The Seers

by Katherine Bennet

  Tobin shut his eyes and drew in a deep breath. He trusted Henry. He was Nora’s cousin. He would do this the right way, but it didn’t change the fact that Tobin felt like a caged animal.

  Were he still Head of the Guard, he could have easily handled every aspect of this operation with teams in multiple locations and a command center with the best of technology at his fingertips.

  But he wasn’t.

  Running and hiding was the only option until Charlotte recovered enough to negotiate Nora’s asylum.

  It took a weary look from the young barista for Tobin to realize he had been pacing the front of the coffee shop for eight minutes. He smiled politely and took a seat next to Henry. “It was much quicker last time.”

  “Last time,” Henry replied testily. “I created a new line of credit for lodging. That’s child’s play compared to hacking the Tavian systems.”

  Tobin deliberately controlled his tone. “How much longer will you be today?”

  “These things take time. I’ve brought some Tavian traffic to the attention of an international civilian hacker group. For a purely civilian group, their capabilities are quite impressive. I can tell some of them are already starting to poke around. That’s allowed me to conceal myself a bit. Tavian encryption isn’t all that different from our own. An encryption key I wrote a while back might work with some adjustments, and then—”

  Tobin’s eyes glazed over. “Fascinating. Are you in now?”

  Henry shot him a sour look. “I’ve been able to access some parts of their system. Automated surveillance necessarily relies on outside data, so I can affect what they see. I’ve uploaded a trigger program that, when executed, will trip an alert. If we have to run again, we can make them think Nora’s at London Heathrow, or a Miami hotel, or the boardwalk in Redondo Beach, California.”

  Tobin raised his eyebrows, nodding. “That could come in handy.”

  For a techie, Henry certainly knew a lot about escape and evasion.

  “And if I’m understanding their systems correctly, I’m about to gain access to their security bulletins. There should be some reference to Nora’s genetic profile there, and I may be able to locate the file path, then…”

  Henry kept talking, but as a car passed, Tobin noticed a pair of people across the street. Wearing loose stocking caps and sunglasses, they could have easily been hipsters waiting for the bus.

  But Tobin used to hunt Tavians.

  He’d recognize that flawless pale skin anywhere. He calmly rose from his seat. “Henry.”

  “Yes! I’m in! Oh… this is top-notch stuff. These are the briefings for the Tavian Guard, assignments—”

  “Henry, shut it down.” Tobin faked a smile, glancing around the small shop.

  Two other patrons, one with dark hair and olive skin, the other would be too young to be on the front line.

  Unlikely threats.

  The barista busied herself with cleaning one of the pots—smooth movements, and she never took her eyes off the pot.

  Immediate area appears clear.

  A sign for the bathrooms hung over the single hallway at the back of the shop. That hall also likely led to a service entrance that they could use for escape.

  “What?” Henry stared at him with wild eyes.

  “You heard me.” Tobin kept his voice calm and pleasant. The Tavians were approximately forty feet from him. They’d close that distance in seconds if given the order, but they appeared to be alone, and Tobin was fairly certain he could handle them.

  They can’t be alone. Not after everything that’s happened.

  He stepped closer to the window and feigned a stretch, checking the street in both directions. No one else seemed to be a remote possibility. An operation like this would almost certainly have surveillance teams, at least one strike team, and a central commander.

  If they’re not by the coffee shop…

  He practically leaped out of his skin. They weren’t the main target. With Nora’s profile, he knew where the rest of the operation was setting up.

  He walked back to Henry and kept his voice low. “We’re being watched.”

  Henry’s wide eyes looked like he was choking on something.

  Tobin smiled casually. “Do not panic. We can’t tip them off that we know. In a moment, I’m going to walk to the bathroom. I want you to place an order at the counter. Then follow my lead.”

  Tobin wandered down the hall until he lost visual of the Tavians. It was the moment of truth—either they would move in, or they would hang back. Hanging back would mean reconnaissance. Moving in would mean attack.

