Fury of a Phoenix (The Nix Series Book 1)

by Shannon Mayer

  Nothing.

  “Fuss.”

  Abe let go of the arm and trotted to my side. I went to the front door, slid my backpack off and opened it. Pulled the first of the tiny C4 bombs at the top of the pack. I twisted the bottom half of the round explosive and attached it on the lintel of the door. There would be no easy escape for anyone. I set the timer for fifteen minutes. If it took me longer than that, I deserved to go down with the building. Barron had given me a remote he said could set them off one by one if I needed. I checked the number on the bomb. 35T.

  I put the pack on, and winced as the straps dug into my bleeding shoulder. Carefully, I held Eleanor in my left hand, the door knob in my right. There was no chatter of talk on the radio. I wasn’t sure if that was because they knew I was here, or they thought nothing was wrong. I was banking on the latter.

  The doorknob opened easily and I stepped inside in a crouch, gun raised.

  A quick sweep left and right of the small room. An office. A waiting room. A false front.

  I let out a breath, and Abe and I stepped into the room. I went to the computer first. It was on, a message blinking in red on the black screen.

  Welcome home, Phoenix.

  I smiled. Romano knew I was here. The question now was simply which of my family was here to greet me? Romano himself or one of my brothers? I prayed for the first time in a long time that it was Romano. Even though I’d said I wanted him to suffer, I wanted to see what he was doing up close and personal if I could.

  I stripped off the bag and the jeans and pink top to the skin-tight black clothing underneath. From my bag, I pulled the lace mask that covered my eyes and a pair of gloves that rode up to my biceps. The only skin showing on me now was a small patch between the gloves and the short sleeves of the black shirt. I slid a pair of night vision goggles around my neck, ready if necessary.

  I left the civilian clothes behind and slid the backpack on once more. One bomb set, three more to go.

  “Here we go,” I said quietly.

  I could see the schematic of the building inside my mind. The interior greeting room led into a false studio with panels, lighting, cameras . . . everything to look like an actual Hollywood setup if someone did force their way in.

  The electrical panel in the wall of the office beckoned to me. I went to it, flicking everything off. Such a simple thing to do, but darkness still scared so many. There was a single yelp from the other side of the door and Abe gave a low growl. I reached down and put a hand on the top of his head.

  “Fuss,” I whispered and went to the door that would lead into the rest of the massive building. Thirty thousand square feet was no small space . . . and that was only the main sprawling floor. I slid the night vision goggles up and turned them on, sending my vision into a world of green and black.

  I kicked the door open, jamming the heel of my boot next to the knob, sending it flying. It thudded into a body on the other side, a gun went off, the flash of the muzzle lighting up the dark space here and there.

  “Fass.” I sent him around first, for a moment my heart clenching. But he darted around the door and there was a scream as his teeth found flesh.

  I was around the door a split second after him. The man was on the floor and I put a bullet through his head without hesitation.

  From there, we crept through the main floor, my back to the wall as much as possible. There was no one waiting for us around the panels, no one else hiding.

  I couldn’t help the snort. Cocky bastards.

  The lights came on suddenly and I dropped and rolled under a table to my left, pulling the goggles off. Abe stuck with me.

  The hiss and bite of static filled the air before a voice boomed over speakers that filled the place up.

  “Baby sister, you didn’t really think you’d be able to take Dad on, did you?”

  Gabe had been sent to deal with me then. My hand clenched around the handle of Eleanor. The other I placed on Abe’s back, keeping him still.

  “Phoenix. I’ll make you a deal. Walk away now, and I’ll tell Dad you left on your own. I’ll tell him you aren’t coming after him. I’ll tell him you’re dead if you want.”

  I kept silent. The worst thing for the men in my family to be treated to was silence. They hated being ignored.

  “You answer me, Phoenix!”

  I smiled. Right on cue, his temper showed up to play.

