She wanted to ignore him, but knew it was petulant and idiotic to try. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, so she lifted her chin and looked into his eyes. ‘Nothing.’
Varo pressed his lips together and nodded. Then a strange look crossed through his gaze.
It made her stomach kick with something. It wasn't fear, but it was close.
Even though the entity had forcibly calmed her, it couldn't stop another, albeit smaller wave of worry from riding up her back.
She shivered.
‘You are cold,’ Varo pointed out as he took off his own jacket and handed it to her.
She didn't want to take it, but she could not deny how cold she truly felt. Still shivering, she furled it around her shoulders.
He kept staring at her, his black eyes wide and searching.
She immediately turned away, staring at her hands instead.
‘You must be terrified,’ he noted quietly.
Her back twitched at his statement.
Yes.
She was terrified.
She was going out of her mind.
It should have been nice to have someone acknowledge that. For all the help Carson had bestowed upon her, he hadn't yet noted that one simple fact.
But this was different.
She didn't want to show weakness in front of Varo. Because weakness could all too readily make her into a target.
Though Carson seemed to trust Cara, and it was certain the entity trusted the resistance, Nida only trusted Carson.
She didn't want to be here, she repeated to herself.
‘Don't worry. We know what to do. You aren't the first to be touched.’
She stopped.
They'd been walking along through an empty slate-grey concrete corridor.
Her footfall had rung out softly, intermingling with the heavy boots of the resistance.
But now she ground to a halt.
No one slammed into her back though—the other members of Varo's team were keeping such a distance from her it was obvious they were scared.
Varo came close though. He hovered by her shoulder. ‘Nida?’
‘What do you know?’ She suddenly asked. ‘About the Goddess, about everything.’
She knew she shouldn't be showing her ignorance. But right now it didn't matter.
She had to find out.
She looked up sharply, knowing there was a wild look in her eyes.
It was called desperation.
Because this situation was starting to get desperate.
Despite everyone's assurances, her gut told her Carson was in trouble, that this whole mission was a mistake.
‘I'm just from a simple village, a simple girl, and I have no idea what's happening to me. So tell me, please,’ she said through clenched teeth as tears misted her eyes, ‘what's happening.’
Varo looked shocked. Then his brow softened, his cheeks slackening as he drew them down into a muddled but compassionate smile. ‘You really do know nothing, don't you?’
She didn't answer.
She'd asked her questions. She was not going to beg.
‘I will tell you all you need to know. But first we must get you somewhere safe,’ he said quickly.
Nida withdrew.
. . . .
Something wasn't right here.
She couldn't deny that any longer. She could not ignore her instincts, no matter how much the entity tried to dull them.
‘Who are you?’ She asked through a ragged breath.
Varo clearly hadn't been expecting the question. His usually controlled if arrogant expression cracked with worry.
With suspicion.
With a look that told her he had something to hide.
She took a step back, but there was nowhere to go.
She was in a long concrete tunnel with no doors, no windows, and no escape.
There were a few harsh lights dotted into the ceiling here and there, but between their illumination the shadows gathered.
Right now Varo stood underneath one such light, and it served to accentuate how glistening and black his pupils were.
‘Don't be afraid,’ he begged, holding his hands out and letting them hover close to Nida without actually touching her.
She jerked back, her shoulder striking the wall behind her.
‘Who are you?’ She repeated.
She could feel the entity try to calm her from within, but right now Nida held onto her suspicion.
The entity was powerful, but even it could not know everything.
She had to rely on herself.
Of all the terrible things Sharpe had told her over the years, one stuck in her mind. Because she'd never been sure whether it was a compliment or an insult.
Sharpe had once told her she wasn't cut out for the Academy because she could not lead and nor could she follow.
Which meant she was the kind of person who had to make up their own mind and would languish in indecision until they did.
So right now, Nida made up her mind.
She pulled herself off the wall and she faced Varo.
She marshalled her confidence, her control, her training, everything.
‘I'm not following you until you tell me what's going on. Something isn't right here. You let Cara go with Carson, knowing it was a suicide mission, why?’
Varo pressed his lips together but didn't say anything.
‘Tell me. Tell me something,’ Nida snapped.
‘You need to calm down,’ Varo tried.
‘Not what I want to hear,’ Nida spat passionately.
A funny thing happened as the fire burned within. She no longer felt the cold, and neither did she need the entity to warm her.
She grabbed hold of her fear and fright and wrestled it into drive and determination. Taking a powerful breath, she let her hands bunch either side of her skirts.
If she had to, she was going to pull the gun out and use it.
Maybe Varo picked up on the fact she was done being pathetic and following everyone's orders.
He stood back and put his hands up.
‘We need to get you away from the resistance,’ he said quietly.
She ticked her head to the side in surprise. Then her lips jerked open as she realized what he'd just said.
