The Phoenix Mandate (The Light Thief Book 2), page 13
Tamisra elbowed him, grinning. “Don’t worry. You have nothing to be jealous about.”
“I’m not jealous,” Roland grumbled.
Aniya stepped away from her brother and his girlfriend and toward the cages that lined the wall. The moles had remained motionless the entire time, almost entranced by her presence. She walked along the row of cages, letting her fingers graze the metal and wood that held the animals inside, until she stopped in front of one particular cage.
“Hello, Brisket.” Aniya grinned at the large mole. According to Tamisra, Refuge usually didn’t try to tame the moles when they reached a certain size. Brisket had well surpassed that point, and he had remained wild, even dangerous until Aniya befriended him.
She unlocked the cage door and beckoned with her fingers, and the mole slowly stepped out of the cage, letting its snout fall into Aniya’s open hands. As she twirled her fingers before Brisket’s eyes, the mole followed her every move, staring at the twinkling lights that softly clung to Aniya’s skin.
Aniya ran her hands over the loyal beast and nuzzled her own forehead against the creature’s cheek. After a few minutes, Aniya pulled the mole’s snout up to her eye level. “Ready for a ride?”
Whether Brisket understood or sensed her anticipation, Aniya wasn’t sure, but the mole leaned down slightly as if inviting her to hop on.
“When have you found the time to train this guy?”
Aniya turned to see Tamisra watching them. She grinned and hopped on Brisket. “Jealous?”
“Yeah, a bit.” Tamisra mumbled and unlocked another door, carefully leading a mole out with a rope. “Feel confident enough to ride one, Roland?”
He smirked. “I rode my own to Holendast. Pretty sure I can handle one today.”
Just then, Malcolm came running back into the cavern, breathing heavy, a backpack slung over his shoulder. “Refuge is lit up. They know you’re gone, and I’m guessing it won’t be long until they figure out what you’re planning.”
Tamisra nodded. “Then let’s go.”
26
Aniya held on tight as Brisket galloped down the tunnel. The last time she had ridden the mole, its speed had been considerable, but now as Brisket ran at his fastest, she found herself just holding on and hoping not to fall.
Initially, Malcolm had tried to lead the way, but his mole had kept slowing down and turning to look at Aniya, staring at her with a blank expression. Roland had suggested that Aniya should lead the way after that.
They had stopped only two times in the last several hours for the sake of the other three moles. While Brisket had maintained boundless energy, the other mounts could only run for so long before they needed stop.
Aniya had at first wondered at the incredible endurance that Brisket seemed to have, but she soon realized that she was the source of the mole’s energy. A familiar buzzing sensation traveled down her legs and into the mole beneath her, and tiny, barely visible tendrils of green light wrapped themselves around the ropes in her hand and made their way to Brisket’s neck.
The last time they had rested, Aniya asked Tamisra and Roland if they’d noticed this phenomenon. Roland confirmed that he could see the light around her, though just barely. Tamisra said she saw nothing.
Meanwhile, Malcolm remained their silence escort, taking up the rear without so much as a word to the rest of the group, especially not Aniya. Every time she glanced at him, he made a point to look away.
Finally, the group reached the last stretch of the tunnel, and they stepped into the abandoned Hub.
They stopped for a moment on the cliffside and looked over the sector.
It was unnaturally quiet and eerily dark. The fires of the factories had long since died away. The sky ceiling was no longer burning in pieces on the floor of the sector. There were no candles, no glowworms. The Hub was covered in a blanket of darkness that made it impossible to see more than a couple hundred feet away.
Through the sea of black came an awful stench. The smell of burnt flesh pervaded the air, reaching all the way to the cliffs, far above the massive plain where Salvador’s men had waged war against the Lightbringers.
Aniya lit a torch, knowing that if only Roland could see her natural light, it would do Tamisra and Malcolm no good.
“Let’s get out of here,” Roland said. “No reason to stick around here any longer than necessary.”
