First World - A Walker Saga Book 1

I screamed silently in the pressing darkness. My energized cells bounced around my body as I moved at the speed of light. I hadn’t realized the last time how much Brace’s presence and embrace had calmed me. It was quicker this time for the rift to expel me violently. Suffice to say I wouldn’t be sitting easy for a week.

  The room was dark and I couldn’t find anything to anchor myself in it. I stayed still and quiet, trying to sense what dangers were lurking around me.

  I could be anywhere in the entire universe. A jostling on my arm reminded me I still had my night-vision goggles.

  Hmmm, Abby, they may be useful right now.

  Pulling the rubber strap back, I slid them over my head, groaning as I poked myself repeatedly in the eye. Finally they settled over my face and images jumped at me. The darkness turned to a landscape of green and gray.

  It took a few minutes for me to focus. The strange color plateaus from the night vision were disorientating. Eventually, the room came into focus. It was small and empty. There was a door on the far wall. An empty room whose only purpose could be receiving from the compound.

  I walked a few steps forward, moving toward the door. I wondered why no one had followed me through the rift. Did it close behind me?

  I refused to stand around waiting to be rescued. There was only one way to figure out where I was.

  I dropped my hand onto the handle. Taking a deep breath, I pushed down and the door clicked open. I gave a gentle shove.

  The next room was dark as well; I took my time before stepping through into what looked like a huge single-level room. I was puzzled by what I saw through the goggles. The room looked like a dungeon – like those from the fifteenth century, similar to those I’d seen in books about the medieval period.

  I moved forward two steps. The straw on the floor crunched under my boots. Yes, I said straw. The room appeared to consist of a long row of cells, with large and heavy bars along them.

  Crap, could you time-travel using the doorways?

  I couldn’t tell if there were people in the cells. Although, as I moved further along, my nose wrinkled in distaste. There was a distinctive smell of sweat, fear, and other disgusting-ness lingering in the air. If that aroma was any indication, humans had been held here and it hadn’t been that long ago.

  A noise from behind had me swinging around. The door was opening.

  Awesome.

  What was coming through there now?

  I crouched down to present a smaller target. I was just fumbling for my throwing knives when a massively tall person stepped through.

  Okay, how many people could be that tall? I hesitated for a moment, just in case I was wrong.

  “Baby girl?”

  Relief flooded through me. I recognized that whispered and deep baritone.

  Trembling, I scrambled to my feet and took off at a flat-out run, before diving into Josian’s arms.

  “What the hell. Where have you been?” I whispered into his shirt front.

  He was clutching me close, my feet hanging off the ground.

  “Sorry, baby girl. It takes a few minutes before anyone can use a doorway again.”

  Lallielle was at our side. I could smell her unique flowery scent. “Thank the gods we found you. I could not get through that rift fast enough.”

  Josian laughed as he lowered me back to the ground. “She was definitely a riled-up mama bear. I was a little scared for my life.”

  “Yes, my love. Lucky you got us here in time or things could have gotten very dangerous for you.” She sounded only half-serious.

  Josian kissed the top of her head.

  “I would never let our baby go again, Lalli. You know that.”

  “Where are we, Aribella?” I smiled as Quarn interrupted them, probably deliberately.

  “No idea. I didn’t make it far before you arrived.” I tried to keep my voice low, but someone had to have heard this racket.

  It appeared that everyone had better eyesight then me. None of them were using their goggles. I turned back to look around the room again.

  “Can we go back in time using the Walker doors, Josian?”

  I felt him shift next to me. “There are no Walkers that have that type of power anymore. One of the powers we’ve lost.”

  I shook my head. “It’s just strange. This looks medieval.” I pointed toward the barred cells. “Fifteenth to sixteenth century.”

  Brace’s voice came from the darkness. “We’re definitely still on Earth. My energy power isn’t swirling around as it usually does.”

  Now just to figure out where on Earth.

  A loud clang sounded from behind us. Josian pushed me and Lallielle aside and he stepped forward, hands raised. The door at the far end was opening. We fell silent, waiting as keys clanked and a whistling man stepped inside.

