Jonaz moved his hands to hold my face, the warmth of them burning my cheeks. I stood rooted to the spot as his mouth searched mine, forgetting I had any powers, or that I should probably be stopping him. My knees buckled, a wave of desire washing over me before I came to my senses, remembering where I was as he finally released me. The gobsmacked expressions on my friends faces pretty much said it all.
“Let’s see what the Governing Body thinks of that,” Jonaz declared. He swept his hair back from his face and winked at me. I gaped at him in shock.
“That’s enough!” The woman scolded, breaking through the others to jump between us. “This is not the time nor the place for such amorous behaviour!” What? Not okay, right in the middle of a Government building, with surveillance everywhere? You think?
“I think this is exactly the time and place,” Jonaz glowered at her. “I may not have the chance to kiss her again.” His face was hard, but his eyes betrayed his sudden fear. I felt my heart beat faster at his meaning. He was being brave. Why couldn’t I be as brave as him? The woman gave him a very hard stare before she swung around and marched huffing back to the door, muttering something that sounded rather like ‘reportable misconduct’ under her breath.
Then it was opening and we were moving outside, onto a runway. I was still so stunned from Jonaz’s assault on my mouth I could barely put one foot in front of the other. Thankfully, Sazika gripped my arm and towed me along, her expression amused. I glanced apprehensively at Mira and was dismayed to see the distress etched over her features. She would never kiss Chaz again. A thousand emotions attacked me at once that I had to push away. It was time to be strong, and I couldn’t be strong if I let those thoughts in. We crossed the runway, boarding a new craft. It was smaller than the last and again, we were the only ones boarding. Brazin and the trainers were waiting for us inside.
“Where are the other students?” I asked as I buckled in.
“Heading with their trainers to cover different opening points of the cave system,” Brazin replied. “We know it’s the Aran aqueducts they have infiltrated, but they disabled the surveillance, so we’re not sure of their exact location within. We will close in on them, or flush them out.” We were going to hunt them down. A shudder worked over me at the thought. We didn’t know the caves any better than they did. How were we supposed to gain the upper hand?
“You will find GPS maps of the caverns uploaded to your wristbands,” Brazin said as if reading my mind. Sure enough when I tapped in to check, it was there. The depth and expanse of the cave system was overwhelming, going on for thousands of Comian lengths, weaving, winding, and turning under the earth. The idea of becoming lost in the endless maze of tunnels made me breathless with dread.
As we ascended once more into the sky, Bar handed each of us a lightweight flexible item that resembled a necklace, with some sort of pendant in the middle.
“What are these?” Mekai twirled his in his hands.
“They’re your trackers. Put them over your neck. If you get into trouble, press the panic button on the pendant.”
“Why, what will it do?” I fingered the fragile glass, hoping I wouldn’t need to use it.
“It will trigger an alarm to the commanding officers of the search and display your location in the caves.” I braided my long hair so the necklace wouldn’t become tangled in it, and slipped the tracker over my head. At the touch to my skin, it emitted a soft beep, probably a sensory reaction to my body temperature, which was hiking way up there already. Bar handed us more items. A belt with a holster, shackles, and lastly a lightweight, metal gun that made my blood run cold.
“This isn’t a CDT, is it?” I shivered as I, turned the weapon over in my hands.
“No. It is not,” Brazin’s tone was almost apologetic. “We underestimated how ready our enemy was to fight us again. We thought we had more time to train you in basic weaponry, or to become familiar with using a laser gun at least.”
“Oops,” I said. Brazin turned on me and I paled.
“This isn’t a game, Twell,” he snapped, “If you need to use it, you will need to take it seriously.”
“Are you joking?” I shouted, suddenly furious. “I just saw my best friend lying dead in front of me not two moons ago, and the murder of half my classmates. Believe me; this is anything but a game to me. It’s a nightmare!” My voice rang out raw and shrill, before trembling off, on the verge of tears. There was an uncomfortable silence as emotions were struggled with. Dropping the gun in my lap, I put my head in my hands.
“Okay,” Brazin said more patiently. “I just need you to hold it together until we capture these barbarians. Can you do that for me?”
“Not for you,” I hissed, staring hard at him. “For my loved ones.”
