Page 29 (1/1)
"We just passed the as station you mentioned," Niko said into his cell phone as the closed establish around the bend now You should see the Rover’s headlights any second We’ll blink them so you know it’s us" Up ahead of the vehicle, the road flared brighter as Rio flashed the high beams a couple of tiure came out of the woods up ahead so from behind Nikolai, Reichen hardly drew breath until Rio had navigated the Rover off the road and onto the wooded access lane where the three Breedaze searched out and settled hard on Claire She looked so vulnerable and out of place surrounded by soof the fact that Wilhelm Roth could not be far from the very spot where she now stood But Reichen read only the faintest bit of fear in her Claire’s pulse beat steady and strong in his heart, and her gait was sure as she and her two companions came to meet the vehicle
No sooner had Rio parked the SUV did he and Niko both jump out to pull their an clireet the second vehicle as it rolled to stop behind them on the wooded dirt lane Conversations buzzed quietly talk of tactics and strategy, and quick reviews of the established plans for cohostly Breedos’s possible hideout Reichen, meanwhile, couldn’t take his eyes off Claire He drifted over to her, crossing his ar to deny He wasn’t sure she’d welcos at the co that she, too, had kept her hands close to herself as he approached
"My God, Claire I heard what happened today You have no idea hoorried I’ve been" She gave hiear and the many weapons supplied him by the Order and holstered on the belt around his hips Then she met his eyes once more and nodded her head "I’m fine," she said tonelessly
"Thank you for the concern" God, he hated this forced politeness, just as he hated the fact that the scant arht as well be a ave hied to Wilhelraphs Reichen had seen of her Now she was turning that look on hi him out with the saers and other inpiduals she didn’t quite trust The realization cut deep, despite the fact that he’d earned her cold shoulder Hell, he’d earned much more than that where Claire was concerned
He’d upended her whole world, put her in the crosshairs of a deadly personal war Worse by far was the fact that he’d co her into the center of his conflict with Roth "Claire," he said softly, words intended for her ears alone "There is so ize to you for--" "Please, don’t" She glanced up at hiave him a faint shake of her head There was no condenation "Do you really think I’ for you to tell me you’re sorry? I’ht now When this is all over tonight, then you can say whatever you need to say tointo his death, and maybe he was He blew out a slow breath, ath that she carried inside her He caressed her for only the briefest second,the velvet texture of her warm, honeyed skin "I’ve always loved you, Claire You know that, don’t you?" She pressed her fingers tenderly against his lips
"Don’t you dare pretend this is good-bye," she whispered fiercely "Damn you, Andre, don’t you dare" Reichen kissed the soft pads of her fingertips, then hooked his arainst hiether, twin needs that centered on the woht in his erowled into herand deep All around thein their search of the outlying forest Reichen took a step away froust of chill air "I have to go now" "I know," she said softly "But you’ll coht? This time, promise lance into the dark woods, his senses prickling with the knowledge of a hard battle soon to coht of her His beautiful, extraordinary Claire After tonight, she would be free of Roth for good
Reichen would ht, Claire would be safe, no o," he said again Her gaze was i below his sternum "Andrepromise an and the other warriors and didn’t look back
Claire stood there for a longnumbly as the forest sed up Andreas and the other warriors She’d kept up her brave front longer than she thought she could, but now that he was gone, her spine felt less solid, her legs a bit unsteady beneath her
She started when a hand touched down lightly on her shoulder "Hey" It was Dylan, her expression soft, sympathetic "Come on back to the Rover, Claire It’s warmer inside Rio and I will keep you company until this is over" She let herself be led around to the waiting vehicle, realizing belatedly that Renata had joined the warriors as well Inside the Range Rover, Rio was on tay tactical co Andreas The connection to hiree of comfort At least she could hear his voice from time to time, and know that he was still with her Still alive She refused to consider theto the remembered war words
He had to cohts close to her like a shield, Tegan’s deep voice came over the receiver mounted to the Rover’s dashboard "Fuck, I think we’ve got soround, the sound of boots traipsing carefully over dried leaves The warrior dropped his voice to a lohisper "Oh, hell yeahwe got sohly four hundred and fifty yards northeast of the Rover" "Copy" caed an anxious look with Dylan asover to the location Tegan had given "Couple of Minions posted outside of it ar in on the up the rear" Not a few seconds later, gunfire exploded from out of the distant woods
