Destiny Series Boxed Set

by Bronwyn Leroux

  Han grunted acknowledgment, and Jaden dismounted. He watched Han arc away to allow the next glider to come in. As the other gliders swooped down to deposit their riders, Han began patrolling the area. Satisfied they were in good hands—or claws—Jaden made for the cave.

  Vicken had already started a fire. Jaden hurried closer and raised his hands to its heat. “You’re not worried about smoke attracting attention?”

  Vicken shook his head. “No. Those breezes you felt when you came in will blow any smoke along the side of this mountain. And they’re blowing away from the Gaptors’ nest.”

  “Anything else you’d like help with?” A superfluous question. Looking around, Jaden noticed Vicken had already arranged his supplies and equipment in some kind of order along the far wall.

  “No, just get warm. You’ll need your brain unfrozen so you can think once we get started.”

  The others dribbled into the cave right then and joined Jaden at the fire. Despite Atu’s cold potion, they were all feeling the intense chill.

  “My fingers are frozen,” Iri complained, sidling up next to Jaden and putting her hands over the fire.

  “I can’t feel my ears,” Markov said, rubbing them.

  Stovan pushed a tissue against his reddened nose. “My nose won’t stop running.”

  Without a word, Atu dug into his pouch and pulled out the cold potion. “You all need another application.”

  An hour later, the grumblings had turned to rumblings. Jaden couldn’t take it. He had to ask.

  “Did we bring any food?” When the others laughed, Jaden huffed. “Don’t act like I’m the only one who’s hungry. I can hear your stomachs growling from here.”

  Vicken plucked a bag from the pile along the wall and handed it to Jaden. “Sven said you would need this.”

  Curious, Jaden opened it. Inside was a veritable mountain of sandwiches. He grinned. “I think I’ll be keeping these.”

  “No, you’ll be taking one and passing them along,” Markov said.

  Jaden studied Markov a minute, then decided it wasn’t worth the effort it would take to keep Markov at bay. “Okay.” But he snagged two sandwiches instead of one before handing them over.

  Markov only shook his head as he took his own sandwich and passed the bag to Iri. The bag did the rounds several times before it was empty. Stomachs full and bodies warm again, they crawled into their shells for some sleep, safe in the knowledge their gliders were watching over them.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kayla finally drifted into a fitful sleep after her stunning conclusions. When she woke, she was still tired. And irritable. How am I going to escape this place with an implant in my leg?

  She stiffened, realizing it was the perfect time for a little testing, soon enough after she woke that they might think she was still sleeping. If she moved her leg, they wouldn’t find it suspicious. They’d think she was just trying to get more comfortable.

  Anticipating the pain, Kayla gritted her teeth and then moved her leg sideways. Pleasantly surprised when there was no pain, she tried lifting it, just a tad. A twinge. Like whatever was in her leg didn’t like the upward motion. She didn’t have to roll onto her side. She already knew that was torturous.

  So some kind of programmable motion sensor calibrated to cause pain if my leg moves like I want to stand. There’s no way I can do the next test while pretending to sleep. Or is there? Kayla mimed stretching, like she was only now waking up. As subtly as she could, she slid down the bed, keeping the leg with the implant straight as she levered it over the edge.

  Nothing. No pain. She bent the leg at the knee, like her leg had flopped over the edge, careful not to move her thigh as she did so. Still no spike of pain. Enough for now. Enough to confirm that as long as her thigh was horizontal, there was no pain. Any movement vertically or any attempt to put weight on the leg (as happened when she rolled onto her side) would trigger the sensor and shoot torment into her body.

  Not that any of that helps. Unless . . . She felt for the metal stand. Finding it, she ran her hand down the main stem. There it was. A knob to adjust the height. If she made the stand the same height as the bed, she could lever her leg onto it and stabilize its horizontal position.

  While that might allow me to move, I won’t be fast. I must figure out how to hop along without jiggling that leg. Maybe if I tie the leg flat to the top of the stand with a sheet, I can minimize the jostling? Because, ziggety, if I have more than a few jolts of the pain that thing emits, I might pass out in the middle of my escape.