  “Time to wake, you disgusting wastes of good quality air.”

  I felt a small relief that he had the distinctive clipped tones of Brooklyn. We might still be near New York.

  Suddenly the room lit up. One by one, each cell came alight.

  We remained crouched in the darkness near the back of the room. As each cell was illuminated, the inhabitants began to move behind the bars, as if they had been in stasis until that moment.

  I shoved my glasses up to rest on top of my head and squinted into the brightness for a moment. Finally the scene before me came into focus.

  Noise was suddenly everywhere, sobs and groans echoing throughout the stone walls. There were about twenty cells, ten lining each wall.

  The occupants had moved forward to grasp at the bars of their cages.

  For the first time I could see every one of them.

  A hand covered my mouth just as I was about to scream out loud. I looked up. Brace was beside me, and it was his hand preventing my shriek of outrage.

  The girls from the compound filled many of the cells. But that wasn’t all. Lucy was there, and she looked terrible, thin and pale. Her hair was limp and dirty, hanging in swirls around her face.

  I tried to wriggle out of Brace’s grasp, but he tightened his hold. I had to get to Lucy. Her expression was blank, as if she had seen it all and nothing affected her anymore. Something inside of me crushed, seeing her so broken.

  I bit down into the fleshy pad of Brace’s hand.

  “Naughty, Red, don’t make me spank you,” he whispered into my ear.

  I spun around to glare at him. At the same time my elbow flew back into his abdomen. He released me slightly.

  “In your dreams, douchewad.” I muttered.

  “I know this is probably beyond your capabilities, Abigail, but try and exercise a small level of patience. We need to assess this threat before we act.” His tantalizing voice was still low in my ear, sending shivers along my spine.

  I was way too hot-blooded to assess anything before acting. I was ‘action first, consequences later’, thank you very much.

  Lallielle’s gasp had me spinning back around, searching for the source of her concern.

  “Sammy?” Brace murmured.

  What? My brother was here as well? I craned my neck trying to see into all of the cages. A tall, dark-haired man, who looked eerily like Lallielle, but without her green eyes, moved forward into the light. He was in the cell next to Lucy’s.

  He’d just reached through the bars to squeeze Lucy’s hand. He was hovering over her protectively, glaring at the man jauntily making his way through the cells.

  The whistling intruder was easy to see now. He was short, with a large stomach protruding over his dirty pants, and a filthy white shirt, buttons missing so that his fat rolls hung prominently on display.

  Brace’s silky hair tickled my ear as he leaned in close to murmur, “That’s a quality packaging that man has.”

  “Don’t be jealous,” I whispered back. “You’re bound to be that attractive one day.”

  He exhaled loudly. I ignored him, continuing my observations of the man. He was around fifty years old, his
face dominated by a beaky nose and small angry eyes. He was walking in our direction, pausing at each cell and throwing a brown paper bag through the bars.

  The occupants snatched at the bags before scurrying back into their cells.

  No one had noticed us standing there, but I was over waiting. We could take out this one little rat-man.

  As if she’d read my thoughts, Lallielle bolted into the light. Josian’s attempt to stop her was useless. He was close behind but she got to rat-man first.

  She hit him hard. He was turning at the sound of her steps when she right-hooked him straight in the jaw. His eyes rolled up in his head before he crashed to the floor.

  To be honest: I was impressed.

  Josian laughed out loud. “Taught her that.”

  “Mom! How are...? Where did you come from?”

  Samuel had their beautiful accent; his was just rougher ... husky, as if something had damaged his vocal cords. Lallielle headed toward him. I was distracted by Lucy.

  “Abby. Oh gods. I can’t believe you’re here.” The dead expression she’d been wearing wavered and suddenly she was crying, tears pouring down her face.

  She pulled her hands free of Samuel and held them out. I ran into her arms, hitting the bars hard.

  She winced as I pulled her close. I loosened my hold a little.

  “Are you okay?”

  She smiled, with a fraction of her old joy. “I’ll be much better when you get me out of here.”

  Lallielle was hugging Samuel through the bars to his cell. Brace and Josian were right behind, huge grins on their faces. Quarn was crouched over rat-man on the floor.

