Secrets

by Shannon Pemrick

“And what about Ryoko’s design?”

  “Hers is a more perfect Brute design. Zarda traded the healing and regeneration idea for straight defense to add to their unnecessarily strong offense. Most Brutes now can harden their skin and can withstand a great deal of heavy fire.”

  “Interesting.”

  My communicator started to flash, indicating an incoming call. “Gotta go, new call.” I cut the connection and picked up the other. “Yeah?”

  “How are things going?” Argus asked on the shared mission line.

  “Good so far. Transfer is slow, but these files are pretty big.”

  “That’s a good sign. Usually their bigger files are the better ones.”

  “Let’s hope.”

  Everyone in the room froze when a blaring alarm went off in the building and red emergency warning lights started flashing. Oh shit.

  “I tripped a hidden security wire!” an assassin shouted through the communicator. “Everyone, get out now.”

  The assassins behind me grabbed whatever they could and ran for the door, but stopped when they realized I wasn’t following.

  “Commander, let’s go!” one called.

  “I can’t,” I told them. “I need to get out of this computer properly or I’ll lose everything.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” the other said. “Our lives are more important than the information.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I insisted. “Just get out of here. I’ll be right behind you.”

  The two looked at each other with uncertainty in their eyes, but left as I asked. I sighed and kept working quickly to finish what I was doing.

  “Eira, just unplug it and go,” Argus urged.

  “You told me if I just pulled this out while extracting information, I’d kill your computer,” I reminded him. “I’m not doing that.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he insisted. “I can replace it. I have all current files backed up.”

  “We need these files,” I replied. “I’m getting them.”

  He sighed. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  My heart started to race when rushed heavy footsteps echoed down the hall. C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. Move faster, computer!

  I almost snapped the transfer cord when I yanked it out the moment the transfer was complete. Tucking the computer away into a pocket for safe keeping, I ran for the door, but backed up immediately when I realized it was too late for me to leave that way. I looked around for a place to hide but there was none. I was sure I’d have to fight for my life, until I noticed the corner of the room to my left was empty.

  Taking a chance, I powered down my communicator and had my armor cloth do away with my boots and gloves before I scaled up to the ceiling, where I suspended myself by using the two connecting walls and the hidden barbs in my skin. I gritted my teeth as I attempted to ignore the pain and tried to remain as still as possible. Not many understood these barbs weren’t as great as most thought. Sometimes I found myself sticking to objects when I didn’t want to, and they weren’t strong enough to keep me suspended for long without causing pain. It was why I tried to only use them when scaling walls.

  I slowed my breathing when three soldiers entered the room and looked around with guns and flashlights at the ready. At the same time, I could feel myself slipping, and tried to be quiet as I tried to fix my positioning. The soldiers took their time searching the room, but I sent a prayer of thanks to the gods for their lack of intelligence to look above them or even turn on the lights.

  The soldiers spun around and aimed their guns when a small creature scurried into the room. I tilted my head when they startled the cat, and watched as it reared up its hindquarters and fluffed out its tail. The soldiers relaxed and one made a call.

  “We found a cat. I’m pretty sure it’s what tripped the alarm.”

  I bit my lip as I watched the cat relax and become friendly with the soldiers, rubbing against their legs while the one soldier argued with someone else over the possibility of the cat being used as some sort of distraction. As cute at the cat was, I found the argument far more amusing.

  We knew of the shapeshifting abilities the dragons had, but for some reason we never utilized it. I made a note to bring this up with the Council. This feline, and these idiot soldiers, made me realize just how useful the ability would be.

  When the arguing ceased, the soldier went to pick up the cat but it scurried out the door and down the hall, away from the door leading out of the compound. The soldiers pursued the cat, allowing me to climb down. That’s a bit convenient. I couldn’t help but feel bit skeptical about the situation now. Sure, it could be luck the cat went the way it did, but I wasn’t so sure.

  “Laz,” Seda messaged.

  “Yeah, I’m leaving,” I said.

  “No, you can’t yet,” she said. “Chameleon is stuck inside with you. He was too reckless, and wasted too much energy to escape when the alarm went off. He’s stuck in the room just down the hall to your left.”

  Left. Perfect. I knew it was too good to be true. “Okay, I’ll get him. Not sure how we’ll get out together, but I have to try.”

  “Check your right back pouch.”

  My brow furrowed with confusion and I checked. When my fingers touched an object that felt like a watch, I grinned. “Did you put this in here?”

  “I saw two possible outcomes for this assignment. I thought I’d prepare you just in case.”

  “Seda, you’re the best.”

  She chuckled, but didn’t say anything more so I could concentrate on the task at hand. Peering around the corner, I noticed the cat was still scurrying around with the soldiers hot on its heels. Slippery little beast, aren’t you?

  I slunk down the hall and slipped into the next room. I looked around the room, but didn’t see Chameleon. If he moved, he’s—

  Just then, Chameleon popped out of the wall near me and gasped for breath.

