Chapter 34 #2
Garrett chuckled, but all traces of humor died when Lena finished tending Quinn and headed in his direction. He backed into the corner. "I'm fine, really, there is no need to…er…you know.”
Lena’s gaze sought Reyne's help.
Reyne shrugged. If Garrett refused Lena’s aide, who was he to insist? Besides, the sooner he could get out of the prison block, the better. Time was wasting.
"I see a cut over his eye and one on his cheek,” Quinn pointed out with a lopsided grin that caused his lip to bleed again.
Lena touched the cut over Garrett’s eye. ''It looks bad, you should really let me cleanse the wound before it gets infected."
Grumbling under his breath, Garrett acquiesced.
Once Lena finished with Garrett, Quinn perked up and pointed to the blood on his swollen mouth. “My lip is still sore. I believe a soft kiss might be just the balm it needs to heal properly. And I wouldn't want your tender nurturing to go to waste.”
Lena blushed at his blatant flirtation.
Garrett rolled his eyes. “Seriously? I’m going to puke.”
Losing what was left of his patience, Reyne thrust open the door and ushered Lena into the hall. “As soon as I am able, I will free the both of you.” While in the process of sliding the lock into place, he heard Quinn say, "I can't believe you let him get the best of you."
“Fuck off, Quinn.”
Reyne headed towards the shipyard, where rows upon rows of vessels and mining ships gleamed in the sunlight, and ran into Asher entering the fortress just as he was heading outside. “Where is the hijacked vessel?”
Asher took in Reyne’s appearance with a confused expression, “Glad to see you looking better, Reyne. But why are you in uniform? Are you finally taking your position seriously?”
“I don’t have time for this, Ash. Just point me towards the ship,”
Asher frowned in response to his snippy tone. “Why the rush? We haven’t had a chance to sweep it for traps yet.”
“I spoke to our prisoners. They implied my armband was hidden somewhere inside. Please Ash. Which one?” Reyne fidgeted, tapping his foot.
Asher pointed to the far end of the shipyard. “Last row. The landing plank is down.”
“Thank you.” Reyne jogged between the rows until he found the ship. Once inside, he closed the ramp for privacy and slid into the pilot’s chair. He punched in the access code and pinged Armathea.
“Garrett is that you?” Tia appeared to the viewer with a deep sigh of relief. “We have been so worried.”
Reyne flicked on his viewer so Tia could see him. “Sorry Tia. It’s Reyne.”
“What the hell do you want?” she snapped, her dark eyes blazing with anger. “This is a private channel. How did you gain access?”
“Garrett gave me the code. He even suggested I tap into the hijacked ship’s communication system to avoid detection.”
Her wary expression clearly indicated that she didn’t believe a word he would say. Not that he could blame her skepticism. His actions certainly cast him as the villain.
“Tia, I realize you have no reason to believe me, but I am trying to free Kendra, and I need Odin.”
“Odin? Why?”
Here we go again. Reyne felt his pulse begin to race. “Because Mordrick plans to force her to marry him.”
“Marry? Mordrick? The monster who murdered her family?” The color drained from her face. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. I wasn’t aware of his intent until a couple of hours ago. Can you please find Odin for me? Please Tia. I’ll beg, on my knees, if that’s what it will take.”
“What do you think Odin can do?”
“Honestly? I don’t know, Tia. I only know I can’t free her on my own.” He dropped his head into his palm in frustration. “Odin will know what to do. He always does.”
Reyne closed his eyes and tried to think of something else to say because he was not prepared to give up.
“Odin is not here. He took a skiff down to Talear hours ago.”
He lifted his head to stare at the screen and rubbed his jawbone. “Fuck. What can Odin be thinking? If he is recognized, he could end up in the dungeon alongside Quinn and Garrett, or worse. He could be executed on sight.”
“He wants to free Kendra, just as you also claim. He is fully armed and prepared to infiltrate the fortress.”
“What? Odin, better than anyone, knows it’s impossible to infiltrate the fortress. It’s been tried numerous times.” His thoughts turned to Reece and his failure to prevent his friend’s death.
He didn’t want Odin to suffer a similar fate.
Because despite everything that happened eight years ago, he still thought of Odin as a mentor, almost like the father he never had.
“Actually, it’s not impossible. I was able to use the scan from your arrival and Armathea’s Draconian technology to create a flawless replica. It will fool your scan.”
Reyne’s jaw went slack. For the first time in eight years, he didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to do. He now had yet another person to worry about. Great. Just fucking great.
“Reyne.”
“Yes.”
“Do you love her?” Tia asked.
Reyne stared at the screen in shock. How could Tia even think to ask? He assumed he wore his heart on his sleeve. “Yes, of course I do. Do you think I would risk public execution if I didn’t love her?”
Tia’s lips tugged into a wide smile. “Good. Do you have a long-range communicator?”
“Not on me, but I can acquire one. Why?”
Tia flashed a ruthless smile. “I’m going to destroy Mordrick's shield.”