Arlo Read online

  “Trust me, brother. I have done this once or twice.” Arlo waited until the militia truck slowed and the first of the soldiers climbed out, weapons already raised. He rolled the bike back a fraction and grinned, just as the bombs detonated.

  Despite closing his eyes, a white flash burned through his eyelids, and for a second, Arlo saw nothing. He felt Mary’s hands digging into his sides, her head tucked wisely against his shoulder blades.

  Shaking his head, he blinked his eyes several times, and the flames came into focus. Dense black smoke swirled toward him, filling his nose with hot air. The militia truck was on its side, the soldiers on the ground.

  “Mission complete.” He patted Mary’s hand. “Let’s get out of here and have that cup of coffee you mentioned.” Arlo loved what he did, despite having lost count of the number of bombs he’d set. But it was the challenge of defeating the enemy he found most satisfying.

  Their journey back to the underground bunker was a swift one, the streets almost empty. They only passed a few auto-taxis devoid of passengers. Lincoln sped up behind them on his own bike, having finished his sentry duty on the rooftop.

  “I take it no one is following us,” Arlo said to Jude as they neared the alleyway that would take them to the concealed entrance that led into the bunker.

  “The coast is clear,” said Jude. “Welcome home.”

  Arlo slid the bike along the alleyway, Lincoln behind him, before stopping and climbing off. He slid a loose brick aside before he keyed in a combination code, deactivating the external alarm. A gap appeared in front of them.

  Mary climbed off the bike and removed her helmet. “That was a close call, boy.”

  “You know me and booms,” said Arlo. “I can never resist seeing my work in action.”

  She grumbled under her breath. “You disobeyed Heath’s orders.”

  “Just because he thinks he’s in charge, that doesn’t always make him right.”

  “He is in charge of you, and he is always right,” said Mary.

  Arlo tried to plant a kiss on her cheek, but she moved out of his way. “Does that mean you don’t want to work with me anymore?”

  Mary frowned at him. “I’ll always work with you. And I’ll always be telling you to be more careful.”

  Lincoln chuckled. “If only he’d listen to you.”

  Arlo grimaced at Lincoln. His older brothers always liked bossing him around. He sometimes ignored their orders just to get a rise out of them.

  Arlo grabbed the bike and followed Mary through the entrance into the bunker. Lincoln followed with his own bike. The floor sloped down, leading them into the bunker.

  As he got into the vehicle bay, Heath was there, standing in front of a group of trainees. They needed more skilled people to go out on reconnaissance missions, be more active in disrupting the work of the State. Heath was leading this training, but from the frown on his face, he wasn’t enjoying it. Add to that the fact Arlo had just ignored his orders, and Heath would be doubly pissed off.

  An alarm screeched overhead, and a red light flashed. Arlo halted his bike and spun around toward the exit. Someone was trying to break in.

  JUNIPER SCOWLED AT the blank wall in front of her. She’d double-checked the readings on her handheld location scanner. This was the place. She was sure of it. Or was it? There was electronic activity around here somewhere, but its location kept scrambling. This was the third alley she’d tried. Every time Juniper failed to find the location of the Ember brothers’ base, she put herself at risk of being discovered by the State.

  Every damn alley she’d tried looked the same. Juniper remembered coming here. She was so sure this was the right place. She let out a frustrated sigh. Or maybe not. She’d been inside the back of a Cobra when they’d first come here and had only ventured out once during her short stay. Maybe they’d moved on since then. They might need to shift location regularly to stay under State radar.

  She shook the scanner in her hand. This out-of-date piece of junk must be malfunctioning. Juniper ran her fingers over the blank wall again, the mortar crumbling under her touch. There was no way in. She’d need to try another location. Or give up. But there was nowhere else to go.

  The sound of scuffling had Juniper spinning around, her gun already drawn. It was nothing more than falling trash sliding onto the damp ground. Her scowl deepened as she kicked aside the trash, but she kept her gun out.

