Chapter Thirty-Four
Nova
“We were assigned a new elite today. Her name is Elite Bargain. When Jameson told her I was an of eadi like the prick he is, she didn’t seem to care. Maybe I’ve gotten lucky and found the only elite on all of Dajahim who doesn’t care to make the world pure again.”
“Well, that saved us two minutes,” Az said, his voice cracking as he rushed forward. Caleb’s eyes went wide as his best friend ran his way, his mouth popping open when Az wrapped his arms around his torso.
“Stars, what did you do to him, Nova?” Zura asked at my side.
I let out a sharp laugh, shaking my head. “I’ll tell you all about it when we’re out of this miserable place.”
“Deal.”
Az quickly pulled the other two into the hug after Caleb lowered himself to the ground, the four of them embracing each other in the way only childhood friends could.
“We’ve got to go. They’ll have the wards fortified and the exits blocked soon,” Az mumbled into their huddle, the sound muffled to my ears. I smiled, though I knew the hard part wasn’t over yet. From here, we had to get six of us out without being noticed.
“The plan is to take the north stairwell to the back end of the building.” I tried to mirror Az’s commanding tone, squaring my shoulders as I spoke.
Five heads turned my way, only Caleb’s face readable, an annoyingly cocky smile appearing.
“We’ll be on the opposite side of the wards we breached, and ideally won’t run into anyone of high rank.
If we are caught in these wards post lockdown, the goal will be to get out and head to the forest that borders Mount Voliton, where we can meet up safely without exposing our base.
Separation isn’t ideal, but we will fight or die. Got it?”
“You want us to shadow walk to Zade territory?” Otarn asked, her voice coated in disbelief as she stepped forward. She had cut her hair, the length barely reaching the base of her neck now. She looked even more fierce, like a hungry predator.
“They won’t suspect it. It’s our only chance if we need to run,” Az added as he moved around the group, coming to stand at my side.
The three cores watched, their eyes scrutinizing through the small holes in their masks.
I recalled reading once that the masks stripped us of identity, making us all equal servants of the stars when we wore them.
As I looked at the three of them, I knew that nothing could steal the shear power they radiated.
We’d survive. We had to. This group could do it.
“Okay, let’s do it then.” Elders placed an arm around Priya, each nodding simultaneously. Az moved to the door, readying us to move. We had a far longer walk this second half of the plan.
“Ready? Now!”
Not wasting a single second, we all flew out of the doorway, moving in a sort of huddle down the halls.
Every floor was shaped in a large square, connecting at the stairwell.
That meant two left turns and we’d be there.
We rounded the first in thirty seconds, my arms pumping quickly as I maintained the lead.
Az took up the rear, a spot he’d refused to negotiate during our meticulous planning.
Heart racing, I spotted the second turn just as I heard footsteps. I skittered to a halt, reaching my arms out to force the others to stop too. “Someone’s coming, hoods up and masks on!”
Whether or not they obeyed, I didn’t know. All I could do was continue walking at a brisk pace, my hands quickly reaching up to tuck the stray curls behind my ears.
A duo turned the coming corner, their smiles wide as they discussed a new tonic.
Neither of them seemed to notice us at first, too entrenched in their conversation about ingredients and brew times.
Just as I was convinced we’d be in the clear, the man on the right shook his head, his eyes wandering as he did.
We made eye contact for only a second or two.
Barely anything. But it must have been enough to see the glittering stars in my irises.
“It’s the akhata!” he managed to shout just before I balled my fist and swung. I hit him dead on, a sickly crunch sounding as my knuckles sunk into his nose. The woman beside him screamed, though she was taken down quickly by Otarn, who didn’t hesitate to snap the her neck.
“You didn’t have to kill her!” I hissed.
She stared at me through her mask, eyes squinted. “Lose the performative conscience, Tershetta. We’ve got shit to do.”
Az ran up to me, gripping either side of my head and looking into my eyes. “You’re okay?”
