One of the guards ran by and Deryn pressed herself more against the wall, keeping her head low beneath her hood. When she stepped back, her foot hit something and she nearly toppled backwards as the wall moved aside. Talon balanced her and, without a second thought, stepped through the newly opened passageway.
“Did you hear something?” said one of the guards, moving his flashlight around. By the time it found the small pocket in the wall, the people who had been hiding there were gone.
“Where are we?” whispered Deryn from the other side of the wall. It was pitch black in there, obviously not a common passageway of their ancestors.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Talon, stepping forward. He stumbled but caught himself. “Careful, it appears we’re on a staircase headed down.”
“We don’t want to go down,” she said.
“I know, but it doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice right now. Unless you want to attack those guards on the small chance they’re blocking an entrance to Saevus’s tower and give up our location.”
Deryn rolled her eyes. “Obviously I don’t want to do that.” She placed her hand on his shoulder. “Lead the way, brother.”
Talon nodded and slowly descended the staircase. The steps were narrow and deep with no railing on either side of them. Talon held his arms wide open but didn’t touch any wall. He was still mapping their progress but kept the device pressed against his stomach, not wanting any light to show by the chance that guards were at the bottom of the staircase.
They eventually reached the end, far deeper in the underground than they wanted to be, and it was still so black they could barely see their hands placed in front of their faces. No light shined from any direction.
“I think we need to take a chance with a flashlight,” said Deryn. Before Talon could object, she activated the light on the wristband she still wore belonging to Ms. Allison Darby.
When the light was on, she and Talon both gasped but were successful in holding back screams. There were bones ... human bones ... everywhere.
“Oh god, I thought it smelled foul down here,” said Talon, immediately covering his mouth and nose.
“At least they’re not fresh,” said Deryn, walking forward to the first set of bones and kneeling beside them. She poked a rib with her finger. The fragile thing began to crumble.
Shining her light forward, she saw a ladder. She walked toward it.
“It looks like these bodies were dropped from up there,” she said, aiming her flashlight straight up the ladder. It headed into a black abyss with no end in sight. “I’m going to see where it leads.”
Before she could climb that first step, Talon moved her aside.
“I’ll do it,” he said.
“I can climb a stupid ladder, Talon.”
“Yes, we’re both capable. But I’m doing it.”
“I said I can -”
“Deryn, if one of us is getting captured today it’s not going to be you, alright?” he snapped, his eyes sharp as they bore into her. “I’m climbing the ladder. If someone’s at the top of it, I’ll scream and you hide.”
Without another word, Talon started climbing.
“You don’t even have a light, you idiot!” she called up to him, sticking out her tongue. Why did he always bring out the child in her?
A light flickered on. It was some sort of pin that Talon had on his chest, the light bright enough that he could see at least a couple rungs above him. A few were rotted through and he had to skip them, but most were pretty stable. His foot did break one rung, but he was gripping the ladder so tight that he was able to catch himself.
“My lighter weight wouldn’t have broken that!” Deryn called from below.
Talon groaned. He could never seem to do anything right when it came to her.
The ladder seemed to never end, and how typical that it was in the dead center of a large room with no walls around him to lean against when he felt tired. It soon became clear that he was climbing well beyond the height of their entrance and up to what might have been Saevus’s tower.
Talon made a clear point not to look down as he climbed higher and higher, releasing a breath of relief when the top finally came into view. He stepped off of the ladder and onto a small platform.
But there was nothing there.
It was just a stone wall in front of him. He pressed it but nothing happened. Whatever was there before must have been sealed.
He growled in frustration and collapsed to the ground, dreading the thought of climbing all the way back down the rickety thing.
Talon heard something creak and he shot up, not especially shocked to find Deryn stepping onto the platform.
“Why can’t you just follow orders?” he demanded.
“You’re not my commander, Talon. Besides, I couldn’t see you anymore. I got worried.”
“Well, you wasted your time coming up here. It’s a dead end.”
Deryn looked at the stone wall and frowned. She shined her light all around it but was as successful as Talon in finding some hidden way through. She collapsed beside him and lay down.
“Shit,” she whispered.
As she lay there, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness directly above her. She blinked as something circular began to form on the low ceiling. Then she lifted her wrist and aimed, leaping back to her feet the moment she saw it.
“Talon, give me a boost,” she ordered.
He groaned but conceded, lifting his sister until she was able to grasp what appeared to be a manhole cover. She turned the light off of her wristband and pressed the circular area, relieved when it gave.
Lifting it just a crack, Deryn peeked into a room with dim lighting. Several jail cells were on either side of her with one single snoozing guard directly in front of her. She quickly shut the cover and whispered down to Talon. “It’s Saevus’s personal dungeon. We’re in!”
CHAPTER 5
As soon as Deryn and Talon realized where they were, they contacted the others through their earpieces.
