Chapter 3
koa
. . .
“We finally captured the top-priority basilisk.” Allison grinned, her blue eyes twinkling with excitement in a way that contradicted how she’d acted when Rune was taken. “And I planted evidence on her.”
My brows raised, but I had already known this. “Oh?”
“Yeah.” She ran a hand through her short blonde hair. “They’ll turn on her, and we’ll get to keep her. I can probably get you access to her cell if you’re interested in saying goodbye. I know you have a thing for her, after all.”
My jaw tightened, but I nodded. “Sure.”
“Just remember that I’m only doing this so we have your focus on the greater mission and not on her.” She hesitated before sighing and placing a hand on my shoulder. It took everything in me not to burn her hand to the bone. “I’ll go gain you access.”
She turned and walked down the long corridor.
I slipped further down the hall and into the classified room I’d been caught in once before by her.
I strode over and sat at the desk, a cone of blue light from the monitor straining my eyes.
No password again, and I immediately sifted through the files until I found the one I hadn’t been able to break open last time.
I worked from muscle memory, quicker than I’d ever hacked before.
Sabine had given me access to the evidence planted on my father, so I knew what it looked like.
I leaned forward as I located the folder. The file itself was encrypted, but it was encrypted by humans, and they were rarely unique with their code.
I reconstructed many pathways until one finally worked. The encrypted folder broke open.
The documents inside were exactly what my father had on his computer: a transcription of a private message between him and the humans, and a CCTV clip of Dad on the computer, supposedly messaging the humans.
The “evidence” had a timestamp that matched the human facility’s IP address before that had been wiped clean.
A throbbing heat rolled through my shoulders.
I opened the secure channel for the agents to Sabine and attached the no-longer-encrypted file.
My fingers hovered for only a second before I hit send.
This was the proof I’d been training to find most of my life. Proof that someone had manufactured correspondence on my father’s computer. Proof that my father had been framed by the humans.
I grabbed my phone and called Sabine.
“Yes?” Her voice came through tense.
“I found the exact documents used to frame my father. Look at it. All on the humans’ server. Guess you all were really wrong. Hmm?” Bitterness coated my words.
She took a moment to respond as she checked my email. “That’s…the same file used to frame Rune, only it’s been doctored with different correspondence.”
My brows raised.
I’d thought the humans would be smarter than that.
“I’m sorry, Koa. I know sorry won’t make it better, but we will work on getting your father out right now. We have wronged him, and we will right it.” She paused. “Have you seen Rune?”
“I’m getting access to her now. If I’m not in contact with you after today, my cover’s blown.” I erased my presence on the terminal and walked to the door.
“Be safe, Koa,” she whispered.
I hung up and opened the door to see Allison standing there with a smile. “I’ve gotten you permission. Let’s go.”
My brow raised as she turned and started walking.
She hadn’t questioned why I’d gone in there.
Fuck.
My cover was totally blown, but if she was taking me to Rune, then I didn’t care.
Fluorescent panels hummed in the ceiling above us, sterile light slicing the space into pale sections that made everything feel critical.
I walked at an even pace behind Allison, my boots hitting the polished concrete. The air tasted heavy with the mix of bleach and blood. Though, the humans probably only smelt blood.
The deeper we went, the more anxiety spurred in my gut.
Allison’s ID badge flashed green every time we passed a checkpoint, the security doors parting with mechanical creaks. We reached a wing with a sign that said, ‘Experimental Containment Wing. Biohazard. High Voltage.’
Rage funneled through me.
The hum of generators grew louder as we descended. I could feel the vibration of the facility in my bones. It was the thrum of hundreds of systems feeding on power, the dull ache of technology meant to imprison magic.
“Almost there,” Allison murmured without turning around. Her voice echoed through the sterile hall.
We turned one last corner.
The hallway here was narrower and colder. Three reinforced doors lined one side, and each one bore a small glass viewport rimmed with steel. Two were dark inside, but the third glowed from within.
Allison stopped in front of that door. She glanced back at me. “You have five minutes,” she whispered, handing me an empty syringe. “This is your only chance to prove your loyalty. Draw her blood.”
I nodded once, pocketing the damned syringe. The control panel beside the door scanned her badge, beeped, and then groaned as cold and sterile air spilled out.
Allison stepped aside but didn’t follow me in. “I’ll keep watch,” she said, voice lower now. Her hand lingered on the frame, as though she wasn’t sure letting me through was a good idea.
“I get five minutes.” I stepped past her and went inside.
The door shut behind me with a sealing hiss, cutting off the facility’s noise.
For the first time since I’d walked into this tourmalyke-built facility, I felt the thin magical pulse of her essence.
Rune.