Chapter Thirteen
Sienna kept her back pressed to the wall, scanning their surroundings. The room was dominated by an enormous oura globe made of gold glass. Raptors moved around it, engaged in some sort of work that involved the massive thing.
The top floor of the building had once been a restaurant, offering wonderful views of the city and the harbor. Now, most of the tables and chairs had been shoved aside, although some were still in use, covered in black raptor comp screens, and other things Sienna couldn’t identify.
On the other side of the room were two swinging double doors, leading into the kitchen. They were guarded by several raptors. She arched her neck, trying to see inside, but could only make out raptor silhouettes.
Theron pointed to some nearby tables and, in a crouch, they raced over and ducked down. As they both studied the oura, she pulled out one of the small explosive charges that Reed had given her. Theron did the same.
Then he grabbed her arm, and nodded his head.
The doors to the kitchen opened suddenly, and Sienna got a glimpse of lots of those strange orange pods all over the floor and walls. She grimaced. What the hell were they? But as the doors swung shut with a soft thump, she took a deep breath. Their mission was about destroying the oura. That’s all she could think about right now.
Together, they crept closer to the oura. She ran her fingers over the charge. They needed to get both right onto the globe.
Theron pulled her close, his lips pressed to her ear. “You take the charges and get them set. I’ll lay down some carbine fire and cause a distraction.” He pressed the second charge into her palm.
She nodded, and turned her head until their lips brushed. “Stay safe.”
He deepened the kiss and then pulled back. “You too. You get even a graze, I’ll be very unhappy.”
She winked at him and took the second charge. Stay safe, Big T. She said the words over and over in her head, and drank in his rugged face, just one part of him she was falling hopelessly in love with. Along with his light and dark, his rough and sweet.
Like he’d read her mind, he touched her chin. Then, he turned and hustled over to what looked like it had been the restaurant’s bar.
As he lifted his carbine, Sienna forced herself to focus on sneaking closer to the oura. Damn, there were far too many raptors crowded around it.
Theron started laying down cover fire.
Raptors ran, ducked, and dived. Sienna crouched, and heard the sound of raptor weapons and the splatter of poison.
Near the oura, most of the raptors had dived for cover. Focusing, Sienna raced toward the globe. She ducked and dodged raptors that were heading toward the mysterious source of the weapons fire.
Suddenly, one slammed into her, stepping inside her illusion. Burning-red eyes widened. It opened its teeth-filled mouth to shout, but she yanked out her combat knife and stabbed him in the stomach. She worked the blade through his thick, scaled skin, and when she yanked it back, the alien fell to the floor groaning.
There were only two tables between her and the oura. Sienna dropped to her hands and knees, and crawled under the tables. On the other side, she popped up, careful to keep her gaze averted from the globe. She knew the goggles helped, but if she looked directly at the golden light and got caught…then both she and Theron were dead.
She crouched beside the giant globe. The damn thing was the size of an SUV and the top of it brushed the ceiling. She pressed one charge to the base of the oura. She quickly moved to the other side, and pressed the second charge in place.
Done. Ten seconds. She leaped up and ran back toward Theron. Reed had promised the charges would give a small, localized explosion, but she wasn’t taking any risks. She and Theron needed to get back to the stairwell and get back to the zip line.
Nine. Raptor poison shot through the air in front of her. She pivoted and raised her carbine. Eight. Going down on one knee, she fired at the line of raptors on the other side of the room.
Seven. Sienna dived and landed near a table. She tipped it over and took cover behind it. Theron was still firing. Six. More poison came her way and she ducked down, hearing it sizzling through something. Five. Damn, she was pinned down.
Four. She popped up again, firing. She saw several raptors running through the doors into the kitchen. Three.
“Theron, run!” she shouted. Two.
One. The explosion was deafening. The oura exploded in a shower of lethal golden glass. As the projectiles shot everywhere, Sienna ducked as low to the ground as she could.
Raptors around her screamed and shouted.
“Sienna?” Theron’s panicked voice in her earpiece.
She could barely hear over the ringing in her ears. “I’m okay.”
“We need to go.”
She popped up and took two steps in his direction. She couldn’t see him, but assumed from the trajectory of his fire, he was still near the bar.
The doors to the kitchen banged open. She swiveled.
What. The. Hell?
Sienna stood there, frozen. Several raptors were urging a…creature out of the kitchen and toward the balcony doors.
It towered over the raptors. It had six legs like some mutated insect, but the center of it glowed orange. It had a thick, black exoskeleton, a swollen belly, and an elongated head with a toothless, round mouth that dripped drool. It skittered along with the raptors.
And they were very clearly protecting it.
Theron skidded in beside her. “You okay?”
She nodded. “They’re getting away. Theron, whatever the hell that thing is, it’s important.”
His gaze narrowed on the new alien, and the raptors hurrying it out onto the wide balcony.
“We have to stop them.” She gripped his forearm. “This thing could be something to do with the secret weapon.”
He glanced back at the stairwell, then muttered a curse. They jogged across the room in pursuit. When they reached the kitchen doors, strange sounds coming from inside reached her ears.
Now what? They paused, and Sienna carefully pushed open one of the doors.
The room was now empty, except for the alien pods. Inside the closest one, she saw a black shadow writhing. Some pods were vibrating.
“Aw, fuck.” Theron lifted his weapon. “This can’t be good.”
They didn’t have time for this. “Let’s—”
The closest pod exploded, sending orange goo splattering over Sienna and Theron. The stench was horrible.
