Well, at least the pain gave Rex something else to worry at. He dropped his thudding head on his arms and waited for the world to stop spinning. Could have been worse, he supposed. At least Kalaes hadn’t shot him.
Talking of whom...
“Flaming hells,” Kalaes grunted. “Let go of me, fe, I just want to see if he’s okay.”
Elei struggled to sit up, his jaw blaring pain along his skull. He’d have matching bruises on either side of his head. Joy.
“You punched him, Kal.” Alendra sounded grim. “Stay away from him.”
“I wasn’t... Dammit, I didn’t mean to. Shit.”
Kalaes had no clue how to deal with Rex, Elei reminded himself, and the parasite was going through the cycles it had gone through with him. Which meant... Pissing hells. He’d been there not too long ago and now it was Kalaes’ turn.
My fault for infecting him. Though, what other choice had there been?
Alendra held Kalaes by the arm, and he simply stared at Elei, face pale. He could have broken her hold easily, Elei thought, but he’d stopped trying. His breathing came in hissing gasps.
“Ale, it’s okay,” Elei said. “Kal...”
“Elei.” Alendra looked from one to the other, her eyes narrow. “Is he getting worse or is it my imagination?”
“Yeah,” Elei muttered, dismayed, and leaned back. “It may get worse yet.”
Kalaes mumbled a curse.
“What in the five hells is happening?” said Alendra. Her hold on Kalaes had turned into a semi-hug and he leaned against her, an arm folded across his stomach.
Elei rubbed his throbbing jaw. “Kalaes’ Rex is cresting.”
***
“Any change?” Hera asked. She’d taken the driver’s seat, since Sacmis seemed woozy and unfocused.
“He’s still alive, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sacmis muttered, straightening from Mantis’ side and returning to the co-driver’s seat. She sank into it with a sigh.
Hera refused to show her relief. She adjusted the itchy mask over her face, when what she really wanted to do was throw it down and stomp on it. She felt woozy and wondered if their oxygen was depleted. “Good. We’re almost out of these damn swamps.”
Sacmis nodded, her rapid breathing echoing in the narrow confines of the vehicle. She slid a curious glance at Hera. “You’re not affected, are you?”
“What?” Did Sacmis mean emotionally affected? Because Hera was struggling so hard not to scream and pound on the panel her every muscle hurt.
“I mean from the gas. Here I am, dizzy and slow, and you keep driving as if nothing happened.”
Hera blinked at the glittering water around them, on which the horizontal sunrays danced in pretty patterns. “I suppose I’m not affected.” Regina’s pure strain. It seemed it had some perks, after all, if she managed not to fall prey to madness. Which was still debatable.
“You suppose.” Sacmis giggled, her head falling against the backrest. “Oh, Hera.”
Hera arched a brow. Sacmis never giggled. Which meant... “Our oxygen is out. We need to unseal the aircar.”
“But we’re still in the swamps!”
“The gas is not lethal. If I’m not affected, I’ll keep driving and you can doze with Mantis until we reach our goal. If we both pass out from lack of oxygen, we’ll never make it.”
Sacmis nodded, sighed, closed her eyes. “Right.”
“Get to it, Sacmis. Now!”
Sacmis jerked, blinking furiously. “Yes, senet.” She struggled up and started pulling tape from the window seams.
Hera chewed on the inside of her cheek. “And hold on tight.” In one motion, she yanked off her mask and pressed on the acceleration button.
May Nunet help us now.
***
“There’s a transmission. We’re waiting for the decoder to process it,” Iset said, fiddling with the glitcher’s dials, a strand of hair curling against her cheek like a golden tail. “Glitchers send messages in a loop for a specified period of time, usually a few hours. If they’ve caught your friends, and decided to let HQ know, we should be able to hear it.”
Her scent of sweet flowers and ripe fili fruit was growing stronger — or Rex was taking more notice. Traveling with them was a bad idea. If only they had another option.
Kalaes stood across from him, leaning against the cabin wall, his arms folded. His normally spiky hair hung in his eyes and his jaw was clenched.
