Underland(48)

The guard reached up and raised his visor, revealing his dark and familiar eyes. “Don’t lie to me!”

“Zeke?” Kira gushed. She almost cried. The other guard lifted his visor, and Kira was greeted with Den’s unshaven and tired face. “What? How?”

Den looked over his shoulder at Zeke, sitting just behind the driver. He kneeled next to her, leaned in close and whispered, “Listen, Kira. And listen well.”

She rolled her eyes. She didn’t just forgive and forget.

Den frowned and clenched his jaw at her obvious disdain. “Remus wants you dead.”

“He could have killed me any time he wanted in the infrimary. I was right there—weak.” she whispered back.

Den’s eyes lit. He glanced over his shoulder at the Zeke and a look passed between them. When he turned back, he spoke quickly, as if he knew his time was short. “We came up with a plan.”

“I came up with a plan.” Zeke answered, his voice filled with tension.

“What Remus wants, Remus gets,” Den said. “The best thing for you is to get as far away from both of them—Remus and the Underlords—as possible. So we’re leaving.”

“Leaving?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t know that we scammed him yet, but he will figure it out soon. That means we’ve got targets on our back now. The Underlords did send for you, and—yes—you can’t hide from them for long.” He wasn’t telling her the whole truth.

“So am I free?” She looked at her bracer, and Den shook his head.

“Technically, you’re a free Underlander. But remember, Kira, you can’t leave. The band can’t come off. The Underlords are still searching for you, and Remus will hunt you too.”

Zeke’s dark eyes found Kira’s in the truck bed. She stirred uncomfortably under his stare. Kira swallowed and pretended to be fascinated by the frayed edging of her cuff less jacket. As hard as she tried not to, she was becoming very fascinated with him.

The truck entered one of the tunnels. They were traveling in complete darkness except for the truck’s headlights. The time stretched on and on—no one said a thing for close to twenty minutes.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

After a few more minutes, Den reached down and pounded three times. The truck pulled over, and they all hopped out onto the side of the road. Den began to pull off a giant decal revealing an Olympus Electric and Plumbing logo. The guys changed out of their uniforms and dropped them into a deep crevasse a few yards down away from the road.

Zeke spoke to the manticore and gave him a quick hug, then they watched the van drive off.

“Let’s go.” Den said. He and Zeke each pulled a flashlight out of his backpack, and they started off down the road.

“How did you do that?” Kira asked. “Stage the breakout, get the Olympus Guard uniforms.”

“Ask Zeke.” Den kept walking.

She turned to look at Zeke, and he shrugged. “I’ve got resources. It’s safer for you if you don’t know more than that.”

Even if she wanted to press for more information, she couldn’t. Exhaustion was overtaking her, and she was lucky to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Kira’s coughing broke the tense silence. Loud racking coughs ripped through her chest, and she turned her head into her sleeve, doing her best to keep quiet and hide the blood spots from Den.

He grabbed her elbow and shone his flashlight on the small specks of blood splattered across her jacket cuff. “Kira, anything Remus or the Underlords use to track can smell blood. You’re going to get killed or eaten before we even have a chance to get there.” In seconds, he ripped the cuff off her jacket and shoved the blood-splattered denim into his cargo pants pocket, shooting a worried look toward Zeke.

Zeke’s nostrils flared, but he closed his eyes and turned his head away painfully.

They had only been travelling for thirty minutes when a voice came out of the darkness. “Remus knows you betrayed him. The real Olympus Guards just showed up to collect her. He’s very, very angry.” Kira smelled lavender, and Alice appeared suddenly beside her.

When he turned, the light of Den’s flashlight on her blurred the edges of her white dress. Den cussed under his breath.

“He’s been released.” Alice’s already pale cheeks were stark white with fear. She pointed back the way they’d come.

“One of the hellhounds?” Den asked. “We can handle it.”

“No.” Alice shook her head. “Dip.”

“Go!” Den grabbed Kira’s jacket and pulled her after him. “Run!”

“No!” Alice flew toward them and yanked on Kira’s bloodied jacket, pulling it frantically. “It has blood on it. Give it to me. Give me yours too.” The young ghost continued her panicked tugging, and Kira slid her arms out. The jacket flew from her arms. Zeke, suddenly beside them, removed his outer shirt. Den took off his leather jacket and pulled the strip of her bloodied cuff from his pocket.

“Go,” Alice whispered, the word loud in the dangerous darkness. But—what was Dip exactly?

Den pulled out his knife and sliced his hand, dripping a few drops onto his jacket before handing it over.

“Good. I’ll lay a false trail for the beast.” She started to disappear, but Den called out to her.