Breed of Havoc (The Breed Chronicles #3)

by Lanie Jordan

  I was in an unfinished building. But where? There were buildings like this scattered throughout New Orlando—hell, all over Florida and across the states. I didn’t think they’d taken me to another country (I hadn’t heard any foreign accents), but I could be in another town or state. Who knew how long I’d been unconscious either time they’d drugged me? The only thing I knew for certain was they hadn’t moved me since I’d woken up the first time.

  Not a lot of help, though. I sighed. Doesn’t matter. Escape first, then find a way home. I forced myself to keep moving, to go as quick as I could while staying quiet.

  I hadn’t gone very far when I heard voices. I stopped and pressed my back against the wall. Orders. The voices were delivering orders. They didn’t know I’d escaped yet. That left me with a slight advantage.

  I started moving again, careful to keep my steps quiet. The lights overhead flickered and I nearly jumped out of my skin. There were footsteps now, but they were further away, in the opposite direction of me. Retreating?

  The urge to run, to speed my way through this maze of walls, hit me hard. I wanted to move, to escape as fast as I could. I caught myself gaining speed more than once and forced myself to slow down. Forced myself to think clearly, to use what I’d learned, in my classes and what I’d discovered here. Pausing briefly, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sounds around me, the scents. Muted car engines coming from my right, footsteps all around me, and muffled voices. I sniffed the air and frowned when I smelled…gas? It wasn’t far away like the cars, but close.

  Someone shouted that I’d escaped. I still didn’t risk running, but I moved faster.

  The building was confusing because everything looked the same. Was I making any progress or was I just going in circles? I didn’t know. At the next hallway, I took a right instead of my usual left, and as I rounded the corner, felt something wet on my feet. The air around me was thick now with the smell of gas.

  Were they planning on burning the building down to cover their tracks?

  The question barely entered my mind when I saw Creeper up ahead. His eyes met mine. They’d always been oddly expressionless, but they were different somehow. Colder. Deader.

  He had something small and black in his hand, like the remote thing Watcher Guy used to open my door. Over and over, he tossed it a few inches in the air and then caught it. “Come with me, Jade.”

  “I think I’ll pass.”

  Creeper tossed the thing in his hand in the air once more, and that’s when I realized what it was: a lighter. He caught it easily, then flicked open the top. The smallest of smiles lifted his lip. He lit the lighter, paused as if he were giving me time to change my mind, and then tossed it to the ground.

  My eyes went wide. There was a whooshing sound as fire ran along the ground and up the walls. I turned and glanced behind me, but there was even more fire that way. Covering my head, I ran forward and turned at the hallway between Creeper and me. I turned fast enough to bounce off the wall. Fire licked at my skin but I kept running.

  I jumped and ducked as wall after wall caught fire and smoke started to billow around me. The heat had me sweating and the smoke made my eyes water. I ran and ran for what felt like eternity, though it’d probably only been a few minutes.

  Flames flew up, blocking every hallway I wanted to try before I could reach them. Whenever I hit a dead end, there was only ever one way to go. It hit me then that Creeper had to be orchestrating this somehow. My options were too limited. Go here, away from the flames and live, or go there, into the flames and burn.

  I ran faster, tried getting ahead of the fire, trying to not go where he obviously wanted me to. The fire followed right behind me though, like it was attached to me by invisible strings. A ways ahead, I saw an open doorway and pushed myself faster, faster, to get there before my path was blocked. Yes! I cheered in my head. My yes quickly turned into a groan as four masked men stepped in front of the door.

  Creeper—who had someone managed to avoid the fire and get ahead of me—was in the front of them.

  Skidding to a stop, I wiped sweat and tears from my eyes. Flames flicked out and I dodged to the side to avoid them. I had nowhere else to go and I couldn’t avoid them indefinitely.

  I almost laughed, because I’d still fallen for his stupid trap. “I really hate you,” I muttered.

