The Science of Spying (Erityian Tribes, #4) | Published under Pop Fiction

Chapter 28 : Taste of Betrayal

Doomed.

That was the first thing that came into my mind. However, everything happened so fast that I ended up gawking at the body sprawled on the floor.

"W-what t-the . . ."

Napabagsak na lang rin ako sa sahig habang nawalan naman siya ng malay. When he appeared right in front of me a while ago, my instinct took over and threw the dagger at his direction. It hit his right shoulder but before he could react, a trap was suddenly activated—several spikes appeared on the floor, piercing his foot, and darts shot from the opposite wall towards his direction. He was helplessly cornered and suffered critical injuries that made him fell to the floor unconscious.

"What the hell?" bulong ko habang nakatingin sa paligid at bigla akong naging alert dahil sa nangyari. I didn't know that there were traps lying everywhere and one wrong move could kill someone.

Just like what happened to Ink.

With my remaining dagger on hand, I carefully trod toward the desk, grabbed the listening device as well as the folders, and fled outside. Dumiretso ako sa trapdoor at pumunta sa basement kung saan kami nanatili dati. Wala na ang karamihan ng mga gamit pero nandoon pa rin ang ilang device pati na rin ang malaking monitor na nakalutang lang sa ere. When I pressed the control button, Ink appeared on the screen, still unconscious. At least, I could monitor his movement from down here.

That freaking humdrum. I never thought that he could trace me here. Pero dahil drittes ang naghanap dati sa hideout na 'to ni Nigel, hindi rin nakapagtataka na isipin niyang may nakatira pa rin dito. Well, at least all the valuable drittes are now in our hands. Luckily, this one was stupid enough to attack the hideout by himself.

"Speaking of Chromes, that Crow killed a Red."

Napatigil naman ako sa pag-iisip nang bigla ko 'yong narinig mula sa listening device. That was Raven's voice and they were talking about us. About me.

"Hoh. So he's not a mole, huh?" one of the guys said.

"We're still not sure. I really don't trust those Chromes," the other guy commented.

"But remember, the zuersts are Chromes, too."

"Those guys are different. They loathe their own race."

"Have any of you seen them?"

"Once," Raven replied. "I saw two of them and I almost died. It was amusing," she said, chuckling.

Their clear voices were masked by another wave of statics and I couldn't hear them anymore. I looked at the monitor and Ink was still there so I decided to check on the other feeds. For a second, I was tempted to listen to my team's bug but in the end, I couldn't. I might lose my rationality the moment I hear their voices and that could cost us a lot, especially now that I am assumed dead.

Mukhang dito rin inilagay ni Ulysses ang ilang importanteng gamit kaya naman kinuha ko ang laptop na nakalagay sa desk doon at tinignan ang ilang updates tungkol sa Nox Organization. According to their Death Index, they already killed a lot of their targets except the Erityians, especially the remaining three leaders of the tribes, which I think they wouldn't be able to even touch. Ngayong wala na si Rin, hindi ko alam kung sino na ang namumuno sa Shinigami tribe. Maybe another Royal from her bloodline?

I wanted to know more about the inner circles—the zweites and zuersts—but their activities weren't recorded on their site. If only I could disguise and infiltrate again . . .

Bigla naman akong napatingin sa screen kung saan ko nakikita si Ink at agad pumasok ang ideyang 'yon sa isip ko. I must tell my plan to Ulysses.