Invidious Betrayal (45 page)

“Okay.” She managed a smile.

“There’s a stairway to the left at the end of the corridor that we can use, but we won’t be the only ones with access to it,” Brandon said from behind her.

They led her down a long hallway lined with doors, but each one was closed and Aria could see that the electronic keypads next to them were damaged. Ian led the way and Brandon followed in the rear while she stayed in between them. The closer they got to the stairway, the heavier the gun felt in her hands. Ian turned a corner and stopped, then raised his hand for them to do the same.

Aria looked behind her to see that Brandon had stayed behind the wall at the corner they’d just passed, and was a few feet away keeping watch. Brandon waved for her to come back, closer to him, as Ian opened the stairwell door and went inside. Aria went to stand by Brandon.

Minutes passed with no Ian and no sound, then she heard a lot of shouting but it wasn’t Ian. Her pulsed picked up. Screams quickly followed the shouting then she heard gunshots. Fear gripped her heart and she instinctively moved toward the stairwell.

“Don’t.” Brandon said quietly as he looked over his shoulder at her. “You’ll distract him and it may get him killed.” Brandon watched her until she stepped back, then he turned to look around the corner again. “Besides, we have our own party to attend.” Not two seconds passed before Brandon discharged his weapon.

Taking a deep breath, Aria slid down in a crouching position near the wall, raised the gun she’d been given, and aimed it at the stairwell door that Ian had entered. She had never shot anyone before and the idea of doing such a thing made her ill but she was determined to protect herself, her unborn child that belonged to the man she loved, and his loyal friend, Brandon. If she had to kill to do that, then so be it.

I
GNORING THE FIRE IN HIS
right shoulder, Ian placed his hand over the bleeding hole and with a push of his mind, the small disfigured bullet eased out and dropped to the stairway floor. Six men lay dead, three at his feet, and one hung over a rail next to him. Another lay on the steps below, his body twisted in an impossible angle. The sixth man had fallen. Well he’d actually been thrown three floors to his death.

What a waste
, Ian thought. These people had no idea how precious life was, or they didn’t care. But he did. Ian had warned them. He told them that he just wanted to leave, that he didn’t want any trouble. Only they didn’t listen. They’d fired on him with the intent to kill. What they didn’t know was that he wasn’t going down without a fight. He wasn’t going down, period.

Ian quickly climbed three more floors and pulled open the stairway door that led to the main lobby. He was surprised to see that it was empty. He was about to turn and go check the front of the building when he heard a gun go off. It came from below him. He backed up into the stairwell again and bolted down the six flights of stairs, practically yanking the door off the hinges. Aria was crouching, facing the stairwell with her back to Brandon who was engaged in a fire fight.

Aria’s body seemed to deflate when their eyes met, as if she had held her breath the entire time he’d been gone. Her eyes were glossed over but he could tell she was fighting back tears. The strength she possessed was awe-inspiring.

“Ian, thank God,” Aria breathed. She lowered the gun she had gripped so tightly, allowing her knuckles to fill with blood again. “I heard shooting and screaming. I thought, I thought you were—Oh my God, you’ve been shot,” she said, reaching for his shoulder.

“Just a flesh wound,” he said, grabbing her arm before she could touch it. He gave her a chaste kiss on the lips as a small distraction then he quickly moved her to his side. The wound hadn’t been a flesh wound but due to his faster-than-usual healing, it was now. “We have to go, Brandon.”

“Yeah? Tell them that,” Brandon said, without looking at him. He shot two more rounds down the hall.

Ian moved out from behind Brandon with his hand raised. Brandon yelled something and moved from a crouching position to tackle him in an effort to keep him from being shot, but stopped when he saw and heard several bullets hit some type of invisible barrier and fall uselessly to the floor. Brandon looked from the bullets to Ian, noting that Ian’s hand was still raised, and concluded that Ian was somehow responsible. Brandon gave him a quizzical look, then glanced back at the bullets that continued to collect on the floor in front of them.

With his other hand, Ian pushed the same force that stopped the bullets at the men down the hall. They began grunting and falling as their own bullets was turned on them. The other men were raised from the floor and thrown every which way until their bodies slammed into the walls and they fell limp to the floor.

“There was no point in talking,” Ian smirked, as he took Aria’s hand and moved to the stairwell.

Brandon stood. “Yeah,” his voice was a little shaky and he sounded unsure, “they weren’t the talking type.” He followed Ian and Aria toward the stairwell but kept glancing over his shoulder at the downed men. “What just happened back there?” he asked.

“I’ll fill you in later,” Ian said, noticing that Brandon had to take two steps at a time to catch up to them. Ian stopped and opened the door that lead to the lobby. He slowly stepped out with Aria and Brandon close behind. As soon as the door closed behind Brandon, the lobby filled with armed men.

Not giving Aria a moment to protest, Ian threw up a shield and pushed her toward Brandon. “Get her out of here, Brandon.”

