Chapter 84 The Syndicate’s Counter-Move
Grayson POV
The small, battery-operated television in the corner of the subway maintenance room flickered with static before the image of Sterling appeared, and he was standing right in front of the blackened, skeletal remains of Aria’s bakery while the rain fell behind him in a grey sheet. He looked perfectly composed in his wool coat as he pointed toward the ruins and spoke into a cluster of microphones, and I felt a surge of nausea that had nothing to do with the silver poisoning when I heard him call my family name a stain on the city’s history.
"The individuals known as the Hart family are not business leaders, they are domestic terrorists who have been operating a violent cult beneath our very streets, and as of this morning, a total curfew is in effect while our security teams work to remove this threat once and for all," Sterling said, and his voice was so calm and reasonable that I knew half the city would believe every word he uttered.
"He’s actually doing it, he’s turning the entire public against us so they won't ask questions when the drones start dropping gas into the alleys," Miller muttered, and he kicked a pile of trash across the concrete floor as he watched the screen where a red banner scrolled across the bottom announcing a reward for any information on our location.
"We can't stay here much longer because the scanners in the street are going to pick up the heat signatures from twenty wolves huddled in a basement, and if we get pinned in these tunnels, we’re just sitting ducks for those sonic cannons," Jax added, and he was frantically typing on a cracked tablet, trying to jam the local signal before the Syndicate's drone swarm pinpointed our exact coordinates.
A sudden, high-pitched whine began to vibrate through the walls, and the younger pack members started clutching their heads and groaning because the frequency was designed to agitate the wolf's nervous system without actually breaking any bones. I felt the teeth in my jaw ache and the grey veins on my arms began to throb with a dull, rhythmic heat, and I knew that our hidden safe house wasn't a secret anymore.
"They're above us, and they're using the ventilation shafts to pump the frequency directly into the station, so we need to move toward the lower tracks before the security teams arrive to block the exits!" I shouted, and I grabbed a young wolf named Toby who was curled in a ball on the floor, dragging him to his feet while the sound of heavy rotors began to thrum against the sidewalk overhead.
"Grayson, we should just talk to them, because if we tell them we'll leave the city and never come back, maybe they'll stop hunting us like we're some kind of rabid animals!" Toby cried out, and his voice was cracking with a terror that made the older men look away in shame.
"They don't want you to leave, they want you in a lab or in a grave, so stop talking about surrendering to people who think your blood is just a scientific curiosity," Miller snapped, and he pulled a shotgun from a rack near the door, checking the shells with a grim expression that told me he was ready to go down fighting.
"And what if Sterling is right about the girl? What if she’s the one who brought this down on us and we’re all dying for a woman who isn't even one of us?" another voice called out from the back of the group, and I saw several of the elders nodding in agreement while the sonic whine grew louder, making the dust fall from the ceiling in thick clouds.
I stepped into the center of the platform and held up my hands, and even though my body felt like it was being held together by rusted wire and spite, I made sure my voice carried over the noise of the drones and the bickering of the men.
"I’ve spent the last few hours in the tunnels of the Under-City, and I’ve seen the things the Syndicate has been hiding from us, and I can tell you right now that this isn't about Aria and it isn't about my family, because it’s about whether or not any of us get to breathe without a corporate permit," I told them, and I looked at each of them until the whispering finally died down. "This isn't a war for glory or territory anymore, and I'm not going to stand here and tell you that we're going to win some great victory today, but I am telling you that we have the right to exist without being turned into someone else’s property."
"Do you know where she is? Is she coming to help us or is she just hiding while we take the hits?" Miller asked, and he lowered his weapon just a fraction, waiting for the one answer that actually mattered to the morale of the pack.
"I know where she is, and I know that she’s struggling with a power that none of us can even imagine, but she isn't our savior yet and we can't wait for her to fly in and fix this for us," I admitted, and the honesty of it seemed to settle the room more than a lie would have. "She’s a woman who is trying to find her own way back from a nightmare, and if we want her to have a pack to come back to, then we have to be the ones who hold this line until the sun goes down."
"The drones are through the first gate, and they're deploying the gas!" Jax yelled, and he pointed toward the far tunnel where a thick, yellow mist was starting to roll across the tracks.
"Masks on and move toward the maintenance bypass, and if you see a drone, take it out before it can relay your position to the main hub," I ordered, and I pushed the group toward the dark opening of the old service stairs while the sound of the first explosion rocked the station.
We ran into the darkness, the sound of our boots echoing against the wet tiles, and as I looked back at the flickering TV screen one last time, I saw Sterling smiling at the camera as if he had already won.