Chapter 13
The basement is silent except for the scratch of pencil on paper.
Max and I need to return to Defectivum before the curfew, so right now is planning time.
Theodora erases the last marks she’d drawn. “Fuck, that’s wrong, isn’t it?”
Obviously, I don’t have access to official blueprints for the Conclave’s scientific base —or Bastard Bunker, as Donovan insists on calling it—but between myself and Theodora, we are constructing a map of the facility.
At least, as best as our memories allow.
"There were four doors off that main room," Theodora says, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. She has her eyes closed, desperately trying to recollect. “And the Harts brought the children through the one on the far left.”
She writes the word ‘children?’ with an arrow on our schematic.
“I imagine the kids are kept in some kind of containment, prior to being used in the ascension. So there has to be a cell block somewhere,” I mutter, thinking aloud.
“Can you not use that term,” Maximus growls. “Ascension. Fuck that. Makes it seem like something good and light.”
Feniks taps a pencil against his teeth. “I’d describe it as Perdition. The term for eternal damnation.”
“None of that is helpful,” I grumble. “What would be helpful is solid intel. Striker is trying her best, but my father isn't the type to have high-security schematics under anything but the finest digital encryption.
Theodora sighs heavily, then stands. “It’s nearly dark, we should do this before lockdown. We can’t let Wes know what’s going on.”
Dono has taken his brother off to the dining hall for food in an attempt to keep him oblivious to our mission.
I nod. “Agreed, what else is there to add? This is all we have. I’m going to have to figure it out as I go along.” I smooth my hair back and try not to look as frazzled as I feel.
“Drakeward, we have not finished strategizing,” Feniks growls.
I turn and meet his eye. “I don’t follow your orders. It’s my choice to enter the building site and locate Ludo, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
They all look at me nervously.
“It’s dangerous,” Maximus says.
Picking up my jacket, I go to the basement door then turn. “I’m Jane Eyre in this scenario; don’t Mr. Rochester my free will.”
???
Bravado is all very well, but it doesn’t ease the tension in my stomach.
“Hey, you, stop right there.”
And now I have a gun pointed at me.
“Hey, you, fuck off,” I reply, using a spell to make him lower the weapon. “I’m Cosmo Drakeward, step aside.”
The guard blinks, his pupils widening as he registers my name. The aggressive set of his shoulders slumps, and he holsters the weapon. “Of course, Mr. Drakeward. My apologies.”
He lifts a radio and communicates to someone. Within a minute, the steel gate slides open. I stride through, boots crunching confidently on gravel. The construction site is a mess of scaffold skeletons and abandoned machinery. You’d never guess what is really buried beneath this ground.
—You good, Cosmo? The cameras have lost you—
Theo’s telepathy is fainter than usual. Is it because I’m close to the dark energy source?
—All good. Heading to elevator now—
I walk towards the rusted cargo container where we’d previously entered the Bastard Bunker. Two more armed guards meet me there, giving courteous nods.
“Sir.”
As I’m about to enter the metal box, something flits in the corner of my vision. Something that my dragon insists I pay attention to.
“Shall I call the elevator for you, sir?”
“One moment. I want to inspect the surface area first. Go back to your duties.” The guards exchange nervous glances and hustle back to the inner perimeter.
Now.
What did I see?
I step casually away from the shipping container, my pulse hammering a frantic rhythm and I don’t know why.
Find.
I don’t question my dragon, just move toward a stack of rusted I-beams near the north perimeter, my eyes scanning the shadows.
There.
A vent, tucked low against a concrete retaining wall. Its cover is hanging by a single screw. The small outlet is designed for airflow, not people. But as I get closer, I see a tiny, muddy handprint on the metal casing.
A child-sized print.
Seek.
Following my instincts, I crouch. "Hello?" I whisper. “If you’re in there, I’m a safe person.”
First time I’ve said that in my life and meant it.
“I’m not with the bad guys. I’m here to help.”
My dragon is trying to tell me something.
The minotaur.
Right. “Maybe my friend helped you,” I say into the darkness. “He’s a big man with long white hair. I bet he helped you out, and now he’d want you to come away with me to safety.”
A wait.
After a long beat, when I’m beginning to doubt my instincts, the top of a head appears. It’s followed by a pair of wide, terrified eyes.
"I'm Cosmo," I say, trying to keep my voice gentle. It’s not a tone I have much practice using, still, I’m doing my best. I reach out a hand, palm up. “Shall I get you out of here? Get you to safety?”
There is no movement from my new tiny friend.
“I’ll find a way to get you home,” I say.
The word home acts like a key.
The shadow shifts, and a girl crawls through the small vent space. She’s tiny, covered in gray dust and insulation fibers, looking like a ghost that’s been dragged through a coal mine. She crouches low, eyes darting all around, then landing back on me.
The look in her eyes is far too old for her face.
“Keep down,” I tell her. “I’m going to take a second to make a plan.”
