He wanted to jerk away and curse Tom out, but he kept silent, mindful of their pursuers. As he realized that the smellrising from his skin was the one that pervaded this place and had prevented him from scenting Tom’s approach earlier, he stood obediently still while Tom went back for more. Even if he had the suspicion that the second batch wasn’t entirely necessary.
“The downside of this is that it makes it harder forusto scentthem, so be aware of that and compensate for it,” Tom warned quietly. “It’s why I didn’t know it was you straight away.”
Bryce just wrinkled his nose and focused on not breathing.
“There’s only one way out, which is the stairs,” Tom said. “With two of us, we have more of a chance of getting past whatever sentries they’ve posted.”
“No.” Bryce said swiftly. He slid his hand into his pocket to check his phone. Still nothing from Matt, but it would come. It would have to.
“We just need to stall,” he explained, following Tom’s example and keeping his voice to a low whisper. “Matt and Jesse are talking to the Council now, telling them everything. After that, whoever’s responsible will face shifter justice, and that includes the guys after you. Matt knows, and he’ll make sure they round them all up.”
Tom was staring at him in shock. If not for the fact it was impossible for him to look anything other than hot, Bryce would have said his mouth was hanging open in a rather unflattering way. “Matt—Jesse—why would they do that? Why would they risk it?”
“Because we put you in this situation, and this is what it takes to make it right,” Bryce said. Despite knowing it might not be welcome, he raised a hand to Tom’s face and cupped his cheek. “I’m sorry,” he said, and scarcely knew what he was apologizing for, there was so much.
Tom shook his head and moved back, looking confused and unhappy. He started to say something, but a noiseinterrupted him. It was one they were both all too familiar with—the muted but sharp sound of a suppressed gun.
They froze.
“That was a rat, genius.” A disgusted voice came from the direction of the corridor they’d been in just moments ago.
Tom ducked through a doorway, moving away from the voice. Bryce followed. He might not be quite as soundless as Tom, but he was still pretty damn good. They moved stealthily along a twisting path of rooms and passages until they found themselves in one that didn’t have any of those bookshelves. And suddenly Bryce found himself missing them. They meant someone could sneak up on them, sure, but they were also cover if someone had a gun.
“What now?” he breathed into Tom’s ear.
“More of the same. Hide, stink, pray.” Tom turned so his mouth was pressed against Bryce’s ear in turn, his words barely loud enough to stir the air. “I want to take it to them, but without knowing how many—”
“We’re just stalling for time,” Bryce reminded him, because the last thing he wanted was Tom going off and playing John McClane. Even if Bryce too wanted to stalk and hunt, not run and hide.
He leaned back against the wall and almost fell when it wasn’t where he thought it would be.
Tom grabbed him, eyes furious at the noise he’d made trying to save himself, but Bryce’s attention was on the doorway set into the wall that had caused his problem. It was a small, old-looking wooden door, padlocked shut. He gestured to it with a questioning glance.
Tom shrugged briefly, as if he didn’t know what lay behind the door, then indicated the padlock as if that made the question moot. Well, that was something Bryce could do, even if simply standing silently next to a wall appeared to be beyond him.
He drew out his keys from his pocket, careful to make sure none of them jingled, and removed his lockpick from the key chain. Keeping it there amused the part of him that had never grown up.
At Tom’s raised eyebrow he smirked slightly, unable to help himself. One of his teammates on the volunteer search and rescue unit had been a locksmith and used to pass the time teaching them all to pick locks.
The lock was laughably simple. He guessed that was because it only had to deter law-abiding employees of the National Council as no one else could have gotten into the building to start with. Having removed the padlock, he lifted the metal latch and slowly inched the door open. A stone spiral staircase led upward into darkness.
He looked back at Tom, raising his eyebrows in question.
Tom gave a quick shake of his head. “Could be sealed halfway up. Might trap us.”
But then there was a shout from somewhere in the passages they’d come through.
“That’s Jax.” Tom’s lips were against his ear again. “Guess they’ve brought in reinforcements. Let’s go.”
Tom ducked through the narrow doorway, moving fast and crouching low. Bryce followed, pausing only long enough to ease the door shut behind them. The latch clicked with soft finality. There was no going back now.
Then they were climbing, step by step, into the suffocating dark.
Chapter Twenty-nine
TOM
Tom could hear Bryce’s breathing behind him, and it steadied him as he climbed. He didn’t have his phone, but Bryce had passed his up so Tom could light the way. And so far, at least, he hadn’t come up against a blank brick wall where the way had been cut off.