“I’m fine, Mother.”
Through his mask, I saw his grey eyes crinkle. “I always did love that left hook of yours.”
“Okay, you sex addicts. Keep it in your pants long enough to get us out of here,” Caleb said as he stepped up to us.
Rolling my eyes, I pivoted and darted for the stairwell in the distance, nearly barreling into the door.
I tore it open, rushing towards the stairs.
As I took them two at a time, I thought of the elite who lay dead on the floor.
Of what Jonah said about what we were. The panic at potentially being caught seemed to eagerly cling to the elite’s crooked neck and open jaw as we hit the next floor. Only seven to go.
“Someone will find the bodies any time now, we need to move faster!” Az shouted from the back of the group. I pushed myself, leaping the last four steps of each stretch and hitting the concrete landings with painful, bone shaking smacks.
Right as we hit the third floor, three masked elites came dashing up the stairs, stopping when they saw our group.
Refusing to waste anymore time, I slowed my pace and walked to the side of them, hoping the others would follow my lead.
The trio was coming from a lower floor, the likelihood they even realized what was going on was slim.
At least, that was what I told myself as my cloak sleeve brushed against one of theirs.
Suddenly, my arm was being gripped, the hold too tight. I looked over, seeing a set of brown eyes through the mask. “You two go ahead, I’ve been meaning to talk to Elite Jones.”
Jones? Who did this person think I was?
Both of the other elites continued on, hopping up the remaining steps and loudly exiting through the third floor doorway.
Could I fake it? Would they realize?
Nodding, I ushered the others forward. Please go without me. Keep moving.
If they somehow heard my silent pleas, none of them listened. They all grouped together, Az’s hand finding the elite’s wrist. “You should really let her go.”
“And you should probably consider not bringing her to a place where she’ll be tortured and abused like a puppet!” The woman ripped her mask off as she spoke, practically spitting the second half of her sentence in Altair’s masked face. Stunned, I let out a faint gasp.
“Elite Bargain?”
How, of all the people to run into, could it be her? And how on Dajahim did she know it was me?
“Nova. After all the work I put into training you as a grunt, you plan to throw your life away like this? For what? Cores?” She spit the words like venom, practically hissing out cores.
And I couldn’t blame her. Not when even the elite suffered beneath the reign of darkness that was the core regime.
I should’ve known before. What kind of elite treated an of eadi like they were worth anything? Definitely not a normal one.
“We’re leaving, I swear. If we can just get to the northern wards, we’ll be gone and won’t be back.
” If she believed my quick, hushed words, she didn’t show it on her stern face.
I almost wished I could hug her, if only for the memories of better times when I went home to my family every afternoon. “Please. Just let us go.”
Az still held Bargain’s wrist firmly, his body tense at my side. The others were silent, but I could imagine we all held our breath as Elite Bargain stared me down. When she released my arm, I nearly sighed in relief.
“I’ll get you to the wards. You’ll have better luck with me leading, seeing as one of you is abnormally tall with silver poking out of their hood and another has curls so thick the hood almost floats off your head.
You’re too noticeable on a regular day, let alone when everyone is already on edge.
Let’s move. Quickly.” She yanked her wrist out of Az’s hold, turning and dashing down the stairs.
I began to follow, but Azazel ran to my side, slowing me with a whispered, “We can’t trust her. There are already too many of us and too much at stake!”
“We have no other choice!”
“She’s right, Az. Let’s just speed up and get the fuck out of here!” Elders said, pulling Azazel back. I hated not having him at my side. He was too vulnerable at the back, but I knew he wouldn’t let anyone else take the spot.
Elite Bargain was moving so quickly that I nearly stumbled down the last flight, my knees and ankles aching when we hit the final landing.
She took us through the door, leaving her mask off and walking with her chin up.
We followed silently, none of us willing to risk bringing any attention to ourselves.
