by Zoey Indiana
Masked Vengeance
A Vengeance Holiday Story
Zoey Indiana
Masked Vengeance
Copyright © 2019 By Zoey Indiana
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please contact Zoey Indiana at [email protected].
Publisher's Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art: EmCat Designs
Contents
Join Zoey’s Zine
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Pick up these Halloween Treats
A Note from the Author
Also by Zoey Indiana
About the Author
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To all the women and men who walk through a less than perfect life and survive hard times, you are worthy. I appreciate all the hard work you’ve accomplished to be here and read my book.
You are amazing, and don’t let anyone else tell you different.
Oh, and my critique partner Dawn. She’s a bit crazy, and all kinds of amazing.
Chapter 1
Peering into a small back room, Bash saw Freya sitting in a chair, fingering a small colorful face mask and chewing on her lip. The unfamiliar mask was a new addition to All Hallow's Eve. In his pursuit to read more about the holiday, he'd found a book in the replicator archives called Quirky Quinn's Guide to Masquerades. In it, men and women dressed up and wore partial or full face masks with elaborate designs on them. Sometimes it was for All Hallow's Eve, but not always.
"Do you want a hand with your mask?" At the sound of his voice, her head snapped up and their eyes made contact. The volatile violet of her eyes made his stomach dip. Since she'd rescued him from the lab a few months ago, their relationship had been rocky at best.
"Yes." Her voice was barely a whisper. The vulnerability in the one word made him want to swoop her up into his arms and forget every bad thing that had happened, but he knew that wouldn't change anything. He desperately wanted to commit to her, but every time he started, some ghost of his captivity haunted him. Reaching out, his fingers brushed hers, eliciting a spark of desire as he grabbed the mask. Stepping behind her, he held it out for her to position. After she placed it against her face, he led the ribbons through her short black hair then tied the mask.
Unable to resist the temptation, he let his fingers trail down her neck. Despite all the hardships in their relationship, his desire for her never waned. Freya stood and stared into his eyes while placing her hands on his chest. Her pink lips tempted him beyond all self control. Leaning down, he gave her a soft, lingering kiss. Before he could pull back, her hands fisted into his shoulder-length hair and unleashed her passion. Desire slammed through him... He lifted her up, wrapped her legs around his waist, and pinned her to the wall. His hands slipped under her shirt and found their way to her sports bra. She broke their kiss, and he trailed kisses down her jaw and neck.
Sirens blared causing him to freeze mid lick. "What in the hell is that?" Freya bit out, releasing her grasp on his hair.
"No idea, but it can't be good." He took a second to give her another kiss, then set her down. "We should go find the others."
Chapter 2
Bash leaned against the bar as the announcement blared over a screen embedded in the wall and examined Violet Five, taking in all the decorations. Throughout the bar were recreations of skulls, skeletons, ghosts, and graves. Despite the fact that they actually cremated anyone who passed away, the props rang true to traditions from old times. It was an eerie blend with the neon styled lighting from the bar. He looked to the right of it and inspected the Sandalwood incense and white candles strategically placed on the seance table. While this holiday was foreign to him, it was popular with the Resistance and most of the more open minded civilians. According to Nova, while the government frowned on the old holiday traditions, they tolerated them as long no one got out of hand.
"I repeat, this is an inner-city wide curfew. Anyone found wandering within the city limits will be immediately detained and interrogated. This will remain in effect until further notice."
Nova waved her hand at the screen, turning off the display. "What do you think this means?" Her purple eyes were the exact same shade as Freya's, but they were the only two women he'd seen with the deep color.
"Maybe they are just taking extra precautions because of the holiday celebrations?" Cay chimed in, his grey eyes dancing around the room. His presence always caught the attention of the women with his kept short black hair and beard, a large contrast from Bash's wild shoulder-length brown hair and his long beard.
"Somehow I don't think we're that lucky." Bash added as he looked around the room. Only a fraction of the attendees had their masks on. He spotted the only other man known to exist, Alastor, sitting in a dark corner glaring at an amber colored drink. It wasn't the fact that he was sitting in a corner and brooding that surprised him, it was the woman that sat across the table from him. Struggling to recall her name, he'd met the woman a few times, but she kept her distance.
Say'La! Her name popped into his memory as he looked over her long wavy dark blond hair. Now that he thought about it, she was by his side a lot. Bash looked back at Alastor and wondered if it was a coincidence that all three of them had beards. Just like Cay's beard, Alastor kept his neatly trimmed, but there were grey patches on either side of his chin. Splashes of grey also sprinkled through his chin length curly hair.