  I searched the cell front to find the lock. There was nothing on the smooth bars.

  “We have to get out of here. There seems to be a permanent delivery door between the warehouse and the compound.” I was thankful my calm voice didn’t express the cold trickles of fear inside.

  Josian’s brow wrinkled in worry. “That’s not possible. It can’t be done.”

  Brace was clipped and short. “All the more reason to get out of here.”

  “Quarn, does rat-man have any keys or remote locking devices on him?”

  I tried to turn, but Lucy clung to my hand.

  Quarn smiled. “Rat man.” He shook his head, screwing up his nose. “That’s appropriate, actually.”

  Most of the occupants of the other cells had moved toward their bars.

  “Abby?” I turned to see Chrissie and Chandra, plus a few of the other girls together in one cell. I smiled, but couldn’t help notice the vacancy in their stares, the motley nature of their skin and general air of neglect they were all rocking today.

  “Hang tight, girls, I’ll get you out of here.” My words barely registered with them.

  “He doesn’t have keys. There’s only one person who ever accessed these cells.” Lucy drew my attention. With her free hand she pointed toward the entrance. “Try that little box next to the door. I think that’s some type of control panel.”

  Quarn moved away from the group to inspect the small black box which was attached to the wall.

  “Sammy baby.” Lallielle held both of his hands. “This is Aribella, your sister.”

  Lucy and Samuel both nodded.

  Lucy answered. “After I explained the situation, Sam and I kind of figured that Abby must be his sister.”

  Josian stood near Lallielle, staring at Lucy. His expression was ... odd. I reminded myself to ask him about that later.

  A creak was the first indication the cell doors were opening. Quarn shut the box again and nodded: success.

  Lucy squeezed herself through the small gap. The center of the room filled, as one by one Samuel and the girls managed to escape.

  Lallielle swept Samuel into a proper hug. Lucy’s smile was shaky, her eyes crinkled up in worry as she watched them. Samuel held back, stiff and unresponsive, but eventually he reached around and gave Lallielle a half-hearted hug.

  “I’ve missed you, Mom.” His voice broke a little on the last word. “I thought I’d die here and no one would ever know.”

  “I’ve missed you so much, Sammy.” Lallielle sobbed out both her sorrow and relief.

  Josian untangled Lallielle from her uncomfortable son. Samuel had an air of fragility, like one wrong word could break him into a million pieces. By the looks of it, his year in this dungeon had almost been the end of him. No wonder Lucy’s expression was going all protective-kitten toward him.

  Samuel turned then and walked toward me.

  I didn’t know what to do. Looking left and right, I backed up a few steps.

  Only it wasn’t me he was coming to. He stopped before Lucy, staring down into her face for a moment. The height difference between them was ridiculous, well over a foot. I looked at the floor, trying hard to stifle my laughter. Brace caught my eye. His expression just made it worse. Ass-hat.

  Samuel reached out and captured Lucy’s face in his hand. Then without hesitation he swept her off her feet ... literally. He then proceeded to kiss the hell out of her.

  Throughout the room, clearing throats and mutters sounded, along with a random whoop. It was a tad awkward ... and lovely ... and a lot romantic.

  I ignored the fact my brother was currently kissing my sister. The mood was affecting everyone. Josian pulled Lallielle closer, placing gentle kisses on her face.

  Come on. Where was I supposed to look now?

  I was drawn to Brace. Oh, yeah. Much better.

  I expected to see him staring at the happy couple, like the rest of the room, but he was staring at me.

  The heat of his gaze held me immobile. My head started to spin; I hadn’t taken one breath since we locked eyes. He turned away, releasing me.

  Breathe, Abby.

  Inner voice or whispered words? Once again, I couldn’t tell. The room broke into scattered applause as Samuel and Lucy pulled apart.

  I wouldn’t admit it – maybe under torture – but I was kind of annoyed. I’d just gotten Lucy back; I wasn’t ready to share her.

  She snapped out of her kiss-haze. As if she could read my thoughts, she stepped away from Samuel and toward me, although they continued to exchange intense looks.

