Shadowmarked, p.20
ShadowMarked, page 20
“No matter, he has been taken care of.” My jaw clenched, and anger boiled through me. This was our fault. He’d taken the fall for us so we could get on that train, and now he’d paid the price with his life. “I was told he may have sent his allies to Black Prison, to infiltrate us. Would you know anything about that?”
I swallowed, glancing to the doors. There were at least seven guards between us and the doors and to move towards them could bring us into Grayson’s line of sight. Neither Caspian nor I had any weapons. Caspian gripped my arm, and I gave a subtle nod. We wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“I—I’m not sure, ma’am. I didn’t see Cortez when I left. I was one of the first to enter the train and stayed near the front until—”
“Until you slipped to the back, away from where the explosion went off, to spare your own life?” Grayson sneered.
“No. No, I had no idea—”
“Curious how only a few of you survived. Allard assured me there were two of you he knew personally and trusted entirely, but one young blonde-haired girl had looked quite suspicious,” Grayson said.
My breath was gone from my lungs. I glanced over to Caspian whose brows were low. Why would Allard vouch for us?
“I didn’t…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the girl gasped. “I’m loyal, I swear it. I didn’t know anything about the explosion.”
“While that may be true, I can’t risk the chances that it’s a lie.” Grayson turned her back to the crowd, moving towards a guard who stood near the single desk at the front of the room the entire time. “Take care of her.”
The guard moved forward and removed a long sword from her side.
“No, please—” the guard’s cry was cut off by the sound of metal slicing through flesh and bone before a gurgling, choked sound sputtered out. I flinched, guilt swarming through me that I’d sacrificed her for myself, for us. She wasn’t the bad guy, she didn’t deserve to die, but it had to be done.
Blood gushed from the thin, clean line across the guard’s throat. Her hands grabbed at the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was too late. She dropped to her knees before falling to her face in a pool of her own blood.
When I glanced up, I found the guard who had swung the death blow watching me. I flinched back, my entire body recoiling at the sight. White-blond hair twisted over her shoulder and the blood-red lips were pulled back into a frown. She was identical to Em in every way but the eyes, which were coal black and staring through me.
I froze, certain she knew who I was and expecting her to tell Grayson, but she just wiped the blood on the blade across her pant leg before stepping back to Grayson’s right side where she stood still like a statue.
This was Em’s sister. She was still alive, and she was being used as Grayson’s personal bodyguard. Her gaze never left mine.
“That’s all.” Grayson flicked a dismissive hand, her back still turned to us. “Report to Allard for new assignments.”
I slipped out of the room first and moved back the way we came, my heart pounding.
“Did you see—” Caspian whispered.
I nodded.
“We need to hurry. Who knows how long this bit of luck will last.”
We were led to a room where Allard was waiting. The other guards accustomed to the routine of reassignments went straight to the back where tablets and assignments were waiting with each of their names.
Allard stopped before us. “I’ve been told there are a few security cameras down in the east wing. If you could look into it, that’d be appreciated.” Allard hardly looked up as he handed me and Caspian ID cards.
“Why are you helping us?” Caspian said quietly through his teeth.
Allard glanced up with a stone cold glare. “Who said I’m helping?”
The other guards filed out, and it was clear Allard wasn’t about to explain anymore, so we followed. We had no way of knowing whether Allard was helping us or if this was some sort of trap. We’d wait until the morning to check it out, see if we could scout out the area, and get a sense of what was going on here. The guards seemed to move around like robots. No one talked or said more than a few words to each other.
It was the perfect system. Segregate the kids and the guards so no one knew what was going on. Give minimal information and create obedient soldiers who did their job without questioning things, because no one realized there was anything to question.
I had no doubt whatever was really going on here was completely unknown to the guards, which meant no one knew the danger they were all in.
JAYLA
The location Allard had sent us to was a wing isolated on the west side of Black Prison, which had clearly not been used in some time. A thin coating of dust was on nearly everything, and only a few lights worked. We’d been cautious heading out of the rooms early in the morning, but so far we hadn’t even passed another soul since.
The ID card got us through the first door, but we were quickly stopped when we ran into two hallways leading in opposite directions.
“You take that way.” I nodded to the left. “Ten minutes and we meet back here.”
Cas nodded before moving down the hall away from me. I couldn’t help but watch him for a few seconds until he was out of view. He’d slept restlessly through the night, his ribs making it difficult to lie comfortably. I’d poked and pressed on them to confirm they weren’t broken, but the chances there were cracks or something else was pretty high.
I finally tore my gaze away and moved in the opposite direction. The hallways were dimmer here than the rest of the places we’d moved through, and there were a few windows looking into empty rooms. The entire place felt quiet and eerie.
When I reached the last door at the end of the hallway, I used the ID card to unlock it and slowly opened the door. Inside were computers and one large screen covering an entire wall with some sort of coding on it. The letters and words weren’t recognizable—they may not have even been words at all, just shapes and lines. But the pattern it created told me it was some sort of code.
