Chapter Twelve
They all hurried off the street and into a building that looked like it had once been an office. Sienna crouched beside Theron, behind a long reception desk in the lobby.
Overhead, ceiling panels and wires hung down. Chairs had been overturned, and leaves and trash had collected in piles, blown in through the broken windows and open door.
She heard the raptors approach, the clomp of their heavy boots and their distinctive guttural voices growing louder. She peeked around the corner of the desk, just as a raptor stomped past.
“Arden says there are raptor patrols on every street,” Roth murmured quietly. “We’ll have to move slowly and carefully.”
Once the street was clear, they slipped out of the building and continued their journey. As they got closer to the tower, the raptor patrols became more numerous, and more frequent. Multiple times, they stood stock-still in doorways, or ducked through buildings to avoid detection.
They closed in on the Winton Tower. Sienna arched her head back, staring up at the skyscraper. The building speared into the sky, mostly intact, except for some shattered windows. She wondered just what the hell the aliens were doing on the top floor, besides housing the oura.
Roth hunkered down behind an overturned van, and they all crouched beside him, so close together, that they were all inside each other’s illusions. Roth pulled out his binocs, and was studying the scene ahead of them.
He cursed quietly. “Dammit. The base of the tower is even more heavily fortified than on our last trip. I can’t see a way in.”
Even without binocs, Sienna could see the raptors had piled up cars, vans, and blocks of concrete to create a barricade around the tower. Armed raptors were everywhere.
Suddenly, a boom sounded, and the ground beneath them shook. They turned to look behind them. Several blocks away, a cloud of smoke was rising in the air.
Several patrols of raptors started shouting and running toward the explosion.
Score one for the berserkers. As her squad debated options, Sienna studied the area. Across the street was another office tower that was almost as tall as the Winton. Something had crashed through the side of it, leaving a giant hole torn into its side, but it was miraculously still standing.
She glanced between the two towers. The barricade didn’t extend around the second building. “I have an idea.”
The others went quiet, all of them looking at her.
“What?” Roth asked.
She pointed at the second building. “We can use that building, instead.”
Roth frowned. “I’m listening.”
“I’ll climb up the outside of the building. I brought my climbing gear, and I have a zip line. I can zip across to the Winton and—”
“What?” Theron was vibrating with tension. “That’s insane. No.”
A cold sensation brushed over her skin. Theron knew her skills. “It’s a good—”
“No.”
“I can do this. You guys can run interference down here, and with my illusion armor, no one will even notice me. It’s far less risky than trying to infiltrate the building from the bottom.”
“Unless you fucking fall,” Theron bit out. “You’ll be exposed.”
“My illusion system will keep me hidden.”
“We’ve seen it fail before. Taylor almost died!”
The cold had expanded, lodging in her gut. God, he wasn’t going to turn into an idiot like every other man in her life, was he? “Don’t you think I can do this?”
A muscle worked in his jaw. “It’s a bad idea. Crazy. You can’t climb up slick glass.”
“I can with these.” She whipped the climbing gloves out of her bag. “You’ve seen them in action.”
He shook his head. “No. Just no.”
“I’m the best climber in the squad.” Please believe in me, Theron. Pain drove into her heart. Now that they’d slept together, maybe things had changed. Maybe he only saw the lover, and not the rest of her.
Theron stared at her, his face granite hard. Stubborn as always. He looked back at Roth. “We’re wasting time. We need a real plan.”
Her heart twisted. Just like every other man in her life, he couldn’t accept her as she was. She sucked in a breath, pushing the sorrow away. She couldn’t deal with this now. It would have to wait until later. She looked back at Roth, feeling Theron’s glare boring into her. “I can do this.”
Roth gave one vicious shake of his head. “You both need to put your personal stuff aside.” He looked at the building. “Sienna, you’re our best climber, and we have to do whatever we can to destroy the oura up there.” He pulled out a black bag, which held the explosive charges. “Go. Climb the building.”
A burst of relief hit her. She took the bag, swinging it onto her back. At least Roth trusted her. “I’m on it.”
Theron looked like his jaw was going to break under the strain of gritting his teeth. “Fine. But I’m going with her.”
To protect her? Because he didn’t think she could do the job? “I can do this—”
“I know you can,” he ground out. “But once you get into the Winton, you can’t take on all the raptors up there alone. You need backup, and that’s me.”
She stared at him, something trembling inside her. She pulled out her second pair of climbing gloves and slapped them against his chest.
Roth nodded. “Okay. Both of you, go. Good luck, and we’ll see you on the other side.”
