Ballistic: Icarus Series, Book Two (13 page)

Zander and I followed Falisha to where the rest of the group had gathered in the center of the lobby. Christa clung to Ty’s arm, her eyes wide in shock. Jake elbowed him, and Ty turned Christa away, shielding her behind his large body. Riley turned to face me first. Her eyes were filled with tears.

“Tim,” she choked out covering her mouth with her hand.

The chair was where we had left it when we escaped to the vault, only now it lay on its side in a massive pool of blood. Tim, or what was left of him, was still bound to it. The arm I had not managed to free hung at an odd angle against the chair by the cording that had bound him. His other arm lay on the ground a few feet away, completely stripped clean of its flesh. Tim’s skull had been scraped bare as well and dangled loosely against his bare chest wall. The scritters had picked his bones clean. Sinew and shreds of tendon held what was left of his body together.

“This is our fault,” Riley sobbed. “He died because of us.”

“No,” Jake said grabbing Riley’s shoulders. “Tim died because of
Gabe
.”

“But we were the ones that—,”

“You tried to help him,” Jake cut her off. “We could have left the crazy son of a bitch to the leeches, Riley. He deserved it after what he did to Ty, but you saved him. You tried to help him.”

“For what, though?” She shrieked. “So he could die here, like this?”

“Does it really matter?” Eli interrupted. “Let’s face it. The guy was a ticking time bomb to begin with. It was only a matter of time before his
condition
got him killed. At least this way he was able to repay a debt before he went.”

“Are you kidding me?” I wheeled on him.

“I’m just saying. The guy
did
try to kill us,” Eli shrugged. He stared down at Tim’s body for a moment, then shuddered in disgust and turned to me. “Far as I’m concerned, he owed us one. Seeing as how he was pretty much useless, his only contribution was diversionary, at best. He bought us time to get into the vault.”

“You are such an ass,” I growled as I cranked my arm back and flung my fist into his face. Eli’s hands shot up to his mouth. He crumpled to the floor in a heap staring up at me in shock as Zander moved to hold me back. “Tim was a human being, you socially-challenged robot. I don’t care what he did. No one deserves to die
like that
!”

“You say that now,” Eli hissed, spitting blood from his mouth as Ty and Jake helped him to his feet, “but you’ll change your tune soon enough. Reality does strange things to people.”

“Liv is a good person,” Riley said as she wiped away her tears. “She would never—.”

“If you honestly believe that, you are even more naive than I thought,” Eli said shaking himself free of Jake and Ty’s grasp. “I hate to break it to you, kid, but there is no such thing as good and evil. There is no right and wrong anymore, only death and survival. You do what you have to do to stay alive. We all do.”

“Maybe you’re right, Eli,” I said glaring at him, “but what’s the point of surviving if you can’t live with yourself?”

“I—.” Eli’s brows knit.

“Exactly.” I spun on my heel.

I stomped over to a table displaying an antique tea set. Most of the pieces had been knocked about in the scritter attack, but a few still stood as if awaiting the Queen.

I climbed over the velvet rope, ignoring the sign that warned onlookers not to touch. I swiped what was left of the porcelain to the floor, and dragged the crisp white cloth from the table. I wadded it into a ball, climbed back over and made my way back over to the toppled wooden throne. Without a saying a word, Riley helped me drape the cloth over Tim’s body. While Riley knelt in silent prayer, I closed my eyes and begged Tim’s forgiveness for the broken promise that had cost him his life.

Not that it mattered. There was no way I was going to forgive myself.

* * *

“We need to get moving,” Zander said, slinging his pack over his shoulder as he and Jake strode toward me. “I know the sun won’t be down for a couple more hours, but we can’t afford to sit around and wait for Metz and his cronies to catch up with us. Meet up by the stairs in five, okay?”

“Sure,” I said nodding grimly.

“I’ll go and round up the others so you can go and do that
thing
,” Jake said clapping Zander on the shoulder before rushing off. Zander smirked at me and then headed in the opposite direction.