  From the backpack, I pulled the tiny remote and flipped it open. Only one bomb was set, and though I hadn’t wanted to blow it so soon, I needed the cover of darkness. “Don’t fail me now, Barron,” I whispered as I hit the button that should only set off the one bomb. If Barron was wrong, or I’d taken note of the wrong number, then Abe and I were in for a very short trip to hell.

  The front entrance of the building erupted in a boom that shook the foundations. The floor beneath me rippled and the lights went out. I waited for the dust to settle before I slid from under the table, pulling the night vision goggles on. From the schematics, I knew the stairwell was to the right at the very back of the oversized warehouse. That was where the rats would come from to escape the burning house. That’s where most of the red dots had been on the plans.

  That was where I was going down to find them.

  I moved through the semi-darkness, using only the shadows of tables and paneling to guide me. The door came into view and I drew a slow breath. Into the depths we went.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The warehouse groaned around us, the last remnants of the first bomb going off settling into the bones of the place. There would be no way out the front door. I knew there was another door, though, another way out that was hidden. The schematics showed it as being in an office on the second floor that led to a ventilation pipe out to what looked like a sewer lid in the back of the lot. A ladder was shown as the way up to a narrow passage that led outside. That would make a good backup escape for me, and with a little help I was sure I could get Abe’s furry butt up it too.

  Eleanor in hand, I went through the first door, shocked that it was unlocked. Seriously, was my family that dumb? Or was it a trap?

  The stairwell was made up of steel steps that went straight down, no landing between floors. I moved fast to cover ground. Getting caught on stairs was a bad idea.

  Abe’s nails clicked on the steel, but otherwise we were silent. But not quiet enough.

  I was body-slammed from the left when I stepped onto the second floor, the scent of Obsession heavy on the body that hit me. Obsession belonged to one of my father’s thugs. Barco. Barco who liked to make his women submit, who liked to play with his kills before ending them. Barco who was an abnormal who liked the taste of human flesh.

  His meaty hands worked to get around my neck. I was not going to be his next meal. I rolled hard to the side, forcing him under me. Knives, he liked knives. The memories rolled up and I worked hard to get his hands under control. The first blade of his caught me on the upper arm, slicing through the thin mesh and flesh underneath. At least it was my uninjured arm.

  “Fass!” I called and Abe was on Barco’s left arm in a flash, biting deeply. Barco snarled back, and Abe let go.

  “Shithead.” I got my hand on Dinah’s grip and pulled her free, but not fast enough. Barco smashed the side of my head, snapping it sideways, making my vision blur. I twisted my wrist, pointing Dinah at him as best I could.

  “Squeeze the trigger!” Dinah yelled. “I can’t shoot without you!”

  I was trying. Fuck it all, I was trying. I flexed my hand with all I had, and the trigger squeezed. Dinah went off, and Barco was hit, but not mortally. He roared and looked at his upper arm where the bullet had taken him. I should have told Dinah to switch out. Barco shook his head. “Killing you is going to be my pleasure.”

  Tough bastard, but that didn’t mean I was going to let him win. His right arm shot up, sliding along my forearm; a blade cut through my glove and the first layers of skin and flesh.

  I gritted my teeth against the inst
ant pain while I twisted hard, throwing him off me. Eleanor was in my good hand, and I squeezed off two rounds while Barco tried to dodge. Both bullets took him through the neck.

  He scrabbled at his bleeding flesh, blood gurgling out of the wound and his mouth as he fought for air. I didn’t waste another bullet putting him out of his misery.

  Footsteps echoed down the hall.

  Abe growled low. Abnormals then. I was bleeding from both arms, my head pounded and I knew I was fighting odds that were no good.

  I didn’t care. I wasn’t stopping.

  Barco had busted my goggles, and I tossed them off to the side. I kept Eleanor out and put Dinah back into her holster. Mostly because my right arm was throbbing and my fingers were numb.

  From the schematics, I knew this level was broken into offices, small rooms all over the place. But it was the main mechanical room and cutting floors I was looking for.

