The Hero Within (Burned Lands Book 3)

by Bec McMaster

  He drew back and looked at her, his eyes filled with emotion. Then he hauled her in close, and Eden let him hold her.

  One hand slid up the back of her neck, sinking into her hair. Eden closed her eyes and took a moment to just breathe. She was starting to get dangerously addicted to these hugs. For a man who’d spent years riding by himself, he was more affectionate than she’d expected.

  Or maybe just hungry for affection?

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed tight. "We did it," she whispered. She had her cure. She could save Lily, and the rest of her patients. "I couldn’t have done this without you."

  "Never doubted you for a second, angel." Johnny stole a kiss, tension easing through his shoulders. "Got in, got the cure, now we just need to get out. Then you and I are celebrating."

  Eden rested a hand against his chest. "You got something planned?"

  Johnny gave her his crooked smile. "You. Me. Dinner and a little privacy."

  "Can we focus?" Arik growled under his breath.

  "Right." Johnny straightened, his relieved cheerfulness fading off him as if he forced himself to lock down his emotions. "Let’s get the hell out of here."

  He helped her pack two of the refrigerated cases. Eden wanted to take as much of the vaccine and Ener-V cure as she could. She hated not knowing what was going on back home. Who knew how many people were affected? With this, she had enough of the cure for three hundred people. It would have to do to start with.

  "What do we do about these two?" Lincoln asked, gesturing toward Nigel and Miles.

  The sound of Arik removing the safety on his gun echoed loudly through the room.

  "No," she said sharply, pressing a hand to her temples. "It's too easy. They should suffer. I want them to suffer." She looked at Mayhew. "What are you going to do with that footage?"

  He gave her a lethal smile. "I think the good citizens of the Confederacy deserve to know what's going on behind the closed doors of Ragnarök."

  Complete ruin. The Wentworths would lose everything. Possibly even end up on the wrong side of General Bligh, if this erupted in his face.

  "I need Bligh."

  Just in case there were more than three hundred plague victims.

  "Then I'll hold it over Bligh's head. I don't think he'll be very happy with the Wentworth's."

  "Perfect," she said, with a brisk nod, though her gaze lingered on Nigel and the uneasy way he shifted. Instinct made her tense. His smile seemed out of place.

  "What's that smell?" Johnny asked, rubbing his nose. "Smells like—"

  The second he said it, her gaze shot to Nigel.

  Nigel snatched at a small tap on the bench, and gas began hissing into the room. Further along the bench, another tap shimmered in the air as gas trickled silently from its nozzle. He must have slipped it on when they were distracted.

  "Don't shoot!" she screamed as Nigel suddenly bolted for the panic button.

  Arik hauled his pistol into the air, just as Johnny leapt for Nigel. He slammed into the scientist, but it was too late.

  An alarm began blaring, and the lights suddenly cut off, plunging them into a sudden darkness. All she could see was the red glow flashing from the alarm in the corner, and the flash of shadow moving as Johnny lifted his weapon and pistol-whipped Nigel with it.

  "You fucking piece of snot," he snarled, and Nigel whimpered and hit the floor.

  "Oh, shit," Mayhew said, looking around frantically. "We need to get out of here."

  "What about them?" she demanded, gesturing to where Miles cowered next to his brother's fallen body.

  "Justice will just have to wait. Move!"

  "THEY KNOW WE’RE HERE!" Johnny yelled, as they sprinted along the hallway. "How many are we expecting?"

  "Full squad of twenty," Arik yelled back. "They won’t know exactly where we are at first. They’ll be waiting for commands from central, and central will be sending drones out."

  "On it," Mayhew called.

  The lights in the hallway had been cut, and the only illumination came from the red alarms, pulsing in and out.

  "Time for that diversion, Mayhew," he called, grabbing Eden by the arm and hauling her close against his side, just in case.

  She pounded down the hallway with him, but he could hear her breath rasping. While the injection was hopefully starting to work, her system was still ravaged, and she wouldn’t have the strength to keep this up for long.

  "With pleasure," Mayhew said, fingers racing over his datapad. "Let’s confuse them."

