Blood of a Phoenix (The Nix Series Book 2)

by Shannon Mayer

  I stripped off my shirt and pants, not caring that I was not wearing a bra. Perks for not being particularly busty, I could get away without one.

  I didn’t even look at him, but again, could feel his eyes on my bare skin. “Like what you see?”

  “Very much, lass.”

  I had my back to him and Noah and just shook my head. Another time, another place. Maybe. But not here and now. Nothing was going to distract me now that I was this close to finding my boy. To holding him again.

  I did note Noah said nothing more than “That’s your safe place for the papers.”

  I pulled the spider silk suit up over my legs, hips and waist. The material was incredibly soft and it clung to me. “Barron, you better be right about this.”

  Up over my shoulders, and I slid my arms into it, then strapped on the rest of my gear. Thigh holsters first, then a small waterproof backpack that held things like flashbangs, the shit from Killian’s stash, and finally Linx. I held the silver tool in my hand.

  “You think you’re going to need me, don’t you?” he asked me softly. “You think something bad is going to happen.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “It’s okay. Don’t be sad. I’m good at helping in a crunch,” he said.

  I tightened my hand around him, feeling strangely emotional. “Fuck, I hope I’m wrong. I hope that things don’t get crunchy.”

  “But what does your gut say?” Killian moved up beside me. He had on a spider silk suit, almost identical to mine. Apparently, Barron had bought in bulk.

  I looked at him and then Noah. Both men had similar expressions. They were tense and ready to fight.

  “This is going to be rough.” I looked down the river at the hulking structure of the jail. The sun was at the far end of the river and just began to dip below the surface as if the water was putting the flames out. “Yeah, this is going to be a bad one. No schematics, no way to know where Bear might be kept, no Abe to track him.” I shook my head and started toward the water. “So, what are we waiting for?”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Bear

  Leaping into a pit of dogs that were no longer normal canines might have seemed like a bad idea even just a few hours before, but in that moment that I flew through the air, I knew there was no choice if I wanted to save my skin. The dogs—and wolf hybrids—were loose and already causing havoc in the facility. They would be my cover to escape.

  The air filled with screams, gunshots, snarling, and howling. I knew my one shot at getting out would be to get Abe and get back to my uncle Tommy. He hated my grandfather. I had no doubt about that, and I could only pray that he would know a way out of the jail. That I could trust him for a little bit.

  I rolled as I hit the ground, coming up in crouch. From across the kennel, Abe and two other dogs stared at me. Abe I trusted, the other two . . . I wasn’t sure.

  Their fur was a deep gray and they seemed as normal as any dog I’d ever met before. They were mastiffs if I were making a guess, and they didn’t seem to have been . . . tweaked like Abe had been.

  “Abe, hier.” I called him to me and he shot forward, putting himself on my left, heeling perfectly. The two mastiffs sniffed the air and I took a chance. “Come on, you two. You come with us.”

  They jogged toward me, jowls swinging side to side. I put a hand out, trusting my gut. The first one butted his head into my hand, and the second mastiff all but threw himself at my legs as he rubbed into me, almost knocking me over.

  I ran a hand over their ears, then over Abe’s head before I walked toward the door. I gave it a push and it swung open, the locks all opened by my mad dash with the main computer above.

  “Let’s go.” It felt good to talk to them, even if they were only dogs. They were with me, and I was not alone in this escape. I hurried back the way I’d come through the kennel area, although this time, I was on the ground. The kennels were a maze of fences and gates, narrow walkways between them and the smell of dog shit and piss and fresh meat. Funny how I’d not noticed it before now, the fear had been so heavy on me that I’d been unable to think about anything but getting away from the Shadow. I glanced up at that thought, but didn’t see him.

  The first big door we came to I put my hand on, checking for heat. I shook my head. There was no fire. Why had I thought to do that? But I kept my hand there, waiting.

  And then a pulse of something skittered across my palm, like tiny bugs, a warning I didn’t ignore. I snatched my hand up. “Hide.”

