CHAPTER THIRTEEN
VESPER
Still clutching the trident, I quickly climbed the spiral stairs. Any moment, I expected an enemy to pop into view, but no one appeared, and the only sounds were my raspy breaths and soft footsteps.
I reached the door at the top of the stairs and tugged on the handle.
To my surprise, it was unlocked. I waited a few seconds, but when no alarms blared, I opened the door a little wider and peered around the side.
The corridor beyond was empty. No one realized I’d gotten out of the maze and up to the control level. Good.
I stepped through to the other side, put my back up against the wall, and sidled down the corridor.
I glanced up at the ceiling, but none of the security cameras tracked my movements.
Judging from the lack of red lights burning on the devices, the cameras had been turned off.
Of course they were off. Whoever was behind this wouldn’t want a recording of themselves going through the facility, just of Kyrion and me being attacked in the maze.
Anger sparked in my chest, spurring me onward.
I moved from one corridor to the next, hugging the walls and keeping my steps as silent as possible. Given the late hour, most of the lights had been dimmed, probably thanks to an automated system designed to save electricity, and I stayed in the shadows.
Finally, I came to the junction where the corridor flowed into the main, wide space that led to the locker room, the armory, the infirmary, and, most important of all, the control room. Up ahead, around the corner, a series of soft tap-tap-taps rang out. Someone was typing on a holoscreen.
My fingers tightened around the trident. I tiptoed up to the edge of the junction, then crouched down and peered around the corner.
Unlike on the rest of this level, which was cloaked in shadows, lights blazed in the control room at the far end of the corridor. Jeffrey, the House Battis technician, was still ensconced in front of the main panel, swiping through holograms and looking at one monitor and camera feed after another.
“Where is she?” he muttered. “Where the fuck did she go?”
Jeffrey kept looking at the feeds, which showed different sections of the maze. Off to his left, two holograms flickered in the air. One was a tall, hulking figure in red armor I didn’t recognize, but the other was clearly Kyrion, who was running through the maze.
My heart squeezed tight, but I pushed my worry aside. I couldn’t help Kyrion right now, but I could help Siya and Asterin.
The two women were standing behind Jeffrey. Cuts and bruises crisscrossed Siya’s face and her knuckles, while Asterin’s lower lip was split and her long black hair was half in and half out of its ponytail, like someone had given it a vicious yank.
Siya was positioned on one side of a table, while Asterin was on the opposite side.
Wide metal cuffs circled their wrists, and a thick chain shackled their hands together in front of them and then down to the table.
Red lights also burned on the cuffs, indicating that they were equipped with psionic power dampeners.
Four House Battis Hammers, two men and two women, were guarding Siya and Asterin.
All the warriors were carrying lunarium war hammers.
My silver trident might have let me kill the Black Scarab in the maze, but it was no match against the other warriors’ weapons.
I needed my stormsword, but it was still in the locker room, and there was no way I could creep down the corridor and slip into that area without the Hammers seeing me.
“You’ll never get away with this,” Siya hissed.
Jeffrey rolled his eyes. “Please. Roderick has been getting away with this for years. Your friends aren’t the first truebonded couple he’s hunted through the maze.”
Roderick? My gaze flicked back to the hologram of the red-armored figure, and I finally recognized the Erzton lord.
The more exotic and dangerous the creature, the better . . . Roderick’s hunts are cruel and barbaric, just like he is . . . Siya’s voice whispered through my mind.
She had been more right about him than she knew.
Given Jeffrey’s snide words, it sounded like Roderick had grown tired of hunting animals long ago, and tonight he’d decided to make Kyrion and me his latest victims. No doubt he thought our truebond made us the rarest of creatures.
White-hot rage streaked through my chest like a shooting star.
Well, we were going to be the last people he ever terrorized.
If Kyrion didn’t kill Roderick, then I would.
A thought bubbled up in my mind, cooling my rage. Roderick might be stalking Kyrion through the maze, but the Black Scarab had clearly been trying to capture me instead of killing me. Why would Roderick want me alive?
