Chapter 24 Xeni
Xeni
The engine purrs beneath me as I glance at Leuce, the Anunian female driving the delivery truck. She’s indifferent to the point of boredom, which only makes me more suspicious.
The fates are either blessing me or setting me up for the ultimate letdown, because everything has gone far too smoothly.
The guards at the distribution center didn’t bat an eye at my ID.
Since my old fake name was compromised, Ego created a new persona for me as Alexise and even swapped the four rows on my uniform to two so people wouldn’t expect much from me.
The eyepatch is the only standout identifier left, but there’s little to be done about that.
My new ID was suspiciously identical to my old one, and when I questioned Ego about it, she cackled. Apparently, she made my original.
And severely ripped me off.
She found it endlessly hilarious that she’d overcharged the guy who sourced it for me, and insisted on digging through her records to show me the receipt.
Ass.
The rest of the plan went without a hitch. The second soldier assigned to delivery duty was easily convinced the scheduling office had made a mistake. I didn’t even have to use my powers to send him off to take advantage of a free afternoon.
Leuce arrived to drive the truck and shrugged me off when I tried to explain the change in her partner for the day. She didn’t care, so I didn’t out myself by over-explaining.
The trip to the prison is only twelve blocks, so within a few minutes we arrive at the gates.
After they take a quick glance at our IDs, Leuce drives around the building and backs into the loading dock.
We tour the kitchen then head to the prisoner quarters, and once we’re inside the cell block, my attention goes on high alert.
Sweat builds under my uniform as soon as we step through. There isn't as much airflow here, and everything is muggy. They don’t want to waste power on prisoner comfort, it would seem.
After we round the first corner, Leuce stops at a door and pushes it open.
“This is the janitorial closet,” she says. “They’ll keep it unlocked while we’re working.”
I step inside and glance around. It’s bigger than I expect, with a maze of shelves and a dozen or more empty crates in the corner.
I gesture at them. “We unload too, then?”
“No, leave everything in its assigned room,” Leuce says as she shakes her head. “Those are from the last shipment, and once the truck is unloaded, we’ll bring them back with us.”
“Got it,” I mumble as my mind spins, but Leuce is impatient. She waves for me to follow her into the hallway, then turns down a corridor that opens into the cells.
There are more than I expected, with three stories of barred doors. Voices grow louder as we walk through, and Leuce chuckles at me taking it all in.
“There aren’t as many inmates as there used to be,” she says as she gestures at the cells.
“When we first claimed the city, they say this place was filled to the brim. Nowadays, there isn’t much of a need for it, so prisoners are typically on the bottom floor.
Sometimes you’ll see a few on the second, but it’s easier to monitor everyone when they’re clustered. ”
“Like cattle,” I murmur.
She mistakes my tone for amusement and chuffs a laugh as we walk. Upkeep has taken a backseat, and there are cracks in the concrete floors and rust lining the barred doors. It’s clean enough to meet whatever minimal rules have been put into place, but only just.
Faces press against bars as we walk past, while others slump on their cots and ignore us altogether. They shout insults and slam their palms against the doors, and more than one death threat finds its way to us. I swivel my head to search the cells, finally landing on a shock of red hair.
Gideon’s eyes move to mine and widen, but I give him the slightest shake of my head. He returns it with a single dip of his chin, but there’s no time for anything more.
A door at the end of the row opens to an industrial laundry room. Leuce points out where to drop supplies, and we grab a couple of rolling carts to bring back with us as we retrace our steps.
Gideon meets my gaze as we pass, and I clock distances and guard presence as we return to the truck.
Leuce turns to me with her hands on her hips. “Good?”
“Good,” I agree. “The kitchen seems complicated, so do you mind…?” I trail off with a sheepish smile.
Leuce rolls her eyes but nods. “If you need any help, you know where to find me.”
She loads food items, and I grab a crate that’s headed for the supply room. Nobody pays me any attention as I’m buzzed through the doors again, and once I’m inside the closet, I spend some time investigating.
The shelves are extensive, lined up in rows packed so densely you can’t even see through them. I survey the walls, floors, and ceilings to search for potential escapes, but everything is solid.
Not wanting to waste too much time and draw suspicion, I unload and hurry back to the truck. After a few more trips, a plan unfolds in my mind.
