Rage and Ruin | 2

7 | 4

D E L P H I N I U M

Kane and I had worked in amicable silence for about fifteen more minutes. I was glad that we'd made up; the constant anger and foul glances toward him were getting tiring and repetitive. He was more alike me than I'd given him credit for. And if something did go awry down here...I would at least like to die without any of my teammates hating me.

Then, the alarms began to blare. A few moments ago, Finn had told us how close they were to the fight breaking out. Apparently, Imperium was now locking down its fortress to fight the intruders. Us.

Red lights flashed in my vision. "We need to hurry. How many are left?"

Kane ducked down to check the trolley. "Five more to go."

      We had no time to waste. Riley was still waiting outside the door; there was no way of knowing if she would be attacked soon by soldiers traveling up to meet the army. So, brushing back my short black hair from my face, I hefted another canister and worked on getting the top off.

      There had been no word from anyone else, aside from Finn's announcement that the army had successfully gotten inside. Jaxon had been silent and I could only hope he and Arlo would be enough to keep away the help that would inevitably arrive for Imperium. Jake hadn't brought an earpiece with him, though he and the technician he'd gone with had obviously gotten to their destination. I tried not to envision his body, bleeding and broken on the ground, impaled by hundreds of wounds from Imperium soldiers. If he was injured—if any of them were injured—I would forget how terrified I was of Orion and find him so that I could put a bullet in his brain myself.

      Many, so many, memories were being aroused as I was here. Bloody scenes, my own dark terror, doing things I didn't think I'd ever be forced to do. Each day had been more horrifying than the last. There was a reason I never permitted myself to awake the things I purposely kept asleep in my mind. Some things...I didn't think I could ever fully come back from.

      I think I could finally accept that: that despite my horrible brokenness, I was doing better. Turning from my old ways was possible and I was doing it. My self-healing would finally end when I put the ghosts inside my head to rest and killed the man who haunted my every waking thought. The final step to redemption.

      I told myself that, repeated it to myself, to keep the monsters at bay. If I didn't remind myself why I was here and what I was doing with my life, I might fall back into my old mindset. Simply being here was threatening to turn me back into that paranoid shell of a girl again.

This time was different. Though not more desperate than I was now, a year ago, I had been weaker. I had acted alone while filling the engine room with explosives I had stolen, praying the entire time no one would notice my absence at Orion's right hand. Still imprisoned and thought to be under his power, my work was sloppy and very, very risky. By some miracle, it had mostly worked, only to bring me back here.

Now, I acted as a free, strong soldier of my own. This time, I had Jake's brilliant mind to get us in here safely and the others' combined powers to ensure we'd get out. I wasn't alone any longer. This fight was more than simply my own.

I slammed the last canister into the energy harnesser and straightened, glancing at my teammate. "Let's get out of here."

"I've never agreed more." He knocked on the door twice, the signal for Riley to open it for us.

But it didn't open.

He knocked again. There was no answer. "Riley," he hissed through the door. "Where are you?"