Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
Chirp.
“You know, I think you’re right. She does like it.”
Chirp.
“No, not there.”
Chirp.
“I do not! I told you it was a big misunderstanding!”
“Oh gods . . .” I groaned, batting at the obstruction in my nose, my lashes fluttering open to Bitzy’s huge ears and eyes. Sitting in her bag, her ears were decorated with dried flowers that seem to have been glued on. “Please tell me I’m dreaming.”
“Fishy!” Opie pushed past his friend, his hands clapping excitedly.
Another groan fell from my lips. “Nope, this is real.”
Opie stood there in see-through gauze wrapped around himself like a bodysuit with strategically placed dried flowers and herbs covering his bits.
His beard was braided with flowers, his feet in cotton balls.
Leaves and twigs circled his head in a dramatic crown, and his lips and eyes were painted glittery green.
Pushing up, my murky brain registered I was in my room at Povstat, but it took me a moment for it to click in that my two friends were also here with me.
“Wait. How are you here? How did you find me?” I rubbed my face, heaviness sucking out my energy, making me groggy and slow. I couldn’t remember anything past being on the train. How did they get me back here? How long had I been out?
“We will always find you, Master Fishy. We are your family now,” Opie replied, his attention back on his outfit, twirling. “Do you like it?”
“It’s very . . . nature-y.”
“It took me the whole way here. Though seeing his face when we went through all his supplies . . . Wow. Didn’t think he could get so red.”
Chirp! Chirp! I swore it sounded like Bitzy giggled evilly, her two teeth showing.
“Whole way here? Who turned red?”
“But he was nothing in comparison to the other. He was one big crabby pants the whole way here. Scary with extra hot sauce.”
Chirp! Bitzy’s fingers went flying out, her forehead crinkling with annoyance.
“No, he was by far grouchier!”
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
My eyes went wide as she went off, her fingers flying about.
“You’re just mad because your mushrooms were taken away.” Opie placed his hands on his hips.
Mushrooms. Holy shit.
“Again, how did you get here?” I sat up straighter. If Opie and Bitzy found me . . .
Chirp-chirp. A strange smile pulled on Bitzy’s face, her three-prong fingers rolling up, her arms outstretched like she was holding on to handlebars.
“We rode on a vroom-vroom.” Opie picked at the flowers in his beard.
“You mean a motorcycle?” No, no way. Did he find me? We had a link, but I didn’t think he could track me down to the exact spot. “How did you find me?”
“I told you, Fishy, I will always be able to find you now.” He tapped his nose. “Smelled you out.”
Warwick knew enough of the area I was in, and Opie could find my exact spot.
That meant . . .
A howl of the alarm screeched through the bunker, announcing the base was being invaded.
And I knew exactly by who.
“Fuck!” I yelled, scrambling off my bed.
“Oh yeah, we should probably warn you . . . he’s really, really grumpy,” Opie added.
Chirp! Bitzy waved her middle fingers in the air, bobbing her head in agreement.
I flung the door open.
“Have a good day, Fishy.” I heard Opie yell after me as I charged down the hallway, racing through the labyrinth of passageways, past people stumbling out of their rooms, shouts and commotion filling the air with tension.
Reaching my uncle was my only thought before he sent out his top team to fight. Even if just one man stood on the other side, I was afraid for the seven who would be out first to fight the enemy.
“Get out of my way!” I yelled, shoving past people, taking the stairs up. I felt fatigue setting in the higher I climbed, but my determination barreled me through the door to the top floor.
Tracker, Ava, Lea, Jak, Sab, Blade, Luk, and Mykel were already in the ops room. The screen filled with images from outside the bunker as they flipped through all the cameras’ angles. The squad was loading themselves with weapons as Mykel laid out a plan.
“Tracker, Ava, and Luk, you three head out the northwest exit and come around. Sab, Blade, you two take the south exit, and Jak and Lea, you go up through the church. Don’t hesitate. Shoot to kill.”
“No!” I stepped into the room, every head snapping to me, my heart thumping in my chest. “You don’t want to do that. It’s not what you think.”
“I don’t know what to think except every alarm has been triggered, and one of our guards is lying at the entrance, either dead or unconscious,” Mykel exclaimed.
“And this all started when you arrived,” Tracker shot at me.
Suddenly, I noticed guards come up behind. My muscles twitched as I felt them move on me, and several arms clamped down, pinning me in place.
“What are you doing?” I tried to get out of their grasp.
Mykel stared at me as Tracker stomped over to me, getting in my face.
