Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,4

distress call was sent out for exactly twelve seconds, before someone cut it off and said that it was a false alarm.”

“And no one came to check?” Mordred asked.

“USS Burton,” Hel said. “A destroyer-class ship was the closest one to the emergency signal.”

“What happened to the destroyer?” Mordred asked as he looked around the foyer for signs of anyone who might still be alive.

“Two hundred men died,” Hel said. “Those sirens out there tore the inhabitants of the destroyer apart. It was found floating a hundred miles off the coast of Nova Scotia with all hands lost.”

These creatures were not pushovers; they had murdered thousands of people in their insatiable need for blood and flesh.

“Why, though?” Remy asked. “Sirens are a pain in the arse, but so long as you’re not a horny, drunk sailor, you’re pretty safe. And for them to attack a cruise ship is unheard of.”

“Did you read the mission briefing?” Diana asked Remy.

“I skimmed it,” Remy said. “Sirens, missing ship, bad guys, possibly some kind of mobile prison. The ship has been missing for three months, the tracking removed. All attempts to get out here have been met with hostility. It’s all very interesting, but nowhere does it explain why they attacked and took control of a cruise ship. Nor does it explain why they didn’t just blow it up.”

“There are innocent people on this ship,” Diana said. “Not sure how happy the public would be to hear that a government blew up several thousand people because they were scared of sirens.”

“Besides, someone is leading them,” Mordred said. “We find out who and stop them, and hopefully nothing gets blown up.”

“Do we know who’s behind this?” Zamek asked.

Mordred shrugged. “I have no idea. That’s why we’re here—to find out.”

“The intel said something about prisoners,” Remy said. “We know how many might still be alive?”

Mordred shook his head. “Honestly, I’m not sure what to expect. This ship has docked in three separate ports in South America. Each time it docked, we have intel telling us that prisoners were brought on board. We don’t know why. We just know that they were Avalon prisoners, so we can assume they’re high-value targets.”

“A rescue mission where we don’t know who we’re rescuing,” Diana said. “Sounds about right.”

“So we don’t even know if they’re still alive,” Chloe said. “A lot of people have died in here already. There were a lot of passengers on this ship too. I wonder how many of them became food after the initial attack.”

Diana picked up a piece of blood-drenched uniform. “Marines died here,” she said. “The sirens waited until this ship was boarded before they attacked.”

“So if you’re in charge of this ship, I assume you’d want to stay somewhere nice,” Zamek said.

“We’ll try first class later and go from there,” Mordred said. “Bridge first.”

They slowly walked up the staircase, Mordred wishing the floor wasn’t so sticky.

Diana led the group up a second flight of stairs, these thankfully clean, to the floor above, which was devoid of blood-splattered surfaces.

“Someone cleaned up,” Remy said as the group stopped just outside the door of the hallway where the first-class cabins were. “I smell lemon disinfectant.”

Mordred looked out of the massive windows beside him. The uninterrupted view of nothing but ocean stretched as far as he could see.

“How long do you think before the rest of the sirens go looking for us?” Chloe asked.

“I imagine they’ll be with us soon enough,” Mordred said. “Whoever is in charge probably knows we’re here. Maybe they want to meet us themselves first.”

They moved around the top floor of the foyer toward a sign that said EMPLOYEES ONLY. There was a bloody handprint on the white door, next to the card reader.

“So, key cards,” Remy said. “Anyone have one of those?”

Chloe placed a hand on the card reader and used her power to burn a hole in the door, completely destroying the lock.

Chloe took a step to the side, frowning as everyone else filed through the door, leaving Mordred last. “You okay?” he asked.

Chloe nodded. “Missing Piper is all. I read the manifest for the people aboard. Most were couples just wanting a romantic getaway. Wrong place, wrong time.”

“We’ll make sure to get justice for them,” Mordred said, walking through the door after Chloe and up the short flight of stairs. “How is Piper, anyway?”

“We’ve spent the last year grieving for everyone we lost in Asgard and then trying to find Arthur,” Chloe said. “I’m not sure we’ve done either properly. Piper