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Wilhelm Roth turned away from the old barn’s hidden closed-circuit cameras after the Order had round-level entrance of the lab The Minions were expendable, nothing more than an obstacle for appearance sake After all, the Order os had rolled out a red carpet to welcome them Let them think they had to expend so they were actually the ones in control, when their arrival had been anticipated--indeed, encouraged--all along Now that they had all gained entrance to the underground facility, it would be only roup of warriors and Andreas Reichen found their way down the bunker’s earthen catacoos’s headquarters A few minutes more than that before they realized the trap they’d entered and understood there could be no escape Just a matter ofthelee as he athered with him in the control roo which of Dragos’s hohly trained killers accompanied him since they were all born and bred to deal in death
"The rest of you head up to guard the entrance Make sure no one gets in or out" As four of them moved to carry out his command, Wilhelm Roth walked out of the control room to await his moment of triuan and Nikolai were the first ones down the dank, dark tunnel that had been carved deep into the earth and fortified by concrete and carbide steel supports A few seconds after they’d descended, Niko canaled an all-clear to Brock, Kade, and Reichen Hunter and Renata stayed on watch outside, covering the search party’s exit Once they’d reuards from the entrance, Reichen and the others had moved into the old barn, which, they soon realized, wasn’t so old after all Nothing about the hidden bunker was as it see tunnel, easily some several hundred feet below, the bunker expanded and spread out as wide and long as a gyhts washed the place out in a pale white glow, illu cafeteria-style tables and chairs that had been stacked neatly against one wall
A hinged door with a roundat eye level appeared to open into some sort of kitchen and service area, also eh the odors of recently cooked food still hung cloyingly in the air "Guess who’s co to dinner," Kade drawled under his breath Brock scowled as he nodded "Huan corrected with a snarl as he sniffed derisively "Helluva lot of therunted "Yeah, but for what?" "Let’s find out," Tegan said, h the empty space to the corridor that let out on the other side They crept soundlessly pasthallways and door after door of vacant dormitory-type rooms with basic twin cots, shared toilets, and a decided lack of personal touches
"Jesus," Kade whispered "How many Minions does one twisted bastard need at his beck and call, anyway?" "Enough toin front of a pair of steel doors that he’d pushed open a crack in order to peer inside Beyond the doors was afile drawers, clumsily cleared work spaces, and a polished floor littered with pieces of equipment broken in what appeared to have been a hasty evacuation The warriors entered cautiously, taking note of what little assets remained There were a handful of toppled microscopes and cracked slides, and sundry other items that looked like they’d once starred in a chemist’s wet dream "Check this out," Kade called from the far side of the lab He indicated a lidded stainless steel druiant pressure cooker
"Nohat the hell do you suppose this thing does?" Reichen and Tegan walked over with Brock and Nikolai, glancing inside the large cylinder as Kade popped the seals on the top and opened the lid It was no longer plugged in, so the temperature inside had warmed considerably from the deep freeze maintained while the unit was operable, and the contents had all been re the machine’s purpose "It’s a cryo container," Reichen said Tegan nodded grimly He jerked his chin toward another nearby rooht expect to see in theof a hu the far wall "Incubators Jesus Christ Dragos is running a fucking breeding factory down here"
"Or was," Nikolai said "He obviously cleared out in a hurry" "Maybe he kneere coested "Can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ave his buddy an affir in was too easy This could be some kind of trap" "All the rats do seem to have fled this ship," Nikolai added "Maybe they were on to soos wouldn’t leave a facility like this vulnerable to attack unless it was deliberate I’d bet one froos one," Reichen said, "but Wilhelm Roth is in here soer spiked as he dismissed his own sense of unease to focus on a oal "Turn back, if you want I won’t begrudge any of you for it
But I’erously "Too many unanswered questions down here to turn back without covering every square inch of this hellhole Fuck you very onna let you do this on your own, Reichen" Reichen held that verdant stare and knew a deep appreciation for the kinship he’d formed with this warrior With all of the Order, in fact The rest of the warriors didn’t hesitate to nod their agreean, or to fall in beside Reichen and him as they headed deeper into the eos’s secret operation seeht his first gli of prison cells, just as Claire had described from her dreamith Roth Except none of theave little comfort when it was obvious from the condition of the cells that they’d only recently been evacuated "Holy hell," Niko roup of theot to be fifty cages here If these were occupied with ios done with thean said "Possibly to the sah heup his assets now that he’s been forced to leave this location in a hurry" "That is one sick fuck," Brock re hand over his skull-tri yet" Kade had walked over to a heavily bolted door perhaps a bit too conveniently unlocked now He stepped into the room on the other side and blew out a lohistle