The Rise of Io (24 page)

Even having never been in a firefight before, Ella knew they were in deep trouble. There was a line of soldiers on the catwalk, and there seemed to be even more on the ground level. They were wearing police uniforms. Any hope Ella had had that this was just a big misunderstanding vanished.

Two figures appeared on the catwalk at the far end of the room. Ella recognized the woman. She was the stunning blonde Ella had occasionally seen touring the site. The man standing next to her was equally blond and beautiful, if not more so, though that could just be Ella's personal bias.

Ella caught herself staring. How did people like this exist? How could there be so many ridiculously gorgeous evil people in the world? She glanced over at Cameron and then back at those two perfect human specimens looking down at them. Why in gods' hell were the Genjix Adonises so good-looking while the Prophus ones weren't? Life was so unfair!

The woman walked up to the edge of the railing and leaned over. She didn't seem particularly worried about getting shot at. She smiled. “Hello, Cameron Tan. It's been a long time.”

Cameron, who had taken cover behind a crate, stood up. His mouth dropped open. There was a long pause as the two locked gazes. Finally, he spoke. “Alex? Is that really you?”

“Alex is long gone. She died the night her father died, executed by the Genjix for treason. The name is Shura now.”

“Executed by the Genjix? Is that what you call it?” Cameron's face had turned sheet white. He set his jaw. “You're the one they call the Scalpel.”

The woman smiled. “I'm glad my reputation precedes me.”

“Who is Alex?” Ella whispered to Nabin.

He frowned. “I don't know. The name sounds familiar though. The Scalpel I've heard of. She's a dangerous Genjix Adonis.”

The beautiful guy looked impatient and snapped irritably. “This is adorable and boring. You will waste my time no longer.” He nodded off to the side. “Keep vessels alive. Kill the rest.”

There was a loud crack and Cameron's body convulsed. Lam came sprinting from the side and dragged him down.

Ella screamed.

Dubs rolled a canister across the floor and a cone of smoke shot into the air.

Both sides opened fire.

T
hings were not going
as planned. But then, Ella had no clue what the plan actually was, except she was pretty sure this wasn't it. All she knew was a barrage of gunfire was peppering the floor and walls around their position. Chunks of cement, dust, and wood exploded, raining down upon her in such volume, she had trouble breathing and could hardly see through the smoke.

The thunderous reverberation from the constant gunfire in this large room shook her to her core. She was so terrified she couldn't do anything other than huddle behind the column with her arms wrapped around her head.

You should have run when I told you to.

“I don't understand!”

Stupid girl.

“You shut your fat alien mouth!”

Ella peeked around and saw the rest of Cameron's team firing from their defensive positions. Dubs took out another smoke grenade and lobbed it into the air. Lam barked out several orders, and then dragged Cameron over near Ella and Nabin. “Damn it, Cameron, are you all right?”

He groaned and clutched his chest. “That hurt like hell. Hang on, give me a second to catch my breath.” He pulled his shirt back and pulled out the flattened slug embedded in his armor. He threw the hunk of metal off to the side and took a few deep breaths.

He got Lam's attention and made a bunch of hand gestures. His orders spread silently through the team and then, in unison, they got up and retreated. The sound of rifles spitting all at once was deafening. Nabin wrapped his arms around her and half-dragged, half-carried her back the way they had come.

As soon as half the team had passed through the doors, Nabin pushed her against the wall and then he and Dana took position on the sides. The pair guarded the rear while the rest of the team pressed on ahead. When a group of soldiers appeared, they opened fired and pinned the soldiers back around the corner. Even in the chaos, Ella could tell how organized and tactical their movements were. She didn't know how they all appeared so calm amidst this chaos. It was all she could do to not pee her pants.

“Back to the van,” Cameron barked.

This team is drawing all the heat. Find a place to hide and wait this out. Do not get involved in the firefight. Stay alive.

“What? I don't…”

Ella saw a dark hallway off to the side. For a second, she almost broke from the group and followed Io's orders, but it just didn't feel like the right thing to do. And then it was too late as Nabin swept her up and dragged her along with them.

Damn it, girl!

“What happened back there?” she asked Nabin. “Why did Cameron looked so dazed when he saw that woman?”

