by L O Addison
Kaylin scowled at this news and then turned to Matteo. “Go on,” she said, nodding to him. “Tell him exactly what you just told us.”
Matteo swallowed hard and then said in his quiet, steady voice, “I can feel it.”
Lio frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The Fragment,” Matteo said, pointing one finger hesitantly toward it. “I can… feel it. In my mind. At first, I thought I was just imagining it, but the feeling won’t go away. And when I woke up about an hour ago, it was even stronger.”
Lio swallowed hard. “What do you mean when you say you can feel it?”
Matteo shook his head, confusion crinkling his brow. “I don’t really know how to explain it, but it’s like… You know when you close your eyes, and someone is in the room with you? And you might not be able to see them anymore, or even hear them, but you can feel them. You can just sense their presence.”
Matteo pointed hesitantly toward the Fragment. “That’s what that thing feels like to me. Except much, much stronger, and it seems to almost be... pulling at me.”
“He led us straight to your rooms,” Beck said, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. “We didn’t tell him where you were, but he was able to find you through the pendant. He walked straight through the base and right to your door.”
Lio sat back in his chair, struggling to grasp this information. It shouldn’t have surprised him—he knew the Fragment's touch could have strange side effects. But it was still eerie to think of Matteo being able to find him so easily.
Although it was far from unbelievable. Lio felt the exact same thing toward the Fragment. He rarely noticed it, because he always had the pendant hanging around his neck. But if he ever dared to take it off, he could sense exactly where it was.
Lio nodded slowly and looked at Matteo. “I believe that’s a side effect of exposure to the Fragment,” he said. “You become hyperaware of its presence.”
“Is it temporary?” Matteo asked.
“I’m not sure,” Lio admitted.
Matteo nodded, his mouth set in a grim, determined expression. The first time Lio had seen him, Matteo had been so sick, he’d seemed practically helpless. But now that he was healed, the young soldier looked far from helpless. Beneath Matteo’s skinniness was a wiry strength, and he sat up tall and alert, his sharp hazel eyes seeming to absorb every detail in the room.
Matteo straightened his shoulders and focused his penetrating gaze on Lio. “I want to know if I can track the Virtue.”
Lio blinked a few times, taken aback by the question. “Of course not,” he said. “Only the Rhuramenti have the power to track the Virtues, and the Council bestows that gift on very few of us. The Ascendancy are the only ones outside of our people who have ever discovered how to track them.”
A slight smirk tugged at Kaylin’s mouth, and she leaned closer. “In that case, I think Matteo just made history as the first human with that power."
A cold chill ran through Lio. He took a deep, shuddering breath, struggling to find the right question to ask. But all he managed to choke out was, “What?”
Matteo glanced over his shoulder and pointed vaguely toward the wall. “I can feel something else. Somewhere out there, back at the Wardens' base. It’s like your Fragment, but stronger.”
Lio struggled to hide his dismay. Matteo was right—it was the Virtue he was feeling. Lio had felt it tugging at his pendant since the moment they reached Earth. But to think that someone else could sense it, someone not sanctioned by the Council...
He glanced over at Marin, and she stared back at him with wide, horrified eyes. Her expression said the same thing he was thinking: What have you done?
“We need to know if it’s the Virtue he’s feeling,” Beck said, his eyes gleaming with eagerness. “If it is, then it’s going to make finding the Virtue easier. We won’t need to scour the Wardens' whole base. Matteo can lead us right to it.”
Beneath his shock, a sense of respect nudged at Lio's mind. These humans may have been foolish to take on a mission that was so unlikely to succeed, but at least they had the bravery and the wits to plan it out in the most plausible way possible.
That made what he had to tell them even harder to say.
“I’m sorry,” he said to Matteo. “But I don’t think there’s any way for you to be able to sense the Virtue once you’re inside the base.”
Disappointment dashed across his expression, although it was quickly followed by suspicion. Matteo tilted his head and asked, “If it’s not the Virtue I’m sensing, then what is it?”