  Seconds ticked by slowly—painfully—but they weren’t moving in. He crept farther down the hallway and found a metal service door just as he’d hoped. With any luck, they’d sneak through the alleyway and be back at the hotel before the surveillance detail knew they were gone.

  Henry shut his computer and shuffled to the counter. He couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable if he had been impaled on a stick. The barista didn’t seem to notice his awkwardness until he gaped at her wordlessly.

  Tobin cleared his throat loudly enough to catch Henry’s attention.

  “J-just a moment.” Henry backed away from the counter and nearly sprinted to the hallway.

  “Can you detect them?” Tobin asked, still eying the front window.

  “No!” Henry whispered.

  Of course not. Jasper knew Tobin was watching for that. They’d gone dark to avoid detection. Implant signals were jammed; teleportation would be impossible, but they also wouldn’t be able to track Henry, which meant they could still escape the old-fashioned way.

  Tobin nodded to the back door. “This way.”

  He plowed through the door, giving little consideration to the loud snap of the metal push handle, and sidled to the corner of the shop. He peered around the corner.

  Still two subjects. Medium build. No visible rank. No other teams.

  The pair of Tavians exchanged uneasy glances and muttered to each other. The moment they began to inch closer to the coffee shop, Tobin bolted across the street with Henry careening behind him. The Tavians seemed so focused on the coffee shop that they didn’t notice.

  Tobin and Henry cut through the alleys and side streets until they were a block away from the hotel.

  “Wait here.” Tobin crept to the corner to assess the situation.

  The street was crawling with Tavians—and they weren’t in disguise. Black tactical uniforms were everywhere. They had the building surrounded. Tobin was outmanned and outgunned.

  He drew in a deep breath. He’d been in situations like this before, but this wasn’t a typical operation; Nora was in danger.

  He clamped his eyes shut. He couldn’t allow himself to get emotional. There had to be a way to get her out of this, and he’d come ready to fight.

  He cleared his head and scanned the parking lot. Every operation had a weakness. He would find it.

  A tall Tavian stood close to the entrance flanked by a group of guards. His hair was pulled back into a bun.

  Jasper’s partner from the resort.

  Ambidextrous, high ranking, multiple weapons.

  Tobin swore under his breath.

  But even with all this firepower, they weren’t moving yet; they were waiting for something. There was still time to act.

  The west side only had three guards waiting along the sidewalk. That was the new escape route, but Nora would still need to get to the car and the parking lot was crawling with Tavians. He’d need to draw them away. He turned to the dusty hatchback parked halfway down the alley.

  “Henry, when you see the signal, I want you to sprint to the door on the west side and lead Nora out the same way to the car.”

  “What signal?” Henry asked, shaking his head. “I-I don’t have any combat training. I’ve never even fired a gun! How am I supposed to get her out?”

  Tobin brushed past him and kicked out the back window of the hatchback. He wasn’t sure how far he’d get but th
e plan was simple: draw enough of the Tavians away that they didn’t notice Nora escape.

  “If I do my job right, you won’t miss the signal,” Tobin said. “I’ll draw as many away from you as I can.”

  Tobin lowered himself through the broken back window and pulled the wires down below the dash. The car’s engine hummed to life in seconds.

  Henry gaped at him, motionless. Tobin got out of the car and approached him. His face was pale. His hands were shaking. He wasn’t one of Tobin’s guards, but this plan wouldn’t work without him.

  He grabbed Henry’s shoulder. “You can do this. Nora needs you. I need you. Please protect her.”

  He had talked with guards like this hundreds of times. He’d meant to be motivational and instill confidence, but his voice had quivered at the end.

  Henry’s wild eyes focused. Pulling his shoulders back, he nodded at Tobin. “I’ll do my best.”

  Tobin returned to the car. “Remember, use the west entrance.”

  He drove past Henry, forcing slow deep breaths. His heart beat slowed, and his thoughts turned solely to his offensive strike.

