Haelo Rising, page 16
“I’m no traitor.” Her voice shook with anger.
Calm down, guys, I thought to myself. This is getting out of hand.
Dagger took another deep breath, running his hand over the top of his head. “I trust you, Zeta.” He sighed. “I’m telling you now.”
“Because Galana Miriam forced your hand.”
Dagger glanced to me, still fighting his patience. “Yes.”
“What did I do?” I asked. Then I put two and two together. My eyes bulged at the woman on my left. “You can hear all of our thoughts in the water?”
She shook her head. “Not all. But I can tap into a private conversation if I try hard enough.”
“You admit to invading the private thoughts of your Galana,” Dagger was all too quick to point out.
Zeta scowled.
“Wait, wait.” I put up my hands. “You can hear private underwater conversations? That’s why you always seem to know what’s going on.”
She smirked before realizing what she was admitting to. “My apologies, Your Highness. But in my defense, I’ve only ever done so in my duty to protect my team and my charges. And I’m very good at keeping secrets.” She looked pointedly to Dagger.
I wasn’t actually worried about it; my mind was reeling with strategies to use her talents against Massáude. Between the two of us, Massáude could not hide his plans! Then again, Dagger and Zeta had probably already thought through that. “How close do you have to be?” I asked her.
Dagger stepped closer, shaking his head. “Close enough for Massáude to notice her.”
“Not if you hide me,” Zeta reminded him.
“Your ability only works in the water. Massáude is in the palace Throne Court. Besides, the last time I tried to hide two others, it didn’t work.”
“And when was that?”
“Six years ago.”
“In practice? Or under pressure?”
“Practice.”
“The stakes are higher now. Try again.”
He clenched his jaw. “Even if it works at first, there’s no guarantee that it will hold.”
A silence fell over the dark cave.
Zeta spun around and paced a few steps. “Then what is the plan, Colonel?”
“We need to get out of these tunnels. If Massáude finds out we’re in here, we’re crushed. Then, we need to get senses on the hostages and Massáude. Gather intelligence.”
She nodded. “So we stake out from outside the palace walls. Get a feel for what’s going on.”
“No, we need to get inside. Haelo needs to get close to Massáude.”
“That’s a terrible idea.”
“Says the woman who has been reminding me of the Galana’s prowess every chance she gets. Haelo will be fine. No one will know she’s there.”
“Just because she can fight doesn’t mean we walk her into the lion’s den.”
“Guys!” I couldn’t take the fighting anymore. “Shut up. Both of you. Whatever the plan, we all have to be completely on board. It’s the only way this is gonna work.”
Dagger nodded first, Zeta shortly after.
I faced Zeta. “We came to assess the hostage situation and learn what we can about Massáude’s plans. If I can feel his thoughts and read his memories long enough, I might see his weaknesses. Which means I need to get close to him. I can’t do that from outside the walls.” I turned to Dagger. “But we can’t go in all willy-nilly. We need a solid plan.”
“Willy what now?”
I closed my eyes. “Willy-freakin’-nilly. Plan, Dagger. Solid plan.”
He squinted, thinking. “Zeta, how well do you know these tunnels?”
“Not well.”
“Good enough.” He bent down and started pulling things from his pack.
Zeta stepped closer. “You want to split up.”
He passed a walkie-talkie to Zeta then took a moment to think. “I need a distraction. Something to draw the Forçadores’ attention away from the north wing so Haelo and I can slip in through the upper terrace. Pull enough of his mercenaries away and I might even be able to get Cora and the other hostages out.”
She nodded, mulling over the idea. “Not that I disagree with your plan, but I must remind you that the Basileus sent you here to gather info and see if we can stop the pola medallion destruction, not to execute your own solo rescue plan. It’s not smart. Alfa Agema answers to the crown.”
“Alcaeus trusts me.”
“Are you sure he trusts you enough? If something goes wrong, this is treason.”
