The Cardinal Bird - Book 1: Reverse Harem Series (The Cardinal Series) Read online

  More footsteps sounded across the top of the tank. Kaz's body was taken from my line of sight. I wanted to know what they were doing with his body and demand that they be gentle, but it was a hysterical thought. What harm could they possibly do to him now?

  The flashlight was aimed through the hole again but not shining directly in my eyes. I couldn't see up past it, but I could hear Brock talking to me in Russian.

  "Are you okay?" he asked in a much gentler voice than I’d heard from him so far. His accent was strong and thick. Russian was definitely not his first language. However, being in Russia, it was smart of him to assume I spoke it.

  I heard Karl's authoritative voice from over on the platform trying to calm down the other guys.

  I nodded my head to Brock’s question, water dancing up and down over my chin as I did so.

  He continued to speak in Russian. "Are those your clothes?" he asked as everyone else grew quiet.

  I nodded.

  "There is blood on them. Are you injured?"

  "It's not my blood," I said through a suddenly tight voice at the thought of whose blood it was. I had to clear my throat a couple of times. It was raw from the non-stop coughing and the burn of the water.

  Another person crouched next to Brock, though I still couldn't see past the light. It was definitely Aleks, based on the lack of an accent to his Russian words. "Little girl, what is your name?"

  "Callie," I whispered. I coughed again to speak a little louder as I switched to English. "My name is Callie."

  "You speak English?" Brock asked, doing something with the flashlight so that it wasn't so bright on me. I could make out their faces now.

  I had only seen a brief glimpse of Brock’s face before I had been startled, but I could immediately pick him out. He had hair that was some sort of dark color. It was hard to distinguish because it was still dark out. He had thick eyebrows over a strong, chiseled face. He looked terrifying, but I did notice how much he was going out of his way to be gentle with me.

  The other person, Aleks was equally terrifying. There were lots of similarities between the two, but Alek’s hair was long and wavy, pulled back into a ponytail. His equally strong features showed a square jaw and broad cheekbones. But it was his eyes that were the main attraction. They were a blue color so light that they were nearly white. They seemed to glow in the light. He grinned at me when he saw me staring. "Of course, she speaks English, Rock. She just answered in English, no?"

  Aleks and Brock kept taking digs at each other’s names, so I guessed they had some sort of love-hate relationship or rivalry going on.

  Brock sent him a scowl.

  "How did you get in there, malyshka, little girl?" Aleks asked.

  "Fell," I said.

  Brock grunted at that, not seeming very amused by my answer. "How do we get you out?"

  "The top is the lid. There's a lever," I said. I heard rustling, reminding me that there were two others there as well. "I think they broke it though."

  "Don't fear, Malyshka. We'll get you out with our strength. Wait tightly."

  "Um, okay," I said softly.

  Brock got to his feet, grumbling. "It's: hold tight."

  Aleks sent me a wink with his arctic-blue eyes before he too got to his feet, and they left the top of the tank. There was some quiet, fast discussion over at the platform.

  "It's probably, what, quarter-inch steel? Seven-foot? Isn't that about five, six hundred pounds?" Jace asked.

  Someone crossed the lid of the tank to come back to the ventilation hole. "I'm going to shine the light in here," came Karl's voice. "Watch your eyes."

  I nodded and closed my eyes quickly. I saw bright red as the light flared and crossed my lids.

  "Yeah, it's quarter inch. Maybe three-eighths. Do you think we can lift that?"

  "Aleks can deadlift most of that by himself," Jace said.

  "Da. I am beast,” Aleks said, sounding smug.

  "It's all about staying power though," Brock quipped back. Someone, most likely Jace, snorted in amusement.

  "I'm sure that Callie here, would like to get out of this box sometime today, boys. Do you mind focusing?" Karl asked. He picked up his flashlight and shined it off to the side. "Jace, can you check out those hinges for me? Maybe we can take the whole top off."

  Jace crossed the top of the box. "They're heavy-duty. It'd be hard to break them off. Otherwise, we'd need a cutting tool or a torch to cut off the cotter pins. They've been flash welded onto the hinge."

  "And the wheel over here is too damaged to use," Brock called from the lever. There was thump as if he had kicked it in frustration.

  "Okay," Karl said calmly. He pulled the flashlight back into a position like Brock had done earlier. It was enough to light my face up as well as his.

  From what I could make out, he was much smaller than Brock and Aleks, older as well. He had a square jaw that came to a point with startling blue eyes framed by thick brown eyebrows. His hair was a slightly lighter brown shade and standing on end.

