"Go."
Zoey moved by the next room.
"Freeze."
Another body hit the ground. Zoey cocked her head to the side, using her senses to see what was before them.
"Go."
She obeyed and reached the room they wanted. It was locked. She turned to watch Vikki traverse the hallway, leery of any Cambions, before she slammed her shoulder into the door. Two tries later, it gave.
"We're in," she reported.
The room was filled with rows of humming electronic equipment, a few computers and locked file cabinets. Zoey turned on the lights while Vikki closed the door behind them.
"Tell me what you see," Wes directed.
"Tons of computer servers and seven filing cabinets, all locked," she replied.
"The historic data we're looking for should be on hard drives in the cabinets."
Zoey took one and jimmied the lock open with her knife. There were dozens of hard drives in it. She sat down beside it and began pulling them out, one-by-one.
"Hey, Wes, can you get us grenades?" Vikki asked.
"I'd trust a two-year-old with grenades over you two."
"Ouch," Zoey muttered.
Vikki signaled her, telling her in sign language that she had one of the hard drives and was going to check it out. Zoey moved out of the way of the desk.
"Anyway, we had a bet about who could sleep with the most guys in one night," Vikki said to cover the sounds of the computer starting.
"Seriously, Vikki?" Zoey complained.
"Guess who won? Wes, you have to guess, because it's cheating for Declan and Liam."
"Focus," Wes replied.
"No, guess!" Vikki insisted.
There was a pause. "Zoey with six."
"Why would you guess me, when Vikki had the football team in her room?" Zoey asked, offended.
"Zoey with thirteen," Vikki said.
Thirteen. I've been going too easy on you, Declan's silky voice slid through her.
"They weren't exactly super-Incubus-Enforcers!" Zoey replied out loud.
Vikki motioned her over. The drive didn't contain historical information; it contained details on the Sucubatti's' compounds worldwide. Locations, schematics, personnel assigned. She and Vikki exchanged a look.
"What's wrong, Zoey? Met your match?" Wes asked.
"Truthfully, yeah," she replied and returned to her cabinet to look for another drive. "I might put off calling the football team for a couple of days or so."
"Jesus," Wes laughed. "Does she act like this around you, Declan?"
"For about thirty seconds," Declan said. Until I touch you.
Zoey rolled her eyes. She dug out another hard drive and checked the serial then handed it to Vikki. Vikki shut down and restarted the computer.
"How's it coming with the drives?" Wes asked.
"Still looking. These things are full of them, and some don't have serials," Vikki lied. "You sure they're in here?"
Zoey stood to look over her shoulder. This drive contained personnel records, to include one specifically for Team R. Inside the folder, there were files for all five members. Vikki clicked on one with her name on it, and Zoey read with her. Her breath caught.
Olivia hadn't been lying, at least, not about Vikki. DNA results, initial surrogate screening, every doctor's appointment for the first ten years of Vikki's life was neatly filed away. Pictures of her adoptive family, birthday parties, even a copy of the cheesy kindergarten graduation certificate. Every part of Vikki's life was in the file.
Vikki was pale. Her hand dropped from the mouse, and she stared at the records. Zoey didn't know what to think.
"You've got two hours and an hour hike," Wes reminded them.
Zoey nudged Vikki, who grudgingly closed down the record of her life.
They dug through the cabinets, locating all the hard drives. The third contained information on the Sucubatti, their lineages, holdings, and family histories. The fourth was a hundred years worth of Hunters, the fifth full of poorly scanned documents, some of which appeared ancient while others were newer.
"One hour, one hour hike," Wes said.
Vikki clicked through a few documents, and Zoey read through them with her. Deeds, agreements, communiques and other official Sucubatti business. Vikki signed her, asking what they should do.
Zoey looked around them. She slid her thumbnail under the label with the serial number on one and peeled it off, then motioned to one of the other hard drives. Vikki's eyes lit up. They swapped out the hard drives quickly, stacking the ones they wanted to keep in one pile and the ones they'd turn over in another.
"Status," Wes ordered.
"Got all five," Zoey said. "Packing up and heading out."
Zoey took the real hard drives and Vikki the decoys. Strapping them down, they eased out of the room. There was no activity on their floor that they were able to see. Zoey cocked her head to the side, sensing something within the building.
"You guys expecting Incubuses to show up?" she asked, recognizing the magic.
There was a silence, followed by Wes's quiet order.
"Do not engage them."
"We're taking the fire escape," Vikki said. "It's rusty, but if we fall to our deaths, at least they won't kill us."
They crept down the hallway silently before moving into one of the rooms near the fire escape.
"They're headed our way," Zoey said, closing the door. "I've got three."
"Get out. Now." Wes's voice was sharp.
She and Vikki crossed to the window and looked down. They were four floors up. Zoey crawled out onto the window sill first and stretched for the fire escape.
