The Tradrych Strain- The Complete Series

by Marissa Farrar

  “I have news,” he announced. “Polityk Borys has declared that as well as the curfew, he’s going to prevent any more trade entering the city until we’re handed over to him.”

  “He can’t do that!” someone else exclaimed. “We need fresh foods grown outside of the city. What about businesses that need to export their goods to other districts?”

  “He’s pissed about what we did to his facilities,” Miko said, standing from his chair. “You can’t blame him. He’s going to force us out of hiding, or at least make the rest of the population of Vrale hate us so much that they force us out of hiding.”

  “The people are angry,” Geharz agreed, “but that doesn’t mean they’ll be angry at him. They could turn on us.”

  Trovik barked derisory laughter. “They have to know where we are first.”

  Diarus pressed his lips together. “Someone will turn. They always do.”

  “Not with the Zeimias,” Trovik shot back. “We’re loyal to the end.”

  I hoped he was right. Our lives could depend on it.

  A shout came from outside, alerting us all. “The guards! They’re coming.”

  The rebel who’d been keeping watch burst through the door, breathing hard. “They’re going house to house, doing searches. Pulling the places apart.”

  The atmosphere inside the safe house changed in an instant. Instead of panic, everyone snapped alert, jumping to their feet and awaiting the next instruction.

  Aleksy gestured to the table covering the hatch. “Quick, into the tunnels.”

  “Wait!” Geharz said. “Someone needs to answer the door. They’ll get suspicious if no one is here. And someone needs to move the table back across.”

  “I’ll do it,” Nad offered.

  I stared at him. “Nadeusz, no!”

  “I can throw them off the scent. Someone has to. It might as well be me.”

  How could I say I’d rather it was anyone but him?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Nadeusz

  I WEDGED MY HIP AGAINST the heavy table and pushed. Others joined in, and the legs scraped across the floor.

  I had to ignore the desperate longing, need, and regret in Tara’s eyes. She’d made sacrifices for the greater good, and this time it was my turn.

  “It’ll be fine,” I told her as we opened the hatch. “We’ll be back together soon.”

  Tears filled her eyes, and she threw her arms around my neck, squeezing me tight, before Diarus took her hand and tugged her away. She craned her neck, still watching me, and then finally turned and joined the others as they climbed down.

  It felt like it was taking too long. There were too many of us. They’d never all make it down and give me enough time to get the table back over.

  Shouts from the guards, and those homes they were searching, grew louder. They’d be on us at any moment, and if they burst in while we were like this, there would be no doubt that they were in the right place.

  “Move! Faster.”

  Finally, the last Trad jumped down into the tunnels below. I bent and grabbed the hatch and pulled it across, and then got behind the table and shoved it back into place. I was fit and strong, but I knew I must appear flustered. I forced a deep breath and dragged my fingers through my hair, trying to be less ruffled.

  Thump thump thump!

  The yell came from the door. “Open up, in the name of the Polityk!”

  I bristled at the thought of doing anything in Borys’s name. I still hadn’t gotten over the thought of him touching Tara. I doubted Tara ever would get over it, not fully, and that made me want to kill him.

  Borys wouldn’t be here, though. He wouldn’t reduce himself to going door-to-door, not when he had so many followers who would do whatever he wanted, without question. I had no respect for those Trads. Just like the ones back at the facility where we’d found Tara, they acted as though Borys was some kind of religious figure, not just a Trad who had bullied and bought his way into power.

  “Take a breath,” I shouted back. “I’m coming.”

  I strolled to the door, trying to give the impression of being relaxed. I was sure there were clues that there had been multiple people staying here all over the place. Blankets in corners, beds ruffled, plates and cups left out. Far more than one person could ever make use of. I was hedging my bets on the guards not being the brightest of Trads. I hoped they wouldn’t notice. There definitely wasn’t time to deal with it all now.

  Just as I reached the door, it flew open, the guard barging his shoulder into the other side. I had to dart back to prevent being hit.

  “When we say open up,” he snarled, “we mean open up. No delay.”

  I stood my ground, my arms folded over my chest, my chin lifted. “I was on my way. What’s the urgency?”

  There were two of them, but from the shouts coming from farther down the street, I assumed others were searching houses on the same street and would provide backup should anything be found. I hoped Aleksy had managed to get Tara some distance through the tunnels by now. I needed to buy them as much time as possible, even if it meant putting myself at risk. She would do the same for me.

  “You know what the urgency is. There’s no one in the city who hasn’t heard of the Zeimias.”

  I shrugged. “A group of unimportant nobodies.”

  “Until recently. Things have changed. Polityk Borys has given us orders to search every building in the city.”

  I gestured around. “As you can see, there’s no one here but me.”

  “That’s for us to find out.”

  The other guard spoke up. “And if you know anything, I suggest you tell us now. Borys has permitted the most severe of penalties for those found to either be harboring or involved with the rebels. It will be in your best interest to tell us what you know. The Polityk has shut down trade, instilled a curfew, and closed the city walls. Within days, the inhabitants of this city will be trapped and starving inside their homes if they don’t give up the Zeimias.”

