The Seers

by Katherine Bennet

  If I were to compromise Tobin’s shackles…

  She smiled. A man like Tobin would never go down without a fight. Cyrus would be cornered.

  Checkmate.

  A vision appeared of Cyrus on the ground—bloody, beaten, eyes closed.

  This was her chance, but Tobin would never rescue Leonora on his own. Annabel would need to help.

  She searched for Jasper, knowing she’d never find him in the crowd and that he’d never agree to her plan anyway. He’d negotiated a reprieve for her, but it wasn’t true freedom. That would only come one way. Her gaze wandered to the unmarked door that led to the dungeon.

  She loved him. She’d tell him tonight, but there might never be another chance like this. She could end this. It was worth taking the chance.

  She crept to the door, checking to make sure no one was watching, and slipped inside. A deafening boom echoed through the corridor, and she was thrown to the ground. She clambered to her feet to the sounds of screams and shouts outside.

  Time to hurry.

  With her hand on the wall as a guide, she raced down the dark hall. The first gate clicked open as soon as her implant was within range. She ripped a piece of fabric from her hem and shoved it in the hole so the gate couldn’t lock.

  After doing the same with the second gate, she rushed into the cavern, where a single guard waited in front of Leonora’s cell.

  “Didn’t you hear the explosion?” Annabel asked, allowing irritation to permeate her voice. “You’re needed upstairs.”

  The guard took a step toward the hall but paused. “No one told me my orders had changed.”

  Annabel pulled her shoulders back. “I’m changing your orders, you fool. No one can radio you down here. Get upstairs and report to Commander Bishop immediately.”

  His jaw dropped, and he nodded before scurrying up the hall.

  Leonora backed away from the bars.

  “Would it surprise you to know your boyfriend is mounting a rescue attempt for you?” Annabel asked.

  Leonora jumped forward and craned her neck to see into the hall.

  “I hope he’s got a good plan for getting you out of here.” A loud thud echoed in the distance. “I don’t have a lot of time. There’s a teleportation zone along the side of the main corridor that allows for manual entry of coordinates. We use it for civilians or anyone without an implant. It’s a steel platform with a glass pad on the side. Hopefully, Tobin will likely have the coordinates for wherever he wants to take you. The keys to the cell are on the wall.” Annabel turned to leave.

  “Thank you.” Leonora’s voice was meek—positively unassuming.

  Annabel eyed her over her shoulder. “I’m not doing this for you.”

  Ready to run and hide away in Jasper’s quarters, she rushed toward the entryway, but she collided with something as thick and solid as a wall. She staggered backward. A gigantic man with dark curly hair and deep brown eyes stood between her and the hallway. This must be Tobin—and he was aiming a gun at her head.

  He grabbed her arm and thrust her at Leonora’s cell. “Open it.”

  “The keys are there.” She extended a trembling finger toward the wall.

  “Go get them,” he ordered.

  She grabbed the keys and pushed one into the lock with some effort to steady her hand. His gaze darted to every move she made.

  How could she have been so stupid? She had been so caught up in the possibility of Cyrus’s death that she neglected to think about what would actually happen when Tobin found Leonora. Annabel would probably die long before she’d ever be able to enact the rest of her plan.

  With a heavy metal clink, the door swung open. Tobin shoved Annabel out of the way, and she struggled to stay on her feet.

  He pulled Leonora into his arms and smoothed her hair while looking her over. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

  Annabel took a step toward the hall, then another.

  “We’re going to have to move fast. We don’t have a lot of time,” Tobin said, completely focused on Leonora.

  One more step, and Annabel would turn and run.

  “You!” Tobin’s gun was trained on her again. “Doctor Fry, the Niotian genetic engineer. Where is he?”

  Annabel grimaced.

  “I know you have him. Where is he?”

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. “He’s dead.”

  His massive shoulders sank, and his eyes scanned the ground in front of him. “We’ll have to make do without him.”

  His hand darted out and grabbed her, pulling her to his side. “You’re coming with us in case we need a little leverage. Nora, let’s go.”