Thankfully, there were still quite a few elites still in the building, making us less conspicuous to the guards. But I saw by the way their heads turned that they were watching us. Four of them tracked our steps, one even stepping out of their position against the wall.
“Hey, you all! Where are you headed?” the elite asked, their face hidden beneath their mask.
Elite Bargain stilled, turning to face them. “We’re headed home. We just finished a pretty large brew and we’re all pretty fucking tired. Why?”
So smoothly she lied, that the elite seemed almost embarrassed for asking, their gloved hand reaching up to scratch the part of their cloak that covered their hair.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m just trying to do my job. Could you all remove your mas—”
“Yeah, we’re trying to do our jobs too. Do you know how long we’ve been stuck in our lab? Do you understand how much extra work and hours we’ve had to put in? If you did you’d leave us the fuck alone and bother some other poor soul!”
Woah. All of Elite Bargain’s screaming during grunt training had been leading her to this moment, apparently.
The elite stumbled back a step, raising both hands up in defeat. “Sorry. I’m sorry. Go on.”
She nodded, whipping her head to the right and heading for the doorway. We all followed, none of us so much as making eye contact with the guard who quietly leaned back against the far wall.
My right foot had just made it through the doorway when someone loudly threw open the main doors.
“Our wards have been breached! Shut the base down! Everyone, remove your masks! No one leaves until I’ve looked them in the fucking eyes!”
Shit.
I continued through the door, my breaths turning to pants as we began to run again.
“You all! Come back here!” shouted the same guard who had already questioned us.
We didn’t so much as slow our pace, Elite Bargain leading the way to the closest edge of the wards.
The hill that led up it was large and mostly vertical, making me silently thankful for all the heinous running Azazel had made me do over the last few weeks.
Wheezes began to sound from all of us as we hit the halfway point, shouts coming from the building behind us. A single beam of magic hit the grass to my right, and something within me came to life.
A burst of violent, burning magic lit me up. I turned, letting the others pass me, readying for the fight. I pictured all of the bodies nailed to doors at the shops back home. I thought of my parents’ lifeless eyes. And in those memories, my rage ignited.
Now at the bottom of the hill, a group of at least a dozen elites were running towards us. Though not all of them bore their masks, they each somehow oozed eagerness, as if the fight was all they dreamed of. Artie’s body flashed across my eyelids as I blinked, and I realized I wanted the fight too.
“Remind us why we chose you, Nova Tershetta. Show us what you’re made of.”
With the stars’ voices echoing in my ears, their silent treatment apparently over, I spread my arms and faced my palms towards the incoming elites. Otarn said my conscience was performative. Here was where I proved her right.
A burst of pure, silver magic released from each of my palms, the recoil of it sending me flying to the ground. I hit hard, screams meeting my ears as I dug my fingers into the dead grass.
“Nova, we have to go! Get up!” Az grabbed me, lifting me from under my arms. I stumbled against him, feeling lightheaded. Feeling angry enough to ignore the dizziness and turn to fight. “I don’t think so.”
Az swept me up, his arms holding me against his chest in a cradle as he ran.
The cores had stopped where I assumed the wards ended, each of them sending off blasts of pure, isolated magic as we ran towards them.
Zura and Elite Bargain were on each of Az’s sides, throwing blasts behind them when they could.
Another burst of magic came our way, forcing us to separate.
It hit right where Elite Bargain had been.
She was now a few feet from us, her eyes wide.
And then a dark, twirling mist of shadows sliced her head in half.
Her body collapsed immediately, her brain pouring out of her skill like liquid. I screamed, trying to wrestle out of Az’s hold, but he only gripped me tighter, practically leaping past the wards.
“Grab onto me, now!” he screamed. A second wave of attacks shot towards us, catching Elders in the shoulder and Caleb in the leg. They both managed to still grab onto Az as they groaned, Zura screeching in pain at my side from what had to have been a hit.
I turned, looking at Elite Bargain’s single remaining eye as we shadow walked away.