Sky Ghosts: All for One (Young Adult Urban Fantasy Adventure) (Sky Ghosts Series Book 1) by Alexandra Engellmann Page B

to be quiet here,” she explained, and Dave gave an understanding nod before taking his shirt off and getting back to his bunk.
    When the others seemed to have drifted off, Jane couldn’t sleep. An hour passed, and nothing changed for her. She was too alert, and thoughts were swarming in her head like restless wild bees. One thought repeated more often than the others: that Eugene was always one step ahead of them. She had long ago accepted the fact that he could easily kill them all if he decided so. And now he was the only one who knew the rules of the game once again. Peter had always been a good chief, and people loved and respected him. But he hardly took any action against Eugene, only maintained the defense. And Michael was so different during his time.
    Eventually, she got up with a grunt, looked over Pain, Chad, and Dave, peaceful in their sleep, and jumped off her bed. She came out of the room barefoot, wearing only her tank-top and shorts again, and came up to the window at the end of the hallway. It was about three in the morning, and the streets far away were dark and deserted. In the distance, she could see skyscrapers and rare city lights that seemed to wander in the moonlight. She could go for a flight right now, reach those lights in a few minutes, just slide over the city thoughtlessly and enjoy the warm weather. But she was too tired, and it was childish, and they weren’t alone out there, she knew. She would have to bring weapons and gear, and it was so not funny or relaxing. Not to mention that in the morning Pain would find out, of course, and get mad and bug her about how reckless of her it was, how she puts herself in danger and blah, blah, blah…
    “Can’t sleep?” a voice sounded from behind, and she flinched.
    She turned her head and found Ryan standing a few feet away from her. He didn’t look like he had any trouble during his mission. On the contrary, he was wearing a perfect gray suit and looked calm and confident, as always. She had never seen him like this before, without the habitual gear or his khaki pants and a T-shirt. She almost felt like it was a stranger before her, like she didn’t know him at all, like this Ryan was a Ryan from some other planet.
    Suddenly, she realized two things – she was holding her breath all this time and had stared at him for too long. She exhaled unevenly and looked down at her feet. They were awfully pale. She should have put something on before coming out.
    “Did you manage to find out anything?” she replied with a question, breaking the awkward silence.
    Ryan shook his head, his lips pursed.
    “Not even one of the Beasts knows why Eugene wanted to kidnap the guys. It’s likely he keeps it a secret. We’ll have to get to him to find out something.”
    Jane pulled herself up to sit on the windowsill and folded her arms on her chest, shivering.
    “Have you reported to Peter already? Do you know we were attacked an hour ago?”
    Ryan frowned and stepped closer, his posture tensing instinctively, his look alert and sharp. It was dim in the hallway at night, and in this light his eyes looked unfamiliarly dark and piercing. He really did look dangerous, she realized with a surprise, with his size, scowl, and that jaguar-like grace of his. She wondered why she had never noticed it before. For her he had always been just Ryan, the guy next door, polite and careful at all times. Once she saw him dispatch three opponents with one blow, but even then she didn’t feel threatened by him. And now she did. Actually, she was more than threatened, but she couldn’t quite define what else was bothering her.
    “What do you mean, ‘attacked’? Here, in the building?”
    She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice and cleared her throat for an answer.
    “Yes. Two Beasts. The guards were killed. Elizabeth…” she broke off with a grimace. “Marco got the Beasts right here, you can ask him about it. Tomorrow we’ll leave. Peter said you’ll walk us