Fury and Flame | 3

5 | 9

D E L P H I N I U M

      It was official: I hated being caged. I despised the new straitjacket around my arms, the chains keeping me close to the floor on my knees, the blindfold over my eyes.

      It was ranked second only to my hatred of waiting. Especially when I was waiting for Imperium to come for me again. My legs felt weak with the horror of that thought—and the fact that it was real again, not some made-up paranoid fear.

      I wanted to relax my legs, loosen my rigid spine and lean back against the wall. But despite the burning pain in my body, I didn't move a muscle.

      Because there were twenty men in this room, and there were twenty machine guns aimed for my head if I dared to move before Imperium came for me. Trying to manipulate their guns was too risky; if I couldn't pull it off exactly right, I'd end up getting shot in the head.

      So I stayed still. And waited.

      I'd told Neve to bring my teammates here if I didn't make it out. And though I had the information we needed, had threatened Krasowski and killed a group of Imperium agents, I certainly hadn't made it out. So where were they?

      It was a race against time—and my teammates' race against Imperium. I had a horrible vision of my friends arriving too late and discovering an empty cell. But I had faith in them. And I would continue to have faith up until I was put in that wretched machine again.

      I spent the time imagining how they'd do it. A massive explosion by the front lobby, maybe. It would divert attention away from the cells and would draw soldiers away. Perhaps it was too high-profile. But that had never stopped us before.

      The fear of Imperium—of Orion—being near me made my hands cold with sweat inside the straitjacket. So I imagined who would come here. Jaxon, probably, with his love of danger and pausing off authorities. My dear friend. Benton too, for his hatred of anything Imperium-related. And although he was not the same boy I'd known in Romania, I saw glimpses of his old self sometimes and knew he did care for me, if even just a little.

      Riley would want to come, but she was injured. I could practically hear her complaining about it now and it nearly made me smile. And Kane would work from the sidelines to secretly stay to watch over her, as I would hope he would. Finn, loyal and brave Finn, would fight. He'd do it in a heartbeat for any of us. Insane, wild Arlo would never say no, especially to something this dangerous. I supposed we were somewhat alike in that way.

      And Jake. I secretly hoped he'd come, that he'd give me a sign he cared at all. But he'd been busy for the past few days with something vengeance-related. He was planning, I knew it. That meant he had more important business. But for some reason, I couldn't stop holding onto the stupid hope.

I was far, so far, from being a damsel in distress. I was not weak, I was not helpless. And I was not without weapons of my own; I could wreak havoc just fine. All they had to do was open my cage.

Something above us shifted. The air vent. I smiled.

There was a clatter as it fell from the ceiling. And then there was the repeated squelch of metal on skin. I smelled blood.

I didn't move until there was the sound of a person landing on the ground. And then a second of silence. Concentrating, I broke one chain after another and let the blindfold fly off my head.

The first thing I noticed were the bodies. Every single soldier was dead with a small throwing knife imbedded in their flesh. I raised my eyes to see Neve standing amongst them, watching me determinedly. She gave me a small smile. "You didn't come back."