Escape from Harrizel (20 page)

“What?”

“Smarter with me?”

“Jesus, Fallon,” he laughs, ducking his head
between his shoulders. He waits a moment, “What do you want me to
say?”

We both sit in silence and I figure he’s not
going to answer.

“No one’s going to bother you, okay? It’s
kind of a good thing he thinks you’re my…” Reid clears his throat,
“…it’s protection.”

“Reid.”

“What?”

“Look at me.”

And when he does, I melt all over again. I
have to keep my strength if we’re going to have this conversation.
“Was the scapegoat thing for real?”

He nods. “But…”

“But?”

Running his hands through his hair, he
focuses on the ground again. “But normally I jet into the
Maze.”

I’m not sure where to go at this point.
Following Reid’s lead, I look to the black stone floor, trying to
figure out the next thing to say. And like him, I have nothing.
Just the silence sits between us, palpable and intense.

“Fallon?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t hit me, okay?”

“Hit you? Why would I—” but when I look up,
his lips are on mine. I’m ablaze, fire erupting in the pit of my
belly. My heart almost stops at the taste of him, his intoxicating
scent sending me higher and higher and it’s on me, like his mouth,
which presses gently against mine, as if I were something precious
to him, something afraid he might break.

Sliding his hands up my neck, he pulls me
closer and deepens the kiss, opening my mouth with his. His tongue
slips in, finding mine and my body sings at their meeting. Palms
flat against his chest, I push back, inhaling the crisp air of the
room. But he’s on me before I can breathe a full gulp, holding me
to him. With his tongue exploring my mouth, my insides blaze to an
unimaginable heat, especially as he starts leaning me back.

Pratt flies through the door.

Reid withdraws with an exasperated grunt,
dropping his hands from me. He runs them up his face and through
his hair as Pratt stands in front of him, panting. “I’m so sorry
Reid,” she glances my way, “
so
sorry but you have to come
now.
Right
now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Snatching turned into a Clan fight.”

“Vic?”

“Raj.”

Reid is on his feet, flying after Pratt. I’m
behind him the next instant. He turns sharply. “You stay here.”

“What’s going on? What happened to Raj?” I
try to follow but he blocks the door with his body. “Is she
okay?”

“I’m serious. STAY HERE!” he barks, jetting
out after Pratt.

I give it only a second’s consideration
before flying down the stairs after them.

It’s a blood bath.

In the Southeast corner of the Courtyard,
most are still on their feet. They jab knives and throw bloodied
knuckles, flying over others who try to drag themselves away while
some remain motionless, drowning in a pool of their own blood. Reid
soars into the violent mob, a long rod gripped in his right hand.
He leads a host of thirteen behind him, already swinging as his two
friends from the other night keep to his back. The rest follow as
they immerse themselves into the riot with fresh, feral energy.

It’s not letting up. If anything, it’s
gotten worse with Reid’s entrance. A terrifying knot in my stomach
uncoils. He’s in the pit of it. I can’t see him. He’s lost inside
the tight center, hidden behind flying fists and weapons.

“Rox!” Blondie points to the South Wall,
just off the edge of the fight. I follow his signal, finding Raj a
ways back.

My heart clenches.

She’s on her knees and held by two giant
captors who watch the scene with an eerie sense of enjoyment. They
have her arms outstretched, gripping her with huge, tightened
mitts. They must be squeezing her, twisting her.
Something
.
Her eyes are shut but her mouth hangs open. In pain? A scream? The
knot in my stomach grows and I can’t help what I’m about to do.

I fly past Pratt and into the violent
crowd.

Get to Raj.

I trip over some unconscious leg, stumbling
at first, my palms catching the sticky red film of the ground to
steady myself. I wipe them on my pants and push through the tangled
nest of bloodied bodies as red rains around me.

My heart’s pounding with adrenaline and I’m
almost to Raj when something knocks me in the back of the head.
Hard. I go down quickly, hitting the checkered stone with the side
of my face that knocks the world out with a black flash.

Fallon!

It’s an echo, from far away. And I’m not
sure I really hear it. But it seeps into my subconscious, keeping
me awake.

Fallon!