  “You’re out of options, Jade. You need to come with us and make it easy on yourself.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but I’m going to pass. I’ll wait for—”

  “Your friends?” He laughed now.

  “Yes! They’re here, aren’t they?” Weren’t they? Wasn’t that why Creeper and his men were leaving?

  Creeper gave a half shrug. “Maybe. Or maybe we’ve already disposed of them.”

  “You didn’t. They’re—”

  “What? Alive?”

  “Yes!” They had to be. The CGE people were good. Too good. They couldn’t be…they weren’t. They handled demons for crying out loud. They could handle human monsters as easily. I refused to believe anything else. “They’re alive,” I said with more conviction than I actually felt. Creeper and his men had managed to not only get on the CGE property, but they’d stabbed at least one person and managed to grab me right under everyone’s noses.

  “They’re dead. Their deaths were quick, Jade. Yours won’t be if you stay, and I know you don’t want to die like that.”

  I’d be unconscious before the fire got to me, wouldn’t I? Isn’t that what I’d learned in school, that smoke inhalation killed more people than fire itself? But I didn’t think he’d let me die. If he was smart, all he’d have to do was wait until I was unconscious and get me. Or hell, wait until I had no choice but to run outside and straight into their arms. Literally.

  Either way, my options sucked.

  The fire got louder and hotter. Things were falling down, popping and sparking around me. The smoke was getting thicker. How long before the whole building went up in flames? Minutes, maybe.

  There was another crackle, this one really loud and right behind me. But there was another sound that followed it. Softer. Familiar.

  “Let’s go, Jade! Now!” There was desperation in his tone and I watched his gaze flicker to the side.

  I heard the sound again, but this time I realized it wasn’t just a sound. It was a voice. I only caught one word of it, but that one word had me smiling. My name.

  “I’m over here!” I risked a quick glance over my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the masked men rush forward. I kicked him when he neared me (the same place I was never telling Linc about), then turned and ran toward the voice that’d called my name. I ran straight into the flames and leapt between them. They licked my skin and I could smell my hair burning. “I’m over here!” I shouted over the roar of the fire, trying hard not to cough.

  As the wall beside me split open, I jumped and nearly fell. Peter’s blackened face stared back at me. He stared at me wordlessly for a second. “Stand back.” He waited until I’d moved, then started kicking the wall. It crumbled under the force until the hole was big enough for me to fit through. “Come on.”

  I clutched the wall, preparing to go through, but I stopped. My head turned to the side and my eyes locked with Creeper’s. I could see the frustration in them now, in his body language. It was the first real emotion I’d seen from him. I could all but read his thoughts through them, and I would almost bet money we were thinking the same thing: This isn’t over yet.

  *~*~*

  I stayed quiet as Peter and the others—including Dale and Harry—ushered me out, away from the burning building, and into one of the CGE vans. I spotted Adam sitting in the back, leaning against the partition, his face pale and eyes dark with circles.

  I frowned at him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Couldn’t miss all the fun, could I?”

  “Shouldn’t you be getting your insides stitched up?”

  He set his mouth in a thin line an
d gave me a weird look. “I’m fine, Jade.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing else.

  The doors closed behind me and I shot one last glance at the building through the back window. Bright red and orange flames covered it, making it look evil against the black, starless sky. Dark smoke poured out the windows like black clouds.

  Something touched my shoulders and I jumped.

  Peter sat back and held up his hands. “Just a blanket. You’re shivering.”

  “Sorry. Jumpy, I guess.” Casually, I glanced around. Everyone’s eyes were on me. I looked down and remembered that I wasn’t in my own clothes, had no shoes, and wore nothing but a gown and soaked, now-black socks. The only good thing about it was that it covered me completely. It was just like an over-sized gray shirt. “Well, get a good look,” I said, trying for an easy-going tone and a smile, “because this is the closest thing to a dress you’ll ever see me in.”

  Adam cracked a smile that looked as fake as mine felt.