"This is a sign that we need to move the attack up." Freya's voice jarred him back to the conversation.
"I don't know." Nova hesitated as she made eye contact with Bash. "I think Cay might be right. It could just be a precaution due to the festivities."
"We don't know that." Freya protested.
"That's true. We don't know one way or the other, so until then, all of us should stay where we are and try to have a bit of fun." Even as the words came out of his mouth, he knew Freya was already devising a plan that had options for the whole team and just herself. While he couldn't always figure out how she felt, he knew how she operated when it came to the Resistance. Nothing and no one was as important to her as trying to destabilize the oppressive government. At least if he helped, he could ensure that she had better chances of surviving because she couldn't be trusted to put herself first. "We can get the party started, and I'll see what I can find out."
Chapter 3
Bash glanced down at his tab. In the last hour, he'd uncovered almost nothing about the city declaring martial law. Every time he found something, it was interrupted by Freya trying to slip away and run the mission alone. Reading through the recent improvements to the city's security grid, he noticed something new. His fingers flew over the digital buttons. The government was making changes to the code in real time, upgrading it as
the hardware was being replaced. Blinking several times, read through the information again as a cold sweat descended. If Freya took the route that used to be dark, she'd set off the new alarm system immediately.
Jumping up from the table, he dodged between masked dancing women as he tried to find Freya. She wasn't in the room. His heart tried to pound through his chest as he raced toward the one place she might go. Once through the main room, he let out a string of curses ask the embedded bio scanner rejected his palm print. Wiping his palm on his pants, he pressed his hand again the display. Seconds crawled by as a blue light slid over his hand, and the entire world stopped as he waited for the beep.
One.
Two.
Three.
His heartbeat echoed through his being while not knowing if Freya was in danger. Bash muttered as pneumatics hissed and the door slid open. Springing into motion, he flew through passageways until he saw movement.
"Freya, don't go out there." He realized those words wouldn't stop her, so he tried again. "They're upgrading the city's surveillance system, that's why they declared martial law." A small form dressed in a long dark grey vest and black pants emerged from the shadows.
"How are they upgrading them?"
He gave a mental sigh as her muscles remained tight, like she was ready to move at a second's notice. "I didn't have enough time to dig, but I think they are upgrading all the camera with some kind of new bio scanner."
"And?"
"If I'm right, they will be able to identify you, or anyone, through the body cloaking device you have hooked on your vest." The fact she was still talking to him was a good sign.
"No, they are just preparing for the attack. If we don't strike now, we won't have the chance tomorrow." Freya shook her head twice. "I can't risk the whole mission on a hunch."
"Freya, please. Don't do this." He stressed the words. If he'd learned one thing in his time with her, the only way he could reach her was to evoke her deeply suppressed emotions. With the chip in her brain that threatened to kill her every time an emotion surfaced, it was the only chance he had, but the only way to reach hers was to rip his own emotions open. "I don't want you to get hurt or killed. Give me an hour and if I can't find a solution, then I'll help you."
Joy and sorrow shot through him as her hand shot to her temple, a sign the chip was responding. He never wanted to hurt her, but at least she was safe. Freya walked up to him, laying a single hand on his chest and popping up to her tiptoes. Meeting her halfway, their lips brushed in the tenderest of kisses before she pulled back.
"You have one hour."
Bash walked like a man on a mission. Determined to find the answer to convince Freya to stick with the original plan, he stumbled when she tugged him into an empty store room. His skin tingled as he found himself against a wall, the door sliding shut and leaving them in complete darkness. Unsure of what she was up to, he waited for a cue. Hands slipped inside the waistband of his pants, making his cock harden. Before she could get his pants past his knees, he scooped her up and spun, pinning her to the wall.
Freya's hands slid past his as she pushed her pants down just far enough. Their lips met and her hands sank into his hair, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Reaching down, he ran two fingers along her wetness to make sure she was ready. Satisfied, he grabbed himself and pressed against her entrance. Her hips thrust forward, and he gasped as she took him in all the way. Pleasure rolled through him as she slid up and down his cock. Reveling in the sensation, he let her set the pace until she tugged on his hair and nipped at his neck.
"Don't hold back."
Those three words released his remaining control. He pumped into her with a furious need. Freya let out a moan, then covered her mouth. The masquerade party was still in full force in the next room over, they didn't need anyone coming in to hunt for rowdy ghosts. Her muffled screams combined with her tightening around his cock sent him over the edge. He buried his face in her neck as they rode out the shivers of their orgasms.
This wasn't romantic lovemaking, it was raw and passionate, but also bittersweet, like a goodbye.
