CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
IN THE ARCHIVES I STARED AT A PAINTING OF A THIN WOMAN in a pale pink dress crawling in the grass toward a house in the distance.
The painting seemed sad, the colors muted.
I hadn’t heard from or seen anyone since the ball two days ago, and my thoughts had endlessly circled around what my next move would be.
“What do you think happened to her?”
I spun to see Hal leaning against my doorway. “Hal!” I exclaimed, moving toward him.
“Moonlight.” He wrapped his arms around me.
“That’s enough, you two,” drawled Barrett, making his way into my office. He looked at the painting. “Isn’t it obvious? She’s unable to make it home.”
“Do you think she actually wants to go home?” I asked.
“We don’t have time to pontificate about ancient art,” Hal told us.
“Another time,” Barrett commented, winking at me.
“Why are you here?” I asked Barrett.
“I have an unending affinity for bad decisions,” Barrett teased, his eyes finding the art once more.
“We have to go,” Hal interrupted.
“But you just got here.”
“I mean all of us,” Hal clarified as he strode toward the door.
“What? Why?”
“Because our plans are moving forward. We are about to shut down the grid.”
“I think the term we feels a bit wasted. It’s my ass that’s shimmying up that chute,” Barrett interrupted.
“You volunteered,” Hal said, rolling his eyes.
“I’m the only one who can fit. Wouldn’t call that volunteering,” Barrett retorted, his weight shifting from one foot to the other—a restlessness to him.
“Bri would have fit,” Hal countered.
Barrett froze. “Like I said, I’m the only one who can fit.”
“Suit yourself. We need to go. I don’t want you above the surface.” Hal took my hand.
“Wait, why are you shutting it down?” I asked, looking at Barrett.
His gear resembled the gear the Elite Force wore. Thick plates lined his chest and, like always, he had weapons strapped up and down his muscular body. His hair was pulled back tightly. No necklaces were visible today.
“You’re in Elite Force green,” I stated.
“Guilty. The grid is going black because the Reaper is ready for justice.”
I whipped my head toward Hal.
“We have to go,” Hal repeated, pulling me from the room. “Leave your bag.”
Our footsteps echoed down the hall as I stayed close to Hal. Questions fought to break free. The sound of metal on metal reverberated in the hall. Barrett grinned at me from behind, his gun at the ready.
Hal began to jog as we rounded the corner, heading to the right. I kept his pace, my heart gaining speed with each step. We approached a hallway door and Hal pulled me through the doorway. Barrett ran to the corner of the room, grabbed a bag and helmet, and checked his watch.
“Thirty seconds go, Hal,” Barrett urged. “Wait until you hear the sound. If you don’t hear it”—he looked between the two of us—“it’s your call.”
“Come back,” Hal told Barrett. They grasped hands quickly, their foreheads meeting for a moment.
“I will,” Barrett answered. “Or I’ll wait for you on the other side.”
They broke apart. Barrett donned his helmet and left the way we had come without a backward glance.
Hal pulled me away, knocking on the far wall of the room. A door opened and we slipped in, leaving the surface behind.
“Damn it, Hal, when you two asked for my help, you didn’t say it involved the pet.” My eyes adjusted to the dark. Bri stood there in all black, her hair in braids. “Kane is going to lose it.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. You should go.” Hal paused, then said roughly, “And come back.”
She shot us both a glare. “I will so I can yell at you, or I’ll wait on the other side to fucking yell at you there. Either way, I’m fucking yelling.” Bri shook out her braids before she pulled on her helmet. She grabbed a gun strapped to her leg.
“I’ll be waiting,” Hal told her, his palm sweaty in mine. They nodded to each other before she turned and took off down the hall, the darkness swallowing her.
Hal released a shuttering breath as he began to pace restlessly.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Fine isn’t a feeling,” I said, drifting into his line of pacing. Hal halted, blowing out another breath. His hand intertwined with the bottom of my shirt, pulling me closer to him as he leaned against the wall.
“Fair enough,” he exhaled. “I should be out there with them.”
“But you’re stuck here with me instead.”
“I don’t mean it like that. I was going to get you down here one way or another. I wouldn’t have been able to focus knowing you were above. I have never sat out a mission with them.”
A loud whining sound echoed above us. An endless groan.
“What’s that?” I asked as the sound droned on until there was a loud thud and then utter silence.
Hal released my shirt, grabbing my left wrist. He pulled up my sleeve. My wrist wasn’t glowing. I gaped, looking between my wrist and Hal.
“It worked,” Hal marveled, turning my wrist over. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” Hal said with a smile.
