by Alison Aimes
Too fast and easy a death for monsters like this. But this was not a time for revenge. It was, he prayed, a moment for reclamation. Redemption.
Chest heaving, he whirled toward the slaves.
Whimpering and wailing, they crowded closer together, pressing deep into the wall. His heart, already so raw and bloody, cracked some more.
“I mean you no harm.” Stepping over the bodies of the downed guards, he sheathed his ax before raising his hands high. “I’ve come to set you free.”
The wailing died down, but no one moved. Or breathed. Or raised their eyes to meet his gaze.
He paced closer, the acrid scent of unwashed bodies and terror flooding his lungs as he scanned the faces of those he could see. Dirt, bruises and empty lifeless expressions blurred them together, making the men, women, and children look alike.
How the fuck would he even recognize his wife and child now? He forced himself to keep it together.
“I’ll be leading you out of here by the same tunnel 223 and his men used to get you here.”
The sound of 223’s name generated another round of whimpers.
“Saralynee?” Unable to wait another moment, he called her name, then Archer’s.
No answer.
“I’m looking for my wife and my son.” He jerked the necklace from his throat and held it aloft. “Are you here?”
He stepped closer, surveying more faces as those who’d turned away in fear looked his way once more, curiosity—even hope—sparking in their gazes. “It’s Ryker.” He’d changed, too. Maybe more than he’d realized. “I’m here. I’ve come for you.” His voice broke. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long.”
Heart slamming against his ribs, he waited. No response.
A loud explosion rocked the room. Then, another.
Screams rent the air as rocks tumbled from the ceiling. But for him, it was the sweetest sound in the world.
Jade had done it. She’d set the explosions and trapped the bulk of 223’s gang in their sleeping quarters.
Even better, the greatest risk to her was now over. With those monsters entombed, she’d be safe and waiting for him at the main cavern to help usher the captives out. Partners once more.
“It’s okay.” He had to repeat himself several times. Eventually, the others quieted. “That was the signal from my friends. We’re good to go. 223’s men have been neutralized.” He paused, the edges of the carvings biting into his palm as he held it high once more. “I’ll lead you all out of here now. I just…I just need to find the owner of this carving. I just need to find Saralynee and my son.”
“They’re not here.” The high, tremulous voice from the back was faint, but Ryker heard it nonetheless.
“Who spoke? Show yourself, please. I…I mean you no harm.”
It took a moment, but the bodies parted, revealing a woman with stringy brown hair, hollow cheekbones, and unusual gray eyes. Familiar gray eyes. “Hello, Ryker. I remember you well.”
“L-Lana?” The sister of one of his teammates, she’d also been his wife’s good friend. Close enough, even, to have been a special guest at his and Saralynee’s joining ceremony. Lana’s mischievous boldness a perfect contrast to his wife’s sweet persona. Yet the empty-eyed woman who stared at him now barely resembled the woman he remembered. Except for the shape and color of those eyes.
“Yes. It’s me.” She took a wary step closer. “Are you really here to save us?”
“Yes.”
Surprise, then hope, flickered across her face. She swiveled toward the others, the ragged garments so loose they flopped against her like extra skin. Not too long ago, she’d been curvy and vivacious and full of life.
“He means what he says,” she told the rest. “I know this man. He wouldn’t lie. He’s Resistance and if he says he’ll get us out, he will.”
Shocked whispers echoed through the space, the people lurching forward as if an invisible current had sparked them to life.
“Wait.” He reached for Lana’s arm and then thought better of it, his stomach curdling at her automatic flinch. He dropped his arm to his side, but his gaze held hers. He’d never been so close to begging in his life. “Tell me. Please. Where are they?”
Her expression never changed, as if her capacity for sorrow had long ago drained from her, but, as she drew in a breath, he knew.
“She and your unborn son were killed two planetary rotations ago when the Council rounded up all Resistance families of those on trial and transported us to the main city.”
His lungs struggled to catch enough air.
“We were told we’d been brought to say our good-byes to those of you on trial,” she continued, “but that lie was short-lived.”
Her gaze dropped to the figurines still clutched in his hand and, for the first time, a flicker of grief darkened her gray eyes. “Saralynee pressed that carving into my palm as she died.”
He swallowed down a wail. It felt like he’d lost them all over again.
“I—I thought I’d be returning it to you or her family. I thought I’d gotten lucky I survived the massacre.” Lana’s voice broke. “But then we were taken here. You should be grateful they never made it to Dragath25,” she continued. “Because we all died the day they murdered your wife and son, some of us just didn’t know it yet.”
Bile burned the back of Ryker’s throat. For his wife and son. For Lana. For all of them.
“Janus hell, I’m sorry, my friend.”
The familiar voice had him swinging around, his grieving mind trying to process what he was seeing. The person standing in the tunnel entrance, looking at him with such pity, was not the one he would have expected to see.
“Grif?” He stumbled toward his teammate, a terrible sense of foreboding washing over him. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to securing the operative and the weapon…” The look on his friend’s face had him trailing off. “No, no, no.”
“I’m sorry, Ryker.” Grif held up a wrist. A familiar-looking black cuff dangled around it. “She locked me up. Gave me no choice.”