A Lu’Mite guard paces inside the laundry room, only half paying attention, and I cast a few sideways glances at the keycard hanging off his belt.
“Hey,” I say cheerfully as I approach. “Is there a restroom I can use?”
“Uh, sure, yeah… over here.” His golden yellow eyes move to me as he gestures for me to follow, then leads me to the main hallways. We turn the opposite way, toward another door where he swipes his card to enter.
“Is your entire security system electronic?” I ask, channeling bored politeness.
He glances at his keycard before he nods. “Yeah. Back in the day, the prisoners learned to pick the locks, so we had to make some upgrades.”
He leads me into what looks like a break room, with a few round tables and a refrigerator. The next door opens to reveal a clean, tiled bathroom.
“Thanks,” I say as his eyes meet mine. I draw on my power, then slip inside his head. “I’ll take your keycard now.”
With a methodical nod, he removes it from his belt and passes it to my waiting hand, his expression smooth.
My fingers wrap around his wrist, and my power swells at the physical contact. “You won’t realize it’s missing until your shift is done, and you won’t remember where you’ve lost it.”
His mind is like clay—soft and easily molded into the shape I need.
Rewriting memories is something most Cavese could never do.
Luckily for me, I’m not like other monsters.
His eyes flare for just a moment before they settle into a calm acceptance, and he nods. He leaves the room without a word, and I tuck the card into my pocket before making the walk back to the cell block.
Gideon is pressed against his cell door, and I slow my pace as I pass the keycard through the bars.
“Wait for my cue,” I mutter, and he scrambles to shove it into his waistband as I continue on my way.
The Lu’Mite guard circles around the laundry room, no wiser to what happened, and I make several more trips back and forth until the supply truck is cleared out.
“I’ll grab the crates from my side,” I shout at Leuce as she wheels back to the kitchen with her empty cart, and she gives me a thumbs up without sparing me a glance.
Now comes the hard part.
On my first pass of the cell block, a different guard is on his rotation, then on the second, voices echo from the break room.
It’s too risky when I don’t know where they’re headed.
My nerves ramp up as my window of opportunity shrinks, and I’m realizing I might fail as I return to the laundry to load the final crate.
I push into the cell block, and the Fates are on my side.
The coast is clear, so I move faster as I meet Gideon’s eye. “Now,” I hiss, and he swipes the card over the lock.
A few heads turn in our direction, and outraged shouts echo as Gideon scrambles inside the crate. I pull his cell shut, thankful he had the foresight to make his bed look occupied, then settle the lid as the inmates grow louder.
The furious yelling is indecipherable by the time we reach the door. Two guards meet me there, peering around me at the ruckus.
The one in front sighs. “They always get worked up on supply days.”
“Yeah,” I drawl as I nod over my shoulder. “One of them flung something at me, and I didn’t stick around to see what it was. I’d maybe give them a minute to settle.”
He grunts as he holds the door open for me, and I try not to show the strain of pushing a two-hundred-plus pound man instead of an empty crate.
“Thanks for the heads up,” he says. “Shift change is in an hour, and I might conveniently forget to do my last round so I don’t have to clean it up.”
“Secret’s safe with me,” I promise.
He huffs a laugh and gives me a two-fingered salute before both guards return to the break room. The rest of my path is clear.
“Kitchen’s done!” Leuce yells.
I roll the cart towards the truck, nodding back towards my wing of the prison. “There are two left in the janitor’s closet.”
“I’ll grab one, and you come after me for the other,” she calls over her shoulder, already walking away.
I hurry to offload Gideon’s crate onto the truck floor with a loud thunk. After a glance behind me to make sure I’m alone, I lift the lid.
Gideon glances up at me, wincing at the crack of light that shines into the dark box.
“Are you getting enough air?” I ask.
“Yeah. How—”
“There’s no time,” I hiss. “Stay here and stay silent until I say.”
I don’t even wait for his nod as I drop the lid and hurry to grab the last of our load. Leuce doesn’t bat an eye as we slam the roll-up door closed, but I can’t let my guard down as we climb into the cab.
Halfway back, I spot the alleyway we’ve planned for the extraction.
“Hey, Leuce?” I grip her forearm and call on my magic again. It takes more coaxing this time, but obediently penetrates her mind. “Pull over between those buildings.”
Her brows furrow, but she flips on her signal and waits for a clearing to steer the truck into the alley.