The new bruise on Elei’s face had to be spectacular.
Damn, he ought to talk to Kalaes, tell him about the things Rex would put him through and ways to cope. Cope as much as possible, anyway, which was better than being washed down, defenseless in the rushing tide that was Rex.
Iset raised the glitcher, a thing shaped like a telespeak receiver, and pressed a button. A female voice spoke in even tones, the words incomprehensible.
Not speaking the common tongue. Figured.
“Translation?” Kalaes grated.
Iset pressed her lips together and sat with the glitcher in her lap. She switched it off.
“Well?” Alendra tilted her head, hands fisting at her sides. “What’s it say?”
“Nunet’s snakes.” Iset sighed. “You were right. Your friends were caught.”
Elei sank on the seat, breathless, the words a punch in his gut. He’d somehow hoped it wasn’t true.
“Dammit.” Kalaes slammed a fist into the aircar wall, making the metal groan. “I knew. I pissing knew this would happen. Nothing can ever go right. Must be a curse.”
“Are they all right?” Elei asked.
“They do not say.” Iset adjusted a dial. “But they do say your friends were captured alive.”
Relief swamped Elei.
“We’ll go after them,” Alendra said.
“Let’s think this over. What we should do,” Bestret said, “is go to Bone Tower.”
Alendra gaped. Kalaes turned slowly, his face a thundercloud.
Elei narrowed his eyes. “What for?”
“That’s the place we need to seize.” Iset tightened her fingers on the glitcher. “Wrench it from the regime’s hands, take control of Regina’s vaults, the fleet and the temple. Think about it. If the fleet is set on your friends, they’ll die.” She shook her head. “But it’s more than that. Bone Tower is not just a city; it’s a symbol, the emblem of Gultur supremacy, the crown of their power. Take it and they’ll flounder and fall. They’ll believe their goddess has deserted them, fallen into the hands of unbelievers. Coupled with the upcoming celebrations for Regina’s birth... We’ve been waiting for this, the perfect opportunity. Bone Tower is not far from here. We should go.”
“The hells we should,” Kalaes said, wrenching the aircar door open. “You’re out of your pissing mind. I’m getting Zoe and Dain out. I’ll go alone if I have to.”
“Wait.” Bestret moved to block Kalaes’ way. “Think first. This is not about us. It is about the world of the Seven Islands. Losses will be incurred. Collateral damage is expected.”
“Collateral.” Kalaes snorted and it was an ugly sound. “Can you hear yourself? Friends aren’t junk to be thrown away when you’re sinking.”
“Friends.” Bestret snorted, too, a bad imitation. “You don’t know them any better than you do us. And they’re just mortals.”
“Kal’s right, you’re out of your mind,” Elei said, heat rising in his neck. “We’re all mortals.”
“No, you’re not,” Iset said. “Do not fool yourselves. You’re Rex’s own, and your laws are different. We know the stories; we know you came back from the dead time and again. Mortals are a weaker race.”
“I see,” Alendra said and rolled her eyes. “Sorry for existing, then. So, what, you abandoned Regina for Rex thinking that way you’ll live forever?”
“We did not abandon Regina,” Bestret said, annoyed. “Rex chose us, spared our lives.”
“The hells you say,” Kalaes said and shoved Bestret aside, or tried. “Pissing lunatics. The pla
n was to create some noise and distract the regime, not to take control of anything, and certainly not leave the kids to the mercy of the Gultur police, so get the hell out of my way.”
“We could force you to come with us,” Bestret said, looking at Kalaes’ hand on the collar of her suit. She lifted a dark brow. “Two aircars are right behind us, just arrived to join us.”
“Why?” Elei wanted to know. “What do you need us for?”
“Symbols,” Iset said, gaze lowered. “They’re important.”
“They want to replace Regina through you,” Alendra said, and Elei bit his lip, trying not to laugh because, really, it wasn’t funny.
“We’re staying,” he said. “Can’t leave the others behind.”
Iset rubbed her brow with the heel of her palm. “If we help you get them back.” She looked up. “Then will you come with us to Bone Tower?”
Put that way... Elei’s headache redoubled.
