Page 96 of Us Dark Few

With those words, a surge of disappointment and despair hung over them.

“What if we wait for another dinner at the Governor’s mansion?” Serene prodded, grasping for anything.

“That could take months. We’d be dead by then.”

Derek shook his head bitterly, staring off into the distance like he was upset at himself for beginning to hope in the first place.

“What if there’s another way?”

They snapped their heads to her.

“At the dinner, the Council said they were preparing a ball for the Tenth Anniversary of Genesis. The Governor said Braderhelm’s prisoners were being used as servants. That’s our way in,” she exclaimed.

“But the Tenth Anniversary of Genesis…that’s only a couple weeks away,” Derek argued.

“And security will be through the roof with all those guests,” Serene replied tersely.

A plan was already forming in her head. “Serene can steal a pad to ensure we’re on the list to serve at the ball. We sneak the walkie to Genesis, find a moment to slip away, and send out a signal.”

Khalani searched Adan’s face for confirmation.

“It’s possible,” Adan hesitated. “But we need to be certain no one is around to interrupt the feed. It might take a few minutes for someone from Hermes to respond. If anyone sees us, we are dead.”

“And if we don’t do this, everyone is dead anyway.” Khalani countered. “We don’t have a choice. Are you guys in?” She stared at the three of them with fragile hope in her eyes.

Serene pursed her lips. “And miss a chance to give it to those assholes again? No way. I’m in.”

Adan lifted his gaze to the ceiling. “There she goes, ready to jump into the fray without regard for her own preservation. But I don’t see any other option either. Count me in.”

Khalani nodded. “Derek?”

Derek lifted his head, the weight of a thousand suns dripping from his eyes.

“All my life, I only wanted to help those in Apollo. And every day I spent in Braderhelm, I thought of everyone I failed by not fixing the crops or spreading the truth. I had given up. I’m not going to miss this chance to make things right.”

Khalani reached out her hand and gently squeezed his fingers. “Thank you.”

“Okay,” Adan said. “You all know the plan. Remember, there can’t be any mess-ups because we’ll only get one shot.”

One shot. Only one chance to save Apollo.

All the underground city ever brought her was despair, but it took Khalani becoming a prisoner to realize she wasn’t ready to give up on the people who caged her. There were bigger things worth fighting for.

Shit. She was starting to sound an awful lot like Timothy Talbot.

“We need to walk,” Serene whispered, inclining her head toward a guard who was sending suspicious glances their way.

They swiftly proceeded toward the front of the fighting ring to blend in with the prisoners, the raucous crowd unaware of their impending doom. Or maybe they always knew, and ignoring the inevitable was easier.

But she was done retreating into the shadows. Done accepting things out of her control.

Someone out there achieved what most thought was impossible. The underground city of Apollo was a living testament to that fact.

Impossible was just a word created to assemble boundaries.

And she was an expert at crossing those.

She cracked her neck as a bald prisoner in the pit fought a scraggly tooth man with wild black hair and fell in an unconscious heap.

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