“Good, that’s the spirit.” Brazin slapped me on the back in an awkward effort to console me before moving on. “Now let me show you how to use your guns.” A lesson on how to slice into someone with a laser gun, without actually using it, is not ideal. In fact, it’s a terrible idea, but we didn’t have a choice as we raced over the landscape, the pod creating a shadow that chased us, far below on the desert plains. When we arrived at the rocky entrance to the caves, we disembarked quickly, a gnawing sense of urgency starting to unfurl within my chest. The trainers stood in front of us, their expressions blank, revealing nothing of their fears. This is how they’d been trained, composure an important aspect of a soldier. Well what little composure I had left was fast declining. “Stay together,” Brazin commanded. “You’re to disarm the enemy with your powers. The guns are a backup aid to protect you. Remember, we want them all alive, for questioning.” Mira snorted, her contempt unconcealed. “I mean it, Mira,” Brazin barked. “You will leave their fate to the Governing Body. It is not your place to provide justice to our enemies.”
“It’s not justice I want,” said Mira dully. Her eyes were still glazed with grief. “Revenge will be fine.” As her words sunk in, I began to feel that everything the Governing Body ever told us about ourselves, was a lie. I assessed the vengeful hatred in my heart and wondered if it had always been part of my nature, just waiting for a chance to be revealed. Now, watching it leaking out of my friends, it was impossible to deny. If I was so capable of hatred and lust for revenge, what else was I capable of?
“You will obey your leaders,” Brazin replied, and this time his tone was so threatening, so unarguable, that Mira wavered under his scrutinizing glare. “Follow behind, and listen to my commands once we are inside,” Brazin ordered. With that, he turned and walked to the entrance of the cave. I’d expected to see a hole in the ground, but he led us to a large metal door set in one of the rocks. Opening the door, Brazin ushered us inside a lift. My stomach plummeted as we dropped, down, down, down; until I lost track of how deep we must have gone. When we stepped out of the cage, I knew it must be very deep, it smelled damper, mustier than the cave in the wetlands, and even where we had lived and trained. There were three long tunnels before us, all branching off in opposing directions. Lights dotted along the passages, casting a soft eerie glow in the darkness. The air was thin and chilly. Despite the cold, I was sweating, my hands slipping over the gun as I fumbled with it, trying to secure it in the belt.
“Here,” Jonaz said, taking the gun from me. He placed the gun firmly in the holster, making sure it clicked into place. Then his hands moved to my hips, pulling me closer.
“Twell,” he began in an agitated tone. Worry for me was etched over his dark features, shining in his eyes. Suddenly I was scared of what he might say.
“Don’t. Please don’t,” I begged, my hands coming up to rest on his chest. Through his shirt, his heart beat firm and steady under my fingertips. The rhythm comforted me momentarily, before I dared to speak again. “There’s no point,” I whispered, broken. I stepped back, turning away from him as my heart constricted. But he wasn’t finished. Grabbing my arm, he yanked me around to face him.
“You’re wrong, Twell. After all this, we’re going to talk.” His eyes pierced mine so intensely I began to tremble.
“It’s just too hard,” I insisted, but my voice wavered. Why did he have to look at me like that? It made my head swim, made me forget why I’d ever hated him. Jonaz gave me a crooked smile and released me with a sigh, his expression wistful. It only spun my emotions into further torment and confusion.
“It’s harder to give in,” he challenged my heart. I gazed at him pensively for a moment longer until Brazin broke the moment between us.
“Ahem.” Embarrassed, I moved away from Jonaz, thankful for the darkness that hid my glowing blush. “Are you ready?” Brazin asked. The light on the walls cast strange shadows under his feet as he waited for our answers. I wasn’t. I listened as the others consented while my heart pounded louder and louder in my ears. Brazin waited for me to reciprocate, but I stood there mute, frozen with sudden fear.
“I believe in you, Twell,” Jonaz’s words reached across the distance I’d put between us, reassuring and full of the courage I so desperately needed. I don’t know why his confidence in me could somehow lift my own belief in myself, but it did. Closing my eyes, I took a deep calming breath and harnessed my powers. They flowed through my body until I warmed, tingling with increased energy as my mind became shaper and focused.
My eyes snapped open, “I’m ready.”