CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR #2
“She was out for most of it,” Barrett said before groaning. “Stop hitting people.”
“It’s like you want him pissed at me,” Bri seethed.
Hal’s eyes ran over me in disbelief. “What do you mean by out?”
“Bri knocked her out,” Kane stated plainly.
“She what?” Hal bit out, turning toward them.
“So, you see, what happened—”
“Barrett, I’m not in the mood for your damn word games at the moment.”
Kane chuckled darkly. “Only certain games. It appears the two of you know each other. Why don’t you inform all of us how you know the Illum’s pet. We are all dying to know.”
Hal turned toward Kane. “I don’t know why that is any of your business.”
“Is that so?” Kane said, walking toward us. I held on to Hal’s arm. A vein in Kane’s neck pulsed as he stared at my hand, before turning all that rage toward Hal. “You met her by chance?”
“My actions don’t concern you,” Hal snapped.
“So she’s off-limits to everyone but you,” Kane stated coldly.
“Does anyone care about what she has to say,” I growled, and Kane glanced at me in surprise. As did Hal.
“We don’t have time for this,” Gerald interrupted. “We need to get her back to the surface. The quicker, the better. What did you want to tell us?”
“The Illum is planning retribution for the attacks. They want to send the Reaper”—I glanced at Hal—“a message. In two days, they said, they are going to ambush the Underworld community. I wanted you all to know. So you can prepare or run.”
“No one’s running,” Kane said darkly.
“You were at the dinner last night?” Barrett asked, pushing off the wall.
I nodded. I could feel Hal looking at me, but I couldn’t meet his gaze, not as the memories of last night pelted me.
“So you saw Christopher die,” Barrett stated. “Did he suffer?”
I saw the man fall to his knees, gasping for air as his blood sprayed. I shook it away. “They used the MIND to kill him. I’m sorry. They are saying that I helped them, that his death is my fault, but—”
“But what?” Bri sneered, her eyes angry slits. “You’re saying it isn’t? You didn’t run to your Mate about him?”
“I didn’t run to him. It’s difficult.” I stepped toward her.
“Oh, it’s difficult,” Bri taunted, her hand coming to rest on the handle of one of her weapons. “Difficult for you, going to dinners and balls. Dressed up like some pathetic prize. I can see why a fucking whistle scared you.”
“Briana, their women are only taught to be a vessel,” Gerald told her. “You know this. That is not Emeline’s fault. They don’t give them any other option.”
“Right, and how many people have we lost because they don’t know any better? I’m tired of this. I’m happy I knocked you out,” Bri spat at me.
Hal brushed past me. “Say that again.”
“Guys, come on, is this how we welcome guests?” Barrett joked, edging his way between Hal and Bri. “She’s going to believe all the horrible lies about us. I swear, we are usually much more welcoming.”
“We all know the risk of this rebellion. This isn’t news. We already know about their plans,” Kane stated dryly.
“They have maps of everything. All the tunnels,” I told them as Barrett pushed Hal lightly as he walked backward, taking Bri with him.
Kane sighed. “We know your little Mate’s plans. I’m afraid if that’s the only reason you came down here, you wasted your time.”
“The entrance I used, it was circled on the map,” I told them. They exchanged a look.
“Come on.” Hal’s hand found mine, but my feet stayed rooted to the spot. Gerald looked at our joined hands.
“Why did you feel compelled to risk yourself to come here?” Gerald asked, looking at me like he saw something the others didn’t. “You must know there will be consequences.”
“I don’t want anyone else to die,” I confessed to them all. Barrett huffed a breath. “I am sorry about Christopher,” I said, looking at him.
I let Hal pull me toward the exit as Barrett whispered, “You owe me twenty marks.” I didn’t know what marks were and I didn’t hear what they had bet on.
“Hurry, I want to talk to you before I take you back,” Hal told me quietly as he picked up his pace.
Loud music filled the tunnels as we turned into a large, cavernous room.
People danced with reckless abandon. It was nothing like the dancing I practiced with my HI.
It was captivating, and on the walls of the room were countless canvases, many of which I recognized as having been assigned for destruction.
I moved toward the art, but Hal pulled me to an exit. I glanced over my shoulder at the dancing one last time. There was an intoxicating pull to it.
“I’ll take you sometime,” Hal whispered as we made our way down a long tunnel.
“There’s music and art down here,” I said more to myself than to him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Would you have believed me if I did?” Hal asked. He had a point. I had only ever been taught to fear people who wear blue. “I told you someone has to take out their trash. No one here is interested in erasing what makes us human.”
We weaved through tunnel after tunnel. Each one looked the same. Silence found us as he turned down another tunnel, and another. “There are so many tunnels. How long has this been here?” I asked as we turned again. Hal navigated them like it was second nature, undisturbed by the dark.
“The tunnel system is ancient. Some of it was built before the Last War. When the war ended, all remaining humans lived down here.”
“What?”
“Yeah, they don’t teach you that at the Academy.” We turned again. “After the war we all lived beneath as equals. The nuclear warfare set off something called a nuclear winter, and no one could survive aboveground.”
“What changed when we resurfaced?” I asked.
“I wish we knew, but something horrible took root,” Hal said, turning again, down another tunnel identical to all the others.
“How do you not get lost?” I asked as he made another turn.
“You get used to it, and there are tells if you know where to look.”
We entered a tunnel that was wider than the others. A round opening glowed dimly in the distance and Hal came to a stop, looking around. We were alone.
“I want you to have this,” Hal said, extending a knife toward me. It was small, the handle simple.