Kalaes glanced at him over his shoulder, brows drawn together, a question in his eyes. Alendra was giving him a thoughtful look; he could see the wheels turning behind the gold of her gaze. She nodded, a slight dip of the head.
“It’s a deal,” Elei said, tired and wishing it was all over already, wishing he could wake up in a warm bed, in a quiet house with everyone around him, alive and happy. He’d give anything to be there.
But, like always, nothing came for free.
Chapter Eleven
“We cannot risk many of us, in case we’re captured. We’ll take the back exit,” Iset said, drawing a map of the plant with a red marker. “Four of us. You take the front entrance, as a decoy. The others will wait in the aircars to take us away if things go awry.”
“How gracious of you,” Kalaes hissed. “Sure, by all means let us go in first while you wait in the back to save your precious asses.”
“I do not see why you’re upset,” Iset said calmly. “You carry Rex. It will protect you.”
“Yeah right.” Kalaes shook his head. “Everyone has a damn agenda.”
“How are we going to go through the fence?” Elei asked. It was well over ten feet high.
“Can you not jump over it?” Bestret’s tone was slightly condescending, and a little surprised.
“My leg jets are not working quite as they used to,” Kalaes drawled. “Maybe in your infinite wisdom you can think up another way?”
Iset sighed. “We have cutters. They’re rusty, though, and may not work well.”
“We’ll take them,” Kalaes said.
Elei nodded and bent over the map. He had no idea what Rex was capable of, but Alendra was coming along. Leaving her with these mysterious Gultur wasn’t an option. Deep inside, he feared Kalaes was right, and that they couldn’t be trusted, holding to their own agenda.
Meanwhile, the minutes ticked by and the attack on Dakru City was growing closer.
Elei rubbed a hand over his face. This distraction had failed. Maybe Iset was right. Maybe going for Bone Tower wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
If they managed to get Zoe and the others out. If they weren’t captured themselves, or killed.
“The aircars will be waiting for us at the back,” Iset said, “ready to depart. We’re leaving in exactly half an hour. Whoever is not back by then shall remain here. Understood?”
“Your magnanimity amazes me,” Kalaes muttered.
“And your manners could use some improvement,” Bestret snapped. “We’re playing along to your childish tantrum in order to free some kids when we should be on our way to Bone Tower.”
Elei took a hold of Kalaes and dragged him back. “Easy now.”
“Childish tantrum?” Kalaes growled. “Are you pissing kidding me?”
“Time flies,” Bestret said, unperturbed. “Best get on with it.”
Muttering curses that involved the gods and an unfortunate dog, Kalaes thrust the door of the aircar open and stormed out.
“Is he always like that?” Iset said, a brow raised.
“Only when pushed,” Elei said, following him out, into the scintillating light of the grove.
***
They chose to enter from the side, between lamps marking the perimeter, hoping to hide in the dark. The cutters were rusty as promised, and their bite so ineffective Elei wondered if Iset had meant for them to be captured then and there.
Decoy, right. Just how fanatic were these New Gultur? It all sounded like a test of faith to them — see if Rex would indeed save its chosen ones.
Damn.
Kalaes grunted, arms trembling as he plied them again, and this time a swath of chainlink was severed. Another cut, and another, and Elei was able to pull a piece aside like a door. The wound in his side throbbed; he’d thought of secretly asking Iset for more painkillers, but they made him drowsy and he couldn’t afford that now.
Besides, with Rex to the fore, the wounds would knit quickly if he didn’t tear them open again.
“I go first,” he whispered and shimmied through before the others got a chance to stop him. Kalaes could feel all the guilt he wanted; Elei wasn’t letting him get shot, period.
The spotlight swept the yard and he dropped to a crouch with a hiss, watched the beam pass over his head.
Alendra squirmed through the fence and dropped next to him, golden eyes watchful. “Guards?” she mouthed and he nodded, pointing to the immense doors of the compound.
Two silhouettes with longguns were standing on either side of the entrance, their visors reflecting the lights along the fence.