  I twisted around, seeing a kennel to my right that was in the semi-shadows. “Here, come on.” I opened the door and the three dogs followed me in. I crouched down and the two mastiffs moved to either side of me and Abe stood in front, effectively hiding me.

  The door burst open and the Shadow along with two other men stormed in. “The boy is here somewhere, find him.” His cloaked hood swung from side to side, but passed over me as if I wasn’t there. Abe let out a low growl and I didn’t dare move to quiet him.

  The Shadow and his men jogged deeper into the kennels and I waited a moment before I crept forward. The dogs tailed me as if they were as well trained as Abe.

  I made my way to the door and laid my hand on it again. No buzzing bugs this time, so I pushed it open and slipped through. Abe stuck with me and the two mastiffs pulled up the rear. The lights of the jail flickered and danced as though I’d done more than just hit the buttons to open the kennels. I could only hope I’d done more damage, that it would buy me the time I needed.

  Of course, it was possible the main power grid had been on that upper island. Not many people would want to walk above that many kennels with snarling, snapping, insane dogs to get to it.

  The hallway I stood in was solid concrete: floor, wall, and ceiling, and it felt like I was in a cave. Especially with the way the lights flickered. They dipped low and settled into a humming noise that told me they weren’t going to last long. I broke into a run, choosing my turns carefully, doing what I could to remember my way back to Tommy’s cell.

  An intersection rapidly approached and I slowed, hearing voices echoing against the hard surface ahead. Abe perked his ears up and tipped his head to the left. Good enough for me. I took the right-hand tunnel and turned on the speed, running as fast as I could. Maybe it wouldn’t take me to Tommy, but at least I wouldn’t run into my grandfather’s thugs.

  I skidded to a stop at a dead end. “Crap.” I pressed my palms against the wall, hoping for some miracle. I leaned my head against the thick concrete, my mind racing even as I froze. I didn’t know what to do. The men were behind me, and there was nowhere to go but back in their direction.

  I turned and looked down the long hall we’d run. At the far end, past the T-intersection figures headed my way, figures with guns in their arms and their own dogs at their sides. The lights flicked on brightly and I saw the dogs were anything but. They were like Abe, only twisted further with their bodies covered in a scaled armor, their mouths incredibly big and full of more teeth than any natural dog had.

  And then the lights went out again and there was nothing but the sound of them coming closer, their footsteps picking up speed.

  “I see the kid,” a voice said.

  They had to have night vision goggles, and my heart sank.

  The lights did not come back. Not even a flicker or a ghost of illumination that would ruin their night vision.

  I put a hand out and found the back of Abe’s neck. I swallowed hard, knowing what I was about to do would risk his life once more, that this time he really would die for me. This was different than New York where I had no choice. This was my decision to survive.

  I crouched down to him and hugged him tightly to me. “Abe, I love you.”

  He whined softly and I stood up, tears on my cheeks. “Abe.” The next word stuck in my throat but I knew there was going to be no other way for me to get past the men. “Fass.”

  Abe was gone from my side and I rushed after him, hands to the wall, waiting for the
sound that would tell me Abe had been hurt. I would know his sound anywhere, no matter how different he might be now.

  There was a grunt and then a gun went off, the flash of the muzzle lighting up the tight space. Abe was illuminated in that light, leaping at the throat of one of the men. There was a rush of air beside me and the two mastiffs were gone, following Abe, and then snarls ripped through the air and I kept moving as tears streaked down my cheeks.

  With my fingers grasping, I found the edge of the T-intersection. I kept moving, turning down the hall, leaving the fight behind. That’s what my mom would want me to do, but it was so hard to leave my best friend behind . . . again.

  “Abe!” I called to him at the next intersection, hoping. The sounds of gunfire had stopped and I could believe for a moment that it might mean he was still alive.

  Nothing, no patter of feet. No, that wasn’t true. The thud of a heavy padded foot rushed down the hall. One of the freak dogs?

  A big head shoved its nose against my side in the dark and a gray shadow leaned against me. One of the mastiffs. I dropped a hand to his head. His fur was covered in something slick and warm. Blood. His own or someone else’s, I couldn’t tell in the dim light.

