The Prince's Trap

by Griffith, P. D.

  “I will rip off your heads if you don’t let me out!” He didn’t recognize the voice. It was feminine, but deep and seething with rage and aggression.

  Landon shot his attention toward the voice. He found Riley, Katie Leigh and Peregrine clinging to the door handle of one of the recovery rooms down the hall, holding it closed with every fiber of their being. If it weren’t for the high stress of the situation, it would have been an almost comical sight, like a sibling prank. But assuming Maureen Hammond was the one trapped on the other side of the door, it made the situation extremely tense.

  “Don’t let go!” Katie Leigh strained to get the words out as she fought to maintain her grip.

  “My fingers are slipping!” Riley shouted, oblivious to Landon’s entrance into the hall.

  Katie Leigh dropped her head back as she tried to reinforce their combined strength against Maureen’s and Riley fought to regain his grip. In doing so, she noticed Landon struggling to hold Celia.

  “You got her,” she said quietly, stricken with surprise. Suddenly, she released her grip from the door. The sight of Landon caused her concentration to lapse for a split second.

  “Katie!” Riley shouted.

  Pulled back to task, Katie Leigh went right back to helping the others hold Maureen inside.

  Landon jumped as a chair suddenly burst through the small window of the recovery room. Clattering blinds and the crashing of broken glass echoed through the hall accompanied by Katie Leigh’s shriek of surprise. Seconds later, Maureen Hammond’s slender fingers shot out from the opening and clasped the window frame. Even from where he stood, Landon could see the veins bulging in her hands and arms as she powered her way out of the room.

  “Come on! We’ve got to get out of here!” Landon screamed to them as he attempted to hoist Celia more securely over his shoulder.

  At his command, Riley, Katie Leigh and Peregrine dashed over to him. Without needing to be asked, Riley flanked Celia and pulled her other arm up and across his shoulders to help Landon carry her. They rushed to the exit of the medical wing, moving as quickly as they could while dragging the weight of Celia’s unconscious body between them. Amid the sound of their feet against the tile, they could hear Maureen working her way through the broken window. The pops of glass under her feet made them all hasten their steps.

  They made it out of the medical wing with just moments to spare. They could hear the sounds of Maureen’s hot pursuit as Katie Leigh slammed the door behind her. Immediately after the door clicked shut, Katie Leigh grabbed hold of the badge reader positioned next to the handle. An instant later they heard the sound of a heavy deadbolt engaging. When she took her hand off the sensor, the green bar indicating that the medical wing was open had changed to solid red.

  Bang! The sound of Maureen slamming her fists against the jammed door of the medical wing forced another shriek out of Katie Leigh.

  “Don’t worry, she won’t be getting out of there any time soon,” she said with a hint of self-admiration.

  “Thank God you’re a technopath,” Landon said as he breathed a sigh of relief.

  “You’re a what?” Riley shouted.

  “Not now!” Katie Leigh returned. “I’ll tell you later.”

  “Can we get out of here now?” Landon said to instant nods of agreement.

  • • • • •

  The cool night air reinvigorated Landon as he and Riley continued to carry Celia on their shoulders through the valley. Katie Leigh led the way and Peregrine walked close behind. Landon had asked her to keep an eye out for any pursuers. So far they were in the clear.

  The trek over the southern range of mountains bordering the valley was arduous, to say the least. In order to make it as easy as possible, per Sofia’s instructions, they stuck to the road that the Gymnasium had paved. It was the same one Landon had arrived on just a year ago.

  The trip was relatively silent. The events of the evening had put everyone in a daze. Confusion and unease, coupled with waning adrenaline, had them all in a contemplative mood. Landon wondered what the others might be thinking as they staunchly followed him farther and farther away from their home into a situation that he, himself, was unsure about.

  Of them all, Riley was probably the most confused. Once they had left the Gymnasium and were a good distance from its golden doors, he’d asked, “Can someone finally tell me what’s going on?”

  Landon adjusted Celia’s arm across his shoulders before replying, “In a nutshell, we’ve all been played.” He knew it wasn’t the detailed answer Riley wanted, but it was all Landon could bring himself to say at the moment.

  It took a second for Riley to return an unsatisfied, “Okay.”

  Landon glanced over Celia’s dangling head to give Riley a faint smile. He was extremely proud of what Riley had done and he was relieved that his friend was there by his side. Without question, he had followed every order and fearlessly helped them rescue Celia. He needed no explanation of what was happening; he just needed to know how he could help. Landon was amazed, after how he’d treated Riley for months, that he would follow Landon’s lead with such faith. Landon couldn’t wait to tell him everything. Riley definitely had earned that much from him. Landon feared, however, that he might not take the news well. All he could do was hope that when the time came, he was open to understanding the terrible situation Landon had been put in and why he had kept all these secrets from him for so many months.

  But something else weighed heavily on Landon’s mind as they made steady progress over the range—Dr. Brighton. He couldn’t believe how easily he’d been manipulated by a person he had almost considered a father. Was it all a lie? he asked himself, unable to come to grips with the idea that every talk, every laugh, every moment they’d shared over the past year was calculated and bore some sinister ulterior motive.

  When they reached the top of the hill, they were suddenly confronted with a massive transport helicopter. The entire body was painted in a greyish-black that made it nearly impossible to see in the dead of night and the engines had been shut off to keep the craft’s position a secret until their arrival.

