Ignited (27 page)

I leaned into Nathan and pushed my legs as fast as I could. The more I ran and the harder my heart pumped, the more lucid I became. Either my body was pushing the drug out of my system or I was high on adrenaline.

Alec slowed at an intersection, looked both ways, and then darted to the left, edging up beside a gray door. Nathan and I hovered behind him as he tried the handle. When it didn’t open, he wasted no time in lifting the shirt over his head, wrapping it around his hand and putting his covered fist through the glass. Reaching inside to disengage the lock, he flashed me a quick grin, complete with a playful wink. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he was enjoying this.

He opened the door and ushered Nathan and I in ahead of him, straight into a gallery of weapons. I yelped when a buzzer sounded above my head, followed by a piercing siren that, from the sounds of it, was wailing throughout the entire complex. The lights surged and blinked off. We stood in complete darkness for only a second before red emergency lights flashed on in the tunnel.

“Real smooth,” Nathan growled at Alec.

“No, that’s not for us,” Alec shouted over the siren. “There’s an army of Kala attacking the compound. We need to hurry.”

Alec shook the glass out of his shirt and slipped it on. He strapped on a thick black vest with a ton of pockets and tossed another to Nathan. “Trust me. We’re going to need them.”

Nathan left me to stand on my own, tilting to one side, in the middle of the room. I watched as the two of them filled their vests—bullet-proof vests I assumed—and pockets with ammunition and stocked up on guns.

I had to be missing something.

“Didn’t you say Kala?” I looked at Nathan excitedly. “They can help us.”

Nathan looked like there was something he didn’t want—or know how—to tell me. He avoided it by shoving a clip of bullets in his back pocket.

Alec wasn’t as shy. “The Kala want you dead, Kris.”

“What?” I spun my head around to Alec so fast I nearly toppled over.

Nathan nodded in agreement with Alec and walked over to me so he didn’t have to shout. “I think he’s right,” he said. “I think the guys that attacked us at the cabin were actually Kala. I don’t know why they’re here now, but we can’t trust them.”

“They’re here to kill her,” Alec chimed in impatiently. “Now, stock up.”

“Why would the Kala want to kill me?”

Nathan looked at Alec and I followed his gaze.

Alec slung a shot gun over his shoulder. “We’ll talk about that later. First, we have to get out of here alive.” Alec looked me up and down. “You okay to walk?”

“I think so.” No small thanks to the fear coursing through my veins.

He placed a small pistol in my hands. “You know how to shoot a gun?”

Nathan answered for me since my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. “She can manage.”

“It’s going to be close quarters,” Alec said as he slid a vest over my shoulders. “Stay between us. We’ll take care of everything.”

I ran a hand over the thick material. Definitely bullet-proof vests. Not a good sign. “Then why are you giving me a gun?”

Alec grinned and slid by me without an answer. I looked up at Nathan, who almost looked sorry for me. Almost. With a nod of his head, he motioned for me to follow Alec. I filed out the door on autopilot, feeling ridiculous. Thankfully, Nathan was right behind me.  

I had barely regained dependable use of my legs, my vision was still a tad blurry, my head was spinning...and Alec had handed me a gun. What was he thinking? I held it awkwardly in both hands and kept it pointed at the ground, just in case. Bullet-proof vests or not, I didn’t want to shoot one of them. Or myself.

We glided a long way through the tunnels without incident. Behind us, I heard echoed shouting and the distant popping of gun shots. Alec couldn’t have timed the break out better. The Skotadi were probably too busy with the Kala to notice that Nathan and I were gone and, if they had, they wouldn’t be able to organize a recovery party while they were under attack. I grew more and more hopeful that we would get out as the sounds of battle faded behind us.

I was so focused on moving forward, toward freedom, that I plowed into Alec when he came to an abrupt stop in front of me. He turned and shoved me. I stumbled backwards, trying to regain my footing, and losing the fight, until I crashed into Nathan. He supported me as I got my feet under me and I shot him a grateful smile. I was about to holler a few choice words at Alec when I was cut off by another voice, ahead of us, and approaching.

“Alec, where you going?” a boy called. “The fight’s down at the other end.”

“I had to grab my gun,” Alec answered, shifting his body to block me and Nathan from view. “I’m on my way.”

Nathan’s arm hooked around my waist. He whipped me into the mouth of the closest side tunnel and pressed me against the wall, sandwiching me between him and the cold hard cement. We were bathed in shadows, with the nearest pulsing red light twenty yards away, but there was a chance we would be seen if the boy got close enough.

With my head rested in the nook at the base of Nathan’s neck, I felt his chest moving against me as he breathed and his heart thundering against my cheek. I tried to focus on anything but how our bodies were pressed enticingly together, but it was impossible. At least he couldn’t see how flushed I was.

The approaching footsteps stopped a few yards away. “It looks like you’ve got plenty,” the boy talking to Alec said. “Let’s go.”

“I’ll be right there.” I could hear the smile on Alec’s face. “I can’t wait to nab some Kala, but I have to do one more thing first.”

“Alright, man. Don’t cry when you show up too late and they’re all dead.”

I didn’t breathe again until the footsteps moved away and Nathan stepped back, freeing me from the wall. A moment later, Alec appeared at the opening and motioned that the coast was clear. I locked eyes with him. He watched me curiously as I drew near. 

“You are a Skotadi.” The accusation in my tone was loud and clear. The addition of my hands on my hips only made him grin.

He glanced at Nathan then back at me. “Yeah.” He said it like I should have already known that.

I glanced over my shoulder at Nathan like it was his fault.

“What?” he said defensively. “It wasn’t my doing.”

I stared at Alec, at a loss for words. How could I begin to describe how this revelation made me feel? Let down? Heartbroken? Deceived? Surprised, for one, considering all that he was doing for me and Nathan. Alec being a Skotadi just didn’t make any sense.