Chapter 4
A masked Nova looked visibly shaken after Bash told her, Cay, and Alastor about the new security measures. Freya stood next to him, her mask missing, and with arms crossed and silent.
"As of right now, I don't think I can modify any of the cloaking tech we already have to counter any of the new protocols. The amount of detail in the code tells me they know what to look for."
"From when I raided the lab." All eyes snapped to Freya, waiting for her to elaborate. "Right before I got to Bash, there was a security checkpoint with a full scanner. We all know ARI likes to use decoys. I bet the machine I was supposed to walk through was a decoy."
"I thought you uploaded a virus at that checkpoint?" Nova's eyebrows furrowed as she spoke.
"Yes, but if you remember, the virus was created to allow a data transfer too. In the time it took for the program to record the fragments of data it did, ARI's system probably had enough time to dump info out of the virus's reach."
Bash wanted to kick himself for that. While he'd written the virus for a different attack, the fact that it was his fault there was enough time for ARI to dump any of its info made him sick. Especially since that little oversight revealed their entire advantage to the enemy. He should have planned for any outcome. It was another sign that he would always be a burden to Freya.
"What do we do now?" This time it was Cay's voice that drew everyone's attention. Nova reached over and patted his shoulder but said nothing.
"Find a blind spot." Alastor's gruff voice tore through the heavy silence.
"No--" before Bash could finish objecting Alastor cut him off.
"Fuck you. They will be prepared for everything we have tomorrow. The only chance we have to pull this off and live is to find a blind spot while they upgrade." By the time Alastor finished speaking, he was face to face with Bash. "I deserve Vengeance as much as anyone in this room."
Silence echoed through the room as they stared each other down. Bash didn't care if Alastor got his revenge, it was Freya he was worried about. Even if they couldn't work things out between them, she'd saved his life. Twice. He owed it to her to save hers.
With no other options, he gave in. "Fine, but I still think this is a bad idea."
Bash walked to the far wall in the room and laid his hand on it. A blue light scanned it and then let out a soft beep. A back light display appeared, and he typed several commands. The entire wall faded out from the metallic grey to a large screen with several programs running. Pulling out a pair of thin gloves, he slipped them on and took a few steps away from the screen so everyone could see.
"I only see two options to bypass the new surveillance systems, and both of them require precision timing. This government always performs changes is predictable patterns." His hands flew through the air, the gloves sending info to the screen and it responded to his movements. A camera feed enlarged as his hands pulled apart. "Right here, the new camera has been installed, but the code wasn't upgraded. There are two areas between us and the target that are still running off the old programing. If we can get a two-woman team through one of these points, they will be able to initiate the activation sequence at the launch site."
Freya stepped closer, watching the camera feed. "Why a two-woman team?"
Bash shot a sideways glance at Alastor before speaking. "Because the upgrades have already started and one of the measures they've put in will read a heat and density signature through the cloaking shield. If one of us men were to go out there, even cloaked, their computers would be able to tell. With the device, we might be able to look and sound like a woman, but it would flag our height and muscle content. More so if you take into account they already have scans of all three of us. The computers are looking for us."
A chair slammed into the corner, but it didn't surprise him. He knew once that last fact was revealed Alastor would lose his barely reined in rage. No
one moved as Alastor picked the chair up and threw it again then stormed out of the room. Since his release from the colony that spent most of his life experimenting on him, his personality had been volatile.
"Maybe I should check on him." Cay started to stand but Bash stopped him.
"I know what he's going through. Just give him some space and check on him in a few minutes." Memories of his own time in captivity haunted him, but he pushed them back. Now wasn't the time for that.
"Freya, we should split up and both take another woman from the team. Between the two of us, one should make it through." Nova rubbed Cay's back as she spoke.
"No." This time it was Cay that protested. "You and Freya are the best we have. Between your ability to see the enemy's auras and her telepathy and telekinesis, the two of you together are the only chance we have. None of the other women have abilities like yours."
"He's right." Freya chimed in, the words slashing through Bash's heart. The only way they could pull this off was if he let her walk into danger. He would help her one last time, then walk away. A heart could only crack so many times before it was shattered beyond hope.
Chapter 5
"Remember, they've also added dampening fields. While that won't affect your telepathy with Nova, it will affect our comms. With the new update, they should be able to piggyback off the citywide connection without detection, but they will shut down automatically if someone finds the signal." Bash tried to stay in business mode. Now wasn't the time for distractions, even if he felt like his heart was being ripped out. He'd always hoped one day that he would be enough for her to move on, but he'd been wrong. She'd only have room in her heart for vengeance.
