We’re completely opened up to the stairwell. The drop down to the lower floor is at least fifteen feet. Mori’s body presses next to mine. Heat spreads across my chest and down into my stomach at his closeness. His birch scent rolls over me like smoke upon stone.
“I’ll lower you down,” he whispers.
My breath catches before I shove down the emotions that come with his nearness. “You’re not going to drop me, right?” I ask him honestly.
He’s known to kill his partners, and this looks like an easy opportunity for that.
“Of course not. Hurry up,” he says less confidently than I was hoping he would.
I take his hand and keep the other braced to the ledge to help lower myself down. The coast is clear and after he extends me down as far as he can, he lets go. It’s only about five feet, but landing on a step is harder than it sounds.
My legs buckle beneath me, but I manage to stand. I give him the okay to descend after I verify there are no guards on the lower-level stairwell.
His descent is much less graceful. He leaps from the edge toward the side, aiming for the higher staircase. I wince as he tumbles down a few steps before quickly composing himself and making his way over to me.
He walks as if he’s fine, but every few steps his leg buckles on him.
“Are you okay?” I ask, stepping in front of him so he can’t pass me.
Mori’s eyes soften for a moment. “I don’t feel pain, just like you, remember?” he says gruffly before gently putting his hand on my shoulder and moving me aside.
“I feel more pain than you could imagine,” I mutter under my breath, frustrated at his shortness. Somehow the loudness of my inner misery is more boisterous without the physical pain to dull my thoughts.
“What?” he says from the platform below.
I shake my head. “Nothing.” I quickly move down the steps to catch up with him.
I wonder if this entire building has secret passages dug throughout it.
Erik cuts in again over the headset. “Kayden is down.” His voice is raspy and only a mere whisper, meaning he’s probably hiding.
“Shit,” Mori growls, readying his rifle.
I give him a curt nod. “Let’s finish the mission.”
We slip through the door at the bottom of the stairwell. The air rolls with smoke and dust, gunpowder burns the inside of my nose. We move as a unit, stopping and going as we pass dead bodies to make sure they aren’t any of our squad mates.
A sign near the top of a door reads A304. The next room is going to be our targeted area with the flash drive.
I tap Mori’s shoulder so he knows to look at the next room.
My pulse jumps as the door to the lab is blown down and smoke bursts out. All thoughts quell in my head as I prepare to fight in close quarters.
Mori rushes in, pulling down his goggles as he pushes past the door.
I make to follow him, but pressure arises in my lower back.I’ve been hit with something.I whirl, raising the butt of my gun againstthe temple of the guard behind me. His head collides into the wall. He falls to the ground, gasping and screaming as I approach him, kicking him down so his head is on the floor. The distinct sound of his skull caving beneath my boot draws a smile to my lips.There’s that euphoric feeling again.The rush of adrenaline and slip of control eases in. What a dangerous feeling.
Then the pressure in my lower back returns. Fuck, did he stab me? I glide my hand down my back and stop when I come across a hilt seated just under my vest. The puncture is on the outer portion of my torso, it didn’t get more than an inch through my flesh thanks to my vest.
It’s astounding that I feel no pain, but I have no clue how long my body will continue to be responsive. I’ve already been shot in the shoulder, now this. I groan at the pressure that shifts in my back as I pull the knife out and let it clatter to the floor.
Mori needs me in there. He’s counting on me.
I lower my goggles and lift my MK-17, ready to kill everyone in that room that isn’t on my squad.
The heat signatures are everywhere, fire and smoke fill the small space rapidly. I survey the lab, which is three times larger than I thought it would be. It’s almost the size of a tennis court. Computers are knocked over and tables flipped on their sides.
Where is everyone? I throw my goggles up and wince as the smoke stings my eyes, making them blur with tears. I cough a few times and search for another doorway. A hidden door is lifted from the floor and goes another story lower.