“It is the Virtue,” Lio admitted with a nod. “But I think the only reason you can sense it is because I used the Fragment to heal you.” He reached up and brushed his fingers over the hot metal hanging from his neck. “I can feel a similar sensation when I’m close to a Virtue. All of the pendants used to be a part of Virtues, and they’ve maintained their connection, at least in part.”
Kaylin shook her head. “Then if it is the Virtue he can sense, why wouldn’t he be able to keep sensing it in the base?”
“There’s a distance limit,” Lio said. “Fragments are very weak compared to the power of Virtues. Virtues can send out signals that span galaxies, but Fragments can’t be detected as easily, not without extremely specialized equipment. As soon as you move a short distance away from my Fragment, I think you’ll lose all connection with it, along with your ability to sense the Virtue.”
Matteo rubbed at his forehead as he considered this. Then he let out a sharp curse. “You’re sure about that?”
Lio pursed his lips in a grim frown. “No. I have absolutely no way to be sure. I’ve never even heard of this sort of unsanctioned connection before. But it’s how the Fragment works for me—once I get too far away from it, I lose my ability to sense any Virtues. So I can only guess it’d be the same for you.”
Matteo and Beck both let out weary sighs. Kaylin muttered a curse and slapped the table angrily. But beneath their frustration, Lio could see panic creeping into their expressions. Guilt struck him hard in the gut, and he desperately wished there was some way to help them.
Kaylin cleared her throat. “Well, I think there’s an obvious solution to the problem.” She nodded to Lio’s Fragment. “Let him borrow that thing. Let him wear it into the base, and then he'll still be able to sense the location of the Virtue.”
“Absolutely not,” Marin snapped, her hand drifting closer to her pistol.
“I know it’s probably breaking all sorts of Rhuramenti laws,'" Kaylin said, meeting Marin’s glare with one of her own. “Nothing we do ever seems to be lawful in the eyes of your Council. But it could help save hundreds of lives.”
Marin tensed, clearly readying a retort, but Lio held up a staying hand.
“There’s no need to get upset, Marin,” he said.
“No need?” she hissed, switching back to speaking in Rhuramenti. “They’re asking to take your Fragment! Like they think it’s some sort of trinket they can just borrow.”
“They don’t mean any harm,” Lio insisted.
Although no matter what their intentions, he couldn’t help them. Not with this.
Lio switched back to English and held out his hands in a helpless gesture as he faced the three humans. “I’m sorry, but the casings that hold the Fragments are created for only one person.” He tapped the warm metal pendant hanging from his neck. “If anyone else tried to wear this, the case would leech poison into their body. It would paralyze them within minutes.”
Matteo frowned. “Then I’ll just make sure it doesn’t touch my skin.”
Lio shook his head. “The poison is airborne and incredibly potent. It doesn’t matter if it’s touching you or not. If you try to wear this pendant, you won’t make it back out of that base.”
Matteo let out a long, disappointed sigh. Kaylin cursed, and Beck rubbed at his forehead, as if warding off a headache.
“Thank you for your time,” Beck said, sounding anything but grateful. “But it’s clear this isn�
�t going to be useful to us. We’ll have to find some other way to locate the Virtue.”
Lio nodded, but he wracked his brain, desperately searching for some way he could help the humans in their desperate mission.
And then it hit him. It was so utterly obvious. And so utterly stupid.
The Council would never approve, and neither would any of his superiors, and certainly not Marin. But he was the Collector, and this was his choice.
Lio opened his eyes, and before he could lose his courage, he said, “I’ll go with you to the base. That way, Matteo and I will both be able to sense the location of the Virtue. You should be able to locate its exact position much faster that way.”
It may not have been the logical option, but it was the right option. After all, his mission was to keep peace, and standing by idly while innocent children were bombed hardly counted as peaceful.
Behind him, Marin exploded with a string of frantic curses. Lio turned and faced her, struggling to hide his shock.
