Soul Meaning (A Seventeen Series Novel: An Action Adventure Thriller Book 1) (27 page)

I braced myself for the sudden deceleration and reached for the steering toggles. One hundred feet below and to my right, Reid’s parachute swooped toward the rapidly enlarging landmass. I headed after him.

We landed on the rooftop of one of the towers seconds later. I hit the ground with a soft thud, pulled out the wakizashi, and cut away the lines before the chute could drag me over the edge of the terrace.

There was movement out the corner of my eyes.

I ducked and stabbed a Crovir Hunter in the chest. The immortal crumpled, his gun falling out of his hand. I caught it before it struck the stonework and lowered the lifeless body to the ground.

There was a noise behind me. I looked over my shoulder. My stomach dropped.

I turned and ran toward the two figures struggling silently near the northeast parapet.

The men fell from the tower a second before I reached them.

I dove forward, slammed the tip of the blade in a groove between the slabs, and slid over the edge with an outstretched arm. My fingers closed over flesh.

I came to a juddering stop with half my body suspended over empty space. The silence beneath me was broken by a thump.

‘That was close,’ Reid murmured.

He swung from my grasp, his feet dangling over the hundred-foot drop. I pulled him up with a grunt and glanced at the dark shape of the Crovir Hunter lying at the base of the building.

Waves boomed against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. No cries of alarm sounded in the night. Our landing had gone undetected.

‘Everyone okay?’ I whispered in my transmitter, studying the adjoining rooftops. A series of affirmative responses sounded in my ears. Friedrich gave us a quick wave from the next building and disappeared in the gloom.

Reid and I removed our flight gear before heading for the door tucked in a corner of the tower. A dimly lit stairwell lay on the other side. I stopped at the top of the steps and looked over the banister.

A further four landings were visible below. Silence rose from the lower depths of the turret.

We moved soundlessly down the spiral staircase and reached an iron-plated oak door at the bottom. Faint voices came through the wood.

‘On three?’ Reid mouthed.

I nodded, slipped the Glock from the holster on my hip, checked the suppressor, and moved to the side of the doorpost.

Reid’s bullet struck the lock with a dull, metallic twang. The door crashed open on his first kick. He stepped out of the way while I turned and dropped to one knee. I raised the gun and fired.

My shots took out the first two Crovir Hunters. Light from the naked bulb on the ceiling glinted on the edge of the wakizashi as it spun through the air and thudded into the neck of the third man. His hand slipped from the handle of the door on the other side of the chamber as he collapsed to the ground.

I retrieved the short sword while Reid unscrewed the light bulb from the ceiling. We crossed the darkened room to the second door. He twisted the handle. It opened silently.

We were faced with a walkway at the top of one of the castle walls. A bank of clouds had moved in from the west and was drifting past the moon, causing shadows to dance across the stonework. Cold air whipped over the rampart from the sea on the left. To the right, a parapet overlooked a dark courtyard a hundred feet below.

Two Crovir guards stood next to another tower at the end of the path. Smoke curled up from the cigarettes in their hands. A chuckle drifted in our direction.

Darkness and the rush of the wind helped mask our approach. We were ten feet from the men before they noticed us. They jerked convulsively when our bullets struck them. The sounds of their bodies hitting the ground were muted by the crash of the distant surf.

An empty room lay through the doorway of the second tower. Narrow, leaded windows looked down onto an enclosed courtyard. We headed for the exit on the opposite side.

Halfway across the floor, I froze in my tracks.

Reid stiffened. ‘What is it?’

I stared at the bench tucked beneath the windows. ‘There are three glasses on that table.’

The words had barely left my lips when a gasp sounded to the right. I turned and saw the third man disappear through a door concealed in the shadows.

I was the first one over the threshold. Up ahead, the Crovir Hunter raced along a dim corridor, his figure darting between the bars of moonlight streaming through the windows lining the left wall of the gallery. A brightly lit archway stood at the end of the passage.

Reid’s shot whistled past me and caught the man on the leg. He stumbled and started to fall.

It was all I needed.

I dove and tackled him to the ground a dozen feet from the opening.

We landed hard on cold, bare stone. The Hunter rolled out from under me and reached for his gun. He froze when the edge of the wakizashi touched the skin at his throat.

‘Do you know who I am?’ I said in a low voice while Reid relieved him of his weapon.

The Crovir Hunter dipped his chin and winced when the short blade drew a drop of blood from his flesh.

‘Where are the prisoners?’ I asked harshly.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ the immortal retorted.

I leaned down until my face was mere inches from his. ‘Anna and Tomas Godard. Where are they?’ I said between gritted teeth.

The man gulped. A thin, crimson line coursed down his neck and stained the collar of his shirt. He opened his mouth to reply.

