by Jaye McKenna
“Cam?” Her voice sounded far too brittle.
Cam clenched his fists. If anyone had hurt her… He gritted his teeth as the guards pushed her down on the chair Calloway had just vacated and secured her to it by the binders around her wrists.
“We’ll continue this conversation later,” Calloway said. “More productively, I hope.” He left, the guards following in his wake.
“Did they hurt you?” Cam asked as soon as the door clicked shut.
“No. Scared me, though. What’s going on? They wouldn’t tell me anything, only that they were bringing me in for questioning. What do they think I know?”
Cam had to force himself to meet her eyes. “It isn’t about what you know. It’s about what I know.”
He knew she understood the score when her eyes closed briefly. “Are we under surveillance?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“What… what are we going to do?”
It was an excellent question.
Cam wished he had an answer for it.
* * *
From his seat in Anja’s office, Miko monitored the room where Cameron and Eleni had been taken. He was certain he could get them out, but he couldn’t do it alone. The moment Kyn had called the ship and spoken the emergency code word they’d decided on, Anja had taken the shuttle down to collect him and the remainder of the Institute’s staff. Now, everyone who was making the journey to Hope was aboard the ship except for Cameron and Eleni.
A soft touch on his shoulder caught his attention, and he pulled his awareness back to his body and blinked up at Kyn.
“I rounded up everyone you asked for,” Kyn said.
Miko blinked again. He hadn’t even heard anyone come in, but Pat, Alek, and Luka were all seated around the conference table, their mythe-shadows prickling with tension.
“I seriously hope you have a plan,” Kyn said as he took a seat next to Miko. “Because I don’t. And security around Cam is going to be damn tight.”
“Are they being held at Processing?” Pat asked.
“Yes,” Miko said through the comm speaker above the desk. “They’re in one of the interrogation rooms now. They put Eleni in there with Cameron.”
“What do they want Eleni for?” Luka asked.
“Leverage,” Kyn said grimly. “Cam’s been conditioned against interrogation. They’ll get fuck-all if they hurt him, but he’d do anything to protect Eleni, and they know it.”
The color drained from Luka’s face, and he muttered a curse under his breath.
“The interrogators they’ll use are the same people who run the conditioning program,” Pat said. “If anyone can crack him, they can.”
“Vance Calloway is the one assigned to the case,” Miko said.
Pat’s alarm flared through his mythe-shadow, sending red and orange spikes into the mythe. “Then we don’t have much time,” he said grimly. “Calloway was one of Cam’s trainers. He’ll know every one of his weak spots.”
Miko drew in a deep breath. They weren’t going to like what he was about to suggest. Kyn would see the necessity of it and put aside his doubts, but the others would take some convincing.
“The plan is to send down a small group of people to break them out,” Miko began. “Rhys has already volunteered to pilot the shuttle. He’s prepping it now. Pat, you have access to the building, and nobody would be surprised to see you there, so you’re going. Alek, you can keep yourself hidden in plain sight, so you’re going.” Miko shifted his gaze to Luka. “And Luka, you can take down an entire group of people without a weapon, so we need you, too.”
“What about me?” Kyn asked quietly.
“I want you here with me,” Miko said. “I can talk the FedSec AI into unlocking doors, and I can fool the surveillance systems and silence the alarms, but I’m no good at tactics. If they get stuck, someone might have to help them think their way out. Besides, if we fail… you’re Cameron’s second. You’d be the one in charge.”
Kyn turned pale, and Pat reached across the table and covered Kyn’s hand with his own. “We’re not going to fail,” Pat said softly. “We can do this.”
“Fuck, yeah, we can,” Luka said, fixing pale green eyes on Miko and pounding the table with his fist. “Let’s go raise some hell.”
“It needs to be quiet hell,” Miko said. “You need to get in and out as fast as possible, without anyone knowing you’ve been there. The last thing we want is to draw their attention to the Wanderlust. Alek, can you hide more than just yourself with your psionic projection?”
“I used to hide myself and Pat when we worked together. I don’t see why I can’t cover Luka as well.”
“Could you handle one more?” Miko asked.
“Aye, as long as it’s not for an extended period of time.”
Kyn frowned. “Who do you have in mind, Miko?”
Miko hesitated. This was where things would get difficult. “Draven.”
“Draven?” Alek’s disbelief rippled through his mythe-shadow, stained with the colors of anger and hate. “The guy who tortured Rhys? Hell, no. Absolutely not.”
“I need someone on the ground that I can talk to through the mythe,” Miko explained. “Tarrin would go if I asked him, but he’s never done this kind of work before; he would only hold you back. You three are the best qualified for this operation, and Draven won’t slow you down.”
Kyn was perfectly calm, as if he’d already guessed Miko would pull Draven into this. Pat and Alek exchange a look of disbelief, both shaking their heads.