He shook his head, though it was the same damn trick she’d used once on him. “Why?”
Grif’s gaze flickered away. “The weapon’s got a detonator on it. It can’t be dismantled without triggering it to blow.”
Ryker didn’t stay to hear the rest, tearing down the corridor faster than he’d ever moved in his life. He knew Grif would get the others out.
He had to get to Jade.
He could endure almost any unbearable loss, but he couldn’t survive losing her.
40
A handful of gang members spilled into 223’s work area.
Leaping forward, Jade grasped the operative’s hand, pressing it tight to the weapon. “Don’t let go.”
Jade threw her knife. It lodged in the belly of the gang member who’d thrown the dagger.
“I won’t.” Caleb yanked the crude blade from the back of his shoulder, swiveled, and hurled it at the next attacker. “Not until I’m at the surface and can achieve maximum damage.”
She and Caleb would never be allies, but 223 was a potential problem for them both. Jade couldn’t afford for 223’s men to kill the operative and activate the weapon until the others were safe. The operative needed to get by all these men in order to make it above ground.
The enemy of her enemy had just become her temporary friend.
More men streamed into the space, both from the main entrance and one hidden near the rear.
“Kill them and bring me my weapon.” 223’s voice sounded from behind his men. No fool, he’d placed several bulky bodies between him and the main action.
“Come and get it,” taunted the operative.
“Take the operative down and you’ll go with him,” she warned. “The weapon has been activated. The moment he lifts his hand final countdown begins.”
Unfortunately, her words were drowned out by the frenzied pounding of boots as several more gang members spilled into the cavern and hurried to fo
llow their leader’s orders.
A mob unleashed.
Drawing another knife from her harness, Jade swung, ducked, and then swung again, following through until her blade met bone. The gang member crumpled. Another took his place.
This was it. Her end. Not too different from what she’d imagined. Except for the reasons behind it. Now, she died for a true purpose. For people who were worth saving. For those who would remember and honor her after she was gone.
She struck out again, taking down the first wall of those who came at her. Thank Janus, lasers were no good down here. Quarters too close. Otherwise, 223’s men would already have brought her down. But when it came to hand-to-hand combat, she was in her element.
Nearby, Caleb took down three with one stroke. The man was also a superb fighter. Especially given he was one-handed, the other clutched tight around the weapon.
She willed Ryker and Grif to get themselves and the others to safety. Send me the signal.
“You speak of love, connection, but where are these ‘friends’ now?” The operative’s cool voice sounded at her side as he, too, took up a defensive position at the wall.
She didn’t bother answering his taunt. The expenditure of energy unnecessary. Instead, she struck down two more guards.
“You were fooling yourself, assassin.” Pity thickened his voice. “We were always expendable.”
“Jade is never expendable.” A new voice boomed from the main entrance. “She is everything.”
Eyes wide, she sucked down a breath as the man she never thought she’d see again knocked two heads together and sent the animals sprawling.
He’d come. He’d kept his promise, after all.
“Ryker!” New lines of sorrow darkened his eyes and she knew. His family hadn’t been there. Her heart bled for him anew.
He took down another attacker, fighting the sea of bodies to get to her.
“No,” she yelled. “You need to go.”
He kept coming, determination hardening his features as his ax flashed and he mowed down another opponent. And another. Until he was standing close enough for her to touch. “Signal should be coming any moment.”
“The operative’s made it impossible to stop the weapon from going off.” Desperate to make him understand, she struck down two more in rapid succession and spoke even faster. “I can’t leave. Even after the signal. And there’s no way to secure him and obtain the deactivation code. Our options have narrowed to one.” Her gaze locked with his, doing her best to convey all the love and certainty thrumming through her veins. “I’ll keep him down here. You blow this cave to kingdom come. It’s the only way.”
Grim resignation settled over his face as her words sank in.
“You go.” His gaze never left hers as his blade sank into the belly of another attacker. “Grif will help you find another way to deactivate the bomb.”
The possibility had never once crossed her mind. “No.”
“Do you think you’re the only one willing to give up everything for the person she loves? Understand, Jade.” His voice was rough with determination. “I will never accept a world without you in it.”
Awe slammed through her. She’d been taught to sacrifice, to take the pain and the risk so that others didn’t have to, and she’d never once regretted it.
But to know Ryker would do the same for her? It was everything she had never known she wanted.
The operative was wrong. She wasn’t expendable. Not to the only person that mattered.
“Jade!” The sound of her name had her whirling.
Horror snaked through her. 223 and a cluster of six men surrounded Caleb.
They were a heartbeat from taking him down. Before the signal came.
“No!” Launching herself forward, blotting out Ryker’s protest, she slammed into one attacker, took down three more, and, most significantly, bought the operative time to evade.
She kept him alive. But at a cost.
Pain sliced through her, a sharp, stabbing burn that started in her back and radiated up her spine.
Warm liquid pooled at the base of her spine. Ran down her leg.
“Jade!” She recognized Ryker’s anguished roar.
Hands tangled in her hair. Yanked her to her knees.