  The guards were so focused on the building, they didn’t seem to notice Tobin’s car as he turned into the parking lot.

  That was about to change.

  He aimed the car at Jasper’s sidekick and accelerated.

  The yelling and screaming came first, then a thunderous crash rumbled the windows.

  Nora sprang up from the bed. She didn’t need to look outside to know what was happening. The Tavians were here.

  She threw on her shoes, not sure where she’d run, but positive Tobin would want her to be ready.

  She strode to the door and listened—nothing. She inched closer to the window, peering down to the parking lot below. At least ten Tavians were sprinting around the cars in the direction of the hotel entrance. One drew her white gun from a concealed holster under her arm and pointed it, but she never fired.

  Nora’s heart pounded. If they were converging on one spot, Tobin had to be involved. This wasn’t like before. There were too many; it was way too dangerous to draw them all away.

  But it also meant the side entrance was open. He’d done it to open an escape route, and the sooner she escaped, the sooner he could as well.

  She ran to the door, but a quiet click nearly sent her through the wall. The door flew open.

  Henry.

  “Where’s Tobin?” Nora asked, afraid to hear the answer.

  A flash lit the walls of their room, faintly blue. The last time she had seen a flash like that was outside Tobin’s cabin. Someone new was entering the fray.

  “We’re leaving. Now!” Henry ordered.

  They flew to the end of the hall. Henry reached for the door to the stairwell, but the clank of another door opening echoed.

  The heavy thuds of multiple footsteps on the stairs came closer. Henry pushed past her and grabbed the fire extinguisher. Without a word, he sent it through the window at the end of the hall.

  “It’s not too far. Aim for the bushes just to the right,” Henry said, clearing some of the remaining glass.

  Nora stepped forward. They were only on the second floor, but the drop would still hurt. The footsteps in the stairwell were nearly there. She shut her eyes. The more she thought about it, the more panic set in.

  She leaped and landed roughly on the mulch. Her legs throbbed, but she forced them under herself as Henry landed roughly beside her and rolled onto the sidewalk with a loud groan.

  They ran headlong into the parking lot, quickly closing the distance to the car. Henry ripped the keys from his pocket and pushed the button to unlock the doors. The Tavians noticed, but none seemed close enough to catch her. They might just make it.

  A man stepped out from behind a delivery truck.

  Dark hair. Black eyes.

  Jasper Bishop. She lunged out of his way and reached for the car door handle, but he wrapped around her from behind with an iron grip.

  Henry froze in fear.

  “Not another step, Kalos,” Jasper yelled.

  “Tobin?” Nora screamed, craning her neck to search for him.

  Jasper heaved Nora up on his shoulder, making contact with her neck and ankles, just as Charlotte and Henry had done to teleport. The last thing she saw was Tobin’s face contorted with horror as he raced toward her.

  Everything disappeared in a flash of blue.

  Chapter 21

  Jasper rematerialized under the gray marble arches of the main corridor. He shifted Leonora’s weight as she twisted to take in the new surroundings.

  “Where am I? Where have you taken me?”

  “Your prison or the place of your death.” He trudged toward a nondescript door by the atrium. “You decide.”

  Mission accomplished, but it didn’t feel that way. Tobin had made his trained force look like a bunch of bumbling rookies. Despite Jasper’s orders, the recon team had lost Tobin, and his stunt with the car had cost the Tavian Guard dearly. The sooner he could get Leonora in a cell and get a full situation report from Adrian, the better.

  “I’m not who you think I am.” Her voice strained as she fought against him, flailing even though his arm was wrapped firmly around her waist. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Unfortunately, I know more about you than I ever cared to.” He threw the door open and made his way down the small dark hall.

  “No. I mean, I’m not a Seer.” She twisted and clawed at his arm.

  A gate ahead of them clicked open when he was in range—implant-controlled locks were just the first of many security features. He pushed it open with a foot.

  “I couldn’t help you even if I wanted to,” she said.