Voices rose through the brilliant arch ahead.

Chapter Twenty-Six

R
eid and I grabbed the
Crovir Hunter and pulled him into the shadows next to the door. I kept the wakizashi pressed against the immortal’s throat and narrowed my eyes. His breath left his lips in a low sigh and he nodded with a defeated expression.

Snatches of conversation reached us when footsteps drew closer to the doorway.

‘ —the chamber ready?’

‘Yes, sir. We’ve set it up as per your instructions.’

‘Good. And the woman?’

‘Our scientists are still working on her. As expected, she’s not cooperating. They think —’

The rest of the exchange was muted when the voices went out of earshot. Rage stirred inside my veins. I took a step forward.

Reid placed a hand on my shoulder and stopped me in my tracks.

The first voice had belonged to Felix Thorne.

I drew a slow breath and turned a flinty stare on the Crovir Hunter. ‘Where’s your central command room?’

The immortal’s eyes widened. ‘You’ll never get there in one piece!’

‘I didn’t ask for your opinion,’ I snapped.

Reid sighed. ‘Just show us to the nearest computer,’ he told the Hunter.

The man guided us through the archway to a room some thirty feet down an adjacent passage. Reid reached for the door handle.

Five seconds later, we had disposed of the two guards inside.

Reid handcuffed our reluctant guide to the radiator on the wall. Fear filled the immortal’s eyes when he observed the dead men on the floor.

I removed a USB stick from inside my jumpsuit and plugged it in one of the ports at the back of the computer terminal on the table.

‘We’re in,’ I said in my transmitter.

A buzz of static overlaid the Bastian tech’s voice when it came over the earpiece. ‘That’s great! Victor called. They’re ten minutes from the island.’

I watched the screen flicker.

The device allowed the Bastians access to the Crovir fortress’s mainframe and the security feeds inside the complex. Codes started to roll down the monitor.

‘Here goes,’ murmured the tech.

Video streams from dozens of cameras appeared on the screen. My eyes were drawn to one near the bottom right corner.

‘Where is that?’ I barked.

The tech zoomed in on the picture. Floor plans of the castle appeared next to the image. There was an audible intake of breath from the other end of the line.

‘That room is in a secure facility two hundred feet below you,’ he said in a low voice. ‘It’s inside the island.’

My heart pounded dully in my chest as I stared at the image of Anna strapped to a metal gurney. A monitor above her head displayed her vital signs. There was an IV line snaking out of her left elbow to a stand holding a bag of clear fluid; her eyes were closed and her face deathly pale.

‘Can you override the access doors to that unit?’ I asked stiffly.

The Bastian tech was silent for a while. His voice finally came through the earpiece. ‘No. And I’m afraid I’ve got more bad news.’

‘What is it?’

‘It seems they have a completely separate security system for that part of the complex. Even the camera feeds are controlled from a different subframe.’ Frustration tinged his voice. ‘The best I can do is get you to one of the elevators that goes down to that facility. After that, you’re on your own.’

Reid and I exchanged troubled glances.

‘Let the others know where we’re headed,’ I told the tech. ‘My grandfather’s bound to be there as well.’

We left the Crovir Hunter gagged and handcuffed inside the room and proceeded east along the corridor. All the while, the image of Anna’s lifeless face burned at the front of my mind.

The tech guided us to an alcove in the south wall of a tower two floors below, where a metal door stood framed between a set of heavy curtains.

‘This is as far as I can take you,’ said the Bastian. ‘The lift is through that door. There are five Crovir Hunters between you and the elevator.’

‘Thanks.’ I holstered my gun and lifted the daisho from my waist. ‘Are the others here yet?’

‘They’ve just reached the dock under the island,’ replied the tech.

I glanced at Reid. In addition to the Glock, he also held a Beretta pistol in his hand. ‘What about Friedrich and his team?’

‘They’re almost at the main command center.’ Static travelled down the line. ‘Reznak and his men haven’t got control of the subframe security yet. Once you guys go through that door, the Crovirs will soon know we’re on the island.’

‘Okay,’ I murmured. ‘Warn Friedrich and the others.’

‘Will do,’ said the tech. ‘Good luck.’

I looked at Reid. ‘Ready?’

He shrugged. ‘Not really.’

My fingers tightened on the handles of the blades. I dipped my chin.

Reid shot through the lock on the door. I kicked it open and moved out of the way. He stepped inside the room, took out the cameras near the ceiling, and fired rapidly from both weapons.

I dove after him, hit the floor, and rolled. Shots ricocheted off the edges of the daisho as I leapt to my feet. I weaved the blades around, my steps quick and measured. The tips of the swords gleamed with blood. Crimson sprays splattered the ground and walls.