They’d have to take them down. He’d have to. He’d been in such situations before, and although he wasn’t alone this time, he kinda wished he was. He could take pain, but losing the others...
“Lovely,” Kalaes muttered, extricating himself from the chainlink, a scratch bleeding black on his cheek. “I see the welcome party is waiting. Where are the drinks, then?”
The spotlights were fixed on top of the entrance, on a rotating disk. Elei squinted at it. A long shot. He hoped Alendra and Kalaes could take it successfully, because he had another job.
He made sure the safety was on and pushed his Rasmus securely into its holster at his hip. “Shoot the spotlights,” he whispered. “I’ll take the guards out.”
He was already rising from his crouch when Kalaes’ heavy hand landed on his shoulder.
“The hells you are, fe. You’ve got better aim than me. You shoot the lights.” And he was off, slinking toward the building before Elei had a chance to explain.
That he knew how Rex could protect him, what it might do. Dammit.
With a sigh, he drew his Rasmus and squinted at the rotating lights. “You shoot the other lights, on top of the fence gate,” he told Alendra and she bit her lip and took aim.
Kalaes was approaching the building when the spotlight turned toward him.
Elei pressed the trigger. The shots went off one right after the other, deafening, and the lamps exploded into sparks and glass. Before Elei’s ears had stopped ringing, Alendra had pulled him to his feet and they were running toward the entrance.
Kalaes was down on his knees, a hand to his head. Worry gripped Elei’s chest so tight he couldn’t breathe, but the two Gultur guards seemed confused, not aiming at him. One of Rex’s tricks, probably, lowering Kalaes’ body temperature to make him invisible to their infrared vision.
Elei gasped a breath of relief.
Then, of course, the Gultur turned their guns on him and Alendra who had to be flaring bright and clear in the night.
Hells.
Throwing Alendra behind him, he took aim and fired on one of the guards. He’d aimed for the chest, but she twisted and her gun went off. Her shot went wide, a whistle past his ear, then he saw movement and dropped on top of Alendra as another gunshot rang.
Kalaes had tackled the other guard, but you never knew.
Alendra blinked dazedly at him. Her hood had fallen back, sending golden hair spilling on the ground, and her lips parted as if she was about to speak.
/>
He leaned in, kissed them lightly, watched her eyes widen, and pulled back, breathing hard. Taste of ripe berries, and he wanted more, but even with Rex pounding in his head and causing sparkles in his vision, he was unsure if he’d gone too far.
“Sorry,” he whispered, suddenly too aware of her soft curves against him, and pushed off her. “Sorry, I’ll—”
A hand hauled him up and he stared into Kalaes’ grinning face. Well, more of a snarl, really, manic and scary, but at least he seemed okay.
“Had to make sure you were all right,” Kalaes said, dragging Alendra upright, too. “Holy shit, this Rex is something. Everything went black and I thought for sure I was going to pass out. My head still pounds.”
Looked like Rex still used some of its old methods. Reassured Kalaes was fine, Elei turned toward the entrance that was now opening, the glint of visors and guns looming through the widening crack.
“Well, then.” He took a deep breath, hoping Iset and Bestret had found a way in from the back. “The real fun begins.”
***
Sacmis slumped in the co-driver’s seat, her head lolling forward, and Hera was not sure Mantis still breathed. Not that she could go back and check when she was the one driving the aircar, and the only one still awake.
As evening descended, the ground began to look more solid. The swamps fell behind. Hera snagged the map from Sacmis’ lap and spread it one-handed on the control panel next to the steering lever, trying to study it while driving and almost going cross-eyed.
Crashing the aircar into a hillock because she was not paying attention to where she was going would be a real pity after all the effort they’d put into this.
At least her head was clearing. The damn gases were receding, along with the swamps. Reaching to the side, Hera cracked the window open.
Oh gods, her first breath of fresh air was like algae cake dripping with syrup. Hera sucked it in deep gulps, feeling her thoughts clear. The air was cold and scented with the subtle musky scent of agaric spores. She could see a glow in the distance, a white glimmer in the gathering dark.
Rex Aftermath (Elei's Chronicles) Page 14