‘What?’ Her lips trembled.
‘It is clear you know nothing of this situation, so I implore you to trust me. I work for the Caroqs,’ he began.
She stood back, fixing her hands tight around her skirts. ‘Where's Carson?’
Varo drew into silence. ‘Though it breaks my heart to say this, I think the lovely Cara is leading him into a trap.’
‘What?’ Nida slammed a hand over her mouth. ‘What do you mean?’
It was Varo's turn to tick his head to the side. ‘I have just admitted I work for the Caroqs, and you have not reacted.’
‘Where's Carson? I have to get to him.’
‘Touched . . . Nida,’ Varo corrected, ‘you cannot. Cara will lead him to the government. As beautiful and sprightly as she is, this situation has confirmed what I have suspected for some time. Cara is a government agent. A triple agent, if you will.’
‘I have to get to him,’ Nida spat.
‘You cannot. You cannot be risked. You cannot fall into this government's hands. This province wants only war. They are brutal and divisive people. Nida, you must realize what they would do to you if they caught you.’
Nida didn't understand. Not a word. And she now realized how dangerous that was. Varo could be making things up or telling the truth, and she had no way to tell the difference.
‘Get out of my way,’ she said slowly. ‘I am not leaving Carson behind.’
‘I cannot let you go,’ he said quietly.
Nida no longer thought.
She just acted.
She pretended to drop to her knees as if she were in pain.
Before Varo could do anything, she pushed back her skirts, grabbed her gun, and doubled back.
Wi
th her thumb, she set the gun to its lowest setting.
‘Don't move,’ she snapped at Varo as she backed off, locking the other four men in her sights too.
They all had weapons, but none of them were pointed at her. As one, the group looked confused. They clearly hadn't thought she would turn on them, and they clearly didn't know what to do now she had.
If Varo were to be believed, she was of utmost importance.
She was touched.
Nida kept her hand locked over the gun as she stared determinedly at Varo. ‘I'm not going to ask twice. Tell me how to get to the Central Security Facility.’
Though Varo's hands were raised, and his eyes were wide, he still looked at her disbelievingly. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I told you; I’m not going to leave Carson behind.’
Varo looked at her in silence. ‘He is manipulating you, touched. He is trying to use your visions for his gain. He has benefitted from the Goddess, he has taken her weapons, yet it is clear he wants to use them for his own design. How much do you actually know of this man?’
‘A hell of a lot more than you.’
‘Please, listen to me, you cannot go out there.’
‘But I’m not staying in here,’ she spoke through clenched teeth. ‘Now, enough talking. Tell me how to get to the facility.’
Varo didn't speak.
. . . .
Nida double-checked the setting on her gun.
Then she winced, drawing her teeth over her lips.
She shot the man behind Varo.
The high-powered plasma beam lanced out from her gun and struck the guy in the chest, making him crumple immediately.
Everyone flinched away.
The rest of Varo's men now raised their guns, but Varo snapped at them at once not to shoot.
‘He's not dead,’ she screamed, ‘just out cold. So I’m going to ask again, how do I get to the facility?’
Varo slowly let his hands drop.
‘What are you doing?’ Nida gestured the gun towards him.
‘You can't get out of these tunnels without us. You can't get out of this city without us,’ Varo said plainly.
Her back flushed with heat. ‘Don't tell me what I can do. I will find a way. Now tell me how to get to Carson,’ she sobbed.
She didn't want to; the tears simply flowed of their own accord.
‘. . . Touched, I know this is hard for you. To witness the destruction of your world . . . it is always hard.’
Your world.
He'd said your world.
A slip of the tongue?
‘What do you mean?’ She shuddered back, yet still held hold of the gun.
‘What did you see? Which vision? Which world was destroyed, your own, or ours?’
Nida almost dropped the gun. ‘What?’
‘I know you are not Vexian,’ Varo said simply.
. . . .
She . . . no. How?
‘It is alright. You are touched. We know of the touched. We have done so for millennia.’
‘What does that mean? What . . . what's going on?’ She screamed, her voice pitching up and down with emotion and desperation.
‘You must trust we know what to do,’ Varo began.
‘I trust nothing,’ Nida said truthfully.
Then she acted on instinct.
She shot Varo and his men.
They crumpled.
She walked up to them, hesitantly checking they were still alive.
When she confirmed they were, she broke down.
She cried.
Yet as she did, she kept moving.
She would make it out of these tunnels and she would get to Carson.
As she ran, she had to fight hard to keep going.
For with every step, the entity told her to turn around.
She did not.
She ran forward.
She would find Carson.
Before it was too late.
Chapter 15
Carson Blake
Everything had happened fast. Blindingly, impossibly fast.
Once they had reached the building, Cara had waited until an explosion had lanced through the night.
Carson immediately knew it came from the bomb she'd planted.