Ten seconds later, I reached for the swipe card on one of the bodies and moved to the lift.

‘Lucas,’ Reid warned.

I looked to where he stared. The numbers on the indicator panel above the elevator had started to glow; the cabin was moving up.

We shifted to the sides of the steel doors a moment before they opened.

Olsson stepped out. He froze in his tracks, his eyes widening as he took in the bloody scene. His hand was halfway to his gun when the katana arced through the air and stopped a hairbreadth from his throat. He went still.

‘Hello, Mikael,’ I murmured. I was surprised at how composed I sounded.

‘How did you—’ Olsson broke off when a bullet sang past his ear.

Reid lowered the Glock.

The Crovir Hunter at the back of the elevator slid to the floor, his eyes turning dull beneath the fresh bullet wound in his forehead. His finger slipped from the control panel and his arm swung lifelessly next to his body.

A shrill alarm tore through the room. It was undoubtedly being transmitted to the rest of the complex.

Reid grimaced. ‘Well, they were gonna find out about us soon anyway.’ He indicated Olsson with the Glock. ‘What do you wanna do with him?’

Olsson stood watching us stiffly, his eyes blazing with anger.

‘He might prove useful as leverage.’ I removed a cable tie from my backpack and closed it around Olsson’s wrists.

Reid frowned. ‘And if he doesn’t?’

‘We can always use him as a shield.’

Reid brightened. ‘I like that.’

I pushed Olsson inside the lift and turned him to face the doorway. I touched the wakizashi to the pulsing artery in his neck. ‘You’re going to take us to Anna and my grandfather.’

‘Like hell I will!’ he barked.

‘I don’t think you understand.’ I nudged his skin with the tip of the short blade. ‘I will kill you if you don’t do as I say.’

A mocking chuckle left Olsson’s lips. ‘Go ahead. You have no idea what these people are capable of, do you? Besides, Tomas Godard deserves to die!’

I scowled. ‘My grandfather was not responsible for your father’s death.’

‘Yes he was!’ shouted Olsson. Blood appeared on his neck as he strained against the wakizashi. ‘He ordered the Bastians into Khotyn!’

The alarm was loud in the silence that followed.

‘Your father was a soldier, Mikael,’ I said. ‘He knew what he was getting himself into.’

Olsson glared at me. ‘Go to hell, Soul! I’ll never help you, so you might as well kill me now!’

I watched him for a moment. ‘Not yet, Mikael.’ I pressed a button on the control panel. ‘Not while there’s a chance that we could still use you.’

The doors closed. The cabin started to move.

The sound of shots soon rose from the inner depths of the island.

‘Looks like they started the party without us.’ Reid grimaced and scratched the end of his nose with the Glock. ‘Damn. I could really do with a smoke.’

‘For a mortal, you sure are taking things lightly!’ Olsson spat out.

Reid watched him steadily. ‘You know, if Lucas doesn’t shut you up soon, I swear I’m gonna shoot you myself.’

The noise of gunfire grew louder. One hundred and sixty feet after we started our descent, the elevator opened onto a scene of chaos.

Bullets crisscrossed the smoke wreathed air of a large vestibule ahead. Victor, Anatole, and a dozen Bastian Hunters had taken cover behind a makeshift barricade to the left of the lobby.

Some twenty Crovirs stood at the opposite end, semi-automatics singing in their hands.

‘Take him!’ I shoved Olsson toward Reid, sheathed the swords, and drew my guns.

I stepped out of the lift.

Time slowed. I breathed steadily while I emptied the magazines into the enemy. Ten seconds passed. I reloaded the guns. A stray bullet grazed my cheek. Another nicked the top of my left ear. One struck my body vest. I finished sliding the fresh clips into place and raised the weapons once more, my stride unbroken.

The final shell casings clattered to the floor a moment later. I blinked through the clearing haze and observed the bodies covering the vestibule.

There were footsteps behind me.

‘Well, that seems to be it for the time being.’ Victor stopped at my side and changed the magazine in his gun. ‘Though I’m sure there’ll be plenty more where they came from.’

The Bastian Hunters started to divest the fallen Crovirs of their weapons.

‘You look like shit,’ Reid told Anatole.

‘Traveling in a sub is not exactly my favorite mode of transportation,’ the ashen-faced immortal muttered. ‘Give me the high road anytime.’ A gleam appeared in Anatole’s eyes when he looked past Reid. ‘Why, look who we have here. We meet again, asshole.’

Olsson stood nursing a wounded leg, a scowl darkening his face.

I cocked an eyebrow at Reid.

He shrugged. ‘One of his own men shot him. Go figure.’

