Ballistic: Icarus Series, Book Two (37 page)

“Exactly.” He narrowed his mismatched eyes. “Think about that for a minute.”

“I don’t—” Lucas opened his mouth to argue.

“Shhh.” The stranger cut him off and cocked his head to the side. “She’s coming. You need to go, kid.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you promise me something,” Lucas crossed his arms.

“What?” The young man hissed his eyes wide.

“Promise me you won’t give up,” Lucas said, crouching down on the ground in front of the bed.

“Are you kidding? You don’t even know me.” He narrowed his eyes at Lucas. “Seriously, kid. You need to go.”

“Not until you say it,” Lucas said, staring at the door while he dug around in his sock.

He could hear her, now, too. Dr. Zucker’s voice preceded her as she stomped down the hallway toward the clinic. Lucas hadn’t thought it was possible, but she sounded even angrier than she had when she left. Seconds later, she was at the door, fumbling with her keys as she barked orders at Weaver.

“Well?” Lucas tapped his foot impatiently, refusing to budge. He was scared of being caught, but somehow the thought of this young man giving in to despair was far more terrifying.

“Fine, I promise. I won’t quit,” the young man hissed, his eyes flashing like a cornered animal. “Now, go!”

“You have to finish the game,” Lucas whispered. He stuck the tiny map into the young man’s pocket and slid the scalpel into his bloody palm. “We can’t let them win.”

Chapter 33

Into the Chipper

Tessa was right. There was no way for us to safely destroy the beasts while they were still inside the plane. Fighting them in close combat was tantamount to suicide. Actually, it was probably more like throwing yourself into a wood-chipper dangling off the edge of a cliff. We needed to get them out of there and fight them on solid ground where we could maneuver and hopefully defend ourselves. But how?

The passenger door was not going to be an option. It was crushed beyond recognition by the severed tail end from a 747. The windows would be far too small and, according to Tessa, next to impossible to break. Despite the insane amount of damage done, there were no obvious breeches in the hull of the craft. If there had been, they would likely have extricated themselves already.

The creatures howled and thrashed about inside the plane as we searched for a way to free them. Their teeth and claws scraped furiously against the opposite side of the tinted glass, desperate to sink into our flesh. The scuffle in the cabin rocked the teetering wreckage from side to side. Metal ground against metal and the plane shifted, sending a piece of metal flying through the air.

“J-Jesus,” Devon sputtered, narrowly dodging the shrapnel headed toward him.

“There’s jet fuel everywhere,” Zander said. “If that thing falls, it could throw a spark and light this place up like the Fourth of July. We need to get them out of there before they capsize it and kill all of us.”

“Looks like we’ll have to have to pry open the cargo door.” Tessa shielded her eyes, pointing up at the rear of the precariously angled plane.

“You mean the cargo door that is currently fifteen feet in the air?” I grunted as a familiar spark rolled through my chest. “I can do a lot of things, Tessa, but flying is not one of them.”

“What about you, boyfriend?” Tessa asked Zander. “You think you claw your way up there and bust open the gates of Hell for us?”

“I’m sure I could manage,” Zander said leaning his weapon against a pile of obliterated luggage, “but it’s going to be a little—.”

“N-no Z. You’re t-too heavy,” Devon said stepping in front of Zander. “It has to b-be m-m-me.”

“Dev, I don’t know.” Tessa suddenly looked worried.

“I s-said I g-got it,” Devon said, his jaw set. “J-j-just be ready.”

He slid his crowbar into the back of his belt and took a deep breath. His fists were clenched at his side as he slowly approached the crushed nose of the plane. The twisted debris creaked and groaned as Devon climbed. He maneuvered up into the gaping end of the passenger plane’s tail and disappeared inside of it.

He popped his head out of the hole near the rudder a few minutes later, his face drenched with sweat. He waved down at us, and then carefully climbed out onto the horizontal struts jutting out from the side. Devon inched his way to the edge on his hands and knees. Tessa paced back and forth, wringing her hands as he scaled the plane.

“Can you climb over?” Tessa yelled up at him, shielding her eyes.

“T-too f-far,” he yelled down, clutching onto the elevator for dear life. “I g-gotta j-jump.”

