At least she would be where he could protect her. He didn’t trust anyone else to look after her, not the way he would.
He only hoped that when it came down to it, Charity was on his side. He knew that Tienan and Logan would object, as would Silence and Derrick. But Adrian was listening with his instincts, not his intellect. He was going to trust Charity as she’d trusted him.
She, and she alone, had the power to destroy him.
Leaning down, he kissed her. Her sweet lips parted on a sigh but she didn’t wake. He climbed to his feet and dressed in silence. When he was done, he left the room. He stopped at the door and took one final look. Charity lay on the hard floor, covered by two thin blankets. He wanted more for her than that.
He left, closing the door behind him. There was a lot of work to do and not much time in which to do it.
Chapter Six
There was only a small sliver of light from the moon by which to see. It was hard to believe an entire day had passed since she and Adrian had made love in his room. Things had moved quickly since then.
Charity was thankful that it wasn’t foggy, as was the case about fifty percent of the time, according to Silence. She’d talked briefly with the other woman when she’d come to wake Charity and lead her to the women’s bathing area and then to the kitchen. Adrian had the foresight to send her knapsack along with Silence. If she met her death tonight, she would be at least clean and well fed.
Silence hadn’t said anything about Charity’s rumpled state, although it was impossible for anyone with half a brain not to know she and Adrian had slept together. And Silence was no fool. She’d given Charity a warning glare, but other than that, she’d kept quiet about the matter.
Mercy was a bit more pleasant, but she’d been much too busy to catch the intimate undercurrents swirling around Charity and Adrian. As a healer, Mercy had been seeing patients all day and patching injuries. She’d also been working with Doc Smith to plan how to best handle any casualties from tonight’s raid.
Charity’s stomach churned and she jumped as Adrian’s hand fell heavy on her shoulder. “You okay?” The heat from his skin penetrated the fabric of her coat and shirt, warming her.
She nodded, though she was anything but okay. She’d barely seen Adrian in the past twenty-four hours, other than when they’d sat down and she’d outlined everything she knew about how security ran inside the Gate. He’d been busy organizing his troops and making plans. There had been so much activity and little she could do to help. When she wasn’t helping Nadine, the woman who ran the kitchen area, she’d answered all the questions Adrian, Tienan, Logan and Derrick had put to her. She’d sensed that of all of them, only Adrian trusted her. And she wasn’t even one hundred percent certain about him.
There had been no further opportunity for them to talk alone, much less time to be intimate. Charity had slept by herself last night, but at least she’d slept on Adrian’s pallet in his office. Just being surrounded by his scent had allowed her to sleep even as it aroused her. She couldn’t be certain, but she thought he might have joined her for an hour or so. She had a vague dream of being held in his arms. But she’d fallen asleep alone and woken alone so there was no way to be sure.
She only hoped that once this was over, they’d have the opportunity to spend more time together. She squared her shoulders and concentrated on the here and now. If all she had of Adrian was the few hours they’d shared, she would count herself lucky to have had that much. He’d shown her what it was like to be happy, even if it was for such a short time.
Charity had no idea where the other men and women in the Resistance were currently hiding. She’d caught only the occasional flash of someone moving through the ruins of the outer city as she and Adrian worked their way toward the dump where they hoped to hop a ride in a disposal truck.
Adrian suddenly stopped walking, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down beside him. She waited, knowing he could hear things she couldn’t, see more than she could. His genetically enhanced senses were phenomenal. Adrian might as well be taking a stroll in the daytime for all the darkness hindered him. She, on the other hand, was stumbling around, desperately trying not to make any noise.
“Do you hear anything?” she whispered. She strained her ears but could hear only the occasional sound of an insect. The night was quiet, almost unnaturally so.
Adrian shook his head, his gaze focused on the piles of rubble that made up the dump. A flash of something off to her right made her gasp. Someone was out there. Before she could speak, he covered her mouth with his hand. Leaning closer, he spoke softly into her ear. “It’s just a kid.”
His soft breath tickled her ear, sending goose bumps down her spine. She shivered and her nipples tightened beneath her clothing. His physical nearness distracted her so much she almost missed his words. When they registered, she swiveled so she could see his face. “A child?”
He nodded, his eyes narrowing and his jaw tightening. She was so close she could almost hear the grating sound of him grinding his teeth. “The kids pick through the garbage, finding food, clothing and anything else they can use to survive.”
“That’s horrific.” The thought of a child having to dig through the garbage to find food was appalling.
“That’s reality.” Adrian didn’t turn his gaze away from the dump. “Your father’s troops brought me here once.”
Every muscle in Charity’s body tensed. From the grim tone of Adrian’s voice, she knew this story wasn’t going to have a happy ending. But she sensed it was very important to him. She didn’t speak, waiting for him to continue.
“Twelve of us were slated for termination back in 2121. We weren’t progressing fast enough for the scientists and the General. We were too unpredictable, not as easily controlled as they’d wanted.” He turned to her and smirked. “They would no longer waste resources on subjects deemed unsatisfactory.”