  The cutting floor was where the magic was made, and where the best bang for my buck was going to happen when it came to setting the C4.

  The offices, though . . . that was where the money would be, where I would give my father his first taste of my rage. Take his money, make him bleed out in a way that mattered to him. Then to the manufacturing floor, and I would be able to take the money machine out at the head.

  But for the first step, I would need to find my brother.

  I had nothing of his to set Abe on. No piece of material, no bit of blood. I half-turned back to where I’d left Barco’s body.

  Gabe would have been with Barco, of that I had no doubt. Barco was one of his favorite bullies.

  I hurried back to where I’d left the body, pausing at the edge of the hall that would lead me back to Barco.

  Two voices whispered low enough that I couldn’t make out the words. But that was all good; I didn’t need to know what they were saying to know they were in my way.

  I pulled Dinah back out of her holster, and held both of my ladies up, drew a breath and stepped out into full view.

  “Hey.” I snapped the word, and the two men lifted their guns in what looked like slow motion to me.

  Dinah bucked against my hand first, making my shoulder scream, and then Eleanor went off right behind her. Bullets ripped through the air and drove into the man on the right, then the one on the left. They reeled back in unison, hit the opposite walls to each other and slid down.

  I let out a slow breath and shook my head. “Abe.” He took a step, his face lifted to mine as he waited for his command.

  I pointed at the still-bleeding corpse of Barco. “Such.”

  Abe pressed his muzzle against Barco’s clothing for a moment and then he swept the room, looking for the trail.

  Hesitating here and there, he started off down the hall. This would be the most dangerous part. Letting Abe lead me through the semi-darkness with nothing but the odd emergency light flickering for light.

  Doors on either side of me flashed by and my heart picked up speed as we weaved through the dimly lit office halls. The backup generator had the occasional light going. Enough that you could find your way out, I supposed, if you knew where you were going.

  I ran into another of my brother’s thugs. Eleanor made short work of him and he dropped before he likely even realized what was happening. I was breathing hard, my body humming with pain. I made myself touch the wounds.

  Both were hot, on fire and sending waves of nausea through me. There was nothing to be done about it now. I had to keep going.

  No, that wasn’t right. “Linx,” I stopped and slid my pack off. The magic tool was in the bottom, quiet like a mouse. I pulled him out. “You got anything you can do for infected wounds?”

  Linx shivered in my hand. “Nope, sorry.”

  I shoved him back in the bag. So much for that idea.

  Once more we were moving.

  At a T-intersection Abe paused, and then spun to the right. He moved at a good clip, but not so fast that he would lose me. The lights around us flickered, dancing as the generator fought to keep them on.

  Abe slowed, tipped his nose up and then was off again, only to slide to a stop in front of a set of double doors engraved with my brother’s name.

  Gabriel Romano.

  I might have found it eventually, but not at the speed Abe had brought me. Not with enough time to get this done and get the hell out of here before the rest of the place blew.

  I rubbed Abe’s head quickly, then pressed my ear to the door, listening. Voices, muffled, came through. There was a light to the left of me. I reached up and broke it with Dinah’s grip.

  I didn’t think the tinkling of glass would be loud enough to be heard through the doors. I waited to the side, just in case. No one came to inspect the slight noise.

  I stepped up to the door, and gave it a soft knock with the back of one hand. Abe and I moved to the side once more, waiting. My vision narrowed to the doors.

  A man stuck his head out and he was barely a dark shadow against the lighter gray shades, illuminated from the room. I sent a bullet through the side of his head, splattering brains and blood on the far side of the door. Before he could fall, I stepped in front of him and hooked an arm under his, with a sharp hiss. Hefting his dead weight while I pointed Eleanor in front of me was a stretch of the last of my reserves.

  How was I going to get through the rest of this?

  My brother stood beside his desk, a gun pointed at me. His face was lined with fear, with anxiety, and the shitty lighting didn’t really help.