I open my eyes and see Raj. She’s crying out
in panic, in terror at everything around her. That’s when the sound
returns. And I’m still here, in the middle of it. Someone grabs my
elbow, but releases me just as quickly. I’m on my knees, pulling
myself to my feet and slipping in the red film as Raj’s face comes
in and out of view. They’re pulling her back, dragging her by her
arms and she’s sobbing.

“Raj!” I fly for her as the world stops
shaking.

But then someone grabs me with both arms and
lifts. The ground leaves me and suddenly I’m being crushed in the
air. Kicking furiously, I slam my heels back as hard as possible. I
make contact with a knee and the arms go limp around me.

Hitting the ground, I start to run when I’m
grabbed again. He swings me back and I bend my elbow, knocking it
across his face, jamming it into his nose. He curses, releasing me
to hold his face instead. It’s only a second, but I jet away,
sliding through the red film toward Raj. I have to get to her. I
have to save her. She can’t go. Not like Hinson.

But before I’m able to reach her, Blondie
and the bronze haired Rogue work on taking down her captors.
Distracted by their own fights, both assailants break their clutch
on Raj and I rush forward, racing at the opportunity to pull her
free.

“Fallon!” she cries, terror piercing her
voice.

She trembles as I grip her, dragging her
back from the fight. Tears stream down her face as I search for our
exit, any clear place that can get us away from here. Suddenly, she
begins to seizure in my arms, her body tightening into a numb,
lifeless state. Heavy at the new unbalance, she slips through my
hands but I catch her in time as we both slide to the sticky red
ground.

“Raj?” I try, knowing she can’t answer.
Sweeping my hand under her neck and shoulders, I lay her down as
gently as possible, staring into her eyes that, like Hinson, exude
unimaginable fear.

“Raj?”

And then, like last time, the
semi-reflective cords appear. The battle instantly freezes, all
movement halting. The silent audience parts as the taunting,
carefully treaded
scrape-scrape-scrape
of talon on marble
approaches in its place. I don’t need to look up. There’s nothing
there I want to hold onto, nothing worth paying any attention to.
Right now Raj lays in my arms, paralyzed in terror. That’s all that
matters.

“Move.” He hisses under his breath.

Her eyes widen as she takes in the sight of
him. They look to me with such desperation, such pleading.
Don’t
let me go. Don’t let me go…

I squeeze her hand—it’s all I can do.

“
Now
,” he follows up his threat.

It takes everything I have not to launch
myself at him, inflicting all the pain I can before meeting an
inevitable, untimely demise. That’s not the way this is supposed to
end, though. Not here in this dark bloodied mess, with all these
people witnessing. Not in front of Raj.

Laying her down fully, like a lamb to the
slaughter, I slowly rise to a stand.

Tetlak looms three feet above, his yellow
eyes narrowed into slits, watching me. Waiting. I don’t move. My
powder blue slippers remain cemented to the red checkered floor, to
Raj’s side and there’s nothing that’s going to change that. A sharp
growl escapes, billowing his whiskers with salty heat. The scent
wafts toward me but I remain motionless. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe
it will end this way. Tonight. Right now.

Tetlak lets another growl escape—a final
warning. Move or be moved. The broken, bleeding faces stand
stunned, paralyzed. They’re consumed by the unfamiliar scene
playing before them. They’ve never seen something like this. Not
yet, at least. A showdown they all thought impossible. But it’s not
for them—not for any of them. It’s for Raj at my feet. It’s for
Hinson.

I hold eyes with Tetlak and shake my
head.

He jets toward me with a fierce launch over
Raj. I don’t have time to react. Reid is between us in an instant,
his body an impregnable wall against the malignant reptile hovering
above. Tetlak stops at the change in target, glancing at Reid, then
at me.

A familiar voice interjects.

“I believe you have what you’ve come for,
Tetlak,” Sampson’s morose words break the silence with surprising
courage. “Let it be the end, then?”

Tetlak draws back, whipping around to
Sampson. But he doesn’t budge. Not even a flinch. Sampson’s face
remains indissoluble, overcome in a sheet of sadness.

“We’ve been over this,” Tetlak hisses, “know
your place.”

