Zoey Avenger (Incubatti Series Book 2) (28 page)

Vaguely she grew aware of the person working in the space beside her, where Vikki normally fought. Uncertain what to do about the crazy masked man, she assessed with no small amount of surprise that he knew exactly what he was doing. He kept pace with her, his faultless aim and effortless agility a deadly combination. He predicted her movements in a way the Cambions weren’t able to, his weapons flashing inches from her as they whirled and wove by one another in tandem.

Unable to spare her focus on him for long, Zoey decided he was good enough to hold his own and concentrated on the task at hand.

“Zoey!” Chrissy’s cry came in stereo once more.

Zoey spared a glance towards the van, where three Cambions were making a beeline towards the dazed human hanging out of the top of the vehicle.

“Shit.” Zoey buried one sword to the hilt in a Cambion and whipped out a knife, flinging it before she returned to her deadly dance.

One of the three fell, but the other two were too close.

“Cover me, V … you,” she said to the masked figure.

He nodded his head once to indicate he understood.

Zoey slashed free of the fight and sprinted towards the van. She threw another knife that landed in the thigh of a second Cambion before tackling him and flinging him into the van. Shredding his throat with her sword, she clambered towards the third, who had shoved Chrissy back into the van.

Zoey grabbed him and braced her feet against the hot metal at the underside of the van, hauling him off. She finished him with a single strike and leapt onto the van, climbing to the top. “Chrissy!” she called frantically. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, god no, Zoey!” Chrissy was clawing her way back to the top. “Run! I dropped a gre-”

An explosion tore through the exposed underside of the van. Pain split Zoey’s ears before everything fell silent, and she was flying, burning, flaying wildly towards the forest …

She blacked out a moment before she smashed into the thick trunk of a nearby tree.

Chapter Twenty: Shocked

“We got Lydia and Chrissy, two dead Halflings but no Zoey,” Wes reported via the comms piece in Declan’s ear.

Declan managed not to curse aloud, throw his phone or rip open the throat of Paul, who sat across from him in the Town Car as they made their way back to DC from the secret underground lab of Olivia’s. Still buzzing with adrenaline from the ill-fated raid, he’d been forced away for the search for Zoey when his brother warned him that Paul was headed to the battle scene. The mask was wadded in his pocket, his clothes in the back.

Zoey’s mind was blank, a sign she was either knocked unconscious, dead or in blackout mode. Worse, she wore the armband, so he had no idea where to find her.

“Anyone in any shape for interrogation?” Paul asked.

“Lydia is out. I’m not sure she’ll make it.” The clipped note in Wes’s voice hid an emotion Declan understood all too well. As intended soul-mates, Wes and Lydia hadn’t been able to commence their courtship yet because of all the drama with Team Rogue. Declan’s heart ached for his brother at the idea of losing a soul-mate. “Chrissy is awake,” Wes added.

“Ah, the human. Good.” Paul’s smile pissed of Declan even more. “I imagine a couple of my Cambions will be enough to make her talk.”

“Getting her to talk is my job, not yours,” Declan said calmly. “You are welcome to watch, but you will not participate.”

“You want her taken to interrogation?” Wes asked.

“Yeah. Send in Aiden. No Cambions.”

Paul’s smile faded. “How is your father, Declan?”

“Better. Out of his coma, but still weak.”

“Good. I had thought we might need to discuss you getting another promotion if he didn’t make it.”

“But he did make it, so there’s nothing to discuss.” Declan didn’t look away from the Cambion with eyes of two separate hues, not about to give Paul the satisfaction of having the last word. They both knew the Cambion leader had a hand in the abduction, except Declan couldn’t prove it yet and was forbidden from calling out the Paul-Olivia alliance by the politics of his position. He was about to say something he’d probably regret, when the connection to Zoey opened.