Malcolm spoke up. “According to the map, the fastest way to the opposite quadrant is straight through the center of the Hub.”
“Whatever we have to do,” Aniya said. “I’m with Roland on this one.”
“Then let’s go.”
After carefully descending the cliffs and reaching the valley below, Aniya steered Brisket around bodies that lay scattered across the sector as they proceeded slowly through the Hub. Occasionally, she had no choice but to proceed over a fallen body, and she winced as Brisket’s paws stepped into rotting flesh, brittle bones snapping beneath the weight of the animal.
They finally crossed the valley and entered the industrial grid, guiding their moles through smokestacks and factories. Their path was much more limited here, but there were far fewer bodies, to Aniya’s relief.
As they approached the center of the Hub, the Citadel emerged from the dark, a massive obelisk that disappeared into the black haze above them.
A cold feeling tickled Aniya’s spine as her hair stood on end. She looked away from the tower and glanced at Tamisra. As much as Aniya hated the thought of the horrors she had experienced in the Citadel, she knew Tamisra harbored an even deeper hatred for the tower.
Her father, Salvador the Scourge, had last been seen making his way into the Citadel, telling Corrin that he had important business to discuss with the Chancellor.
Aniya turned her mole to go around the tower when a door suddenly materialized from the silver building, creaking open slowly. A figure stepped out of the shadows and walked down the steps, stopping before the group.
Aniya’s jaw dropped open as her best friend stood before her, a somber look on his face.
“Nicholas, what are you doing here?”
He took a deep breath as his gaze wandered over Aniya, Roland, Tamisra, and Malcolm, before looking back to Aniya. “I’ve come to take you to someone who can help you.”
A pit formed in Aniya’s stomach. “It’s all true, then? You were going to take me away, even if I didn’t want to go?”
“It’s for your own protection, Aniya. I was going to ask you.”
“And if I said no?”
Nicholas looked back at the Citadel behind him, neglecting to answer.
Aniya shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t understand. I just don’t. You say you love me, that I’m all that matters to you, but you want to manipulate me? You want to take me to this Director person so he can do God-knows-what to me? You want to kill me so you can save my life? How does that even work?”
“Please, Aniya. You have to believe me. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be safe.”
Tamisra spoke up. “Well, that’s not true, is it?”
Nicholas glared at Tamisra, and Aniya turned toward her.
“You knew what was waiting for her in the Hub. You knew that in order for Kendall’s plan to work, she had to die. You knew all of that, and you led her right into the Hub anyway. What part of that is keeping her safe?”
Aniya’s spirits fell. The thought had occurred to her once before, but she had instantly dismissed it as an impossibility. There were two things that Aniya knew Nicholas wanted more than anything else in the world: her, and a world without the Lightbringers. But now, she finally knew which one was more important to him.
“Tell me this isn’t true. Tell me she’s lying.” Aniya choked on her words as her eyes grew wet. “Tell me she’s wrong.”
Nicholas looked at the ground.
Tears began to fall now, and Aniya’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
“I never got the chance. I wanted to tell you so badly, but there was never a good time.”
“Never a good time? You could have told me at any time before Kendall asked me to die for the Web. You could have told me before you tried to kiss me that night in the Hub. You had your chance. You had plenty of chances. But you didn’t tell me because you didn’t think I would agree to it, right? You didn’t want to sacrifice your mission and lose the chance to end the Lightbringers? Because as much as you claim to love me, all that really matters to you is winning your silly war.”
Nicholas stepped forward, reaching a hand out toward her.
“Don’t.” Aniya spat out a warning, and Brisket growled viciously as if it sensed her anger. “We’re done. I’m leaving.”
Nicholas shook his head, and Aniya ignored a tear that slid down his cheek. “I’m afraid you won’t get very far.”
“If you try to stop me, I’ll run you over.” Aniya sat tall on Brisket, glaring at him. “Get out of my way.”
“I won’t try to stop you,” Nicholas said.
“Good.”
Nicholas took a deep breath. “But she will.”