  Annabel scrambled as he pulled her along. She had thought she could control a man like this? She stumbled as they reached the mouth of the hall.

  A sharp blast exploded above her. Tobin let go and dove backward into the cavern as pieces of rock rained down on her. She covered her head, and dashed toward the entryway, trying to escape. If she could get far enough, the darkness of the hall would conceal her. Tobin wouldn’t have a good shot.

  She leaped forward just as Jasper stormed out of the darkness, his gun drawn. His eyes wide and cold, his jaw taut, he was terrifying.

  Holding out an arm, he guided her to the hallway. She should run. He’d want her to get out of here.

  But she was frozen.

  This was all her fault. The thought of Jasper getting hurt—or worse—because of her half-baked idea anchored her there. She peered around the corner.

  Tobin’s gun remained on Jasper as he shoved Leonora behind himself. His massive body covered all but the occasional glimpse of her legs.

  Jasper jerked his gun at Leonora, but he never took his eyes off Tobin. “If I didn’t need her alive, you’d already be dead.”

  “I’m not too concerned about what you need,” Tobin replied.

  Jasper sneered. “This from the man in my dungeon.”

  “We were just leaving.”

  “I doubt that.” Jasper dropped to the ground a split-second before a deafening blast. Tobin’s gun.

  Annabel covered her head as debris sprayed everywhere.

  Jasper rolled on the ground and swept his leg at Tobin’s feet. Tobin flew into the air and landed hard on the ground. His head smacked against the stone. The sickening sound forced the air from Annabel’s lungs.

  At least it wasn’t Jasper.

  Jasper rolled to his feet and landed a crushing kick to Tobin’s ribs. Tobin grunted and gasped for air.

  Leonora lunged for Tobin’s gun, but Jasper batted her away with a single arm, taking the weapon with his other hand. He backed up to the hall and handed it to Annabel. What was she supposed to do with it? She pointed it down, finger far away from the trigger.

  “You’re out of practice, Kalos. I expected better from you.” Jasper circled around him. Tobin reached for something silver glinting along his waist and swung it wildly at Jasper.

  Jasper leaped out of the way, then dove forward and pinned Tobin’s forearm under his boot. Tobin let out a raspy groan.

  Jasper holstered his gun and lowered himself to his knee to wrestle a large hunting knife from Tobin’s hand. “It was a mistake for you to come here.”

  He spun the knife, and Leonora jumped forward. He batted her into the wall—hard. “Don’t even think about it.”

  Tobin tried to roll away, still coughing and gasping for air.

  Annabel opened her mouth, but the words didn’t come out. How could she explain everything? Would Jasper go along with her plan even if he knew? She glanced at the pockmarks spattering the walls. After this mess, she had no right to ask anything of him.

  Jasper took aim at Tobin’s chest.

  No! Cyrus has to die.

  “Stop! We need him!” Annabel shouted.

  Eyes wide, Jasper paused and gaped at her. Tobin’s hand darted from his side and jerked the knife from Jasper’s grasp, then slashed at Jasper’s stomach. Rocking backward, Jasp
er stumbled off his knee and hobbled along the ground, clutching his abdomen.

  Even in the dim light, Annabel could see the blood. She clamped a hand over her mouth. What had she done? She moved toward him.

  Jasper winced and held out a bloody hand to stop her. “Go! You promised me.” He drew in shallow breaths.

  Her gaze met Leonora’s, who was busy helping Tobin to his feet. Rock shards littered the floor. The air was still gritty with dust from the gunshots. Blood was everywhere. None of this had been as she’d planned.

  “Go!” Jasper’s face contorted. He groped for his holstered gun.

  Annabel nodded and sprinted to the hall. She’d keep her promise—right after she sent for help.

  Nora helped Tobin to his feet and steadied him while he sucked in shallow breaths. Blood streamed out of his mouth.

  She shifted his weight and tried to push forward. “We have to get you out of here.”

