“You will stay behind me and in front of Bry, who will bring up the rear.” Luuciyn reminded me so softly I had to strain to hear him. I squeezed his arm to let him know I heard.
There was some noise as Arrazyl and Zyroth tore off the square metal trapdoor in the roof and my pulse roared in my ears. Was my breathing too loud? Holding my breath didn’t help long term and only made me need more oxygen.Calm down. You’re doing this to help right a wrong and hopefully find information about Jaron and Tatiana.Even as I hoped they’d been able to get home safely, I ached to think that they weren’t with me anymore. Another thing I would have to adjust to.
Arrazyl took the lead with Zyroth close behind and then someone I didn’t know went down before Luuciyn and I followed. A warrior of Zyroth’s brought up the rear. As we descended, I kept a death grip on the rifle I had. The stairs were steep but lights along them made it easy to move quickly.
The stairs ended at a small room that opened to a wide concrete hallway. I held my breath as we funneled out into the hallway, but no one was around.
We traversed through the oppressive labyrinth. Occasionally, the males would lift their heads and I didn’t know if they were listening or smelling or both. The hallway turned into a high black catwalk. In the middle of the circular platform was some sort of reactor. We avoided it and quickly passed to the other side of the room.
The next hallway was better lit, and I worried we were getting into more traversed areas. A door opened and a man in uniform stepped out. Arrazyl leapt forward and grabbed him. His eyes bulged, and he fought, trying to scream around the hand Arrazyl had clamped over his mouth.
“Where is the vorpyr you are holding?” Arrazyl hissed.
When the man didn’t respond, Zyroth lengthened his claws and gripped his face, sinking the claws of his other hand into the man’s stomach. “Speak or I will tear your innards out.”
I looked away when he started dragging his claws. The man said something. Only it was in English, not the intergalactic tongue. “What do you fucking animals want from me?”
“Arrazyl,” I stepped forward and let them know he didn’t understand them. The man’s eyes got impossibly wide.
“What are you doing with them? Did they kidnap you?” The outrage on his face was comical, considering whathisgroup haddone.
I ignored his question and asked where the vorpyr was.
“No fucking way am I telling these animals where their little broodmare is. How can you associate with them? Help me and I’ll help you escape them.”
If I could growl, I would have. I didn’t translate, but told them he was being belligerent. Zyroth went back to work until the man was bloody.
“She’s on the lower level, damn it,” he panted, face creased in pain.
“And where is that?”
He described how to get there. I translated but got the feeling he’d given us some bullshit mixed with truth and told them so.
“We’ll stay on alert—” Arrazyl started to say, then all their heads jerked up.
“Incoming.” Luuciyn pushed me behind him.
Zyroth and another male rushed to the turn in the hallway and leapt on the two men coming around the corner. They had finished them before they could react. The man Arrazyl held gaped.
“You will take us to the vorpyr.” I translated Arrazyl’s words.
The man nodded, clearly incentivized by the death of his comrades.
We turned left at the end of the hall and came to a sealed door with a small scanner mounted next to it.
“Open it.” Arrazyl shook him and I didn’t need to translate for him to slap his palm on the scanner.
I wiped my palms on my pants and regripped my rifle. Every nerve was alight with tension as I followed them through the door.
A man in the cavernous warehouse type room looked up from a crate he was moving. The crate crash to the floor.
“Intruders!” the man screeched. Zyroth slashed his neck, sending him crashing to the floor.
“Forward.” Arrazyl barked. He dragged the man across the expansive space.
Movement behind one of the stacks of crates had Zyroth and another male zipping over there, but it was too late. A piercing siren sounded.
Luuciyn pushed me behind a stack of crates as the sound of multiple doors being slammed open and heavy boots filled the space.
