From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

searching for signs of Croygen.
    “They’re on level two! Near the north
elevator,” a man’s voice barked from the maze of hallways. “Orders
are shoot to kill. Except her. The doctor wants to keep her
alive.”
    I’d rather they just kill me.
    Ryker tapped my arm and ran down the
corridor. Toward the voices. His gaze narrowed on an open corner
room.
    I ran after him. Sometimes the best escape
was letting them pass you. We slipped into the room. Ryker shut the
door, leaving a sliver to watch through.
    “If you keep sneaking into my room,” a voice
whispered from behind, lips nipping at my ear, “your boyfriend’s
going to get the wrong idea.”
    “Holy shit.” I spun around. The dark,
almond-eyed bandit stood there with a smirk on his face. Lexie and
Sprig lay on the open bed. “Don’t do that.” I smacked his
chest.
    “Shut up.” Ryker glared at us before looking
back out the gap, his muscles rigid. We were inches from being
discovered.
    “Doors are open, sir. They are somewhere on
this level,” a man’s voice I didn’t recognize spoke from right
outside the room. My curiosity got the better of me. I knew all the
Collectors’ voices. I slipped soundlessly next to Ryker, peeking
through the gap.
    A man a few inches taller than me stood so
close on the other side I could reach out and tap his shoulder. He
appeared to be of Asian descent and someone I remembered seeing in
the cafeteria on the lower level a few times. But he was a
scientist. Why would he be in on the search?
    A muffled voice over a walkie-talkie
responded. I couldn’t make out the words, but I recognized Rapava’s
evil tone.
    “I promise, sir. They will not get past us. I
have men stationed at every corner and entrance. If they are here,
we’ll find them.” He put his hand on his hip, brushing back his lab
coat. On his hip he had the government-issued guns: one dart, one
fae-made.
    When Ryker had kidnapped me the first time,
stashing me away in a grungy hotel room, the FBI had come searching
for Sprig and me. I understood Rapava had access to the FBI, if
needed. I never realized he had people right on the premises,
undercover. How naïve had I been?
    A call from down the hallway took the
scientist away from the door. Ryker shut and locked it, whirling
around to me. “What the hell, Zoey? Did you know Rapava had
undercover agents here?”
    “I had no clue.” I rubbed my head. “I knew he
could call on the FBI in case of emergencies, but not that they
were here, posing as doctors.”
    “He might be a doctor, but he’s also been
trained to be a soldier,” Ryker responded curtly.
    “How do you know?”
    “I just know. I’ve been around for a long
time. They hold themselves differently.”
    “And I can guarantee every man he has
‘stationed’”—Croygen curled his fingers in quotes—”around this
level is trained as well.”
    I shouldn’t have been surprised. Rapava’s
paranoia about a fae attack had long been acute. I should have
expected he would have more than just the Collectors trained for
battle. How many men did he have here? How many on call? I realized
now I’d never known the true depth of the secrets and lies to
Rapava’s scheming.
    “What the hell are we going to do?” Croygen
broke into my thoughts. “It’s not going to take them long to find
us. And we can’t just stroll down the hall.”
    “No, we won’t be using those passages,
but…” My eyes drifted up.
    Croygen followed my gaze. “Oh hell no.”
    “We have to.”
    “Are you kidding me?” Croygen exclaimed,
knowing what I planned. We had done it plenty of times before.
“Lexie’s out cold and Ryker probably won’t even fit in the
openings.”
    “What choice do we have?”
    Croygen opened his mouth and then shut it
with a sigh.
    “We drag Lexie and Sprig on a sheet behind,
like a cart.”
    “And let me guess, I’m the horse?” Croygen
rolled his eyes at us.
    “More like a nag,” Ryker muttered.
    I grinned. “You do like the