  “You shouldn’t do that,” I hissed. “You’re going to get hurt if you push yourself.”

  “I thought you were a soldier,” he muttered. “Why do you care anyway?”

  I snorted. “I’m far quieter than those lumbering warthogs. And I care because we’re in this together, regardless of any personal issues we may have. Seems in our time away from service, you’ve forgotten that’s how I work. But that’s not my problem. We need to focus on getting out of here.”

  “No shit.”

  “No need to be rude.”

  “Well unless you have a plan, then I’m going to be.”

  I held up the watch. “I do, but its success relies on you.”

  “Is that one of those prototype cloaking watches everyone is talking about?”

  “Yeah, Argus is the one who developed them. Now, I need to know, if we get out of here, will you have enough energy to use your ability to get out of the compound? And if you can, can you use it on both of us?”

  He nodded. “To both of your questions, I can, if you have water.”

  I chuckled and reached into one of my left back pouches and pulled out a water skin. “You’re lucky I come prepared. Why do you need it?”

  “If you must know, my design allows me to rearrange my molecular structure so I can merge with any substance, but in order to do so, I need to expend water, so my daily water need is far greater than the average person. When I get too dehydrated, I can’t merge my body with anything.”

  “No need to be rude about it,” I muttered as I handed him the water.

  “Not like you would have given me the water if I hadn’t,” he shot back before taking a swing.

  “Actually I would have, but thanks for assuming I’m a heartless bitch like everyone else seems to believe. Now drink your water so we can get out of here. We don’t have much time. That cat won’t keep them distracted f
or long.”

  He watched me for a moment before taking another swig. “Tell me about your plan while I do.”

  “It’s simple. I’ll change my looks a little bit and pretend to capture you. Then I’ll get us outside without issue and you get us out of here. Then we head our separate ways.”

  Chameleon nodded. “Simple enough. Soldiers are too afraid of us assassins to try to argue a possible order.”

  I also nodded. That reason was exactly why I didn’t feel the need to be so sneaky about getting out of here. Other soldiers feared all assassins, I just happened to be feared more.

  “Okay, I’m done,” he announced.

  “There’s still water in the bag,” I observed.

  “I’m going to spill it on the floor, to make your convincing job easier.”

  “You don’t need it?”

  He shook his head. “There isn’t enough to make a difference. I’ll only be able to get us two blocks away, three at most, if we start just outside this building.”

  I nodded and activated the watch so my hair was a dark brown, and my eyes pale blue. “Let’s make a commotion then.”

  “Before you do, my real name is Asix,” he said. “Just in case you need to use it.”

  I nodded. What else could I do? I had no idea he had a real name, so I hadn’t planned on revealing a name in case I was questioned.

  Taking my silence at a cue to just continue, he dumped the water on the floor and then slammed the bag hard on the ground. I let him noisily knock things off a nearby table before I ran at him and tackled him to the ground. Using the armor cloth to my advantage, I created fake handcuffs and slapped them around his wrists just as a squad of soldier came running into the room.

  They watched as I wrestled with Chameleon for a few moments until I came out victorious. I sighed as if I had used up a lot of energy to grab him. “Finally caught you, you shady fox.”

  I stood up and forced him to follow.

  “Well, it looks like the assassin gets the credit,” a soldier grumbled.

  I chuckled. “Credit for what? My hunt that has finally ended? Your little cat-burglar is your own issue. This is mine. Asix here has been giving me the slip for months. Though, your little kitty cat is the whole reason I caught him, so I’ll think about giving you all some credit. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a captive to deal with.”

  “I can’t let you do that, ma’am,” one of the higher-ranking officers argued. “Because he was caught during this infiltration issue, I can’t allow you to take him.”

  I stared him down. “You will not take the credit for my capture. Now move out of my way.”

  He attempted to stand his ground but the longer I stared at him, the more nervous he became, and eventually he relented. Chameleon struggled like he was supposed to as I hauled him down the hall, but his false struggle made it a bit difficult for me to get him out the door—not that I was going to complain. We just needed to keep up this act for a few more minutes.

  I finally shoved the door open and pushed him out into the open. Chameleon calmed down and looked around. The compound was swarming with soldiers again, but as long as he wasn’t going to ditch me, it wouldn’t be a problem. Of course, if he managed to escape, I had this disguise and I could run after him.

  The door didn’t close behind me, as the other soldiers from before followed. I glanced back at them as the cat from before shot out into the open. I stopped walking and watched it as it skidded to a halt, and looked around before approaching me and rubbing up against my leg, convincing me this cat definitely wasn’t a real one. Not a chance. It has to be Raikidan.

  So I bent over and scratched his head before picking him up with one hand. He purred and rubbed his head against mine, or tried to, as I made it hard for him by holding him down and away from my face.

  “Assassins are so weird,” someone murmured.

  Someone hushed him. “Don’t question their soft spot for animals.”

  I nearly chuckled. That accusation was pretty spot on. Almost all assassins did have a soft spot for animals. Most of us would refuse an assignment order if there were any threat of animals being harmed.