“And know yours,” Sampson tosses back as
easily, though still deeply saddened, “you’ve assisted in a
disturbance but your services are no longer required,” his words
are out before I know what he’s said. We all stand in awe, waiting
for the inevitable to happen. Waiting for Sampson’s immediate
demise.

Tetlak’s back tightens, but nothing more.
The two stand staring at each other, sharing some unfunny inside
joke. Tetlak growls again and again, Sampson refusing to flinch. He
remains stoic, unconvinced to fear the reptilian monster glowering
down. Then, as if Sampson couldn’t push it any farther, adds a
concluding. “Thanks again for your help.”

This has to be it.

Sampson’s death.

But nothing’s happening. Tetlak’s eyes
narrow further, annoyed heat trickling down his whiskers and onto
his clutched talons. They’re grasping something. The cord. It’s
wrapped around his wrist, sliding through his scaly fingers, his
talons, and down to the ground around Raj. He tugs with the
clenched fist and her paralyzed body starts to move. Turning, he
tugs Raj behind him and through the parting crowd, disappearing
with her into the evibola across the way.

Sampson approaches Reid quickly. “If we
don’t disperse now, he’ll return with Norpe and Yerza. Maybe
Beshib.”

Reid nods, whispering in a voice I can
barely hear. “We’ll clear out but I have to talk to Tucker and the
RCs.”

“All?”

Reid nods then hesitates, “At least Tucker.
The others will have to know at some point too,” he takes a heavy,
exhausted breath, “…was hoping we’d have more time. More
information for them.”

“They’ll want to hear from you.”

Reid nods again.

“Tonight?” Sampson asks.

Reid shifts his weight. “Tomorrow. Camp.
Tucker first, then the others. We’ll regroup in my bunk for
tonight.”

“Better make it mine,” Sampson says.

Reid nods. Spinning, he addresses the
silently stunned mob, “No need to further debase the Kings tonight…
they’ve done that enough themselves,” he twirls his finger in the
air, ordering. “Rogues head out.”

“So soon?” a voice asks. It belongs to a
pair of blazing blue eyes attached to a husky body with copper hair
and a devilish grin. Mantis stands next to him, his dark spheres
smiling at me. “I thought the fun was only beginning?”

“Hasn’t even started,” Reid offers a wink,
motioning for the bodies on the ground to be taken care of. He
whistles a three toned note and the two that fought Raj’s captors
surround me, the bronze- haired man residing on my left and Blondie
on my right. I watch Reid take off to join Sampson along with Clark
and Vix, who have also appeared.

“Don’t look back,” the one on my left says,
walking me toward the North Wall, “give them the view they
deserve.”

“They don’t deserve anything. Except a kick
to the nuts.”

“Well… leave that to Rox,” he laughs,
keeping his words to a whisper. “How’s your head?”

“Hurts…” I rub the crown, which still aches
from the blow. I must’ve been knocked out hard to lose
consciousness for a minute.

“Tried to get to you in time but Zarwin was
too fast. Don’t worry—I took care of him.”

“Thanks,” I glance over. “And you are?”

“R.C. Able.”

“R.C.?”

“Rogue Commander. But you can call me Able.
And that’s R.C. Jace,” he motions to my right.

“Hey,” Blondie grins. “And just Jace for me
too.”

We reach the stairwell and meet Pratt on the
first step. She looks at me with wide, dubious eyes, shocked I
actually returned. Glancing between Able and Jace, she whispers,
“We’re going to a new bunk. The others will meet us there.”

When we get to the fifth floor, Clark joins
our group. About twenty arches down, he uses a sirolla to open one
of them on the left. “In here.”

Entering Sampson’s bunk, I’m surprised.

It’s the same tiny compartment with a small
window, single chair and bed of large, navy rags used for blankets.
But, unlike mine, a host of babeebs light his room, two to three in
each corner and about ten hanging from the silvery Gizella roots in
the center. Able and Jace look around too, amazed at all the light
while theirs, I’m sure, only contains the standard two to
three.

It’s already a tight squeeze with the five
of us so I’m unsure how any more will fit. Able, Jace and Pratt
claim the bed while Clark and I stand on opposite sides of the
room. Arms crossed, he glares at me, anxious to say something. I
ignore it for a minute, but with the emerging headache and the
guilt rising from what happened with Raj, I can’t take it
anymore.