Forged from the Ashes (Wings of War Book 1)

by J. Kearston

  She nods, filling up her plate and sitting at the table. “Then we use it to our advantage.”

  Protests fly from my lips as loudly as the others. “We aren’t using you as bait!”

  She reaches over to squeeze my knee beside her under the table. “No, but if it happens we will spin it to our advantage instead of considering it a weakness. You three are far more immune to me than anyone by now, and it won’t affect my brothers or the women; it’s cosmically perfect. So if enemy eyes fall on me, use their distraction to strike.”

  Soren grits his teeth, hating it and not willing to blindly go along with it. “What if we fail? Then you’re right back in that hellhole in full blown heat. Let’s not pretend we don’t all know what that would mean. Are you really willing to risk that? You should stay here while the three of us get them back.”

  Ezra gets up to walk around the table and climb onto his lap. He wraps his arms around her, wanting to shield her from everything.

  “I’m not going to just sit here with my thumb up my ass while you put your lives at risk to solve all of my problems. I’m never going to ask more from you than I expect from myself, Soren. We fight for our flight, and we’re stronger together than apart. They’re my brothers, and they’re there because of me. I know it’s not my fault that all of this has happened, but that doesn’t stop me from blaming myself. I have to live with myself in the aftermath, and I refuse to be someone that spends her future swimming in regret and self-loathing.”

  He sighs, resting his forehead against hers. “I hate this,” he admits honestly.

  She puts a palm to his cheek, tilting his face up so she can kiss him gently. “But hiding from it won’t make it go away.” He doesn’t release her as she twists on his lap, including Cai and I into the conversation. “I hope you’re ready to leave your moral compasses behind, gentlemen, because we aren’t playing fair any more. Not only did they hurt my family, but they stole from me, and that fact alone seals their fate.”

  Her emerald eyes are hard enough to cut stone. “They stole from my hoard. Now? They. Will. Burn.”

  ***

  “It’s a huge fucking risk. You’re sure you’re okay doing this?” Ezra whispers, nervously biting her bottom lip.

  With driving here, we didn’t need to bother setting up camp to rest. We drove the SUV right up the path on the opposite side of the mountain, left it parked beside four other vehicles, and blended straight in like we belonged. Clad in armor beneath our clothes in case someone looked twice at us, the four of us blend in well enough with the black t-shirts and camouflaged pants of the grunts. The actual scientists are in dressier slacks and button ups instead of lab coats like a bad movie, but it still makes their position known to anyone they come across.

  Ezra’s now short hair is tucked under a dark hat and she’s wearing a baggy shirt to hide her curves. It’s enough to blend in at a quick glance, but anyone that studies her for longer will figure it out. As such, after we found an opening, we headed off into the woods. Even Ren is in the massive oak tree with us, the four of us climbing high in the branches to escape notice, though it obstructs our view of what’s happening beneath us.

  Cai answers her with conviction, his blue eyes bright even in the shroud of night. “I am. If I can get Saige the note, it will eliminate our worry of people getting hurt in the crossfire. I’m under no illusions that we’ll be able to magically save everyone, but the less that get hurt the better.”

  I sigh, reaching out to grab his forearm. “Be safe, brother.”

  He clasps mine in return, his face burning with fierce determination. “You as well. If I’m not back in a few hours, don’t immediately panic in case I needed to do something to preserve my cover. But if a day passes, assume the worst and just abandon ship.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “Bull-fucking-shit are we leaving you in there. Just don’t make us save you too.”

  He nods sharply before descending and settling in to wait. The waiting; it’s always the hardest part. Adrenaline floods our systems, making us startle at every stray noise. We want to fight, to get this over with, but we need to have patience if we want to pull this off.

  Cai returns a few hours later, much to our relief, and leans back against the trunk. He swipes a shaky hand down his face, no doubt as relieved as we are. Not that he’ll ever admit it, but that place is going to be the star of our nightmares for years to come.

