Moon Mark (9 page)

The rebellion leader finally peered up and glared at me. “I have something.”

I lifted a brow, my eyes flicking between his. “You don’t look happy saying that.”

His cold gaze ran over my features, and then he raised the right side of his shirt. He lifted a knife from the edge of his pants, stuck under the waistline. “I took it off the guard in front of me.”

I stared at the item. “This is too convenient. The guards took us out of our cells at an unusual time, you were able to lift that off the guard, both guards are now gone, and there’s a fucking exit at the end of the hallway.” I raised my muddled gaze to his dark eyes. “What the hell is going on?”

He twirled the knife between his fingers, staring at the ground again. He spoke his thoughts out loud, “There are two options. One, this
is
another trial. Or, two, someone is giving us the opportunity to escape.” His eyes were cast in shadows when he barely peeked up. “Did you recognize either of the guards?”

“No.” I shook my head. “They’re new ones.”

“Hmm.” His regard returned to the ground, and he tapped the knife absently against his right leg. “Something’s going on, but we’re missing a detail. This doesn’t seem right for a rescue mission. If those guards were on our side, they would have given us—”

I slapped my right hand over his mouth, my head cocking.

He went still at my demand, and then he jerked back and swiftly shut the door.

There were people at the end of the hallway, their boots loud against the tiling. Those were standard boots for guards, the slight clink against the tiling now familiar. They were coming closer at a normal speed, not rushing toward us.

Geo and I promptly walked backward from the door. He stuffed the knife back into the waistband of his pants and pulled his shirt down over it, hiding it from sight. I turned away from the door completely, pretending I was bored, just in case they walked into the room—as if we didn’t know the door was unlocked.

It did swing open, but my head jerked in its direction at the individuals coming inside.

Two new guards, not the same ones as before.

The guards shut the door behind them, staring mutely at Geo.

Absolute mischief entered his purple eyes. “It’s about time you men showed up.” He turned his head and raised a single brow. “They’re mine. You can calm down.”

My entire body trembled at his announcement. “Please tell me there are more than two of them here.” I sucked in a large lung full and fisted my hands, my eyes narrowing as true freedom shined like a light of hope. “Because there are a shit ton of scientists I want dead. A few guards, too.”

The bastard patted the air. “We’ll get to that. Don’t fret.” His attention returned to the guards. “Who were the other two guards who brought us in here?”

The Kireg on the left stepped forward and removed the cloth from his head, revealing a pair of sparkling green eyes. “They’re rebellion. They’re new, but they’re smart. They were only meant to retrieve you. We wanted individuals you didn’t know so no one would act any differently.”

Geo tilted his head in my direction. “And why is the Human here?”

“It would have been out of character for a guard to take only one.” He hesitated briefly and then hurried to explain, “Our intelligence told us the two of you had been paired before. We stuck with what the assholes had already initiated.” He turned his head toward me and glared. “I’ll eliminate the Human now if that’s your wish.”

My spine stiffened, any elation of freedom quickly diminishing.

The rebellion leader lifted his right hand, earning the guard’s attention. “That isn’t necessary. What I do need is to know how many of you are here and what’s the plan?”

The Kireg on the left nodded and stepped forward. The cloth around his eyes was also removed and dropped to the floor. “We’ve done our surveillance on the facility—as much as we could in a short timeframe. We brought what was needed to burn the place to the ground during the ideal day and time. There are one hundred available on site or nearby.”

The rebellion leader asked, “Did you bring weapons for us?”

The first Kireg’s green eyes sparkled. “Yes. For you. I believe you already have yours.”

“I do.” He dipped his head. “Thank you.”

No weapon for me. I suppose that was better than being killed instantly by the guard.

“The plan is simple. There are two members in the surveillance room right now hacking into the Dynasty’s security system. One is controlling the cameras and the electrical power, and the other is downloading all the information of the employees, their families, the prisoners they’ve had in here, the experiments run…” He glanced at me but quickly peered away. “We’ve heard of a few already, but we’re getting all the information.” He glanced at his watch. “And we’re getting the two of you out right now. The rest of the team will enter the facility when you’re clear.”

