“We should get moving,” Ruckus pointed out. “Everyone, make sure to keep your fitting channels open. The first team to find something should immediately alert the others. And remember, no one comes back here. We’re meeting in the garage on the other side of the castle. Once we’re all together again, we’ll make our way to where Fawna has hidden the ship nearby.”
At the exit to the hangar, Delaney paused and glanced at the other team members. They were already headed to the right, down a long corridor that stretched to the South Wing, the opposite direction of where they were going. That was where Gibus had last seen the device, so it was the best place to check first.
“Come on.” Ruckus nudged her to the left. “The faster we do this, the faster we can get everyone out safely.”
She turned back to find that Trystan was already at the end of the other hall, and had slid the gorud’s glass panel over his eye. At his side, Verus had his fritz activated, his back pressed against the wall in preparation to move.
Lights flickered across the screen and then Trystan motioned to them with two fingers. “I’m in the system. Shutting off the hallway cameras now. All right, let’s move.”
They passed down the corridor on their right as quickly and as silently as possible. He stopped them with a raised hand when they were close to the end, clearly taking care of the next camera with the gorud. After a beat, he had them moving again. The process repeated itself a few times, moving them deeper into the heart of the castle.
Even though they were moving slowly enough, Delaney didn’t really have time to look around. She processed that most of the floors they were treading over were made of white marble with streaks of silver, and that a lot of the walls were various shades of blue, but that was about it. She was concentrating on her next step too much to pay attention to anything else, let alone home decor.
It would have been nice, though, if she’d had the chance to explore, get to see the place Trystan had grown up. It was strange, trying to picture a younger version of him sneaking through the halls the same way they were now. Coming up with ways to avoid his father.
“Is this how you got Gibus out?” she asked after twenty minutes of silence had passed. Unsurprisingly, she wasn’t the only one extremely focused on the task at hand.
“It is,” Trystan said, then waved to the left, indicating it was clear for them to head that way. They were halfway down the hall when his arm shot out, simultaneously stopping her and just about knocking the wind out of her. “Tellers are heading down the other hall.”
Their group stilled, the tension so thick, it was like a heavy weight pressing down on all of them.
After what felt like forever, but was really only a minute at best, Trystan let out a breath. “They turned down the corridor adjacent to us. We need to hurry.”
They moved, slipping back into that anxious silence as he navigated them through the castle. The place seemed to go on endlessly, and it was a while before they even reached their first checkpoint.
It was a room hidden within another that appeared to be a plain old sitting area. The door was set into the wall, a hidden panel made to look like just another piece of it. Trystan had it opened easily enough, and they entered cautiously.
“There’s nothing here,” Verus was the first to announce as they took stock of the room. It was slightly larger than a supply closet, with a couple of different outlets on the walls. But aside from some dusty old machines that clearly hadn’t been touched in years, it was empty.
“Let’s head to the next possible location,” Ruckus said, and they slipped back out, shut the hidden door behind them, and continued on.
The next two places Trystan thought to look were fruitless as well, and they’d yet to hear anything from the other team. Everyone was starting to grow impatient. There were only a couple other rooms the Zane thought might be capable of housing the device. If they didn’t find it in either of those, plan B was to go straight to his father’s study and search for a link to the Tars.
Apparently, the security level surrounding that area had been heightened since Trystan had been there last, and he assumed it’d only gotten worse once he’d broken Gibus out, proving to his father he wasn’t on his side. Because of that, it had to be the last thing they did, in order to avoid setting off some kind of alarm and giving them away.
“At least we haven’t been shot at yet,” Verus mused as they traveled down yet another blue, white, and silver hall, obviously trying to lighten the mood. “The Rex really must have taken the bulk of the Tellers usually stationed here with him. Lucky for us.”
Delaney turned to reply, but Trystan came to an abrupt stop, causing whatever she’d been about to say to die on her lips.
He tapped the button on the back of the gorud, his movements becoming more frustrated with each passing second. It became apparent why he was annoyed when she realized the screen in front of his eye was no longer lit up.
“What’s the problem?” Ruckus asked, keeping his attention locked on the end of the hall. They’d stopped pretty close to it, not leaving much escape room.
“There’s a glitch,” Trystan growled back, still trying to get the gorud to work. His free hand reached for his back pocket, where he’d slipped a shing earlier. “Keep watch. I’ve brought the handheld, but it’ll take me a moment to switch over to it.”
The whole reason they’d decided to use the gorud was so that the Zane’s hands could remain free, saving them precious time. He was the only one who could activate the palm scanners at every door, after all, and he was also one of their best shots. Having to hold the device meant they’d be at yet another disadvantage.
And no matter how slight that disadvantage might seem, Delaney was smart enough to know it could make all the difference.
“How is that even possible?” Verus questioned, facing away from them so he could watch their backs. “Gibus said he worked on it. He doesn’t make technical mistakes.”
“Well,” Trystan drawled, already working on the handheld, “he did this time.”