  “So, Josian. Can you open a Walker door for this many people to leave at once?” Brace was pacing, looking toward the far doorway.

  “No problem...”

  I sighed in relief.

  But then he said, “Except something is blocking me here.”

  I looked at him in disbelief. “What do you mean?”

  He shook his head, his voice deepening. “There’s something here I cannot explain. They have this building locked down, and a permanent Walker doorway.”

  Samuel spoke then, the slight rasp in his voice even more prominent. “That’s why we’re held here. They siphon our energy.”

  I looked around at the huddled groups of girls. I recognized many of them. While a few had taken the chance – well-deserved, I’m sure – to kick rat-man in the ribs, the rest were sitting around, faces blank. Where was the running? Hysterical screaming? Escape attempts? They were as Quarn described: zombies.

  “How are you still alive?” Lallielle’s voice broke as the true horror of Samuel’s situation dawned on her. “They’ve been siphoning you for a year.”

  Samuel shrugged, but his eyes were flat, emotionless. “I have no idea. I’m much stronger than Earthlings. They only last a few months.”

  As Lucy took his hand, a smile crossed his features.

  “We average a few deaths a week.” He pointed toward the scattered people. “This is a new group.”

  “How do they have such extensive knowledge of the ways of the Walkers?” Josian asked furious. His red hair swirled around him. “They’re dealing with myth and legend, no longer obtainable abilities.”

  I wondered if everyone was thinking what I was. Then Lucy nailed it.

  “We’re screwed.”

  Chrissie limped over. She was much th
inner than the last time I saw her and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if she was afraid she would fall apart at any moment.

  “So what’s the escape plan, Abby?” Her anger flowed around me. “And can I be the one to rip Olden’s head from her shoulders?” No zombie behavior from her.

  Lucy pushed forward. “Get in line, Chris,” she said darkly.

  I looked from one to the other, wondering what had happened here.

  Quarn, with his military training, scanned the room. “Our best chance is to exit together. Go out as a group and confuse them.”

  A groan sounded from the floor as rat-man started to shift. I looked at Lucy for a minute. She nodded once. It was information-gathering time.

  I crouched next to him. By the time he opened his beady eyes, he was surrounded on all sides. Glares rained down on him.

  He was confused. For about a minute. And then he laughed.

  I watched him. His actions were ... unexpected. It wasn’t a small I-just-got-a-concussion chuckle. No, this was a full-throated belly laugh. His fat rolls jiggled all over the place.

  It was irritating, grating on my last nerve. I lunged for his face. My closed fist crunched against his nose.

  Wow, that was satisfying.

  Brace had dived after me. I’m not sure if it was to stop me, or to hit him too. Blood poured from rat-man’s nose, and with a coughing splutter he grabbed my shirt, and with unforeseen strength attempted to bring my face close to his.

  Brace reached out a huge hand and cupped the man around the throat.

  “I’d let her go now. Unless, of course, you don’t want the privilege of breathing any longer.”

  Pulling myself free, I stood up. As Brace released him, the dirty-man attempted to roll away. I halted this by stomping my foot onto his fragile ribs. I noted the red marks marring the folds under his chin. Brace had had quite the grip on him.

  “I got this, Chuck. You can back off now.” I nodded at Brace. He was still Chuck until a better name presented itself.

  His lips curved slightly, but he stepped back.

  “Okay, rodent, I’m going to ask you a few very simple questions. Even you should be able to understand them. And I would like nice timely responses.”

  He winced as I dug my foot in a little more.

  “I don’t want to ask twice.”

  Lucy snickered under her breath. I heard it, though, and I could almost read her thoughts. I’d gone a little mad with power.

  As he looked up, pain was apparent, but there was no fear.

  If anything, his confidence was pissing me off. “How many people are in the building?”

  “It doesn’t matter, girl.” His accent was even more nasally as he attempted to breathe through the blood flowing from his nose. “Master has been waiting for you and now you’re exactly where he wants you.”

  His ribs were flexing under the strain.

  “What does he want me for?”