“Byron is only, like, ten or fifteen miles from here, Liv.” Riley hooked her arm through mine and pulled me toward the stairs. “Who knows? Maybe we can catch up with your brother before nightfall.”

“Maybe,” I said, trying to ignore the sick feeling that had taken root in the pit of my stomach.

“Alright, enough.” Riley stopped suddenly and spun on me. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?” I asked.

“Really? I know you, Olivia Larsen,” Riley narrowed her eyes at me. “Do yourself and everyone else a favor and stop imagining the worst. Quit trying to talk yourself out of being hopeful. If that brother of yours is even
half
as stubborn as you are, I am sure he is just fine.”

I had fought her in the beginning, but there was no denying the bond that had formed between Riley and me. That girl had been my annoying little rock since the day she fell through my bedroom door. For as long as I’d known her, Riley had always been really intuitive. Now…well, it was fair to say her talents had evolved. Yet another cause for concern.

“Oh my God, would you give yourself a break and stop worrying for like five seconds?” Riley rolled her eyes and tapped my temple. “I can practically hear the gears grinding in there.”

“Right,” I huffed smiling reluctantly as I hooked her elbow and dragged her toward the steps. “Come on, brat.”

“Y’all ready to roll,” Ty asked.

“Where’s Zan?” I asked.

“He went to…grab something,” Jake said averting his eyes to look over my shoulder.

“Such as?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Oh, look,” Jake said a bit too excitedly. “There he is.”

“I come bearing gifts.” Zander smiled broadly as he dropped an armload of cammo onto the floor at our feet.

“What’s all this?” I smiled at him.

“Dibs!” Riley held up a thin khaki scarf that was longer than she was tall and started wrapping it around her head and neck. “If you have to go tactical there’s no rule that says you can’t look good doing it, right?”

“I sort of went on a shopping spree in the military museum,” Zander smirked as we watched the rest of the group pick through the spoils like a pack of vultures. “Figured if I was going to make them all go out in this crap, the least I could do was find a way for everyone to stay cool.”

The group rushed forward and pounced on the pile. Eli glared at me then grabbed a few items from the top of the pile and quickly backed away from the chaos. He put the pale green cap on and tied the matching bandanna around his neck, then crossed his arms over his chest. I knew he was still pissed at me for punching him earlier. He deserved it, and I was anything but sorry. Besides, in a couple of days, his headwear would match the bruise on his lip perfectly.

Jake teetered back and forth between a few different items, but eventually committed to a bucket hat in varying shades of tan. I couldn’t help but chuckle when he finally noticed that Ty had chosen one just like it. Christa was quite pleased with having found an olive-colored scarf. She quickly managed to get herself tangled in its length, unsure of how she was meant to maneuver it.

Falisha laughed at her quietly while she twisted her own long hair into a side braid and dropped a wide-brimmed hat down over her head. Unlike the rest of them, Riley actually looked fabulous. Then again, she could wear a paper bag and make it look like high fashion. I laughed softly to myself as she spun in a circle dramatically.

“I got you a little something, too, Liv,” Zander said turning to me. He grabbed my hand and held it open in his. He stared down at it and lightly traced the lines in my palm. “I am really sorry about how I was acting earlier. I don’t really know what that was all about, but—.”

“It’s fine, Zan,” I interrupted him. “You don’t need to apologize.”

“I do, actually,” he said pressing his finger to my lips. “Please shut up for a minute so I can get this out, okay?”

“Mmhmm,” I muttered smiling against his finger.

“There’s a lot happening right now, for both of us. Most of it, we don’t understand,” Zander lowered his hand and began tracing mine again, “but that’s no excuse for how I treated you. I can’t explain what happened with the scritters, but I shouldn’t have pushed you away. It’s hard enough as it is to hang on to the people we— umm, care about, without adding distance where there doesn’t have to be any. Now, more than ever, we need to hold on to what’s left of our family and to each other. Do you hear me?”

I nodded unable to speak.

