A Hero Rising by Aubrie Dionne Read Free Book Online

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    Movement rustled in the alley below. They didn’t have much time. He had to make a decision.
    Hugging the little girl, the woman gazed at him desperately. “We’ve got nowhere to go.”
    He had no time to tell her of his affiliations. Besides, he didn’t have the heart to give her any reason to distrust him. He couldn’t leave her and the girl alone. If he did, he’d always wonder if they survived.
    “Okay. Let’s go inside and pack up anything you think you’ll need.”
    She thrust out her hand. “I’m Skye O’Connor.”
    He took her hand, feeling soft skin and small, feminine fingers. “James. James Wilfred.”
    “This is Carly.”
    James bent down to her level and offered her his hand. The girl eyed him suspiciously and buried her head in Skye’s shoulder.
    He took his hand back, knowing he was just a stranger to her, but feeling rejected all the same.
    Skye stood up and offered him a sympathetic smile. “Don’t worry. She doesn’t trust any strangers. It took her a whole month to say one word to me.”

Chapter Six
    Family
    Skye dragged Carly down the hallway, following James as he kicked in a panel she’d passed by a thousand times and never thought to open herself.
    “Where are we going?”
    The metal clanged and he smiled as the panel settled. “Shortcut.”
    She had no choice but to trust him. To stay in that apartment would doom her and Carly both. There wasn’t any food, and the moonshiner had busted the door. If one person could do so much damage, she couldn’t imagine the destruction caused by an army of those monsters.
    Carly pulled on her arm. “I don’t wanna go.” Her lower lip trembled and Skye bent down to meet her eye to eye.
    “It’s the only way, Carls.”
    Besides, she realized she did trust James. He had an innate confidence and meaning about the way he held himself, like he served some greater purpose and had nothing to hide. He also looked like he’d walked right out of a comic book, with a strong-boned face, sleek dark hair, and lean, rounded muscles rippling down to his stomach underneath his tight black shirt.
    Trying not to stare as he peered in the hole he’d made, she curbed her hope. What he said about saving people for a living seemed almost too good to be true. Who does that? A superhero?
    James signaled them in. “Come on, the coast is clear.”
    “But what about Daddy?” Carly tugged on Skye’s arm.
    She couldn’t wait for Grease forever. Skye sighed and looked back over her shoulder one more time, feeling a pang of guilt. “I left a note in a secret place only he’d think to look, telling him where we’re going, okay Carls? If he comes back, he’ll find us.”
    Carly bit her lip, tucking Jennifer into her coat. “Okay.”
    Skye wished they could leave the doll. Carrying a nonessential item would only slow Carly down. But a few years back, a man dressed as Santa had come around to their apartment on Christmas and given it to her. It wasn’t just a doll—it was a sign that humanity still existed in the small cracks between the Morpheus users.
    Ducking into the hole, Skye followed Carly onto a landing platform to a maintenance shaft. A series of metal rungs led to the upper levels. “Carly, you go first. Can you hold on tight?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Move one foot at a time, and don’t look down.”
    “What if I fall?” Carly reached up and grabbed the next rung and Skye’s heart leapt as her little hand slipped and then clung again.
    “I’ll catch you.”
    “But what if you fall, too?”
    “I’ll catch you both.” James spoke up from underneath them. The certainty in his voice must have convinced Carly, because she kept climbing.
    They reached Level Twenty within the hour. Skye thought they’d meet laser barrels at the top, but someone had sealed the passage a long time ago, and no one guarded it.
    “How did you know about this?”
    “Building plans.” He clung to another rung beneath them and shot a glance down to see if anyone