—Hey, Theodora. I need a distraction. I’ve got to get a kid out of here without anyone seeing—
—Can’t hear you properly…did you say a kid?—
I stand up straight, then climb on top of a sand pile. A little ridiculous but maybe the height will give me a better reception. I reiterate my need for a distraction.
—Shit, fuck, OK. One sec. We’re talking—
My eyes flick to the ventilation cap. The girl has crawled back inside. Probably a good plan.
In the distance the guards are looking my way. I take out my phone, to call Theo instead using her telepathy, but there is no cell service. Must be some kind of signal blocker around here.
Nonetheless, I hold the phone to my ear, pretending to talk.
“My friends are going to make a distraction,” I tell the child without looking her way. “When they do, I’ll need you to follow my directions precisely, ok?”
I don’t look for confirmation. I can only hope she’s on board.
One of the guards starts towards me.
Come on, assholes! Fucking do something.
A second later, a fiery explosion happens at the fence line. It’s at the diametrically opposed side to the main gates.
Smart.
Guards are running that way.
“Now, kid.”
A small, cold hand slides into mine.
OK. Need to think.
If I walk through the gate with her, my father will soon hear about it. My compliance game would be up.
That’s alright as plan B, but I’d rather we had the advantage of my being a mole for a while longer.
So plan A. I lead the girl through the tangle of building supplies and head towards the area closest to the laundry.
—Can you float a little girl over this wall?—
I think Theo must be close now. I can hear her much better.
And Feniks.
—Alright, follow my instructions…start an air spell to alter the currents, center it beneath her— he tells me.
—Check—
Dust devils whirl as I manipulate my fingers. “Stay still,” I tell the kid. This is one little girl I have half a chance of rescuing.
Suddenly, a surge of Lumina pulses into my brain, sent along the link my Theodora. It’s not filling my body, but does aid my spell. I concentrate as Feniks yells in my head all the next steps of the complex casting.
It’s a lot, but then.
She’s floating.
There’s no time for grace, or worries about a gentle landing. I just need her gone.
Safe.
With a swipe of my hand I send her up and over, then instantly turn heel and march towards the blaze. “What in Gods’ name is happening?” I demand.
“Molotov cocktails,” a guard pants, wielding a fire extinguisher.
“For fucks sake,” I snap. —You guys clear?—
—We’re gone—
I wave a hand, and water from a nearby barrel shoots up and onto the wall, dousing the flames instantly. Turning, I glare at my father’s soldiers. “Pitiful,” I spit. “Do better next time.”
And now?
I guess I’m heading in to find Ludo. Wherever the fuck he might be.
My dragon is restless, pacing the edges of my mind as I head towards the elevator.
He reminds me not just to find Ludo, but to make sure the trail I left behind—the girl, the spell, the sudden fire bombing—doesn't lead back to the others.
The elevator hums as it drops.
When the doors slide open, I step out into the hallway and nearly collide with a man in a white lab coat.
Jonquil Hart. He looks frazzled, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose.
"Cosmo? What are you doing here? Is your father here?” he asks, his voice tight.
“Actually, I came to talk to someone about security,” I say, leaning into my bored-aristocrat asshole persona. “And honestly, Jonquil, it seems like not a moment too soon. Did you see that someone threw a fire bomb at the fence?”
“What?”
“Yes. I’ve been reliably informed that some students at the academy are talking about breaking in.
” I straighten the cuff of my blazer then look up again.
“Communis kids probably, worried they won’t get innate magic,” I tut.
“I don’t know if the vandalism is a protest or a warning, but figured I’d come down and see just how secure this place is. ”
Hart’s face pales. "Rebelling students? Gods, as if I didn't have enough to deal with." Right on cue, a klaxon starts to blare.
A voice crackles over the intercom: “Sector 4 cell breach. Two subjects unaccounted for. Lock-down initiated.”
A fresh-faced guard comes rushing around the corner.
I hold my hand up in a halt gesture. “Explain,” I say.
“The big dude, the one we had locked up. He’s gone. And the kid.”
Hart lets out a sharp breath. “Impossible.”
More guards come tearing down the corridor. “Look alive,” one shouts. “He went through the ceiling.”
“Sounds like the architect of this place has some explaining to do.” I raise an annoyed eyebrow. “I’ll join the fugitive hunt. These idiots don’t seem to know their ass from their elbows. And don’t let them kill the escapee. I’ll want to question him.”
Hart blinks furiously. “Yes, well. If you think that’s a good idea. I’m going to… check the lab. Secure it.”
“And secure yourself inside?” I drawl. “Grow a spine, man.”
Hart isn’t listening, he’s already moving away.
I’m left alone.
Well, well, well, Ludo. Nicely done. You got the kid out, but where are you?
My dragon starts to writhe beneath my skin.
Minotaur.
I know! I’m going to find him.
Minotaur.
The fucking beast is nudging my brain with its fiery talon. Oh, wait. He thinks he can track Ludo.
Stupid human.
Yeah, yeah. Just point the way, then we’ll bust him out of here.