  He laughed breathlessly, using the small amounts of air I was allowing.

  “We’ve been watching you for a while. He was so angry when they took the wrong girl from First World. But Patty assured him you would come for your friend.”

  Patty? Did he mean Olden?

  I closed my eyes. Don’t kill him, Abby. He’s not worth it.

  Opening my eyes, I spun around and stepped away. I couldn’t trust myself right then not to hit him again. Josian took my place.

  He didn’t touch him. He just lowered from his impressive height to gaze eye to eye.

  For the first time, rat-man’s cocky smile faltered. He started slithering backwards, but the kicking feet kept him in the same spot.

  “You – you can’t be here – all others are barred from this hall,” rat-man stuttered.

  Josian continued to stare. After a few more rants, rat-man fell silent, trance-like.

  A sheen of sweat was developing on both of their faces. What type of battle of wills is this?

  “If I push any harder I’m going to break his mind. He has strong blocks. Someone powerful trained him,” Josian thundered, looking around as if he would find the culprit in this room.

  Lallielle pushed Josian closer. “You have to continue. We don’t have a choice. We need to get out of here safely and for some reason you can’t open a doorway.”

  He searched her face for a second before finding whatever acceptance he was seeking.

  Reaching down, he wrapped his huge hands around rat-man’s head, who then began to struggle, emitting small whimpers.

  “What’s he doing?” I wondered out loud, wincing at the painful sounds.

  Lucy, Chrissie and the others had no such qualms. They watched with expressions of satisfaction. There was not a lot of love for old rat-man in the room that day.

  Brace answered, his gaze also locked on the pair. “Josian has the stronger mind. He can hack through the blocks to access information.”

  The jiggle of fat rolls slowed, until the rodent’s struggles ceased. His eyes rolled back into his head and a puddle of drool emerged from the corner of his mouth. It had taken Josian thirty seconds.

  “With anything destructive, there’s always damage to fundamental connections in their mind,” Josian said as he stood, disgust across his features. “He didn’t know much of importance. He’s never met his master, only received orders. He is the bottom of their food chain here. There was one main person who issued his orders, a scrawny black-haired woman ... Patty?”

  “Olden!” Lucy and half the compound girls screeched together.

  Josian looked at us. I answered for the group. “She was our compound leader. That has to be why that Walker doorway was in our manor.”

  “That evil bitch,” Lucy fumed. Samuel held her back from storming straight out the door. “I’m going to kill her.”

  Josian nodded. “Oh yes. She’s on my list to be eliminated. But I’m worried about this power accumulation. Until we know more, we cannot confront them head on.”

  I was standing close enough now that I could hear him mutter, “Need to talk to my brothers.”

  I wondered, just for a brief moment, if he meant actual family brothers. Or if that was more ‘Walkers in the hood’ – buddies – bros.

  Lallielle looked around. “Did he have any information that might help us escape?”

  Josian nodded again. “There weren’t many people inside the warehouse when he entered this room. If we take off as a large group, we must run forward about fifty yards, and then take a sharp right, between the two large pallet stacks. That’s the exit.”

  He issued his command. “No heroes today. Let’s get out in one piece.” He turned back to our more intimate group. “Once we are outside these walls I’ll be able to access the doorways again and get us back home.”

  I took the grenades from Josian’s pack and handed them around the room. The girls knew what to do with them.

  Pulling the rolled material from my pocket, I opened it to palm two throwing knives. I slid them under the sleeve of my jacket as a makeshift wrist sheath. I flexed my hands – not perfect, but would do the job. I handed Lucy and Chrissie two knives each, leaving the last as backup.

  We gathered the girls together.

  Josian had no problem capturing the attention of the room. “Alright, everyone listen closely. We’re going to escape now. We’ll exit as one group. I’ll lead and I expect you all to follow.”

  I bit back my ‘sir, yes, sir’ which sprung immediately to mind. A sense of energy and life was filtering through the group.

  “Wait a few minutes for the grenades to do their jobs,” I reminded them.

  Josian hit the lights, throwing the room into darkness. He stepped up and opened the door. Those holding grenades stepped forward, and as soon as they’d been tossed out I slammed the door closed again. We couldn’t run out into that yet.