Then, without pause, Cara had led them both onto the roof of the building they were now on, and she’d produced a grappling gun from the holster on her back.
Lining up a shot in the dark and confusion, she aimed at the roof of the Central Security Facility, shooting the hook, and letting her shoulder absorb the massive recoil of the gun as it fired a heavy metal hook and rope over a distance of approximately 100 meters.
Before Carson could truly register what was happening, Cara anchored the opposite side of the rope into the building they were on, then commanded him with a snapped, ‘now,’ to grab hold of the rope.
She jumped at it, holding onto it with nothing but her armored hands, and used the height of the building they were on compared to the central facility, to sail down the rope like a flying fox.
Carson didn't wait.
He jumped.
The air whistled past him, growing faster and faster as his body sailed down the rope towards the facility.
When he reached it, he brought his legs up at the last moment, let go of the rope, sprung out with his feet, struck a wall, and flipped backwards. Landing neatly with one hand pressed into the ground for support, he snapped to his feet just as Cara did the same beside him.
She was fast.
So blindingly fast.
She also wasn't sticking to the plan.
Maybe she'd seen an opportunity and taken it, or maybe the heat of battle was changing her mind about the best route in.
Carson didn't know.
Soon he'd learn the truth though.
There was general chaos around the building as the explosion across the road grabbed the collective attention of the guards and soldiers.
Screams and shouts broke through the cold night air.
Cara didn't stop though. She hooked her arm forward in a powerful move, pointing across the roof as she did.
She sure was keeping him on his toes.
No time to pause.
No time to think.
Yet as she streamed forward, Carson still had the presence of mind to order his on-board computer to start scanning for any electronic records. He instructed it to glean everything it could. It had an enormous storage capacity, and could happily suck up all the data of this entire government for the next millennia without taxing its memory banks.
Cara launched herself off a section of roof, flipping in the air and landing right behind a soldier.
In the heat of the moment, Carson hadn't been able to pick up the guy's presence.
But now it didn't matter.
Cara landed on top of the guy, slamming him into the ground as she pushed her armored elbow into the back of his head.
Quick.
Efficient.
Brutal.
Carson still didn't have time to think as she ran forward again, her footfall impossibly silent and her body held low.
Now his computer was occupied with the task of gleaning data, he had slightly less power set to the task of scanning his immediate surroundings.
Still, he now conscientiously checked to see how many enemies were on his tail.
The answer was, not many.
He could count only ten men on this roof.
. . . .
The Central Security Facility was meant to be the most protected building in this city, yet they only had ten guys on the roof?
Granted, Cara's explosion across the street would have been distracting, but to a people as militarized as these, surely they knew you didn't let guards leave key defensive positions unless it was totally and completely necessary.
. . . .
Something wasn’t right.
Although that thought impressed itself upon his mind, Carson simply didn't have the time to think it through.
A soldier came careening around the side of a raised section of roof, a weapon in his hand.
Though Carson could have easily blasted away with his Goddess’ tear, he didn't. Instead, he dropped to his knees, rolled, and jumped up sharply, lancing out with his fist as he did.
He caught the guy in the side of the hip, pushing him sideways with a snap.
Carson didn't stop. He ensured the guy was down by following with another calculated punch. He used his on-board computer to ensure his blow was not deadly, and rather precisely timed and placed to render the man unconscious without stealing his life.
When Carson looked up, it was to the sight of Cara taking on two soldiers at once.
She moved like the wind. Each one of her blows was solid, connected, and clearly did a heck of a lot of damage as she felled the two guys with deadly speed.
Everything was happening too quickly.
He thought that again just as another soldier rounded the same raised section of roof. This guy had a gun in this hand, and rather than raising it at Carson, aimed at Cara.
This time Carson didn't hesitate; he brought up his wrist device and blasted forward.
. . . .
Except the energy didn't come out.
Nothing happened.
Nothing.
The man shot Cara.
He held some kind of rudimentary automatic weapon that still used bullets.
Streams of them split the air with whip-like cracks.
No.
God no.
Carson sprung forward, knocking the guy out with a clean blow that saw the gun he held go scooting across the rooftop.
Carson spun on his foot.
He reached Cara's crumpled body.
He skidded to his knees.
He expected to see the worst.
He knew how weak her armor was. He knew it couldn't have protected her from all of those bullets.
She would be dead.
His armor calculated that eventuality, yet as he neared, as he brought up a trembling hand to touch her shoulder, he realized she wasn't.
She was alive.
Christ, she was alive.
Though her armor was dented here and there, and green blood soaked out of a wound on her leg, she was fine.
She hesitated for a moment. Checking her injury, she soon pushed to her feet.
‘You're injured,’ he snapped at her. ‘We have to abort.’
‘No,’ she spat. ‘We've come this far. We have to keep going.’
Ouroboros- The Complete Series Page 45