Besides, his rings were black. He still had a choice. He may have been raised among the Skotadi, but he could still choose Kala if he wanted to. I wouldn’t give up on him choosing right. Well, except for some reason, the
right
side wanted me dead. That was still a problem.

“I understand your concern for me, Kris. I’m touched, really, but right now we’ve got to move.” Alec grabbed my hand and pulled me after him. “We’re going to hit resistance up ahead. Keep your eyes open.”

Oh, great. And I had thought we were practically out of there. A panicky glance over my shoulder confirmed that Nathan was right behind me. He gave me a nod of encouragement, his equivalent of,
you can do this
. I hoped my limited training was enough to prepare me. I sure didn’t want to let him down now, when it mattered most.

Voices up ahead alerted us too late, only seconds before the gun shots followed. Nathan shoved me to the ground as Alec returned fire. I peeked up and saw bright flashes against a narrow black backdrop as a line of bullets were blasted our way.

Nathan dropped to one knee beside me and got off a few shots, and then together, the three of us scampered toward an intersecting tunnel a few feet away.  

Alec shoved me into the mouth on the right and dove in behind me. Somehow, Nathan ended up in the tunnel across from us, submerged in shadows. I could barely see him, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like being separated from him, period.

“Stay back,” Alec told me before he stuck his head out for a look. He retreated quickly as a bullet whizzed past, hitting the wall behind him.

Nathan took the opportunity to fire. We all heard him hit his target. “How many more?” he yelled across the intersection to Alec.

“One for sure. Maybe two.” Alec peered anxiously in the direction we had come. “More will be coming. We’ve got to hurry.” He turned to me, nodded his head down the length of the hall behind me. “Make sure no one sneaks up on us, okay?”

I did as he said, though I doubted he was expecting any action from that direction. He was keeping me preoccupied while he and Nathan were doing whatever it was they were doing. I wasn’t an idiot.

I glanced over my shoulder in time to see them exchanging some goofy hand signals. Next thing I knew, Nathan darted out into the open. He dropped to his knees, drawing fire, as both he and Alec returned a continuous string of shots. Then, in one fluid motion, he dropped and rolled into the tunnel with Alec and me. As he did, Alec continued to fire.

“Got him,” Alec announced.

The crazy stunt had taken mere seconds and had resulted in us all being together again. For that, I was grateful, though I feared my face may be forever frozen in its horror-stricken expression.

My hand shook as I instinctively reached for Nathan. He got to his feet and I lowered it, fisted at my side, without touching him. His face was blank when he finally looked at me—like he didn’t even realize he could have been shot.

I tried to pull it together. I had to, because we were on the move again.

With me wedged between the two of them, our backs splayed against the wall, we inched forward, eyes and guns trained on the black canvas from where the shots had originated

My breaths were ragged. My heart thundered. My hands trembled. I couldn’t get past the vision of Nathan running out into the open with bullets whizzing by him.

He could have been shot
.

I felt a hand touch mine and looked up as Nathan gave it a reassuring squeeze, as if he knew how traumatized I was by the whole thing. It helped, even if it made my heart race faster.

Fortunately, we reached the next intersection without being shot at again. There was no one left to shoot. Bodies were sprawled on the floor, dead or dying. Alec disarmed an injured one, who was moaning in agony, and chucked his gun out of reach.

“Kala,” Nathan observed.

“That’s why they didn’t hesitate to shoot,” Alec said, adding to the proof that the Kala wanted me dead. Nathan would be considered enemy now. Alec, as a future Skotadi, was always fair game.

It was the three of us against...literally, two armies.

We stepped over the bodies and, even if they had tried to kills us, I felt a surge of emotion for the men that lay there. They were the first dead bodies I had seen that didn’t vanish right away. Nathan and Alec must not be using coated bullets. The man left injured and moaning on the ground would probably live, but we’d be long gone before he healed enough to present a threat to us. As his cries faded behind us, drowned out by the head-pounding sirens, I pushed him and the others out of my mind.

We slowed to a crawl as we approached another four way intersection. Alec eased onto his stomach and inched forward to peek around the corner to the left, then the right, before retreating to where Nathan and I waited.

“Can’t see much either way with that damn light,” Alec said, gesturing to the pulsing red light directly over us, bathing us in its eerie glow. “We should probably cross all at once. If there’s anyone there, maybe we can get by them before they see us.”

We gathered together, side by side with me in the middle, as Alec used his fingers to count out. When they numbered three, we ran. Half way across, shouts to the left reached my ears. Bullets pinged off the walls around us as we crossed into safety.

“Run!” Nathan shoved me forward. At the same time, Alec grabbed my hand and pulled me after him as he broke into a sprint.

I saw his target. Another intersection. Fifty long yards away. We had to reach it. If we didn’t turn into a side tunnel before our pursuers fell in behind us, we were goners. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

With each step I took, I expected to hear a gunshot ring out behind me. Or feel a bullet tear through a non-vest-covered body part. Or see Alec or Nathan go down. I wasn’t willing to lose either of them any more than I was ready to die.

We had to make it
.

And then we were there. I started to edge around the corner before Alec yanked me back, pulled me upright, and kept running. I didn’t understand why until I heard a bullet ricochet off the wall inches from my head. 

There were more of them waiting down that tunnel too, which meant we had to continue straight, and now had two groups after us, both of which would be coming up behind us any moment. I scanned ahead, looking for cover, and saw nothing but black, endless darkness. A faint red light flashed in the distance. The far distance. Too far.

We’d never make it
.

Shouts behind us, audible even over the sirens, told me what I feared. One—or both—parties had rounded the corner and were now coming up behind us.