“Took you long enough.” I whipped around to find Emery seated in front of one of the computers. She wore the white clothing they’d given her back in Cytos when we got on the train, but her eyes didn’t seem quite as bright as they usually were. The gold was almost dull.
“How did you get here?”
“What, like it’s hard?” Em smirked. “That prick of a doctor let it slip there was a location unmanned with security cameras down on the west side. And it wasn’t very hard to steal an ID card.”
“Let it slip, or said it loud enough for you to hear?” I asked.
Em glanced at me. “I’m suspecting the second option.”
That meant Allard knew we were working with Em, which had me nervous, as I didn’t know anything about this guy or any reasons why he would help us. This could all be a trap.
Em drew my attention back to the small screen before her. A blueprint of the Black Prison filled the screen.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Em pointed to a spot on the far side of the building, a remote corner quite a ways from everything else. “This is us. It’s a lab space that doesn’t look like it’s been used in years. I should be able to hack into the system unseen for now, but they have strict security protocols that wipe everything after forty-eight hours.” Em brushed her finger over a large portion in the middle. “This is where the kids are being held. My first estimation is around ten thousand of them.”
I swallowed, following where her finger circled over the small boxes spanning the entire north section of the prison.
“There are at least four more levels, all identical and all impenetrable from the outside unless we want to risk blowing down the entire mountain.” Em pulled up the layered floor plan. “Only one way in and out—the way we got in here.”
“Shit,” I mumbled. Em nodded. “What are they using the kids for? Have you found out yet?”
Em pulled up the sleeve of her shirt where a little black dot was on her skin in the crook of her elbow. From the dot spread little black veins fading a few inches away. “They’re injecting the genetic kids with a serum created from the Reeks.”
“Why would they do that?”
“The genetic kids aren’t susceptible to the virus like the Carbons, but their bodies can absorb and use the different traits of the Reek, with a little help.” Em frowned.
“What do you mean with a little help?”
Em stood, hobbling on her still injured leg over to another screen and typing something in before the image from a camera bot popped up on the computer. A boy, a genetic kid, was tied to a wall with a chain around his waist. His eyes were black just like Em’s sister, and his hands clawed at the air in front of him. Movement from the corner of the screen caught my attention before a Reek lunged for the kid. The kid didn’t step back or try to run or get away, instead he met the Reek head on and kicked it so hard in the gut the Reek flew back and smashed into the wall, leaving a line of cracks from the impact. The Reek was back on its feet quickly, but the kid caught its wild swing in one hand and twisted its arm back until it snapped. The Reek fell to the ground and before it could stand, the kid slammed his foot down on the Reek’s head. It crunched and spewed black blood from the impact. The kid continued over and over again until there was a sudden jolt in his body, and he backed away to the wall.
“That thing,” Em said, pointing to a corner of the screen I hadn’t been watching. A small orb sat on a table protected by glass. Dr. Allard walked in and took the orb from its case, flicking something at the back, which caused the kid to seemingly come out of his trance and he began to cry. “Whatever that thing is, it’s controlling these kids.”
I stared at it for a few more moments, blinking. Then I turned to Em who was already frowning at the look on my face. “Your sister’s still here. She’s Grayson’s personal bodyguard.”
Em swallowed. “You saw her?”
I nodded.
“And was she… is she…”
I nodded again. “She looked different than that kid, more refined and calm. Her eyes were black still, but I never saw that thing in the room. Grayson’s desk was empty.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes,” I said and Em’s face fell. “But there could have been something else controlling her. We were too busy trying not to be seen to notice everything, but I’m pretty sure. And I think she recognized me.”
“How?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged.
I could see Em’s mind reeling. She came to this place knowing her sister had been here once, but she’d never expect her to still be here.
“She’s not… she didn’t look human, Em,” I said. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s a big risk if you go after her.”
Em stood suddenly, shifting past me to turn off the computers she’d been on. “I know, don’t worry. I’ll stay on task.” Her voice was cold and sharp.
I wanted to tell her we’d find some way to help her sister, but what I saw yesterday and the way she was controlled so easily by Grayson terrified me.
“We have to get back. Caspian will be waiting, and you can’t risk being seen outside of your room,” I said softly.
Em nodded, closing the screen of the second computer before she pulled out the ID card and moved towards the door.
We walked back quietly, despite knowing we were alone. As we passed the windows looking into rooms, I realized they were the same from the video we’d just watched. This was where they did their testing.
“We’ve got to be fast. How many times have they given you that serum?” I asked.
“Twice,” she said. “One of the nurses let it slip that after five, if I’m still alive, they begin testing.”
“Then we better figure out a plan quick.”
“I’ll get a message to Gustov and Simon as soon as I break through their security protocols. I’ll come back here tonight… they don’t check on us after lights out. Those guys should be able to track our locations, but we still need a way out of here, and that train’s no longer an option.” Em said.
“We’ll look after it,” I said.