Geo’s lips thinned. “I’m not leaving my people behind.”

I lifted my chin. “Neither am I.”

“In this situation, you must. You are too valuable to lose. Not when we’re so close to accomplishing our goal.” The kill-ready Kireg flicked a finger at me. “And she can’t return, either. That’s not in the plan.”

The room was silent. The ultimate purpose was to keep their leader alive.

I understood that. I had even done the same.

The bastard wasn’t pleased. But this time, he didn’t argue.

There was a plan in place. A thought out plan. His people had this under control.

“Do you plan to save the Humans, too?” I asked quietly. My people were at their mercy.

Geo instantly answered, “Yes, they do.” Purple eyes stared hard at the guards.

Both nodded their heads, understanding his order.

I would have to trust them. The
Kireg
.

The talkative one lifted a silver device from an open pouch on his waistband. He handed it to his leader. He rolled a finger and glanced at his watch again. “Make it quick. We’re on a tight schedule.”

I stared in fascination as the rebellion leader used the device to remove the white spheres from his temples. He wiped away the two drops of blood that formed on his skin and tossed the inhibitors to the ground. He stretched his arms above his head and arched his back, the hem of his shirt riding up to show his ab muscles. When he lowered his arms and rolled his shoulders, he merely commented, “I’m ready.” He handed the device back to his man and palmed his hidden knife.

I tore my attention from the rebellion leader’s middle section now covered by the material of his shirt. Mother Joyal. The fact I had even noticed his body, other than to evaluate it, was appalling. My guilty gaze quickly flicked around the room, but no one was paying me any attention, their eyes on the chatty Kireg, who was giving details of our escape.

This place was fucking with my head.

But the bastard did glance at me briefly, his purple eyes cold as hell.

I stiffened and turned my attention from him. I asked the Kireg who finally stopped talking, “Can we go now?” The plan was simple. The lights would go out in this section of the building, and we would leave through the exit down the hall. There was a vehicle in place inside a vehicle garage waiting for us. “I think we’ve got the gist of our escape.”

The Kireg’s eyes narrowed. “A little gratitude would be nice.” His gaze flicked to his leader, and then back to me. “Especially, considering everything you’ve been through.”

My shoulders stiffened.

Geo yawned behind a fist, talking through it. “Enough.”

The man peered to his leader, dipping his head. “My apologies.”

He yawned again. “Just get us out of here.”

When both Kireg moved at the direct order, the quiet one pressed on a com-bud in his ear. He spoke softly, and then the lights instantly went out. It was happening now, our escape.

Thank Mother Joyal.

I shook my shoulders out. “Time to leave this shithole behind.”

The bastard mumbled, “Truer words have never been spoken.”

I walked in front of him in the general direction of the door. Twin lights appeared as the men lifted small see-lights, the door already open. I followed them at a fast clip, the rebellion leader taking the rear. My mouth stayed shut as we rushed down the hallway, the exit not locked.

I rushed through the door, landing in a barren stairwell. I followed our rescuers and climbed the steps. My nose crinkled at our limited pace—in the semi-dark—but we kept charging up the stairs. It finally occurred to me there were no windows, no normal sounds of living life in this place because it was underground. When we exited another door, ten flights of stairs up, we arrived at a well-lit vehicle garage.

“Shit,” the quiet one griped. He darted behind a large partition, and we quickly followed, both men turning off their see-lights. He placed a finger on the com-bud at his ear. “Turn off the goddamn lights in the garage.” He dropped his hand and glanced at his partner. “Leave it to him to screw this up.”

Geo growled quietly, “Cut the shit. This area of the complex is wired differently.” He pointed at the cables running in the crevice of the ceiling where it met the wall. “The garage is on an alternate electrical system. That member of our crew will have to hack into a different section to do his job.” A white brow rose. “I doubt you warned him ahead of time?”

I held up my hands. “Now is not the time to lecture your crew. They only had a few days to plan.” I peered to the quiet Kireg. “How far is the vehicle?”

