Ballistic: Icarus Series, Book Two (9 page)

“We have to go, Liv,” Zander said.

“What about him?” Falisha nodded at the man strapped to the chair.

“What
about
him?” Jake shrieked. “We don’t owe that son of a bitch
anything
.”

“But…but…I—I can help!” Tim begged, his eyes searching the group for a sympathetic face. “Let me go and I will help you.”

“Don’t listen to him, Liv,” Jake said. “He’s crazy.”

“Help us, how?” I stepped forward.

“Liv,” Jake reached for me. Zander caught his hand and shook his head.

“You don’t help people.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You left all those people to die. You shot my friend. You are a selfish, unstable, vile little man, and I don’t trust you.”

“I know where you can hide!” He screamed at me. “There’s a safe place. Let me go and I…I’ll tell you where it is. I swear, please.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I asked him.

“You don’t,” the man said. “But you are out of options, right?”

“Tell me,” I said. “Tell me first, and I will let you go.”

“You’re lying,” Tim sobbed, and he began struggling against his ties once again. “You are going to leave me here.”

“I won’t,” I said. “I wouldn’t.”

“Promise me,” he said his eyes boring into mine. Tears dripped from the end of his nose. “Promise me you will set me free, and I will tell you.”

“We are running out of time.” Zander’s jaw clenched. His eyes flashed, and he rubbed anxiously at his chest. “We need to move, Liv.”

“Promise me!” Tim shouted.

“I promise,” I said putting my hands on the arms of the chair, so my face was less than an inch from his. “Now, tell me.”

“
Liv!
” Zander’s fists clenched, and he jerked his head to the side, his darkened eyes narrowed with the strain.

“There’s a safe,” Tim said in a rush. “A vault, actually.”

“Where?” Zander growled.

“It’s behind the tapestry in the Renaissance Room.” Tim jerked his head toward the table that had fallen on us earlier. It rested against a large wooden door painted to look like a drawbridge. “Gabe and I found it before you showed up. We stashed our supplies in there.”

A loud crash echoed through the foyer as the stack of crates we had braced the door with crashed to the floor. The clacking of the creatures’ teeth and the scraping of their claws as they scrambled against the vinyl tiles reverberated around us like a laser in a mirror hall. The demons rounded the corner and spilled out into the vestibule. They rushed at us in a black wave of talons and teeth. The leader of the pack leaped through the air toward us, its vestiges of loose skin allowing it to glide as it honed in on its target. Jake.

Ty snatched the creature in mid-air stopping it short of its intended prey, then slammed it onto the floor, and crushed it under his boot. Jake’s eyes were wide, and his jaw dropped as he stared down at the thing that had nearly attacked him.

“I don’t think so,” Ty growled down at it, the thing’s bones crunching under his weight. “Ugly little
sss-critter.”

No sooner had he fended the first of the beasts off that another leaped towards us, and another. Jake swung his backpack in the air and managed to bat away one that had its sights set on Ty. The second he turned his back, one of them latched on to his pant leg and started tearing through the fabric with its claws.

“Get it off,” Jake shouted shaking his leg furiously.

“Hold still, Jake!” Ty grabbed a nearby waste bin, dumped its contents onto the floor, and slammed it down on top of the creature, trapping it beneath. “This ain’t gonna hold for long. There’s a bunch more comin’ y’all. We have to bail!”

One of the rat-like monsters had Riley backed against the wall a few feet away. Falisha rushed at it and booted the thing like a football, sending it soaring across the lobby. It spread its front legs at just the right moment, and its wing-like skin flaps allowed it to glide in a wide arc right back toward us. Its teeth clicked and gnashed as it set its sights on them once again.

I reached down, slid Tim’s shoe from his foot and launched it in the air before I even realized what I was doing. The size twelve flew across the room pin-wheeling end over end before colliding with the animal just inches from Falisha’s face. It, and the shoe, slammed into the wall with enough force that both went crashing to the floor equally inanimate.

“Holy hell,” she shouted turning to me. “Thanks, Sarge.”

“Go!” I hissed.