“Has it powered off?” Ruckus risked a quick glance over his shoulder at the Zane before returning his gaze to the end of the hall.
“That’s the odd part. It hasn’t. It’s just not wor—” Trystan’s body jolted, his jaw clenching shut hard as his shoulders rocked forward with so much force, he ended up slamming into the wall. The device in his hands clattered to the floor loudly, his fingers shaking rapidly.
It looked almost like he was being electrocuted, and Delaney rushed to him, catching the back of his head in her palm just as he was about to slam into the wall. His large form slipped down until he was sitting on the ground, still shaking.
It had happened so fast, the others had only just turned around to see what was going on. They both emitted sounds of surprise, but Delaney’s only concern was the Zane.
His eyes kept blinking, and he was twitching, like spasms were still racing through him.
Acting on impulse, she reached up and tore the gorud off his head, tossing it to the other side of the hall.
As soon as the device was off, he went still, sagging so that she had to press against his shoulders in order to keep him from curling in on himself. His eyes had closed, and his body was limp in her hold.
“Trystan!” She shook him, momentarily forgetting they were supposed to stay quiet. It was like being in that cave all over again, and she couldn’t hold back the sudden onslaught of fear.
“What just happened?” Verus had both hands in his hair and was staring wild-eyed down at the unconscious Zane. “I’ve never seen a gorud do that before!”
Ruckus grimaced, kneeling next to Delaney so that he could help her hold Trystan up. He felt for a pulse, pressing his fingers to the side of the Zane’s neck. “He’s breathing, in any case. So whatever happened, it didn’t kill him.”
“What are we going to do now?” The Teller glanced up and down the corridor. “If we’re caught here, the Rex will be alerted immediately.”
“Help me get him—” The sound of skittering metal had Delaney quickly turning to the end of the hall. A gray circular object was rolling toward them, too far away for them to do anything about what was coming.
She had just enough time to grab on to both Trystan and Ruckus before the orb stopped moving and instantly exploded in a blinding rush of bright white light.
CHAPTER 21
If someone knocked her unconscious one more time, so help her …
Delaney came to, angry. Unlike most other times she’d awoken, she recalled with perfect clarity exactly what had happened just before she’d passed out. There was so much for her to be pissed about here, not least of all the fact that she was currently being dragged across the ground like a bag of garbage.
Two people were holding her by the wrists, tugging her down the hall. Her arms were burning, giving her the impression they’d been at this for a little while. Overhead, the lights blared down, momentarily making it difficult to really see the Tellers and their uniforms.
She allowed her head to sag backward, trying to make it seem like it was slumping naturally—not that anyone was looking—and caught sight of the others being handled by their own sets of Kint Tellers.
The ones who had Verus were at the lead, with Ruckus and his captors close behind. There was no sign of Trystan, which renewed her panic. He must have been taken somewhere else, but why? If anything happened— She cut off that train of thought, forcing her racing heart to calm down. Being frantic right now wouldn’t help anyone. No one was speaking, all the Tellers moving down the corridors as if in a trance. She tested the hold on her wrists, carefully flexing them a little to see if doing so would elicit a reaction. Squinting, she risked staring up at the Tellers holding her, feeling an inkling of hope when they didn’t react to her minor movements.
First things first, getting away from these guys. Then get the others and figure out what the hell went wrong. Obviously the gorud had malfunctioned, somehow electrocuting Trystan, but …
She frowned to herself.
Kind of convenient that these Tellers had been waiting just around the corner from them. There was the chance her loud exclamations had alerted them to her and the others’ presence, but she somehow doubted it. It seemed too coincidental, for one. Besides, Trystan had kept a careful monitor of the halls, and would have said if they’d had company nearby.
Unless they’d arrived after the gorud had shut down on him…?
There were too many variables to work through, and she certainly wasn’t going to get any answers in her current condition. She brought her attention back to the matter at hand: how to get out of this.
She could easily break the hold of the Tellers dragging her, but that would leave the other four to deal with. She’d taken on more than six soldiers before, but that had been with distance, and either Trystan or Ruckus, aiding her. Aiming and firing her fritz would be too difficult in these close quarters, especially with her friends still unconscious and unable to get out of the way of loose shots.
Tipping her head back once more, she watched as the ones dragging Verus approached the end of the hall. She and her captors were a good four or five feet away from Ruckus. If she could wait until the rest of them had turned the corner, she might stand a better chance.
If she was quiet about it.
How the hell was she supposed to silently break away and take out two Kints?
Delaney inhaled slowly between her teeth, still watching ahead. With no idea where they were being taken, this might be her only opportunity.
Verus disappeared first, the tips of his boots scraping against the marble. It was difficult for her not to tense up in preparation, but she somehow managed, counting the seconds to distract herself as, little by little, Ruckus’s body slid around the bend as well.
