Breed of Havoc (The Breed Chronicles #3) (38 page)

The guard was laying face down in the grass, but I saw enough of his face to see who it was now: Adam.

I reached for his neck, then froze. My hand started to shake and nausea boiled in my stomach. What if he was dead?

“Don’t be dead,” I whispered. “You are not dead, you hear me? If you are, I’ll kick your ass!” With still trembling hands, I reached the last few inches and pressed my fingers against the side of his neck, right under his jaw. I almost cried when I felt a weak pulse against my fingers. Unconscious and hurt I could deal with. Dead was absolutely unacceptable.

I looked around wildly, hoping to see someone, but there wasn’t a soul in sight. Where had everyone gone? They’d taken off running, but then I hadn’t seen anyone else. Was it safe to call for help? I couldn’t just leave Adam here, out in the open and bleeding to death. He needed Doc, or even Dr. Asshat. Someone.

I did a quick search for his radio but it wasn’t there. The masked men…that’s what he’d been doing. He’d taken Adam’s radio.

Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Get Adam out of the open, then get help.
We couldn’t stay here, not where anyone—friend or foe—could see us.

“Sorry,” I whispered as I knelt by Adam’s head. I lifted him enough to get my arms under his, then dragged him toward the South Tower since the bad guys had all headed to the North. There were a few bushes on the side, so I pulled him behind those. I grabbed the knife from his belt and cut his shirt free. From it, I made a makeshift bandage.

He moaned and started to move as I tied the bandage in place.

“Shh. You’re going to be okay.”

He let out a hiss. “What’s going on?” he said, his voice low and raspy.

I leaned down close to his ear. “There are people here,” I said quickly. “Someone stabbed you. I’m going to find you some help, okay? Just stay here and stay quiet.”

“Don’t—”

I pushed him down when he tried sitting up. “Stay. You need help. You’re losing too much blood.”

His eyes, which had been closed to that point, fluttered open. “Jade—”

“Stay,” I said again, harsher this time. “Don’t make me knock you out.”

Weakly, he reached down and pulled something from his belt. It was a gun. He shoved it in my bloody hands. “Take this.”

I looked down at it and shook my head. I knew
how
to use a gun, but I didn’t want to use one, not on a person. Not if I could help it. “I—I can’t.”

“Tranq.”

“You need it.”

“Boot.”

Boot? It took a second for his meaning to sink in. “Oh.” I reached for his boot and pulled out a small gun. I put it in his hand and took the tranq since he’d shoved it into mine again. “I’ll hurry.”

As I started to rise, he grabbed my hand. There was so little force behind it that I barely felt it. “Be careful.”

“I will. Stay here, and for crying out loud, stay alive.”

He shot me a weak, toothy smile. I didn’t want to leave him here looking so bad. His face was so, so pale. I swore, if he died before I got help, I’d bring his ass back just so I could kick it.

With one last look, I did a quick search of the area and crept out behind the bushes. My heart raced as I ran for the North Tower. The rate was steady, but it was pumping so hard and fast I thought it’d burst through my chest.

Where were the masked men? Had they found what they were looking for?

More importantly, where the hell were the CGE people?

I risked a quick glance through the doors. When I didn’t see anyone—good guy or bad guy—I tiptoed to the doors, opening them as quietly as I could. They didn’t creak or make any sounds, so I sent up a silent
thanks
to whoever kept them well oiled.

With my ears strained, I moved my way across the floor, toward the infirmary. I heard voices midway there and froze. They were searching rooms, but I had no idea who was doing the searching: the good guys or the bad guys. The voices got quieter and quieter, so I started running again.

Outside the infirmary doors, I heard something break. I raised the tranq gun in my hand, held it tight, and did my best to force my hands to stop shaking. I was training for this type of situation, wasn’t I? Maybe not a break-in with human intruders, but training to hunt, to be stealthy. To be smart, to be prepared.

God, I wasn’t prepared for this.

Taking a deep breath, I listened inside the room and heard one set of footsteps. I could take out one person…couldn’t I? Did I have a choice?

Shit.

I closed my eyes for a brief second and listened for more sounds. I just needed to know where the person in the room was standing and how close they were to the main door. After a second, I realized—hoped, really—they were near the rear exit.

