Kyle leaned around us to pull the stop button. “I don’t see any other way. This elevator only goes to two places—ground and pit. They’re clearly waiting for us on ground. It’s just lucky these shaft systems all connect between the different elevators.”
Ryder took this moment to fully check me out, from my hair down to my feet. “Can you climb in those boots, Charlie?”
I put a hand on my hip, giving him my sassiest look.
Kyle grinned. “That’s a yes.”
Ryder exhaled loudly, lacing his hands together and forming a step. Kyle moved closer and inserted his foot into the handhold and pushed off hard. This pit elevator was larger than most, with ceilings almost fifteen feet high. The enforcer managed to knock out the ceiling access panel. It clattered to the side, leaving a large gaping hole in the ceiling. As Kyle landed, he wasted no time stepping into Ryder’s hands again.
This time the lead enforcer crouched low and with an impressive display of strength, launched his best friend up through the hole. With a whoosh of air, Kyle disappeared, his mess of dirty-blond hair appearing seconds later as he stared down at us from the top of the metal box. He crooked a finger at me and I knew that meant it was my turn.
FYI, plan B sucked. This was like stupid shit they did in the movies that ended badly for everyone.
“Charlie…” Ryder motioned for me to jump up. Never one to expose my weakness, I swallowed hard and shoved my left boot in his hands. With far more power than I expected, he tossed me up into the air. My shriek got lodged in my throat as I forced my eyes to remain open, which was a big help as I grasped onto Kyle’s outstretched hands. The enforcer’s strong arms easily held my weight and he dragged me up. I chanced a quick glance down, knowing my bootyshorts-clad butt was all up in Ryder’s face.
“Enjoying the view?” I called down to him as Kyle finished pulling me through the hole. I lost sight of my dark-haired enforcer when Kyle shifted me across to balance on the metal slats beside him. He then turned back to lean through the hole.
I could hear Ryder chuckling. Then somehow he made the leap up to grasp onto Kyle’s forearms. Dude could jump like a freaking NBA superstar. It was moments like these that I realized how incredibly sexy and strong these boys were. Of course, Kyle most likely had a hernia now after pulling big-ass Ryder up, but at least he could be secure in how sexy and strong he looked.
“What now?”
I was pretty sure the muted siren had just started to blare. The Quorum would be figuring out how to break into the elevator system soon.
Ryder motioned for us to follow him as he moved across to the large cables which were keeping us from plunging to our death. “The sirens mean lockdown,” he said “All members of the Hive will be urged to go to their living quarters. All doors will be sealed, all hallways monitored by cameras, and the people hunting us will most likely have shoot to kill orders.”
“Awesome,” I said, heavy on the sarcasm.
A loud rumble rocked the floor, and I used the cables to anchor myself as another elevator passed next to us. I tried really hard not to squeal, but holy scary.
Once the metal box passed and we could talk again, Ryder said, “That’s the other system, which goes the full length of the Hive. We need to make our way across to it.”
Kyle gestured to his wristwatch. “Sam put a tracker on me, so wherever we end up the boys will be there.”
Ryder’s face was now firmly looking like that of a man with a plan. “Alright, follow me.”
Chapter 13
Ryder’s brilliant plan was uncomfortable as hell. After almost dying from scaling our way across elevators and up cables and into the spaces between the Hive floors, we ended up cramped in the A/C duct, army-crawling on our elbows through the first floor to try and find the laundry shaft and get the kid. Jumping from the top of the elevator to scale a ten foot wall which led into the duct was pretty much the most badass and scariest thing I’ve done yet.
In the shaft, we had spaced ourselves twenty feet apart, Ryder in front of me and Kyle behind. That way we wouldn’t overweigh the metal ducting and crash through it. I kept my eyes trained forward, focusing on Ryder’s beefy shoulders skimming the side walls as he barely fit through.
I tried to calm myself again but nothing was working. Pretty much from the first moment we’d crawled in here my heart had started racing, breath stuttering. I’d learned a new thing today: I had a very real fear of being in small metal spaces.
I was distracted from my newfound claustrophobia by Ryder pausing ahead. From back here it looked like he had reached a grate. Despite the distance between us, his whisper was clear.