  Borys is going to make himself popular with the people, I thought but managed not to say.

  Instead, I said, “As I already mentioned, I’m here alone.”

  He jerked his chin at his colleague. “Tear the place apart.”

  I had to force myself not to glance toward the table, knowing it would only take the slightest shift of my eyes in that direction to alert the guards as to where to look. But the item of furniture was like a magnet to my gaze, and I deliberately turned to put my back to it. The guards knew of the tunnels beneath the city—they weren’t a secret—though it was unusual to have an entrance lead directly onto a home rather than a street.

  The guards vanished into the bedrooms, and I winced at each crash and bang of furniture being toppled. I remained in position, knowing that appearing anything other than stoic would give them a clue I was hiding something. Trads and emotions did not go well together.

  They emerged back into the living space.

  I watched the one who’d done most of the talking clock the table in the middle of the room.

  “Help me move that,” he told the other guard.

  The guard stepped toward it.

  My time was up. I couldn’t risk them finding the tunnel entrance.

  I darted forward and caught one of the guards in a headlock. Before the other guard could react, I raised my free arm and slammed my elbow into his face. He exclaimed and staggered back, but I knew he wouldn’t be down for long. The first guard battered his fists against my arm locked around his throat. I whipped out my tail, catching the second guard by the ankles and yanking him from his feet. He landed heavily, and I lifted my foot and, with gritted teeth, stamped my boot down on the side of his head. It was enough to render him unconscious but not kill him, though I imagined when he woke with my boot print on the side of his face, he would probably want to kill me. I tightened my grip around the other guard’s throat, and he finally gave up his struggles and slumped in my arms. I released him, and he dropped down beside his fr
iend.

  The fight had been fast and almost silent, but I had no doubt that these two would be missed quickly enough. The other guards searching the street would come to find out what had happened, and I didn’t want to be here when they did.

  I couldn’t take the tunnel to follow the others. If I did, there was no one to push the table back into place, and these guards I’d taken down would soon have others looking for them. I might as well set a flashing arrow above the tunnel entrance to point it out to them.

  Instead, I ran to a window, dragged it open, and pulled myself out. Using window ledges and guttering, I climbed up onto the roof. I stayed at a crouch, aware I would be spotted if anyone looked up, and ran across the flat roof. The houses were all in close proximity to each other, and though the drop between them was a steep, dark void, it wasn’t wide. I bounded from one roof to another, my long legs bridging the gap, my tail acting like a sail to steady me when I landed. Did the inhabitants of the house hear me? I wasn’t light of foot, that was for sure. If they did, I was already gone before they had the chance to question the noise.

  I couldn’t afford to be stopped.

  I needed to get back to Tara.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Nadeusz hadn’t followed us.

  Though I ran through the tunnels, hand in hand with Diarus, and with Miko close behind, my heart and head were in the safe house with Nad. What had happened to him? Had the guards arrested him, or worse? My eyes filled with tears at the possibility I wasn’t going to see him again.

  I wanted to go back but I knew the rebels would never put their mission at risk for one Trad, no matter how important that Trad was.

  I didn’t even know where we were going. Would Nad know where to find us, when he was able to?

  We weren’t safe down in the tunnels either. They weren’t a secret. Borys’s guards would eventually think to search down here as well.

  We kept going, moving as a group. We took one turning and then another, though I had no idea where we were going. Were we heading out of the city? If we went too far, how would Nad find us again?

  Finally, we stopped to rest. The light was low and so was the mood. We all knew how close we’d come to being caught. It was strange being without Nadeusz as well.

  Miko, Diarus, and I huddled in together, all three of us joined in our fears for Nadeusz.

  “He’ll be okay,” Miko assured me. “It’ll take more than a couple of guards to stop Nad.”

  I sniffed and nodded, hoping he was right. I couldn’t imagine what we’d do if we lost Nadeusz. Just being apart from him for a short space of time felt wrong, like there was a hole in the atmosphere that wanted to suck me in.

  We kept going, the mood somber. Not wanting to attract any unwanted attention, if we needed to speak, everyone did so in quiet voices. There was a good chance we’d come across more of Borys’s guards down here, and though we’d most likely outnumber them, we wanted to keep our fighting for the facility.

  Strong arms suddenly wrapped around my waist from behind, squeezing me tight. I spun, unsure if I should be hugging or kicking whoever it was, but my adrenaline high enough to do either. A broad chest. Well-muscled biceps. A shock of dark hair and flames of red, orange, and yellow dancing within his pupils.

  “Nadeusz!”

  I flung my arms around his neck. His arms remained around my waist, pressing me to him. I let him go and leaned back enough to give him space to kiss me, and kiss me he did—his lips teasing mine open, his tongue lapping at mine. One of his hands slid up my back to tangle in my newly short hair. Everyone was standing around watching, and I didn’t even care. I was so happy to have him back that I had practically forgotten anything or everything else existed.

  I broke the kiss to look at him, checking him over for injuries. But he seemed fine.

  “You got away? They didn’t suspect anything?”

  “Yeah, they did.” He gave a wry smile. “I had to take two of them down, but I got away.”

  “Good. I was so worried.”