A dark figure fell from above, as did two long daggers that drove deep into Brisket’s neck.
The beast swayed beneath her and toppled over, sending Aniya tumbling to the ground.
27
Aniya winced as she sprawled out awkwardly on the pavement. Somewhere above her, Tamisra let loose a pained cry as Brisket crashed to the ground.
She rolled over and looked up at her attacker, a girl in a black bodysuit, armed with two knives that dripped with blood. The girl grinned down at her.
“Aniya, right? I’m Zeta. Nice to meet you.”
Struck with shock, Aniya struggled to find words.
“Where are your manners? I was told you were a nice girl. Don’t disappoint me.”
Meanwhile, Tamisra jumped off her mole and ran to Brisket’s side, running her hands over the animal.
Zeta wiped the daggers on her pants before spinning them in the air, catching them and returning them to their sheaths. She walked back over to Nicholas, a spring in her step almost making it look like she was dancing.
“What do you see in her? If you ask me, she looks kind of helpless.” She tapped her fingers on Nicholas’s chest and pranced around behind him, wrapping her arms around his chest. “She doesn’t talk much, does she?”
Aniya glared at the assassin. “You’re doing enough talking for both of us.”
Zeta laughed heartily. “She does speak! And with some attitude, I might add.”
Tamisra stood up, her cheeks wet with tears. “He’s dead. Why would you do that? Was it fun to you?”
The operative shrugged. “I couldn’t let Aniya leave.”
“So you killed an innocent animal?”
Malcolm rolled his eyes. “Calm down, Tami. It’s just a mole.”
“Too true.” Zeta smirked and approached Malcolm. She turned and glanced at the dead animal. “If nothing else, he’ll make a fine dinner.”
Tamisra growled and charged at the assassin’s back, but Malcolm jumped off his mole and tackled her.
Roland dismounted and rushed to help Tamisra, but Zeta reached out a leg and tripped him, then delivered a casual kick to his stomach.
“Thank you, Malcolm. You’re proving yourself to be all sorts of useful today, aren’t you? It would have taken me and Nicholas some time to track them down if you hadn’t told us exactly where they’d be.”
Tamisra struggled against Malcolm’s arms. “What is she talking about?”
Malcolm sighed. “I’m sorry, Tami. Taking Aniya to another part of the Web so she can blow up a different quadrant is not enough. Whether she means to or not, she’s a danger to innocent people. She has to be taken care of.”
Tamisra went still. “What does that mean?”
“Whatever it has to,” Malcolm said softly as his grip on her seemed to relax.
Tamisra took advantage of Malcolm’s guard being dropped, and she lashed out with an elbow, striking him directly in the nose. Without bothering to watch him fall, she turned toward Zeta. “What are you going to do with her?”
The operative folded her arms. “I’m taking her with me. I was given an order, and I intend to obey it. You really should reconsider your unquestioning loyalty to the girl, though. I’m sure all of you have found out by now what happens when you get in our way.” She turned toward Aniya. “The choice is simple. Come with me and let us help you, or resist and watch your friends die.”
“If your boss really wanted to help me, he wouldn’t have sent an assassin.”
Zeta gave a small smile. “He had to make sure that I would do whatever it took to bring you back.”
Behind the operative’s back, Roland slowly got up from the ground and pulled a gun from his side, nodding at Aniya.
“How about a third option?” Aniya put her hands on her hips. “You go back to wherever you came from and leave us alone.”
Zeta laughed. “I’m not going anywhere without you, Aniya.”
“Fine.” Aniya nodded toward Roland.
In a flash, Zeta spun around and kicked the gun out of Roland’s hands. As soon as the assassin turned, Aniya dashed toward her, but Zeta turned back around and sidestepped her attack, wrapping an arm around Aniya’s neck and holding her tightly like a shield.
Tamisra took one step forward, arms outstretched, but with her left hand, Zeta pulled a knife from its sheath and threw it with deadly precision, driving the blade deep into Tamisra’s shoulder.