  Elation coursed through Kayla at the thought of escape, but she didn’t smile A prisoner would have no reason to smile unless they’d found a way to best their captors. There were still two things to figure out: how to get light in this room and how to get enough sustenance without being drugged.

  Kayla was still considering the problems when the door clicked open. No clacking of claws. Tarise.

  “I heard you weren’t appreciating our hospitality.”

  Even the marrow in her bones froze. That mellifluous voice. Kayla was too terrified to speak.

  “Come now, I make an observation and you have nothing to say?”

  Kayla remained quiet. She remembered one of Tarise’s warnings. Don’t ask for what you want, or they’ll use it against you. Well, she wouldn’t ask for anything. In fact, she wouldn’t say anything. Then she couldn’t let anything slip.

  There was a quiet chuckle. “I see. Well, it might interest you to know I’ve taken action against those who would’ve interfered with our relationship.”

  Panic. What did he do to them? No, I’m making assumptions. Who are “they?” Is it Tarise? And what does he mean by “relationship?”

  “You don’t have to worry about your food or water being tainted again.”

  Wait, what? You didn’t order that? Never mind. One more thing off my list.

  “I get no thanks?”

  Kayla debated the wisdom of opening her mouth. Deciding in favor of living, she said. “Thank you.”

  “Ah, a little appreciation. That’s what I like to hear.”

  He really didn’t want to hear what she had to say about him. Pompous, arrogant ass. She grinned inwardly at the thought of him being a donkey. Then absurdly, anger welled within. Who does he think he is to come into my world and try to take it away? Why can’t he stay where he is? Kayla quelled the rising fire. Rage would only make her say or do something rash.

  “Was there something you wanted to say?”

  Panic again. Can he read my mind? No, if he could, I wouldn’t still be breathing.

  Slurpy sighed. A loud, theatrical sound. “I suppose if you won’t speak, then I’ll do the talking. The fact is, I’m very interested in that birthmark of yours.”

  Kayla flinched.

  This time the chuckle held true glee. “Oh, so you know it has meaning?”

  No surprise he can see me even though it’s blacker than his heart in this room. Steeling herself, Kayla focused on containing her reactions. No facial expressions. No internal monologues. Just a mute, unmoving, unemotional statue.

  Slurpy tutted. “Since you seem disinclined to converse, perhaps a little insight into what lies ahead?” He sniggered. “I have to confess, I’m not being benevolent stopping those drugs. In fact, it’s my little gift to you. I want you lucid enough to feel every slice of my scalpel on your skin.”

  Kayla shuddered. He is going to torture me.

  Her involuntary action only added to the excitement in his voice. “I’ll take that birthmark from you. Take that key and use it. And believe me, when I take it, you will feel every delicious fraction of an inch as I peel it off your skin so slowly, you’ll want to rip it off yourself and give it to me.”

  The excitement had morphed into fury rippling through that melodious voice. It was almost as terrifying as what he planned to do.

  Kayla’s throat closed up. She struggled to breathe, to pull in enough oxygen past her rigid airways. Spots danced in front of he
r eyes. Short, shallow breaths. Not good. Kayla concentrated all her energy on breathing. Slow, in and out. Deep breath in and out.

  The palm slapping her face was such a shock she lost her rhythm. Her hand touched her stinging cheek, her eyes darting in the usurper’s direction. When she saw his eyes, she regretted it. Black, glittering coals, glowing red in the center, lit from within by a slow-burning fire. Unnatural. Hateful. Evil.

  “You will not ignore me. You will answer me when I speak.”

  Kayla opened and closed her mouth, but she wasn’t sure what to say. Her brain was fried. Had he asked a question? She thought he’d been telling her what he would do to her. Another shudder racked her body.

  “Yes, that will suffice for now.”

  His voice held satisfaction. Pleasure, even. Verbal communication hadn’t been necessary. He’d been after her fear. And now that he’d seen it, it was as if she had appeased some craving.

