Chapter 27 #3
The hangars near the airport slowly came into view through the darkness. Most belonged to private charters and independent flights rather than the airport itself. Hangar seventeen sat furthest back. Almost hidden. Almost invisible.
Exactly the kind of place people used when they didn’t want to be found.
Because these hangars catered to the rich, famous, and paranoid, the entire area had been built for privacy. Thick clusters of trees wrapped around the outer perimeter, turning the space into a hidden pocket of darkness cut off from the rest of the airport.
Perfect to use as an infiltration point.
“Remember, guys, the shields only have enough for three charges. So try to use it wisely.” Calix said as we all slid them into place.
As we got out of the car, he grumbled under his breath, “If I had more time, I could’ve made a better electric bank, but beggars can't be choosers.”
Riot silently—though that was somehow an understatement—moved through the manmade forest while the rest of us followed in her wake.
She glided between branches without disturbing a single leaf. No crunch of dirt beneath her boots. No rustle of fabric. Nothing.
I tried copying the exact placement of her steps twice yet still managed to snap a twig beneath my shoe. Riot’s head turned immediately. The glare she sent me over her shoulder could’ve frozen blood. I mouthed a silent sorry, but she ignored me and kept moving.
Every few seconds, her gaze swept through the trees, pink eyes narrowing before she continued forward. The deeper we went, the faster her pace became—not sloppy, not rushed, just sharper somehow. More alert.
Then the back of the hangar finally came into view through the trees, and Riot dropped into a crouch.
“Down.”
Her whisper barely reached us before she flung a line of air blades behind us into the forest. The wind sliced through branches with violent snaps, and all three of us hit the ground immediately.
My pulse slammed hard against my ribs while I forced myself to focus on everything.
The sound of wind threading through the trees. Animals scattering deeper into the forest. The distant groan of machinery from the hangar. Muffled voices. Metal clanging somewhere farther ahead.
But behind us? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And somehow that made Riot’s expression worse.
Her eyes narrowed into the darkness like she could see something the rest of us couldn’t. Then she lifted one hand.
Air twisted violently around us, forming a nearly invisible wall that distorted the trees behind it like heat waves.
“Move.” She pointed toward a rusted section along the far right corner of the hangar. “Get there.”
Her voice stayed calm, flat, deadly focused.
“I’ll cover you. Stay low. Watch the tree line.” Her eyes flicked once toward Olivia. “When you hear screaming, go inside.”
Olivia blinked. “Screaming?”
Calix grinned. “That’s how you’ll know Riot’s distraction is working.”
Riot’s expression never changed. “Go.”
I grabbed Olivia’s hand tightly. “Hold my hand and run. Calix will follow.”
She tightened her grip immediately while fixing her eyes on the weak point in the wall. Her jaw set hard, determination replacing the nervousness from earlier.
In a blink, the world blurred around us in streaks of dark green and shadow. Wind tore through my clothes, but Olivia’s grip stayed locked around my hand the entire time. When we finally stopped beneath the rusted wall, she looked up at me, breathless, eyes bright with excitement instead of fear.
“That was my first time carrying someone at vampire speed!” The grin stretching across her face nearly distracted me completely.
I wanted to laugh with her. Celebrate with her. Kiss her stupidly proud expression, but it was the wrong time. Instead, I squeezed her hand once and smiled, whispering, “You did good.”
Calix appeared beside us a second later, glancing back toward Riot before giving her a small nod. Then she vanished without a word.
He pressed both palms against the wall, carefully feeling along the metal before tapping at the screen of his watch. A holographic layout of the hangar appeared between us.
Olivia leaned closer immediately. “What are the colored dots?”
Calix pointed toward the map. “Red is vampire. Brown is werewolf. Black is demon. Green is fae. Blue is mage.”
We studied the movement patterns.
Seven vampire signatures were clustered near the front entrance, and a handful wandered around inside the structure itself. One demon remained stationary near the far corner while a mage stayed near the opposite side. Manageable.
He looked at us sharply. “Once Riot starts the distraction, I’ll break through here.” His finger tapped the weak point on the wall. “Rack goes first.”
His eyes slid toward Olivia immediately after. “You go next, and you stay between us at all times, got it?”
Olivia nodded quickly, practically vibrating with adrenaline. “Got it. Glue vampire. I stick to you guys.”
She pulled out the modified weapon I’d built for her earlier. The compact gun rested awkwardly but confidently in her grip now, far steadier than when I first handed it to her. It fired compressed air traps infused with magic, nonlethal but effective enough to slow nearly anything coming her way.
My plan was to recharge the cores with my own magic once they ran dry.
Cool wind drifted through the trees while Olivia’s rose scent wrapped around me softly. It settled something restless inside me despite the tension coiling tighter beneath my skin.
Then an explosion came from the front. Screams ripped through the night.
Gunfire cracked violently in the distance. Metal crashed loudly enough to shake the ground beneath us. Somewhere, farther ahead, something enormous toppled over with a grinding screech—probably the crane—and adrenaline surged through my veins instantly.
I tightened my grip on the gun and focused hard on the weak point ahead of us.
“That’s our cue,” Calix whispered before he struck three precise spots along the rusted wall. The metal buckled inward before collapsing apart in chunks.
He motioned for me to go through, lining up Olivia behind me as he commanded, “Stay close,” and turned to watch our backs.
I slipped through the opening first and landed in a crouch, weapon raised while my eyes swept the immediate area for movement.
Once I knew it was safe, I glanced back just in time to see Olivia climbing in after me. Everything seemed to be going smoothly… until she lifted her eyes and screamed at me, “Watch out!”