Breed of Innocence (The Breed Chronicles, #01) (24 page)

We were halfway to the infirmary when we heard voices coming from that direction.

“Shit!”

“Come on,” Linc said, grabbing my arm and pulling me back the way we’d come. He came to a stop outside a door to the old garage and yanked it open before shoving me inside. When he closed it, what little light had shone through was gone now, leaving the garage in darkness.

The garage wasn’t used for parking anymore, because the majority of agents parked in the one behind the South Tower. According to Linc, it’d been renovated with walls so it was like one big, multi-leveled room with ramps. Now the teachers used it for exercises that required a lot of room, or demonstrations when it was raining outside.

Linc led the way, going to the left, toward the exit. Our footsteps echoed around us. It was nearly pitch-black, but I could make out the outlines of CMs—combat mannequins.

“Watch out,” I hissed when Linc came within inches of running into one. He stopped before he hit it, but the CM’s sensors picked up the movement. Its eyes lit up red, glowing creepily in the dark. Its arms started to move with quick, outward jabs. They were programmed for our Combat class, so we could practice outside of the classroom without hurting anyone.

“I didn’t even see it,” he whispered, glancing over his shoulder at me. “Maybe you should lead the way.”

“Okay.” I jogged up to him and then took hold of his hand before taking off again. We only made it a few feet before I heard the door creak open behind us. In the next second, the overheard lights flashed on. Linc and I stopped running and ducked behind columns. I didn’t see who had come in, but it didn’t take long for me to figure it out.

“Oh, Jade,” a female voice rang out in an almost happy singsong tone. “I know you’re in here.”

Felecia.

Linc and I exchanged looks. There was no way we’d make it outside without her seeing exactly where we were going. In the dark, we might’ve had a chance, but not now. We’d have to get past her before we could make our escape.

After a second, I realized I really didn’t have a problem with that.

Linc started to step forward and signaled me, but I shook my head and mouthed ‘mine’. He made a face, shrugged, then pointed to his watch. I nodded and moved to my left, ducking down behind one of the other mannequins. I closed my eyes and listened carefully. Faintly, I could hear her footsteps. She was headed away from us.

I ran to another column and another mannequin came to life. Felecia had either seen or heard it, because she stopped and started back in my direction. Her movements were slower now, and quieter.

I risked a quick look and found her standing about ten feet away. She was close to the door, as if trying to block it from us. Did she think we were stupid enough to go back that way?

“Come on, Jade. You can’t hide forever. Might as well just get this ass kicking over with.”

I inhaled a deep breath, and then released it slowly as I stood and took two steps right, out in the open.

Felecia spotted me immediately. A slow, vindictive smile curved her lips. “I’ve been waiting for this.” She cracked her knuckles and then shook her hands. “Permission to kick your ass.”

Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it actually pissed me off.
She
, the one who had jumped me—not once, but twice—had been waiting for this? The one who, at the first sight of a demon, had taken off and left me to fend for myself?

I balled my hands into fists and took a fighting stance. “Let’s go then.”

She moved in fast, throwing her arms around my neck and bringing her knee up into my stomach before I could react. I grunted.

She tried for the same move again, but I blocked her knee and brought my head up. The back of it crashed into her face. I winced and heard her footsteps as she stumbled. When I spun around to face her, she was holding her nose. Her eyes were thin slits. The look on her face was almost funny—an I-can’t-believe-you-did-that look that made me want to laugh out. She had no problem trying to kick someone else’s ass, but if they got a shot in, it was like they’d done something completely unbelievable.

She let her hands drop from her face and inspected them. “You’re going to regret that,” she said and threw a high punch. I managed to pivot mostly out of the way but it grazed the side of my neck.

I rubbed the spot she hit and shook my head. “You really don’t like losing, do you?” Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Linc moved from column to column, heading in the direction of the main exit. He spared me one get-it-done glance and then vanished from sight again.