  I gave us as much leeway as I could, but eventually we had to bail.

  We bolted from the room, through dispe
rsing clouds of smoke. Josian charged ahead. I was close to his heels, with Lucy beside me. The room was huge, a well-lit warehouse. And it looked like it was currently being used to store thousands of stacked box pallets. Whether from the ‘nades’, or something else, we had a clear path in front of us.

  But not for long.

  Black-clad security guards began to run in from everywhere. None of them had their guns out yet, so we still had a chance. Plus their hesitation spoke of their wariness in being stampeded by our mob.

  I had a glimmer of hope that we were going to make it out unscathed. Then Olden stepped into the end of our pathway, a large machine gun in her hands.

  “Machine gun! Take cover!” I screamed before diving off the passageway as the first of the bullets echoed around the cavernous room.

  I’d managed to grab Lucy’s hand and take her with me, but I couldn’t see anyone else. Olden continued to fire. Bullets rained relentlessly.

  Breathing in a harsh, jagged manner, I attempted to push my panic aside – I couldn’t help anyone if I was having a heart attack – before moving further behind the table.

  I barely breathed until there was a lull in the fire. It would take her sixty seconds to reload, just enough time to assess the situation. I peeked around the corner. My heart hammered as I saw the scattered bodies in the pathway. I gagged at the sight of masses of blood.

  Olden’s gun had carved a destructive path through the group. She was in the same spot, right at the junction of our lane, wearing her usual overconfident self-satisfied expression. There was a large male guard on each side of her.

  Smiling broadly, she rested the gun over her shoulder.

  I couldn’t tell who was down. There were too many body parts scattered, although I frantically continued to survey the destruction. Breathing in heavy pants, I pulled back behind the table.

  “Abigail, nice to see you again,” Olden’s voice echoed around the room. “How terrible, a few of your friends didn’t make it.”

  She chuckled after that, like this was the most fun she’d had all year. Freak.

  “What do you want, Olden?” I yelled over my shoulder.

  As we waited for a reply, Lucy and I moved back against the table, sliding down lower.

  Looking at the ground, I picked up one of my knives. I’d lost it as I dived away. The other was still strapped into my jacket cuff. I was lucky I hadn’t cut my hand off.

  “I’ll run through the tables and draw her fire,” Lucy whispered. “You take Olden out.”

  I shook my head fervently. No way ... hell, no.

  “You know I’m right. You’re awesome with the knives, but even you can’t dodge bullets and aim.” Fire burned in her blue eyes.

  “Wait a minute. My father’s like a superman dude or something. Maybe bullets do just bounce off me?”

  Our murmured conversation was interrupted. “Sorry, baby girl, we’re not bulletproof. Weapons can injure and incapacitate us. We just have the ability to heal from almost anything.”

  I jumped about a foot in the air. Lucy pretty much ended up in my lap.

  I hadn’t even seen Josian arrive. Bloody sneaky superman.

  “So I think I’ll be the distraction. You girls do what you need to take your leader out.”

  I looked into the burnt amber of his eyes and nodded. This was a plan I could work with.

  He smiled. “On the count of three.”

  Between us we had six knives. Time to make them count.

  I tightened my hold on the handle, breathing in and out to calm my nerves.

  Olden’s mocking voice rang out. “I never took you for a coward, Abigail ... if that’s even your name.”

  I ignored her. I had people to save. The fact Josian wasn’t going mental and killing everyone meant Lallielle was still alive, but I didn’t know about the rest.

  “One ... two ... three ... go.”

  He dived into the center of the path. By the time I stood, knives-ready, Josian was already dodging in and out along the path, moving almost too quickly for me to track him. He seemed to be throwing small balls of light in Olden’s direction. It was utter confusion.

  Olden definitely hadn’t been expecting that. In the few moments it took her to raise her weapon back to firing position, I dived sideways from my table into the path. I palmed off the first knife, mid-flight. Crouching, I took an extra heartbeat to breathe and calm before releasing my second.