“No!” Aniya screamed. She felt heat bubbling inside her, and as she clutched at the arm that held her captive, she noticed that her hands were glowing a deeper green.
Zeta shook her head. “Now, now, Aniya. You could have just come with me and avoided all this. Please don’t make the same mistake again.”
Vibrations rattled Aniya’s skeleton, and pins and needles tickled her body from head to toe. She wanted more than anything to let loose the power inside her and fry the snarky assassin, but as she looked down at her glowing hands, she noticed that the black fabric on Zeta’s arm was glowing with orange lines, as if it somehow absorbed her energy. She reached back toward Zeta’s face, but the operative kept moving just out of reach.
“Aniya, please,” Nicholas pleaded. “I just want to help you. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“You took me to the Hub so I could die,” Aniya spat, green sparks shooting forth from her mouth. “How was that helping me?”
“She won’t go willingly, Nicholas,” Zeta said. “It’s time for your last resort.”
“Not yet.”
“Hurry up,” Zeta growled. “She’s getting warmer.”
Nicholas took a step forward. “Aniya, you have to trust me. Forget everything you’ve been told, everything you’ve heard. You think that I’m not going to give you a choice. Well, here it is. I’m giving you that choice now. Come with us to the Director and let him help you, or don’t. The choice is yours, and I’ll go along with whatever you say.”
Aniya simply glared at him. After all the lies he had told her, after everything he had put her through, he was daring to offer her the illusion of choice now?
“Aniya, please. No matter what you believe, I love you and want the best for you. I believe that means taking you to the Director to help you. But if that’s not what you want, then I will respect that. But you have to make a choice, and you have to make it now.”
For an instant, Aniya let herself consider his words. If the Director could really help her, if he could keep her from deteriorating again and putting the entire Web at risk, wouldn’t that be the right choice? No one else seemed to have any other solution. He was the only one who seemed to be able to help her. Could it be worth it to at least hear him out? Besides, thanks to her new abilities, Aniya knew that she was strong enough to walk away if the Director’s intentions were malicious, before he could so much as lay a finger on her.
But as Aniya looked at the dead mole, then at Tamisra bleeding out on the ground, it didn’t seem likely that the Director could have pure motives. Even if he wanted to save her, it had to be for his own selfish purposes. He had sent an assassin to retrieve her, after all. He wanted her for something, and Aniya guessed it wasn’t to heal her or help her.
She looks back up at Nicholas and shook her head. “I’m not going.”
Nicholas sighed. “So be it.” He pulled a syringe from his pocket and approached Aniya.
Aniya’s heart sank. As much as her mind had told her otherwise, she’d wanted to believe that Nicholas was offering her a real choice.
“Nicholas, please,” she begged as her voice turned to a whisper. “Don’t make me go there. Don’t do this.”
Nicholas shook his head. “I’m sorry, Aniya.” He plunged the syringe toward her, and Aniya fell as a great weight crashed over her body.
28
Aniya moaned as a jarring pain reverberated throughout her body. A heavy weight was on her, a black film covering her vision. In the shock of the moment, she didn’t have enough strength to stand back up, but she was still conscious.
But the weight was suddenly lifted off her as the black film slid away, and she was free.
She rolled over and turned around to see Zeta’s body spread out on the ground next to her, convulsing in tremors. Nicholas’s syringe lay embedded in her neck, empty of the clear fluid that had been inside.
Aniya looked up at Nicholas.
“What . . .”
He shrugged. “I said I would give you a choice.”
“What did you do?” Malcolm scrambled to his feet, holding his bleeding nose. But as soon as he stepped forward, Roland jumped to his feet and delivered a swift punch to the exact same spot. This time, Malcolm was knocked out instantly, and his limp body fell to the ground.
“That’s for Tami,” Roland said before kneeling by his girlfriend’s side again. Tamisra was lying on the ground, gripping the knife embedded in her shoulder and moaning in pain. Roland leaned over her body, speaking in hushed tones as his eyes grew wet.