  Juniper’s stomach grumbled, reminding her she’d been searching for the bunker all day and hadn’t eaten. Plus, she’d had to make two desperate dashes away from State militia when a drone had picked up on her snooping around. There was no way she would get caught by the State. If that happened, she’d be dead. As a dragon hybrid, she’d be shipped off to some testing center or more likely killed on sight. Juniper had seen it happen to too many of her friends. She was determined that wouldn’t happen to her.

  Tucking the ends of her purple-streaked hair under the black cap she wore, Juniper did a final check of the alleyway. The ground was littered with open bags of trash. There was definitely nothing here. Despite all the time she’d wasted looking for the Ember brothers, she had a grudging admiration for how well they’d hidden.

  When she’d first heard about what they were trying to do—bring down the State and bring the dragons back, she’d laughed. The State were too powerful. They crushed any dissenters and had a particular hatred for dragon hybrids. Although, more recently, they’d been manipulating hybrid abilities, testing them, breeding from them. To do what, she hadn’t a clue. But she’d rather burn herself out with a fireball than be captured and manipulated like that.

  The first time she’d met Arlo and his brothers in the Badlands, she’d been suspicious of their motives. How could a handful of dissenters stand any chance against the power of the State? But as she’d gotten to know them and seen them in action, her mind had changed. These guys were dedicated to what they believed in. She got the impression they wouldn’t stop fighting until they succeeded.

  Juniper had attempted to join them and stay at the base, to fit in with what they did. It had been a failure. She’d felt penned in. Trapped by the walls and the rules. She was so used to having things her own way, following no orders other than her own. It had been too much too soon. She hadn’t liked sneaking out in the middle of the night, but couldn’t face all the questions. And she knew there’d be plenty of questions from Arlo if she’d told him what she’d been planning.

  That guy was made of explosives and heat. She’d never met anyone like him before. He had a dangerous gleam in his eyes and a way with explosives that took her breath away. He was fearless and possibly a little crazy. Arlo loved anything that went bang. He lived to destroy. But his unswerving dedication to his brothers and the cause he fought for was endearing. And he was funny. And smart. Juniper loved those qualities. He’d even been able to make her laugh a few times. That was unusual.

  But she had to look after herself. Juniper couldn’t stay in the bunker just because she got along with Arlo. She’d dismissed the thoughts in her head that it had been more than friendship between them. He saw her as too young. She’d just turned twenty-one. Arlo was older than her by six years. She didn’t feel young, though. Juniper felt as if she’d seen several lifetimes of devastation and destruction while in the Badlands. Not that there were any Badlands to live in anymore. Not after what the State had done, blowing the hell out of anything that moved there.

  She’d gotten a message from Arlo a couple of months ago inviting her back to the base. She didn’t dismiss it, but she liked her way of life, liked having to report to no one. Then the State bombs fell, and the volcanoes went crazy, and she’d had no choice but to leave.

  And Juniper was glad she had. As she’d sped out of the Badlands, owning nothing more than the bike between her legs and a backpack full of possessions, she’d seen the carnage the State had caused. Not only had they dropped their bombs, the roads had been littered with the ravished carcasses of the last remaining
residents. The mutant beasts the State seemed to control had been set free to attack anyone who tried to get away. She’d been grateful her bike was fast and reliable. If it had broken down, that would have been the end of her. It had been time to go. Time to go or die.

  Now she was here and couldn’t find Arlo. This was a dumb waste of time. If she stayed out in the open any longer, she’d get picked up by the State. This ridiculous mission would have been for nothing.

  Juniper stiffened as she caught a flash of movement at the end of the alleyway. She raised her pulse laser gun. Her eyes widened as she spotted two people dressed in black. They had their weapons aimed at her.

  Her pulse raced, and the scales on her arms heated. But it wasn’t with anger. She inhaled deeply. Juniper recognized the scent of one of the men in black. It was Arlo. She’d been right all along; he was still here.

  She raised her hands slowly, her gun facing away from them. Just as she did so, a blast from a laser gun slammed into her shoulder and she smashed back into the wall.