  We were trained not to show fear, but that doesn’t mean we don’t feel it. And right now? Macho bullshit aside, we’re terrified. Scared we’re going to lose Ezra, that we’ll get in there and find out her brothers are already dead, or that we’ll be captured again. We’ve killed people because we were forced to, but that doesn’t mean we enjoy it. Ezra and Cai play with Legos in their downtime for Fate’s sake; none of us want to be here. But we will come, we will conquer, and we will get the fuck out of here.

  “Then onto phase one.” We reach into our backpacks and pull out the world’s largest bottles of clear, liquid laxatives. “The well isn’t far, but we should still go in pairs so we can make it look like a guard rotation if we have to.”

  We thread branches through the straps of our bags to make sure they’re secure before jamming the bottles as far into our pockets as we can manage while we make our way lower. They’re clear plastic with no label, so the hope is if we run across someone, we can just claim them to be huge water bottles.

  But if we’re forced to take a drink to prove it, this will end terribly. We can’t exactly stage a prison break if we’re stuck voiding our bowels in the woods.

  Soren and I pass by two men, but they don’t give us a second look. We manage to dump our bottles in the well and return without incident. Cai and Ezra are already gone when we return to the tree, but they are only fifteen minutes behind us.

  “Any issues?”

  Ezra shakes her head, grinning. “Nope. Now we just need to wait until morning when it’s almost guaranteed everyone will have ingested at least a little bit. I doubt everyone will be affected, but if it takes out a few, that’s good enough for me.”

  We half doze in the branches, trying to preserve our energy. It didn’t take long to pick up on the guard rotation; two men running the perimeter near the main entrances, a pair passing by every twenty minutes. There have to be other entrances in and out, but primarily they hover near the one we escaped from and the entrance near the space used as a makeshift parking lot. All of that equipment, hauling in women, and supplies means trucks in and out since it’s too much to carry up the steep incline.

  The sound of a truck nearby has us instantly on edge, but it comes and goes without any incident. We’re jumpy, startling at the smallest noise out of place, but at least we know no one will be sneaking up on us this time. After another couple of hours, it’s time to enact the next part of the plan.

  “Come on,” she whispers, leading us down towards the cars.

  We wait for the guards to move on and Soren starts tapping on his thigh, keeping track of the time for us. While he does that and stands watch, Cai and I flip open our knives, going down the line to puncture the coolant reservoirs on each of the vehicles so that they develop slow leaks. All the while, Ezra moves from one end of the cars to the next, heating up her hand enough to clamp the exhaust pipes closed. We didn’t want to make things as obvious as flat tires so that they would waste time climbing into vehicles to chase us, and waste more time when they overheated and have to climb back out. A few minutes can make all the difference when you’re on the run, and we’re not sure how we’ll be getting out of here, so need any advantage we can get.

  Ren signals us we’re out of time and we bolt, getting far enough away to hide behind a few tree trunks before the next rotation of guards come into view. Once they pass, we circle back around, waiting for our opening before approaching the door.

  With incredible precision, Ezra begins welding the door to the frame from the outside, making it appear seamless so as not to arouse immediate sus
picion when the guards come back. It’ll be impossible to open, so as soon as someone tries, the clock starts ticking. But we want to funnel them towards the other exit to increase the likelihood they’ll use the vehicles and so we have a better idea of what direction we’ll be attacked from. I’m sure there are several other secret entrances, but we can only work with the knowledge we have.

  We dart off again, taking a few minutes to catch our breath and reconvene. “Alright, you have the oil, Cai?” she asks and he withdraws a bottle from one of his pockets. “Perfect, time to smoke ‘em out.”

  I grab her elbow before we start walking, kissing her hard as panic starts to creep in. “Stop freaking out, angel, everything’s going to be fine.”

  She smiles knowingly, curling a hand around the nape of my neck to draw me down once more. “Phew, I feel much better now. You?”

  I hug her tightly against me before knowing I have to let go, that we’re on a strict timetable. “Me? Not worried in the slightest. How could I be when the angel of death is on our team?”

