Page 64 of Obsession

Tov nodded, though his expression said he wasn't done with his questions. "The other prisoners will create enough chaos to cover our escape, but we need to hurry."

Kann’s head lolled against my shoulder, and I could feel his breath coming in short, uneven gasps. Fear clawed at my throat. We needed to get him out of here—out of this simulation entirely.

Volten stepped up and met my eyes. “Let me.”

As much as I wanted to be near Kann, Volten was bigger and stronger. He and Tov would move faster than I could, especially because Kann was dead weight.

I nodded and let him take my place. He and Tov exchanged a solemn look and started moving briskly down the corridor. I had to nearly jog behind them to keep up, but I didn’t care. Anything to save Kann.

My throat tightened as I tried to keep unwanted thoughts from crowding my mind.

What was Zav doing on the outside? How much longer did we have before the window for extraction closed? And even if wemade it to the entry point, would Kann survive the transition in his current state?

The questions chased each other through my brain as we climbed back up the stairs. I could not believe that I had finally found someone I truly cared about, someone who made me feel safe, someone who filled the constant ache in my chest, and he might be snatched from me. I bit back a sob at the cruelty of it all, then I curled my hands into fists.

I refused to lose Kann. I would not let him die.

We emerged from the stairwell into the upper corridor, and I nearly sobbed with relief when I saw it was still empty. Behind us, shouts of alarm began to echo up from the dungeon as I assumed that the escaped prisoners were discovered.

“We should get him to the healer,” Tov said as he started to move one way.

Volten pulled back and glanced at me. We needed to get to the coordinates Zav had given Volten, but how could we explain that to Tov? And how could we leave him behind, after he'd helped us?

The sound of running feet and angry voices from below made the decision for us. We had to move now, explanations be damned.

“We have to take him somewhere else,” I said. “We’ll explain when we get there.”

Tov’s brows lifted, but he did not argue and followed Volten’s lead.

I fell in step, my heartbeat as fast as our pace, as Volten started to run and Tov matched his speed, with Kann suspended between the two.

Stay with us, Kann, I thought, willing him to be okay. We’re almost there. We’re almost home.

Chapter

Forty-Five

Zav

My eyes burned from staring at the holographic display, the lines of corrupted code swimming before me. The power surge had done more than just crash the system—it had mangled the base files and completely disabled the safety protocols. Every time I tried to patch one problem, three more appeared.

I groaned, my tail lashing angrily behind me. But the reason the holoprogram had been susceptible to damage in the first place was because of the augmentations I had made to the Drexian technology. It had to be.

“Why did I try to make the holographic characters capable of iteration?”

What had seemed like an improvement to the technology, now seemed like a catastrophic mistake, although I had not anticipated anyone entering the simulation before I’d had a chance to run significant tests. Not that I dared use that as an excuse.

Guilt gnawed at me like a wild beast, and the heat hammering in my body reminded me of the mating fever that overlook Taori males. That was the last thing I needed, especially when I was near so many desirable females.

Gritting my teeth, I pulled up Volten's signature again and watched the blue dot pulse steadily. At least I could track him, even if I was having a harder time than I’d hoped in creating a way to extract all three. But tracking them wouldn't matter if I couldn't stabilize the program. One wrong move and the whole simulation could collapse, taking them with it. Or worse, the damaged safety protocols could allow real harm to come to them before I could get them out. If it hadn’t happened already.

I had not spoken the Taori lament for those who had gone beyond the eternal veil because I refused to accept that they were gone. Until I knew for certain, I refused to think they had been taken to the shadowland. I had lost enough Taori brethren. I could not lose more—Drexians, Earthlings, or Taori.

I flicked a glance at the holochamber door, wishing it was as simple as forcing it open but knowing that if I did, the recreation would dissolve and take all the energy signatures with it—the real ones and the holographic ones.

Scraping a hand through my hair, my fingers brushed the ridged surface of my horns, and I was reminded of all the trials that my own people had endured as we’d traveled across the sky in search of the Sythian swarm, all the difficulties we’d endured.

“Into the valley of death ride the Ten Thousand,” I chanted under my breath, the mantra of the Taori warriors bringing me strength. “We are the Taori.”

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