“Damn him…always making me the mean one,” I grumbled with a smile, then nodded at Sprig to grab it.
I knew he could handle it without problem. There was no way I would touch it. I had no doubt it would probably kill me, even more cruelly than it had the doctor. I betrayed it, outsmarted it. It would never let that go. But I had an obligation to Lars, and by fae law I had to fulfill it.
Sprig chirped and jumped down, picking up the rock and tugging his backpack around to his front. I could see Pam tucked inside as he stuffed the stone beside her, under his “cape.” My lids briefly closed as I felt the stone’s emotions brush against my mind. Torture. Hate. Death. Treachery. It promised me all. My body shook, the temptation still too close for comfort.
“Bhean!”
“Zoey.”
Both Sprig and Annabeth shouted, my eyes popping open. A large square of drywall smashed on the table beside us, breaking into tiny pieces.
“Come on!” With the room crumbling around us, we darted for the exit, leaving the body of Dr. Boris Rapava and his experiments behind.
####
The door to the main area stood ajar from the quake the stone caused. It was heavy, but with my adrenaline still pumping through me, I slid it open enough for us to get through. The shocks from the blast spread throughout the entire floor and above. Water leaked through, crashing down on the computers and lab rooms.
I kept hold of Annabeth, who stumbled on weak legs. Sprig sat on my shoulder. “Stay here,” I ordered, stepping away from her.
“Where are you going?” Annabeth reached for me. “Don’t leave me.”
“I will be back.” I squeezed her arm with my good hand. “I have to get Kate. Sprig, stay here with her. Keep her safe.”
“Eye-Eye Matty.” Sprig leaped to Annabeth’s shoulder.
If we weren’t in a life-and-death moment, I probably would have laughed at Annabeth’s what the shit expression when Sprig patted her cheek.
Then the ground shivered under my feet, the building swaying and buckling. I swore under my breath and darted into the room. Every area down here held horrors beyond my imagination, but this one would always be the most painful. What I did to Ryker, how far I was willing to go…
You better be alive, I said to him in my head. Leaving him to fight a dozen well-trained soldiers with fae weapons felt like I handed over my heart to a shredding machine. Please be all right.
“Kate?” I stumbled through the dark room, the green emergency light giving a ghastly glow to the room. The testing devices, lab equipment, and chains could qualify this space for a haunted house. But nothing here was fake or set up for a movie. It was real. And so was the water from above. A buzz sounded from the exit lights, flickering and sparking. Water, embers, and flammable lab equipment sizzled around us, making this entire building a bomb waiting to go off.
The door to the inner room still stood open, and I saw the outlines of two figures on the floor. “Kate,” I called her name, rushing to her side. I kneeled down, rolling her over to her back, my fingers finding their way to her neck, feeling for a pulse. Water and debris covered her. Her heartbeat thumped under my index finger.
“Hey.” I tapped at her face, shaking her a little. “Wake up.” A groan came from her throat. I wiped the wet hair clinging from my face.
She stirred, her lids blinking open. “Zoey?”
“Yes. Come on.” I sat her up. She hissed, her hand going to her head. “We don’t have time. We need to get out of here now. The place is going to collapse.”
She gazed at me confused, then looked around, staring up at the oozing water. A square panel fell from the ceiling, breaking a line of beakers laying on the table, sending glass flying through the space.
“Now!”
She reacted like I slapped her face. She jolted, her eyes clearing as though really understanding the danger we were in. She tugged on my arm, trying to stand, her body stiff and slow.
The emergency light above the door sparkled, sending a ray of flickers through the air landing on the table of broken beakers. Whoosh. A deep blue hue ignited across the table, and heat instantly seared my face and an acidic smell scorched up my nose.
“Get out!” Kate yelled, her eyes wide. Whatever chemical burned across the table sent fear into her. “Go!”
I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the door. She let out a heartbreaking noise, and I glanced over my shoulder to see her hand on her heart as she stared at Delaney.