  Outside, a series of explosions rocked the air.

  The ground shook, and Johnny could just make out screams and confused yelling in the distance. "Do I want to know what you just did?"

  "Comms are down." Mayhew gave a sinister smile. "It seems someone’s taken over their drones. They’re attacking the barracks, keeping the wargs within pinned down."

  "Shame." Johnny allowed himself a tight smile.

  "I live for this shit."

  They skidded around a corner.

  "Remember the exit plan," Johnny snarled at Eden. "As soon as we’re out, we’re heading for the storm water tunnels. No time to waste. Mayhew’s going to cover us from the inside."

  She nodded, her eyes wide.

  "Incoming!" Arik yelled, slamming the pair of them into the wall as gunfire suddenly barked.

  "Fuck." He cupped his arms around Eden’s head, as hell opened up around them. There was a doorway there. Just enough cover, if he and Arik pressed tight.

  Mayhew found himself in the middle of the line of fire. He spun the other way, using the steel case to shield himself. Bullets punched into the case, and one hit him in the side. He went down, the case hissing pressurized gas.

  "Mayhew?" Eden screamed.

  "Got him." Lincoln had been last. He grabbed Mayhew by the arm and hauled him back into the corridor they’d come from, leaving a smear of blood on the tiled floors.

  Mayhew groaned, cupping his side. "My datapad."

  It lay on the floor in the middle of the hallway.

  "Go, go, go," called a tinny voice near the exit.

  Heavy booted feet drummed on the floor, coming closer. At least one squad had managed to clear the barracks.

  He hoped they were only human.

  And that it was just one squad.

  "Without that datapad," Mayhew gasped, "none of us are getting out of here alive."

  Johnny poked his head out of the doorway. Over a dozen black-clad figures in full riot suits clomped toward them. One of them yelled when they saw him and pointed. Light flared as a gun retorted. Ping. Ping. Ping. Bullets bit into the back wall.

  Pinned down. Shit.

  "We’ve got to get moving," Arik warned.

  "Count of three." He grabbed Eden by the arm. "Get the datapad."

  "One… two…." Arik counted.

  "The cure!" Eden held her hand out imploringly toward the shattered case.

  "Down to one case," he yelled, shoving her back down the corridor they’d come from on the count of three. "We’ve got enough for over a hundred people. It will have to do."

  Arik slid across the floor behind him, as bullet fire barked in the hallway. He had the datapad and shoved it toward Mayhew as he gained his feet.

  Lincoln was tucked under Mayhew’s shoulder.

  "Let’s get moving!" Arik remained at the back to cover them in Lincoln’s place.

  Down the hallway, past Infectious Diseases.

  They hit a T-intersection, and Johnny paused. A set of steel bars was slowly descending from the ceiling. Shit. "They’re locking down the facility and trying to herd us."

  "This way," Mayhew gasped, limping past them, bloody fingers holding his datapad. "There’s an exit at the back."

  At each intersection, the steel bars were descending. Arik cursed behind them as he tried to spit enough bullets back toward the squad to keep them at bay, but conserve their ammunition.

  "Stay with Lincoln," Johnny said to Eden, giving her a lit
tle push. "I’ll help Arik keep them off us."

  Mayhew plugged into a fuse box. "If I can get us through here, we have a clear run to that exit."

  They were dangerously in the open here. Johnny saw the enforcers’ red dot bloom right in the center of Arik's chest as he swung his rifle off his back.

  "Get down!" he screamed, slamming into Arik.

  They hit the floor, Arik sliding across the polished concrete with Johnny atop him just as gunfire turned the air above them into a hailstorm of death. Bullets slammed into the wall ahead of them, pitting the brick, and Johnny buried his face in Arik's shoulder before someone called out sharply behind him.

  It stopped.

  Eden.

  Lincoln crouched behind a steel box, his hand holding Eden's head down. "The cure!" he yelled, pointing at the briefcase on the floor behind them. He’d clearly shoved her out of the way, and she'd dropped it.

  No way was Johnny losing that briefcase.

