“I didn’t want bloodshed.” Heat flamed my face, and I tried to push down the anger. The blueprints burned in my mind. The gas chamber. I gritted my teeth as I remembered Dorian packing his few belongings. Again.
“There’s been a misunderstanding,” she said in a gentler voice, shaking her head slightly. “A miscommunication. The Bureau wants to fill you in, Lyra.”
A miscommunication about gas chambers and genocide? I bit my tongue to keep from yelling. I wanted to remind Finley that the Bureau taught all their soldiers how to negotiate with hostiles. It wasn’t a coincidence that she had gently used my name twice already. It was a common tactic, and I was no fool.
“It’s rich that you’re claiming to rescue her while pointing guns in her face,” Sike said, with a shadow of his usual humor. I huffed out a laugh before I thought to hold it back. Finley scowled, looking sour. I regretted the chuckle, considering how close Sike was to her gun.
If I can speak to Uncle Alan, then maybe that’s the last-ditch effort we need to avoid a struggle with Finley.
“I want to speak to Director Sloane,” I announced. If I could get him on the line, he might actually have something worth saying… and if he didn’t, it still might buy us some time. Finley blinked twice as if processing my request.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “I can do that.” She pulled out her comm and spoke into it, “Requesting Director Sloane. First Lieutenant Lyra Sloane would like to speak with him.”
A crackle sounded on the other end. She lowered her gun and stepped forward to hold up the comm so I could easily speak into it.
“Lyra?” The worry in my uncle’s voice nearly broke my heart, though Finley’s guns didn’t scream familial concern. I couldn’t believe it was actually his voice coming out of the comm.
I drew a ragged breath, knowing I was about to ask him for something he wouldn’t give me.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Lyra, please. You don’t understand the situation. But I’m giving you and your brother an out. You don’t have to do this,” he said gently.
I had said something similar to Roxy, but there was no denying those blueprints. He spoke as if he were being merciful. Funny, I felt the same way about there being a misunderstanding.
“We can forget this ever happened… nobody will know.”
Dorian’s face flashed through my mind again. I could feel his stone in my pocket. In a second, I saw every face from his clan. With crystal clarity, I recalled the dread of hearing Uncle Alan’s voice as I looked at the blueprints, desperate for there to be a misunderstanding.
“I’ll know,” I reminded him. “I can’t forget what is written in those reports and in those blueprints. How can you ask me to ignore plans for mass murder?”
He hesitated, then tried again. “Lyra, I understand you’re confused… but your parents miss you. They’re afraid you’re out of your depth. We don’t want you to get hurt. You or Zach.”
My chest tightened. It troubled me to hear about my parents’ pain, but I couldn’t dismiss the plans and the conversation I heard. In my heart, Uncle Alan’s actions had left a deep wound. A wound I wasn’t sure would ever close. The pause stretched into silence as I refused to answer.
“Can you at least put your brother on?” he asked in a soft voice.
Zach was already flying away, I hoped.
“I’m sorry, Alan,” I said, angry tears pricking my eyes. “I can’t forget what I know. My honor won’t allow it. That’s what honor is for, isn’t it? To keep us in check? Those of us who carry the weight of command have a responsibility not to allow the unnecessary destruction of life.” I paused, my mind racing with a thousand memories of my uncle, of my parents, of training with my brother, of the hundreds and hundreds of hours spent working and laughing and sweating and bleeding with my team. “That’s what you told me. It’s how I was raised. It’s how I was trained. And I stand by my honor, even if you won’t.”
I reached out with a swift movement and clicked off the comm. Finley stared at me with wide eyes.
She sneered, shaking her head. “You were never good at following orders.” Her critical stare turned to Bryce. “You, I expected more from.”
“Well, that was your first mistake,” Bryce retorted, before giving me a look filled with pride. “And as for Lieutenant Sloane, I’d say she’s following something far more important than the orders of bigoted psychopaths.”
Finley’s face was thunderous, but I tried to keep my focus on working out an escape strategy. If Bravi and Sike could handle themselves without sinking their fangs into Finley’s team, we could potentially escape. Bryce and I would grab the guns to ward off any trouble from the soldiers.
As I began to summon the will to start the fight, I saw that the soldiers who had gone inside had returned with Roxy and the others, now free of their bindings. I deflated upon seeing their numbers. We were definitely cornered now.
Louise and Colin hung toward the side.
“Take Sloane and Bryce by force,” Finley commanded, her voice viciously sharp. “Execute the two vampires.”
Louise twitched cagily. Something dangerous flickered in her face as her panicked eyes swung toward Sike.
With a sudden movement, Louise lunged at Finley and yanked the captain’s gun out of her hands, pointing it at other soldiers.
“Go!” she screamed at us. “Go while you still can!”
In a split second, Colin attacked the other soldiers who trained their guns on us. Roxy gasped as he took out two soldiers with a roundhouse kick, their weapons clattering to the ground. She looked around at the scene, unsure what to do, impotent fury in her eyes. Grayson looked hesitant, making no move to help or hinder us. They would stay no matter what, I realized with a final note of acceptance.
Bryce and I nodded at each other as we dashed to subdue Grayson and Roxy. They came down easily enough with Louise pointing a gun at them. She forced Finley to kneel beside them in the dirt.
“Eyes on the ground,” Louise said. From above, a strong gust of wind whipped her long hair, tossing it over her shoulder.
I glanced up to see two redbills, Sike’s and Bravi’s, descend from the sky. Grateful relief washed over me as the birds swooped down.
“You can still come,” Sike said to Louise. There was a hint of pleading in his voice.
She held the gun with a steady hand, unmoving, though I saw a flicker of pain in her eyes for a moment as she looked at Sike. “I’ll take my punishment from the Bureau,” Louise said. Her gaze found mine. “My honor demands it.”
I nodded, accepting her decision.
Bravi grabbed my hand and helped me onto her bill, while Sike and Bryce climbed onto the other bird. I watched my old comrades disappear from my sight as we flew upward.
In the sky, the rest of the redbills were dots in the distance, evading the other choppers that approached the site. But before us, one last redbill dove to attack the chopper on the ground. At this distance, I couldn’t identify the rider, but I recognized the grumpy, large-beaked bill that carried Dorian. He must have circled back to stop the Bureau helicopter from being able to pursue us. My heart stirred with excitement and relief.