Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Iapproach the sensors on slightly wobbly legs, before I drop to my knees and block them with a surge of my dome-creating power. I’m not worried about blocking our own view of approaching danger, because Stella made sure we’re blinded to that, anyway.
‘Ellie? What are you doing?’ Allen says.
‘I need to tell you something and I need to make sure that no one is listening.’
Because I could potentially be stepping on lots of people’s toes – and by this, I mean Central Command – when saying what I need to say. At least, I picked up a decent trick on this mission with blocking the sensors. ‘Look. I’m sick of this. Of getting tossed around on Central Command’s whims.’
‘It’s called following orders,’ says Mace, a trace of bitterness in his voice.
‘Well, you and I both know I’m not particularly good at that,’ I cut in before I get sidetracked.
I throw Mace a savage look that tries to convey, back off.
‘But Stella has been trying to throw us some crumbs, with the hidden location she sent us to. I think we’re picking up on some good stuff and I think Stella wants us to. ’
Julian jumps down off the tree he’d clambered for scouting. ‘What are you getting at?’
‘That Stella may not be able to point us to other hidden blocks … but that doesn’t mean we can’t search for them.’
‘Why?’ Mace says. His frown is back. Again.
‘Well, since I don’t see myself stepping another foot out of The Citadel once this mission is done, I think what we have here is a unique opportunity.
No one, as far as I know, can disable the sensors as I do, and get us past the dozen holograms guarding the protected information. So … it’s either now or never.’
Mace bites his lip and I can’t tell whether he thinks it’s a good idea or not.
‘How do you propose we find the other locations?’ Allen asks, and I can see the wheels turning in his head.
‘I was hoping you might help with that,’ I reply. ‘Scan all the supply points in the Disputed Lands, and see if there are any common features that pop up between the cave we’ve already visited and other supply points.’
Allen’s tired features light up. That could work.
I smile. I knew I could count on you.
‘It might take some time, though,’ he says out loud.
Xandra sits up. ‘But we can’t just give up on whatever missions Stella sends us on and go hunting for this hidden information. We don’t even know if it’s available.’
Wow, thanks, buddy, I think.
‘Yup,’ Julian hurries to agree. ‘We could be messing up our standing. And for all we know, we could be chasing ghosts.’
‘We split up for a few days,’ Mace cuts in firmly. ‘If the missions allow us to. Someone goes with Ellie, and the rest try to complete the missions.’
My face splits into a huge grin.
‘As long as it doesn’t affect our standing,’ he adds.
Sure. Of course. The precious standing that will send him on the path to becoming a Commander himself. But I’m mildly surprised that he’s agreed to go with my plan.
‘Fine,’ I say.
‘Fine,’ Mace says.
‘Then I’ll get to work,’ Allen replies.
Today is a day for miracles, it seems. As soon as I wake up and step out of my tent, I’m greeted by Allen’s wide smile. He’s mixing oats and water and powdered milk into a cauldron.
‘We’re cooking?’ I say. ‘With a fire?’ Even I know that would be a dead giveaway of our position, if the other teams spontaneously decided to ambush us.
‘We have a full view of the map again. With hostile movements included,’ Allen says. ‘Happened at some point during the night.’
‘Nice,’ I hum, hurrying to fetch my bowl. I never thought I’d get so excited about porridge.
‘Also,’ Allen says, as he spoons the gruel into my bowl, ‘I narrowed down the search to three possible locations for…’—he stops to clear his throat pointedly—‘sheltered places to camp during the night.’
I know he means ‘locations where Central Command might have hidden relevant and important information,’ but since we’re being watched and we don’t know if anyone is listening, I simply nod.
‘Excellent,’ I say, though I’m a bit nervous about breaking away from the rest of the team.
And I wonder if they’ll be okay. I mean, it hasn’t even been a freaking day since Julian and I returned at breakneck speed because everyone else was in danger, and a pit opens in my stomach at the thought that anyone on Team Gold could be in danger like that again.
‘Will you be alright, though?’ I ask. ‘Especially since I’ll have the Pocket Healer with me.’
Allen waves me off. ‘We’ll stay clear of the other teams, though after that display of strength yesterday, I bet they’ll be the ones to stay away for a while. You’re a beast, Ellie.’
‘Thanks?’ I say. ‘I don’t want to be that person, though. I don’t like her.’
‘Yeah, I see what you mean,’ Allen says.
‘I knew you would.’
‘But,’ he goes on, ‘you’re starting to think like a Warrior.’
‘Right,’ I say. ‘Must be the combat training. Mr Grumpy is starting to rub off on me.’