She was alive and drawing heavily off their bond, a sign she was hurt badly. Declan resisted the urge to turn the car around and find her. Wes was on site. If he didn’t find her, the Cambions wouldn’t either. She needed space to heal, even if that meant Declan was left in a state of agitation and worry fifty miles away in DC.

“Congrats on the successful raid,” Paul added. “I didn’t think you had it in you to turn on your soul-mate, but kidnapping your father must’ve been a real eye opener.”

“You have no idea,” Declan replied.

Paul appeared content with the response, and Declan was happy for them to sink into silence. He couldn’t stand the Cambion in the car with him, more so because the raid wouldn’t have gone off until Declan was certain Zoey was clear, if not for Paul forcing his hand.

The progress he made with Zoey on the personal front wasn’t going to matter if he was the reason her people ended up dead. Unable to sit back when he was expected to execute a raid, he had warned her via text without considering she wouldn’t be able to receive it underground. She was supposed to be gone before he arrived.

No part of him thought he’d escape the blame for the dead Halfling and the injuries of Chrissy and Lydia. He may have left a favorable impression on his own people, but he knew the opposite was true of Zoey.

They arrived back at Site Z a short time later. Declan headed to the interrogation rooms, located outside of the small prisoner holding area in one wing, not about to let Paul have the chance to confront the pure human. He stopped first at his office to release a deep breath and checked his phone for texts.

Nothing from Zoey. Declan let loose a loud curse, furious at himself for the raid. He took a moment to calm his temper, grabbed a bottle of water and strode out, headed towards the interview rooms.

A member of the security forces opened the door for him into the observation booth, where Liam stood, arms crossed and watching. Vikki’s mate, Liam was every bit the overbearing older brother – and Declan’s best friend.

“Wes is in sick bay,” Liam said. “Lydia’s bleeding internally.”

“If I need to put our preferred doctor in there, let me know,” Declan said, referring to the physician that had a history working with the mother of the nine brothers.

“I think he can handle it,” Liam said, amused. “Aiden on the other hand …” He shook his head.

Declan peered through the one-way mirror into the interrogation booth, pitying the human stuck in a small room with a super-incubus.

Chrissy was curled up on the floor in tears. Aiden had replaced her armband, probably to help buffer the effect he had on her. He seemed a little out of place, though, and glanced towards the window with a shrug.

“Ever think about how we don’t have a fucking clue what to do with humans if we’re not fucking them?” Liam asked, sounding equally bemused. “How do they work?”

“I don’t think we really can deal with them, or we wouldn’t be segregated as a society.” Declan pulled out his cell and texted Grant Brown. “Wes say anything more about Zoey?”

“Nothing. Vikki isn’t talking to me again.”

“Is she safe?”

Liam was quiet, and Declan imagined him checking through their link the way he did Zoey. “Feels like it.” Liam faced him. “You wanna tell me what all that talk about her being sick is about?”

“Not sick. Pregnant.”

Liam tilted his head. “Vikki?”

“Yeah. It’s why Zoey sent her here.” Expecting his brother to react poorly, the way Vikki seemed to think he would, Declan was puzzled by the amused look that crossed Liam’s features.

“Those girls got issues,” Liam said and shook his head. He returned his gaze to the worst interrogation Declan had ever seen and leaned forward, clicking on the intercom between the two rooms. “You’re scaring her, Aiden. Come on out.”

“I’m not scaring her,” Aiden replied. “I was there when Zoey told her to curl up in a ball and cry if she ever got caught by one of us. She’s playing me.”

Chrissy’s crying paused, and she sneaked a glance at him.

Declan saw it. Zoey always tried to take care of her people.

“You see?” Aiden shifted to point. He was grinning. “I caught you, Chrissy.”

The human Zoey had adopted for reasons Declan didn’t fully understand sighed and pushed herself into a sitting position. Her eyes were bleary, and her shallow wounds had been bound. With cocoa skin and warm, brown eyes, she was the height of a succubus but bore the baffled innocence of a human.