  “See that you learn something from today, or the next time we meet, it will be more than a pat on the cheek.”

  When he stalked away, taking those burning eyes with him, Kayla went limp. Waves of fire, then ice, raked over her body as it tried to cope with the adrenaline racing through her. Neither fight nor flight had been an option. Her body struggled to remedy that.

  It was at least an hour before her heartbeat finally slowed. But her breathing still came in sparse gasps. Every time she wrangled it back to normal, her mind slithered back to the encounter, and she lost her progress.

  Huffing out a sigh, Kayla gave up on her breathing. If she continued hyperventilating, she would pass out and that would solve the problem. Not the way she wanted it solved, but it would do the job. Instead of fighting the ordeal, she allowed herself to dwell on it. Especially the part about her birthmark.

  How does Slurpy know about my birthmark? Duh, he probably has spies everywhere. But the nagging doubt she had about Tarise wouldn’t allow her to get past it. The more she thought about it, the more Kayla became convinced Tarise had told Slurpy. The question now is did that traitor tell him before or after they captured me?

  An interesting question and one that merited further consideration. But Kayla set it aside as she focused on the real problem—her birthmark. True, it linked to the ancient language and translated as key. But did the usurper know the way they marked things in that language gave clues to the real meaning? That her birthmark represented a noun and not a verb?

  She didn’t think he did. Because if he knew, he would also know her birthmark itself wasn’t the key, the physical item that would open the lock. It was intended as a sign, something to lead the way. Or did he know something about the ancient language she didn’t?

  Kayla attacked the problem more aggressively. If he knew something else, something she wasn’t seeing, she had to work it out. Before he came back. Before he hacked her birthmark off.

  Trying to put that thought away was like trying to stuff a genie back into the bottle. The fear clamped down again, raising her heartbeat and setting her breathing off-kilter, right when she’d distracted herself enough to normalize it. I’m focusing on my breathing again. Not helping! Focus on the problem!

  Kayla’s face scrunched up as she tried to recall every twinge of her birthmark. Before she’d received her books with the ancient language, her birthmark had never bothered her. Only when she took those books and arrayed them on her bed, ready to study them for the first time, had her birthmark itched unbearably.

  Then it itched enough to propel her off her bed to her mirror, so she could find a reason for the itching. Unable to find any bites or other explanation, she had glared at the birthmark—then caught sight of the symbol adorning the cover of each book in the mirror’s reflected image of her room.

  Disbelieving of what she was seeing, she had turned and stared at the books, her eyes skittering between her arm and the books several times. Not only was the symbol the same shape as her birthmark, it was identical in size. At the exact moment she realized this, her birthmark stopped itching. Like it had fulfilled its purpose—drawn her attention to the books.

  After that, she knew she had to learn the ancient language. She’d applied herself to the task, and her birthmark hadn’t bothered her again for years. Not until a few months ago when this insanity started.

  The more Kayla focused on the times her birthmark bothered her, the more things crystallized. It led to a startling revelation. Every time she was near something important to the mission—from finding her medallion to recognizing other seekers to finding artifacts—her birthmark had literally itched enough to make her want to scratch it off her arm.

  But when she touched those leather strips . . . that was another reaction entirely. Her birthmark burned then, like someone had set it on fire. Kayla frowned. Could the burning simply be a more intense version of the itching? Perhaps indicating that while the rest of the things were important to the mission, the leather strips were important to her? Or more important to the mission?

  “No more nightmares?”

  Kayla jumped. She hadn’t heard Tarise come in. Stuffing thoughts of her birthmark far from her mind, Kayla reminded herself she couldn’t trust Tarise. No way would she say anything that could be overheard or passed along that might help the usurper. Kayla mentally squared her shoulders. She needed to get Tarise off-balance. Make Tarise spill things she shouldn’t.

  “You mean other than the walking nightmare that just paid me a visit?”

  Tarise’s hiss indicated she hadn’t known the usurper had been there. “You mean ‘him?’”