Odette and Neo were on a parallel path to the one the siblings had initially taken. They were hoping it would lead to something similar on their side but, while there was a pocket in the wall of their passageway, it didn’t open. Knowing there were guards up ahead, they retreated with the intention of following the map to Deryn and Talon.
Nita and Adrian were too far north and would continue searching for another way in.
While Deryn and Talon sat there waiting, Deryn tapped her foot impatiently, watching the dot on the map that belonged to Odette and Neo.
“If the guards are still searching for whoever sent that S.U.R.G.E. back early, they’re going to have to wait to come through,” she said, noticing their dot had slowed significantly. She checked the hologram clock on her wristband.
10:47 a.m.
“Time’s running out.” She put away the map and stood up. “We’re going in.”
“No,” said Talon. “We’re waiting. That was always the plan.”
Deryn huffed. “In one hour and thirteen -”
The time on her hologram clock changed.
“- twelve minutes, Xander will be in front of a cheering crowd having god knows what done to him before dying. While people cheer, Talon. I can’t wait any longer. We have a small chance to save him that’s growing smaller by the minute. Now, are you coming with me or am I going in alone?”
“How would you even get up there without me?” he asked.
“Determination and skill.” Deryn took her Element out of its holster and aimed the gun’s barrel at her feet. She switched the setting and pressed the button.
Talon’s eyes widened as his little sister slowly lifted off the ground. “How the hell did you do that?”
Deryn released the button and landed back on her feet. “Do you think it was fun for me having to spend all of my days in a tiny apartment after being a prisoner for five years? Because it wasn’t. I was very, very bored, so I made myself useful. Xander gave me
books and I studied hovercraft technology. There is a small bit of metal on the bottom of my shoes which replicates that of a hovering vehicle and the button on my Element activates it.”
Talon blinked. “That’s kind of genius.”
“Yes, well, I can’t exactly use my Element for other purposes while hovering so it will be much easier to kill that guard and get in there if you lift me,” she said. “But whether you do or not I’m going in now.” She lowered her head and sniffled. “I can’t let him die, Talon. Not now. Not yet.”
Talon sighed deeply before standing. He checked the dot on the map one last time. Odette and Neo still hadn’t moved.
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
Deryn smiled as Talon clasped his hands and held them for her to step onto.
“Make it a clean shot,” he ordered. “We want it to look like he’s still sleeping.”
“Got it.”
Deryn lifted the circular cover and pushed it back slowly and quietly. The guard was still just sitting there with his eyes closed. An easy target.
She lifted and aimed her Element, placed her finger on the button that would stop the man’s heart, and fired.
The guard gasped loudly and slumped over. She pushed the cover all the way back and Talon lifted her as high as he could. She gripped the floor and pulled herself up. When she stared back into the hole, Talon was already holding up a wire attached to something on his belt. She grabbed it and secured it around the bars of the closest cell.
Talon clicked something and was pulled up in a swift motion. Deryn undid her knot and closed the cover. Talon went over to fix the position of the guard so he really did look like he was sleeping.
“Saevus’s dungeon has three floors,” said Talon, glancing at the exit. “It’s probably a good assumption that we’re on the bottom one.”
“Why is there even a guard?” she asked. “There’s no one down here.”
“Habit?” he guessed. “It’s probably just a position that has never been taken off the schedule. Judging from our decaying friends below, I would say this used to be a fairly active place.”
“Now he just has people executed or makes them slaves instead of conventional prisoners.” Deryn paused. “Does it ever make you sick to realize that we’re related to this man?”
“We’re more directly related to the man who dumped those bodies down the rabbit hole.”
“Yes. Great-granddad,” she said with a frown.
Click.
“Team Leon, why have your positions moved?” demanded the voice of Neo.
Deryn pressed the button on her earpiece and said, “Because your positions haven’t moved. The guard is dead. We’re going in.”
“Don’t be stupid. We still have time -”
“No, we don’t!” she snapped. “We have very limited time and we don’t know what obstacles we’ll face getting to floor ninety-two. We’re going up and, if we fail, I expect you to finish the job.”
“With two Leons in their possession they won’t need to execute Xander,” said Odette, the angry tone quite recognizable.
“Then that should make your job even easier,” said Deryn. “Good luck getting past the guards. Hopefully we’ll see you soon.”
“Talon, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” the voice of Nita suddenly shouted. “We haven’t found a way in yet. You need to wait -”
“Sorry, Neetles,” said Talon, cutting her off. “We have barely more than an hour before his execution is set to take place. We need to move and we need to do it now. It’s not like six people were going to wander these halls together. Find your way in and join us when you can.”
There was a pause. Then a quiet voice said, “Okay, but be careful. I love you.”
Talon couldn’t help but smile. “I love you, too. I’ll see you soon. I promise.”
“I know you will.”
Neo clicked back on. “Are you all fucking stupid? You two going in first was not -”
“Neo, shut your mouth and let them focus!” shouted Nita.
No one spoke for a good, long minute. Deryn brought up her hologram clock again.