“I don't know,” he said. “I've never seen him like this.”

The team burst through the door to the loading dock and was sprinting toward the van when a squad of the police or Genjix – Ella didn't know who was who anymore – blocked their path. There was a hail of bullets and the team scattered to the sides. Nabin dove on top of her and pushed her down to the ground. There was a fierce exchange of gunfire, and just like that, it was over. Ella smelled smoke and sweat as Nabin lay on top of her. She looked up and came close to the Nepalese's face.

“Are you all right?” he asked gruffly.

“You're really heavy,” she replied. “And you have bad breath.”

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I've been in the air for the past thirty hours. I haven't brushed my teeth in two days.”

“That's OK,” she said.

Nabin got up and helped her to her feet. He looked to the side and spoke softly “Oh no. Dubs.”

Ella followed his gaze and saw Nabin's teammate sprawled on his back. The two of them crept over to him. She saw his blank stare and gasped. Nabin tried to cover her eyes, but she batted his hands away.

“I've seen dead people before,” she said.

Cameron rushed by and unslung his rifle. He handed it to her. “Take this. I'll take him. Come on buddy, stay with me.”

“He's gone, commander,” Nabin said.

“Shit, shit.” Cameron picked up his fallen comrade and slung him over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“We don't leave our own behind.” He turned to Lam. “Buy us some time.” He prodded Ella forward. “Come on, get to the van.”

Lam ordered the others to stay back as Ella and Cameron sprinted halfway down the length of the building to their parked vehicle. She looked back and wondered who was going to die next. Living in the slums, death was a common occurrence, but it was usually because of starvation or disease. At worst, it was from a knifing in the dark or in alleys. Rarely did it happen with such violence.

The two of them just reached the back door of the van when they were ambushed. This group was dressed differently, in unmarked black attire rather than police uniforms. They spooked Ella and, to her embarrassment, she dropped her knives. Cameron, however, didn't miss a beat. Using Dubs's body as a shield, he charged all five men.

Any misgivings she had about him earlier faded in an instant. He rushed toward them head on and with such force that Ella couldn't help gasping. He reminded her of how Emily had moved when she had fought all those thugs, except he was even quicker, deadlier, like a devastating force of nature.

Just when it looked as if one of them was going to shoot him in the chest, Cameron somehow twisted and dodged the bullet at the last moment, and then he was on them. Cameron drew his handgun and shot one at point-blank range. He speared another in the throat, putting a round in him as the man fell, and then slipped to his right, dancing away from the muzzle of a rifle. He pistol-whipped a shooter when he got within arm's reach, and then popped another round in the man as he was falling down. The last soldier couldn't even spin toward him fast enough. Cameron grabbed him by the back of the neck, and with some elaborate throw that looked as if they were ballroom dancing, sent the man careening headfirst into the side of the van.

Ella just stood there, worthless, her mouth dropped open. “Oh my gods.” This guy had taken all of them out in the time it took her to draw a breath.

An Adonis is not like others. They are trained from a young ag –

“Wait, there's five guys,” Ella muttered. “Cameron, there's one mo–”

There was a crack of a gunshot and Cameron staggered and fell to one knee, clutching his lower back. His attacker stepped behind him and struck him in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle.

“You're lucky the Adonis wants you alive, betrayer,” the man said.

Ella, no! Do not get involved.

Ella wasn't listening. A hundred hours of Manish's repetitive training kicked in. Her eyes scanned the man's body, and then her hands flashed to her thigh band. A throwing knife streaked out a quarter of second later and bounced harmlessly off the man's left shoulder.

“Crap.”

She pulled out another knife and tried again. She missed by a hand span. Filled with adrenaline, her shaking hands just couldn't throw straight. This time, though, she had gotten the man's attention. He turned toward her, but Ella was already slipping away from his line of sight, her right hand going toward her back waistband while her left went to her right ribcage. Now she understood why Manish grilled her so relentlessly on knowing how to throw with both hands. The third throwing knife was flying out even as the combat knife appeared in her right hand. It, too, missed and bounced off the van with a loud clang.

“Why does my aim suck?”

You are not used to a live fire situation. Take a deep breath.

