Chapter 10 #2
“Guess you won’t be needing those HDF uniforms to change into now,” Wesley replied dryly into our earpiece.
“This—” The microphone connection went out. “Was bad even before—” Static. “Decided to change sides,” Killian said.
The monitor wavered and crackled.
“Come on.” I hit my hand against it, trepidation oozing into my stomach.
The camera cleared up. “Okay . . . there are stairs down the hall. They lead you up to the ground floor. From there you will have to go up the back stairs to my father’s office.
There is a hidden key to his office behind the painting in a lockbox.
” I had told Killian and Rosie the numbers for both the key box and his safe box before we left, just in case.
They were almost to the stairs when a voice called out behind Killian. “Hey!”
My heart stopped in my chest, knowing that voice almost better than my own for how many times it yelled at me.
Bakos.
The man I thought of more as a father than my own. He was tough but fair, and I respected him so much.
“Where are you two going? All trainees should be in the quad.” His tone dipped how it always did when he was disappointed.
“Caden?” Killian hissed at me.
“It’s Bakos. My HDF instructor.” I replied. “Turn around.”
Slowly, Killian and Rosie twisted to him, showing the man now before them.
His hair graying slightly at his temples, Bakos still wore the HDF uniform.
“I asked where you were going?”
Killian didn’t move or speak.
“Eltévedtünk.” We are lost. Rosie’s voice was thick with Hungarian. Not a breath of her English accent could be heard.
Bakos tilted his head, his gaze sliding to Killian. “You look familiar.”
I could hear my pulse in my ears. Though Killian could glamour, some humans could see through it. Bakos was so void of bullshit, I could imagine him cutting through Killian’s too.
“Identify yourself,” Bakos ordered, stepping closer.
Killian still didn’t respond, acting like a stooge on the pills, void of any personality or thought.
Every step Bakos took, my throat tightened.
The camera glitched for a second, forcing me to suck in.
“I gave you an order.” Bakos was almost in his face.
“Trainee Cece and Kope, sir,” Rosie said with no emotion.
Bakos’s eyes drifted from her to Killian. I took in the subtleness of his gaze, the caution and knowledge something was wrong, the huff in the back of his throat like he could see through them.
“He knows,” I hissed into their ears, panic curling around me as the screen went fuzzy for a longer time. “Did you hear me? He knows.”
Bakos had drilled so many things into us besides the skill of fighting.
Instinct. Intuition. He also pulled Brexley and me to the side because of our positions and who we were to my father.
He gave us a code. If we were ever compromised and could not outright say it because lives were on the line, we uttered a phrase that meant we needed help.
“Tell him, rám férne egy cigi.” I could use a cigarette. I wiped at the trickle of sweat sliding down my face. It was equivalent to I need help. Neither Brexley nor I smoked. It was a red herring. “Helikon.”
Killian coughed as if he wanted to tell me I was fucking nuts. I probably was, but an instinct I couldn’t even explain washed over me. “Say it.”
“Fuck,” Killian muttered under his breath, clearing his throat, speaking to Bakos. “Rám férne egy cigi.”
Bakos jolted, his eyes widening. “What?”
“Helikon.” Killian uttered the name of the particular brand that stopped being made after the fae war, our country going back into the Dark Ages.
Bakos stared at Killian, trying to keep his expression blank, his body rigid.
Please, Bakos, hear me . . . know it’s from me.
“Hey?” Another deep voice boomed from behind all of them.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?
” A man stomped up, and instantly I felt my world teetered again.
Andar’s assistant, Tibor, who was a two-faced condescending asshole, marched up to them, now dressed in all black with the fae queen insignia.
“You two should be in the square preparing for tonight.” He pointed at Killian and Rosie, then turned to Bakos. “And you were fucking fired. Andor no longer needs or wants your assistance here.”
“I work for Markos, not Andor.”
“Well, Markos is no longer in charge.” A slimy grin slid over his mouth. He would have made an excellent politician. “And finally, I get to tell the great, perfect, heroic Bakos to get the fuck out of here.”
Bakos’s attention shot back to Killian, his gaze going right to the camera on his chest as if he could see it, my old teacher looking straight at me.
“The only way you get me out of here is if you force me.” Bakos twisted around, walking backward, turning Tibor’s back to Killian. “Come on, Tibor, you know you’ve dreamed of doing this.”
Bakos was short, but he could put Tibor on the ground in less than five seconds. Of course, Tibor was too arrogant and stupid to acknowledge it.
“You’re right.” Tibor rubbed his hands together. “Been looking forward to this for a long, long time.”
“There was a reason you failed my class.” Bakos bounded back farther. “Your ego outweighs your lack of talent and utter stupidity.”
“Te geci!” Motherfucker! Tibor headed straight for him. Bakos easily leaped out of his way, socking him in the face with a soft hit, his gaze shooting over Tibor’s shoulder. It was minuscule, but I saw his chin flick, his eyes going to the stairs, then back to Killian with a nod.
Telling them to go.
He was creating a distraction.
He knew I was involved somehow. Knew that S.O.S. code was from me. He just handed me all of his trust, and he had no clue what for, but he still did it. For me.
“Go!” I yelled into their ears. “Go!”
Killian and Rosie didn’t hesitate, darting for the stairs up to the main level, Tibor too distracted by Bakos’s fists to even notice them.
The earpieces crackled and hissed, the screen going fuzzy the higher they ascended.
“Shit, what’s going on?” Birdie’s voice cut in and out, the equipment going on the fritz, but that was no longer my concern.
A sensation crashed down on me, magic stabbing at the back of my head, filling me with images, prickling everything in my body. The screen blinked out completely, as if the electricity from my body had fried the device.
Turning my head to the river behind me, the fog tangled up in the bridge joining the two sides. The sensations grew stronger, creeping over my shoulders and shivering through my muscles. I could feel the pounding of their feet, hear the hum of the tanks.
“Oh, gods,” I uttered, my breath stumbling.
“What?” Hanna crackled and popped, her voice barely there.
“Everyone get here to me. Now!” I yelled, tugging out the useless earpiece.
I knew what was coming. What was heading straight for us.
Because Farkas just showed me.