  Without it, Eden’s people would die.

  Sprinting low toward the case, Johnny heard a loud groan echo in the ceiling. A wall of bars began to descend, and red lights flashed at intervals along the ceiling. Shit. No wonder they weren't shooting.

  "Code black," one of the enforcers yelled into his radio. "We have a code black in the Wing C. All units. I repeat, all units."

  Skating to a halt, Johnny bent to grab the case and tore back toward Eden. The bars ahead of him cranked down inexorably, separating him from the others. He wasn't going to make it. He wasn't going to—

  Johnny threw himself into a slide, one foot flung out before him.

  At the last second he thrust the case ahead of him, and it flew beneath the bars just as they crashed into the floor. Johnny slammed against them, his knees bending with the force and his body colliding against the silver-coated steel. He jerked back with a hiss as the silver burned him.

  Too late.

  He was trapped on the other side.

  "Johnny!" Eden screamed, throwing herself at the bars.

  Behind him the enforcers advanced, lifting their rifles. Red dots glowed to life across Eden's chest.

  "Down!" he yelled.

  Arik wrestled her back, tossing the polished steel case to his brother. "Damn it, Eden. We've got to go."

  Arik looked at him helplessly, and Johnny understood. He wasn't getting out of here. They had no time. Barely any ammunition left. And the enforcers were right behind him.

  There was a tight clenching in his chest as if the cage of his ribs fought to contain his heart. His ears were ringing, and all he could see was the shock and fear on Eden's face.

  He loved her.

  He'd found more of himself in the past week than he'd ever dared to hope for, thanks to her.

  Someone needed to make the decision.

  "Go," he whispered, dread sliding through his veins as he crawled to his feet, putting his body between the enforcers and Eden. "Get her out of here. Get her safely home."

  "No!" Eden struggled, driving her elbow into Arik's ribs, her expression frantic. "No!"

  She got free. Hit the bars again, rattling them with her tiny fists. "Mayhew!"

  "Eden, stop it," he demanded, curling his hands over hers. A shiver of nerves ran through him as he cast a look over his shoulder—their window of opportunity was narrowing, and the longer they delayed, the stronger the chances of them getting caught.

  Enforcers hammered down the corridor toward him. Two of them knelt at the sides, bringing their rifles to bear on him. He could almost feel the red lasers of their sights burning right between his shoulder blades. A helpless sort of anticipation stole his breath. If they pulled those triggers, there would be nothing he could do about it.

  "We've got to get these fucking bars up," Eden snarled, looking for some sort of electronic fuse box.

  "Eden," he snapped.

  She looked at him helplessly, and he saw his fear reflected there.

  "Whatever it takes," he said desperately, reaching through the bars and stroking a hand through her hair. "That's what you promised, angel. You've got your cure, you've got—"

  "Not you!" she cried, her heart bleeding through the words. "I can't lose you, no."

  He met Arik's eyes over her shoulder and nodded grimly. "I'm not getting out of here." And they wouldn't either, if they didn't hurry. "You have this one chance, Eden. Don't waste it. Go and save Lily. Save your people. They won't kill me if I don't force their hand. The Confederacy takes wargs alive."

  "Throw your weapons on the ground," called a tinny voice behind him, as if to punctuate his words. "This is over."

  Not for Eden and the others.

  "Go," he insisted.

  "Johnny," she begged.

  He'd been holding the words close, biding his time, hesitant to say them when he wasn't sure if she returned the sentiment, but now there was no point. "I love you," he told her hoarsely as Arik dragged her back. "You made me believe I didn't have to be alone anymore. And I'll come for you, Eden. No matter how long it takes me. No matter how much it costs me, I will survive. I promise. Now go and save your people, before it’s too late."

  "Love you," she mouthed, and he wasn't sure if she was simply repeating the words in shock, or trying to tell him she felt it too.

  Arik muscled her away from the bars, and Johnny's ribs constricted. He had this horrible feeling he'd never see her again. Time seemed to slow down. The ringing in his ears enveloped him.

  Then she was gone, Arik literally carrying her through the door Mayhew had just jacked open.