  Chapter 2

  “For fuck’s sake!” Arlo holstered his pulse laser and sped along the alley to where Juniper had fallen. Heath was by his side, covering his back as they moved. Arlo shot a furious glare up onto the roof where a trainee squad member peered down.

  “Who is it?” asked Jude in Arlo’s ear comm.

  “It’s Juniper,” said Arlo. “She’s just been shot.” He grabbed hold of Juniper’s uninjured shoulder, scooped an arm under her legs, and hoisted her into the air.

  “How bad?”

  Arlo did a brief inspection of her shoulder wound. “It hit nothing vital. She’ll be okay.”

  “Who shot her?”

  “Aaron,” said Arlo as he hurried back to the side entrance they’d come out of. “He needs to go back into basic training before we let him loose on the streets. If he’s shooting one of his own, then we’ve got trouble.”

  Jude chuckled in his ear. “He doesn’t know Juniper is with us. She was skulking around outside. Most people would think it acceptable to shoot her.”

  “She was trying to get in,” snapped Arlo.

  “Then she should have rung the bell.”

  Arlo shook his head. There was no way into the bunker without the right codes to get the doors open. And, as Juniper had just found out, if you tried to sneak in without proper authorization, nothing good came of it.

  “We’ll get her inside,” said Heath. “It’s not a serious wound. She’ll heal in no time.”

  Arlo forced down his irritation. Heath—always trying to keep the peace and keep the squad together.

  “She shouldn’t need to heal at all,” muttered Arlo as he waited impatiently for Heath to key in the access code and get them inside. He could feel Juniper trembling against him. Her eyes were closed and her breathing shallow. She felt far too skinny for his liking and smelled of sweat, dirt, and now fresh blood.

  Arlo should have known she’d pull a stunt like this. She’d always had a stubborn streak, never wanting to accept help. When they’d found her in the Badlands, she’d been living below ground, just like them. She’d rigged a handy live comms feed to monitor activities outside and was stealing from the State whenever she could to survive. But her provisions had been sparse, and Arlo had seen traces of desperation under her defiance. He had to hope that now she would finally accept their help. She would join them in the bunker permanently. If she didn’t, the next person who took a shot at her might not be so friendly.

  Once the entrance was open, Arlo raced down the slope, along the main corridor, and to the medical room. He kicked open the double doors, Heath right behind him. A startled-looking Sophia stood in front of Arlo.

  She pushed her glasses up her nose and glared at him. Her attention shifted to Juniper, and she gestured to an empty bed. “Who have you brought me this time?”

  “A friend from the Badlands,” said Arlo as he placed Juniper on the bed.

  Sophia leaned over her. “From the flashing alarm on the wall, I’m guessing she tried to get in without anyone’s permission?”

  “Looks like it,” said Arlo, not wanting to release his hold on Juniper. She was a good fit in his arms. “I don’t think the shot hit anything vital.” He hovered by the end of the bed, wanting to help but uncertain how to.

  “You’re right. Whoever shot her did a good job of missing anything vital.” Sophia inspected the wound.

  “I’ll be having words with Aaron about this,” grumbled Arlo.

  “Go easy on him,” said Heath, who sat in a chair in the corner of the room. “He’s a rookie. He only joined the trainee squad a month ago. And he’s never met Juniper. He had to assume she was the enemy.”

  Arlo grunted out an unintelligible reply. He had to admit, Aaron was fast. He’d been closest to the door when the alarm sounded and had raced to the roof and fired within a minute.

  “Perhaps your friend should learn not to break into places she shouldn’t,” said Sophia. “Then she’d be less likely to get shot.” She applied dragon salve to the injury.

  “I invited her here,” said Arlo.

  “You invited her to break in?” Sophia raised her head and quirked an eyebrow at him.

  Arlo grimaced. “Not exactly. But I should have known she’d do something like this.”

  Juniper’s eyes opened, and they instantly narrowed, the irises glowing a striking purple. “Who in the brimstones of hell shot me with a fricking laser?” She struggled onto her elbows.

  “Stay where you are.” Sophia placed her hand on Juniper’s uninjured shoulder and pinned her to the bed.