When her tirade finally died down, Lio raised his eyebrows and said in Rhuramenti, “I didn’t realize your vocabulary was that vast.”
She scowled and snapped, “I was about to say the same about your stupidity.”
He gestured to the others sitting at the table. “They want to save lives.”
“As do we,” Marin said. She jabbed a finger toward his Fragment. “And that is why we keep sources of immense power out of the hands of common people!”
Lio stood from his chair and turned to face her fully. “These ‘common people’ are working harder to save innocent lives than I ever have. If they want assistance, I’ll give it to them.”
She waved a hand toward him. “I think the Council will be willing to forgive you for using the Fragment once without authorization. But this? Going on a deadly mission without even asking for permission?” She shook her head frantically. “Even if you survive, they’ll strip you of your position. Your career as a Collector will be over.”
His stomach twisted painfully at the thought. He’d worked nearly his entire life to become a Collector. But...it was a job. A title. Absolutely nothing compared to the importance of hundreds of innocent lives.
He cleared his throat and quietly said, “I think the Council may have been wrong to grant me a position as a Collector in the first place. I don’t think I can spend my entire life following the Council’s logic, not when it threatens to cause so much pain.”
Marin’s eyes widened in disbelief. What he’d just said amounted to treason.
“You can’t really mean that,” she whispered. “The Council doesn’t make mistakes.”
Lio swallowed hard. “Maybe not,” he murmured. “But mortal minds do. And if trying to retrieve that Virtue is a mistake, then it’s one I’m willing to make.”
“And if you die?” Marin demanded, her voice rising with panic. “What then? The Wardens will have both the Virtue and your Fragment to sell off to the Ascendancy.”
Lio shook his head. “No, they wouldn’t. If we fail, then the bombs get dropped anyway. My Fragment will be buried along with the Virtue.”
Marin winced at the thought. “Wait for the response from the Council,” she urged. “You absolutely cannot make this kind of decision without guidance.”
“I can, and I will,” Lio snapped. He gestured to the three humans still sitting at the table. “There’s no time to wait for the Council’s guidance. The least I can do is support these people, Marin. They’re risking their lives for this.”
“Exactly!” Marin snapped, stepping forward and grabbing his shoulders. Her fingers dug painfully into his skin, and her gaze was frantic as she stared him straight in the eye. “They’re risking their lives, Lio. And if you go with them, you’re risking your life as well.”
He swallowed hard. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
She shook her head in bewilderment. “Why?”
He went quiet for a long moment, struggling to sort out his thoughts. Then he finally said, “Because I became a Collector to save lives and bring peace, and the Council made me swear that I would be willing to give my life to accomplish that mission. So that’s what I’m doing. Following the Council’s orders. I might not be following the exact logic I’m supposed to, but... I don’t think I care. This is an obvious chance to save lives, and I’m going to take it.”
Marin took a shuddering breath and pressed her hand against her mouth, as if trying to keep in a dismayed cry. After a moment, she let out a long sigh. “Please don’t do this,” she whispered. “Please tell me there’s some way to change your mind.”
Lio shook his head. As he did, a sense of peace calmed his pounding heart. It did nothing to dull the fear in his veins, but it allowed him to embrace it instead of fighting it.
There was a very high chance he was going to die. But what he’d said to Marin was true—if he had the chance to save the lives of innocents, he was going to take it. It was that simple.
And that deadly.
“You’ve gone mad,” Marin said, but her tone was quiet and hardly convincing. “The hyperspace travel, it must have made you more sick than we realized.”
Lio shook his head. “You know that’s not true. What I’m saying makes sense, Marin. Just not in a way the Council approves of. The Council may value the lives of their Collectors over the lives of ‘common people,’ but I don’t. And I won’t pretend I do.”
Marin went quiet for a long moment, and for perhaps the first time, Lio saw raw fear etched onto her face.
“But I do,” she said, her voice a whisper. “Lio, you’re not just my job. You’re family to me. I can’t let you run off alone on a suicide mission.”