“I’m sorry, my sweet girl. You deserved better than this. I should have never brought you in.” Kate’s pain rippled over her expression.
The flames crackled and popped like a bowl of Rice Krispies, shattering the glass vials as they devoured everything in their path and drinking the toxic liquid like it was a piña colada.
“Kate.”
Kate took a breath then turned her head, running with me. “Wait!” She pulled from my grip, leaning back for the table.
Crack!
A large flask ruptured, sending slivers of glass at us like a machine gun. I ducked, tucking my face into my arm, but razor-sharp slices cut my arms and forehead.
I lifted my head to the sound of hissing. The flames leaped over to a burner.
“Oh. Fuck.”
Kate swiped the files off the table, tucked them into the back of her pants, and whipped around.
We both bolted. We hit the outer door and rounded the corner. “Run!” I screamed at Annabeth and Sprig.
We had only taken three steps down the hallway when I heard it, the inner room exploding. The blast rattled through my bones. My ears echoed with its thunder.
Then there was a moment of backdraft before I soared through the air. I flew down the hallway across the tile floor. Kate hit my legs, while Annabeth’s featherlight body sailed farther down the corridor, taking Sprig with her.
I lay there in shock, trying to grasp which way was up.
“Annabeth?” I lifted my head. “Sprig?”
“Double dingleberry nuggets.” I heard Sprig down the dark hallway.
“Yeah. I’m okay,” Annabeth responded. “I think.”
I sat up and reached for Kate.
“Damn, my old body can’t take this kind of activity.” Kate struggled to push herself up. “Why I never joined a gym.”
“Yeah, because this is exactly the routine I do at the gym.” I rose and helped her to her feet. Smoke and fire billowed out of the room behind us. It wouldn’t be long before we were incapacitated by smoke inhalation. I quickly helped Annabeth up and tossed Sprig on my shoulder.
“Pam? You okay back there?” He looked over his shoulder. “She better be all right, Bhean, or I will seriously think about maybe not talking to you.”
Annabeth was soaked from the tank and still wearing the hospital gown. “Annabeth, use your gown to breathe through. The moisture will help filter the smoke.” She nodded, pulling up the bottom and covering her mouth, her arms trembling with weakness. Kate and I used our T-shirts, while Sprig used my sleeve.
It wasn’t until my eyes landed on the elevator did I realize our problem.
“Shit!” No electricity. No elevator. And in the building’s brittle state, I didn’t really trust we could get to the top. We had no other choice since we were approximately eight stories down. “What do we do?” We couldn’t climb through the vents. Each floor was separate. Plus, Rapava had made sure to block all paths leading outside.
Another blast shook the ground, and a loud whine of metal ripped across the building.
“I know another way.” Kate grabbed my arm.
“Another way?”
“Rapava always had an additional escape route for himself.” She waved us to follow her down another hallway. “He may be insane, but he’s not stupid. He trusted only a few with this information.”
“You?” I couldn’t help the surprise in my voice.
“Oh gosh no.” She curved around another corner, Annabeth and me on her tail. “He never trusted me. But he wasn�
�t the only one who was sneaky and deceptive.”
Another boom in the distance shifted the ground, dropping us all to the floor. The paneling above came raining down, burying us in debris. Sprig curled under me, my hands on the back of my neck as I protected both of us from the fragments. Warm liquid trickled from the back of my head to my neck and matted my hair. All I wanted to do was shut my eyes and fall asleep. Let all the pain go away.
I suddenly had images of the night the big fae storm brought Seattle to its knees. Even though he hated me then, Ryker had instinctively covered my body with his, taking the brunt. He had not known about the powers yet. He just reacted. And I was doing the same for Sprig. If I could have tucked Annabeth and Kate underneath me, I would have.
Even though I disliked him just as much at that time, that moment of protection had stuck with me. He had always been there for me. Protected me. These thoughts made me more frightened. What if I never made it out? What if he didn’t?
No! Get up, Zoey! Find him. I gritted my teeth and sat up, letting the rubble fall off me.
“Sprig, you okay?”
