Page 19 of Aria's Ascension

“No. I believe—hope—she will awaken on her own, given time,” he responded grimly as he followed behind her.

Glancing back, Aria eyed him critically. He seemed to carry Skaa without any strain, but how long could he keep that up? What if they needed to run? Dodge bullets? Stop, drop, and roll?

What other choice do we have? Leave her here? Not an option.

“Fuck. We’ll just have to carry her. If it gets dicey and she still isn’t awake, we might have to find a place to stash her.”

Pressingher back to the wall beside the door, Aria aimed the strange but, thankfully, fairly straightforward gun as she typed in the code to open it. It was too big for her hands and balanced strangely, but she’d found what she was ninety percent sure was the trigger. What she hadn’t found was a clip, so what it fired was anyone’s guess.

If this turns out to be a laser gun, I’m going to be happier than a crackhead in an evidence locker.

She bit back her smirk and dipped her head out, scanning both sides of the hallway.

“Clear.”

Exiting, she went left, moving cautiously but quickly as she led the way. Kix was in the middle with Skaa over his shoulder. Tirox brought up the rear, walking backward, so he could watch their asses with the other guard’s gun.

Kix had tried to take the rear position, arguing that he at least knew how to use a gun, but she’d refused. He was the only one who could ‘find’ the codes to open the various doors. If one of them got hurt, they needed him to get them out. Besides, Tirox was smart. She’d shown him the basics before they left the modification suite and trusted him to catch on quickly. If nothing else, he could fire wildly to distract the enemy, giving her time to pick them off.

After a few minutes of following the curved hall, they came upon a junction.

“Which way?” she breathed.

“Right.”

Aria pressed her back against the wall and checked both ways. It was empty. Narrowing her eyes, she tilted her head, trying to hear anything to hint that someone was hiding behind one of the doors lining the hall. Nothing. It was perfectly silent with the exception of her and her men’s breathing.

They hadn’t come upon a single being as they crept about. No guards patrolling, no ants walking around.

“Why hasn’t the alarm sounded?” she muttered to herself.

Frowning, she glanced at Tirox, still standing with his back to her, facing the direction from which they’d come. His senses were stronger than either hers or Kix’s. Maybe it was silent or made for senses she didn’t have.

“Babe, do you hear or feel anything that could be an alarm?”

“No, my heart,” he responded without relaxing his guard.

Her frown deepened. She hadn’t seen anything on the Godzilla guys that resembled an earpiece or communicator of any kind. Of course, that didn’t mean they hadn’t had something, just that she hadn’t recognized it.

“Something’s off. Even if the alarm is conveyed through communicators, we should be seeing increased activity, security patrols. Something,” she whispered.

Even if the guards Zhrovni had sent to collect her and her men had fucked off before performing their duties, it shouldn’t have taken this long before they found them missing.

“We cannot stay here,aessa. We must either press forward or retreat.”

Kix’s voice was low and tight with unease, telling her he felt it, too. But he was right, they couldn’t just stay there, and going back wouldn’t help.

Exhaling sharply, she nodded and slid around the wall, but her steps were quicker now, and her senses were strained.

* * *

Close to tenminutes must have passed as they traveled deeper into the underground labyrinth, and with every one, her muscles tensed further. The sense that something was off intensified until her stomach was in knots.

This is starting to feel a hell of a lot like a trap.

As much as she hated the idea, she began to seriously consider the possibility that they needed to abandon their mission of freeing the dragon and escape while they had the chance. They could find a way back in, free a few slaves at a time. But they damn sure weren’t going to free anyone if they got caught.

She was still debating what to do when Kix led them to a door. Taking up position facing opposite directions, she and Tirox watched the halls, guns aimed.

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