  She shakes out her hands, gearing up for a fight. “Take no prisoners, show no mercy.”

  “Claw our way to the top,” Soren agrees, drawing his weapon, “even if it kills us.”

  Cai locks eyes with her, licking his lips. “Because it takes more than blood to be a dragon; you have to be brutal, even when you don’t want to be.”

  He kisses her, as does Ren. We’re all walking away from here, or none of us are. I steel myself, cracking my neck, and we break into a silent run.

  We slow down when we get to the entrance, slipping inside the spider’s lair. They weave their traps, lure you in with no intention of letting you go, but we will burn the place to ash even if we can’t manage to escape.

  Schooling our faces into unreadable masks, we march down the slope towards the central room, passing dozens of other men. No one gives us a second glance as we make our way through towards the tunnel we came out of the first time, assuming those cells are the best place to start searching for her brothers.

  As we walk, she lets the oil trickle to the ground along the wall, creating a nearly imperceptible path. When we get the first off shooting tunnel, she stops, not wanting to make a clear path to us. She and Soren head down that way, pouring some at the base of a door down the hall and trickling back up to make a false trail.

  We continue on in a similar fashion until our tunnel is the last that remains, knowing we need to make this one ignite as well so it isn’t suspicious. It will be more smoke than actual burning, and we hope that will be enough to obscure our actions and give the women time to escape. But when we’re done, it’s going to have to burn, no doubt about it. I just hope that Saige will be able to get enough women on board to help free anyone restrained before it goes up in flames, and that they find the courage to run.

  We head towards the one we’re searching for, making sure the coast is clear before she lobs a small ember that way, igniting the oil that catches and spreads like wildfire. The smoke is nearly instantaneous, starting to fill the tunnel as well as the central room.

  Footsteps thunder and there are shouts. Not long after, doors start to open in our hallway as people investigate, and one man looks to us for answers.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Fire, in the main chamber,” Cai replies easily.

  The man curses, and leaves the door open as he turns back to the room he just left. We’re able to see a woman strapped to a chair similar as Ezra was, but this one doesn’t appear completely dead; only her eyes do. She looks haunted, yet resigned, as if this will forever be her life. The man flips the lid on the cooler and marches out, leaving the girl restrained.

  “You’re not going to toss her back with the others?”

  I try to keep the venom out of my voice, but I’m not sure I accomplish it.

  He gives me a dry look. “If the place burns, I need to make sure my data is secure, or years of research will be lost for nothing. I can’t waste my time corralling the animals. I can get more test subjects, but I can’t lose those files.”

  He disappears with a sneer and I have to fight not to beat the shit out of him. Instead, I dart in, loosen the human’s restraints, and gesture for her to follow us. She doesn’t move, just stares off vacantly at nothing.

  “Come on,” I hiss, “you need to go.”

  She finally turns to look at me, blinking a few times as if just realizing that we’re here. “Where do you want me?” she answers robotically, without a hint of emotion and I’m not sure if I’d rather rage or vomit.

  “You need to run, come on.”

  But still she doesn’t get up. “There is no escape, sir, I know better than to attempt it.” She goes back to starting at the wall, not even showing a hint of emotion.

  I want to cry. I want to drag her out of here with the rest of them and help, want to destroy this place and all of the monsters in it. But I know what Cai’s going to say before he even starts to open his mouth, hating that he’s right.

  “Come on, Yri, we can’t waste any more time,” he mutters softly, hating it as much as I do.

  I look at the woman one more time, feeling broken and with no idea how to fix it. “We’ll leave the door open. Please, if you don’t want to leave, at least go back to the other women.” Maybe they can help her, there’s strength and safety in numbers. Maybe if they start to leave, she will too. “We’re burning the place down and I don’t want you trapped inside when we do. Please, help us help you.”

  She doesn’t answer me and a little more of my soul breaks off, staying behind with this woman as we’re forced to start jogging towards the cells.