Nausea rolled in my stomach. What if I had to use the gun? Tranq or not, I’d never used one on a person before. It was one thing using a fake one in class, or against a demon, but a real person…that was different.
I can do this, I can do this. Just aim and shoot. Don’t puke. Aim and shoot.

With a last not-nearly-steadying-enough breath, I raised the gun and kicked the door open.

“Don’t shoot!”

“Shit,” I said, lowering the gun as Doc dropped to the floor and covered her head. I let out a loud breath and forced my legs not to collapse under me. “It’s me, Doc.”

“Jade?” She didn’t lower her hands but did lift her head an inch. “What are you doing here?”

“Adam’s been stabbed, so grab some stuff. He needs help.”

Slowly, she got to her feet. “There are people here.”

Instinct took over and I re-raised the gun halfway up as I moved closer to her. “I know. Just get a bag—gauze, tape, and whatever else you’ll need to patch him up. Hurry!” I moved to the panel on the wall and pressed the button for security. No response. No sound, no light. It was dead. How had the intruders killed the electricity and the generators?

Doc dug through one of the supply cabinets to grab out a bag. She went to a machine beside one of the beds and pressed buttons on it. Quickly, it shot things out and she tossed them inside the bag. “Where is he stabbed, Jade? How bad is it?”

“Bad enough. Lower back, right side. He’s lost a lot of blood. Come on.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door. After a quick check, I looked over my shoulder. “Stay behind me, okay? If I say run, run. He’s on the side of the South Tower behind some bushes.”

Her eyes widened again and her head bobbed up and down.

Taking her hand in my mine, I led her down the hallway and outside. I checked around the side of the building first, then motioned Doc to go so I could cover her. She had just reached the bushes when I heard a voice behind me whisper, “Turn around.”

Doc started to move, but I saw Adam’s arm reach up and yank her down. I closed my eyes.
Thank you.
Slowly, keeping my tranq hand in front of me and out of sight, I turned around. It was one of the masked men.

“I’ve got someone—” He trailed off, his eyes zeroing in on the gun at the same second I aimed and pulled the trigger. The dart hit him in the chest. He blinked at me once, then twice, before falling face-first to the ground.

I had one minute of regret that wormed its way into my stomach because I’d had to shoot him. Then I glanced down at my hands and saw the mostly-dried blood. Adam’s blood. A friend’s blood. This guy—or one of people with him—had done that to Adam, had stabbed him when his back was turned. The regret turned to ice, then burned into fire. I narrowed my eyes and, though it might’ve been vindictive, kicked the guy at my feet. “One down, seven to go. That’ll teach you to—”

“To what?” a new voice said.

I couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like the guy I’d seen earlier, the one bossing people around.

Turning to the side, I looked up and raised the gun. By the time I fired, the man had already ducked out of the way. The tranq dart bounced off the wall and dropped somewhere around Adam and Doc. Before I could fire again, the man grasped the gun and tried jerking it out of my hand. I used the moves I’d learned in Combat and Weapons—things to do when someone tried disarming you—but he had counter moves for my counter moves.

Our eyes locked for an instant. His were a light blue, expressionless, and oddly creepy.

Finally, I gave up and released the gun with a shrug. A smile crept into his eyes. I punched him in the face and kicked him in the groin. He blocked the punch, but I was happy to say he didn’t avoid the kick, and I had the pleasure of watching his eyes roll back into his head before he fell forward.

I yanked the mask off. The man’s face was almost as pale as Adam’s, but his eyes stared into mine. Angry.
Creepy
, I thought again. The kind of eyes people described as looking like they could see through you. I turned to leave, but stopped and frowned instead. I’d seen the guy before, in New Orlando. He was the one who’d followed me. He was the one, if I had to guess, who’d almost gotten Chris into trouble. I gathered a fistful of his hair and brought my knee crashing into his face. I didn’t know if it’d knocked him out or how long it’d take him to get back to his feet, so I ran. Whoever the creep was, I had to keep him away from Doc and Adam.

