Page 62 of Cold Heir

Agreeing to sit tight while he crept toward it, I peered over his shoulder every so often. The fridge hissed when it opened and cool air escaped. Silas slipped his bag from his shoulder, and opened the insulated compartment, reinforced with metal specifically for this task. The goal was to keep them cool and intact until we were able to get them back for his study.

I swear I held my breath right up until he closed the small door again, hurrying back to where I hid—between a large, center counter, and a portable testing station.

“We’re done,” I whispered with a grin, feeling my heart race at an unhealthy rate, but I couldn’t help it. We’d accomplished the very thing we set out to, all without any close scrapes.

I expected Silas to match my excitement, but that wasn’t what I saw when I looked him in his eyes. He stared, and I knew something was wrong.

“What is it?”

Finally breaking his gaze to blink, he was slow to answer. “There’s something else I need to do while I’m here,” he announced.

My first thought was that he’d gone insane, that he was drunk on adrenaline and suddenly thought he was invincible. But then his expression softened and I remembered he was much too grounded to ever be ruled by his ego.

“Talk to me,” I whispered.

He inched toward the edge of the counter to make sure we were still in the clear, and then I had his attention again.

“There’s a promise I need to make good on,” he began. “I was supposed to get my hands on some meds—painkillers, antibiotics, vitamin supplements. The plan was to maybe gain access to a medical house, but … we could easily kill two birds with one stone while we’re here. All those things I mentioned are manufactured in this facility, and then delivered across the Quadrant to the medical houses. If we got them now,” he reasoned, “it would minimize the risk of having to infiltrate asecondfacility.”

There was tension in my brow, I could feel it. Mostly I was confused as to why he’d make such a lofty promise in the first place … then things began to click.

“Is this for my team?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

At first, he hesitated, but then nodded. “It is, and if you’re leery about staying inside this place even a second longer than you have to, I completely understand,” he whispered. “So, if that’s the case, I’ll ensure that you get back to the car safely … and then I’m coming back in.”

There was absolutely no time for sentiment in this scenario, yet he left me no choice. I was in awe of his kindness, hisselflessness.The merethoughtof him risking getting caught, risking his crown, or even his life for them … there were no words.

When I nodded, I don’t think he knew what I meant at first. “Absolutely,” I uttered. “We can do that for them. I’m coming with you.”

Even through the mask I caught his smile, and with that, our mission had just extended to a room at the end of the hallway. That meant passing guards, dodging cameras, the whole nine. Still, if Silas was willing to risk it for my team, so was I.

I was beginning to think the keycards he calibrated wouldn’t get any use, but this sudden change of plans meant otherwise.

Crouching, I’d taken two steps—three tops—when the back of my hoodie was gathered into Silas’ massive hand, being used to snatch me down to the ground beside him. He pressed his finger to his lips, shushing me when I questioned him with my eyes. He pointed toward the window above our heads, and within a few seconds, muffled voices pierced the silence.

Holding my breath, I gathered my feet close to my body, making myself as small as possible to avoid being seen.

The continuation of what sounded like an in-depth conversation was probably the reason for the sloppy check. However, I was grateful for it. The two lingered there a while, and Silas and I sat listening, seeing as how we were kind of stuck.

“Withers isstillscratching his head,” a male voice admitted. “The video footage shows nothing, the guards saw nothing, and yet, the girl’s just gone, vanished without a trace,” he explained.

“Well, humans don’t just get up and walk out of a place like this. Especially one as heavily sedated as HIN-190487,” his female counterpart answered.

Tension spread across my brow, causing my eyes to slam shut. My mind was working overtime to recall where I’d heard that number. And then, just like that, it hit me.

Like a ton of bricks.

“That’s her,” I whispered to Silas, feeling how my eyes stretched wide with the revelation. “HIN-190487 was the woman responsible for producing the first tainted lot that didn’t kill the host.” I paused and pointed at his bag. “The blood you’re carrying to test? It’s hers.”

His expression deepened and I knew he was now just as intrigued as I was. If we were hearing these two correctly, someone had pulled off a similar feat as the one we did tonight, only their goal was to take the girl. This begged the question: Who? And for what purpose?

“You’d think that after a breach as major as this one, we’d be in lockdown right now,” the male guard suggested.

“That would require acknowledging that mistakes were made, and we both knowthatwill never happen,” the woman replied. “If we’re being honest, we already know how this is gonna go. It’ll be a race to save face. Which means, to the untrained eye, nothing around here will change, simply to avoid calling more attention to what’s happened. Meanwhile, a massive investigation is likelyalreadyunderway right under our noses, and it’ll continue until she’s tracked down and re-secured.”

I wanted more information, wanted to hear their theories or list of suspects, but they moved on, continuing their beat. Panting with curiosity, I peered over at Silas, wondering what it all meant.

“I need you to stay here,” Silas urged when a second guard passed, having a change of heart. “I’ll make the quick run down the hall, grab what we need, and then come back for you,” he promised.

---