“Chrissy, what exactly do you do for Zoey?” Declan asked through the intercom.

Her eyes lifted in his direction, taking on a dreamy quality at the sound of his voice. The band was strong enough to neutralize the influence of a super-incubus, but even Grant went a little smiley whenever Declan was around.

“Whatever,” she murmured. “Doctor, scientist, engineer.”

“Chrissy’s a genius,” Aiden supplied, sitting down in the folding chair beside the table at the center of the room. “Dropped out of MIT and Yale, right?”

She nodded. “I have an IQ of two-twenty and a photographic memory. I can learn anything by reading. Zoey says being smart is my superpower.”

Declan leaned back, not sure why he was impressed when he knew how effective his soul-mate was. Zoey thought with her heart and overreacted to most challenges, but she was calculating enough to know when and where she needed help.

“Where’s the rendezvous?” Aiden asked.

“I don’t know. The five core members of Team Rogue were the only who ever really knew all the details. They never left me alone.”

“How did you even meet these girls?”

“Zoey saved me from Cambions,” Chrissy said, hushed. “I owe her my life. I told her I’d do whatever it took to help her protect others the way she did me.”

Warm emotion stirred within Declan. He knew how huge Zoey’s heart was, and Chrissy was a glowing representation of how much good Zoey did.

“Did I blow her up?” Chrissy squeaked, tears in her eyes.

“No. She’s fine,” Declan replied.

“Lydia, too?”

“We’re not sure yet.”

Chrissy choked back an audible sob.

“We’ll fix her up,” Aiden added more gently. “We need you to answer a few questions, and we’ll set you free.”

“You will?”

“Grant’s headed down. He’ll keep you under watch as a neutral party,” Declan replied. “Your association makes you a target for Zoey’s enemies.”

Chrissy didn’t look pleased by the information.

“What were you doing in the lab?” he asked, hopeful she was able to fill in the story behind Zoey needing incubus samples.

Chrissy hesitated, torn. “I don’t want to tell you,” she whispered, more tears in her eyes.

“Look, Chrissy,” Aiden moved from the chair to sit down beside her, his back to the wall and hands resting on bent knees. “Behind the glass is Declan and Liam.” He lifted his eyes to Declan. “Anyone else?”

“Negative,” Liam replied.

“You know who they are, right?” Aiden asked her.

Chrissy nodded.

“You know me. I’m the on you didn’t let die.” He flashed her a smile. “No one here wants to hurt any of the members of Team Rogue.”

“You stabbed Zoey, Declan broke her heart and Liam told Vikki he didn’t want kids,” Chrissy pointed out.

“I did not say that!” Liam grated.

Chrissy raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“You’re right, Chrissy. We’ve been pretty shitty soul-mates,” Declan purred, aware of what his voice did to humans. “But we’re trying to help now. So can you help us help Zoey and Vikki?”

“Yeah,” she said, a glazed expression on her features.

“Focus, honey,” Aiden said. “Start with what you were doing in the lab.”

“I figured out what Olivia was doing to the Halflings and why Zoey has blackouts,” Chrissy began.

Declan shifted forward, intrigued by the honest answer. With some hesitation, Chrissy explained what they learned and what she hoped to do with some decent lab time. As she spoke, the reasons behind the alliance between Olivia and Paul became clearer to him.

This wasn’t just about the Sucubatti Halflings. Olivia’s genetic dappling would give the Cambions the ability to live independently of the incubuses that stabilized them.

He and Liam exchanged a look. Liam clicked the microphone off and leaned away from the glass.

“I like her,” Liam said.

“Chief, visitor,” a voice told him over the intercom system from the command center.

Declan clicked the microphone on. “Send him down.”

“This changes things,” Liam continued. “Dad wanted an overt sign. This is it.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how we’ll draw out Paul though,” Declan replied, mind racing. “My hands are tied. Everything is right here, but I can’t touch it.” He indicated the space in front of him with frustration.