  Juniper glared at Sophia. “I know you. You’re that stuck-up nurse.”

  Sophia scowled at her. “I’m the bunker’s stuck-up doctor.”

  Arlo stepped closer to the bed as the women eyeballed each other. He had to admit, he loved seeing headstrong women at work. “Welcome back to the bunker. It’s nice to have you here.”

  Juniper’s frown faded, and she looked over at Arlo. A glimmer of a smile crossed her face before vanishing. “Hi, bomb boy. I thought I was welcome here. Didn’t you invite me?”

  He nodded. He’d forgotten how cute she was, even under the dirt and sweat. She had fine-boned features and a heart-shaped face. Now that her cap was off, he could see her long, dark, purple-streaked hair was almost down to her waist. “You know you’re welcome here. We didn’t figure you’d try to break in.”

  “So you shot me?”

  Arlo held his hands up in a gesture of supplication. “Just to be clear, I didn’t actually shoot you. But, yes, someone got carried away and thought you were trying to cause us problems.”

  She looked at her injured shoulder. “This is some welcome.”

  “Perhaps that will teach you to stick to the rules the next time,” said Sophia as she ran a body scanner over Juniper. “You’re dehydrated. But other than the laser wound, you seem to be in good health.”

  “I know how to take care of myself,” said Juniper. “I’ve done it all my life.”

  “I’ve no doubt about that,” said Sophia.

  That comment earned Sophia another scowl, and Arlo suppressed a grin. He’d forgotten how upfront and blunt Juniper could be.

  The door to the medical room opened and Clarissa Larch strode through, a port screen in her hand.

  “Clarissa!” Juniper shot out of the bed, ignoring Sophia’s protests, and hurried toward her.

  Clarissa’s eyes widened, and she grinned as she engulfed Juniper in a hug. “I didn’t know you were back.” They were friends in the Badlands. Juniper had introduced Arlo and some of his brothers to Clarissa when they’d been looking for a missing person. As a dragon hybrid, Clarissa had an uncanny knack for predicting the future and was also skilled in treating injured patients. She’d been on Sophia’s medical team ever since she’d joined the bunker.

  “I just arrived.” Juniper pulled back and pointed to the laser injury. “This is not quite the greeting I was expecting.”

  “O
h! That was you trying to break in.” Clarissa stepped back and held on to Juniper’s arms. “I wondered what was going on. Are you really surprised you got shot, sneaking around like that?”

  “They could have issued a warning,” grumbled Juniper.

  “You should have come back sooner,” said Clarissa, her tone scolding. “The Badlands is not safe for anyone.”

  “I know. I was there when the State sent in their latest attack.” Her gaze dropped to the floor. “Clarissa, it wasn’t great. There’s nothing left.”

  Clarissa hugged Juniper again. “I know. We saw what happened.”

  Arlo hovered nearby, watching them talk. He never felt this uncertain. He always knew what needed to be done and got on with it. What he really wanted was to have Juniper to himself. He wanted to learn all about how she’d been getting on in the Badlands on her own. How she got out, and, most importantly, how long she’d be staying?

  His gaze ran over her as the thoughts filled his head. Despite being too thin, she’d still kept some of her curves. He liked what he saw. But she wasn’t here for him. She simply needed a safe place. This had been her only option. Arlo couldn’t assume she’d want to carry on their friendship or let anything grow from it. His fingers touched the scar on his jaw.

  The door slammed open, and Danni Hannigan strode through. “This is the individual who tried to break into the base?” Dressed in a fitted green jumpsuit, she looked every bit the military professional she was. Danni had served a distinguished military career before losing an eye during battle. When the State came to power, she’d arrived at the bunker, pulled everyone into shape, and made sure people were safe and provided for.

  But her efficiency came with a healthy dose of sharpness and no-nonsense questions. Small talk wasn’t something Danni did. And from the angry glint in her eye, Arlo could see she wasn’t impressed with Juniper.

  He stepped forward. “Danni, you might remember Juniper. She helped us when we were on a mission in the Badlands. She’s been here before.”