She grabbed Riley’s hand and tugged her toward the door to the Renaissance Room. I turned back to Tim, desperately tearing at his restraints. The knots Jake had tied were apparently done quite skillfully. I was struggling to loosen them.

One of the creatures slid across the slick vinyl tile and slammed into my boot. Its razor-sharp teeth ground together as it attempted to sink into the thick leather. I kicked at it absently until it released my foot, then set back to work on the cables that held Tim’s right hand. Bella grabbed the black monster by the head and shook it about until it stopped moving. Zander crushed another beneath his boot.

“Hurry,” Tim shouted. “They’re coming! Please, you promised—.”

“We need to go, Liv,” Zander shouted. He stepped between me, and the surging hoard of sharp teeth and slashing claws that rushed in our direction.

“Please, don’t leave me here,” Tim cried frantically. “I don’t want to die. Gabe…Gabe help me!”

“Come on,” I screamed at the cables, willing them to unbind. “Zander, please help me.”

“Damn it,” Zander shouted.

His armored hand swung through the air just inches from my face, smashing one of the angry little demons in mid-air as it leaped toward me. He was already tugging on the chords around Tim’s other wrist before the vile creature even hit the ground. In no time, he managed to loosen the knots enough for Tim to yank his hand free.

The rest of his limbs were still securely bound to the heavy wooden throne. With only one hand to defend himself, Tim was unable to fend off the attack.

“Ugh, get it off me!” He screamed as one of the creatures sunk its teeth into the side of his leg. “Gabe, where are you?”

I grabbed the monster by the haunches, ripped it free of Tim’s leg, and threw it as hard as I could across the foyer. It didn’t go willingly or without a trophy for its efforts, though. It gnashed and gnawed on the chunk of flesh in its jaws as it sailed through the air. Its small body slammed into the claw machine leaving a trail of blood and black viscous to the floor. It chewed that hunk of flesh until its body went limp.

The bastards were everywhere, closing in on us from all sides. Tim was howling in pain. Blood poured from the gouge on his leg. Two more of the loathsome beasts were already feasting on the wound.

I kicked and swung at them in a frenzy, determined to exonerate the prisoner we had unknowingly sentenced to death. There were too many of them. For every one I exterminated, ten more took its place. Their teeth and claws were everywhere, biting and tearing indiscriminately.

“We have to go,” Zander grabbed my hand and pulled. “Now, Liv!”

“Let go of me,” I resisted lunging toward the chair. “I promised him.”

“There’s no time,” Zander growled dragging me along.

“Gabe!” Tim howled.

His screams echoed through the room as the writhing, black wave completely engulfed his body.

Chapter 7

Safe

“Hold the door,” Zander shouted as he pulled me into the Renaissance Room.

Ty threw himself at the door. Jake and Falisha rushed to help, pressing themselves in at his side. Their combined weight was barely enough to hold back the throng of creatures that were rushing at it. Thousands of teeth and claws scraped and scratched against the wood like tiny saw blades, hell-bent on felling a tree. The frenzied clamor was still not enough to drown out Tim’s agonized screams beyond the door.

“Over here,” Riley shouted. “Help me pull it down, Liv.”

She hung onto the side of a giant tapestry that was mounted to the wall on the opposite side of the room. Despite the chaos around me, I was temporarily awestruck by its elaborate design. At the center of the blood red background sat a pit of flames. Skulls floated on amber waves. The perimeter of the hell-pit was formed by a great black viper, eating its own tail. My body numbed as I stared at it, my eyes tracing the endless struggle entrenched in the weaving before me.

“
Olivia
!” Riley shouted snapping me out of my trance. “Get over here and help me.”

“Right, sorry,” I shook my head and latched on to the opposite side of the enormous wall hanging.

“Pull,” Zander grunted as he grabbed onto the bottom and yanked with all his might.

A massive wooden pole bracketed the top of the piece with rope threaded through it. The cording was anchored by a giant bolt near the ceiling that had been sunk into the concrete wall. The three of us tugged at it as hard as we could, but it refused to come loose. At one point, our feet left the floor, but even our combined body weight and Zander’s strength was not enough to free it from the brackets.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Eli threw his pack over his shoulder, slid the knife from Zander’s hip, and lashed out with the blade in hand. “This is hardly the time for preserving the arts.”

