Eight of Hearts: The Rift Blade - Book 1

Chapter 33

The moment of relief for the group of rebels in the large janitor's closet was short lived, as James's voice came back over the intercom.

"All right, I gave you a chance!" he shouted, "Now it's time to get serious!"

"Finally," Kaya said with a smirk.

"Kaya!" he shouted again, "You guys are on floor seven. You've got guards approaching from floor eight at your flank, and floor six ahead. Head back to the stairwell and split into two groups to deal with them; they are carrying access cards that should open all the doors for you."

Kaya turned to Stink-bug and immediately began shouting orders. "Stink-bug! Take half the force and take rear guard! I'll take point with Tobias!" She turned and looked at Isaac, regarding him solemnly. "Isaac, keep Pahana with you and follow close," she commanded softly.

"You got it!" Isaac saluted.

"I can give you access to any major section, but you'll have to open each cell door manually." James spoke up again. "I just have one request: no killing."

"That's a tall order in this situation," Kaya protested. "I'm not going to risk our lives for the sake of theirs, especially if we need those access cards."

Jonas stepped forward. "What's our objective?" he asked.

"I'm here for Pahana, but the rest of my crew also has family trapped here. We need to bust them out, then regroup so James can open our escape route."

"If we have trouble getting an access card, I can get the cells open," Jonas said, patting his chest pocket where he'd stuffed the journal and marker.

"Glad to have you," Kaya replied.

As they set out, Tobias and Jonas each took an arm on either side of Bryce, helping him keep pace.

"That makes six of the eight accounted for," Tobias grunted after a quick head count.

"Wazzat?" Bryce asked, his head lolling to the side as he tried to look at Tobias. He kept his right eye closed, which Tobias guessed had something to do with the darts Jonas had mentioned.

"There's supposed to be eight of us here," Tobias explained as they hurried to keep pace with Kaya. "You, me, Jonas, Isaac, James, and I heard him mention Shyla too. That leaves two people unaccounted for."

"There was a girl named Adriana with me," Jonas said, loud enough so Kaya could hear as well. "She was put in one of the cells just ahead."

"Adriana?" Tobias repeated. "Why does that name sound-oh. Oh, no."

Jonas had pulled them to a stop in front of one of the prison cells. A young Hispanic woman stood watching them between the bars, her green eyes flicking back and forth as she examined them cautiously.

"Ah. Tobias, this is Adriana," Jonas said.

Adriana turned her head to stare at Tobias. There was a strange glint of hostility in her eyes, but it vanished a moment later as recognition dawned on her. "I remember you," she said, "you're the loser."

There was something different about her, though Tobias couldn't quite put his finger on it. Were her eyes always that vibrantly green? He had spent too much time avoiding eye contact to remember, and they'd only spoken the one time. He never would have guessed his neighbor would be among the eight. That only left one more.

"I prefer 'Tobias'," he said, quick to mask his surprise. "Or 'Toby', if you prefer."

Adriana smiled, flashing her teeth at him in an expression that seemed almost aggressive. "Tell you what," she said, tapping on the bars to her cell; "buy me a drink and I'll call you whatever you want."