Eternity Crux (6 page)

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“Where to?” Jaz sat beside me as I cruised along the back streets, actively avoiding traffic cameras.

“I’m taking you home.”

“Where are you going?”

“The Legion.” Jaz looked at me like I was crazy. Possibly because I
was
crazy. I was planning to walk right into the headquarters of the people who wanted nothing more than my head on a silver platter. It didn’t get much crazier than that. “They have Sayer. When all hell breaks loose, I don’t want some trigger happy goon,” AKA Galen, “to get carried away and take his frustrations out on him. I have to get him out of there.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“Like you said, it’ll be chaos. I’m hoping that’s enough to get me in and both of us back out.”

Jaz looked thoroughly unconvinced by my
foolproof
plan. “And what if it’s not? What if you both end up captured?”

“I’ve done what I can to help Sayer. At least I’ll be there to point out the flaw in their logic if they decide to kill him.”

“What about you?”

Including a picture of myself along with Sayer’s might not have been a bad idea, but too little, too late. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Auralia—”

“Thank you, Jaz. For all your help. I can’t tell you how much Sayer and I appreciate it.” I stopped outside her complex and left the unit running. “I suggest you stay inside for the next few days with the doors locked. I don’t know what’s going to happen when the Legion falls, but things are probably going to get a little crazy for a while.”

Jaz frowned, but reached for the door handle. “Stay safe.”

“You, too.” Things were about to get real and it was going to be every man for himself. Except Sayer and me. No matter what, we were in this together. I just had to get to him, first.

Which proved to be more difficult than I would have liked. I sat outside that flipping building for two hours before any signs of distress started to appear. It was subtle at first, officers walking with a little more determination, confusion and anger written in their scowls. But before long, things started to fall apart. There was fighting between officers, several abandoning their posts, leaving the limited supporters to try to hold down the fort, but the short supply of reinforcements left gaps in their security. Gaps I had every intention of exploiting.

After another solid half-hour of pure torture, while I sat there analyzing their patrol patterns, I was ready to move. Hood up, head down, I took a roundabout route to a side entrance only employees were aware of, which made it far less secure. At one point they may have posted a guard there, hoping I’d show, but with the rest of society out for blood, they had bigger things to worry about than little ol’ me.

I’d been inside the building only a handful of times during my lost years as their minion, but it was ingrained in me by none other than the Legion itself to be observant, so I knew exactly where each and every security camera was located. When and where to turn my back, duck my head, hug the walls. And I didn’t have to wander aimlessly. I knew just where I was headed.

The containment facility was located at the back of the building, behind a locked door I was going to need a key card to access. I didn’t exactly have one of those lying around, so it was going to pose a problem. The officers stationed inside the Legion weren’t rookies. I couldn’t just take what I wanted from them. Fighting was a forgone conclusion and even with their abandonment issues, I was still discouragingly outnumbered.

Luckily—or
un
luckily—the decision whether or not to risk another jump was out of my hands. No moral dilemmas for me. Scanners embedded throughout the building would have alerted all the wrong people the minute they picked up that my DNA wasn’t a match for the crux I was using. Leaving it behind didn’t exactly give me the warm fuzzies, but added attention was the last thing I needed.

The officer guarding the cells wasn’t Galen, which was a definite plus, but he was one of his. I recognized him. During our months on the run, I’d memorized the faces of each of Galen’s chosen associates and stored them in the mental ‘not to mess with’ file in my brain.

“Hey!” It wasn’t the first time I’d failed to take my own advice. “Looking for me?”

The officer practically jumped to his feet and I cursed myself for not looking more closely at how freaking
big
he was. It was like looking at a wall of pure muscle. I was so entirely screwed.

But a fight—a genuine fight—doesn’t really come down to who’s bigger or stronger. Sure, those play a part, but the real winner is going to be whoever wants it more. And there was
nothing
I wanted more than to get inside those cells.

“You’re under arrest for—” He reached for his cuffs and I took my opening.

Middle exposed, I planted a roundhouse kick to his gut that left him bent over and sucking air. “Yeah, yeah, so I’ve heard.”

He recovered quickly and sent a left hook my way. I may have been small, but that made me quick. I ducked it and danced out of his reach. Not quick enough, though. He closed the distance I’d put between us in two long legged strides and slammed me up against the wall. My head cracked against the solid limestone and dots danced in my vision.

“You think that’s funny?” His thick fingers dug into my shoulder blades and I practically dangled against the wall.

“No. But this is.” I yanked up my knee, catching him right in the family jewels, and hit the floor hard as he howled like a wounded bear.

His taser was clipped to the back of his belt, completely exposed as he curled over himself trying to ease the pain. I snatched it without a second thought and lit him up like the Fourth of July. His large body flopped and spasmed on the floor at my feet before falling still.

My stupid conscience chose that moment to make a rare appearance, forcing me to waste several precious seconds checking to make sure he was still alive and breathing, before swiping his key card and letting myself into the containment facility. I’d never actually been inside the cells before. They were . . . awful.

The stench alone was disgusting, wreaking of fear, and blood, and sweat, and other bodily fluids.  Holding my gag reflex in check, I crossed the filth ridden floor, scanning cage after empty cage. Alone in the last cell lay a heap of flesh and cloth.

“Sayer?” I used the key card to open the barred door and crept slowly inside, afraid it wasn’t him. Afraid it
was
. “Sayer, is that you?”

The red of his t-shirt peeked through in small areas beneath the layers of grime, and his face was nearly unrecognizable, but I’d know him anywhere.