I’d spent the last few months watching my back and trying to steer clear of her. Not anymore. Greene sent her after me and made it clear he didn’t want me here, so I didn’t have to worry about that.

And I wasn’t going to.

She extended her leg in a kick, then another. I jumped out of the way. She moved in and started throwing wild punches. Even with my fists up for protection, she managed to land in more hits than she missed, getting my stomach and arms—whatever she could manage.

I took a few steps back to dodge the majority of the punches and then ran at her. I rammed my right shoulder into her left one. There hadn’t been enough force behind it to knock her down like I’d hoped, but it made her stagger and bought me enough time to plant my foot on her stomach to kick her away. She lost her footing and fell.

“Just stay down,” I said and started to move past her.

I barely made it a step before she wrapped her hands around my ankles and yanked me down. I managed to pivot at the last second and hit the ground on my side instead of face-first. My hip screamed and my head still bounced off the ground, making me see stars. I was still trying to catch my breath when Felecia rolled and started to get up. Fighting against blurry vision and the pain in my hip, I forced myself to do the same and stood.

She got to her feet seconds before I did. The movement woke up another mannequin and it punched out, hitting her on the side of the head. She turned to see who her attacker was and got another hit in the face.

She kicked one of the CMs. It bobbed back and forth then tipped over. It fell into the one beside it and started a domino chain that sent four more to the ground. The other four mannequins came to life. Their arms flailed in the air, hitting her and the other CMs.

Felecia sneered at them.

The lights flashed off. Felecia twisted left and right, swinging out with wild punches that hit nothing but air. I charged her, putting my arm out to the side as I ran. My arm connected with her sternum and sent her back to the ground. Her head thudded on the concrete with a dull crack.

I couldn’t help but wince. Guilt tried squirming its way to the surface like a worm. I squashed it down. Felecia had no qualms with taking me out and had already demonstrated on more than one occasion that she didn’t care what happened to me.

I knelt down beside her and, as she tried sitting up, sent my fist into her face. Her eyes rolled back and her head went to the side. I shook my fist and scanned the area. Grabbing both her arms, I pulled her to a door marked
Storage
and opened it. It was a small room with spare mannequins, folding chairs, and a shelf full of miscellaneous stuff.

I dragged her inside and released her arms. I turned to leave but stopped and glanced down at her. As soon she came to, she’d come after us again—or, if she was smart, get more agents. Shaking my head, I grabbed one of the chairs, shut the door behind me, then braced the chair under the doorknob. It wouldn’t keep her trapped indefinitely, but it’d buy us some time.

I ran to the exit to meet back up with Linc. He already had the door open, looking anxious. When he spotted me, he shook his head and frowned. “Did you have to take so long?”

He started forward before I could answer, so I settled with rolling my eyes and following behind him.

We ran down the ramp that led out of the parking garage. If we kept going, we’d end up at the track and pool area. As we neared the end of the building, we slowed to a stop. I risked a quick glance around the corner, then whipped my head back as a set of lights moved over the ground.

“Agents,” I whispered.

The lights crept closer and closer. Linc and I retreated. Just when I thought we were about to get caught, the lights started to move away.

“That was close,” I breathed weakly.

Linc nodded. “Come on. We need to get to the guard shack. It’s the only way we can get off the property—unless you can leap an eight-foot high electric fence.”

We gave it a few seconds to make sure the agents didn’t come back, and then took off for the pool. We’d gone barely twenty feet before three agents came out of nowhere and ran at us.

Linc swerved to the right and two agents followed him. As the closer one approached him, Linc kicked the side of the guy’s knee and he dropped down. The other guy moved in and Linc swung around with a roundhouse that sent him flying.

The third guy sprinted for me. I waited until he was only a few feet away and then jumped up and kicked him. He threw his arms up before my feet connected and I ended up catching him in the shoulder. It was an awkward kick, so we both hit the ground. I landed awkwardly on my hip again, which had mostly stopped hurting until then. The hip pain had me moving slow, so the agent made it to his feet first.

“Give it up, Miss Hall,” the guy said, looming over me with a smug smile.

