Chapter Forty-Four
The sky had begun its nightly transformation into a breathtaking tapestry of vibrant colors as its blue sun dipped behind the mountains.
Six hours had passed since they had left the temple, and with only the desert laid before them, they hadn’t stopped for more than a few moments at a time, despite dripping sweat with every step they took.
But fatigue was catching up to Gemma, her legs betraying her. Her foot caught on a rock, and she yelped as she almost fell, hands first, onto the sand.
“You okay?” Christian asked through the mic in her helmet.
“I’m fine,” she groaned between heavy breaths. Stars, please let us get there soon. She wasn’t going to last much longer.
As if the galaxy had heard her, Christian pointed the moment they reached the top of a sand dune. “There. The metal thing. That’s the spot.” Even he sounded winded.
That was a bit of a comfort. If the most conditioned person in their group was weary, maybe she wasn’t completely untrained.
Their feet sunk into the soft, shifting sand as they hurried down the red sandbank, each step a cacophony of whispers in the evening air. The surface hardened as they closed in on their landmark, their boots now emitting a faint, dry, crunching sound—drumbeats of warning.
Gemma’s hairs stood on end. Something about this place made her want to turn and run almost as much as that alien temple had.
She took a deep breath, willing her nerves to settle into the back of her mind.
They were in the middle of the desert, the ultralights on their vests were on, the dune runners didn’t come out at night.
They were going to be fine.
“This is an outpost?” Imara asked when they’d reached their mark.
The Dissent’s hidden site appeared to be no more than a rusting metal capsule, like a drop ship sent from outer space, having crashed on Reva’s surface hundreds of years ago. A massive hole had been blown into its side, and red sand poured from the gap, forming a ramp into the capsule’s bowels.
Antennae sprung from the ends of the casing though, giving rise to the probability that this was, indeed, a hidden outpost.
Christian’s jaw flexed. “Weapons out. I’ll go first and make sure it’s clear.”
“With one arm?” Colton said. “No way, man. Stay here. I’ll check it out.”
Christian sighed but nodded, relenting.
Gemma squeezed his hand. Not being fully functional had to be eating at him.
Colton pressed his rifle into his shoulder as he stepped cautiously through the hole in the capsule. Gemma dug out her daggers and gripped them tightly while Hawk and Imara flanked Christian.
Gemma staggered her stance, ready to pounce, and held her breath. This would be her first step toward getting revenge for the Dissent using her love for her sister in some sick, twisted plan, and she was so ready.
But Colton shouted an all clear from inside. Gemma shoved her daggers back into their sheaths, her heart sinking.
Hope stung like a prick of poison when it ended up being false.
The four of them took off their helmets, relishing in the cooler evening air, and joined Colton inside where a slew of weaponry and equipment sat, housed in labeled plastic boxes. Guns, ammunition, grenades . . . How had the Dissent acquired all of these?
“Blast, this is worse than we thought,” Hawk said.
“No, I think this is about what Rami thought it would be,” Colton replied, the face mask on his helmet lifted so he could be heard. “There are some sort of plans and a radio over there.”
Christian was the first to reach the small, square table, on which metal folders sat. He snapped one open and started to pull out the papers. “These are blueprints for Zion.”
Imara and Hawk crowded around him to get a better look, but Gemma ran her fingertips over one of the plastic boxes, her stomach in her throat.
She’d almost taken out Rami. And if she’d succeeded, her actions would have offered enough of a distraction that the Dissent’s true operative would’ve had no problem fulfilling whatever crazed mission they’d been sent on.
What if the Dissent had more of these sites scattered across Reva? If they had blueprints, and an undercover spy, and more weaponry than they’d seen inside Zion . . .
Everyone in that tower stood zero chance if it were breached.
Gemma was yanked from behind.
A powerfully strong arm wrapped around her, holding her arms taut against her body despite her thrashing. The point of a dagger pressed against the skin at her jugular. She ceased moving, whimpering.
The noise caught the attention of her friends. They spun around, their pistols flying into their hands.
“Do you guys have any idea how hard it’s been to let you tag along on this little trip?” Colton’s chest rumbled against Gemma’s back as he spoke. “But I figured, hey, this could be fun.”
Her eyes burned. He was the operative?
She wriggled against him, and Colton pressed the blade deeper into her skin.
Christian’s glare was so fierce, even Gemma felt a bit afraid of him. “Let her go. Now.” His tone was deep, merciless.
Colton snorted. “No, I don’t think so. See, there’s a piece of equipment in here that I need, and it needs to get back to Zion in one piece. So, I’m going to take Gemma and the equipment with me, and when I get to Zion, I will let her go, unharmed.”
Christian stepped forward, cocking his gun.
“Really?” Colton snarked. “You’re going to try shooting me with one arm and risk hitting her? Not likely.”
“How do you know we won’t chase you down and slit your throat while you sleep?” Imara seethed.
“Because this little guy has poison on it.” He scratched Gemma’s neck with the point of the blade. She turned her face away from it with a gasp.
“It’ll take a full five days for the effects to truly kick in,” he continued, “and only I have the antidote. In Zion. So, if you want her to live, you’ll let me keep breathing, thank you.”
Hawk stepped around Imara, and the click of his gun cocking stopped Gemma’s heartbeat. He wouldn’t waste a chance to kill Colton, even if it meant ending her in the process.
One life for hundreds.
She looked at Christian, her jaw shaking, using her watery eyes to tell him to let her die.
Christian’s nostrils flared as he shoved his pistol in Hawk’s face. “Don’t even think about it.”
Hawk growled. “Rami said his plan is catastrophic. It’s her or everyone. I’ve made my choice.”
“The moment you pull that trigger, I pull mine.”
Imara pushed both of their arms down. “That’s enough! We’re not shooting each other.” She turned her attention to Colton. “You swear on Illari she won’t die?”
His dagger had yet to move from Gemma’s jugular, and her hot sticky blood rolled into the neckline of her suit.
A tear fell from her eye. In one second, she could end it. She had tried to end her life once before. At least now she could save others in the process. All she had to do was step into the blade, severing her artery, and Hawk would destroy Colton.
Do it! she screamed at herself.
But her feet were frozen to the ground. She couldn’t move, no matter how hard she tried. She had reasons to live now: People cared about her. Christian loved her.
Her sister was alive.
Gemma squeezed her eyes closed as tears ran down her cheeks.
“I’ll swear on whatever you want me to swear on,” Colton answered Imara.
“As long as she doesn’t try to kill me, you’ll find her happy and alive inside the front door of Zion—with the antidote already administered.
Call it an act of good faith, if you must. I trust that you won’t kill me; you trust that I won’t kill her. Simple as that.”
“This is nowhere near simple,” Christian growled. “I will kill you.”
Colton shrugged. “Maybe someday. But not yet. Imara, be a dear and stick that box in my backsack. Obrigado, querida.”
Imara moved deftly to pick up a container no bigger than a meal box and stepped behind Colton. Another tear rolled down Gemma’s cheek as she swayed in Colton’s powerful grasp.
The time Imara provided by rearranging Colton’s supplies gave Gemma and Christian a moment for their gazes to connect. His eyes had grown so red and glassy, and the agony weaved into the lines on his face fractured Gemma’s heart.
“I love you,” was all she could say before Colton yanked her toward the exit.
“Oh, how sweet,” Colton sneered, backpedaling, Gemma caught in his vigorous hold. “You will give me half a day’s start. If I see any of you following me, deal’s off.”
A solitary tear slid down Christian’s cheek, then Gemma was jerked through the hole in the capsule and forced back into the moonlight.