  “I do. And he was eager to tell me how he planned to cut off my birthmark.” Kayla had no clue how she sounded so calm. When Tarise said nothing, Kayla added, “Slowly and painfully.”

  A small sigh. Or a muffled sob? Kayla wasn’t sure. She opened her mouth to spit out another barb, but the hand touching her own made her recoil.

  “I’m sorry.”

  The whisper was so faint Kayla had to strain to hear the words. While Tarise sound genuine, the whisper also masked any intonation. How convenient. “For what?”

  “I don’t want him doing to you what he did to me.”

  Kayla wondered whether she wanted to know. “And what was that?”

  “Just know you’re not the only one who’s a prisoner here.”

  With that, Tarise pressed something into her hand and stepped back. Kayla’s fingers explored the object. Hiding her shock took extreme effort. Is this what I think it is?

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Tarise’s voice was back to its usual volume—and without inflection except for the word warn.

  Abruptly, all the games were too much. All the guessing. The scheming. More than anything, Kayla wished she could just speak plainly to Tarise—and that Tarise would reciprocate. However, even if Tarise’s actions were sometimes oblique, they consistently highlighted the need for her secrecy. Tarise’s warning had to mean she should be ready for escape. Because that’s what the scalpel in her hands was—a means to an end.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Six hours later, Vicken roused them, and they were on their feet again, grabbing their assigned supplies. In minutes, they exited the cave, packs over their shoulders and kitted in their smart suits, their goggles’ night vision making the world glow green.

  Those weren’t the only enhancements Sven had made. The lenses of the goggles would now tint almost black in the presence of extreme light. Between this and the new sound suppressors built into the masks’ earmuffs, they would no longer be blind or deaf when destroying Gaptors.

  Their gliders had obviously been waiting; Han dropped down almost the moment Jaden stepped outside. He aerial connected and then grinned when Han shot them skyward. “Anxious, buddy?”

  “No, eager to get on with this.”

  The bloodlust in his voice surprised Jaden. “Easy. We’re just there to scout. We won’t be doing any killing tonight.”

  “More’s the pity,” Han grumbled.

  Jaden
only smiled as they waited for the others to join them. Then they flew to a spot near the top of a nearby mountain that had shielded them from the Gaptor nest on the other side. Reaching it, the gliders slid in, allowing their riders to disembark before sweeping back to circle nearby. Close enough to engage the enemy if needed, but far enough to avoid accidentally being spotted.

  When the riders had all dismounted, Vicken said, “Ready?” At their nods, he led them toward the peak.

  The snowshoes Sven provided made easy work of the untamed terrain. Despite this, Jaden was sweating in minutes. The air was also thin enough that he wasn’t the only one taking advantage of his aerolator. By the time they reached the crest, his calves were burning. And I thought I was in good shape! That little stint with blood loss must’ve taken more out of me than I realized. Then he glanced over and caught Markov rubbing a weary hand over his face. Okay, so it’s not just me.

  Using the hand signals he had taught them, Vicken ordered them onto their bellies. The group shimmied up the last piece hiding them from the Gaptors on the other side, using the trees as cover against any Gaptors that might be overhead.

  Sneaking a peak over the apex, Jaden glanced down, then gaped. The view was breathtaking. The sides of the mountain gleamed white as the snow threw its radiance back into the sky. The trees dotting the mountainside appeared as painted black outlines drizzled with gray where patches of snow had accumulated. At the base of the mountain, a frozen lake glittered black, unyielding as steel reflecting the moonless sky.

  Clearly, the Gaptors didn’t know the value of keeping the high ground. Then again, hadn’t their gliders repeatedly told them the Gaptors were brainless brutes? Jaden’s first sweep of the area was for Kayla. There was no sign of anything human down there. His heart sank.

  What had he expected? Hadn’t he known deep down she was in Zareh’s world? Why had he even dared hope he might find her here? Because Zareh said she might be here. Because Zareh said he had no word on her whereabouts, hinting Slurpy could’ve returned her to this world. Jaden should’ve known better than to trust the little critter.