“Two more levels up in the loading dock. Too far to run—since no one could figure out how to tamper with the cameras out here. A silent alarm will sound when an unauthorized face shows up. We barely had time to add our faces to their advanced system.”

The garage suddenly went dark.

Geo grunted, sounding pleased. “Not bad. It’s Riza, isn’t it?”

The chatty Kireg snorted. “Of course.”

I was my usual charming self. “Think we can cut the chitchat and skip on to the getaway vehicle? Since there are Kireg and Humans that still need to be rescued.”

The twin see-lights clicked back on. That was our cue.

We took up the same positions and raced up the incline of the vehicle garage. The corners we took more slowly, checking for any wayward Kireg but eventually, made it to the loading dock. A non-descriptive armored vehicle sat by two industrial-sized waste disposals. The talkative Kireg in front aimed at it, sliding behind the disposals for added protection. We followed his lead, one at a time, with our backs to the wall and working our way past the foul smelling garbage.

He typed in code—and I watched carefully—and the door slid open. I quickly moved inside. There was already a Kireg in the driver’s seat and one in the front passenger seat. I aimed for the far side of the bench seat in the back to make it easier for the rest to climb inside. But only Geo followed me in, and we both buckled our seatbelts in silence. The door was slid shut. The two Kireg, who had participated in our escape, disappeared into the pitch-black vehicle garage.

Without a word, the Kireg in the driver’s seat nodded over his shoulder to his leader in a silent greeting before he started the vehicle. It rumbled to a start without a hitch, and he was quickly staring over his shoulder to watch out the back windows while he reversed. He turned his lights on then and shoved the vehicle into drive. I held onto the cushion of the bench seat as the vehicle shot forward at a breakneck speed. If any member of the Dynasty were in the way, they would easily be run over.

His eyes were straight on the pathway. He growled, “Hang on, everyone. It’s going to get bumpy.”

The man wasn’t jesting. The lights in the garage flicked on overhead, and suddenly, I could see a wall straight ahead. I cleared my throat when he didn’t veer from his course. I attempted to keep my voice calm. “Excuse me, driver. That’s a wall up there.”

“And we’re going through it.” He revved the engine, and the vehicle sped even faster. He turned his lights off in preparation for the dark outside—I hoped—so we wouldn’t be seen. “This area’s under construction and they haven’t completed their work yet.”

I blinked. Uh… “That looks pretty complete to me.”

Geo shook his head. “It’s not.” He watched as I sat forward to see better. “There’s still raw material around the edges. We’ll be fine—as long as there’s something to drive on behind it.”

“That’s not very reassuring.” But I did sit back. My grip tightened on the bench seat as we neared it. “Thank the heavens we’re getting out of here.”

A hard grunt past my lips when we bashed through the wall, the vehicle tipping forward with the back wheels off the ground. They eventually crashed back down. The impact jarred everyone inside, arms and legs and heads jolting through the air.

The driver hooted as the vehicle sped forward on an uneven blue grassy field.

I glared at the back of his head. “I bet you’ve always wanted to do something like that.”

He pumped a fist into the air, hitting it on the roof in victory. “For moon’s sake, I have.”

Geo rearranged himself on his seat and tucked his white hair behind his ears. “Very fine work, Coi. You planned that perfectly.”

“Thank you, my liege.” He was extremely pleased with himself.

I snorted and unclenched my hands from the bench seat. I placed them on my lap and endured the bumping and dipping with each uneven area we hit, only open field ahead of us. My mouth stayed closed of any further snide comments. The Kireg had managed to get us out of the garage undetected, an alarm not even sounding—probably since alarms were typically turned off in construction areas. When you were stealing something of value—
us
, in this circumstance—it was always so much easier to get in by yourself than to get out with the goods. And he had managed it. Even if it was with flare. I would allow him his small victory without further comment.

Instead, I asked, “Driver man? Where are you taking us exactly?”

He cast a quick glance in the rearview mirror—directly at me. “We’re currently in Kew province, one of the last Dynasty controlled sections. But there’s a safe house here run by the rebellion. We’ll be secure at the location until everyone has their business straight and are ready to depart.”