‘Anna and your grandfather are somewhere through there.’ Victor indicated the steel doors at the end of the lobby. ‘Costas and Bruno are covering the lower floors to the dock. I don’t know how much longer they’ll be able to stall the Crovirs. Reznak and his men are still inside the main fortress.’

Faint explosions from above punctuated the end of his statement. ‘And Friedrich?’

‘He’s fighting his way into the command room with the help of one of the Crovir nobles,’ said Victor. ‘Once they’re in, we’ll be able to get the rest of our men on the island.’

While we had been making our way to the Crovir fortress by air and by sea, Roman Dvorsky had finally contacted his son with the Councils’ decision; the rest of the Bastian army was on its way from Europe to assist us.

I feared they would be too late. The expression on Victor’s face mirrored my own doubts. I suppressed the dread coursing through me and turned to study the doors blocking our path. A complex security display stood to the left of the metal panels.

It was going to take more than an access card to get us inside the core of the Crovir fortress.

My eyes rose to the ceiling.

Victor followed my gaze to a large, square panel. ‘What are you thinking?’

‘From the floor plans I saw earlier, there’s a ventilation duct right above us. It leads inside the facility.’ I frowned. ‘It won’t be practical for all of us to go that way.’

I glanced from Olsson to the security panel next to the doors. It was similar to the one I had in my apartment in Boston.

‘I suspect Mikael’s fingerprint and retinal scan will get you through there,’ I told Victor. ‘We’ll create a diversion to give you a fighting chance.’

Reid linked his fingers into a foothold. I climbed onto his shoulders and unscrewed the paneling above our heads.

I was in the vent within seconds and pulled him up after me. Anatole followed.

‘See you on the other side,’ Victor said from below.

The passage inside the duct was hot and tight. We crawled silently along it and came to a grated opening in the floor some thirty feet later. I unbolted the cover and peered carefully out of the hole.

A crowd of Crovir Hunters stood before the steel doors at one end of the passage, their guns at the ready. An empty, white-walled corridor disappeared into the facility in the opposite direction.

I gripped the edge of the ventilation shaft and slowly lowered myself to the tiled floor. Reid and Anatole dropped down silently beside me.

The Bastian immortal removed the pair of Steyr AUG rifles strapped to his back and handed one of the weapons to Reid. He pressed the safety button, grinned, and waved wildly at the Crovirs.

‘Hey, assholes! We’re right here!’

The Crovirs turned. Their eyes widened.

By then, our bullets had already struck ten of them. The steel doors opened. Victor and the Bastians rushed inside the passage.

Rapid footfall pounded the ground behind me. More Crovirs appeared from the direction of the facility.

‘Go! We’ll take the front!’ Anatole shouted over his shoulder.

I turned to face the approaching wave of immortals. A heartbeat later, the daisho started its lethal dance through the air. A couple of bullets thudded into my body vest. Another skimmed past my right eye and grazed my temple. My steps did not waver as the blades carved into flesh again and again.

Half a minute later, we had secured the access to the underground facility.

‘Don’t stop! We’ll cover you!’ Victor yelled as a fresh surge of Crovirs arrived at the steel doors.

I nodded and started to run, Reid and Anatole on my heels.

More guards materialized in our path as we advanced inside the island. They fell swiftly beneath our bullets and my blades. White corridors unrolled before us, walls blindingly bright under the harsh fluorescent strips in the ceiling. All the while, the alarms echoed around us.

Biohazard signs started to appear overhead. We turned a corner and skidded to a stop in front of a pair of containment doors.

‘The labs must be through here!’ I gasped.

My stomach plummeted when I saw the security display next to the doors. I had never seen one like it before.

There was a noise behind us. A group of Crovir Hunters came into view at the opposite end of the passage.

Reid scowled. ‘Hurry up and do your stuff!’

I unscrewed the panel while Reid and Anatole laid down cover fire. I grabbed a pen torch from my backpack and shone it on the microcircuits inside the unit. A sliver of sweat dripped over my right eye. I blinked, stuck the torch between my teeth, and raised the wakizashi. The blade sliced through two wires. I rapidly twisted the ends together.

The light above the lintel turned green. The doors opened with a hiss of escaping air.

‘Let’s go!’ I shouted.

We crossed the threshold into a hall lined with glass walls. Figures in white biohazard suits were visible behind the sterile partitions. They looked up at the sound of the gunfire, their eyes widening behind their visors.

I turned and stabbed the wakizashi into the access panel on the wall. Sparks erupted from the unit. The containment doors closed on the approaching Crovir Hunters, their shots thudding dully into the reinforced metal.

Reid raised an eyebrow. ‘That should buy us what, ten minutes or so?’