“Draven is here?” Luka’s eyes were wide. “On Aurora, I mean?”
“He’s been here for a while,” Kyn said. “Cam chose to keep it quiet because he knew how upset some of you would be to know he was helping the guy.”
“Damn right we would,” Alek muttered. “How the hell could he—”
“Enough, Alek,” Kyn said sharply. “Cam and Draven made some kind of pact back on Alpha, when Draven helped Cam get Miko out of there. Draven called Cam and asked for his help the same night the Aion Incident hit the Aurora News Net. We all know how Cam is about honoring his word. If he promises you something, you can be damn sure he’ll deliver it if he can.”
Miko flashed Kyn a brief smile of thanks. “Draven is the only one who can keep me in contact with you. If he doesn’t come with you, then I’ll have to go myself.”
“No way, man,” Luka said, and at the same time, Alek said fiercely, “No, Miko. Not you.”
“If it’s a choice between Miko or Draven, I vote Draven,” Luka said. “No offense, Miko, but I heard stories about Draven even back in Riga. The gang I ran with was scared shitless of the guy. He’s got the experience. You don’t.”
“Luka’s right.” Kyn gave Luka a small nod of approval. “What do you say, Pat? Alek? Can you work with Draven long enough to get Cam and Eleni out?”
There was a long silence, which Alek finally broke. “Can we trust him?”
“Cam trusts him,” Kyn said quietly.
“Because of something that happened seven years ago,” Pat said. “Draven could turn on us as soon as help us. I vote no.”
Kyn hesitated for a few moments before saying, “Draven won’t turn on us. He and Cam are…”
“What?” Alek asked, eyes narrowing.
“Their threads are wrapped around each other,” Miko said. “Like me and Tarrin. Like Luka and Damon.”
Pat dropped his head into his hands, and Alek muttered, “Fucking hell.”
“No shit?” Luka said, giving Miko a broad grin. “I knew he had to be bangin’ someone.” At Pat’s glare, he added, “What? People change, man. Or you learn shit about ’em that changes how you see ’em.” He fiddled with the gold band around his left ring finger. “Like me and Damon.”
“So, do we have an extraction team?” Kyn asked.
“Fine,” Pat said grudgingly. “Count me in. I don’t want Miko down on the surface, and if Draven’s got reason to want Cam safe, then maybe we can trust him long enough to get them o
ut.”
Alek, too, nodded, though he looked reluctant. “Aye. I’m not thrilled about having to work with the man, but… if he and Cam are… whatever they are, then I suppose he’s not going to turn on us.”
“Not until Cam’s safe, anyway,” Pat muttered.
Kyn turned to Luka. “What about you, Luka? Are you in?”
“Hell, yeah,” Luka said, eying Pat and Alek. “I wouldn’t miss this for nothin’. The fireworks are gonna be awesome.”
“Don’t count on it,” Alek said. “We’re professionals. We can work with the man. We might not like it, but we can do it.”
“Good,” Miko said. “Then there’s one other thing.” He got up and opened the door. Rafe walked into the room. Kyn and Luka both gave him a nod, but Alek and Pat looked startled. They’d known about him, but neither had seen him in person yet.
“This is Rafe,” Miko said. “He’s my… my twin. He sees threads. Not the same way I do, but… in a way that lets him find people he’s met. Rafe, you already know Luka, but I wanted you to meet Alek McKinnon and Pat Cottrell. If anything goes wrong with this rescue mission, and they have to go into hiding, we might need your help finding them.”
Rafe nodded at each man in turn. His gaze turned inward for nearly a minute before he said softly, “Okay. I got ’em. I can find them if I have to.” He glanced at Miko. “Let’s hope I don’t have to.”
“If you get separated down there, or if you have to hide out somewhere,” Kyn said, “don’t worry about trying to get a message out. We’ll find you. Or, rather, Rafe will find you.”
“What about Draven?” Pat asked. “Will Rafe be able to find him?”
“I already have his thread,” Rafe said. “I tracked him here to Aurora. That’s how I ended up here in the first place.”
“Thank you, Rafe,” Pat said. “I hope we won’t need your help, but it’s good know someone will be able to find us if this all goes to hell. Miko, you better lay out the details of this plan of yours so we can get moving. If Calloway’s on the job, Cam may not have much time.”
* * *
Miko’s cry of distress sliced through Draven’s mind and froze him where he stood: in the bathroom of his hotel room, trying to get clean under the trickle of lukewarm water that was all he could get out of the shower.
He winced at the power behind the call and leaned against the cold tile, closing his eyes to focus on the mythe.
The cold dread slithering through his gut surprised him.
Draven shut off the dribble of water and grabbed a towel.