  He lowered his forehead to mine, gazing into my eyes. “I wasn’t going to let a couple of Borys’s guards stop me from getting back to you.”

  My breath hitched, and I thought I might cry again.

  Miko stepped forward to greet Nad as well, smacking him on the shoulder. Though I didn’t want to give Nad up, I stepped back enough so Miko could give Nad a bro hug, and then Diarus took over, patting Nad on the shoulder as well.

  “You did well, Nadeusz,” Aleksy said approvingly, “but we don’t have any more time to pull this together. They’re closing in on us with every passing hour. We need to take down the remaining facility.”

  Nad nodded in agreement. “Have we got enough people? Enough weapons?”

  A muscle tightened in Aleksy’s jaw. “We’re going to have to. Right now, we have the advantage. We know what we have planned, while the guards are still chasing their tails. The minute they find us, however, we lose that advantage.”

  Aleksy raised his voice, making sure everyone could hear him. A hush fell over the rebels as they clung to his every word.

  “We take the facility from three directions—the tunnels beneath the building, on land, across the desert, and from the sky with the hover vehicles. We get in there before they even know what’s hit them. Shoot to kill, but remember there are human women in there, and I don’t want to see any of them caught in the crossfire.”

  I dared to speak up. “And when we’ve taken the facility, then what?”

  Aleksy fixed me with his intense gaze. “Then we’ll take things from there.”

  “You said the women would be given the chance to go home,” Zoe said, her tone almost accusatory.

  “I’ll do whatever I can to make that happen, but all in good time. Let’s get this part done before we start worrying about the next, okay? We’ve got to win first.”

  Chastised, Zoe pressed her lips together and nodded, dipping her chin.

  I felt for her. She wanted to go home, and she wanted all those women we’d been taken with to have the same opportunity, too. This wasn’t the final step, though, no matter how immense the task seemed. Yes, this was the final facility, but there were human women all over the city now who’d been sold into slavery. We might be liberating those who were still pregnant, or who had been impregnated for a second and sent back here, but I’d been present at the market where we’d all been auctioned off. Zoe and I had managed to stay together, but what about those other women? Where were they now? In the homes of other Trads, or working in whorehouses? We might be able to liberate the ones in the facility, but our job still wouldn’t be done. It was far larger than just one place.

  It was the entire city.

  And this wouldn’t end until Polityk Borys had been taken down. A swirl of triumph and satisfaction twisted inside me at the thought of being the one who got to do it.

  “How are you feeling about going back to the facility?” I asked Zoe, off to one side.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure,” she admitted.

  “Do you think anyone else will still be there—any of the other women we were there with initially?”

  “I have no idea.”

  How long had it been since I’d escaped? I’d lost track of the days. Two weeks? Less, even. Or perhaps it had been more. There was certainly a chance some of the women were still at the facility, still pregnant. I thought of Avery, who’d arrived just before the other had helped me. She’d been a fiery one. I hoped she hadn’t let them break her. I knew how hard it was to hold on to your spirit under those circumstances. I’d almost lost mine.

  Still, I found it hard to imagine having passed the last couple of weeks with the monotony of the facility—the meals, and the showers outside in the metal troughs. Each day spent wondering if that would be the day the contractions would start, and watching the women around you come and go. The world outside of the facility had been a complete mystery to me then. I’d never even contemplated the possibility of there being
Trads on the outside who were fighting for us. Whatever happened, I hoped our presence would at least give the other women hope.

  Aleksy shared the weapons around the group. “We’ll stick with the same teams as we did for the other facilities. Nadeusz, since you already know the way in, I suggest you take the tunnels.”

  Nad nodded in agreement. “We can do that.”

  I was nervous. We’d be going back in the same way I’d left. Only this time I was able to move quickly, and not at the slow, waddling walk I’d first made my way down the tunnels. Though I was anxious at the possibility of coming face to face with Rhetarz, and the matron, and any others who’d kept me prisoner, the part of me that was a survivor looked forward to doing so. I wanted to stare into their faces, and show them that I was stronger than they gave me credit for. I wanted to prove to them that they’d underestimated me, and then I’d make them pay for how they’d treated me.

  Aleksy pressed a laser into my hand.

  I glanced down at the small silver weapon. “You want me to have this?”

  “As long as you think you’ll use it if necessary.”

  I set my jaw and nodded. “I’ll use it.”

  Making sure the safety was on, I slipped the small weapon into my pocket.

  We said our goodbyes as we divided up again. The teams taking on the facility from the ground and air were larger than our one remaining in the tunnels, but they had a bigger area to cover. I didn’t feel as bad about Zoe going with Trovik, Zuniq, and Aleksy this time. She was clearly more comfortable in their presence now, and I sensed a kind of quiet but fierce determination in her that hadn’t been present only a matter of days ago.

  We hugged and said our goodbyes.

  “I’ll see you inside the facility,” Aleksy told me finally. “We’ll make them pay for what they did to you.”

  Emotion swelled up inside me, closing my throat and making it unable for me to answer. Instead, I caught a tight smile between my lips and nodded. He reached out and squeezed my arm and pressed a kiss to my cheek.