  “Come,” I said softly, my heart breaking for Abe even though I knew he’d done his job. He’d given his all for me.

  I found another hall, and within a few feet, I knew I was completely lost but I kept moving. That was the only thing I could think of doing. Maybe if I was lucky, I’d stumble on the right door, to the right hall, that would lead to my uncle Tommy.

  Ten minutes passed. I dodged a few more groups of men by hiding against doors or in crevices that seemed to appear.

  I finally found myself in front of a door that opened to my left. It was as good as any and looked like the last ten I’d seen. I pushed it open and stepped into the cell blocks that I’d first seen my uncle Tommy in.

  “Holy shit. I need to buy a lottery ticket.” That was what my dad would have said and it slipped off my lips before I could catch it.

  I was on the second level of the cells and I knew Tommy was on the first. I hurried down the first set of stairs and did a slow spin at the bottom, searching, struggling to pinpoint which direction he would be. “Uncle Tommy?”

  “Kid?” he said. “Down here.”

  I turned in the direction of his voice and hurried toward the cell that held him. I put my hands on the bars and pushed the slider door to the left. It opened easily, if a bit noisily.

  He stared at me from his chained spot on the wall. “How did you get away? What’s happening out there?”

  “I hit some panel that turned off the kennels and a bunch of the power,” I said. “How do I get the chains off you?”

  “Key in the office at the end of the cell block. Hurry.” He nodded at me, his dark eyes just like mine. “And thanks, kid.”

  I turned and ran from his cell, bolting down the length of the block until I was in front of the office. The door was locked. But the window was glass with bars on it. The bars looked like I could get my hand and arm through if I broke the glass. I stripped my shirt off and wrapped my hand in it. I swung as hard as I could and the glass shattered. Not bulletproof, at least.

  I took my shirt off my hand, shook out the glass and put it back on, then reached through the bars to the lock on the door. I unlocked it and pulled the door open. A tiny wound appeared on my arm, a cut from a bit of glass, but I barely felt it. Adrenaline and fear drove me and I scrambled into the room, searching the desk with both hands, sweeping them over the surface and through the drawers until I found a ring of keys. I grabbed them, spun and ran down the block once more. Sweat dribbled down the sides of my face and my breath came in gasps, but I made it. The mastiff lay on the floor of the cell, breathing hard, too, and I finally saw the wound in his side, bubbling. A lung shot.

  I looked up at Tommy. “You can get us out of here. You can get me to my mom, right?”

  “You better believe it, kid.” He nodded, and I thought he was telling the truth, only . . . something felt off. I hesitated. The keys dangled from my hand and I just stared at him.

  “You’re lying to me.”

  “No, no, don’t leave me here,” he yelled as I took a step back. “Bear, you are my nephew. I won’t hurt you.”

  “But you just lied to me.” I didn’t even know how I knew exactly. The way his eyes narrowed, darted, and the catch in his breath as he spoke, the flush in his skin. All of that and something in his words told me lies were in his mouth.

  “I . . . I can get us out of here. I’m not sure I can get you to your mom. I’m not sure she wouldn’t just kill me.” He hung from the chains. “I was not a good brother to her, Bear. She would have every right to hate me, to kill me on sight.”

  That was the truth and it allowed me to move toward him with the keys in my hand. “Okay, that I believe. I’ll help you find her. I know someone who can help me find her.” I was thinking of Noah again, my father’s friend. He was the person my dad had trusted. I had my hand on the first wrist lock when the voices echoed down the cell block.

  “You think he came back here, boss?”

  My grandfather’s voice was unmistakable. “I’m sure of it.”

  “Shit, hurry. I can stop him,” Tommy whispered.

  I was on the second wrist manacle when the footsteps stopped in front of the cell. I spun away as Tommy lunged forward.

  Everything seemed to go into slow motion. The Shadow swept forward and caught Tommy by the throat, lifting him over his head. Tommy jerked and danced like a fish on a line. From where I crouched, I could see his eyes and they’d rolled back showing nothing but the whites.