“Do you trust me?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Yes.”
“Good.”
But she wasn’t satisfied. “What if the Lóchos return? Their orders could get in the way of your vigilante rescue plans.”
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.” He looked to her, waiting for a visual agreement. Zeta shifted, already caving.
I just wanted to shove a popsicle stick up his nose, but whatever.
With one last look shared between them, they turned and faced me, feet apart, hands clasped in front, standing at attention.
I shifted. “What?”
Their eyes fell to me, expectantly. Like sentinels awaiting orders. “Alcaeus and Cora are not here,” Dagger said. “As a Galana, you have the authority to sanction or dismiss this plan as treason.”
“I see what you’re doing, Dagger.”
He didn’t flinch.
I stepped closer to my former bodyguard. “You’re asking me to give you permission to do something that Alcaeus told you not to do.”
Still, he didn’t react.
“You and I will enter the palace and find out more information. Zeta will provide the distraction. I officially sanction that.” I stepped even closer. “But I don’t yet agree to an unauthorized rescue. Unless we have no choice, that order is the responsibility of Alcaeus and General Stratos. They sent you here for information. Alcaeus was clear on that.”
Zeta nodded, then headed toward the far end of the tunnel where it dipped back into the water. “Look for my signal,” she called back. “A distraction will only work once.”
“Be safe, Zeta.” I tucked my arms into my pack. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Never.” She smiled back at me then stepped into the steep, wet slope, water to her knees. “Unless I need to do something stupid.” She waved goodbye and then dove into the black.
I took a deep breath through my nose and closed my eyes. Dagger waited for me, and I took my time walking back to him. “Don’t do that again,” I finally said. We locked gazes; his breath stirred my hair.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“If you disobey Alcaeus and something goes wrong, I won’t be the justification that you hide behind.”
“I don’t hide behind anyone.” He turned away and moved to stand underneath the hole in the ceiling.
I followed him to the vent, where he stood bracing his interlocked hands for my weight. I stepped into the cradle of his hands and reached up into the vent as he lifted me higher. I managed to drop my elbows onto the floor of the tunnel above and leverage a knee onto the ledge to hoist myself up into the dry tunnel.
Once situated, I reached a hand back to help Dagger up, but he didn’t need my help. His brow-raising vertical jump height was enough for him to grab hold of the rim and pull himself up.
The tunnel was cramped. We were both now sitting hunched over our knees, nearly face to face. “This seemed a lot bigger when I was nine,” he mumbled.
Oh geez. I flashed my light to the right and left. The tunnel curved in both directions. “Where to, O Captain, my Captain?”
The look Colonel Dagger Stravins gave me could have melted brick. “Don’t quote what you don’t know.”
“What is your problem?”
“Massáude is my problem.”
“No, it’s more than that.”
The look he gave me broke my heart. But he didn’t rise to my challenge. He looked left, right, then crawled forward.
I maneuvered behind him as the tunnel—cold with a frigid breeze—swept around a declining corner and then dropped off a small ledge. After waiting for Dagger to precede me, I lowered myself into the final cave and watched as he peered out from a small opening in the stone to the sparse lights of the city of Pankyra. We must have been high in the cave walls above the north end of the palace; our view was the same perspective as the view of the city on the night Griffin had proposed on one of the small palace terraces.
The city looked eerily different this evening, however. The flames of torches beyond were few and far between. Windows were shut, courtyards and bridges were empty. There wasn’t a soul to be seen. Even the pattern of bioluminescent light emanating from the top of the massive cave had a subdued green tinge that felt darker than usual.
The city was scared.
“Can you feel them?” I asked, creeping my head over the ledge for a better view. Dagger and I were lying on our stomachs, and our braced hands—like in a push-up position—felt too close.
“The hostages?”
“Yes. Is Cora okay?”
