Claimed by Cipher - Lolita Lopez Page 0,94

hangars?” He glanced away from the screen where Terror and Reckless continued to fight. He tapped on the security feed from that sector and made it bigger. “There!”

“Is that Rake?” Savage looked aghast. “Is he rigged with explosives?”

Cipher zoomed in on his vest. “Yes.”

“Fuck,” Savage swore. “He’s blocking the only entrance to that unit?”

“Yes,” Cipher confirmed, checking the other angles of cameras.

“We need EOD down there immediately. If he has a canister of gas rigged to that unit, and we can’t shut it down remotely, we’re all fucked,” Savage snarled.

“Maybe not,” Torment said, gesturing to the screen where Terror had taken down Reckless. Brook rushed forward to help, grabbing a roll of silver tape that had fallen from the duffel bag and hastily securing the doctor’s ankles while Terror held him. “Is there audio in there?”

“No.” Cipher’s mouth went dry as Terror held his knife against the doctor’s eye socket. Brook glanced away as she taped his hands together, using her slight weight to keep him from moving. A second later, a gush of blood erupted from Reckless’s face and his mouth opened in a silent scream. The eyeball that had once been safely housed there flopped out onto the metal grate.

“Fuck,” Savage groaned and made a face.

“It’s effective,” Torment murmured, his attention fixed on the doctor who seemed to be babbling as Terror took his blade to the man’s ear.

“It’s illegal,” Savage reminded them.

“I don’t think anyone is going to care,” Cipher said, wishing with every fiber of his being that Brook wasn’t there to witness the gory display. At the same time, he couldn’t deny how much pride filled him as he had watched her dismantle the crude gas delivery system and help Terror secure the doctor.

“Where the hell are they going now?” Savage demanded as Terror and Brook shared a serious look before leaving the bleeding, howling but tightly secured doctor on the floor.

Cipher’s blood ran cold as Brook placed the glasses from his office onto her face. “Toward Rake and the bomb.”

Chapter Twenty

Brook refused to even think about what she had just witnessed. She pushed all the gruesome images and the gross sounds of Terror popping that eye out of the doctor’s head from her mind. She tried to forget the smell of blood and piss as the doctor wet himself in agony and fear. There would be time to deal with all of that later.

Terror hadn’t tried to discourage her from following him. He must have known that he needed her help. If what Reckless had told them was true—that Rake was rigged with an explosive vest and the canister of deadly NA-9X gas was on a timer—they didn’t have time to wait for backup. She wasn’t as skilled as the explosives techs on the ship, but she had confidence in her abilities. Reckless and Rake had rigged terribly simple bombs on the gangway so it was likely they had done the same with the ones on the vest. She could handle that.

Terror didn’t need the help of the glasses as he raced along the gangway, but she did. She kept the glasses in place as they ran, just in case he veered off course or they got separated. Watching him in action earlier, she had understood that he had definitely earned his name. He was a terror. A walking, breathing nightmare to anyone who crossed him.

When they reached the first ladder, he hopped down and landed as gracefully as a cat. She wasn’t about to try to hurl herself that distance, especially without any shoes on and her feet already bleeding. She would have tried to slide down, feet against the outside, but again, no shoes. Instead, she descended two and three rungs at a time.

Terror hadn’t waited for her, and she didn’t mind. Time was of the essence. She raced to catch up to him and inwardly groaned when she saw him jumping down another ladder chute. Glad for all the hundreds of times she had climbed and descended ladders as a miner, she descended as quickly as possible and sprinted after him. They descended three more ladders and must have covered at least three-quarters of a mile before they finally neared their destination.

Terror raised a hand, silently telling her to slow down and stop. Trying to control her breathing, she did as he instructed and sidled up close to him. He crouched down, using a wide chute for cover and motioned for her to join him. He moved so close she could