“You should have perished in that cell,” snarled 223. “But you’ll die now.”
Her gaze found Ryker’s. He was covered in cuts, blood splattered across his chest and forehead. A true warrior. One she was privileged to have known.
How different this moment might have felt if she’d succeeded in her mission at the start. If she’d never met her felon. Never hated and loved him. Never known what it was to have someone care for her like he did.
The Council had tried to make her disposable, but they’d failed.
Because someone loved her, enough to stand by her side, even in death. That was victory. That was a truly flawless mission.
“I may die,” she told 223, “but you’ll beat me to it.”
Rearing up, she gripped the dagger hidden in her palm and drove it into 223’s soft underbelly.
The monster let out a choked cry. Crumpled.
223 was dead.
Howls rent the air. Fists crashed into her. Boots, too. She went down hard. 223’s men retaliating, as panic ensued. Through the frenzy, she could hear Ryker’s shouts. Knew he was doing everything he could to reach her.
But there wasn’t enough time.
Fists came from every side. Too many to block all at once. A boot dug into her spine. A blade arced toward her throat.
A sudden explosion rocked the place. The final signal from Grif.
The ground shook. Her attackers staggered. The blade strike veered off course. Chunks of rock tumbled to the ground. The weight on her back disappeared.
Seizing the distraction, she moved, kicking out, and then rolling away.
She stumbled to her feet. Dodged a large falling boulder, and heard screams as others weren’t so lucky. Through the dust and rubble, she caught sight of Caleb streaking toward the main exit.
She moved to cut him off.
“Jade!”
Her gaze shot to Ryker. He ran toward her, his eyes wild as he hacked at everything in his path. Within moments, the gang members around her were down.
Rough calloused hands tucked her into his side. “How bad?”
“Not bad enough.” The wound at her back throbbed, but it wouldn’t keep her from doing what needed to be done. “I’m not leaving you, Walsh Ryker. Life. Death. Whatever challenge we face, we do it together.”
Together, their bodies formed a wall, blocking the exit.
Together, they focused on the next threat: the operative.
She raised her weapon. Ryker did the same.
Caleb skittered to a stop an arm’s length away.
“You might as well set that off now.” Ryker’s warning was a near growl.
“There’s no way we’re letting you topside,” she finished.
41
“9-9-2-7-4-3-9-6-1. You have to the count of sixty.”
She and Ryker exchanged a quick glance. The operative’s words made no sense.
“Fifty-nine now.” The weapon in Caleb’s hands whirred. Blinked. “9-9-2-7-4-3-9-6-1. Don’t forget.”
“I don’t understand.”
But Ryker’s hand had already found hers. He tugged her to him. “He’s given us your deactivation code. Let’s go.”
Knees locked, Jade fused her gaze with the operative’s. “What is this?”
“So stubborn, even now.” Caleb shook his head. “This is me going out as I want. Choosing how I live. And how I leave this world, just as I said I would.”
“But I thought—”
“Your felon was willing to die for you.”
“I would do anything for Jade.” Ryker’s voice held no hesitation.
The operative nodded. “I didn’t think it was possible for someone like us. After all the Council did. All we endured. But…” His gaze dropp
ed to Ryker’s big hand clasped with hers. “You’ve proven me wrong. I won’t take that away.”
Her chest squeezed. She didn’t for an instant doubt the truth of his words. This was no trick.
Caleb’s stare dropped to the weapon. “Forty and counting. Make sure your bombs seal all the exits. There must be no escape.”
“Come with us.”
Cool eyes met hers. “I set this to blow. It can’t be stopped—nor should it be. The Council was right in one respect. The monsters of Dragath25 need to die.” Caleb’s stare shifted to Ryker. “Keep her safe.”
A thick arm wrapped around her. “Without question. We’ve been given a second chance and I don’t intend to waste a moment of it.”
The walls around them rumbled. More rocks tumbled to the ground. But behind the operative, the gang members who’d managed to survive the falling rubble were rallying. Pushing to their feet. Retribution in their cruel stares.
Ryker pulled her toward the entrance. “We have to go. Now.”
She risked a final look over her shoulder.
Caleb nodded in farewell, his lips curling upward. An almost smile. The first he’d likely ever bestowed. Then, shoulders squaring, he whirled to face 223’s feral pack, the weapon clutched tight to his chest.
Grief and gratitude flowed through her in equal measure. She could live a thousand years and never understand the depth of human courage. People’s surprising capacity for valor even more bottomless than their inclination toward cruelty.
Bottomless…
She spun round, her sudden change in direction causing Ryker to stumble and curse.
“Caleb,” she shouted, “the pit! Get the weapon to the pit in the main cavern.” She had no idea if it would be enough, but it was the operative’s only shot at survival.
She thought she saw him nod. Was almost certain his shoulders loosened with renewed purpose, but she couldn’t be sure as the gang members closed in and the operative’s blond head disappeared beneath a tangle of bodies.
“Jade!” Ryker’s voice recalled her to their own plight. “We have to go. Now.” Half carrying, half dragging her, he ushered her around the corner and the mob disappeared from sight. “This place is falling down around us.”