Charity didn’t resist, moving as the General directed. Her explosive devices were gone, but she had a knife strapped to her side, hidden by her coat. If she got the chance she was going to use it and end the threat to Adrian once and for all.
She scanned the chaos unfolding before her. Fires were burning in several places. The garbage vehicle was ablaze, the flames lighting up the night. People were running and screaming, while others shouted orders. Charity caught a glimpse of Adrian with Derrick by his side, both men firing at the security squadron. They were both dirty and disheveled but wonderfully alive.
She smiled.
Her father dragged her farther away from the battle. Charity went without a struggle. She was looking forward to their final confrontation.
Adrian swore as his rifle jammed. “Catch.” He heard the yell and recognized the voice a split second before another rifle came flying in his direction. He caught the weapon in his right hand, shouldered it and shot in one easy motion, dropping a man ten yards away.
Derrick was beside him moments later, firing at the enemy as he gave a report on the fly. Their people were in and a twelve-man detail had been dispatched to take down the next entrance to the Gate. When he was finished, he yelled over the din of the battle. “What the hell happened?”
That was what he wanted to know.
When the General had called out to Charity telling her to come out, that her job was done, everything inside him had gone cold. He’d suspected this was a trap, but somehow in the short time he’d known Charity, he’d come to trust her. After all the information she’d shared, and the way she was around him, he hadn’t believed she’d had anything to do with the General’s plans to destroy him and the Resistance.
He’d shut down on every emotional level, functioning purely on a physical and mental level. He was an Alpha and nothing would stop him from his mission. He could still see the pain in her brown eyes, the fear, the determination as she’d told him not to do anything stupid. Then she’d stood and walked away from him.
He’d thought nothing could break him. But that had done it. He’d felt all the blood draining from his face, the life leaving his body.
Then she’d stumbled and her hand had slipped into her pocket. His brain had begun to fire on all cylinders again and he realized what else he’d seen burning in her eyes.
Love. For him.
He knew in that split second what Charity planned to do. She was going to blow the control station and open the Gate. She was trading her life for his. Because she loved him.
Roaring, he’d come to his feet, rifle firing, even as he’d tossed an explosive device toward a security squadron. The one he’d left in the back of the garbage vehicle went off at the same time the one Charity had thrown did. The blast had knocked him onto his ass, but he’d rolled onto his stomach and kept shooting.
He’d seen her lying on the ground, not moving. His heart had stopped. It was unthinkable that she’d die for him. He was an Alpha and she was his woman. It was his job to protect her.
And a hell of a job he’d done. At the first test, he’d failed, believing the General’s lies instead of what he knew in his heart to be the truth. He’d been afraid to really trust Charity, to risk his heart. It was easy for him to put his life on the line. It was what he’d been bred to do. But his heart was a whole other matter.
She’d moved then, tossing a second explosive device and blowing the Gate wide open. He’d lost her then in the smoke and the melee, only to find her just as the General was dragging her away, using her as a shield.
He’d willed her to look at him and, miraculously, she had. She’d caught his gaze and smiled. He knew what she was going to do. Damn her brave hide, she was going to kill her father. For him.
If they got out of this alive, he was going to put her over his knee and spank her. He shook his head before the thought was even finished. He’d never raise a hand to her. He’d instead tie her to a bed and fuck her until she promised him she’d never risk herself like this again.
He turned to Derrick. “You’re in charge. I’m heading into the city after the General.”
Derrick nodded. “I’ll clean up here and be right behind you.”
Adrian strapped on his knapsack and began to move, running quickly, zigzagging across the ground, finding cover wherever he could. The ground was littered with men dead and dying. Adrian ignored their cries and pleas as he ran. He scooped up several rifles on the fly, hooking their straps over his shoulder.
He fired as he raced down the streets of the inner city, heading for security headquarters. There was no doubt in Adrian’s mind that was where the General would go. He’d feel safe there in his command post. But Adrian had spent years digging out every scrap of intel he could get. He had detailed maps of the city and its buildings, knew what had changed in the years he’d been gone. Had committed it all to memory. He knew where his prey was going and he was close behind.
He could almost smell the General’s fear. A feral grin crossed his face as he raced toward his destination. This day of reckoning had been a long time coming.
Sweat covered his forehead and slid downward, making his eyes sting. He rubbed the back of his arm over his face, not slowing down, not stopping. He was totally focused. He was an Alpha and he had a target. The General would die and Charity would live. There was no other choice.
The General had created a monster and now that monster had returned home to destroy his maker.
Chapter Seven
Charity didn’t try to slow the General down as he pulled her deeper into the city. Security squadrons rolled down the streets toward the fighting on the outskirts of the inner city. The Ruling Council would all take shelter in their emergency bunkers, leaving the general populace to fend for themselves. She saw several people looking out their windows, expressions of horror on their faces as the sounds of gunfire and shouting got closer.