“This is for you,” Zander said softly as he reached into his pocket. In his hand, he held a long black piece of cording. From the center of it hung Zander’s most prized possession. The dim light glinted off the silver eagle from his father’s bike. He dropped it into my palm and closed my fingers around it. “I want you to have this.”

“Zander, no.” My eyes widened, and my heart flew into my throat. I tried to push it back into his hand. “I can’t accept this.”

“Liv,” he tilted his head with a smirk.

“No.” I shook my head. “You loved that bike. It belonged to your father. This is all you have left of it…of
him
. Everything else burned. You can’t just throw it away like this. It’s too important—.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he smiled, spun me around by my shoulders, and lowered the eagle in front of me. When it rested just above my heart, he tied the cording behind my neck and turned me back around to face him. “There was a time when I would have agreed with you. After everything that’s happened, it all just seems so trivial now, you know?”

“But it’s—.” I clutched the eagle tight in my fingers and stared down at it in shock. A stray hair slid into my face.

“Don’t you get it?” Zander ran his finger across my cheek. He slid the offending hair behind my ear. He lifted my chin until our eyes met. “The house, my dad’s bike, the eagle? It’s all just
stuff, Liv.
I
promise you none of it means nearly as much to me as you do. I really do care about you, Liv. I’m sorry if I made you doubt that, even for a second.”

He leaned in and pressed his lips lightly to mine then pulled back. An invisible cord stretched tight between us. My body instinctively sought to close the distance and relieve the tension. I wrapped my arms around his waist, closed my eyes, and pressed my cheek against his chest. The soft and steady rhythm of his heart called to mine. I lost myself in it for just a moment before I managed to find my voice.

“Thank you,” I said releasing him and pressing the eagle to my chest. “I…care about you, too.”

His eyes lit up, and a broad smile spread across his lips. Once again, he pressed his mouth to mine.

“Ah-hem,” Riley coughed dramatically and smirked at us. “Hate to interrupt the love connection, but I figured I had better grab some stuff for you two before it had been picked clean. Here you go, Z.”

“Thanks, Riley,” Zander said putting on the khaki cap and bandanna she had brought for him. “It’s perfect.”

“This is for you, Liv.” Riley snorted with a grin. It was practically
screaming
your name.”

She dropped a pair of sunglasses and a bundle of cammo into my hands and walked away to help Christa with her headscarf. I put the shades on top of my head, unfolded the wad of fabric Riley had given me and smiled down at its contents; a simple taupe neck scarf, a leather thigh holster for my knife, and an army cap with a name embroidered on it. I rolled my eyes and snorted when I tried to hold back a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Zander asked.

I shook my head and held up the hat so Zander could see the name on it.

Powers.

Chapter 11

Strike Two

The throng of scritters had torn through the first floor of the Conover Square Mall as they made their hasty retreat from the building. We still had no idea what had caused their sudden departure. Perhaps they had gotten their fill after devouring Tim’s body, or maybe they had simply grown weary of waiting for a bigger meal and set out in search of easier prey. Whatever their reason for leaving, one thing was for sure. They had done so in a hurry.

According to Ty, the scraping of their claws and the frenzied clacking had stopped quite suddenly moments before Bella began pacing in front of the vault door. Their sharp claws had gouged and nicked nearly every horizontal surface between the vault and the front doors. They left a trail of toppled chairs and displays in their wake. I could easily picture the writhing black tidal wave of angry teeth and limbs as it slashed its way through the mall and out into the bleary evening sky.

It was crazy to think that just a few days ago, the
scritters
had roamed this Earth as an entirely different being. Part of me pitied them. They hadn’t asked for any of this either, but like me, they had changed— morphed from the only version of themselves they had ever known. Like me, they were just trying to survive.

Like me, they were dangerous.

I clutched Zander’s eagle close to my chest and pressed on as we made our way toward the exit and tried desperately not to think about it. Zander had said it was more important now than ever to hold tight to those we hold most dear. I wanted more than anything to believe that were true. The doubt that lingered in the back of my mind refused to be silenced entirely. How many more people would have to die before I finally accepted the truth? Being close to me was putting all of them in danger.