“How are you going to explain what happened to us?” Asterin asked, her voice low, tight, and furious. “People from House Collier don’t just disappear. And Siya is the heir. She would never abandon her House.”
Jeffrey chuckled. “People from the major Houses disappear every day, including heirs. But by the time other folks realize something is wrong, it’s too late.” He glanced over his shoulder and sneered at my friends. “Just like it’s too late for the two of you.”
Asterin fell silent, as did Siya, although they both kept glaring at the technician.
My gaze skipped from one thing to another. Asterin and Siya cuffed to the table. The four Hammers guarding them. Jeffrey flipping switches at the control panel like a musician playing a familiar instrument.
Storming into the control room was not an option. I couldn’t help my friends, much less Kyrion, if I was captured—or dead.
“I’ve already arranged a tragic transport accident that will burn your bodies to a crisp,” Jeffrey continued.
“One of the Hammers is planting the explosives on your ship right now. The only question is whether Roderick will kill you before the Hammers put you on board or have them strap you in the transport while you’re still alive. ”
A cruel grin curved his lips, and his brown eyes gleamed with malice. “Me? I’m voting for alive just so I can hear you scream.”
Asterin’s face paled, and Siya muttered a curse.
My ears perked up. Explosives? I could use some explosives right now.
Jeffrey smirked at Asterin and Siya a moment longer, then turned back to the control panel and starting swiping through holograms again.
“I still can’t believe that truebond bitch took down my Scarab.
It was the only one I had, and I just started testing it last week. I was still tweaking the controls.”
His voice took on a high, whiny note like he was a child whose favorite action figure had been broken. Well, I was just getting started, and I was going to destroy a lot more than just his precious Scarab. But first, I had to let my friends know I was here.
I reached for the bond. Asterin? Asterin, can you hear me?
My friend frowned and glanced over at Siya, like the other warrior was the one speaking.
I ground my teeth. Most of the time, I could easily communicate with Kyrion, given our bond, but I was still having trouble using his telepathy to contact other people.
Plus, he was still in the maze, surrounded by psionic dampeners, which made it even more difficult than usual.
I grabbed as many trickles of Kyrion’s magic as I could through the mental white fog still wisping between us and focused on Asterin’s face and the sound of her name in my mind.
Asterin? Asterin!
My friend grimaced like I’d just shouted in her ear. She glanced at the Hammers guarding her and Siya, then over at Jeffrey. Finally, she looked past the technician. She scanned the corridor, and her eyes widened as she caught sight of me crouching in the shadows.
Asterin waggled her fingers at Siya, then tilted her head the slightest bit in my direction. Siya frowned, but she too scanned the corridor and caught sight of me in the shadows.
Siya’s hazel eyes narrowed, and she jerked her head in a sharp motion.
She clearly wanted me to sneak out of the facility and go get help.
That probably was the smartest, safest thing to do, but I wasn’t leaving.
Not while my friends were in danger and especially not while Kyrion was trapped in the maze with Roderick hunting him like he was a Tropics tiger.
Jeffrey glanced over his shoulder at the two women. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” Asterin muttered. “Thanks to these blasted cuffs.”
She lifted her hands and yanked on the attached chain, but the metal links remained securely fastened to the table.
Jeffrey studied Asterin, then Siya, who gave him a flat look in return.
Neither of my friends glanced in my direction, but the four Hammers drifted forward and hefted their weapons.
I held my breath and carefully lifted my trident into an attack position, ready to charge forward to help my friends if the Hammers attacked.
After a few more seconds of silent scrutiny, Jeffrey turned back to the control panel and started swiping through the camera feeds again. The Hammers also lowered their weapons.
I exhaled, but my relief was short-lived. It wouldn’t be long before the cameras finished sweeping over the maze and Jeffrey realized that I was loose in the facility. I needed to put my plan into action before that happened.
I’ll be back soon. I sent the thought to Asterin.
She still didn’t look at me, but her chin dipped slightly, indicating she had heard me.
Worry churned through my stomach about leaving Asterin and Siya behind, but I needed more weapons if I had any hope of rescuing them, so I drew back into the shadows, got to my feet, and left the area.