Cam slapped Sienna on the back, while Taylor winked and Mac nodded. As the others slipped away, Sienna faced the building they had to climb. Anger and hurt churned inside her, but she blocked them out of her head. She couldn’t worry about her and Theron right now.
When the way was clear, the two of them raced across the street, running to the side of the building. They paused there, and pulled on their climbing gloves.
“Let’s move down that alleyway,” she said. It would get them off the street, and give them some cover.
He nodded and they slipped down the narrow gap. Once, it had probably been a shortcut for city workers slipping out of the office for coffee or lunch. Now, it was filled with rotting trash and debris, and against one wall, she spotted the skeletal remains of a body.
An orange glow emanating from the other side of a dumpster caught her eye. She skirted it, and felt something squelch under her boot.
“What the hell?” she muttered.
Theron grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “It’s like that pod we saw in the colony outside the Enclave.”
It was attached to the side of the building, pulsing. Tentacles snaked out of it, reaching in all directions.
Sienna wrinkled her nose. “What are these things?”
“Let’s avoid it.”
She stepped around the alien thing, and faced the building. Close enough that she saw her reflection in the glass. A soldier ready to do what had to be done. She pressed one gloved hand to the glass, and felt her sticky palm suction on.
“Sienna.”
She looked up. Theron was inside her illusion and she met his gaze in the glass. Her heart clenched. “Let’s get this done.”
“I just wanted to keep you safe.”
She closed her eyes. “I don’t need your protection.”
“I…” He muttered a curse. “That’s what drives me crazy.”
It would happen again. Men just couldn’t seem to help it with her. “We’ll talk later. We have a job to do.”
He pressed up behind her, his hand circling the nape of her neck. “Sienna, I told you I’m not easy or nice. I knew I’d screw up…I’m sorry.”
She told herself not to soften, even as his touch sent tingles down her spine. “I’ll expect a better grovel than that.”
His fingers brushed her skin, and she could sense that he was about to say more, but from outside the alley, shouts and carbine fire sounded. Their squad had engaged.
“Let’s get moving.” She pressed her second hand to the glass, took a deep breath, and started upward.
She had gone a few meters and looked down. She saw the blur that told her Theron was moving upward, slowly and steadily. Down below, she saw something explode and heard both alien weapons and carbine fire. She said a silent prayer for her squad and then focused on climbing.
As they moved higher, the wind picked up, tearing at the tie holding her hair in a ponytail. Theron brushed close to her, moving inside her illusion. She saw his face set in hard lines. He was looking grimly at the glass and not looking down.
Sienna glanced down and her stomach did a slow turn. She wasn’t afraid of heights, but damn, they were a long way up, and they still had a fair distance to go.
They continued to climb, until they reached a floor where most of the windows were smashed. She peered through the opening, into what looked like a high-end apartment. She gasped. The place was filled with dozens of the same orange glowing pods—on the floor, the walls and the ceilings. Spreading tentacles were approaching the edges of the broken windows, as though they were going to start curling along the outside of the tower.
She didn’t like the look of this at all.
“Keep going.” Theron’s voice slipped up to her on the wind.
With a nod, Sienna turned away from the broken glass and the ugly alien pods inside. She skirted around to an unbroken window and kept climbing.
***
Don’t do it. Theron told himself not to do it.
He looked down.
Fuck. He wasn’t phobic, but looking at the ground so far below them made him a little dizzy.
Grimly, he followed Sienna, just putting one hand in front of the other. He hoped to hell the geek squad hadn’t screwed up with these gecko gloves.
He knew he’d messed up down below. He’d made Sienna think he was like every other asshole she’d been with. How could she believe he didn’t see her, all of her? He blew out a breath. Because you acted like one of the assholes.
Damn, it was hard to watch your woman walk—or climb—into danger. But he knew in order to win back her trust, he had to rein it in.
They passed another broken window, and Theron glanced inside at the open-plan office. Smashed comps littered the floor, and scraps of paper flapped in the breeze. The place was riddled with more of the alien pods and tendrils.
He stared at the closest one. As he watched, he saw something move inside the pod. They had to find out what the hell these things were, but now wasn’t the time. He forced his gaze away, and kept going.
Finally, Sienna signaled to him. “I think we’re high enough.” She was looking over to the Winton Tower. They looked to be a few stories below the top.
She reached over her shoulder and pulled out the compact zip line launcher.
“Hold me,” she said.
He kept one hand stuck to the glass, and wrapped his other arm around her waist. He steadied her, as she aimed the launcher toward the neighboring tower.