I sighed and looked up. “Mind helping me up, then?”

He shook his head but held out his hand.

Grinning, I grabbed it and, using the tried and true method that worked on Linc every time, brought my leg up into his stomach and pulled on his arm as I pushed him away with my legs. He soared over my head. I rolled to the side in time to see Linc punch him in the head as he landed.

I got to my feet and looked around. The two agents Linc had fought were sprawled on top of each other in the grass, making a human X. “Show off,” I muttered under my breath.

He flashed me a quick grin, then headed for the track.

The bleachers weren’t collapsed, so they provided enough cover for us to hide behind them. Linc stopped at the end of the rows and pointed toward the North Tower. There was a group of six agents patrolling out front. Their flash light beams were going in every direction.

“What’s your plan?” I asked, hoping he had one better than my simple
escape without getting caught
idea.

“To get to the woods. We’re about ten miles from anything, so we’ll have to hike a bit, but…”

“It beats being caught.” I nodded.

The CGE property was mostly surrounded by a river, providing few entrances—and exits, I thought sourly—so going out the front was pretty much the only way unless you wanted to swim in a gator-infested river. They did it that way on purpose, according to the info I’d read. Over the years, some of the locations had had problems with other organizations trying to breach their security and steal tech or information, so they tried building in places that would help deter that.

It’d seemed like a good thing at the time. But now that I was trying to escape, I wasn’t that thrilled with it.

Maybe I should have saved my money for a boat.

“Okay, I think they’re turning back,” Linc said, speaking softly. There was a slight pause before he gave me a not-so-gentle push. “Go!”

We stayed low to the ground but ran, not stopping until we were hidden behind the pool’s bleachers. I peeked around and saw more guards. None of them seemed to have seen us. I faced Linc. “I don’t think they spotted us.” Crouching down, I moved to the other side of him and looked toward the fence. “They really need more than one exit,” I muttered.

Linc shook his head. “If we get caught, you can mention your ideas to Greene.”

I peeked around the bleachers again. There were two agents around the guard shack at the gate. “And how do we get past the guards?”

“The same way we got here.”

“Running and then fighting when we have to?”

“Yup.”

Well, it
had
gotten us this far. “At least it’s only the two.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I frowned. “Why is it only two?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they don’t think we’ll get that far.”

It…didn’t quite make sense. It would have, maybe, except… “They have to know we’re out here, though. We’ve taken out agents and guards, inside the building and out.”

Clutching my hand in his, Linc said, “We’ll manage, Jade.”

We. As in the both of us. I hadn’t really thought about how helping me would affect him. “They’ll know you helped me, Linc. You’ll be in trouble.”

Pushing aside the guilt over Felecia had been easy. It wasn’t so easy where Linc was concerned. If we were caught, he’d be in as much trouble as me.

His gaze met mine, unwavering. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Jade.”

“I know that, and you think you know that. But why?” I dropped down. “Why are you risking so much for me?”

“You would have done the same.” He shrugged. “And if they can try to make you seem like a bad person, then they can do that to anyone. Not exactly the kind of place I want to stay. If we have to, we can hunt demons together, because I’m not stopping.”

My stomach fluttered. It wasn’t exactly the most romantic line in the world, but it was the sweetest thing I’d heard.

I nodded slowly because I wasn’t quite sure what to say. His response was very…logical. But he had that uncomfortable look some guys got when they had to express their feelings. That kind of terrified/pained expression I used to find so funny.

“It’s now or never,” he said, taking my hand and dragging me to my feet before he released his hold.

I started after him and glanced over my shoulder. There were three dark Hummers coming out from around the South Tower. “We’ve got company!”

Linc didn’t bother looking back, just ran faster. He was at least five feet ahead of me when I tripped over something. I hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud, rolled, and ended up face first in the grass.

Linc swore under his breath and then ran back for me. His arms went under mine and he hauled me to my feet. This time when we ran, he made sure his pace matched mine.