"You need to be like, half a foot taller," Vikki teased tersely, behind her on the ledge.
"I'm short but cute," Zoey retorted.
"Kitten is fitting. Adorable but clawed," Wes added.
"I am not a kitten!" she grumbled. "Vikki." She held out her hand.
Vikki grabbed her wrist, and Zoey stretched farther. She reached the fire escape and tested it. It creaked.
"This is gonna be loud. We could use those grenades, Wes."
"Quiet. Move," he ordered.
Zoey gripped the fire escape. It shook under her weight. Vikki motioned for her to go. She went as fast as she could down the wobbling ladder. Its anchors were crumbling as she descended. She dropped the last ten feet to let Vikki on and rolled to her feet.
Pulling free weapons, Zoey kept one eye on Vikki to make sure she didn't fall. The ladder groaned, and Vikki grunted as she fell the last ten feet.
"Clear of the building," Zoey reported. "On our way."
They bolted across the park in the center of the campus. Shots were fired, and they ducked behind the next building. It was two hundred meters of open ground between the building and the forest at the edge of campus.
"Decoy," Vikki whispered. "I called first."
"Together," Zoey said. "As soon as those Incubuses figure out where we are ..."
Vikki frowned. She didn't wait. She darted away from the building, Zoey sprinting after her. Gun shots rang out again, and the two of them wove back and forth. They reached the tree line and dove into it. Bullets tore through the trees.
"High caliber rifles," Zoey said, breathless. "Total turn on."
"Guy can't aim for shit," Vikki added. She signed to Zoey about the hard drives.
Zoey hesitated then replied. They swapped, with Vikki taking two of the real ones to hide and giving Zoey two of the decoy hard drives. Zoey kept three of the real ones.
"Status," Wed said.
"Catching our breath," Vikki replied. "Moving again on three. One, two, three."
They both vaulted up, ducking as trees splintered around them. Zoey went south, towards the apartment she shared with Eric, while Vikki went north. Zoey made her way through the forest then broke into a sprint down a familiar street.
"Clear," she reported. "Going to Site Z."
"Ditto," Vikki said.
Zoey slowed her pace as she headed towards the apartment. Eric's car was gone, and she lingered for a moment on the doorstep before pulling out the key hidden under the doormat. She walked in, expecting to be bombarded by memories and regret.
She wasn't. The apartment once seemed like home. It didn't now. It seemed like someone else's apartment. She had a home, and it was with Declan. Zoey sighed, grateful not to feel bad anymore. She strapped rubber bands around the three hard drives containing official Sucubatti records, wrote her name on them, and placed them in one of the drawers they'd used for junk. Eric hadn't cleaned it out after she left; her hair scrunchies were still in it.
Interesting. You trust the ex.
She smiled and covered the mic. "Jealous?"
Very.
"I guess I could stick around for a bit. He might be home soon."
No response. She left, trotting down the stairs and starting down the street.
"Whatever you're doing, Zoey, stop," Wes said. "Declan just shot down Team Rogue at the Enforcer meeting, the one you're supposed to be at in forty five minutes."
"He did what?" she exclaimed.
"What the fuck, Zoey?" Vikki demanded. "Liam said they were about to approve funding."
"Declan!" Zoey hissed.
"You better fix this shit," Vikki snapped.
Get your ass here now, Declan said.
"Goddamn it, Declan!" Zoey took off running towards Site Z.
Chapter Twenty: Zoey Betrayed.
Wes was waiting for her. He looked her over, unimpressed. She glanced down. She was drenched from rain, the tank and leggings bearing scratches from the fighting and blood. He opened the door and motioned her in to the elevator.
"Second hall on the right, fourth door on the left," he said.
She ran out of the elevator and slid around the corner, slowing as she neared the door he indicated. It was open, as if she were expected. Vikki was standing to one side with Liam, sweating and breathing as hard as Zoey. She recognized a few of the faces from the Enforcer meeting, but there were others, too, men whose power washed over her in a way that made her edgy. Straight ahead was an Incubus in his prime with whiskey eyes and his arms across his chest.
Zoey almost rolled her eyes at seeing Liam's arm draped around Vikki's shoulder, as if he really did own her. Composing herself the best she could, she walked into the room and soon understood why Vikki was in direct contact with her soul-mate. If the Enforcer meeting was overwhelming, this was ten times worse.
The effect of the sex energy in the air was immediate. She made it a few steps into the room before her ears began to buzz, and the magic within her was at a roar, like it had been before she obliterated fifty Cambions.
"Zoey, I presume." The speaker's voice reverberated in the air around her, setting her instincts on alarm. Zoey gazed at him, at once realizing who stood before her: Declan's father. The most powerful Incubus in the universe. "I'm Ethan."