  Standing beside the sliding door on the side of the aircraft, a figure wearing dark clothing and a round black helmet with a tinted visor waited, arms crossed. At their approach, the person rushed forward and, bypassing Katie Leigh altogether, made a beeline for Celia’s unconscious body that Landon and Riley, both exhausted, dragged between them.

  Taking her from them, the pilot carried Celia to the cargo bay of the helicopter and began to secure her inside. Landon’s muscles tingled as the burden of Celia’s weight was lifted off his back. He rubbed his shoulder tenderly to release some of the cramping he’d been dealing with for the majority of the journey.

  Katie Leigh, Riley and Peregrine all seemed relieved and happy to have safely reached their destination. They went quickly to the helicopter and pulled themselves inside once Celia was secure. Peregrine kindly showed Katie Leigh and Riley how to engage their harnesses, which were identical to the ones in the Alpha Chariot.

  Landon glanced over his shoulder to the lake. From their vantage point, even in the dark of night, he thought he could see the faintest outline of the pagoda sequestered in a recessed shore of the lake. A lump of regret caught in his throat. He wished he could somehow stop Dr. Brighton. As they prepared to leave the Gymnasium, he knew that somewhere, at this very moment, Dr. Brighton was injecting himself with the advanced gene therapy created through Project Herakles, to gain the same strength Landon still didn’t believe he truly possessed himself.

  He rested his arm against the doorway of the helicopter. “Peregrine, can you tell me where Dr. Brighton is right now?” he asked.

  “Yeah, he’s—”

  “Wait, why do you want to know?” Katie Leigh interrupted. Exhaustion hadn’t dulled the intensity of her inqui
ries in the least.

  Landon looked down. He hoped to keep his intention to find Dr. Brighton a secret until the last moment—when they couldn’t stop him. “I . . . uh . . . I have to try.”

  “Try what?” Riley asked, dumbfounded.

  “Try nothing . . . that’s what!” Katie Leigh adopted the scolding tone of an overbearing mother. “You can barely stand, Landon. There’s no way you could stop Dr. Brighton in the state you’re in.”

  “But I can’t let him get away with this when there’s a chance I can stop him.”

  “You’re being ridiculous! Now, get in the helicopter!”

  “I can’t.” Landon stared at the helicopter’s landing skid pressing into the grass. He couldn’t bear to look at them all. “I have to—”

  “No!” A strained, unexpected voice interrupted Landon and drew the attention of everyone in the aircraft. Celia tried to pull herself up in her chair a bit as she looked at Landon through partially closed eyes. In a raspy, soft voice, forced out though she barely had the strength, she continued, “You must come with us. . . . There are more important people who need you now.”

  Katie Leigh, Riley and Peregrine shifted their attention back to Landon, awaiting his rebuttal.

  “But . . . you all are safe now,” he said hesitantly. “And I need to stop him before anyone else gets hurt.”

  “I’m not talking about us, Landon,” Celia replied, each word escaping her lips with noticeable strain. “I started to tell you earlier in the Vault . . . just before the alarms. . . . In the folder, . . . it said your parents . . . They’re alive.”

  Time seemed to stop as Celia’s words sunk in. “What do you mean, my parents are alive?”

  Katie Leigh perked up in her chair. “It’s true, Landon. . . . I wanted to tell you before you ran off to find Celia in the Vault, but I didn’t get to finish. It was in that intel that came out last night. . . . But after you returned from the tower, . . . with everything going on, I . . . uh . . . I sort of forgot,” she said, ashamed.

  “They’re alive?” Landon said, reeling. “They’re alive?”

  “Yes, and you have a chance to save them before Dr. Brighton gets to them—” Celia suddenly stopped speaking aloud but spoke the final words telepathically to Landon. Like he did mine.

  Landon’s eyes shifted left then right as he weighed his decision and came to terms with what Celia had just revealed. His parents were alive . . . and he had a chance to save them. This new information changed everything. He wanted terribly to stop Dr. Brighton before he completed his transformation, but if there was even the slightest chance that what Celia and Katie Leigh said could be true, he had to pursue it.

  Landon grabbed hold of the bar and hoisted himself up into the helicopter. After sliding the door shut, he seated himself on the bench beside Riley. Moments later, a high-pitched hum as the rotors started up could be heard above them, followed quickly by the whoop-whoop of the blades as they picked up enough speed to carry them off.

  Without warning, the pilot lifted off the ground and slowly gained altitude. The Gymnasium, with the glow of its pale firelight lanterns visible through the huge glass dome, showed no sign of the turmoil and scandal that took place within its walls. It bore no blemish from the betrayals it had witnessed that night.

  Landon stared pensively at the massive facility hidden in the valley until the helicopter turned and sped off toward their destination. So much had happened in just a year’s time, but he left now with hope. Hope that the one tragedy he thought he’d never escape might finally bring redemption—and reunion—in the end.

  “Wait, why is this news? Since when were Landon’s parents not alive?” Riley blurted out, unable to hold back his confusion any longer. Landon couldn’t help but smile at him. “And where are we going?”

  “The Academy,” Landon replied assuredly as he turned to watch the mountains, lit by the silver light of the moon, pass under them.

  END OF BOOK TWO

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Many thanks to my beta testers, Becky Adams and Jessica Turon, for reading the manuscript and making great suggestions that helped take the story to the next level; Holly South, my editor, for her guidance and expertise; my fellow authors, Collin Earl, Chris Snelgrove, and Pam Langsam, for their encouragement and advice; and of course Jennifer, George, Jimmy, Catlynn, and baby Ella Rose Griffith, my family, for their love and support.