"If you think you're better equipped to handle this part of the plan then why don't you come down here and do it?" I muttered back, forcing my way further beneath the car before taking my hunting knife from my belt and reaching up to sever the fuel line.
The sharp blade cut through the plastic with a jerk of my muscles and the heady scent of gasoline assaulted me as the fuel began to piss out onto the concrete.
"Incoming," Blake's voice reached me as I wriggled back out from beneath the BMW and rolled over onto my front as I stayed hidden in the shadows behind the parked cars.
Headlights swept into the space and I remained unmoving as the new arrival parked up on the far side of the underground lot.
I stayed silent, a wolf in the shadows, ready to pounce if need be and hoping that the woman wouldn't smell the gasoline on the air as she got out of her car. She paused, looking around at the dimly lit lot and frowning at the glow of red emergency lighting before carrying on to the stairs which led up into the building as she decided to dismiss her concerns. Bad call, Veronica. I didn’t know if her name actually was Veronica, but she looked like a total bitch with a stick up her ass so it seemed to fit. I had an aunt called Veronica and she was an asshole of mass proportions.
It wouldn't be long before she figured out that heading into that building was a bad fucking idea, but I wasn’t inclined to warn her. I just needed to finish up my part in this then make it back to the others in time to head inside via the fire escape to fuck this place right up.
I waited in the dark until the door to the stairs closed and the woman headed up into the building. I'd only managed to cut the lines on four of the cars, but that would have to do. We couldn't wait any longer.
"You good to go?" I checked as I pulled a pack of cigarettes from my back pocket and planted two in my mouth.
"Hang on, I want to scramble the emergency signal hooked up to the fire alarm to delay the fire service's response time," Saint muttered, his attention clearly on whatever he was doing with his laptop to make that happen.
Tippy, tap, tap, tap. I listened to him hitting the keys as he worked furiously to achieve that, fighting off the urge to mock him for making me wait. It was seriously tempting, but on reflection it made more sense to let him concentrate than it did to bait him right now. Look at me, being all grown up and rational. I’d make a mental note to mock him tirelessly for it later though. Saint bait this good couldn’t be ignored.
I backed up a few steps, shoving the box of smokes in my pocket before bringing the lighter to my lips and flicking my thumb down on it to spark it up.
I’d been smoking almost constantly since Tatum had gone, using that familiar scent and taste to torture myself with all the memories it awoke in me of my fucked-up childhood. I’d needed to hurt like that, needed to punish myself for failing her. To hate myself for being such a fuck up. But I was going to make it right. I’d made my girl a vow, to have and to hold, honour and protect. I was failing in all of that right now but I was going to fix it, no matter the consequences.
I glanced at the wedding ring I’d tattooed around my left ring finger and almost smiled. I’m coming, baby.
I inhaled deeply as the two cigarettes lit up, taking a heady toke of nicotine down into my lungs. It was an awful fucking habit, but I’d worry about quitting again once I had my baby back in my arms. She was the only vice I needed anyway.
The gas mask Saint had insisted I wear was currently hanging from my belt and no doubt he'd flip out when he realised I wasn't wearing it. But unlike the others, I'd already caught the Hades Virus and survived. Kyan Roscoe was just too damn hard to kill. And that was the way I liked it. I didn't care if Saint seemed to think I might not have full immunity or whatever the crap he kept harping on about. I was as strong as a bull and didn't like wearing that damn thing over my face.
The ski mask I could live with for anonymity's sake, but fuck that ventilator shit. I never had liked sci-fi movies anyway.
"Got it," Saint said over the earpiece, that underlying current of smug to his tone which I loved and hated equally. “I’m on my way to meet you at the fire escape now.”
“The coast is clear,” Monroe confirmed.
"Anyone wanna give me a countdown?" I asked, a smirk lifting the corner of my lips as I backed up further, taking one of the cigarettes from my mouth and preparing to flick it towards the puddles of fuel beneath the cars I'd sabotaged.
It was like car dominoes. I'd lined them all up, primed them to blast and now they were gonna go boom one after another. The fire alarms would automatically activate, the doors would pop open and hey presto - four demons would be granted entry into the tower that held our queen. So help anyone who tried to stand between us and her then.
"Three," Blake obliged, sounding excited. "Two. One-"
I flicked the cigarette towards the puddle of gasoline and turned to run, keeping my head low as I expected the explosion to tear through the cars in a matter of moments.
I sprinted to the bottom of the exit ramp and paused as the deadly ring of silence told me I'd managed to fuck that up. Nice work, asshole.
"What's going on?" Monroe asked over the comm.
"Did you fuck it up?" Saint snarled.
"Fuck you," I tossed back, tilting my head to one side and seeing the lit cigarette on the ground a few inches away from the puddle of fuel. "Give me a sec, my aim was off."
I started back towards the row of cars, my boots heavy across the concrete as I raised a hand to my lips for the second cigarette. But before I could take hold of it, the one on the ground began to roll and my eyes widened in alarm a second before it managed to find the puddle of fuel.
A whoosh of heat swept over me before I even heard the almighty boom of the car exploding and I was thrown right off of my feet and hurled back towards the exit ramp.
My back collided with the concrete and by some miracle, I managed not to hit my head as I kept my hands locked over it. Three more explosions rocked the building as the other cars I'd sabotaged followed the first into a fiery death and I rolled over, shielding my head as best I could as lumps of mangled metal slammed down all around me and agony spilled through my body.
"Fuck," I groaned, the cigarette falling from my lips as I pushed myself to my hands and knees. That had hurt like a motherfucker, but I was alive which meant I had more important things to do than lay here crying about a few cuts and bruises.
The fire alarm burst to life, ringing loudly as the sprinklers suspended above the cars kicked into action too and I forced myself up to my feet.
My head spun and my back flared with agony, but I was up which meant I was going to keep moving.
The others were all speaking over the comm, but my ears were ringing so much from the explosion that they were nothing more than a jumble of noise to me. They were probably freaking out over me, but I wasn’t the one who they needed to focus on.
I grunted something which I wasn't even certain formed words as I started moving as fast as my battered body would take me. I needed to meet them at the fire escape and get inside that building. Nothing else mattered. Nothing.
Just my girl who was waiting up there for me to prove my worth to her. And I’d do it. Even if it killed me.
T he fire alarm blared in my ears after an explosion had rocked the entire foundations of the building. Excitement rushed through me and made me as happy as a damn rainbow. There was only one explanation for it. Well, four actually. Four devils whose souls were linked to mine so deeply that it defied all logic. I thumbed the wedding band on my finger, sensing my connection to Kyan in the depths of the gleaming skull’s eyes. It was the ring of a heathen’s wife and the bastards in this lab should have thought to run for their lives the moment they saw it. It had been their one and only warning. And now time had run out and they were all marked by the creatures of the night creeping in their back door.