  The shitty feeling in his chest felt somewhat akin to panic.

  "Turn around slowly."

  Arik would get her out, and she could complete her mission.

  He had to believe that.

  Slowly Johnny cupped his hands behind the back of his head, and forced all of the fear out in one nervous exhale. Enforcers surrounded him, their stunners held low as he slowly turned.

  All he could do was try and survive.

  If Arik could escape Camp Ragnarök, then so could he.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  WHATEVER IT TAKES....

  How she hated those words.

  Locking down her emotions, Eden crossed to the bed, pressing a hand to Lily's temples.

  "Will it work?" Luc rasped, his beard thick and black, his hands clenched between his knees as he sat beside his daughter's bed. From the smell of him and the rumpled shirt he wore, he hadn't moved from Lily's side in days.

  Eden prepared the nanoparticle syringe. "It worked for me. Took a few days to shake off the fever"—and she was still a bit achy in her joints—"but my rash is clearing, and my temperature's back to normal."

  Hopefully, Lily wasn't too far gone.

  It took a couple of days for the nanoparticle hydrogel she’d injected to work completely. She'd barely managed to vaccinate the human pack members of Shadow Rock before the sweats started, though her sweats had been nowhere near as bad as the plague victims in Absolution. The fever had her in its grip by then, and she could barely remember crossing the Divide in the back of a jeep driven by Lincoln and CJ. Arik had stayed in Shadow Rock to make sure his pack was safe, but he'd provided an escort of Munin for her, as a debt repaid for when Johnny slammed him to the floor before he was shot.

  Johnny.

  Thinking about him only caused her heart to constrict like she was having an angina attack. There was no time for that. She had to believe he was safe and alive, and she would have time to get him back.

  They will die if you don't get out of here now....

  How had she ever thought him violent and selfish?

  Right now, she needed to focus on those who might not be safe.

  It was all that was keeping her on her feet right now.

  Blinking away the surge of pain, she turned to Luc. "Has she kept any water down of late?"

  "Barely," he replied, his voice rough from lack of sleep. "She's been incredibly thirsty all week, but yesterday she started to get lis
tless. Not as thirsty."

  Not a good sign.

  "No word from Adam?"

  "I sent news north through the radio chain," Luc replied. "No reply. He might be out of range. Was expecting to spend the month there. So Riley sent a message north with her friend, Jimmy. He'll find him."

  She felt restless without Adam there. She'd survived a year apart from him when he went into his self-imposed exile two years ago, but he'd always been a presence in her life. Despite the fact he drove her crazy at times, when Adam strode into town, she felt like she could relax. Her brother might try and take over, but he could handle anything the world threw at him.

  She really, really wanted a hug from him right about now.

  Eden set up the drip she'd gotten from Absolution, unnerved by how hot the young girl was. The red rash that accompanied the plague was all over Lily's chest and her heartbeat was far too fast, her blood pressure low. The antibiotics Eden had given her at the start had helped, Luc had said, until the last couple of days.

  Leaning on the bed, she rubbed an alcohol-soaked rag over Lily's deltoid muscle, and injected the entire solution before withdrawing the syringe. Lily shifted on the bed, making the faintest of protests, but didn't rouse.

  Eden stepped back and took a deep breath. The first step down.

  She'd handed over most of the solution and vaccine in Absolution when she got what she needed for Lily, but she hadn't paused to stay. Absolution had an entire medical team. Bart had gotten in her face, demanding she stay and "see to her duty" and it had been all she could do not to punch him.

  She'd given everything she had of herself to save her people.

  She'd risked her life, and lost the man she loved.

  She owed Bart nothing.

  "And now?" Luc demanded.

  "Now we wait," Eden said, sinking into the stuffed armchair beside the bed. Her eyes were so heavy she could barely keep them open. "Wake me if anything changes."

  IT WORKED.

  Lily's breathing eased over the next couple of days, her fever swiftly dying down. The hydrogel injection was a slow-release system that would feed her the full dose of antibiotics manufactured specifically for the chimera bacteria over a course of three weeks.