Read Online Delete: Volume 3 (Shifter Series) by Kim Curran - Free Book Online
Authors: Kim Curran
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such a graceful job of it as Zac, and it took me a moment before I could stand up.
The rest of Thirteen squad followed, dropping out of the helicopter like conkers falling from a tree. Cooper and Turner came last, leaping out at the same time. The copter peeled away, leaving us standing in front of the huge tower block.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I’ll put down somewhere and then come find you,” Ladoux said over the radio. “Break some balls.”
This was the S3’s way of saying good luck, I knew somehow. The words “good luck” themselves had become a bad omen, although I couldn’t remember why.
We moved silently in crouched runs, keeping to the shadows, coming to a stop behind a cluster of bushes.
The Red Hand’s base was a deserted council block, eighteen floors high. It had once been painted a pale blue, as if that would somehow make it blend into the sky.
“Looks like they have Hedges on the tenth floor,” Zac whispered, pointing up at the windows.
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
Zac pushed down the visor on my helmet and pressed a button on the side, turning everything a pale blue. As my eyes adjusted, I could make out Zac in front of me, his body marked out by a red glow.
“Heat vision,” he said.
I could see the red of the outlines of the members of the squad around me and, when I turned to look at the building, fuzzy orange figures moving around behind the glass. Without me needing to do anything, the image zoomed in, reacting to my irises focusing, maybe. Zac was right; I could see two figures carrying the cold, black outlines of weapons, pacing in front of a man huddled on the floor, his back pressed up against the windows, purple strips around his wrists. Handcuffs, I guessed.
I scanned the rest of the building: five men on the bottom floor. Two on the roof with RPGs, if I guessed the shapes of the things slung across their backs correctly, and double sentries on the sixth, eighth and twelfth floors. Fifteen men in total. Hardly the small army Cain had told us to expect.
I pushed the visor up. “Right. Unwin, Williamson and Ward, I want you to stay here and provide cover. Turner, Cooper and Black,” I said, turning to Zac, “you’re with me.”
The three soldiers lowered their visors and raised their weapons. I did the same, pressing the button on the side of my helmet to cycle through the vision options – thermo, night vision, x-ray – till it was clear to see and I set off. We moved in silence, communicating in hand signals, which I was surprised to realise I knew. A jab of a hand to indicate move forward, a clenched fist by the side of the head to tell the others to stop. I guess I must have picked them up from watching too many war movies.
I thought about every step I was taking, each time I ducked rather than dodged, holding all the moments in my mind in case I needed to Shift. And I knew the rest of the team around me were doing exactly the same thing.
I held my fist up and we all stopped behind a small metal building. On the third floor, there was a large, arched window. The only thing in the entire building not made out of hard, sharp edges.
I pointed it out to Zac. “Can we get up there?”
“Sure thing.” Zac shrugged off his backpack and pulled out a grappling hook attached to a long rope. He slotted it into the barrel of a gun.
I crept out from behind the cover of the wall, Zac, Turner and Cooper behind me, and headed for the building. Zac took aim and with a click, the grapple soared into the air and over the top of the building. Zac tugged twice on the rope and nodded for Cooper to go up. The boy pulled a gold medallion out from under his collar, kissed it, and then grabbed hold of the rope. He braced his feet against the glass surface of the building and started to walk up.
Turner watched him, chewing on the side of her finger, gasping for air every time he slipped or made a wrong move. After a minute, he was at the third floor, next to the large window. He
The rest of Thirteen squad followed, dropping out of the helicopter like conkers falling from a tree. Cooper and Turner came last, leaping out at the same time. The copter peeled away, leaving us standing in front of the huge tower block.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I’ll put down somewhere and then come find you,” Ladoux said over the radio. “Break some balls.”
This was the S3’s way of saying good luck, I knew somehow. The words “good luck” themselves had become a bad omen, although I couldn’t remember why.
We moved silently in crouched runs, keeping to the shadows, coming to a stop behind a cluster of bushes.
The Red Hand’s base was a deserted council block, eighteen floors high. It had once been painted a pale blue, as if that would somehow make it blend into the sky.
“Looks like they have Hedges on the tenth floor,” Zac whispered, pointing up at the windows.
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
Zac pushed down the visor on my helmet and pressed a button on the side, turning everything a pale blue. As my eyes adjusted, I could make out Zac in front of me, his body marked out by a red glow.
“Heat vision,” he said.
I could see the red of the outlines of the members of the squad around me and, when I turned to look at the building, fuzzy orange figures moving around behind the glass. Without me needing to do anything, the image zoomed in, reacting to my irises focusing, maybe. Zac was right; I could see two figures carrying the cold, black outlines of weapons, pacing in front of a man huddled on the floor, his back pressed up against the windows, purple strips around his wrists. Handcuffs, I guessed.
I scanned the rest of the building: five men on the bottom floor. Two on the roof with RPGs, if I guessed the shapes of the things slung across their backs correctly, and double sentries on the sixth, eighth and twelfth floors. Fifteen men in total. Hardly the small army Cain had told us to expect.
I pushed the visor up. “Right. Unwin, Williamson and Ward, I want you to stay here and provide cover. Turner, Cooper and Black,” I said, turning to Zac, “you’re with me.”
The three soldiers lowered their visors and raised their weapons. I did the same, pressing the button on the side of my helmet to cycle through the vision options – thermo, night vision, x-ray – till it was clear to see and I set off. We moved in silence, communicating in hand signals, which I was surprised to realise I knew. A jab of a hand to indicate move forward, a clenched fist by the side of the head to tell the others to stop. I guess I must have picked them up from watching too many war movies.
I thought about every step I was taking, each time I ducked rather than dodged, holding all the moments in my mind in case I needed to Shift. And I knew the rest of the team around me were doing exactly the same thing.
I held my fist up and we all stopped behind a small metal building. On the third floor, there was a large, arched window. The only thing in the entire building not made out of hard, sharp edges.
I pointed it out to Zac. “Can we get up there?”
“Sure thing.” Zac shrugged off his backpack and pulled out a grappling hook attached to a long rope. He slotted it into the barrel of a gun.
I crept out from behind the cover of the wall, Zac, Turner and Cooper behind me, and headed for the building. Zac took aim and with a click, the grapple soared into the air and over the top of the building. Zac tugged twice on the rope and nodded for Cooper to go up. The boy pulled a gold medallion out from under his collar, kissed it, and then grabbed hold of the rope. He braced his feet against the glass surface of the building and started to walk up.
Turner watched him, chewing on the side of her finger, gasping for air every time he slipped or made a wrong move. After a minute, he was at the third floor, next to the large window. He
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