Devon slowly climbed to his feet, his arms stretched wide, balancing in a crouch like a surfer shooting the curl. He sidestepped closer to the edge and steadied himself to leap across. The gap between the end of the metal flap and the wing of the smaller plane had to be nearly six feet. It was the only place wide enough for him to land on safely. Especially at that angle.

“Please make it. Please make it.” Tessa muttered, reaching for her ax.

Devon shot us a quick thumbs up then turned and vaulted through the air. His toe caught on the very edge of the charter plane’s wing. His arms spun wildly at his sides, and he wavered back and forth. Finally, his momentum sent him plunging forward. His chest slammed into the wing’s surface, and his face was soon to follow.

“Ugh,” Devon grunted at the impact.

He managed to grab hold of the upper lip of the wing, but the lower half of his body dangled over the edge. If he lost his hold and fell, there would be nothing but twisted aluminum and debris to cushion his fall. Devon struggled desperately for purchase and flung his foot up over the edge in an attempt to climb back onto the wing.

In the process, he kicked one of the slats free of its housing. It clattered to the ground. Metal ground against metal and the smaller plane shifted farther away from the tail that held it in place. Devon’s body bounced up off the wing and came back down, hard. The crowbar dangling from his belt pierced the back of his thigh. He took the beating and held on tight.

“I’m…o-k-kay!” He managed as he finally heaved himself up onto the wing.

“Jesus, Dev,” Tessa gasped, pressing her hand to her heart.

Devon waved his okay and then turned his back on us. He left a trail of blood as he cautiously crept up the wing. I could smell the coppery tang of it from where I stood, so I wasn’t surprised when the frenzy inside the plane ignited into a full on riot.

“They can smell the blood. He’s setting them off,” I groaned covering my nose and stifling a gag.

Zander turned to me, his eyes narrowed in confusion. The plane shook violently as the creatures flung themselves at the walls. Sparks flew as the charter plane ground against the tail of the 747.

“Get them out of there, now!” Zander roared, clutching his double-ended blade.

Devon nodded, pulling the bloody crowbar from his belt. He wedged the beveled edge into the gap around the cargo bay, took a deep breath, and leaned into it. He grunted and groaned. He pressed with all his might against the fulcrum of the lever. The door creaked and groaned in its frame, but it didn’t budge. Devon stood, breathing hard, the pry bar still jutting from the span gap. He threw his hands up in frustration.

“I think you’re on the hinge side,” Zander shouted up at him. “Try switching it.”

Another thumbs up.

It took some effort to extricate the pry bar from where he’d wedged it, but soon enough Devon had it in place on the opposite side of the hatch. He gave it a quick push to test the resistance, then turned to us and nodded resolutely.

“G-g-get r-ready,” he spat as he threw himself against the iron bar. The hatch popped free with Devon swinging from the top of it.

It made sense that their alpha would be the first. His jet-black eyes locked on mine the moment he clamored free of the hold.

Something exploded inside of me, flooding my body with adrenaline. Crackles of white-hot electricity shot from my center to my fingers and toes. The ache in my chest was gone. The raging migraine I’d been lugging around for the last few days evaporated. I no longer felt the pain in my ribs. I felt nothing but sheer, unadulterated fury.

Hunger.

The alpha bared his teeth at me and growled. He pounded the metal surface with his fists and gnashed his putrid teeth together. One by one, the rest of the starving leeches struggled through the cargo door and scrambled out onto the wing at his side. His eyes never left mine. He cocked his head to the side with a sneer and rose up on to his feet. With a high-pitched howl, he unleashed his minions.

They dove to the ground as though the height was mere inches. Their teeth and claws lashed out wildly in all directions. One of them was on Tessa in a matter of seconds. She swung her ax in front of her, slashing it across the chest. It rolled to the side and slammed into the tailpiece while another took its place.

Zander was completely surrounded. The largest of the beasts had focused their attention on him, slashing, and clawing at him from all directions. His blade spun through the air, meeting them strike for strike and spraying the area with their blood.

A smaller leech, presumably a female judging by the shredded pink camisole top it wore, jumped from a pile of debris and sailed through the air in my direction. I spun away, bashing her in the side of the head with the butt of my bat as she flew past me.