That didn’t sound like a good match at all.
The dread bloomed into a full-blown sense of panic. Draven pulled on the first clothing that came to hand. Miko was right; FedSec would indeed take Cam apart.
Draven caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and stopped, staring. He’d dressed in black jeans and a black shirt, as if the decision had already been made. And if he was honest with himself, it had been. Of course he would get Cam out. He owed the man his life and more, and he wanted a chance to touch him again. To feel those eyes burning into him, that fascinating mind that knew him so well merging with his own…
Draven stared at his own reflection again. Dare he trust the man? Could he trust any of them? He’d be putting himself on a team with three people, two of whom had personal reasons to hate him and one of whom was still high enough up in the FedSec hierarchy to bury him with a single word.
Common sense told him he’d be stupid to trust them, but…
Cam was in trouble, and it was his fault. He should have killed Sylvester and hidden the body. DeMira would never have let him get away with such a sloppy job. He’d tried to ease Cam’s burden of guilt, but fucked up royally in the process.
“You’re an idiot, Diri,” he muttered to himself.
Draven ran a comb through his hair and tied it back, checked his weapons, and headed for the door. It was time to make nice with the ghosts of his past.
And hope they didn’t kill him before he had a chance to redeem himself.
* * *
It was his fault Eleni had been dragged into this, but Cam couldn’t see any other way it could have gone. He hated it, but he’d own it. Now he just had to figure out what to do about it.
Eleni sat stiffly across the battered table from him, face pale, lips pressed together. She was trying not to show her fear, but with the bond they shared, he felt it even through the Anarin, and knew she was just as keenly aware of his own anxiety.
Would they hurt her?
If they did, how long would he be able to hold out? Not long enough, he feared. Handling his own pain wasn’t a problem. Handling hers was his worst nightmare come to life.
They waited in tense silence. Talking would be a fatal mistake, and Eleni was smart enough to have figured that out. The room was monitored, and Calloway would be listening to every word that passed between them, hoping for a confession, or anything he could use as leverage to get one.
Cam wasn’t going to give them a damn thing, and the moment he’d confirmed that they were under surveillance, Eleni had clammed up.
There was no clock in the room, and no window. It felt like hours had passed, but maybe it was only minutes. Cam couldn’t tell anymore. The door banged open, and Calloway entered, followed by two FedSec officers in uniform. He leaned against the wall, dark eyes fixed on Cam.
“You going to talk to me now, Cameron?”
“I can’t, Vance. Sorry.”
“Not half as sorry as I am.” Calloway turned to Eleni. “Dr. Asada, I’m very sorry to have to do this, but your brother is withholding critical information, and I’ve been authorized to use whatever measures are necessary to extract that information from him.”
Eleni’s fear flared hot and bright, feeding his own and resonating between them, a feedback loop of growing terror that would eventually break them both.
He had to wrench himself free of it, but how? He’d always made it his duty to protect her. What was he supposed to do when
the price of protecting Eleni was the freedom — possibly the lives — of nearly a thousand psions up on the Wanderlust?
“Spare me the apology, Calloway,” Eleni said coldly. “It doesn’t mean a damn thing.”
Cam’s heart warmed and chilled at the same time. That was his spitfire twin, the one who’d fought to keep him off the streets, the one who’d never accused him, even though she had to know he was responsible for their father’s death.
Calloway nodded to the guards, and they came to stand on either side of Eleni.
Her dark eyes fixed on Cam’s.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“I know,” she whispered back.
One of the men pulled a stun rod from his belt and turned it on. The hum filled the air, and Cam jerked against the binders securing his hands.
Calloway gave the man a brief nod.
At Eleni’s first scream, Cam squeezed his eyes shut. Her pain slammed through him, taking his breath away.
He could stop this. Hand over Draven and Miko.
All it would take was a word.
No.
Miko would end up in a lab and Draven would be mind-wiped. The thought of those amber eyes staring at him without a hint of recognition was more than he could stand. And it wouldn’t stop there.
They’d want it all.
The Wanderlust.
The psions.
Hope.
There was no way out, nothing he could say to make it stop. Nothing he could live with, at least, and Calloway wasn’t going to let him die. There was nowhere to go and nothing to come back for.
Eleni’s cries filled his ears, and her pain burned through his mind.
He had to choose… Eleni? Or Draven and Miko and everyone else he’d ever cared about?
It was a choice he could never make, an impossible choice that broke him. With an agonized scream of his own, Cam fled deep inside himself, to the only safe place he’d ever had. It was the place he’d gone when the father who was supposed to protect him beat him nearly to death. The place he’d gone when he sold his body, doing shameful, sick, painful things for the money that kept Eleni in school and off the streets. The place he’d gone when the training exercises tore him up so badly he feared he’d lose his mind…