She shut it all out. She had to be ready when her opportunity arose. And she had to do it quickly. Adrian was coming. Not that she thought he was coming for her. Just the opposite, in fact. He believed she’d betrayed him. Given the circumstances, she couldn’t blame him, but it still hurt. Maybe it had been inevitable that their time together would be cut short. She couldn’t regret it. What she did regret was that his memories of her would forever be tainted. All because of the General.
The last glimpse she’d had of Adrian, he’d been staring at her, his face expressionless, an Alpha with a job to do. She had no doubt he’d come for the General.
A huge explosion lit up the night, illuminating the surrounding buildings. Relief washed over her as she realized it had to be the second gate coming down. Logan and Tienan and the rest of the Resistance would be joining the fight.
The General was breathing hard now. She could smell his fear and sought to feed it. “He’s coming, you know.”
“Shut up.” Her father tightened his arm around her throat, tilting her neck back until she feared it might snap. He might be in his late fifties, but the General was stronger than most men half his age. “He won’t get beyond the perimeter of the city.”
Charity tried to suck in air through her nose. Black spots danced in front of her eyes and she knew she was quickly losing consciousness. The pressure was suddenly released and the General grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her up the stairs to the security building. Men raced down the steps as they surged upward, wide-eyed with fright.
They were scared out of their minds. And so they should be, she thought. These were members of the inner city security. Most of them had only ever patrolled the safe confines of the city. They were about to face men and women who had been tested, who had honed their battle and survival skills every day of their lives.
Smithson Piedmont, a member of the Ruling Council and the head of the Piedmont Corporation who’d created the Alphas, met t
hem just inside the front door. His normally neat gray hair was standing up on end, and he was sweating profusely. The white lab coat he wore over his suit was stained. The lines around his mouth and eyes were deeper than usual, a testament to his growing concern.
Piedmont was a man much like her father, rarely showing any emotion. The fact that he was showing strain was evidence of just how serious the attack was. “What is going on, Benson?” The man might be sweating, but his usual air of haughty superiority was firmly in place.
“Adrian is coming,” she whispered before her father could speak.
The General backhanded her with a savage blow. She fell back and would have landed on the floor if not for the bruising grip he had on her wrist. “Keep your mouth shut, girl,” he instructed as he turned back to Piedmont. “It’s nothing. A slight problem at one of the entrances to the Gate.”
Charity laughed, wincing as her jaw ached. “Slight problem. That’s an understatement. The entrance is blown and the entire Resistance is pouring in.”
Piedmont paled. “Is that true?”
“It’s under control,” her father growled.
Sounds of fighting grew louder and Piedmont strode to the door and looked out. He whirled around and headed toward the back of the building. “Fix this, General,” Piedmont ordered as he hurried down the hallway.
Charity knew there was an entrance leading to a set of tunnels that ran beneath the city. She’d told Adrian all about them. The Ruling Council would protect themselves at all cost, throwing the men of the security police and the general population in front of the Resistance if it meant they’d escape. If they thought they could hide in the tunnels, they were sorely mistaken. She didn’t tell him that, but watched him go. Piedmont was another man who deserved whatever fate he got.
Her father’s fingers gripped her wrist so tightly she could feel the bones crunching together. She cried out in spite of her resolve not to give him the satisfaction of her pain. He liked hurting others. Knew just how much pressure to exert to hurt without actually breaking her bones. For now, he was toying with her. Content to inflict maximum pain without permanently damaging her.
“This way.” He dragged her toward the staircase and down two flights of stairs. They were going to the interrogation rooms.
In spite of her resolve, her legs trembled and her breathing got shallow. She knew what went on here. Had seen it for herself. There would be no mercy for her. Nor did she expect any. She expected to die.
A sense of calm washed over her. Her breathing grew deeper and her legs stronger. She could do this. She would do this. She would kill the General to protect Adrian if it was the last thing she did.
She let her pack slide slowly down her free arm. As the General slammed open the entrance to the stairs, she let it drop silently to the floor. When Adrian came looking for the General, hopefully he’d see her pack and know which way to go. It would save precious time in case she didn’t succeed in killing her father.
Adrian raced through the streets, aware of two men swiftly moving up behind him. He didn’t break stride, didn’t pause. The fact that they could keep up with him told him who they were.
“Where are we headed?” Logan asked as he let two shots fly, dropping two men as they rounded the side of a large building. His aim had been true and both bullets had gone straight through the foreheads of their intended targets. An Alpha didn’t believe in wasting precious ammunition.
“Security headquarters. The General has Charity.”
Tienan glanced behind them, firing rapidly before turning back to the road in front of him. “There’s a team in the tunnels now, rooting out the rats who thought they could desert the city.”
Adrian nodded. He trusted the people he had in place to continue fighting, to follow the plan he’d laid out. The three men moved as one unit, dodging bullets, jumping over debris and skulking in the shadows. They’d never fought together before, but that didn’t hinder them. They were all Alphas, all warriors. Their brains continuously weighed options, finding the best route to their destination.