I hurried down the corridor to the closest junction. A couple of signs on the wall pointed the way to the transport garage, so I headed in that direction. Luck was on my side, and the double doors were standing wide open.
The garage was a large, cavernous space made of dull gray concrete.
Several transports were spaced throughout the area, while counters filled with tools, wheels, solar batteries, and more hugged the walls.
Skid marks blackened the floor, and the scents of greasy oil and smoky exhaust clouded the air.
At the far end, the two enormous metal doors that served as the entrance and exit for the ships were closed.
I scuttled forward and ducked behind a massive transport bearing a House Battis sigil that had to belong to Roderick.
Up ahead, someone was whistling a loud, cheerful tune.
Using Roderick’s spaceship for cover, I followed the noise deeper into the garage.
I came to the end of the ship, crouched down, and peered around the side.
The House Collier transport we had ridden in to the training facility was right where Siya had parked it.
A man dressed in a red House Battis uniform was standing at a nearby table, fiddling with a black box that had three green lights, a small silver antenna, and a red switch.
That must be the detonator for the explosives, which were most likely housed in another, much larger black box that was perched on the table.
I needed to get both the detonator and the box of explosives for my plan to work, so I got to my feet and moved forward.
I slid past one transport after another, circling around the perimeter of the garage until I was almost directly behind the Hammer. I drew in a deep breath, then let it out, raised my trident, and charged forward.
The Hammer whirled around at the sound of my boots slapping against the floor. His eyes widened in surprise, and the small detonator slipped through his fingers and clattered to the table. He cursed, then lunged forward and fumbled for a blaster lying on the far end of the table.
I quickened my pace, crossed the distance between us, and rammed the trident into his chest. The man screamed, and his sharp shriek of pain boomed out as loud as, well, a bomb in the enclosed space.
I grimaced, yanked the trident out, and pulled it back for another strike, but the Hammer staggered to the side, hit the wall, and bounced off it.
His feet flew out from under him, his legs buckled, and his head cracked against the edge of the table.
His screams abruptly cut off, and he dropped to the floor like a stone tossed into a pond.
Blood gushed out of the Hammer’s chest and the deep gash on his head. His arms and legs twitched for a few seconds, then stilled. His head lolled to the side, his gaze already fixed.
I waited a few seconds, making sure he was dead, then glanced back over my shoulder. No shouts or footsteps sounded, and no one rushed into the garage. No one had seen or heard me kill the other warrior. Good.
I set my trident aside, crouched down, and rifled through the Hammer’s pockets.
He was carrying a tablet, and I had to resist the urge to kiss the electronic device.
I picked up the dead man’s limp hand and pressed his thumb against the screen.
The tablet unlocked, and I quickly keyed in an identification number.
Most folks didn’t bother memorizing other people’s ID numbers anymore, but I always did.
Thanks to my many years as a lab rat, I knew just how easily technology could break, fail, and malfunction, and it was always better to know the information yourself than to rely on a tablet to retrieve it.
Plus, my seer magic made it easy to memorize whatever I wanted.
I typed a message to Rigel, who was Siya’s second-in-command of the House Collier Hammers.
I told Rigel where we were, what was happening, and what I planned to do about it all.
Then I set the tablet to silent and slid it into my pocket.
Rigel would get here as fast as possible, but the Collier estate was on a neighboring mountain, and Kyrion, Asterin, and Siya didn’t have time for me to wait for backup.
I rifled through the rest of the dead man’s pockets, but he didn’t have anything else useful.
Next, I got to my feet and studied the two black boxes on the table.
Just as I’d suspected, the large box contained a signal receiver and some blasting caps buried in the middle of several explosive bricks, while the small box was the signal transmitter and detonator.
In the Quill Corp R&D lab, we often blew up brewmakers and other appliances to test how sturdy and resilient they were, so I was familiar with the items.
Judging from the green lights on both devices, the Hammer had already synced them together, so all I had to do was flip the red switch on the detonator, and boom!
I grinned. I finally had some serious firepower, and I knew just how to use it.