“Why do you want me to have a knife?” I asked, holding it awkwardly.
“Seeing you in there today, with them . . . I might not always be there if you’re in danger.”
“Was I in danger today?”
“Yes. But not just from them. Emeline, your MIND tracks you. You shouldn’t have come. This was dangerous.” He shook his head.
“Hal, I watched a man die, and the Illum said it was my doing. I saw the Parting.” I gripped the sheathed knife, my frustration mounting.
“Bri is right. I’m a vessel who isn’t taught anything.
I am tired of living in the dark. I chose to come down here because I am tired of doing nothing.
I told the Starlings I wanted to help because—”
“You what?” Hal asked, stepping back.
“The Starlings, they support the Reaper. I told them I would help. I told them I would get information on the Illum for the Reaper.”
“Did they suggest you come down here?” Hal demanded.
“No, they told me to do nothing. Do you know them?”
“The Reaper’s network is wide. You should have listened to them,” Hal exclaimed, dragging his hand down his face. “This is dangerous.”
“I know that. I came anyway. I came down here to find the Reaper. I came down here to find you.”
Hal tipped his head toward the ceiling. “Moonlight, there is a reason I said goodbye. You are the Illum’s Mate. You can’t do this.”
My Mate. I tried to feel guilty for coming down here, but I didn’t. Collin had chosen wrong. He had killed that man. “You were right, you know.”
“What was I right about?”
“Everything. About me. About the Illum and Elite.” I worked to swallow, my next sentence choking me. “He isn’t different.”
Hal stopped, turning toward me. There was no vindication in his eyes at my confession. No pride. “I’m sorry I was right.” He stared at me, and my skin felt too tight.
“I should have listened to you.”
“Truth is never easy. Plus, I wear blue, and you wear gray, right?”
I grabbed his arm. “Hal, I’m sorry. That was a terrible thing to say. I was angry. I shouldn’t have said those things. I didn’t mean them. I also thought I was protecting you.”
“I’ve been called and told much worse. Protecting me how?”
The air between us became thick as questions pressed against my skin. “Hal . . .”
He stepped closer. “What is it?”
“Are you the Reaper?” I whispered.
Hal just stared at me until my skin was too warm. Did I want to know? Had I not run from Collin for taking a life? The Reaper was also killing people.
Hal shook his head. “That wasn’t the question I was hoping for.
” He raked a hand through his hair. “The Reaper didn’t rise to where he is by giving away his identity.
There is power in people not knowing who you are, even those close to you.
Just as there is a vulnerability to everyone knowing who you are. ”
“That wasn’t a no,” I told him, stepping closer.
“It wasn’t a yes,” Hal stated, matching my step. “I thought I wouldn’t see you again.”
“I thought so too. What did you want me to ask?”
“You know the question, Moonlight.”
One day you’ll have the nerve to ask, and I don’t think I’ll say no.
I retreated a step. My breaths were too shallow, his presence engulfing me, sweeping away everything. Hal took another step closer, and my breathing hitched as he brushed a curl behind my ear. I looked into his starburst eyes, and time slowed down for just a moment.
“I need to get you back,” Hal told me, but he didn’t move. “Unless you have something to ask.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that,” I said breathlessly, my eyes taking in every line and curve of his face. The way his amber eyes drank me in, defect and all, his dark blond hair that fell into his face, the tension in his jaw.
“Because I do,” Hal breathed, his mouth inches from mine.
“I have another question,” I murmured.
“Then ask it, Moonlight.”
“Kiss me?” I whispered, damning myself.
His hand brushed my cheek with such gentleness, his thumb tracing my bottom lip before cupping my chin. My eyes fluttered closed from the warmth, each breath bated. His lips met mine, and the world, my world, shifted.
Hal pulled back, a slight tremble in his hand before sliding it to cradle the back of my head. I opened my eyes to see him staring at me. He shook his head just a fraction before he surged forward, his lips crashing into mine.
His hand snaked into my hair, pulling me closer until every inch of me was pressed against him. His other hand grabbed my hip, holding me against him as his tongue traced my lower lip, and I opened for him.
Hal took advantage, and his tongue swept into my mouth, tangling with mine. A groan escaped him as he pushed into me, my back colliding with the stone wall, all of his rugged strength meeting every supple curve of mine.
A firestorm of desire hollowed me out and yet filled me to the brim all in the same breath. The yearning, the aching, the countless emotions of the past week—all of it caught in the hot tempest that threatened to consume me.
I couldn’t get close enough to him. I ran a hand through Hal’s soft strands, while the other gripped his knife tightly as I hooked it on his shoulder, tugging him closer.
Hal’s hips ground into me, and a breathless moan escaped me.
A pulsing want I had never felt before took root deep in my core, demanding more.
My hips rolled to meet his as I burned from the inside out, heat pooling between my legs.
Hal’s hand traveled down my hip, gripping my thigh, pulling my leg up.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” Kane’s voice sounded to my left.
I felt like I had dived into the cold river. Hal pulled away from me, but his hand remained in my hair. “I didn’t ask for your opinion earlier, and I don’t need it now.”
“Those cuffs only scramble her chip for so long,” Kane barked, stepping closer. Hal released my leg, guiding it gently back to the ground. “Her Mate is killing people. We can’t afford to make mistakes.”
“I’m going,” Hal said, grabbing my hand. He didn’t look at Kane as he led me away down the tunnel.
“Find me after,” Kane shouted. I turned to see Kane’s glowering frame, fury staring back at Hal and me. I shivered at the rage in his gaze, burning into my back as we walked away.