He closed his eyes, took a steady breath. My own face was inches from his in the cramped tunnel exit. I watched his brow furrow and the veins in his temple twitch as he stretched his senses out, feeling through gaps in the palace’s stone construction for the auras in the Throne Court. I didn’t try to sense for the hostages myself; my senses didn’t stretch nearly as far as his, nor did they react well to crowds.
Dagger opened his eyes, but he was holding his breath.
“What is it? Is she okay?”
“Cora is there. I can’t sense like you can, but I don’t think she’s in pain.”
“Then why do you look like you’re about to tell me terrible news?”
The corners of his eyes pinched into crow’s feet. “Princess Hyacinth and Delegate Dragos are there.”
“Okay.” But I still didn’t understand what Dagger was avoiding telling me.
“And Aaram.”
“My grandfather is a hostage?”
“Yes.”
“What are you not telling me?” I stage-whispered, getting impatient.
“Aaram’s aura is weak.” He looked away, his voice catching with his hesitation. “It’s barely there.”
My breath hitched. I searched hopelessly along the walls and turrets of the palace. “He’s dying?” I tried to stretch my senses, but the buzzed mush of that many auras behind thick stone walls made it too difficult.
“That’s what it feels like.”
“How many hostages are there?”
“Cora and her bodyguard Fia, Princess Hyacinth, Dragos, Aaram, and five others are in a line against the wall. Massáude, Hector, and Maria are there, and two other Forçadores I recognize.”
“Who are Hector and Maria?”
Dagger paused, as if deciding what to tell me. “Maria is Karchardeus’s widow, the woman you saw behind him in Hawai'i. She is one of Massáude’s advisors.” His face tensed in anger. “Hector seems to be Massáude’s new number two, now that Karchardeus is dead.” The muscles in his neck strained. “He’s Massáude’s . . . interrogator.”
“His torturer.”
Dagger didn’t deny it.
“Is that why Aaram is so weak? Torture?” I looked for an answer in Dagger’s face, but I didn’t like what I saw. “Massáude is using Aaram to get to me.”
“Probably.” Dagger waited a moment. “I’m sorry, Haelo.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I gathered my courage. “The longer we wait here, the worse this will all get. He’ll start interrogating Cora or Hyacinth. What about the fifty kryptes you said had been captured? Where are they?”
Dagger shook his head. “I don’t know. I can’t sense them.”
I slammed a frustrated hand on the stone beneath me. “How will we even know if Zeta’s done her part? What if we missed it?”
“She’s not shy. We’ll know.”
Just then, a Forçadoro appeared on the terrace just below us, right where Griffin had proposed. “Get down,” Dagger ordered. We ducked below the ledge of our hideout, hiding our auras behind the magnetic stone.
“He’s probably just patrolling,” Dagger whispered. “He’ll leave in a minute.”
But he didn’t leave. We lay on the stone floor of the tight tunnel and waited for over twenty minutes. Come on, come on.
It wasn’t the mercenary himself that was the problem; it was the fact that he could jeopardize our stealth if he informed Massáude before we silenced him. Any minute now, Zeta was going to make a scene, and that guard had to be gone before then.
With a huff, Dagger pulled the gun from his side leg and screwed on the silencer.
“What are you doing?”
“He won’t leave.”
“We’re not going to kill him.”
He ignored me.
“Dagger, we can still—”
Pop! Pop!
I jolted, staring at the profile of the man beside me.
He sighed. “It had to be done,” he said, so matter-of-factly. My teeth ground together. He turned abruptly, our faces now inches from each other. “You’re welcome, Your Highness.” He tucked the gun, still silenced, back into the strap on his leg.
My eyes stung. What were these kills doing to his soul?
“After Zeta makes her appearance, I’ll cloak our auras. We’ll need to move quickly.”
I wiped a tear from my cheek. “Where will we go?”
“That hidden inner hallway we escaped through yesterday. It bends around the back side of the Throne Court. It’s as close as I can get you to Massáude.” He looked to me, seeing the tear marks on my cheeks. “I’m sorry about Aaram. He is a good man.”