The zip line whizzed across the space and thumped into the other building. Sienna swiveled and clamped the unit onto the glass above their heads. She reached up and tested the line.
“I’ll go first,” Theron told her.
She skewered him with a sharp look. “This is my mission—”
He pulled her close. “I’m sorry for my caveman instinct of wanting to keep you safe. It isn’t because I fucking think you’re a princess or aren’t capable. You are one of the most capable women I know.”
“Theron, we’re dangling off the side of a building.”
“You are one of the few people I trust to have my back—in a fight, at a party, anywhere.”
Her breath hitched. “Damn you, I was going to make you grovel.”
“I will. Later.” He brushed her jaw with his thumb. “I’m your squad mate, your friend, and now also the man who had his cock inside you. I want, no, I need to do something to protect you, even though I know you can protect yourself. It’s in my bones.”
She sniffed. “I think it’s in your testosterone.”
“Probably. I know you hate it when everyone looks at you and sees your pretty face, but I see you, Sienna. And I like everything about you. I see the soldier and I see the woman. A woman who will always fight for what’s right, who loves her friends, who can laugh in the middle of an apocalypse.”
“Damn you.” Her face softened. “Okay, you can go first.”
“Just like that?” he said, surprised.
She smiled at him. “You explained. You didn’t just go all alpha male caveman, and demand and grunt.”
Theron wanted to kiss her. “I probably will screw up sometimes, and the caveman will make the odd appearance.”
“And I will ensure you regret it when you do.”
God, she was gorgeous. Helpless to resist, he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Let’s destroy an alien mind-control globe, and then get home.”
Theron reached up and clipped the dangling line from the zip line to his belt. He took a deep breath, and cast one more glance back at Sienna.
“See you on the other side, Big T.”
He nodded and pressed the release button.
He zoomed out over the open space, the street far below. He reminded himself that he was invisible. When he looked back toward the building, he could no longer see Sienna.
Don’t look down. He turned to fix his gaze on the Winton Tower.
But suddenly, halfway across, he started to slow. His momentum died, and he came to a stop, hanging in the middle of the zip line. Fuck.
“Hang on, Theron.” Sienna’s voice through his earpiece. “I’m checking the zip line mechanism.”
He blew out a breath. She’d get it sorted out. He looked at the Winton building. Through some of the upper windows, he saw raptors moving about. God, if one looked out and noticed the zip line, he was screwed.
The seconds ticked by, feeling like minutes. Then, he started moving again. Thank God. Sienna had gotten it fixed.
The Winton Tower approached. He jerked to a halt just inches from the glass. He pressed one glove to the window, and then unclipped himself from the zip line. “Made it.” He heard a small whine as the line retracted.
He waited impatiently for her, picturing her clipping on.
“On my way,” she murmured.
He saw a faint blur in the air, and knew she was zipping across. Nerves chewed at him. Funny how he didn’t care so much for himself, but knowing she was out there, exposed above a massive drop, made his gut twist.
But then she flickered into view inside his illusion, and her body bumped into his.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He nodded. She pressed her palms to the glass beside him. They climbed up another story toward a broken window. When they reached it, he peered over the edge.
It opened into a stairwell. Perfect. He gestured for her to go first, and then he followed her in. They both came up with their carbines raised. He pointed ahead, and they moved toward the stairs. He knew they needed to go up a few more floors to reach the oura.
They moved silently, rounded yet another landing, and headed up again. By his calculation, one more level, and they’d have the right floor.
The squeak of a door opening above them, followed by raptor grunts, caught his ear.
Sienna and Theron froze. He looked around. Dammit. There was nowhere to hide. They were on the landing in a stairwell, and there were no hiding spots.
He grabbed her and pressed her back against the wall. They stood, still and silent. Theron didn’t dare draw a breath. He hoped to hell the illusion systems would hide them well enough.
Two raptors came down the stairs, heavy boots thumping on the concrete floor. They were grunting to each other in their language. They moved past Sienna and Theron, just over a meter away.
Shit. Another centimeter, and they’d be inside the armor’s illusion and able to see them.
His pulse pounded. He waited for shouts.
But the next second, the aliens passed by and continued downward. Theron released the air stuck in his lungs. He felt Sienna do the same.
He grabbed her hand and pointed up. She nodded, and together, they continued. They reached the final landing at the top of the stairwell, and found the door ajar. Golden light washed out through the gap.
Sienna nudged him, lifting her goggles from around her neck. They pulled them over their eyes, and then slipped inside the room.