  All of these men were so handsome. If I had been in the right frame of mind, I would be an embarrassed mess. As it was, I was slowly starting to feel more sluggish. My body had been going in and out of light naps and the exhaustion of not having a deep REM sleep in 24 hours was making me dizzy. My side and thigh were throbbing again as well.

  "Callie, is it?" Karl said. He waited until I nodded before continuing. "We're going to lift the lid and slide you out, okay? Can you move over to the side closest to the platform? These guys are strong, but I don't want it to slip and drop."

  I nodded again.

  He clicked the light off. It was brighter outside now. It must be about 7 or 8 in the morning. I could see the smile he flashed me before he walked back to the platform. They talked up some complicated plan about using some of them to get the lid up about halfway and then holding it for the others to get an underhanded grip to push up with.

  After a couple of minutes, Karl called my name again. "Callie, dear? It's time to swim over to the side now. Let us know when you're here. Stay low until we say it's okay."

  I swam slowly, trying not to slosh the water too much, but I still ended up taking a bit down. I had to stop as I coughed, further disturbing the water. I couldn't wait to get out. After a few minutes, I was able to hold my breath long enough to let the water calm and then clear my airways.

  It was dark on this side of the tank, farther away from the ventilation hole, so I was surprised when I suddenly ran into the slimy wall. The water crashed against the wall and rebounded directly back into my face without warning. It drowned out the gasp and choked me once more.

  I was in the middle of another coughing fit when I heard, "To hell with it, she's close enough! Callie, if you can hear me, we're lifting. I’ll pull you out."

  Chapter 3

  Over my coughing and the sloshing water, I heard some grunts as they lifted. The heavy metal groaned as it was raised up into the air.

  I was blinded by bright morning light.

  A cold blanket of fresh, sweet air rushed in as the top was lifted up. I basked in the feel of it on my face, even as I coughed in the swilling water trying to clear out my lungs.

  The guys were fast and efficient. Once Brock and Jace had started lifting, Aleks was ready at the halfway point to push the lid up the rest of the way. The first two then changed their grip to help hold it up. And then, I was being pulled from the water before I could stop coughing.

  "She's clear," Karl said, holding me tightly to his hard chest. It felt the warmth on my shivering body. I was still coughing and hacking as Karl wrapped what felt like someone's jacket around me. I got the distinct scent of some male cologne with a slight undertone of spice.

  "And drop on three," Karl said. "One, two, THREE!"

  It sounded like a detonation as the lid crashed back over the top of the tank.

  Karl kept me wrapped in his arms. "She's freezing."

  Now that I wasn't resigned to my fate, I thought back to the thumb drive. By now, Nikolai would've killed witnesses and eradicated any evidence that could be used to tie him to countless murders. It was useless information in taking down Nikolai, yes, but it could still be helped to bring some closure to the families that had lost someone close to them. They would at least know for sure their loved one was dead and be able to begin healing.

  I faced them. "I-I n-nee-d to g-go ba-ck in th-there."

  "What?"

  "Fuck no!" Brock yelled. "You're not getting back in there."

  The others went to voice their opinions as well, but it was Karl, the smallest of the group, though still much larger than me, that silenced them. He turned to me. "Why do you need to go back in there, Callie?"

  "Th-thumb d-rive," I stuttered.

  "What's on the thumb drive?" Karl asked, excited. His arms tightened around me a bit.

  "N-noth-thing in-crimi-nating anymore. B-but," my eyes glanced over to Kaz. "S-some closure for lots of p-people."

  Between the jacket and Karl’s heat at my back, my stuttering was slowly stopping. I looked back at the men that had saved me, unsure of the expression on my face. It still felt numb to me, but there must have been something there because Brock went, "Fuck!" and turned back to the tank.

  I took a moment to study the last person in the group, Jace. He had blond, curly hair that rested just on the top of his head. It had lighter and darker golden streaks of blond that usually only happened when someone was outside a lot. And from the tan, he probably was. He had dark brown eyes and a slim, muscular build. He was tall, but he looked like a little kid standing next to Brock and Aleks who were both built and well over six foot with Aleks being just slightly bigger and taller.

  "Alright," Karl said. "We're going to lift the lid again. Jace--"

  "Damn, shit," he grumbled before Karl could finish.

  "I know, Jace, but you're the smallest person here that’s six-foot-tall. You can use your foot to feel for it. We’ll need Brock and Aleks to lift, and I’m just too short to touch the bottom without going under."