“Define okay.”
I kissed the top of his head and stood.
“Zoey.” Annabeth’s arm rose in the air only feet away from me. Wounds sliced across her face, legs, and arms, but she pushed up to her feet.
“Kate?”
The building continued to groan and grumble. We had little time left.
“Oh no.” I saw white hair and an arm peeking through the remnants. “Kate?” I dug her out of the debris. Blood covered her face. “You can’t die on me. None of you can. We are getting out of here. Absolutely no excuses,” I barked, feeling emotion stabbing the back of my lids.
“Anyone tell you that you are extremely persistent?” she tried to joke, wiping the blood from her eyes.
“Yes,” both Sprig and Annabeth answered.
“You can tell me what a bitch I am when we get out of here.” I tugged her arm.
“Oh, child, I never said bitch.”
“Can I?” Sprig raised his hand.
“I don’t care what you call me.” It took a couple of tries to get Kate back on her feet. “But only if we get out of here.”
“Damn, these files came in handy.” Kate readjusted them against her, securing them. “Only place I don’t have any cuts.”
Flickers of flames and smoke scorched the air from down the hall, as though the building was having a coughing fit, the walls heaving in on us as it rumbled. We all limped forward until Kate came to a stop.
“Here.” She pushed at a partition.
“Here?” It looked like an ordinary wall.
“He wanted to be sure it remained a secret, but I followed him one day and watched him. He used it sometimes so he could get to other floors undetected. He definitely was a consequence of the Cold War with its secrecies, espionage, paranoia, and distrust.”
“How do you open it?” I pressed my hands against the flat surface, trying to find a button or trigger.
“That I don’t know.”
My gut tightened. The twisting of metal braces screeched in my ears as the building vocalized its pain.
Kate’s hands shook as she kept touching and pushing at the door.
“What about this?” Annabeth poked a bare toe at a small translucent button at the bottom edge. It was high enough no one would accidently kick it walking by and blended into the wall so you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking. She hit it with her big toe, and the door swung open to a narrow spiral staircase heading straight up.
“Holy honey turnips and banging biscuits. That was awesome, Bebinn.” Sprig held out his hand to Annabeth. It took her a moment but then she slowly smiled and lifted her hand, high-fiving him back. Sprig, no matter how odd, was hard to resist. He crawled inside your heart and plastered himself there like he rolled in glue. Or honey…
I ushered Annabeth and Kate in, their feet hitting the metal, pinging underfoot as they circled their way up. I gazed up, the staircase disappearing into the darkness.
I took a step.
And crumpled.
Sprig clung to my neck as I crashed onto the steps.
“Zoey, what’s wrong?” Kate stopped, her hand on her chest, peering down at me. I could barely see her, but the level had an emergency light, giving a dim awareness of space.
“The stairs,” I choked, struggling to breathe or talk. “Goblin. Metal.”
“Of course.” Kate’s lids fluttered and her head nodded. “That bastard would cover his ass.”
I understood right away. Rapava would want to escape, but by chance fae had escaped, he would not want them to be able to follow him. They would be trapped and die, just how he preferred them.
My body felt like it was being torn apart and drained of blood. The stairs were more potent than anything I had felt before. I couldn’t move. My eyes were slamming shut.
“Get up, Zoey!” Kate demanded, skirting Annabeth and coming for me. “You are not giving up now.”
“I can’t.” No one but another fae could truly understand what goblin metal did to us. Sprig’s head curled forward, falling into my lap, out cold. It was so potent it even took him out without touching it.
“Yes, you can. You are the strongest person I know.” She came down, putting her shoulder under my arm. “Daniel used to tell me how in awe he was of you. I knew then he was crazy about you.” I lifted my eyes to hers as she tried to get me on my feet.
“Really?”
“Yes, Zoey. He was deeply in love with you. I always told him he needed to get his head out of his ass and act on it, but he never did. Stupid man.” She grunted trying to get me up. “He missed his chance. But I’ve seen your face when you talk about this Wanderer. He came here for you, got captured and tortured. He didn’t let fear hold him back from loving you. He is the one you need to get up for, along with your sister, Sprig, Annabeth…me. We all need you. You are stronger than this. Now get up!”
