Bryce looked satisfied. “If we weren’t in such a pickle right now, I’d say I was proud of how well I had trained you all,” he said. He bent and rifled through his former trainees’ pockets, finding a beacon on each of them. “Very proud, indeed.”
Three of the beacons he crushed under his heel, but he kept one and knelt in front of Roxy. “I’ll give you this when our group leaves. The Bureau can come to pick you up after we’ve left.”
In tense silence, everyone began to pack. Zach stared at the ground for a moment, his mouth twisted in conflict. Gina went to grab their gear. The air between each and every human was thick with worry. This wasn’t the decision I’d hoped for. My nerves burned with dread. I had to keep moving even if I wanted to scream in frustration.
My gear was already collected. We didn’t have much. “I’ll stand guard. Wait for Gina to come back and help you,” I told Zach. “You’ll need to lean on her to walk out of here.”
He nodded, distracted. He was worried about this situation with Roxy’s team, but he wouldn’t back down. My brother was too stubborn for that.
“I’ll stand with you,” Sike said to me. The hulking vampire, Gavril, had left without me realizing it, and the cavern was rapidly emptying. I nodded and thanked him.
Sike stood in front of Louise, staring down at her with an unreadable expression. Their time at the trial facility was sullied by the recent developments.
Grayson, as if seeing Sike’s presence as a threat, angled himself to place his body protectively between Sike and Louise. The latter didn’t seem to notice. She only had eyes for Sike, her cheeks dusted pink from the proximity of his gaze.
Sike looked from Grayson to Louise, a question on his face. She lifted her chin higher to meet the vampire’s gaze, posturing in an attempt at pride.
After a cold moment, Sike gave a shrug and stepped away, turning his back on the prisoners. Louise held her position for a moment, then slumped against the wall, looking slightly lost and off-balance, like she’d missed a step.
Grayson leaned back, relieved. I averted my eyes.
This was the mirror of my own decision. I had to give up alliances with my old friends, my ex-comrades. My stomach burned with dread. A feeling of finality came over me.
I’d sided with the vampires. I had made my choice. There was nothing left to do but move forward.
Chapter Four
Bryce and Bravi quickly came to join us, carrying their belongings. We watched the prisoners while the rest of the cave group prepared for their own retreat. From the sound of their conversation, most had decided to return to the Immortal Plane. I tried not to feel sad as I covertly watched them. How many would stay with us? I bit my lip and rolled it between my teeth. Everything was uncertain.
Bryce pulled the tracking beacon from his pocket and crouched by Roxy. He placed it in her hand. A strange pause fell over us. It felt as if Bryce were a captain again. It made this all the more painful. We used to be so close… and everything had changed. Grayson met my gaze, then looked away.
“You only set this off once we’ve left,” Bryce said.
Roxy nodded. We’d loosened her restraints slightly on one hand so she would be able to operate the tracking beacon. I hoped we wouldn’t regret it. They could easily betray us and send info about our plans straight back to headquarters. After all, they had made the decision to stand by the Bureau.
Dorian had gone ahead to help the vampire group. Gina briefly darted out from a passageway to whisper in my ear that she would help Zach fly with Rhome.
“Understood,” I said.
She ran off to make preparations. An anxious feeling crawled up my neck. The hairs on my arm stood to attention. Something was coming.
A sound caught my ear. There was a helicopter above us. I tried to calm my breathing, reminding myself that this had happened before. We were clearly in the middle of an airpath, with planes often flying overhead. Sike cleared his throat beside me. I glanced around to see Bryce, concerned. Sike put up a warning finger as Roxy attempted to stir and say something.
The chopper sounded like it was getting closer, growing louder. My heart slammed in my chest. I eyed Bryce with worry, and he flattened his lips together, indicating for everyone to be silent with a raised hand. In stillness, we listened. After a moment, he moved toward the end of the tunnel, waving me after him. We eased out of one of the smaller exits onto a slim ledge to see a disturbing sight.
Captain Finley and a group of soldiers spread out on the ground, a black Bureau-issue helicopter beating up a violent dust storm not far from the outcropping our hideout ran through. I studied them nervously. Although they were in uniform, I had been dedicated to learning the forms and postures of my team. If I wasn’t mistaken, Sarah and Lily were among their ranks. Bryce and I exchanged a dismayed look as Sike and Bravi, drawn by the sound, came to join us.
“Crap,” Sike muttered. We retreated into the passageway, but we heard approaching soldiers coming from the other side of the canyon on the outside. The Bureau had trained me, and I should’ve known they would be crafty. They were a step ahead of everyone, even their soldiers like Roxy.
“They lied about when they were coming on purpose. They factored in the risk that Roxy would try to help us,” I said with a shake of my head, angry at my lack of foresight. “What are we going to do?” I thought of Dorian and Zach.
They must have heard the incoming choppers. Dorian could help Zach onto a redbill quickly enough, despite Zach’s injury. I hoped they would hop on the redbills and take off without coming back. If I had the choice, I wanted the others to be safe… even if it meant sacrificing myself to the Bureau as a prisoner.
“Put your hands in the air!” a voice commanded.
I froze, then slowly lifted my hands, as did the other three. Finley and a few helmeted soldiers aimed guns in our direction.
“We’ll cover you!” Finley shouted. “Run from the vampires now!”
I didn’t move an inch. Did they still think they were rescuing us? Or was it a trap? They’d told Roxy and her team a lie, but Finley might rank high enough to have learned the truth. Bryce and I shared a glance, recognizing the layout of the soldiers. Their formation was typical Bureau strategy: pin down and fan out. From the corner of my eye, I saw two or three redbills take off into the air. They lifted into the blue skies faster than I’d ever seen them move, which was saying something. Three soldiers brushed past us and went through the tunnel. From inside, I heard the distant shouts of Roxy and the other captives screaming for help. This wasn’t good. My hands wavered in the air.
Dorian’s face flashed through my mind as Finley furrowed her brow at me warily. Was she trying to decide where I stood with the vampires?
The redbills chirped above. Was Dorian safe? I licked my chapped lips and gathered my courage. If Dorian was caught… if the Bureau found him… I couldn’t let that happen. He had to survive. I straightened my back and prepared to stall her.
“I’m not coming back,” I said firmly. “Roxy and her team are inside. You can take them as a consolation prize.”
Finley’s face transformed with irritation, the tight bun of her curly red hair causing her face to become even more severe. “Your uncle wants you home safe,” she said. “We don’t want any more bloodshed, Lyra. We’re here to help you.”