are ya plannin’ on keepin’ your secrets from Charleen? And don’t play it off like ya don’t got none, ’cause we both know that ain’t true!”

  Cajun’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “We’ve all got our secrets.”

  “That’s right. So shut your yap about the crap ya don’t know nothin’ about. I’ve kept mine shut, lettin’ ya work through whatever you got goin’ on, givin’ ya space. But I’ve just about reached my limit.” They glared one another down for a long time, Cajun’s eyes flaring and narrowing, flaring and narrowing as he fought with his other side. Suddenly his gaze shifted to the side, narrowing in on something behind Harley.

  “We’ve got ourselves a stickybeak.”

  Harley slowly turned, following Cajun’s gaze and colliding with Darvey’s. The Rat’s eyes widened in fear, and he promptly turned and dashed into an area Hybrids were strictly forbidden from entering.

  “He’s playing hard to get.” Cajun grinned, eyes filled with dark anticipation.

  “That’s what rats do best,” Harley growled. “But what we do best is hunt. And if he thinks a flimsy door is gonna keep me from kickin’ his ass, he’s dumber than I thought.”

  Cajun rubbed his hands together. “Oooooh yeah!” His eyes scrunched as he paused. “So... are we really going in there?”

  “We’re goin’ in, and he ain’t comin’ out,” Harley promised darkly, slinking toward the doors. Cajun reached out, clasping his shoulder before they slid into the room.

  “I’m sorry Harl, about earlier,” Cajun apologized, his voice carrying hundreds of unsaid things. Harley nodded.

  “Me, too.” Harley knew Cajun thought the matter was set aside now. That’s how it always worked between them. And it was, for the time being. But some matters were too big to ignore, and Cajun’s secrets were a huge elephant in the room.

  Harley pushed the matter to the back of his mind and slipped inside the door, Cajun following swiftly in his wake. They followed Darvey’s scent as it led them down many twists and turns. Finally they came to a large, dark room with a rolling metal door at the far end. Harley took a deep, searching breath and cringed.

  “Smells like fart in here.” Cajun read his mind.

  “Smells like dead rat,” Harley grumbled, leading the way down the ramp.

  “What is this place?” Cajun’s nose was pinched off to guard him from the smell, lending him a nasally tone. Harley shook his head, ignoring his brother’s antics, focusing instead on the task at hand.

  “Looks like the garbage collection room,” Harley muttered, walking by particularly stinky bags. The Rat had chosen a good hiding place. The stench masked his. The dim lights suddenly blinked off, and they heard the running scuffle of feet. Harley homed in on the sound, running toward them, his senses quickly adjusting to rely on the ones useful in the dark. The sound of rolling metal met his ears moments before he grabbed hold of the Rat.

  “Leaving so soon, Rat?” Harley growled, shaking the man.

  “Get off me, you filthy Hybrid!” Darvey spat, kicking and flailing about.

  “Too bad ya don’t got your handy stolen watch now, ain’t it?” Harley growled. The man stilled for a moment before his flailing doubled.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  Harley slammed the man against the still-opening metal door, momentarily stilling his flailing.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about. I knew ya wouldn’t give up on your obsession with Amiel so easily. But that was a stupid way of tryin’ to get me outta the picture. The Cut planned to kill Amiel, too.”

  Darvey fell still as the light from the rolling door moved halfway up the room. Clearly visible now, his eyes gleamed with a crazed sort of hatred.

  “Or maybe you already knew that,” Harley mused in disgust.

  “You soiled her. Made it so she only sees you,” Darvey sneered, leaning closer. “And if I can’t have her, neither will you.”

  Harley’s Hybrid roared to the surface, ready to beat Darvey’s face to a bloody pulp. But someone else beat him to it. The man was suddenly yanked from Harley’s grasp, thudding to the ground before being yanked out from under the door.

  Harley crouched down to see Darvey being hauled away screaming, clawing at the ground as a beautiful, curvaceous blonde dragged him into th
e high brush. The woman glanced over her shoulder, met Harley’s gaze across the distance. A chilling grin stretched her features as she disappeared with Darvey in her grasp. And then his screams stopped.

  Harley turned his attention to the other Rabids that now poured into the opening of the building, doing his best to kill them with his bare hands. Hybrids were not allowed to carry weapons within Foundation, leaving them unarmed now. The infected climbed up into the opening, thirty strong. Cajun plowed into the others on the far side of the large door.

  “How do we shut this damned door?” Harley shouted across the distance, slamming a Rabid in the face with his knee.

  “Hell if I know!” Cajun replied, breaking the neck of a smaller Rabid. Suddenly gunfire sprayed across the distance, ripping through the Rabids that surged around them. Harley and Cajun sat as perfectly still as they could, hoping one of their rescuers wouldn’t take this moment to rid the world of a couple more Hybrids, too. When all fell silent, Harley turned to see a large group of guards at the entrance.

  “Toss the bodies out the door while we find the controls,” one guard ordered as the others fanned out. Harley and Cajun immediately began shoving the bodies outside, knowing all too well that the orders had been for them alone. No one else would dare get close enough to touch the infected unless they had to. Once all the bodies were tossed outside, the lights had come on and the door was well on its way to shutting. When the door closed with a deafening clang, the lead guard came forward, gun pointed at Harley and Cajun.

  “Move it. The General wants to see you.”

  Cajun grinned as they walked back through the corridors, the blood sprayed across his face only making his eyes sparkle brighter.

  “I feel like we’re going to see the Queen.” He glanced around. “Or Darth Vader.”

  Harley shook his head with a quiet chuckle. Leave it to Cajun to always have a joke, even on the walk to death row.

  Chapter 31

  Harley

  The General sat at his desk, staring them down. His hair had grayed significantly since they first met him upon arriving at Foundation, when they were still just as Clean as him. He’d given them the chat, the initiation into Hybrid lifestyle. Now he was clearly wondering if he was going to initiate them to the grave.