“Talk…about…persistent,” I forced out through my gritted jaw, grasping to pull myself up. It felt like standing with a mattress on my back.
A soft smile inched across Kate’s. She turned to Annabeth. “Take Sprig.”
Annabeth rushed down a few steps, taking Sprig from my arms, tucking him in safely against her. She turned back and started up the steps.
“I won’t lie to you, Zoey. This is going to be horrible and painful. You have hundreds and hundreds of steps ahead of you. But we have no choice. I am old; Annabeth is weak. I need you to dig down and find the place in you that keeps you moving.”
I nodded. I wanted to hold on to the rail to help pull myself up, but as soon as I touched it my legs caved, forcing me to crawl on my hands and knees. The agony felt excruciating. Even worse was I could feel the stone calling for me again. One touch and all of my pain and struggle would be gone. The metal and the stone yanked at my energy.
No. The word tore from my gut as I pulled myself up another step. You will never have me. You lost, stone.
I never lose. And I have never been deceived.
First time for everything. My words were strong, but I wasn’t. The magnetic pulse drew me to it, and my will bent under the goblin metal. Then Ryker’s voice echoed in my head, his image standing strong at the forefront of my mind, like the guardian keeping the stone at bay. I clung to him, his strength pushing me up the stairs.
Sweat poured down my face, my lip bloody from biting it. I cried and collapsed every other step, but I kept pushing. The thoughts of Lexie, Croygen, Annabeth, Kate, and Sprig all helped, but there was one face driving my legs, forcing me to take another step.
Ryker stood over me on the steps, staring down. Get up. Push harder, human. You do not give up. You are a survivor. Oh hell. I was hallucinating now. And Ryker was channeling a boot-camp instructor.
“I’m trying…” I whimpered. My soul felt like it was being torn into pieces. I could barely push my knees up the steps.
Try harder. I will not let you g
ive up. Do it for your sister. For Annabeth. Sprig…even the fucking pirate needs you. I need you. A pained expression came over his face. No matter what happens. I’m always with you.
“What are you talking about?” Cold dread plummeted into my stomach as my skin tingled with heat.
You know I will fight to the ends of the earth to get to you if I can…
My gut sensed the goodbye in his tone. The unsaid words. “Don’t you dare say goodbye! You want me to fight? You fight too! Find me, Viking. Don’t you dare leave me.”
The image of Ryker faded away. I love you, human. Always have. Even when I didn’t know it.
“Ryker!” I screamed.
“Zoey? Honey, stay with us.” Kate’s face was in front of mine, bending over me on the stairs. Ryker was gone. “You can do it. We’re almost there.”
She helped me continue up the narrow steps. Red faced and sweaty with blood still flowing from her head, she barely kept upright herself. My gaze wandered to Annabeth. She looked like a skeleton, so pale and sickly, her steps faltering, but she kept Sprig close to her chest.
I thought I was hallucinating again when Kate said, “We made it.”
“What?”
“Come on, a few more steps.” She grunted, stuffing her shoulder under me, trying to get me on my feet. We took the last steps together, pushing through a door, moving off the metal to concrete.
Relief flooded my body, and I almost burst into tears with happiness. I bent over, sucking in deeply. Several moments passed before I noticed the surroundings. We were in an underground corridor. I knew exactly where I was, having used this tunnel to escape DMG last time.
Annabeth stumbled toward me, her arms wrapped around the tiny furball.
“Hey, buddy.” I scooped him up. He was awake, but I could see the metal had also drained his energy. His limbs hung limply. He nuzzled deeper into my arms.
Part of me was about to hand him back to Annabeth. The treasure he carried in his honey pack hummed against my skin. My teeth clenched, fighting back the siren song.
Annabeth’s head fell forward on my shoulder. “I still can’t believe you came for me.”
From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) Page 34