I ran back inside the North Tower and tried opening doors as I came across them. After finding the first three locked, I decided this place needed more easily accessible hiding places or panic rooms. Maybe both. That left the bathrooms, cafe court, and infirmary. Those were the only rooms they didn’t keep locked. The bathrooms were too easy to get into and the cafe court didn’t have any doors. The infirmary didn’t have doors that locked, but at least it’d have something I could use as a weapon, right? They had to have scalpels or something.

I made it inside and slammed the doors shut. I yanked the nearest bed from the wall and pushed it front of the doors with enough noise to wake the dead. It wouldn’t keep anyone out long, but it’d slow them down and give the CGE people time to find me. Someone had to find me.

Didn’t they?

God, where was everyone? The hunters, the agents, the students. Where were Linc, Tasha, and Chris? Where the hell was Greene?

Not here to help, that’s where.

I pushed the thoughts aside as I pushed more things—anything and everything I could find or lift—in front of both exits. When that was done and I had barricaded myself in as much as I could, I went around the room and searched for something to use as a weapon. I found gauze, pads, and needle tubes, but nothing sharp and weapony. What kind of medical room didn’t have anything torturey? There were hooks on the wall for IVs to hang from and one of those things that checked ears, but that was pretty much it. The machine Doc had gotten stuff from wanted a code. I typed in random numbers but the damn thing beeped at me.
Warning: This is a secure supply cart. Your access code must be verified before any supplies or medications are dispensed. Please enter your code now.
I kicked the stupid machine.
Warning: Please step away from the machine. Your photograph has been taken and security has been notified.
”You stupid, piece of sh—”

The bed at the front exit rattled. I spun around and watched things I’d piled on top shake and wobble. There was a two second pause, followed by a loud crunch and more shaking. The trashcan I’d thrown on top of the pile dropped to the floor and rolled at my feet.

The banging stopped. Someone knocked this time, almost gently. “Open the door, Jade.”

I recognized the voice from the guy outside. Creeper.

A second later, my stomach turned to ice. Jade. He’d called me by my name. How’d he know it?

“Sure. Just as soon as you send Peter to get me.”

“He’s on a hunt.”

He wasn’t CGE. I might not have known anything else, but I knew that much. No one here would have chased me down. The CGE people acted different, they talked different, they carried themselves differently. And if they had me trapped in a room somewhere, with me refusing to come out, they would have sent someone I knew and trusted to find me. And they sure as hell didn’t stab their own people in the back.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“A friend,” he said.

“Yeah, right. My friends don’t stab my other friends.”

“Come out, Jade. Your friend isn’t really hurt. This was only a practice exercise. You did great, but it’s over now.”

An exercise? That wasn’t fake blood on Adam or my hands. Even if he could have faked it—and he was good, I’d give him credit for that—Doc wouldn’t be in on something like that. She wasn’t an actress. And damnit, I knew a real wound when I saw one.

“What room do I live in?”

“407,” he answered without hesitation.

I wouldn’t have believed him no matter what his answer had been, because I doubted every agent knew what room every Prospect stayed in. I asked to gather intel, and his answer had given me one vital piece: he knew a hell of a lot more than he should have.

“Nice try, Creeper.”

Quietly, I tiptoed backward and started looking for a weapon again. The doctors worked on people in here, didn’t they?
Note to self: the next time masked men break in the CGE, make sure to ask Doc for her access code.

“Ask me anything, Jade, and I’ll have the answer.” His tone was soft.

I didn’t doubt his words, which scared me more than anything. Soft tone or not, it was fake. I heard the coldness in it, just below the surface, like seeing the water move beneath a thin layer of ice.

“Go find Adam. If he tells me to come out, then I will.”
Explain your way out of that one.

“Adam is on a hunt. He got called out with Peter earlier.”

I laughed. “Adam’s the one you guys stabbed, asshole. Nice try, though.”

There was another loud bang on the door. “Come out now and make this easy on everyone. If we have to go in there to get you, you could get hurt. No one wants to see that happen.”

These people—whoever they were—knew everything. They knew more than anyone outside the CGE should have known. So who told them? I couldn’t believe anyone here would have, but who’d that leave?

“People have already been hurt,” I said, resuming my search for a weapon. There had to be something! All I found was a stupid tablet. I might be able to knock one or two of them out with it, but that wasn’t enough to help me.