“It’s interesting that a few days after you show up, our mission goes bad, and our base that’s been safe for over a decade is suddenly found.” Tracker’s chest puffed with hatred, accusation glaring from his eyes. “I think you are a fucking traitor and spy.”
My eyes shot around the room. Everyone stared back at me with the same disgust. Luk’s eyes were also filled with betrayal. Disappointment. That hurt the most. He saw me fight. He knew something wasn’t right about me. But I would never betray them.
Tipping my head to look at Tracker, not one molecule of me feared him. I had taken on much greater threats than him. And, honestly, I would have accused me of the same thing.
“I get why you think that, but right now is not the time,” I spoke to him while looking over at my uncle. “I do know who is attacking the base, but it’s not who you think it is.”
“I think we know exactly what this is,” Tracker spat.
“Put her in the cell until we have dealt with this,” my uncle ordered the guards. His voice was cold, his eyes already slicing away from me, like he had cut any family tie between us.
“No!” I thrashed against the three guys holding me. “You don’t want to do this. I know who is out there. He will kill all of you! Send me out instead.”
There was a good chance if they went out, none of them would come back. Warwick would kill whatever was in his path, thinking they were holding me prisoner. I tried to reach out for him, the link hummed between us, but I couldn’t seem to break past it.
“Send you out so you can run back to your people?” Tracker barked out a laugh, cocking one of his handguns, his confidence saturating the air. The Wolf would kill him in a blink.
“Warwick is out there!” I yanked against the guards, dragging them a few feet forward.
“Warwick? You mean the legend Warwick Farkas?” Blade burst out laughing. “This girl . . . she’s fuckin’ crazy,” he howled. “Next she’s gonna say the Easter Bunny and St. Nicholas are out there too.”
“Holy shit!” Jak yelled, pointing at the screen behind Mykel, shooting their attention there.
Everyone froze.
As if I summoned the devil, Warwick’s face filled one of the screens, his expression set so coldly it was like death himself was knocking on the door.
I sucked in, feeling his rage burning through his eyes, his head tipping to the side in a taunt. There was no sound, but there didn’t need to be. With one look at the camera, his threat was laid out.
Come get me.
“He’s in the church!” Mykel ordered, breaking everyone out of their trances. “Go!”
“No!” I bellowed, watching Luk and the others dart out of the room, guns loaded, headed for their target. “Mykel, don’t do this! He will kill everyone. He thinks you’re keeping me prisoner.”
“Take her away.” He flicked his hand, and the guards dragged me out of the room. Desperate to stop what I knew was coming, the fighter Halálház created growled up my throat.
Stomping my boot on one guard’s foot, I slammed my head back into his face. The crack of cartilage correlated with his scream, his frame bending over in agony.
I swung around, my fist smashing into the throat of the second guard as my elbow knocked into the gut of guard three. Free of their hold, I darted away from them, my legs sprinting out the passage, shouts ringing out behind me.
My boots hit the stone steps, which led to what looked like a crypt.
As if someone poured cement on my muscles, every movement was set in slow motion. Vomit rolled in my stomach, my feet stumbling over the steps, but I fought to get to him, to stop any senseless death.
If he saw me, he’d know I was okay.
“Warwick!” I tried to scream, but it came out garbled.
What is wrong with me?
I tried to cry out his name again, my hands and feet pushing me up the last few steps. I tumbled out of a faux stone grave, which disguised the entry down into the barracks. Sounds of grunts, screams, gunfire, bones crunching, and skin being hit slapped the stone walls.
“War-wick!” My voice sounded strangled while I tried to link to him, but nothing happened.
The energy to reach him fizzled. My head spun like a thousand voices were murmuring in my head, all trying to reach me.
Out of the side of my eye, I swore I saw things hovering around me.
The pressure slashed pain across my vision, my body wanting to shut down.
No, Brexley! Don’t give up!
It was like I had hundreds of leeches sucking every ounce of my life from me, the murmurs in my head growing more shrill. Whispers of words, hisses of syllables, but nothing I could understand, though it continued to grow louder and louder.
“Stop!” I cried, my hands going to my ears as my legs pushed me closer to the sounds of the fighting. I only made it a few more steps before my body gave out, the darkness coming for me. My frame lay on the floor like roadkill, barely holding on to consciousness.
With everything I had inside, I shoved myself out of my own body.
For one blink, I stood in front of Warwick as he fought Tracker, Sab, Blade, and Ava. Not far away, Ash was fighting the others.