  Peter chuckled and reached into a bag by his feet. He pulled out a bottle of water and tossed it to me. “I have snacks if you want anything.”

  I wasn’t hungry, at all, even though I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. I just shook my head and took the water, gulping down half the bottle in one drink. It eased my burning throat. “Thanks.”

  “Need anything else?”

  “No,” I answered immediately. After a second, I met Peter’s gaze. “Well, maybe. How about some answers?”

  “I think you’re going to have more of those than me.”

  “Not the ones I’m looking for.” And definitely not the ones I needed.

  “I’ll answer what I can.” His words were said easily, and they sounded truthful, but they made me think of something Greene would say. He was being too agreeable, because the ‘what I can’ left way too many loop holes for him.

  “I’ll start with an easy one. How’d you find me?”

  “You left a pretty good clue,” Peter said with a small smile. “Took us—Doc, actually—a while to find it, but once we did, we started looking for you.”

  “Where exactly are we?”

  “About thirty minutes from the CGE.”

  I frowned. “That close?” Peter just nodded, so I asked the next of the hundreds of questions that bounced through my head. “Who was the guy that grabbed me? And don’t tell me you don’t know, because I know you do. He’s the same guy who tried getting on the property and the one who followed me in New Orlando. I saw the tattoo and remembered it. That’s why I drew it. I knew Adam would recognize it, which means you do, too. And no,” I added quickly, seeing Peter’s shocked face, “he didn’t tell me, but he didn’t have to. You’re not the only ones who are good at reading body language.”

  Adam shook his head. “Figures.”

  “So? Who are they?”

  “People who work for another research facility.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I figured out that much. How do you guys know about them?”

  “There are a lot of research facilities,” Peter said slowly, obviously choosing his words carefully. “Some are more transparent about their work, like the CGE, where they tell people the truth about their genetic research. They don’t get into the details of it, but neither do we tell them we’re doing one thing when we’re doing the complete opposite. We claim we do research and work on—”

  “The anomaly we have, yeah.”

  “Exactly. We do more, obviously, but we stick as close to the truth as we can.”

  “By masking the lies in the truth.”

  “Yes. In general, all the facilities keep their research private, but the other facilities are more secretive about their work. They do their own thing, without anyone looking over their work. They have no outside funding, no outside help at all. They’re very, very different from us. They don’t believe we should manipulate human DNA. They don’t think scientists should waste their time looking for ways to prevent things—like vampirism—or ways to possibly cure those who’ve been attacked by demons.” He paused. “Basically, they want a way to wipe them out, in one fell swoop. If a person has been attacked by a demon, they don’t try to help, Jade. They leave them to die or kill the people themselves, because they’re ‘threats’ and ‘tainted’.”

  “You’re making them sound like fanatics.”

  “That’s not far off. They’re not religious, at least not in the literal way. But they have very strong beliefs when it comes to demons. Their beliefs don’t mix with ours.”

  “Why’d they grab me?” I had Creeper’s so-called answer, or non-answer, but I wanted Peter’s take on it. I wanted a rational explanation. An explanationy explanation.

  “That’s anyone’s guess,” he said with a stiff shrug.

  “Oh, don’t give me that. You know everything else about them, but you can’t even guess what they’d want from me? You honestly expect me to believe that or settle for that answer?”

  “Expect you to? No.” He sighed and shook his head. “But I could hope.” Before I could respond, he held up his hand. “Look, there are some things you’re better off discussing with Director Greene, Jade. This is one of those things.”

  I wanted to argue. I almost did, too, but then I thought about it and realized he was probably right. If I wanted answers, I needed them from Greene—assuming he’d give them to me, which I wasn’t sure about. I hadn’t pressed Greene for anything else before, but on this one, I would. “Fair enough,” I told him. I said nothing for a minute, then, “So, how’d you know where to look for me?”

  “We’ve heard rumors about those guys using that place before. Demons aren’t the only things we track. They aren’t the only things we worry about.”