  “Phoenix, Phoenix, you really came back?”

  “You know why.” I kept the dead man up, propped against my body. Abe stayed behind me, his nose tucked into the back of my knees.

  “I don’t, actually.” Gabe didn’t lower the gun. “I don’t really want to kill you.”

  “The feeling is not mutual,” I said.

  He shrugged. “Such is life with abnormals.”

  I snorted. “You aren’t abnormal, you dumb fuck.”

  He smiled, the light catching the edges of his mouth, making it sinister. “You’ve been gone a long time, Phoenix. You have no idea what’s changed. Dad made it his goal to become part of the abnormal world, you know that.”

  I stepped sideways, keeping my back to the wall. “He’s not as good as Mancini at keeping his people alive. He’s too damn lazy.”

  Gabe frowned. “You were always uptight about security. Nothing ever happened.”

  “Because no one was ever gunning for us, you moron. And I killed those few who tried.” I snapped the words. Part of me hated that he’d pulled me into a conversation, that I hadn’t just shot him in the gut as I’d planned. I needed to shoot him. I needed to get this job done as fast as I could.

  A gut wound would take time to bleed out, and I was sure I was going to need him to break into the computers. To find the money. To transfer it out.

  “Your boyfriends are waiting for you on the bottom level. One of them told us you were coming. Thought we might pay him good for it.” Gabe smiled again.

  I frowned and for a split second, I thought he meant Killian. But of course, he didn’t. Gabe meant Simon. But boyfriends? Who else was down there?

  I forced a laugh. “Please, Simon was a tool and not a very good one.”

  “Not any good in the sack? That’s disappointing. He was bragging about how amazing you were. I remember that about you.” Gabe smirked. Trying to put me off balance.

  I lowered my gun a little, and he did the same. “He’s not the only shit around here.” I squeezed the trigger, the gun bucked and a bloom of violent red opened on Gabe’s belly. He flew backwards, his ass hitting the desk behind him.

  He lifted his gun but I was too fast. I shot him in the hand and he dropped the weapon. “You have a choice, Gabe.” I let go of the limp body and walked toward my brother.

  “What’s that, you cunt?” He sneered up at me, but his eyes were full of fear. As well they should be. Of all the people I knew, my family had the most reason to be afra
id of me. They created me, and they knew what I was capable of.

  I grabbed a handful of his belly skin around the wound and pulled him upright. He wobbled as he cried out, but when he pushed on my hand I only tightened my fingers, digging into the wound. The blood made my grip on him not as good as I would have liked, but it was working for now. He stopped fighting me. Hell, he didn’t even try to return the favor and slap at my wounds.

  Dumb, just too dumb.

  “Your choice is simple,” it was my turn to smile, “you have the bank codes to the money flowing through this place. We need to move it now.” Still holding him, I directed him around the side of the table. I set up a mobile hotspot with my phone, and forced him to turn the laptop on.

  Beside him, I laid out a single account code. A temporary one that would bounce the money three times before landing back in the original account in two days. By then, I would be able to pull out.

  I didn’t give a rat’s ass about the money. But it would piss my father off to no end to lose millions more to me.

  Gabriel slowly—so damn slowly—logged in and began moving the money. “You’re just as greedy as ever.” He spat the words at me and they splattered the screen with a bit of blood and saliva.

  “Save your breath. You’re dying, Gabe, and if you want to live, you’re going to need all your strength to get out of here.” I watched what he was doing closely. Abe guarded the door, his ears pricked. My brother had implied he was an abnormal, but I didn’t see any indication of that.

  There came the sound of wood crackling, of branches being formed at rapid speed as they grew unnaturally. My problems had just multiplied like all those damn splinters.

  The Stick Man was here.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  A few more clicks, and the transfer of money was in progress.

  The scrabbling of wood on the wall had me turning around. The Stick Man stepped out of a side room, ducking to fit through the doorway. His hands stretched outward, wide with a welcoming embrace I didn’t want.