  “Yeah, you sound real disappointed about that,” Jace said with some sarcasm. He looked at me. His eyes were such a deep brown that they were almost black in the low light. "How big is this thumb drive?"

  I held up my own pruned finger. "A thumb?"

  He groaned. "I hate you guys right now." He undid his boots and slipped out of his socks, setting them off to the side. The jacket was next to be shucked off. He reached over his head and grabbed his shirt by the back of the collar, pulling it up and off. His back was broad, muscled, and shifted smoothly with the motions. He turned around and started unbuttoning his jeans. This, more than anything managed to bring some color back to my cheeks.

  I turned my head away to hide my blush.

  "I’m going to go help them, Callie," Karl said.

  He let me go to join the others. He was going to help lift. They coordinated their movements like before using Karl and Brock with the initial lift and Aleks for the follow through until all of them were situated under the lid supporting it up.

  Jace went to slip in but then paused. He turned to the others. "You got this?"

  "Just get in there," Aleks grumbled.

  Jace slipped his legs into the water. "Smells like death," he mumbled, his back doing interesting things as he bunched his shoulders up to his ears. He lifted his torso up with his arms, everything flexing tautly. Then he was propelling himself forward, slipping into the tank with more bravery than I would have ever been able to show. He dropped down with a hiss. "Damn, shit, fuck!"

  "Little problems?" Aleks asked with humor, not even showing any strain from holding up a five-hundred-pound sheet of steel.

  "Fuck you too, Aleks," Jace grumped. "It's cold as fuck. Slimy as fuck. Smelly as fuck. You guys really suck."

  I felt bad. He was only in there because I asked for that thumb drive. I pushed at my lip, but one look back at Kaz and my resolve returned. I had enough information on there from people that had been set-up and framed to put a lot of families at ease. It may not help prevent more deaths in the future or bring Nikolai down, but it was still important.

  "I'm sorry," I said, still feeling bad for him.

  Jace’s head whipped in my direction, his deep, chocolate eyes searching mine. He clenched his jaw. "Don't worry about it," he said.

  "This is beautiful and all, but can you get back to it? No rush," Karl said. His voice sounded somewhat strained.

  "You need to work out more!" Aleks bellowed, making the other two groan as it shook the lid up and down.

  I couldn't see it, but I could hear the scowl in Karl's voice. "I work out just fine. I'm just not a walking muscle like you two!" he snapped.

  "Are you sure I can't help," I offered softly. "I can--"

  "NO!" more than one voice yelled, worried.

  I pushed my lip in.

  Jace kept feeling around the tank, his head tilted back to keep the water from his face. "It's fine. You've been in here enough." He made a face, probably feeling something particularly gross judging by the level of scowl that crossed his features. "Christ, how long were you in here?"

  I looked at my pile of clothes. Nikolai had left them there in a bloody heap.

  If the guys weren't going to take my offer to get back in, I could put some more clothes on. The jacket I was draped in was slowly soaking through from my hair. I walked up to the pile. The shirt and jeans were a lost cause covered in Kaz’s blood, but the panties and bra were mostly clean. I decided to put those on because it was better than nothing. I slipped them on without taking the jacket all the way off, ignoring the pull at my muscles.

  I could feel the heat building uncomfortably around my wounds. I took a quick glance at them. The holes were red and angry. They were oozing blood and other fluids. There seemed to be streaks stretching out from them as well, a good indication that they were dangerously infected. But it was to be expected. Two weeks wasn't enough time to heal bullet wounds, certainly not enough to go and soak in toxic water like that afterward.

  "What time is it?" I asked, remembering Jace’s question and buttoning up the jacket. There wasn't really anything that I could do about the infection right now.

  "About eight or so," Karl supplied.

  "Monday?" I asked, just to be sure.

  Someone, maybe Brock, didn’t like that question.

  "Fuck," Brock swore and lost his grip, causing Karl to jump out of the way. Aleks was shaking as he tried to hold it. Brock was right back in there adjusting his grip, but it was too late. It had put too much strain on Aleks.

  "Look out," Karl said sharply. "We're going to put it down for just a second."

  And then it was happening. Jace’s slightly panicked face left our view, and the lid slammed heavily making the tank groan and rumble.

  The sound of the metal clanging together reverberated around the warehouse.

  "Jace, are you okay?" someone asked. I wasn't sure who. My heart was still in my throat from my terror.

  All three of the guys were breathing heavily since they had supported the lid on their own.

  I got a glimpse at the top of the lid, eyes trailing over the bloodstains that were so close to the ventilation hole as Jace cursed and grumbled about how dark it was from within the belly of the tank.