  They have to run. They can’t stay here to die. Please run, I don’t want your blood on my hands too.

  We pass by dozens of men, but their focus is on the smoke starting to fill our tunnel. We hear a curse and a groan as a few put their hands to their stomachs and I fight a grin, knowing it isn’t the time, but thrilled that Ezra’s idea worked. We may not be able to sabotage everything or save everyone, but between some being stuck in the bathrooms and others dealing with the fire, it helps even the odds a bit.

  We get to the cells and start cursing, finding all of them empty. None of us want to voice what we’re all secretly thinking.

  There was no guarantee they’d ever take them prisoner, they might have killed them on sight.

  Ezra shakes out of it before us, searching each cell. “What are you looking for?” Soren asks, joining her while Cai and I stay in the hallway to make sure they don’t get locked in.

  “They were here at least a day and Elias is a nervous doodler,” she says, suppressing her panic. “If they had nothing to do but wait, he’d be scratching into the walls.”

  When the first three cells don’t turn up anything, I know she’s fighting a wave of panic. Cai stands guard so I can help, since we’re spending far more time than any of us planned already.

  “Ez!” She comes running over as I point to the busted lock on a cell door. “May not be a doodle, but three pissed off blacksmiths were sure to find their way past an iron door, don’t you think?”

  She sags in relief. “Think like Kaiden, think like Kaiden,” she mutters under her breath. “Bust out, where would you go? Straight for the exit?”

  Soren shakes his head. “No, they’d continue to look for you.”

  She nods. “Smoke means they’ll know I’m here too, so they will still be inside searching.”

  Cai taps his finger on his thigh, slow and steady, and I wonder if it will be a new compulsion he starts to rely on to keep calm.

  “I have an absolutely terrible plan,” I suggest nervously, hating myself for bringing it up and looking at Ezra.

  It takes her a second before she guesses where my mind is at. “Bait?”

  I swallow, nodding and unable to voice the words that make me want to cut out my own tongue.

  She nods, looking around and assessing the layout. “Let’s get back closer to the main chamber
. It’ll make it more obvious since there are so many tunnels.”

  We pass by a few men, keeping our heads down and steps sure. With everything going on, no one gives more than a brief glance in our direction, letting us escape scrutiny, but that’s about to come to an end.

  When we near the end of the tunnel, we stay just inside of it so as not to be abundantly obvious. The fire is out in this section, but the smoke still creates a haze that makes me cough on occasion.

  “You’re sure about this?”

  She doesn’t waste time debating, just captures my mouth with hers. I have trouble relaxing into her, fear and anxiety wrapped around me like an oppressing blanket.

  She senses my reluctance and whispers, “Trust them to protect us like I do. Focus on me, not the rest of it.”

  It takes a minute, but I start relaxing into her touch. I deepen the kiss, and when she nips at my bottom lip, it’s that final nudge I need to let go. I press her back against the wall, grinding against her. She works her hand between us, rubbing me from the outside of my pants until I’m straining, needing to be inside of her, to claim her as mine.

  I start to work the button loose on hers, but she stops me. “Not to ruin the moment or anything,” she mumbles against my lips, “but sort of having my ladies’ days here. Might want to hold off until we can find a shower.”

  I redirect my attention towards her breasts, sliding my hand beneath the fabric to pinch and roll her nipples. It wouldn’t bother me in the slightest, but I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. Not only that, but I just need to get her worked up, not necessarily have sex with her. I don’t want our first time to be like this, to be here. I want to savor her without the threat of getting shot in the face looming over me.

  Shoving all those thoughts away, I bite the inside of my cheek, fighting the urge to come from her constant rubbing; no one wants to fight to the death with wet cum chafing against their junk.

  I arch against her, removing my lips from hers before tugging her shirt up and jerking down her bra to wrap my mouth around her breast. I swirl my tongue around one stiff peak while toying with the other. She mumbles inarticulate thoughts and I feel her pheromones brushing against my senses like a gentle caress.