But my tears weren’t only for my grandfather. They were also for the man beside me who was becoming someone I didn’t recognize, full of cold impatience and contention and reckless bravado.
“Yes, he is.” I wiped another tear and cleared my throat.
“Take my hand.”
“What?”
He offered his open hand, beckoning. “Take my hand. We need to go as soon as Zeta gives us an opening.”
Oh. But I didn’t want to. The difference between the Dagger of the past and the Dagger of the present made the thought of holding his hand painful. He’d once hidden my aura without contact—in Atlantis. Couldn’t he do that again? Probably not. We weren’t as close as we used to be. We were different people now. Slowly, I brought my hand up and rested it in his large palm. He clasped it, closed his eyes, and brought our hands closer to his chest.
I kept my eyes on our hands, his darker, mocha skin enveloping mine. I knew there was still something there—way back in my heart there was that zing. I could admit that I still had feelings for the man he used to be—and here were the same hands, the same person, the same voice and expressions and aura. But there was baggage there now. He had evolved, I had evolved, and now the zing was probably just a memory.
The familiar flare of my aura exploding like a liquor fire had me bracing for the sudden pop of silence. And just like that, our auras blanked.
My other senses went on hyper-alert. I reveled in the smell of the cold stone around us and the smoke of torches meters below. The glistening cave walls sparkled more than ever. The feel of the rough tunnel floor seemed to dig into me more than before. And the sounds! I could hear water gently lapping against the boardwalks of the city canals far below. Hushed whispers. Torch flames snapping. Looking up, I could have sworn I could hear the minute swirling of bioluminescent glowing bacteria in the veins of light on the massive cave’s ceiling. And then there were the two heartbeats pounding together in this small tunnel. I could even hear the blood rushing through my veins.
The buzz of my aura white-washed so much.
Hurry, Zeta.
“I,” Dagger began softly, then paused, his brow furrowed. “I’m sorry.”
I took my own moment to think, unrushed, waiting to speak until I could trust my emotions. “For what?”
“For your grandfather. For the way I acted back there,” he looked into the dark tunnel behind us. “For what I said to you the night before your wedding.” His heart rate picked up.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
He kept his eyes on the city below. “I get it now. You and Griffin. You’ll make a good team. I’m happy for you.”
Tears pricked my eyes again, though I couldn’t think of the words to explain why.
He cleared his throat. “I’ve been . . . angry. Lately. I’m sorry I took it out on—”
Whoosh! Dagger and I whipped our attention to the city below, where a roaring fire blazed in the middle of a mushroom cloud of smoke. It looked like the explosion came from the upper city’s piazza just outside the palace walls, right about where the fountain stood.
“A bomb? Isn’t Massáude going to see right through that? It’s not even in the palace. And no offense to Zeta, but it was kinda small.”
“Wait for it,” he said. “The fire is the distraction’s distraction.”
I watched and listened. I sensed a handful of suspicious auras enter the piazza and encircle the smoldering fountain, but it definitely wasn’t the bulk of Massáude’s mercenary army. They were just starting to put it out when shots fired. From our position, we couldn’t see what was happening, but from the sound of it, a firefight had just begun. More auras rushed into the piazza.
“Now,” Dagger ordered. “While they’re busy chasing Zeta.”
We pushed up from our stomachs and draped our legs over the edge to a smaller ledge. I inhaled, squeezed Dagger’s hand tighter, and jumped, the distance to the terrace almost frightening.
Dagger and I landed at the same time, both of us rolling forward with the impact. Using that same momentum, we crept hand in hand to the terrace door and crouched, sensing what was on the other side. Finding the staircase and hallway beyond empty, I opened the door wide enough for Dagger to step inside.
The déjà vu was powerful. The thumb on my free left hand reached for the underside of my wedding ring as we raced down the inner spiral staircase and into the quiet hall.