They didn’t slow for anything, moving steadily forward. The general populace weren’t a problem, as they had no weapons of their own. That was one of the many ways in which the Ruling Council kept things the way they wanted them. Most of the city’s inhabitants would hide in their homes and hope for the best. They’d long ago forgotten what it was like to fight for what they wanted.
The security headquarters came into view. The building was squat and gray, but Adrian knew the real work went on down in the lower levels beneath the ground. That’s where the General would take Charity. There was also an escape hatch into the tunnels down there. He turned to Logan. “You take the tunnel entrance.”
“I’m on it.” Logan rushed up the steps, firing nonstop as he went. Bodies of security police fell before the onslaught of the three Alphas. They scooped up weapons as they ran by, discarded empty guns with a toss.
The three men flattened themselves against the concrete wall just outside the main entrance. Tienan motioned to Logan, who nodded. Like a well-oiled machine, they moved as one. Tienan went in high, Logan low. Adrian followed, going straight down the center.
The lobby was empty. The entire building had an air of vacancy about it. Still, they weren’t taking any chances. “Booby trap on the right,” Logan called out. “Clear,” he said a few moments later.
“I’ve got one too.” Tienan took care of the explosive device as easily as Logan had.
Adrian scanned the foyer, weapon ready as he moved steadily forward. His woman was in here somewhere. He could almost smell her. The freshness of her skin, tinged with the nasty tang of fear and overlaid with a layer of determination.
His eyes landed on a pack sitting just outside a door. It was Charity’s. His gut told him she had left it as a sign for him to follow. That’s my girl. “This way.” The other men were right behind him as he eased the door open. He listened, but heard nothing. The stairwell was clear.
“I’m going to hit the tunnels. Good luck.” With that, Logan disappeared down the hallway toward the back of the building where the main escape to the tunnels was located.
“Be careful,” Tienan called. Logan lifted his hand and gave a backward wave to let them know he’d heard.
Impatience ate at Adrian. That wasn’t like him. As an Alpha, he was calm and calculated at all times, weighing options and making logical decisions.
Screw logic, he decided as he moved swiftly and silently down the stairs. Charity was down here somewhere and he had to save her. Nothing was more important than that. Nothing. She was everything to him.
He loved her.
He came up solid as though he’d hit an invisible wall. He loved her. He knew he wanted her, knew she belonged to him, but he’d never considered how deep the emotion ran until now, when she was in danger of being killed. She alone was his weak spot, his Achilles heel. Did the General know that? Would Charity tell him?
No. He knew she wouldn’t. She’d do everything in her power to protect him. And he wasn’t even certain she knew. He’d said nothing the past two days, burying himself in work when he wasn’t trying to sate himself with her delectable body.
“You okay?” Tienan’s voice was barely a whisper.
Adrian shook himself out of his stupor, resolve emanating from every cell. “Yes.”
Gripping his weapon in his hand, he moved steadily down the staircase, watching for more booby traps and listening. He heard it then. The sound of raised voices, one male, one female.
His heart skipped a beat and then settled into a steady rhythm as he reached deep inside himself and found the Alpha at his very core. His senses flared, his brain working nonstop to list the best-case scenarios and possible outcomes. He eased out of the stairwell with Tienan covering his back. The voices were coming from three doors down on the left.
“What the hell happened?” The General asked in a calm, level voice as he flung her against the wall. She hit it hard. Her shoulder and upper arm screamed with pain. Again, she didn’t think anything was broken. Not yet. She had to kill him. Now. There was no time to wait.
He leveled his gun at her, waiting for her answer. She licked her dry lips and shrugged. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
He didn’t pace. Didn’t betray any kind of nervousness. He was calm and cold as ever. His eyes narrowed and his upper lip curled. “Don’t give me that. You’ve always been a sniveling creature like your mother. Your only use was in the marriage mart and even then you tried to cause problems. But you didn’t succeed.” He smiled and she shivered as memories of her wedding day assailed her.
“Martin told me you weren’t much in bed. I told him to indulge his little vices. After all, you were his wife. You belonged to him. No one would question him. I knew he liked to inflict pain on his women during sex.” The General’s lips tilted up at the corners in a cruel parody of a smile. “I figured it would teach you to respect your betters.”
“You were wrong then, weren’t you?” she taunted in a low voice. Her hand slipped behind her, beneath the hem of her shirt, to the cool metal handle of her knife. She drew it slowly, never taking her eyes off her father.
“You did as I wanted, didn’t you? You’re so predictable, Charity. I let you see the prisoner, talk to him. I was in the next room, listening to your pitiful conversation. I knew you’d try to leave the inner city and find Adrian.” His eyes gleamed with an air of superiority. “I knew there was a good chance you’d bring him to me.” He shook his head. “I’m surprised he didn’t know it was a trap. We were obviously right to terminate him and the other Alphas in that group years ago. Adrian is flawed.”
“He did know.” She brought her hand back down by her thigh, keeping the blade hidden. She’d only get one chance to do this. He’d be on her in a heartbeat and he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.
Alpha’s Revenge Page 9