  The first flew a little wide. It embedded in the crate behind Olden’s head. But the second was a direct hit. Unfortunately her guard was good at his job. He sprung forth, and by the time I looked again the knife was hilt-deep in his throat. Lucy had followed suit and her knife took out the other guard. I didn’t have time to comprehend that I’d probably just ended a life. Something for therapy at a later date. I needed to help my father.

  Josian was almost at the end of the path. Pulling out my remaining knives, I followed him. I dodged and dived, waiting for shots to rain on me. I couldn’t see Olden through the confusion – people had started moving. I jumped a few of the bodies lying in the path. Some familiar faces with lifeless eyes. My chest was tight with anger, the panic ebbing on and off along with high doses of nausea.

  “Where’s Olden?” I puffed to Lucy, who was right behind me.

  “I have no idea. I can’t see her anymore.”

  We reached the junction of the path. Josian had the lifeless body of the second guard clutched in his hand. I couldn’t see any damage, except for Lucy’s knife protruding from the man’s biceps. But he was dead.

  “Broken neck,” Josian said shortly.

  “There’s a blood trail here. Did Olden get hit?” Lucy pointed out a path of drops that became heavier the further they went.

  She was distracted as Samuel reached her side, sweeping her into a hug. “Lucy, are you okay? I couldn’t find you.” The stress was apparent in his voice.

  She gave him a squeeze. “I was with Abbs. We’re all good. Sorry I scared you.” Her voice lowered then. “I understand your fears, but you know over-protective crap just pisses me off, Sammy.”

  His eyes met mine over her shoulder. The smallest grin graced his lips. Despite my own small petty jealousy, it made me happy to see he enjoyed Lucy’s smart mouth for more than just kissing the heck out of her.

  I couldn’t see Brace anywhere as I anxiously scanned the room. I refused to think anything had happened to him. After so many years of dream meetings and then this recent time, I wasn’t sure I could imagine a world he wasn’t part of. Turning away, I followed the bloody path for a short distance. Chrissie appeared at my side – scaring the crap out of me – her face tear-streaked.

  “Chandra’s dead.” She said it without emotion.

  I gasped, trying to breathe through the shock and pain. Although we’d never had much to do with each other, I liked Chandra. Chrissie’s best friend, with her golden-brown hair and stunning chocolate eyes, had been the outgoing center of attention. Funny and charming.

  The weight of her loss wore heavy on Chrissie’s downturned face. She pointed a finger at me, her black hair lying in limp scraggly strands, her brows drawn together in sorrow.

  “I know you didn’t directly do this, Abby. But it feels like all of this happened because of you ... Chandra ... the torture. Because you came to our compound. Because Olden wanted you.” She sobbed once before composing herself. “Just stay away from me; I don’t want to see you again. You can only be a reminder of everything I’ve lost.”

  I swallowed and opened my mouth to ... I don’t know ... apologize or something. But the look on her face said she didn’t want to hear it. My breathing was harsh and ragged as I stared at Chrissie. Seeing no forgiveness there, I just nodded. Chrissie wiped roughly at her tears before turning and walking away without a backwards glance.

  Ouch! I clutched at my throat as her words resonated deep. She was right. Indirectly, I was the reason for many lives lost.

  I knew I’d made my
self an enemy from someone I’d once counted as a friend. A few of my own tears escaped, their saltiness gathering on my lips. I batted them away angrily.

  My heart was heavy as I turned to make my way back to the people gathering at the junction of the path.

  A man dove at me from behind a large pile of boxes. Instinct and training kicked in. Hitting the floor hard, I already had my knife in my hand, ready for the attack.

  He came at me quickly, darting in with his own switch-blade held aloft. I managed to dodge two attacks, and I nicked him twice in the process. He was fast, flicking droplets of blood as he stabbed toward me. Changing tactics, I threw out a progression of roundhouse kicks and elbows. There was a distinct groan as I connected with his mid-section. I darted away again. My speed, as always, was my greatest asset.

  As I went to take him down, I looked around and realized he had been herding me toward a back section. I was now in a secluded space, separated from my group.

  Stupid me. I’d been so busy fighting I hadn’t noticed.