  He nodded, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

  Something white moved in her lower periphery. Jasper, propped up against the wall a mere five feet away, took aim with his gun.

  “Tobin, watch out!” She pulled him to the side, and a shot exploded in the wall behind them, sending a hail of sharp rocks everywhere.

  Tobin dove for the gun in Jasper’s hand. He landed squarely on Jasper’s wounded stomach, and Jasper dropped the gun, groaning as it skidded away. Tobin dragged himself along the floor toward the weapon.

  Jasper wrapped both arms around Tobin’s legs, pulling him backward. Blood covered the floor around them, as they wrestled their way toward the gun.

  The gun.

  She dashed to it, but Jasper got it first.

  Tobin sprang away from Jasper and launched himself toward her. “Get to the hall!”

  She darted toward the hallway as Tobin staggered behind her, his movements slow, clumsy—not at all like him.

  Jasper had propped himself up against a wall again, a slick layer of sweat covering his face. He blinked a couple times before extending the weapon in their direction. His arm bobbed up and down, but he fired anyway, missing Tobin by inches.

  Too close.

  Tobin wasn’t moving fast enough. She lunged to his side and pulled him as best she could toward the hall. Jasper pointed the gun in their direction again, his hand shaking and his eyes glazed.

  Her fingers dug into Tobin’s biceps as she pulled him to a stand and wedged herself underneath his arm for support. His lips were blue, and his eyes were dull.

  “Let’s get you out of here,” she said before lumbering away. “There’s a teleportation zone in the main corridor that allows us to manually enter coordinates.”

  White light flashed, and then a deafening crack filled the cavern. Tobin jolted behind her with a strangled noise emanating from his throat. It knocked her off balance, and they tumbled into the hall.

  She sat up, arms covered in blood.

  Tobin’s blood.

  She flipped him onto his back, screaming. “No. No, no, no, no!”

  Blood pumped from a gaping hole in his shoulder. Tobin’s wide eyes darted around but didn’t appear to focus on anything.

  She gritted her teeth and heaved him up. Tobin needed to get to the Niotian hospital—and she’d get him there with or without asylum. She pulled him along the hall, moving as fast as her legs could go.

  “Do you have coordinates for Nios?”

  He nodded clumsily. “Cargo pocket of my pants. Take the phone first.”

  “What?” Her voice was breathy as she climbed the stairs with him. “We need to get you to Nios now. There’s no time to call anyone.”

  He shook his head. “Initiate the…”

  His head bobbed.

  “Tobin?” Nora shifted his weight and picked up her pace. “Stay with me. What do I need to initiate?”

  “The trigger program. Henry… Make it look like you’re gone.”

  That made no sense. Her heart thudded in her chest. She couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not like this.

  They reached the door, and Tobin pawed at his leg. “The trigger…”

  Nora reached into the cargo pocket of his pants, nearly dropping him in the process, and grabbed a smartphone. A piece of paper was stuck to it with blood. After she pressed the button, the phone lit to life.

  Tobin raised a shaky finger and jabbed at the screen, opening an app. A simple black screen with green letters appeared.

  “It says push to execute. What will this do?” she asked.

  “It’s a diversion…” His whole body was trembling.

  She was losing him. She pushed the button and braced him against the wall, wondering if she’d just programmed a bomb to explode.

  Nothing happened.

  Then a muffled voice. Two muffled voices shouted back and forth. “All units report. Sighting at London Heathrow!” Several people ran by.

  Nora waited until it was quiet and flung the door open in front of them. A dusty haze shrouded the hall, and all was eerily quiet. At this point, Tobin’s feet dragged behind them. Each step took an eternity.

  Finally, a steel platform appeared behind some fallen rubble. She pushed with everything she had, one foot after another to reach it. She wasn’t even sure if Tobin was conscious anymore, but his breathing was becoming more and more erratic.

  She peeled the piece of paper off the phone, stained and sticky with blood, and typed the coordinates into the number pad as fast as her shaking hands would allow.

  The blue light brightened. A moment later, they disappeared.