Lio bit his lip, and a deep pang of guilt hit his chest. He reached out and gently placed a comforting hand on her forearm. “And you’re more than just a bodyguard to me,” he said softly. “I consider you family, too. But it doesn’t change anything, unfortunately.” He took a deep breath to steel himself. “I have to go.”
Marin nodded. “Then I’ll go with you.”
She stated the words so calmly, Lio thought he must have misheard them. But then he saw the fierce determination on her face, and he knew he’d heard right. Marin had sworn to always protect him, and he should have known better than to assume she’d ever let him walk into a deadly situation alone.
He shook his head. “You shouldn’t. It’s too dangerous.”
A smile ghosted across Marin’s lips. “I could use a little bit of danger,” she said. “Things have been getting too predictable the past decade. I could use some surprises.”
A flood of emotion hit Lio, and he took a shuddering breath, desperately fighting back the urge to cry. Instead, he affectionately squeezed Marin’s forearm and looked her straight in the eye.
“You’re the best bodyguard I could ever ask for, and the best friend I’ve ever had,” he said softly.
She placed her own hand over his, giving a wry smile. “You are without a doubt the worst Collector I’ve ever worked with. But you’re also the best person I’ve ever had the honor to serve alongside.”
Lio returned her smile and squeezed her arm one more time, wishing he had words to articulate how much her approval meant to him. But he didn’t, so he just took a deep breath and turned around to face the other three sitting at the table.
The humans were all staring at him and Marin with complete bewilderment, and it dawned on him that they hadn’t understood a single word of the Rhuramenti he’d spoken to Marin. So he cleared his throat and summed up their conversation, hardly believing the words as they emerged from his mouth.
“We’re both coming with you.”
Their bewildered look turned to complete shock. Kaylin finally broke the silence.
“No freaking way,” she said.
Lio couldn’t tell if it was a protest, or if she just simply didn’t believe him. Or perhaps both. But he ignored her dismayed tone and said, “Yes. We’ll go with you. Just tell us when we need to leave by, an
d we’ll be ready.”
Beck shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Ambassador, I appreciate the gesture. I truly do. But you have to understand…if you die in that base, it would wreak absolute havoc on our relations with your people.”
Lio nodded. “I understand your concern, but I’ll take precautions to ensure you’re not blamed for my death. Before we leave, I’ll send a transmission to the Council notifying them of my decision and placing full responsibility on my shoulders.”
He would also be sure to mention that Marin was following because of duty, and not because she’d encouraged him to go. If he didn’t make it out alive, but Marin did, he couldn’t bear the thought of her getting blamed for his death.
Beck rubbed a hand over his face and let out a long sigh. Then he looked back up at Lio.
“We need all the help we can get,” he said, his tone grim. “If you’re willing to go with us, I won’t tell you no. But I also can’t offer you any special protections.” He made a broad gesture to everyone in the room. “Once we step into those tunnels, rank doesn’t matter anymore. Neither does species. We all fight to stay alive and to keep each other alive. And we do everything in our power to retrieve that Virtue.”
Lio nodded grimly. “I understand. And I wish to fight at your side.”
“All right,” Beck said, giving a decisive nod. He patted the holster at his waist and then nodded to Lio. “First things first: it’s about time we gave you some way to defend yourself.”
III
Infiltration
26
Kaylin
Kaylin watched the entrance to the tunnels through the scope of her sniper rifle, tracking the movements of the three guards. She’d been waiting ten minutes, waiting to see if any other guards appeared, but it seemed to only be the three. Two men, one woman. Although the woman was more of a girl, probably not much older than eighteen.
This entrance to the tunnels was far smaller than the one she’d scoped out with Beck, and Adrien had decided it was the most discreet way to get into the tunnels. It’d once been an entrance to the subway system, but the building beside it had collapsed, leaving piles of debris that blocked off most of the steep stairway leading down to the tunnels. A small path had been cleared through the broken concrete and twisted metal, leaving enough space for someone to squeeze through the rubble and enter the underground.