“How’d they do it?”
“Gerald would have to break it down for you. Even if he did, it’s complicated.”
“Why now?”
“Because the chase was successful the other night, and the Minors have been drugged long enough.”
“Are they going to harm the Elite?” I asked as I thought of Gregory and Nora.
“Only the ones who get in the way,” Hal told me. I came to a halt. “Why, do you have Elites you care about above?”
“If I do?” I challenged.
“I’d be relieved they haven’t destroyed your humanity yet. Even if none of the Elite deserve your concern.”
“I disagree,” I told him as we followed the way Bri had gone. “So why aren’t you with them?” I asked as we wound our way through the network of tunnels.
“Thea claims that while I feel better, my internal injuries aren’t healed enough for combat. Everyone else felt inclined to agree.” Hal snorted.
“Are you still in pain?”
“Not like I was,” Hal confessed, raking his hand through his hair.
Music pounded ahead. “Are people dancing while this is going on?” I asked in disbelief.
“Of course,” Hal said as we came to a room. It was the same room from my first trip down.
“Aren’t they worried?”
“Probably.”
“Shouldn’t they be helping?”
“Doesn’t work that way down here. They have a choice.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, captivated by the moving bodies, the beat of the music thumping against my skin.
“For some, life down here is enough. It isn’t a ball, but want to go out there?” Hal inquired, watching me.
“Your friends,” I stammered, thinking of their quick goodbyes. Hal stood still, a tension to him he never had. Perhaps he needed to quiet his mind.
“I could use the entertainment.”
“And I’m the entertainment?”
“Today you can be.” Hal grabbed my hand and dragged me into the middle of the swaying masses. The crowd smelled of sweat, the energy contagious. I watched, frozen.
Hal spun me, coming up behind my back, his warm breath tickling my neck. His hands found my hips, engulfing them in his grip. “There’s no right way, just let go,” Hal whispered.
My body went taut at the words, at how I had felt the last time he had told me to let go. His hand drifted lower on my hip like he thought of it as well, before returning. I hesitantly moved my hips as Hal guided me.
Hal moved his body fully against mine. My breath caught. “Stop thinking. No one’s paying attention to you.”
Slowly I lost myself to the beat of the music and his hands on my body, a stronger effect than any glass of bubbles I had ever consumed, my thirst for it unquenchable.
We moved together, each beat rolling seamlessly into the next before I felt Hal’s lips against my neck, and my head rolled back onto his chest. His hand sprawled out across my lower stomach, pressing me closer, until his hips cradled mine, and I could feel the effect I was having on him, the pressure making me ache.
I spun toward him, and he held my gaze, eating up the need there.
His thigh slid between mine, and I ground down, panting into his ear.
Wordlessly his hand found mine. We weaved through the crowd and into a stone tunnel.
I didn’t pay attention to the turns as Hal dragged me by the hand, my desire a force threatening to consume me.
After two turns, Hal came to a stop abruptly.
His eyes met mine for a single breath before he pounced, crashing his lips onto mine.
He devoured me as he answered my need. He grabbed my ass and scooped me up, pinning me between the wall and his hard chest. My hand ran through his silken waves, scraping down to his shoulders, and he groaned.
I wrapped my legs around his waist. I sucked in a quick breath as his hard length found my core, and he ground into me.
I whimpered at the pressure. Hal tore his mouth from mine as I looked to where he pinned me.
He watched me before he wrapped his hand into my hair, drinking in my mismatched gaze like it was a lifeline.
Hal’s mouth found mine again briefly before trailing along my jaw and down my neck, his hand leaving my hair and drifting down to my breast, caressing through the fabric. He pulled at the shirt, a button giving way.
His name left my lips, intertwined with my moan.
“Get a room,” someone snickered. I whipped my head in the direction to see several people in blue waltzing by, laughing.
Hal huffed a laugh. I began to unwrap my legs, red-hot embarrassment flaming my face.
Hal grabbed my thighs. “Don’t. They’re already gone.”
“This isn’t very private,” I muttered.
“You want private?” Hal’s eyes flashed wickedly. Before I could answer, Hal lifted me over his shoulder, a yelp escaping me.
“What are you doing?” I demanded as Hal laughed, taking off down the hall.
“Finding somewhere more private. Stop fidgeting. I’m injured, remember?”
“Exactly. Put me down!” I said, even as a laugh escaped me.
“Absolutely not,” Hal responded. I could hear his smile as he worked his way through the tunnels.
“Hal,” I demanded, laughing, the blood rushing to my head.