  “Then you’ll die,” he said, dragging her down a flight of stairs. “Makes no difference to me. My job was to get you here. You’re not my problem anymore.”

  After another gate, dim, flickering light glowed from the end of the dark hall. The dungeon. It had been made to Cyrus’s specifications. Appearing to be hewn from stone, it seemed like a cold, dank cave. Water trickled down one of the walls. Torches were the only light source. The bars looked like they had rusted from centuries of use.

  But it was all an illusion.

  Just like the rest of Octavius, the dungeon had been generated from virtual reality. Multiple security measures from implants to physical keys were used. No one—not even Jasper—could teleport in or out. The bars were stronger than titanium. And the damp cold had nothing to do with actually being in a cave; it was purely to suck any hope from the prisoners.

  There was a much larger cell block at Headquarters—one with stark-white walls, and implant-controlled doors made of thick steel—but high-profile prisoners stayed here, allowing Cyrus unfettered access.

  Leonora arched her back. “What is this place? I thought you were supposed to be an advanced society. This looks like a medieval torture chamber.”

  “Then it has the intended effect.” He dragged her to the first of three cells and swung the door open with a metallic whine.

  She swung her feet out in front of her and planted them on the cell bars, then bucked backward. He tried to dodge the hit, but her head still smashed into his jaw.

  Of all the stupid…

  He forced her through the door. “You’re lucky I have unfinished business with your boyfriend.”

  She clambered to the back of the cell. “Leave him out of this.”

  “Not a chance,” he spat. “I’ve spent more time on this mission than I ever should have, and he nearly killed one of my best guards. I’m going to kill him, and I’m going to make it hurt.”

  He slammed the cell door and walked away to the sound of her whimpering protests. That’s what this really was about. He’d never had anything against Leonora herself, and he’d known all along this was a senseless mission. There were too many operational weaknesses, and Kalos had made him pay for all of it. Jasper might have lost Aaron, he’d allocated endless resources, and for what? A terrified woma
n who they should have just left alone.

  He’d tried to force himself to think of the end game—a Seer would mean Annabel would be safe. The pressure would be off her. He might have even been able to convince Cyrus to let him take her somewhere far away where her blue eyes wouldn’t matter. But that road to freedom had led through Kalos, and the price had been too high.

  In the darkness of the hall, he pulled up his communication app to call Adrian. “Give me a full report.”

  Adrian sighed. “The death toll is at eight and rising.”

  He clenched his fists and glanced at the wall. Faint torchlight from the dungeon flickered off the dips and curves. It might not be real stone, but it would probably still break his hand. He stormed up the stairs. “And Aaron?”

  Adrian hesitated. “They’re doing what they can, but in all the chaos it took longer than they had hoped to get him to medical.”

  Tobin would pay for this. “I want Ronan working on him.”

  “Ronan Williams?” Adrian asked. “The Elite?”

  “I don’t care about that. He’s the best!” Jasper’s voice thundered through the hallway.

  “I-I think he’s out handling some things in the Circle of Elites. Doctor Eversoll is at the medical facility now and ready to operate on Aaron.”

  “I don’t care who else is there. Get Ronan.”

  “He’s an Elite! I can’t just demand—”

  “He’s not your commander,” Jasper growled. “Get Ronan. That’s an order.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll take care of it.”

  Jasper shoved the door to the main corridor open and blinked in the light.

  “There’s more,” Adrian said with an audible grimace. “The altercation attracted significant attention from civilian authorities and media outlets. Our pursuit efforts have been hampered.”

  Translation: they’d lost Kalos. Jasper growled. “Pull everyone back. I’m going to pursue Kalos alone.”

  “Sir, we think they’re long gone. There’s no implant signatures in the area except our own.”

  Jasper shut his eyes. It didn’t matter where they’d gone. Tobin’s wide-eyed, horrified expression had said it all. Tobin would do anything to get Leonora back. He’d never give up—not even with Leonora firmly in Tavian custody. If it had been Annabel, Jasper would do the same.