She waited ten seconds after he’d disappeared out of sight, and then shot into action before she could second-guess herself. With one hard yank, she had both of her wrists free, and had already twisted onto her knees by the time the two Tellers sprung around. Dropping onto her butt, she kicked with all her strength, delivering blows to each of their guts.
They stumbled back a step, and she leaped for them before either could slam into a wall and give her away. Wrapping her arms tightly around the neck of the one on her left, she used his body to boost herself up, tightening her legs around the waist of the other. Then she pulled all of her weight backward, so that she toppled and brought them with her.
They fell forward, and she just barely maneuvered her body into the space between them at the last second, avoiding being crushed. Still, the one on the right landed on her shoulder and she bit her lip hard to keep from crying out.
Quickly, she got to her feet, activating her fritz in the process. They were still on their stomachs, but were making to get up. Before they had the chance, the weapon formed and her finger found the trigger. She shot them in their backs with a stun round, pausing for a beat to make sure they’d stay down.
When she didn’t hear the sound of approaching footsteps, the breath she’d been holding eased past her lips.
She moved to the end of the hall and peered around the corner. There was no sign of the others. Glancing up, she tried to catch sight of some of the security cameras, but they were well hidden in this part of the castle.
Not having any choice but to risk it, she darted down the connecting hall, popping around to check down the other.
They weren’t there, either.
Delaney swore. She’d not only lost Trystan, but now Ruckus as well. What if one or both of them got hurt? What would she do then? She could either keep going and risk not finding them and getting more lost—or running into more Tellers—or … With another curse she backtracked, entering the hall where she’d left the two unconscious men. Slowing when she got to them, she realized she probably shouldn’t leave them out in the open.
There were doors at either side of her a few paces away, and after randomly selecting one, she began to drag them each into the room. It cost her a few precious minutes, and her arms hurt even more once she was done, but hopefully it’d prevent anyone from stumbling upon them in the hall and also buy her more time to find the others in the long run. Heaving slightly, she forced herself to continue on, trying to find her way back to where she had been knocked out. It took her two wrong turns, but surprisingly they hadn’t been taken as far as she’d initially believed when she’d woken.
Her eyes scanned the hall as she entered, catching sight of the discarded gray ball, which she assumed was no longer a threat, until finally she spotted the gorud where she’d tossed it earlier.
It was up against the wall, clearly out of the way; the Tellers obviously hadn’t seen it. Rushing over, she snatched it up, fiddling with the screen before she’d even fully looked at it.
Pressing the button on the side caused the lights to flicker back to life, a row of blue dots trailing across the screen before a different pattern appeared with a row of tiny boxes.
She was already lifting it over her head when she hesitated.
Why was it working now when it’d shut off on Trystan earlier? Also, after seeing what it’d done to him, was it even safe for her to use? Maybe the fact that it was on was only a further malfunction. It was a risk; if she got knocked out again, she doubted she’d wake up in time to help anybody. And if she was found here alone in the halls, who knew what someone might do to her.
But what if it’d done more than merely knock Trystan out, and he was in serious pain somewhere? And there was no telling where those Tellers had been taking Ruckus and the others. They could be getting tortured or some other horrible thing she didn’t want to think too hard on, for fear she’d lose it.
Delaney steeled herself, determination pushing its way past the rest. Same as before with the Tellers, she didn’t really have a choice here, even if it could all backfire. She�
��d already wasted so much time finding the damn thing, it couldn’t be just so she’d chicken out at the last second and not use it.
Delaney settled the band around the back of her skull, securing the ends over the tops of her ears. Her finger pressed against the button at the side once more, and she braced herself for the worst.
There was an odd tingling at the base of her head, sort of the same sensation as the one she’d felt when her fitting had first been implanted. It didn’t hurt, exactly, and was over rather quickly. A second later she propped the screen over her right eye and watched as the boxes lit up, waiting for her instruction.
The others had described the device as being a hands-off computer, taking its commands from her fitting. She didn’t understand the written language the gorud used, but she could easily picture the symbols of the code Ruckus had had her memorize. The one that would contact Fawna.
Hopefully.
Delaney focused all her energy on the first empty box on the screen, envisioning the first symbol of the code. She broke out in a huge grin when the image actually appeared and the second box began blinking in its place. Three more to go.
Her excitement died when all the boxes were filled and nothing seemed to be happening. She waited, holding her breath, and after a few moments, deflated. It must still be damaged from before. She was lucky she hadn’t been electrocuted like Trystan.
She was about to rip the thing off her head when suddenly it beeped at her ear. Almost immediately after, a string of words began playing across the screen, heading left as the sentence formed. It appeared to be in Kint, though for all she knew, it could have been Vakar.
Having come too far to give up now, Delaney accessed her fitting, forcing her next thought into the device the same way she would if she were trying to talk with Ruckus through it. The only difference was, she tried picturing what she was trying to say, sending a message stating that it was her.
No sooner had she finished the thought, the words began changing on the screen, first dissolving, then replaced with new ones.
Within Ash and Stardust Page 22
