Chapter Twenty-One

 

 

 

Laura

 

“I take it that you two are adjusting to your new lives well?” Alicia asks.

She’s called us to her home, which is an actual house located ten minutes away from the headquarters and not a cramped apartment contained within a business complex. It must be nice to live away from the chaos that always surrounds the rebellion’s headquarters, a flurry of people hurrying to and fro, planning attacks and rescue missions. At least it doesn’t get very boring.

“Yeah, I’m doing great. Not too fond of being hidden away all the time, but that’s no different from home,” I say then catch my mistake.

I referred to the palace as home again. I have to stop doing that, no matter how hard it is to forget the life that I had with my father and brother. It’s gone now, and I have to accept that. It’s been nearly two weeks since we ran away, but it’s still hard to fathom calling the palace anything else.

“Well, that’s going to change momentarily,” Alicia smiles, leaning back in her leather reclining chair. Shane and I sit next to each other on her beige couch, and Ryan and Taeler are in the kitchen watching over Lainey and Mira, who play together surprisingly well, despite their age difference.

Alicia’s daughter is stunningly pretty, with big, red-brown eyes, pale skin and loose black curls. She doesn’t look much like Alicia, but she’s nearly the spitting image of Isaac—or Izzy, as Alicia calls him. I only saw him twice, once when Alicia brought him to our home and another time when we visited her in Malibah. He had these piercing red eyes, something I’d never seen on a person before. Mira’s are close to the same color, and she possesses the same dangerous beauty that her father did.

“What do you mean?” Shane asks, tapping his fingers on the arm of the couch.

“Ryan and I have decided that we’re going to let you accompany us on a mission. It likely won’t be a very violent one. We’re going to free some rebels from a prison that’s located about thirty minutes away from our base—still in Karkay’s jurisdiction, but close to the city of Malus.”

“Cool. Are all the prisoners there rebels?”

“Yes. It’s an interrogation facility. Two floors. The plan is that we’ll split up into teams, and each team will take a floor and free the prisoners in it. At night, it isn’t heavily guarded. Three rebels are employed there, and they’ll all be on duty tonight. They will help us get in and stay safe.”

“That sounds good to me. Who are the teams? Shane and me?” I ask. That’s the obvious choice. The two of us work so well together that I can’t imagine they’ll send us separately.

“No, actually. Shane, Ryan and I will take care of one floor and you and Taeler will be taking care of the other. We want to see how well you two work together. You’re both very skilled and enthusiastic about this type of thing, so we think you’ll be very efficient,” Alicia says.

“Oh,” I say, looking at my feet. I guess I was wrong.

Taeler is nice, but I don’t know her well. I don’t trust her the way that I trust Shane. When I’m with him, I know he’s got my back, no matter what happens. I can’t know that Taeler will do the same, no matter how kind she is.

“Yes. We won’t be leaving here until ten o’clock, so you’re free for a little while,” Alicia says, standing from her chair and going into the kitchen.

“Well, this is going to be interesting.” I sigh, laying my head on Shane’s shoulder. I’ve gotten so used to his gestures of affection that I find myself doing the same.

“What do you mean?” He smiles, letting his arm settle around my shoulder.

“Just that I don’t really know Taeler, and I don’t know what she’s like in this kind of situation.”

“She’s an adrenaline junkie. Anytime we’re in a dangerous situation, she’s in her element. Kinda like you.”

“I’m not an adrenaline junkie.”

“No, you’re a showoff. But you’ll be fine. Taeler knows that you’re very good with this kind of thing, and she’ll listen to you.”

“Really?”

“Maybe. Hopefully. You’re pretty calm and collected in the middle of chaos. She’s everywhere. She doesn’t panic. She gets excited. I’m sure that if you tell her to settle down, she will. She’s good at following instructions,” Shane says, patting my head awkwardly. “I’m going to go get some tea. Want any?”

“No thank you,” I say, making a face. I hate tea. But right now tea isn’t what I’m worried about. I can only hope that Taeler and I will work well together during our mission. Our lives may depend on it.

 

* * * *

 

“Okay, guys. You two take the upstairs. We’ll free the prisoners down here,” Alicia says. She, Ryan, Taeler, Shane and I are assembled in a clump of trees surrounding the rebel prison, discussing our strategies for once we’re inside the building.

Ryan had planned this prison break before we’d fled from the palace, so a rebel guard is stationed outside the building to assist us in entering it. Once we get inside, there will be one rebel guard on each floor to assist us with our mission.

I don’t know if this is the right thing to do. I know that war is inevitable if I don’t find a way to help the rebels stop it, but I hate being forced to side with them. I trust Ryan and Alicia, but how can I trust an entire organization of people who have been trying to destroy my family’s reign for years?

And more than that, is this mission even right? Have these prisoners killed my family or friends? I cannot be sure of anything, but I have to do this. I need the rebels on my side.