She landed on her back and skidded to a halt against a large chunk of debris sticking out from the ground. The jagged edge of the metal impaled her shoulder. It pinned her there. She struggled against it, tearing at her own flesh and bone to get free.

“Stay,” I growled at her, clutching Louie firmly in my hands.

She hissed and snapped her teeth defiantly as two more leeches scrambled toward me. The larger of the two hobbled awkwardly, dragging a broken leg behind him. He was oblivious to the shard of bone protruding from his thigh. The other was small and crafty. It juked and twisted its way through the maze of twisted debris, leaping back and forth with the grace of a cat. His partner stormed straight at me, his tunnel vision blinding him to anything but the pulse beating steadily in my throat.

Both of them looked hungry, anxious to rip flesh from bone. They growled and snapped their jaws in tandem. My attention shot from one to the other, unsure of which would strike first.

“T-tessa!” Devon shouted, still dangling from the plane’s hatch.

He kicked his feet out, toeing the edge of the wing as he scrambled for purchase. The alpha was still perched at the end of it. He spun on Devon and stalked toward him. His teeth ground together.

“Gah!” Tessa shrieked.

One of the beasts had her pinned. Zander rushed to her aid, burying the end of his blade in the creature’s skull, its jaw locking shut mere inches from Tessa’s neck. She nodded her thanks, turning away from the onslaught in time to narrowly dodge another. Tessa dropped to a crouch and thrust her ax up into the thing’s belly as it leaped toward her. A surge of black muck rained down, covering Tessa’s face and soaking her hair. Her glasses clattered to the ground.

“Help…Devon,” she shouted pointing up at the plane as she spat the murky guts out onto the ground.

“Behind you!” Zander shouted at me as he tossed a mass of black flesh to the ground.

He crushed its head beneath his boot, raised the Ruger, and pulled the trigger, leveling my would-be attackers in a hail of gunfire. The diversion had served its purpose, allowing the real threat to flank me and move in for the kill.

The world around me slowed to a near halt. I felt the creature’s presence pressing in the air around me. I spun on my heel, blade hungry and eyes wild, burying Louie in the side of the beast’s head. Its claws raked across my face as it flew past me and landed at the feet of the female.

She didn’t see it. Her eyes were glued to her master. The beast dangled Devon over the wing of the plane, his hand clutched around the boy’s throat. The alpha roared, she turned to me, and her lips peeled back in a vengeful sneer.

With a final lunge, she tore herself free leaving her arm behind as a trophy for her efforts. Dazed but undaunted, she struggled to her feet and rushed me again, fueled by a single-minded determination to feed. Despite critical injury, the beast was incredibly fast.

I was faster.

Her body landed in a bloody heap at my feet. Her head, who knows where? After that, it was all just a blur of blood and blade. A trail of scorched bodies and severed flesh marked my path through the wreckage.

The alpha was
mine
.

* * *

My body hummed and shook like a live wire. My shoulders heaved as I struggled to catch my breath. Zander’s lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my own heartbeat. His blood-soaked hands bracketed my face, his eyes dark with worry as he desperately searched my face. He shook his head and pulled a piece of murky flesh from my hair. Tessa watched me through narrowed eyes as she wiped a slag of leech blood from her face. Devon sat hunched on a tattered suitcase, rubbing at the purple bruises forming around his throat.

“Talk to me, Liv,” Zander’s muffled voice finally broke through the pulsing hum in my head.

“I-is she all r-r-right?” Devon rose to his feet and tentatively made his way over. “L-liv, I’m s-sorry I hit—”

“Liv, what the hell
was
that?” Tessa cut him off, gesturing toward the plane.

Sludge and murky entrails dripped from the wing of the plane onto the ground below. There were dead leeches and severed body parts everywhere. I was covered in red-black blood from the end of my blade to my elbows. The alpha, or what was left of him, lay bludgeoned in a puddle at my feet. The last thing I remember was the female coming at me.

“I…I don’t know.” My stomach lurched. There was a chunk of bone lodged between the teeth of my blade. I picked at it with the toe of my boot, determined to set it free.