  “I thought she was in a rush,” someone whispered suspiciously.

  “Her captive isn’t struggling anymore, either,” someone else observed.

  I glanced over at Chameleon slyly, and he grinned at me. Immediately, I released him from his fake bindings and he grabbed me around the waist.

  “Hold your breath and close your eyes,” he ordered. “You too, cat.”

  I did as he said, and a strange sensation rushed over me. My body’s molecular structure changed and moved through several types of materials. The sensation wasn’t a pleasant one. And I thought shifting was uncomfortable. I was pretty sure I would have preferred shapeshifting.

  I wasn’t sure where we were, or how long we had been moving, but I held my breath as best as I could. I even held it once I suspected we had stopped.

  Chameleon pulled away from me. “You’re good.”

  I opened my eyes and took in a deep, quiet breath while taking in our surroundings. We stood on a rooftop several blocks away from the compound, its blaring alarms easily heard from here. Then I noticed Chameleon breathing rather heavily. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” he replied tersely. “It’s just difficult doing that to someone else as well.”

  I nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Whatever. Who is your cat friend anyway? You never mentioned he’d be coming with us.”

  I looked at Raikidan. “Yeah, about that…” Just then, he squirmed around and jumped out of my hands. When he shifted, I was taken by surprise to see a tall man with a muscular build like Raikidan, and appeared the same age as him, but this wasn’t Raikidan. He had bronze skin, and hair that was so many colors I was certain he’d globbed it with paint. “Uh, you’re not Raikidan.”

  The man’s kaleidoscopic eyes danced with amusement at my revelation. “No, I’m not Raikidan. He was a bit tied up, so I came to help instead.”

  I eyed him. “Who are you?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “We need to focus on getting to safety.”

  I didn’t like that answer. He couldn’t have been a dragon, and a druid or shaman would have known better than to avoid that question. He may have helped with getting us out safely, but I didn’t trust him.

  I turned to tell Chameleon to head out on his own, but he was already gone. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

  The mystery man chuckled. “Not much of a friend, is he?”

  I walked to the edge of the building and looked around. “We’re definitely not friends. I half expected him to leave me behind in that mess. Glad he didn’t, but still surprised.”

  “Eira, who are you talking to?”

  I whipped around to find Raikidan standing a little ways off. The mystery man was nowhere in sight.

  “Raikidan? When did you get here?”

  “Like three seconds ago, and I didn’t see anyone with you while I had you in my sights, so why were you talking to yourself?”

  “I wasn’t talking to myself. I was talking to someone who evidently ditched me while I was speaking,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  He had a look of disbelief but chose not to argue with me. “I’m here to help. Seda told me you could use some help, so I came to find you.”

  I nodded. “I appreciate it. I just need help blending into the city. I was planning on jumping down into this alley and pretend to be a jogger who likes to do her workout late at night.”

  He grinned. “Would you like a four-legged companion to complete that look?”

  “I wouldn’t protest.”

  He nodded, and the two of us jumped down into the alley below. Once I had my clo
thes changed into appropriate running attire, I changed a few of my features with the cloaking watch, and then used the armor to create a collar and leash for Raikidan, who had chosen to take the shape of an Alsatian.

  As we jogged down the street, I couldn’t get that mystery man out of my mind. Who was he, and where did he disappear to?

  Chapter 34

  The needle pricked my finger and I flinched. That was the third time in the past five minutes. Raikidan watched me as he sat next to me on the bed. According to him, he had never seen anyone sew before, and since my explanation skills hadn’t worked, he chose to watch me instead, although I was not the best person to watch. I sucked at sewing, but I needed to get this skirt made.

  Shva’sika had told me I needed to get my shaman clothes ready for something, but she wouldn’t tell me why. She had been running around like a headless chicken, so I wasn’t surprised she had forgotten to explain, but a part of me felt she had intentionally not told me—It was just like her to do that.

  I sighed and continued sewing. I wasn’t going to be using my armor, so I needed to make new bottoms, and I decided to make them look like the ones I had come up with when we left the city for our vacation. Luckily, Seda knew a lot about making clothes, so she had made the cloth to the correct size it needed to be, and all I had to do put it all together.

  A knock sounded on my door, and Ryoko poked her head in. “Danika is back. Looks like she’s going to explode with excitement. You may want to get out here.”

  I chuckled and put my work down. “All right, I’ll be right there.”

  Ryoko looked out into the living room and nodded before looking back into my bedroom. “She says Raikidan too.”

  Raikidan slipped off the bed, and the two of us followed Ryoko into the living room. Shva’sika sat on the end of the couch closest to the window while everyone else in the house filed in. She didn’t look to me like she was about to explode, but she could have calmed herself down by then, too.

  “So are you going to share with the class about this super-secret mission you’ve been on?” I teased.

  She gave me a mild warning look and shook her head. I chuckled and remained standing when she gestured for people to take a seat.