  Chapter 26

  Jasper stared at the stark-white ceiling. A tug along his abdomen was all he could feel after they had numbed him from his collarbone down. He clenched his jaw.

  She promised.

  “I still can’t believe I’m doing this.” Doctor Eversoll shook his head, stitching the gash along Jasper’s abdomen back together. “This laceration came within a centimeter of perforating your colon. A centimeter! And we had to give you three pints of blood before we could stop the bleeding. The adhesive would heal this much more cleanly. Why can’t you wait the hour for it to set?”

  “I have a job to do,” Jasper growled.

  Eversoll’s black gaze shot up. “So do I.”

  Jasper glowered at him, and he shrank under his attention, returning his focus to the wound. No one said he had to do this in the first place. If he didn’t like it, he could have Ronan stitch the wound. Jasper trusted his skill more anyway, but as angry as he was, Eversoll wasn’t to blame.

  This shouldn’t have happened. He knew Tobin would come—and he had warned Annabel. Every muscle in his body tensed.

  “It’s much harder to complete these sutures with you moving around,” Eversoll snapped.

  Jasper took a deep breath and relaxed his muscles.

  None of this should have happened.

  He’d heard her voice in the dungeon long before he’d seen her with Tobin. He’d never felt that kind of fear as he’d sprinted down the hall; it stung every inch of his body. She was in there with the most dangerous person on earth. Tobin could have already hurt her. He could have killed her right in front of him.

  He pulled up his implant menu, selected an app, and waited. A dot appeared on the map—her. In his quarters.

  Too little, too late.

  Adrian sighed next to him, an oddly welcomed sound. There was something else to focus on.

  “Do you have an update?” Jasper asked.

  “Cyrus is holed up in his room. Guards are posted at the doors, but he made it quite clear he wanted to be alone. They think he’s drinking heavily.”

  Cyrus would be hard to manage for a while. He’d demand revenge, but how far would his anger go? He had too much riding on this unveiling. Jasper couldn’t rule out mass executions of guards who’d gotten caught in the crossfire, and if Cyrus ever received intelligence of Annabel’s role, no one could save her.

  He rubbed a hand over his face. The locks had been jammed with black silk, wh
ich he was sure would match her dress. With all the gunfire, it was definitely possible that her blood would be found in the dungeon.

  He had immediately started formulating her defense in his head but stopped himself. There was no defense. What she did was dangerous, stupid, and even though Cyrus hadn’t been there, Jasper was positive it had something to do with getting revenge. That’s all that mattered to her. She wanted Cyrus dead.

  Jasper had been so stupid. She hadn’t even tried to hide it, but somehow he’d deluded himself into believing she cared for him.

  Years of obsessing over her, always watching out for her. Even now, he worried. He’d be restless until he knew she was okay. But she would never grasp what she’d done—to her brother, all of Octavius…

  To him.

  It had to end.

  She’d never make the hard decisions and sacrifices he’d made—she’d never even realized all he’d done. Her thirst for revenge was all consuming. There wasn’t room for anything else. This road would end in death for her and anyone close to her, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  Eversoll stood and tilted his head, studying his work. “All right, let’s take a look at the gash on your arm. The stone caused that?”

  Jasper shrugged and pushed himself up gingerly with minimal help from his abdominal muscles.

  “What are you doing?” Eversoll demanded.

  “I need to take care of a few things. I’ll come back tomorrow to take care of the rest.”

  Adrian grabbed Jasper’s shirt and held it up, wincing. The front was slashed and stiffened with drying blood.

  “How about I run and get you a new shirt?” Adrian asked.

  …and find Annabel.

  “No!” Jasper cleared his throat and slid off the table. “I mean, I have an extra uniform in my office.”

  “I really must insist on examining those other injuries!” Eversoll demanded, his face reddening. “You are risking infection.”

  Jasper walked past him and threw on the slashed shirt. “You don’t like that I’m leaving? Call the Guard. They’ll follow up on your complaint right away.”