17. You lied to me
I keep moving, hands stretched out in front of me. My foot hits something and I go down hard, scraping my knees on the concrete. I can taste blood in my mouth but I get back up and keep going.
The voices are getting closer. I can see phone lights now, sweeping back and forth like searchlights. I duck into what I hope is another room just as footsteps pound past in the hallway.
Suddenly I hear someone very close, trying to catch me with his spotlight. But before I can react, I'm pulled harshly around a corner, pressed against the wall by a tall body. Before I can scream, a big hand lands on my mouth and a voice beside my ear whispers roughly, "Don't move."
I recognize his voice immediately. He holds me tight against the wall until the person gets pulled in another direction by another noise. Then he rips my handcuffs apart and pulls me behind him.
"Wait," I try to stop him. "Wait!" I say again. "We need to get to the archives first."
"No."
"Yes, we do. That's why I'm here."
"Not now," he says shortly.
"But I only went here to—"
"No."
I dig my heels in, making him stop. "What do you mean no?"
He turns to face me, and even in the dark I can see his expression.
"Let's not do this now." This man—or wolf, whatever you wanna call him—has some nerve.
"Let's do it now," I say, not moving an inch, not even caring if we get discovered or not.
"I told you, I'll explain everything later."
"You told me you'd tell me the truth when I get those files," I say, getting louder.
"There are no files, Communicator," he replies.
"What?"
"There never were."
"That's impossible. You said—"
"I said what I needed to say to get you here."
The words hit me like a physical blow. "You lied to me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because we needed you to be caught."
I stare at him, trying to process this. "You wanted them to catch me?"
"Yes."
"So you used me as bait."
"Yes."
I punch him in the chest with both hands. "Bastard!"
He doesn't even try to block it. I hit him again, harder this time.
"You could have gotten me killed!"
"But we didn't."
"How did you know?" I accuse. "You knew they would catch me."
"Yes."
"You used me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Let's get out of here first." Voices are starting to get louder again. He grabs my arm and pulls me into the next room and closes the door behind us.
"You're unbelievable," I whisper angrily. "You made me think—"
"I made you think nothing. Didn't you see how your people treated you today, just for surviving one night with the wolves?"
"YOU LIE—" I begin to say loudly but he interrupts me.
"Keep your voice down."
"Don't tell me what to do. You lied to me about everything," I whisper again.
"Not everything."
"What else? What else was a lie?"
"This isn't the time—"
"When is the time? When you need me to do something else for you?"
"Communicator—"
"Stop calling me that!" I'm screaming again and I don't care. "I'm not your communicator. I'm not your anything. You used me!"
He moves closer and presses me against the wall with his body. The heat from him seeps through my clothes, and I can feel every inch where we're touching. My heart pounds so hard I'm sure he can hear it.
"You need to be quiet."
We're standing so close I can feel his breath on my face. "Don't blow up this whole plan just because you didn't know."
"YOUR STUPID PLA—" Before I can say anything else, his hand covers my mouth, pressing against it hard. I try to shake my head but he uses his other hand to keep my head still.
"Please just shhhh, they're right here," he breathes against my ear. "Don't make another sound. You don't want to have more deaths than necessary, right? That's what I'm trying to do here, Communicator."
"Mhmmm," I answer, trying to say he should get his stupid hand away from my mouth. But he doesn't move his hand. Without thinking, I bite down hard on his palm.
He jerks his hand back fast and even in the dark I can tell he looks at me, shocked.
"Did you just—"
"You deserved it."
He looks at his hand, then back at me. There's something in his expression I can't read.
"That hurt."
"Good."
The voices are moving away from us now. He reaches for the door handle.
"We need to go. Now."
Just as we reach a door marked 'Emergency Exit,' someone tackles me from behind. I hit the ground hard, my head slamming against the concrete floor. The world tilts and goes dark.