Page 31 of Ramshackle
“Got it,” Dane confirms.
Reid shifts next to me on the roof of the first building. “What’s the plan?”
“Kill them,” I answer easily.
“We’re further from the beach, and there are more of them. How are you going to bring them there without wasting time?”
“I’m not.” I wave my hand at the bushes and scrub surrounding the building. “Hide them in there.”
He scowls. “I’m not here as your lackey. I can fight, too.”
Tilting my head, I regard him warily. “Mm. Why are you here, then?”
“What? I’m here to get you on and off the island faster without you wasting your gift.”
Not necessary, but it made Aiden feel better.
“No. Why are you helping us? What do you want?”
“Jack,” Aiden warns through the comms. “Now’s not the time for that. You can ask him whatever you want after we’ve gotten Raegan home.”
Reid and I stare silently at one another.
“Cameras are on a loop and I’ve blocked their radios. You’re clear,” Dane reports.
My lips twist up in a smirk now that time’s run out for Reid to answer. He’s hiding something. That much is certain.
I nudge him off the roof, letting him fall by gravity first before I catch him just above the ground. He curses at me, but I’m already airborne and attacking the guards in rapid succession. I drop in front of one of them, finishing the kill with the slash of a knife.
The rest of the guards rush at me, and I use my gift to enhance my speed. My strength. To send my fist flying with a force strong enough to break bone. My body is fast and light enough that fighting more than one assailant at a time is more like a coordinated dance between me and them.
I could send my knives at them like the others, but I need the outlet for some of my frustration. I’ve bottled it up for so long that I’m spiraling in it. My fists and knives attack mercilessly, and I revel in their pain and bloodshed.
This is what happens when you take her from me. When you touch what belongs tome.
The last guard hits the sand.
I survey the area once again to make sure there are no others, then stop on Reid. His lips are pressed into a hard line as he takes in the bodies lying around me. Then his blue gaze finds mine. “I’m not dragging every single one of these away. You’re helping.”
I chuckle softly. Fair point.
He drags three away by the time I have the rest hidden in the scrub, and then I wave my hand with a breeze to cover any lingering signs of blood in the sand. We’ll hopefully be long gone with Raegan by the time anyone on these islands wakes up to see anything, but there could always be more guards or the stray scientist working late at night.
Reid flashes the badge at the door to let us in. This time, the room looks more like a hotel lobby, with counters and computers on one side and a large living area on the other. We share a look. If she’s going to be somewhere sleeping, this is most likely it.
“We haven’t found anything about Raegan in their computers yet. Have you seen anything?” Aiden asks.
I hum. “Not sure yet.”
The first floor has all common areas. A kitchen, cafeteria, library, and offices. We head up the floors, scanning for bedrooms until we finally make it to a floor that has them. It’s easy to tell them apart from the others considering the hallway wall is see-through like glass.
“We found the prisoners,” Reid murmurs behind me to the others on the boat, no doubt.
He swipes the guard’s card through the keypad beside the door of the nearest room. A low, double beep and red light respond. His brow furrows. “We need a scientist’s badge.”
I focus on the face of the sleeping person in each room, using my gift to let me hop more swiftly from room to room.
“Where are you going?” Reid whispers harshly. “Aren’t we going to free them?”