“Got it. You coming, Laura?” Taeler says, and I shake all of these concerns away. There is no place for them in a mission, no room for any thoughts that will be a distraction. Now my goal is to follow Alicia’s instructions and to protect myself and Taeler.

“Right behind you,” I say and follow her around the stone building. We crouch low to the ground, clutching our weapons tightly to our chests, and watch for the rebel guard to give us the okay. Once he waves us in, we run swiftly through a large metal door and up an eerie staircase at the end of the hall. At the top, a door separates us from what I imagine will be prison cells.

Before we even discuss a plan, Taeler throws the door open and barges into the hallway. Metal doors with bars line the length of the hallway that goes in separate directions at its end, but the prisoners aren’t what worry me. It’s the sound of voices around the corner.

Only one guard on this floor expects us tonight, but all of them just heard us break in. They’ll be coming for us in no time.

“Taeler! What are you doing?” I whisper. She fumbles through the pockets of her jeans in search of something and all but ignores my comment. The sound of footsteps is fast approaching, and I raise my gun toward the noise.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m just trying to get out the master key,” she replies calmly, finally pulling a small silver object from her pocket. As quickly as she can, she unlocks the first door but doesn’t open it. When she puts her key in the second lock, the guards turn the corner.

Three men now stand before us, guns pointed toward our heads. One of them is our ally, but I don’t know which. I can’t fire until I know. “Taeler, who am I not supposed to shoot?”

“Tony, the one in the middle,” she whispers quickly, firing her gun at the guard on the left. I take the guard on the right, but his shot reaches me before mine hits him. A bullet pierces my leg and I lose my balance. As I fall to the ground, I fire a fatal shot at the guard on the right. Another life I’ve taken. The blood over my head is starting to weigh me down now.

“Laura! Laura, are you okay?” Taeler says. The guard she was fighting is down, and the rebel remains, rushing toward us, his gun now at his side.

“Most decidedly not,” I reply. She saw the bullet hit me. What a stupid question.

I lie on my back and stare at the ceiling, pain surging through my leg. I have been shot before, but it doesn’t feel any better the second time around. Burning flows through my limb, and I close my eyes. I’ve endured pain, and I can do it again. We have to finish our mission. After I lie here for just a few more minutes, I’ll get up. I’ll go on.

“Hang on. We’ve got to get the bleeding stopped,” Taeler says, pulling off her sweater and ripping off a piece of the dark gray fabric. She ties a makeshift tourniquet around my thigh to keep constant pressure on the wound. She’s wearing a white tank top underneath, and after she ties up my leg, she wipes my blood off on her shirt.

“We don’t have time for this. We have to finish freeing the prisoners,” I say, sitting up.

“Yeah, well we don’t have time for you to bleed to death either,” Taeler says.

“No, really. I’m fine. I think it just grazed me,” I say, cringing as I begin to stand up. When I put weight on my injured leg, it buckles from the pain and I collapse to the ground.

“There is a hole in your leg. I don’t think it just grazed you,” Taeler says, rolling her eyes. Before I attempt to stand again, she turns to Tony, “Can you help me carry her back to our Jeep? She needs a doctor.”

“Sure,” he says, lifting me from the ground into his arms. The fire in my leg spreads farther, and tears threaten to spill because of the pain.

The rebel soldier quickly carries me down the stairs and to our Jeep, Taeler following close behind him. My vision blurs as he lays me down across the back seat. The pain is becoming overwhelming and I can tell I’ve lost quite a bit of blood.

“Thanks. You’ll need this,” Taeler says, pulling out her master key and handing it to Tony. He vanishes back into the prison without another word, off to complete the mission that I should be helping with.

“I’m calling the others. We need to get you back to the base.”

“I’m telling you, I think it just grazed me,” I lie, not wanting to endanger the mission. As long as Taeler keeps pressure on my leg, I’ll be fine until everyone is back.

“I don’t care what it did to you. You’re going to see a medic,” Taeler says. I hear her tapping numbers onto her phone’s screen and within a few seconds, a voice answers.

“Taeler, what do you want?” I hear Shane say crankily through the static of the phone. Of course, Taeler would call the one person willing to abandon the mission to ensure my safety.

“Laura’s been shot,” she says nonchalantly.

“She’s been what?”

“Shot. Just hurry back to the Jeep,” Taeler says, smiling at me triumphantly as she hangs up the phone. I shake my head and narrow my eyes.

“That was completely unnecessary,” I complain. “There’s no reason for them to abandon their mission—”

“Oh, shut up. For all of our flaws, most of us rebels are very adamant about protecting our own. You need medical attention, so you’re going to get it. Immediately. End of story.” Taeler shrugs.

“Well thanks,” I mumble as I close my eyes. Before I know it, the burning sensation in my leg dulls and everything else goes dark.