For a second, she was worried it might be poisonous or corrosive, like most alien substances, but she quickly realized it was just sticky, smelly, and gross.
Something tumbled out of the pod, flopping wetly around on the ground like a fish. Then the creature managed to get up on its shaky legs.
It growled.
It was some sort of hybrid alien dog, like they’d seen in the town near the Enclave. Sienna aimed her carbine, looking into the creature’s soulless red eyes.
It growled again and took a step toward them.
Theron fired. The dog let out a wild howl that made Sienna wince. Theron shot it again, and the creature skidded across the floor.
All the other pods were now vibrating together.
“Theron…” Sienna took a step backward.
The pods all simultaneously burst open, splattering goo everywhere. More animals appeared—more dogs, a mutated cat, some large birds—all covered in goo-soaked fur, feathers, and scales.
“Go!” Theron shouted.
They backed out the door, firing, heading toward the balcony.
There was a roar of sound from outside, and through the glass balcony doors, Sienna watched a large alien ship fly past. It wasn’t a ptero. It was bigger, boxier in shape. Some sort of cargo ship, she guessed. It was heading straight for their building.
“There’s an alien ship incoming,” she yelled over their carbine fire and the snarls of the animals. “Looks like it’s headed for the roof.”
Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the building. Light flared outside, burning her eyes. Sienna staggered. The glass windows blew out, and Theron’s body slammed into hers. He covered her as glass splintered around them. She heard the hybrid animals yipping and screeching in pain.
“Hell, what now?” Theron muttered.
The blast was too big to have been their squad or the berserkers. Sienna nudged Theron back and they got to their feet. She stared out the window, and saw flames and smoke rising up from across the street.
From the building they’d scaled.
“Let’s get to the roof,” Theron said.
She nodded but when she glanced back out the window, her stomach contracted into a hard knot.
“Theron.”
The tone of her voice made him stop and look her way. He followed her gaze.
The building they’d climbed up was falling, teetering over like a tower of blocks kicked over by an irate child.
And it was heading right toward them.
***
Theron grabbed Sienna and yanked her toward the stairwell. It would be more reinforced, and hopefully give them some protection.
He thundered across the room. Just a few more meters…
Boom.
The building shuddered, knocking them off their feet. Dust, plaster, and brick rained down on them. Theron rolled Sienna beneath him, and covered her with his body. He felt something large hit the back of his armor, but he didn’t move, until the shower of debris stopped.
Cautiously, he lifted his head. His gut cramped. He looked through a gaping hole in the building just meters away from them. The second building was leaning against Winton Tower at a forty-five-degree angle. Both buildings were rocking. Fucking hell.
“Theron.” Sienna pushed against him. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, sitting up. When she saw the damage and the toppled building, she gasped.
“Theron? Sienna?” Roth’s frantic voice through their earpieces.
“We’re all right,” Theron answered.
“Raptors blew out the neighboring building. Both are unstable. They are going to come down. Repeat, the buildings will collapse. You need to get out of there.”
Grimly, Theron looked at where the stairwell had been. It was now nothing but air.
“We’ll work on it,” he told Roth.
The other man cursed. “I’m calling in a Hawk. Nets and raptors be damned.”
“We have the wingsuits,” Sienna said.
Yes, they did. And they both knew they were far too high up to use them safely. If they could get lower, they might work. But lower wasn’t an option.
Dammit. He wasn’t going to let Sienna die here. He gritted his teeth. The aliens weren’t getting her, either. They stood, dusting themselves off.
“We have to go up,” he said.
To where the aliens were.
He saw steely resolve solidify in her brown eyes. She lifted her carbine, and nodded. Together, they moved toward the still-intact balcony. He bet that once upon a time, it had been a fancy place to have cocktails and watch the sunset. Now, the wide terrace was littered with debris and overturned tables and chairs.
“There.” Sienna pointed to an external staircase leading up to the roof level above. They took the stairs, their boots ringing on the metal.
As they climbed, Theron felt the building rock beneath them. He grabbed the railing to steady himself. “Move it!”
They were both panting as they reached the top and ran out onto the roof. It was flat and empty except for a yellow circle with an H painted in the center.
Ahead, raptors grunted and growled, as they loaded the orange-bellied creature into the back of the same large, alien ship. The large transport was hovering right beside the building. The creature reared up, screeching, its two forelegs waving madly. It was clearly not happy with the situation.
“Come on.” Theron pulled her across the roof.
The building started to tilt beneath their feet, pushed over by the force of the collapsed second building. They both started to slip and slide on the uneven surface.
Shit. They had nowhere to go. Theron looked at the alien ship. The raptors had forced the creature in and disappeared inside. The ship started to pull away from the tower.
He gripped Sienna and swung her into his arms.
“Theron!” Her shout was snatched away by the wind, and the roar of the ship’s engines.
He held her tight against his chest. The wide back door of the ship was still open.
Theron sprinted toward the vessel. Sienna’s life depended on him now. Impossibly, he picked up even more speed.
Her hands gripped onto his shoulders.
As they neared the edge of the building, he saw the gap between the roof and the ship widening.
He leaped out into the air.
Time slowed. Theron did the one thing he knew he shouldn’t do, and looked down. He got a dizzying glimpse of the street far below. Really far below.
The gaping doorway of the alien ship got closer, wind buffeting them. He stretched out an arm, as though that action could help him reach it.
Then they hit the edge of the ship and rolled inside.