The horror of it slammed into Charity’s gut like the blade of a knife. To hold human life in such little regard was inexcusable. Her stomach roiled and, for a moment, she thought she might be sick. She swallowed hard and sucked in a breath, trying to calm herself. As horrible as this was, she needed to hear it. Wanted to know what had made Adrian into the man he was today.
“They brought us out here, lined us up and shot us.” Adrian might have been carved from stone, he was standing so still. “This way they didn’t have to dispose of the bodies. Thankfully for me, they didn’t check to make sure they’d done the job right. Their mistake.”
Charity wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her forehead against him, needing to comfort him in some small way. Nothing could wipe away the memories of that awful day, but that didn’t mean he had to deal with them alone.
Every muscle in his body was tense, but gradually she felt the slightest give in them. He sighed softly and placed his hand over one of hers where it rested on his abdomen. “I remember the flies. The sound of the buzzing. The feel of insects creeping over my body. The coppery smell of blood, the stench of rotting flesh.”
Abruptly, Adrian broke away from her embrace and grabbed her arm. “Come on. We need to get into position.”
Her heart broke for him and for the men who’d died beside him that day. They would have been young at the time. Not really men, but no longer boys. Not that they’d ever had a chance to be children or to lead a normal life. Her determination built. She would help destroy her father and the privileged world he inhabited. It wasn’t fair that a few had everything while others starved and died in squalor.
She followed where he led and within minutes they were secreted behind the remains of an old shed. The plan was to wait for the garbage detail to go to the dump and unload its cargo. When it was on its return trip, they’d jump in the back and hope for the best.
They each had several explosive devices in their packs. When they got in
side the Gate, they’d jump out of the vehicle, leaving one of the explosives behind. When it went off, the guards would be distracted and that would allow them to blow up the station that controlled that entrance to the Gate.
In the ensuing chaos, the rest of the troops would stream in. Some of them would veer off and head to the other entrances and take control of them, letting in even more of the Resistance. It would have to be a quick and brutal assault, not allowing the security teams to get organized. Then they’d take the fight deeper into the city.
It all sounded simple enough, but Charity knew there were a hundred things that could go wrong. “Adrian.” He turned toward her and suddenly she didn’t know what to say. How did you tell a man you’d only just met that you loved him? She couldn’t.
Instead, she sank her fingers into his hair and pulled him close, planting a short, hard kiss on his lips. “Be careful.” There was so much she wanted to say to him, but there was no time and she wasn’t even certain he’d want to hear it. There had been no talk of the future, no discussion past tonight’s battle.
She barely had time to taste him when she was pulling back. They both had to keep their focus. She’d barely leaned away when Adrian tangled his hand in her hair and yanked her toward him. He slammed his lips down on hers, shoving his tongue into her mouth.
Heat ripped through her. She gripped his head, not wanting to lose contact as he stroked her tongue with his. He tasted of dark passion, of sex, of male dominance. Her panties became damp as the folds of her sex grew wet and swollen. She ached for Adrian, wanted to be with him.
He tugged her head away from his and stared down at her, his pale eyes glittering in the moonlight. They were both breathing hard. Neither of them said anything. The atmosphere around them was charged with sexual tension, with unrequited need.
Suddenly, he dropped his hand and spun around. “They’re coming.”
The jump from sexual arousal back to business made Charity’s head spin. She sucked in a breath and tried to ignore the rapid beat of her heart and the heavy pulse between her thighs. She heard it then, the rumbling sound of the garbage vehicle. It was like a slap in the face, bringing her back to reality, to the reason they were here.
The vehicle sped by, its lights breaking the darkness. On top, a man sat behind an armor-plated shield, a gun peeking through a slit. It came to an abrupt stop at the dump. The driver quickly pulled a lever and the back part of the vehicle tilted upward so that the load inside fell to the ground in a disgusting heap. It was quickly lowered into place and the driver swung the vehicle around to head back to the inner city.
The entire operation took under a minute.
“Get ready.” Adrian’s low, toneless voice reached her. She gathered herself, coming up into a crouch, ready to move. “Go,” he commanded as the vehicle rumbled by. Adrian moved swiftly and quietly, vaulting easily into the rear of the garbage truck.
Charity ran, her knees pumping and her stride lengthening as she strained to reach the moving vehicle. She wasn’t sure she could make it. It was much easier getting out of this thing when it was moving than it was to get in. Adrian held out his hand and she jumped, grabbing onto it. He yanked her into the truck, catching her in his arms so she didn’t fall.
She couldn’t hear over the pounding of her heart and the deep growls of the vehicle as it powered them toward the Gate. They’d made it. They had a ways to go yet, but it was a start.
She grinned at Adrian and then wrinkled her nose as she got a whiff of her surroundings. It was just as nasty as she remembered. The truck jolted, throwing her against Adrian’s chest. He braced his back against the side of the vehicle and wrapped both arms around her.
In spite of the danger facing them and their unpleasant surroundings, Charity was surprisingly content. She was doing something important and she was with the man she loved. If she died tonight, it was worth it. To have these few days of freedom, of making a difference, was worth everything.