Aria was shouting at Ian as she tried to grab hold of him, but Brandon took her by the arm and pulled her back through the stairwell door. Ian gave her a look that promised that he would be fine. It did nothing to calm her, and it hurt him to see her fighting to get to him as the stairwell door clanged shut.

“Get the girl and don’t hurt her, or I’ll make you wish you were dead.”

Ian knew that Jasper had barked the order, but he didn’t see him. Three of the men came forward with their guns pointed at him. Their intent was to get past him and into the stairwell, but Ian was having none of it. He threw a burst of energy at them, throwing them several feet away. Before the bullets hit him from the other five men who had commenced to shooting, Ian raised another barrier that took the impact then with a swipe of his hand, the men and their guns slid across the marble floor.

He rushed the group of three that he’d taken out first and who had begun to stir already. Targeting the one who had held onto his gun, Ian easily put him down with a punch to the throat and head, then took out the other two with jabs. Turning, he focused on the other group—whoever was still capable of putting up a fight. Ian was sure there wasn’t going to be much opposition from the five other men, but they weren’t who was waiting for him when he turned around.

Jasper was standing only a few feet away, but he looked nothing like the Jasper Ian knew. What stood in front of him was a distorted version of the man who once trained him. His skin almost looked raw as every muscle in his body seemed to flex, bloated with blood. Jasper’s facial features were harder than usual, and his lips were curved in a strained grin as his eyes focused solely on Ian.

“What happened to you?” Ian found himself asking.

A laugh that sounded like a choking engine came from Jasper’s mouth. “I found your little stash.” He held up Ian’s small, black pouch. “Figured this is what makes you telekinetic. Now the playing field is even.”

Ian had known Jasper had the pouch. He had expected the asshole to give the contents to his uncle, but he never expected Jasper would inject himself. “You shouldn’t have done that.” Ian’s tone was deadly. Aria’s life depended on him getting that pouch back.

“From now on I do what I want. Take what I want. And you know what I want, kid?”

Ian took a step forward. “Me dead,” he answered, taking another step.

After another bone chilling chuckle, Jasper smiled, showing white teeth and bloody gums. “That…and the girl.” Jasper said, as he patted what could be the pouch in his side cargo pants pocket.

Good
, Ian thought,
there must be some injections left
. “I will never let you hurt Aria.”

“Who said I wanted to hurt her? I plan on making her very happy. I’d never harm the woman who is going to have my children.”

What?
Frowning, Ian let the words Jasper said play over again in his head.

I can do this. I’m not helpless
, Aria told herself as the shooting around her seemed to intensify. Armed men had them pinned. Brandon had her nestled behind him and a file cabinet. He was protecting her just like he’d promised even though it meant fighting against the very people he had worked with.

“Brandon, I can help you,” she told him.

He didn’t turn to look at her. Brandon was focused on the task at hand, but he still shook his head. “Get behind the cabinet and stay covered,” he ordered. Then he pulled a cylinder from a pocket, pulled a pin, and rolled the smoking canister toward the men who were shooting at them. Aria ducked behind the cabinet. “Stay covered,” he said, again before he disappeared into the smoke.

Aria waited. Her eyes frantically scanned the smoke-filled hallway. Grunts of pain filled the space between her and the offensive line. A gunshot rang out amidst the other sounds, causing her to jump with fear. She had to do something. Brandon could be down, hurt. She raised her gun and eased out from behind the cabinet. Her eyes burned as she slowly stepped into the smoke.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay covered?”

The sound of Brandon’s voice made her jump then she sighed with relief. Aria watched as Brandon’s shadowed form walked toward her in the clearing smoke. Her eyes widened and her breathing quickened as a shadow rose behind him with jerky movements, but slowly and quietly pointed a gun towards Brandon’s head. He hadn’t seen or heard the threat, she realized as his face came into view. He looked irritated with her, but not aware of the man behind him. Aria slowly raised her gun.

“You shouldn’t point that gun if—”

The sound of the shot shattered the welcoming reprieve of close combat that filled the space. Aria saw Brandon stumble to the side as the shaded figure behind him fell to the floor.

“Shit,” Brandon said, as he turned and leaned over the newly-deceased man. “That’s dead center, little lady. You didn’t say you could shoot like that,” he said, as he stood and faced her.

“I offered to help you. My father is a Sheriff and my mother was once a police officer. They taught me to shoot with deadly accuracy.” Her body and voice were a little shaky but her parents had taught her well. Aria was the reigning champion of the Young Guns Competition, which included Land’s End and the surrounding counties, for three years running.

Brandon checked his gun and ammunition as he glared past her, then looked behind him. “Yeah,” he said, smiling, “that you did.” The smoke was almost cleared so he looked over at the three men he’d taken out and the one she had. Aria saw a glimmer of recognition in his eyes then all too fast it was gone. She wondered which of the men that lay dead on the floor was a friend, or if all of them were. “Come on.” He began moving stealthily down the hall. “The sooner I get you clear of this, the sooner I can get back and help Ian.”