Allen tilts his head. ‘He’s trying, Ellie.’
‘I know,’ I concede, thinking of all the hours Mace has spent with me in training, helping me figure out how to use my power.
And even if the breakthrough I had yesterday wasn’t during a training session, I obviously soaked in a lot of the tactical-thinking bullshit that Mace has been blabbering on about, and somehow managed to use when it mattered.
Not to mention the fact that the second I announced what I wanted to do, Mace agreed to split the team. He’s been nothing but supportive. In a barky, abrasive and often annoying way, but nonetheless…
The others emerge from the tents – well, Xandra saunters from the treeline, so she must have been keeping watch.
Mace’s hair is still mussed after sleeping, and I won’t be the fool who tells him to comb it, because it looks too good on him.
His stubble is growing into the shadow of a beard and I’m totally into the wilder look.
His gaze seeks me, trailing over my body, and I nearly grin.
‘What was that I overheard, Allen?’ Mace says, still looking at me. ‘You have a trail?’
‘Yup,’ Allen confirms.
‘Then we’ll split right after breakfast,’ Mace says.
Xandra’s mouth twists with displeasure. ‘And what if Stella needs all of us to complete a mission? We’ll be endangering our team’s standing.’
‘We’ll try to stick close together, then,’ Mace says, ‘if there’s any wiggle room.’
‘I don’t like this,’ Xandra says.
‘You don’t have to,’ Mace replies, and that hard edge, the one that makes me see why he could one day become part of Central Command, really shines through.
Add that to the natural grumpiness, and I can completely see why Mace would make the perfect grim ruler who rips people out of the party of the year and sends them half-drunk and high on sweets on life-endangering missions.
‘We don’t get a say now?’ Xandra asks. ‘You just get to decide what’s best for us?’
‘We all decided last night that it’s best not to pass on this chance, didn’t we?’ Mace says, staring Xandra down.
‘I didn’t say anything,’ Julian pipes in.
‘It’s okay, Julian,’ Mace says. ‘You can stop kissing Xandra’s arse. We get it. I’ll go with Ellie, and we’ll stay in touch and see if Stella sets us up with missions that we need to complete together.’
Julian’s eyes narrow. ‘You’re going with Ellie?’
Stupid butterflies circle in my belly. I try to remind myself that he isn’t into me in that way, but on days like today, Mace puts a smile on my face by just being there.
It’s nearly impossible to keep my excitement at bay.
So I don’t even wait for him to finish his argument with Xandra and Julian. I turn on my heels and start packing.
To say that Mace and I parted from the rest of the team on cold terms would be an understatement. I caught fragments of their whisper-shouted conversation, like ‘endangering everything we worked for’ (that was Xandra) and ‘unwarranted distractions’ (also Xandra).
I wish I could say that I’m disappointed in her, after we seemed to bond last night, but did I really expect anything different?
Realistically, no.
So as Mace and I make our way to our next destination – a tall, craggy hill in the distance – I wait just long enough to be definitely out of Team Gold’s earshot and far enough from any sensors that might pick up on our conversation, and start drilling Mace with questions.
‘Why was Xandra so crabby about the two of us going off?’ I say, suspecting what the answer might be.
Mace is walking by my side, scanning his ART and our surroundings for possible foes. There aren’t any. ‘Are you going to chew my ear off until we get this done?’ he says, turning his face away from me to scan some undefined, non-existent danger to our right.
‘Oh, great! Grumpy Mace is back,’ I reply.
‘You mean, focused Mace who gets shit done,’ he says smoothly, picking up his pace and moving off in front of me.
‘I don’t understand why that and being pleasant are mutually exclusive,’ I say.
He sighs. The long-suffering sigh of someone plagued by an unnamed, incurable affliction. ‘Sometimes I think that Stella inflicted you on us just to test me. Like, if I can survive a mission despite Ellie’s interference, I can survive practically anything.’
‘Don’t tempt fate, Mace Hardfield. Things can always get worse.
This particular setting reminds me of our brilliant start in this mission.
Just you and me, huh? And you’re forgetting that I still have my golden shoes in my backpack, and I can whip them out any second and decide to complete the rest of our trek in them. ’
‘You wouldn’t dare,’ he says.
‘I’m curious how you’ll try to stop me.’
‘Do not test me. I will hold you down and pry your shoes off, if I need to, and actually burn them, for good measure.’
I’m not particularly opposed to the idea of Mace holding me down, but I’m sure it’s not a good plan to share that thought with him. He half turns his face towards me, though, and he’s grinning.