10:58 a.m.
“Fine,” Neo finally responded. “Keep us updated on your progress. The guards have headed back the way they came so we should be following shortly.”
And then there was silence.
Deryn’s stomach was in knots as she moved toward the exit, an iron door with a small window that showed a staircase on the other side.
“You ready for this?” she asked, glancing back at her brother.
He took a deep breath and nodded. “Let’s go save Xander Ruby. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.”
“What sort of history do you have with him that your sentence is so surprising?”
“With Ruby?” Talon knitted his brow. “No personal history. But I’ve received numerous reports on him over the years. He’s Saevus’s favorite, other than Elvira.”
“Over Elvira, actually,” said Deryn, gripping the door handle. “You ready for this?”
He gulped and said, “No. But I don’t think I’ll ever be, so we might as well just do it.”
Deryn nodded and opened the door. Even though she did her best to keep quiet, the old door still creaked as it moved. No one came down to check on the noise.
She tried to step into the stairwell, but Talon hurried so he was in front of her, holding a gun the Resistance had created. Similar to an Element but not as sleek.
Deryn groaned as she closed the door behind them. She was getting quite annoyed with her brother always insisting he take the lead.
It wasn’t especially shocking when they discovered another door at the top of the stairs. Talon stood back in the shadows and stared through the small window, just able to make out a guard sitting on the other end.
“Does your gun have a silent attack on it?” asked Deryn, more than ready to step forward if necessary.
“Yes,” he answered. “There’s a silencer on it for all attacks.”
Deryn frowned as Talon threw open the door and fired before the guard could react. Her brother moved forward while she quietly shut the door. When she reached the other side of the dungeon, he already had the guard positioned like he was sleeping.
“The next floor is the top of the dungeons,” said Talon, staring at the door nervously. “If they have any prisoners then that’s where they’ll be, meaning there may be more than one guard.”
Deryn nodded. “And then we’ll be on the first floor.”
Talon nodded back. “The most active floor in this place.”
“No use thinking too much about it,” said Deryn, heading for the door. Before she reached it, Talon stepped in front of her, again. He opened the door and quietly ascended the staircase. She groaned and followed, knowing very well that this was not the time to pick a fight. But she most certainly would later.
The top of the stairs had another door, a big shocker, and through the window they could see two guards standing near their exit and chatting.
“We need to take them out at the same time,” said Deryn from the step below her brother. “Don’t push me back this time.” She moved so they were side by side and threw open the door. She and Talon took aim and fired, both guards falling back before they could even reach for their guns. If only the rest of their mission would be this easy.
They moved forward. Deryn’s head drifted sideways and she saw something that made her halt.
Blood.
Fresh blood in two cells that were side by side. Xander and Luka’s blood. It had to be.
“Dammit. There’s no chairs to prop them in,” said Talon, though she barely registered his voice. “Deryn?” He glanced back at her. When she didn’t move, he went to stand beside her, taking a good look at what she was staring at.
“Why is there blood in two cells?” he asked.
She gulped and said nothing. Just walked toward the door, more determined than ever to get her boys the hell out of there. Without a wo
rd, they propped the guards against the wall - the best they could do without chairs - and stood by the door.
“I think it’s time we called Izzy,” she said.
Talon nodded and pressed the button on his earpiece. “Izzy, do you copy?”
There was some static, followed by a click.
“Yes, I’m here, and Rees is back with me to guard the perimeter. Are you going in?”
“Yes, we’re at the top dungeon,” said Talon.
“I’m pulling up the map with your coordinates now.” A pause. “It looks like you’re not far from the closest elevator, but it’s not a regularly used one and movement on it might look suspicious. I recommend going to the one near the parlor if you can. It only goes to the seventieth floor so you’ll have to walk your asses up the last twenty-two, but it’s far less risky.”
“Except that it’s right near where all the Guardians have their meetings,” said Deryn, having pulled up the map on the electronic device she held. Finley had drawn it for Odette and Neo ages ago. Many of the floors were uncharted territory, but that first one was pretty straight forward.
“Yes, but it’s still early. The Guardians shouldn’t be arriving for another twenty minutes,” said Izzy. “This is our best option. If you’re dead-set on going in now then memorize your route and get the hell over there. I’ll be monitoring you on my end and will get that elevator working for you the moment you arrive.”
Deryn and Talon looked at each other. Neither were especially confident but they still nodded. They both studied the map, knowing they needed to make two lefts, a right, a left, then two rights to get to the elevator they needed. Guards were normally only stationed near the entrance to the tower and in the dungeons so, unless there were some unexpected guests, it should be fairly easy. Granted, Elvira might be lurking around there somewhere, but Deryn suspected she was probably keeping a close eye on Xander.
Once they had the route memorized, Talon informed their team that they were officially going in. Then, after taking a deep breath, he opened the final door out of the dungeons and followed the staircase to the first floor of Saevus’s tower.
Arise (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 3) Page 4