She suddenly understood Manuel and how he was willing to die for this cause, this man beside her. Why he’d wanted to continue to fight even as the blood drained from his body.
Freedom. Freedom to live and love as you chose was everything.
“This is it.” Adrian sounded calm, while she was anything but. The garbage truck was slowing down and finally came to a halt.
Her heart was racing, her palms were sweaty and her breathing was way too fast. She concentrated on trying to control her breath as she hitched her pack tighter over her shoulder.
He tugged her down, covering her body with his as the vehicle started to move again. She peeked around Adrian’s shoulder as they passed through the Gate. She recognized the small, secure building that housed the controls to the Gate’s entrance. Men called out to one another, machinery creaked and groaned as the truck entered the inner city.
“Be careful,” Adrian warned. “And stay close.”
She nodded, but he wasn’t looking at her. He jumped, rolling swiftly to one side and off the road. She followed, not quite as gracefully. She was just heaving a sigh of relief when a spotlight blinded her. She brought her arm up to shade her eyes.
She heard Adrian swearing behind her and the sound of boots pounding on the ground. Lots of boots. The garbage vehicle stopped, turning so it blocked the entire road. The driver jumped out of the vehicle and took position on the far side, resting his rifle on the hood of the truck.
A familiar voice boomed out behind her. “You’re surrounded. Come out with your hands up.”
Charity swiveled her head around, unable to believe what she was hearing. Her father stepped out from inside the small guardhouse. Adrian swore again, low and lurid, and she glanced at him. She flinched at the fury in his eyes. Did he believe she was part of this?
“Come out, Charity,” the General yelled. “My men have him covered. Your job is done. It’s safe for you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You can’t believe him,” she whispered frantically at Adrian.
He stared at her, the fire in his eyes extinguished, his gaze flat. She’d never seen him like this and she was terrified. This was the Alpha, the cold-blooded assassin. The killer.
It didn’t matter. The man she loved was still there inside him and she’d do whatever it took to save him. Shoving her hand into her pack, she pulled out two of the explosive devices Derrick had given her earlier and surreptitiously jammed them into her pockets.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” she warned him. She couldn’t look at his face any longer. Didn’t want to know if he thought she’d betrayed him. It didn’t matter. Not now. Maybe if they survived this, it would matter. Right now, all she wanted to do was to get Adrian out of here alive. “I’m coming out,” she yelled.
Slowly, she stood, raising her hands above her head. She scanned the area. The control station was off to her right. Her father was now directly in front of her, a smug look on his face. She could see the sadistic glee glinting in his eyes and knew he’d used her.
He’d allowed her to find Manuel, let her escape to the outer city. If she managed to bring some of the Resistance to him...well then, all the better. If she died out there in the dangerous world beyond the Gate, it was no big deal. Collateral damage. She could read the truth in his eyes as easily as if he told her in words.
The General was certain she’d do nothing to stop him. And why would he think differently? She’d never defied him in her entire life. Not until she’d left the inner city, and he’d orchestrated even that. He wouldn’t think her capable of doing anything brave or foolish.
She didn’t think about Adrian behind her, watching her walk to his greatest enemy. She could feel his eyes boring into her back. Raising her chin, she strode toward her father. She didn’t glance to the right or the left.
She stumbled and fell to the ground, catching herself on her hands before she ended up
face first in the dirt.
“Hurry up.” She could hear her father’s impatience. Sense the growing unease among the squadron of security police circling them. As she pushed herself up, she slipped her hand into her pocket. Flicking the switch on the explosive device, she yanked it from her pocket and tossed it toward the security station. It bounced once. Twice. Before coming to a stop by the door.
Men yelled. Shots rang out. Charity hit the ground as the world exploded around her. Grabbing the second device from her pocket, she tossed it toward the opening the first explosive had made in the building. She had to bring it down, blow the controls. The ground around her exploded and she rolled just as another blast brought the night alive with color and sound. The shock wave tossed her back several feet. Debris scattered, raining down on her from above. Some of it peppered her back and arms.
Confusion reigned.
Smoke filled the air, making it difficult for her to see. The world looked odd, as though everyone was moving and speaking in slow motion. Charity pushed herself up into a seated position, trying to stand, but her legs wouldn’t cooperate. She was shaking, trembling from head to toe. Nothing sounded right. Everything was muffled. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision and moaned as her head began to throb.
Suddenly the world popped back into focus and everything sped up. Gunfire punctured the night, men yelled and screamed. She glanced toward the Gate and smiled grimly when she saw the entrance was wide open and members of the Resistance were pouring through. She’d done it.
Her arm was suddenly wrenched behind her back and she was dragged to her feet. “You little bitch.” She didn’t have time to react as a thick forearm wrapped around her neck and she was pulled backward. “Move. You’re going to be my shield while we get out of here. Don’t do anything stupid or I’ll shoot you in the head.” Her father jammed the barrel of his gun against her temple. There was no doubt in her mind he’d do exactly as he said without a moment of hesitation or regret.
Alpha’s Revenge Page 8