  That was something else I knew now. Something I’d known since my first Phase but never took seriously. I wasn’t going to make that mistake twice.

  I nodded. “Okay, thanks.” There were questions in Peter’s eyes. Adam’s and everyone else’s, too. I wasn’t ready for them though. Not yet. “Think I’m gonna close my eyes for a while, if that’s okay. It’s been a long day.”

  Peter opened his mouth like he was going to respond, but then he just nodded. Adam reached behind him and pulled out the pillow I’d bought for bumpy rides.

  He tried handing it to me but I shook my head. “Keep it. You’re the Stabbed Wonder over there.” And when he tried pushing it at me, I said, “Don’t make me hit you with it. It’d probably hurt.”

  He shoved it back behind his head. “Mean.”

  “Always.”

  Peter chuckled. “Try to sleep. I’ll let you know when we get back.”

  “‘Kay.”

  Sleep was the last thing I wanted or planned to do, but I closed my eyes anyway. I was surprisingly tired, but my mind raced. When I’d been back there, I’d been scared. But more, I’d been seriously pissed. Pissed was better than fear, hands down. I didn’t really have that now. Oh, I was still plenty angry. But now… The weirdest, most confusing thing that I couldn’t begin to explain was the fact that I was even more scared now than I had been before.

  A shiver wracked my body and I tightened the blanket around me more. It wasn’t just from the cold, but I didn’t want to let anyone else know. They were already giving me sad and nervous looks. I’d been a victim before and I wasn’t about to be one again. They didn’t hurt me. I repeated the words to myself, over and over, like a new mantra.

  They’d wanted blood and DNA samples and…and now they had them. That was that. It was over now.

  I wanted to believe that—so desperately wanted to believe that—but I didn’t. Not for a second.

  *~*~*

  I woke up swinging. My heart thundered, but over the sound of it, I heard someone cuss, then a loud bang. My eyes snapped open and I prepared for a fight. Blinking rapidly, fists held high, I found Peter and Adam looking down at me. Adam was glaring and rubbing the top of his head.

  Peter held his jaw. “You’ve got a mean right ho
ok.”

  I blinked again. “Huh?” I said, breathing harshly while my heart slowed.

  Peter jerked his head toward Adam. “You shoved him and made him hit his head. You clocked me good.”

  My eyes widened and I covered my mouth. “I’m sorry!” I jumped up then swore when my head collided with the roof of the van. “Son of a bitch!”

  “Hurts, don’t it?” Adam muttered at me, still glaring. We were both rubbing our heads now.

  “Seriously, I’m sorry—I didn’t mean—” I slumped down and dropped my head to my hands. “Shit.”

  Peter shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Jade.” He worked his jaw side to side. “Just glad you’re training is paying off.” His tone lowered. “Besides, with everything that has happened…”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s not an excuse for hitting you guys.”

  “There is.” Peter’s eyes and tone were both dark now. “And this is it.”

  “Oh, stop looking at me like that,” I snapped. That damn pity look I hated. It pissed me off and I hated that. But at the same time, I appreciated the anger, because it was easier to deal with than…than other things. I lifted my head and stuck my chin out. “Don’t make me hit you again, ‘cause it’d be on purpose now.”

  Peter’s lips twitched. “Maybe another time.” He moved to the doors and started to open them. “Anyway, we’re back. I think Doc’s going to want to—well, she’ll want to see you.”

  “I’m fine,” I responded immediately as the doors opened.

  Greene stood outside, looking severe, concerned, and kind of murderous. “I’m afraid we’re both insisting. And I’d like to speak with you.”

  I’d expected that part, so I didn’t argue, only nodded.

  “If you’re not too tired, I’d like for you to go see Doc now. Our talk can wait until you’ve had a chance to rest. Though I’m afraid you won’t get much until you see Mr. Stone. He—as we all were—is anxious to see you for himself.”

  “Okay.” I turned to face Peter and Adam. “Sorry for beating you up. Not exactly the best way to show my appreciation, huh?”