“Forty-eight hours, that’s what we give them. Sienna and Theo should have a good idea of the schedule and rotations in their area, likely similar to mine, but we need to be sure Gustov can get here before we do anything.”
Our original plan to take the train back was now ruined. Not to mention there were far more genetic kids here than we had imagined. Those trains could hold a few hundred, not ten thousand. I didn’t even know if we had enough shuttles.
“We’re going to need more shuttles,” I said.
“Then let’s just hope Leanna is as persuasive as Caspian thinks she is.”
We met Caspian at the intersection where we’d parted ways. He’d found similar rooms along his route, but they were all empty. Allard had provided us with a secluded location to hopefully plan our way out. I was still hesitant to trust him. What was his plan in all this?
Em took the opposite hallways we did, but not before she said, “Forty-eight hours or we all are dead.”
I nodded, keeping false contentment on my face, while my pulse began to race harder.
SIENNA
“Move,” a guard growled when my door slid open on the third morning we’d been there. The only way I knew it was morning was the food schedule they kept us on and the rotations to see the nurse.
I stood, sliding my feet into the rubber-soled shoes a size too small, and followed the guard. My toes had gone back to their normal color thanks to Dr. Allard, and the gash on my forehead was nearly gone now. The guard took a different route than usual.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
He didn’t respond. They never did.
After a few moments, we reached a hallway leading to a single door opening. I stumbled back a step the second I saw who was inside, but the guard pressed his hand roughly to my back and pushed me into the room
“Have a seat.” Dr. Allard motioned to an empty chair.
Theo was there, too, sitting a few feet away, and Governor Grayson sat behind the large desk Allard was leaning on. The last person had me doing a double take. It was Em… only not quite. Same hair and body, same sneer aimed my way, but her eyes were black. I glanced up to Allard, and he noted what I was looking at.
“Not a friend of yours.” He shook his head.
I didn’t understand how there could be two of them. Em had mentioned her sister, but she’d died five years ago. She’d been shot trying to escape the DEZ. How was she here now?
“That’s not why you’re here,” Allard started, standing and circling behind me. I noted the scowl on Theo’s face. His hands gripped the armrest of his chair so hard his knuckles were white. I hadn’t seen him since I found out who he was. “It seems your boyfriend here doesn’t know much about… well, anything useful.”
“You tend to forget things when you’ve been gone for five years,” Theo snapped.
“Nevertheless, Governor Grayson thought maybe you would be more willing to speak.”
My heart began to race, and I was brought back to our graduation test in the DEZ. They had tortured Theo every time I got an answer wrong. It had been a test Instructor Yarik conducted to try and give me information, to help me understand what we were going to be facing in the Void.
My head was shaking. “I don’t know anything. I didn’t even know who he was until… until we got here.”
Allard glanced back at Grayson with a slight tilt of his head, as if to say, “I told you so.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Grayson said. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Her lips formed a thin line. “Maybe you just require some proper motivation.”
The girl who looked like Em stepped forward. She moved gracefully on silent feet until she stood beside me. She reached for my hand and I flinched back, but she was too quick. Her hand was strong, holding onto mine, and a moment of panic swelled through me. What was she going to do with me?
“What do you know about Kuros and their plan?” Grayson asked.
“Nothing. They’ve closed up their borders just like Cytos and are likely set on staying out of all this,” I said quickly, glancing between Grayson and the hand gripping my own.
Em’s twin glanced to Grayson who gave a slight nod, and my finger snapped in one quick motion. I screamed.
“Stop, she doesn’t know anything, I swear it,” Theo shouted. “I’ve told you everything I know, I swear on my own life.”
The finger throbbed and made my hand shake, but the girl held on, waiting for another order.
“Will your father join us or fight against us?” Grayson asked Theo.
“I don’t know.” Theo shook his head, his eyes wild and glancing from me to Grayson. “I don’t know. He doesn’t even know I’m still alive.”
Grayson gave another nod and a second finger snapped. I closed my eyes, clenching my mouth to stop the screaming, but the pain was making me nauseated, and I was seeing spots in the corner of my vision.
“He’ll help! I’m sure he will. If he knows I’m alive, he’ll do anything to get me back, and he’ll give you whatever you want,” Theo said, his breathing ragged. His eyes found mine, and I could see the apology. This was what he was trying to avoid—why he hadn’t told me anything in the first place.
“There’s your answer,” Allard said. “It seems most people will do anything for their children… why would a king be any different?”
Grayson was silent for a moment before she waved a hand and Em’s twin dropped mine, moving back to stand on Grayson’s right side. “Send out a message to the king that we have his son safe and sound, and we’re willing to come to some kind of arrangement.”
Allard nodded and moved to leave, pulling me up with him. I gripped my hand, the two fingers twisted the wrong way.
“Wait, what about—”
“Your boyfriend will be fine. We need him in good condition,” Allard hissed in my ear. “You, however, not so much. So I suggest you keep your mouth shut and keep walking.” The guard was waiting on the other side of the door. “Take her to the nurse.”