  “Should I kill him?” the Shadow asked, his voice emotionless.

  “Not unless he refuses to do what I want.” Grandfather stepped around Tommy and the Shadow and stared down at me. He rolled a ring on his finger, a big ruby ring that glittered even in the dark. “Do not make me call on Pain. You won’t like that guardian.”

  The mastiff raised his bloody head and growled at him, his lips rippling over his teeth as he pushed to his feet with great effort.

  Grandfather spoke to me as he lifted a gun. “Quite the mess you’re making of my production, Bear.” He aimed at the mastiff and shot him without even pausing in his words, then put his gun away. I stared at the dog, at the hole in the top of his head. Like he was nothing but a pesky fly to be swatted.

  I swallowed hard, dug deep and found my voice. “You’re a bastard. I will never be your heir.”

  “Oh, you will. And Tommy is going to help me, right now, or I’ll do to him what I just did to that mutt there.” Luca half turned to the Shadow, motioning with one hand. “Bring him here.”

  The Shadow dragged my uncle closer to me. “I won’t. I won’t fucking do it!” He twisted hard, fighting the hold on him, but he might as well have been in manacles again.

  “You will do as I tell you, and you will do it now. I believe your sister is on her way. And I want to be ready to break her. It appears that I will need to show her just how serious I am about the boy. I need her, do you understand? I need her to finish what I started all those years ago.” Luca stared at his son. “Do it or die.”

  I stepped forward. “Uncle Tommy. I know what he wants you to do.” I had prepared for this. I had my note in my pocket explaining to my future self. “Don’t die. This won’t kill me, will it?”

  Tommy groaned and hung his head. “Kid. I’ve done a lot of fucking shitty things in my life. And I swore I’d change. I can’t do this to you. To your mom.”

  “Lovely, so poetic,” Luca drawled. “Now I will count down from ten, and you will do it, or I will kill you. Then I might kill the boy just to watch his mother shatter on his second death. That should finally make her easier to control.”

  Tommy closed his eyes and shook his head. “You won’t break her that easily.”

  “Ten.”

  I stared at him. “Do it.”

  “Nine.�
��

  “I can’t!” Tommy roared. “You will never get them back!”

  “Eight.”

  I held my hand out. “Do it. Don’t die. I’ll survive this, too.”

  “Seven.”

  Tommy shuddered and the Shadow pushed him toward me.

  “Six.”

  “Five.”

  “Four.”

  I took my uncle’s hand. “I’ll be okay.”

  “Three.”

  He went to his knees and swept his hands up to either side of my face. “I’ll help you,” he said so quietly, I wasn’t sure anyone else would have heard.

  “Two.”

  I nodded. “I know.”

  “One.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Phoenix

  We were at the base of the jail, still in the water as it swept around the three of us, the current tugging at my limbs. The dark of the night hid us as well as the water, but I was bothered by the fact that I was seeing no guards on the walkways high above. Not even one in the last ten minutes. Surely Genzo was not that sloppy? Where were his Yakuza? Where were the creatures made by the Ikimono?

  Hell, where was the Shadow?

  “Where the hell are the Yakuza?” Killian muttered.

  “My thoughts exactly.” I pulled myself along the edge to the out pipe that was suspiciously dry, even if it was covered in a large metal grill. I wrapped my fingers through the edges of it and pulled myself up high enough to look in. “Dry. You were right, Noah.”

  He gave a grunt from where he clung to the edge of the river, waiting for his turn to come up.

  “If it’s dry, it means they are actively using this,” Killian said. “Probably as a dropoff or pickup for supplies. Keeping what is going in and out of the front door to a minimum.”

  I leaned to the side of the grill and there it was, a latch inside the lip of the door. For the time being, luck was on our side. Then again, breaking into a jail that was full of Yakuza, abnormals, my father, most likely the Shadow along with some sort of monster creation was not exactly a lucky thing. So maybe it wasn’t luck that was holding, but fate. I shook my head, clearing it of the wayward thoughts.