Having to think about breathing made her breathe even faster and she began to hyperventilate. Fortunately, her last throw had forced the soldier to duck, buying Ella time to close in. She charged him, swinging her long serrated knife. She slashed him twice on the arm and once in the knee. The last slash buckled his legs, and then she jammed the knife into his chest.

Unfortunately, it didn't go in very far. Either the body armor he wore was too tough, or she wasn't strong enough. It was probably both, but her blade sunk only a few centimeters in and then stopped. The man threw an arm out and nearly took her head off. Ella ducked at the last second, but lost her balance and fell onto her butt. She scampered backward on all fours as the man, snarling, stood up and limped toward her.

“I'm going to rip your nose off,” he growled.

He pulled out his own knife and suddenly pitched forward onto his face. Cameron had grabbed his legs from behind, and was on top of him moments later. Three brutal strikes to the back of his head, and the man stopped moving.

Cameron looked at her. “Are you all right?”

Ella exhaled and managed to nod. Cameron gritted his teeth and stood up. He stumbled and put a hand on his right lower back. “That's a busted rib.”

The sound of pounding footsteps grew, and they turned to see the rest of the team sprinting toward them. Jax stayed next to the wall and continued his suppression fire at the loading dock. Lam took one look at the bodies around them and noticed one of their assailants picking himself off the ground. She raised her rifle and plugged him once in the chest.

She turned to Nabin. “Get the van started.”

Ella helped Cameron climb into the van bed while Dana and Nabin picked up Dubs's body. The van was pulling away from the factory when Jax broke from his position and came sprinting after them. He managed to climb inside as they turned at the end of the driveway. Lam and Dana closed the double doors behind him and the group watched somberly as they sped away.

Ella, sitting next to Cameron, watched as more soldiers poured out of the factory. One of the last to come out had a shock of blonde hair. The woman walked to the middle of the street and stared as they pulled away. Ella heard a sharp intake of breath as Cameron looked on.

“I can't believe it's actually her,” he muttered.

“How do you know her?” Ella asked.

He shook his head. “It's a long story. We had a thing when we were young, briefly.”

Ella frowned. “Thing? Wait, you dated that coldblooded bitch?”

“It's complicated. Alex and I have history.”

“Alex? She said her name is Shura.”

Both Shura and Alex are nicknames for Alexandra.

“That's what I knew her by.” Cameron grimaced and laid down on the van floor. He looked up at his worried team. “We're going to need to find a safe place to crash tonight. Dana, can you locate another safe house?”

“Sorry, Cameron, the Prophus have no active safe houses in this region. There are a few expired resources, but none have been verified since before the war.”

“Can we book a hotel?” Lam asked.

“That's risky,” said Cameron. “We don't know how much influence the Genjix have here. Five foreigners with our descriptions can't be hard to locate. And then there's the matter of Dubs's body, especially in this weather.”

Ella saw the look on everyone's faces and felt the need to do something, to make herself useful. They were all strangers and she didn't owe them anything, but she felt responsible for what had happened. No, she
was
responsible for what happened. Everything was so messed up.

Your home is their only option. It will not be comfortable, but it is a roof over their head.

Ella nodded to no one in particular. It was the least she could do. After all, she was local support. It was her job to take care of them. All she had done was lead them into a trap. It seemed no matter what, all the Prophus who came here were somehow doomed.

She opened her mouth and was about to offer to let the team crash at her home when it hit her. She had everything backward all along. She was wrong and Hamilton was right. She was the double agent! Ella's world came crashing down inside her head. Her gasp was so loud everyone stared at her. She covered her mouth with her hand.

Ella…

She was Bijan's contact when he came to survey the site. She was the recon team's contact. Now, she was Cameron's team's contact. She had led Cameron's team into a trap and the Genjix were waiting. They were all nearly captured and one of their own died. Every time these Prophus had trusted and depended on her, she had failed them. Now, Io wanted her to bring these people to her home. What were the odds that the enemy was going to find them there?

“Io, it's you! You're the leak. You're the traitor.”

“Are you all right, Ella?” Nabin asked. “Your face is white as Everest.”

Listen to me carefully if you want to survive. There is more–

Ella turned to the side and threw up.