Zander stepped away, and Eli shoved past him lancing through the middle of the tapestry with Zander’s knife. He sliced it clean down the center sending Riley and I swinging to either side where we collided with the wall.

“Jesus, Eli,” I groaned releasing my grip on the fabric and falling to the floor.

Eli was on a mission it seemed, and reacting to my verbal berating was not a part of it. His gaze was fierce and his concentration complete. Once he had pierced the twined jute backing of the wall hanging he set to work destroying what was left of it. He slashed and hacked at the tapestry until it was little more than shreds of blood-colored fabric piled at his feet.

“Tada!” He bowed dramatically his glasses sliding down his sweat soaked face. He gestured toward the vault door as he kicked the remnants to the side. “Now, could we
please
?”

The vault door was not nearly as big as I had imagined, but it was plenty big enough for us to squeeze through. On the center of the door, in raised lettering, were the words
Chicago Safe & Lock Co
. The entire panel had been painted a flat black, several times judging by the marbled texture, but the coating did little to disguise the rust that had settled within the cogs of the locking mechanism. Zander cranked it as best he could, but the wheel refused to budge.

“Damn it. It’s locked,” he said, kicking at the door. The impact of his boot set the metal door ringing within its frame.

“It can’t be,” Jake said rushing forward.

Ty and Falisha faltered a bit under the extra strain of his absence against the door. They managed to hold back the onslaught and Jake lunged for the vault’s locking mechanism. He tugged and pulled on the spinner but his efforts were wasted, and nowhere near what Zander was capable of. After a few seconds of fitted rage, he pressed his forehead against the metal and flattened his palms on either side.

“This can’t be happening,” his voice caught in his throat.

“Pushing isn’t always the answer,” I whispered, rubbing my sore shoulder.

Jake grabbed onto the wheel housing and pulled. The hinges groaned and squeaked. Jake clenched his jaw and pulled harder, grunting against the weight of the massive gate. The sound of metal grinding against metal had my ears ringing, but the door budged a fraction of an inch from the frame. Zander grabbed on and tugged alongside him and a few seconds later the empty vault gaped back at us.

“You actually got it,” Christa shouted, shock evident on her face.

“Everybody inside!” Zander shouted as he scooped his pack up off the floor and took Ty’s place holding the door. “Grab your sister and go.”

Jake gave Ty a look then scooped Christa up under his arm and dragged her across the room. The two of them dove through the opening of the vault and Falisha followed close after clicking her light on as she went.

“Come on,” she said, poking her head back out. “Get your butts in here!”

“Ummm,
Liv
?” Riley backed away her arms tightening around her chest.

“We have to, Ry,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

I grabbed Riley by her arm and shoved her through the opening. Eli climbed in after her; his precious pack clutched in his hands as he stumbled off into the darkness beyond.

“Go, Ty,” Zander said bracing his full weight against the door. “I got this.”

“You’re sure?” Ty groaned, still leaning against it. “I don’t want to leave—.”

“Go!” Zander yelled. Ty flinched but nodded grimly and sprinted to the vault door, crouching low to fit through the small opening. “Go, Liv.”

“Zander, no,” I shook my head. The door was surging at his back as he struggled to hold it shut.

“I’m right behind you,” he growled. “I swear. Now, go!”

“Damn it.” I reluctantly stepped into the vault. Once inside, I poked my head back through the door and screamed out at him. “Come on, Zander!”

“On the count of three,” Zander hissed still struggling to keep the monsters at bay behind the heavy wooden door. “One…two….ahhh!”

He lunged forward, darting straight for me as the door finally collapsed to the ground behind him. A tidal wave of the hideous monsters rushed into the room behind him, and I slid aside just as he dove through the opening. It took both of us to close the vault door. We managed to crush a couple of the things in it when we did. The second the door slammed shut I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding and sank to the floor as a collection of light beams shot our direction.

“Zander, your arm!” Falisha shouted pointing to the tiny creature that dangled from his blackened wrist.