  Another man came at me from the side.

  I held both hands in front, my right clutching my best chance: the throwing knife. With a flick of my wrist I nailed the first man in the right side of his chest, high up. Not fatal – if he found help. The other charged me. I used his momentum and body weight to throw him clean over my head and into a pile of boxes.

  Olden appeared at my right side.

  “Hello, Abigail,” she said as she lunged at me. Her thin physique hid strength I had no idea she possessed.

  I attempted to dodge the second attack, but something tangled at my feet and brought me down. I landed next to the man, who still had my knife in his chest. He’d somehow dragged himself over, leaving large trailing puddles of gore, to wrap his arms around my legs. I ordered my stomach not to react to the pungent aroma of the congealing blood.

  Olden straddled me. “The master wants you, Abigail. But he didn’t say in what condition.”

  She laughed. Her eyes were bright, feverish, her pupils dilated and moving rapidly. I’d seen cracked-out gangers before. Olden was off-her-face.

  I wriggled and kicked, but with the man’s dead weight on my legs I was stuck.

  “Get off me! I don’t have time to deal with your particular brand of crazy today,” I yelled into her face. Gods I hated her.

  She moved and a sharp burning pain was my first indication. Looking down, I shook my head. I knew I was in shock. Nothing was registering.

  With my free right hand, I reached out and grasped the handle of the large knife that had just been plunged into my chest.

  Olden leaned close to hiss at me. “I wouldn’t move so much. You wouldn’t want that blade to twitch any closer to your heart.”

  The pain was nauseating, the world flashing at me in black, then color. My vision wavered. Squeezing my eyes closed, I grasped the knife, attempting to yank it free.

  An ear-piercing scream echoed. I realized it was from me. Hoarse little gasps bubbled from my lips. I waited to die. I wanted to die – or black out at least.

  From the shadows, Brace appeared behind Olden. Even through the flashing world and blinding pain, relief flooded over me. He was alive.

  He lifted her off me, his expression dark and deadly. With a cold and clinical ability, he broke her neck. Without effort. So quick she hadn’t even had a chance to turn her head.

  Throwing her aside, he moved my way, but was intercepted by two black-clad men. Brace’s half-smile glower was terrifying. If I had been facing him I would have run for my life. Adrenalin flooded through me, which forced my heart to pump faster, and the blood to gush out around the knife wound. I was afraid for Brace – and it only took frantic seconds for me to realize I didn’t have to be.

  Lucy might have joked that we were ninjas, but Brace actually was. He’d picked up a long, broad, sword from somewhere and was moving between the two men with the grace and skill of a trained assassin. They didn’t stand a chance. I must have blacked out for a second. The world fluttered as reality came back. I could see that Brace had dispatched one – he was down in a pool of blood – and the other followed swiftly. Dropping the blood-drenched sword, Brace dived toward me.

  He pitched the semi-conscious man that was still resting on my legs into a pile of boxes and dropped down beside me. I continued to gasp, my hand on the knife. Sounds seemed both loud and soft, and I couldn’t concentrate on his words.

  “Red ... Red. You are going to be okay. Do you hear me? Just ... don’t you leave me.”

  “I don’t want to leave ... Brace, it hurts.”

  He leaned closer, his lips grazing my cheek. My tears fell unchecked.

  “I know it hurts.” His voice caressed me, soothing as it always did. “I’ll fix this, I promise, Red.”

  Faces appeared behind him. Lucy dropped to my other side.

  “Abbs, no ... no. This can’t be happening.” Tears poured from her wide blue eyes. She clutched my hand tightly. Her distraught expression pleaded with me. “Don’t you dare die, Abigail,” she spluttered through her tears.

  “Help her,” Brace, on my other side, roared at Josian. “Do something.”

  Lallielle’s face was white as death beside him.

  Power crackled around Brace. I thought I could see lightning arcing. His velvety eyes, normally a deep rich brown, were black. I thought it must be hallucinations before death. Brace leaned in, pulling my hand from the knife handle. I gasped, then my screams echoed through the warehouse.

  Chapter 13