“Sayer!” I dropped to my knees beside him, resting a shaking hand on the back curled protectively away from me. “Sayer, it’s me. I’m here. Sayer, look at me!”

He didn’t move. Not a muscle, not a sound, nothing. He lay there as still as . . . “No.”
No, no, no, no, no.
“Sayer. No, Sayer, please . . .” My arms folded round my middle and the rest of me just sort of folded over them until my head came to rest on Sayer’s shoulder.

Tears carved scalding paths down my face, puddling in the crook of his neck.

“Aura?” His voice was so small—barely a wisp of sound—that I believed I’d imagined it. “What are you doing here?”

“Sayer?” I bolted upright, backhanding him by accident in the process. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You’re alive?”

“I’m alive.” His attempt to roll over left him flopping onto his back with a groan.

“Come on. Let’s get you up.” It took some effort—more on my part than his—but we got him into a sitting position, which was one step closer to him walking out that door.

Blood dripped from a fresh gash below his left eye and from his lips, split in so many places they looked like they’d been put through a shredder. A cut along his scalp left his hair matted with dried blood and muck from the cell floor. His clothes were torn and stained, and every bare inch of skin that I could see bruised and swollen. My fists itched for payback as my eyes continued to leak. “You’re kind of a mess, you know that?”

“You don’t look so great yourself.” Lifting his arm looked painful, but he did it, sliding his thumb across my damp cheek. “You shouldn’t be here, Aura.”

“Neither should you. That’s why we’re getting you out of here. How badly are you hurt?”

“I think I can walk.” It wasn’t what I’d asked, but I’d take that bit of good news for now and deal with the rest later.

“Then let’s go.”

He stumbled and limped on his right ankle, but managed to move across the cell.

“You’re alive.” The fact was still registering in my brain. Part of me—a rather large part I’d chosen to ignore—was convinced he was dead. Especially after finding that locker empty. He’d given them what they wanted, so . . . “
How
are you still alive?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Sayer shook his head and winced through another step.

“Sayer, they obviously wanted
something
from you. Recently, judging by the fresh bruises all over your face. But you gave them the file days ago. What else could they possibly have wanted . . .?” I trailed off as realization swept over me. “Me. They were hurting you to find
me
.”

“Aura—”

“They tortured you to get you to give up my location? They hurt you so badly you gave up the file, but not me?” I was going to puke.

“Aura, listen to me.” Some of the fierceness returned to Sayer’s voice, demanding my attention and giving me hope. He wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand and scrubbed it on the leg of his pants. “They could do whatever they wanted to me. I’d never let them lay a hand on you.”

“How . . . very . . . touching.” Galen leaned up against the door frame, arms folded across his chest as he enjoyed the show with a twisted grin.

“You son of a—” Sayer’s steel grip on my arm was the only thing keeping me from throwing myself at that merciless monster like some kind of screaming howler monkey.

“Thank you for joining us, Auralia. This really has gone on long enough. Now that I have you both, I can complete my mission.” Galen, no doubt, was talking about killing us.

“I wouldn’t get so excited if I were you.” Gently prying Sayer’s fingers from where they were embedded in my flesh, I checked my rage in favor of logic for one very rare moment. “You’ve got bigger problems than us.”

“Really? Because the way I see it, you’re the one with the problem here.” Galen stepped inside the containment area, cocky grin firmly in place.

Was it possible he hadn’t heard? “Why don’t you take a look at the news, then?”

That got his attention, and though it was obvious he thought it was nothing more than a stalling technique, he flipped open the comp strapped to his arm. Evidently, he was in no rush to end this.
Sadistic freak.
Which is why it brought me such great pleasure to watch his mouth drop open and all the color drain from his face.

“Not what you expected?” Now I was just poking the bear with a stick, but it felt
good.
“Your name is all over those bogus kill orders. Do you really want to add two more? The Legion is falling. They can’t protect you anymore. And the people are going to be looking for retribution. I suggest you run. And keep running.”

“You’ve been a thorn in my side for months.” Galen slapped his comp shut and straightened his impressive shoulders. “Like you said, they’re already out for my blood. What difference is two more kills going to make?”

Hadn’t really thought of it that way. “I . . . You’re wasting time. They’re coming for you.”

I had no idea if that was true or not. Sooner or later, someone would notice his endless involvement in all things shady, but in the greater scheme of things, who knew how long it would take for individuals to be hunted down and punished.

Galen seemed to be betting on the later end of that range as he stalked toward us. “And I’m coming for
you
.”

“Aura!” Sayer attempted to pull me out of danger, but he could barely stand on his own two feet.

Galen charged and sparks of light erupted as my head bounced off the wall. My fingers scrabbled for purchase on the taser, but it was useless. The tiny bit of hope it provided slipped from my grasp and—along with all of my luck—clattered across the floor, sliding seamlessly beneath the bars of the nearest locked cell. My knees gave out more due to surprise than anything else and Galen followed me down. He was quick. Quicker than someone his size had any right to be. I didn’t even see his hand coming before it closed around my throat.

I choked and clawed at his meaty fist, but it did me no good. Oxygen deprived brain cells started sending up red flags and I had to force myself not to panic. Panic led to nothing but wasted energy.

“Get off her!” From somewhere over Galen’s shoulder, I vaguely noticed Sayer grab a hold of him and pull with what looked like no small effort.

It wasn’t wasted. The vice-like grip around my throat eased a fraction, allowing me to draw in the slightest gasp of much needed air, before Galen tossed Sayer aside like a piece of trash. The Riverdance my heart was doing slowed to more of a Waltz and I was able to focus long enough to think.