Page 28 of Silent Lucidity

He nodded to her and waved her over as he stood up. She hurried toward him, eyes on the floor as she stepped around blood, debris, bodies, and fire.

“What’s happening?” she asked. “Who are they? W-what do they want?”

He guessed based on the volume of her voice that Abella’s hearing was still recovering, just like his.

Tenthil jabbed a thumb toward his chest. Bending forward, he swiftly unbuckled one of the acolytes’ gun belts. He turned to Abella, and without releasing his blaster, reached around her to fasten the belt about her waist.

Once the belt was in place, he took her free hand with his and stepped toward the gaping hole that used to be the door. The still-cooling edges of the damage glowed red orange.

He checked to both sides before stepping through into the garage; there were no other acolytes in sight. The bay door was open, and an unmanned hovercar idled just outside, blocking the exit for Tenthil’s hoverbike.

Can’t use either vehicle, anyway. The Master is tracking their whereabouts.

Realization struck him like a slap to the face; the Order’s vehicles were not the only thing the Master tracked.

He tracked its acolytes, as well.

Spawn of a skeks.

The tracker had been implanted in Tenthil so long ago that he’d forgotten about it. He’d have to take care of it—quickly.

“Tenthil, look,” Abella said.

He followed her pointing finger to the surveillance screen on the garage wall. Several individuals dressed in dark attire were entering the building through the ground-level doors, which were about a hundred meters away—the Order maintained only a small portion of this mostly-abandoned building for official use.

Releasing her hand, Tenthil opened the pouches on her belt one-by-one until he found what he’d hoped to locate. He removed the palm-sized, five-centimeter-thick disc from its case and ran to the door to the stairs; it was where the next team of assassins would soon emerge. He crouched and placed the disc low on the wall half a meter away from the door, pressing the control to seal it in place and arm it before hurrying back to Abella.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Proximity mine.” His throat burned a little more with each word. “Trust me?”

“About the mine?”

He shook his head and slipped his blaster into its holster. Watching him with pale skin and furrowed brow, Abella holstered her weapon. When Tenthil took her hand and tugged her close, she didn’t resist, her confused expression lingering.

“Aboutwhat, Tenthil?”

He flicked his gaze toward the bay door. It opened on a relatively narrow alley, the base of which was four stories below.

She followed his eyes with her own and shook her head, pressing her hands against his chest to shove away from him. “Oh, no.No. Please tell me you just want to take the hovercar.”

Tenthil wrapped his arms around her and lifted her against him, front to front, cupping the back of her head to force her mouth against his shoulder. He ran forward. Her initial struggles ceased as her entire body tensed. She screamed—the sound was muffled by his body—and wrapped her arms and legs around Tenthil to cling to him desperately.

He leapt off the edge of the opening, launching himself at the building across the alley. Extending his right leg, he caught the wall with his boot. Momentum bunched the muscles of his leg. He sprung off, repeating the process against the other building, ricocheting back and forth until they finally reached the ground.

Abella was trembling when he finally released her, but it wasn’t merely due to fear—anger flared in her eyes. He settled his hand over her mouth, silencing any forthcoming reprimand.

“Need to go,” he rasped. “Now.”

Brows angling over the bridge of her nose, she snapped her head away from his touch and glared at him. “Fine.”

He took her hand and led her down the alley. They needed to cover some distance before he removed the tracker, but they didn’t have the luxury of time.

“At least give me some warning next time before you—”

Abella’s words were cut off when an explosion sounded behind and above them. Rubble rained onto the spot where Tenthil had touched down only moments before. She turned to look back, but he tugged her along.

The time for looking back had long since passed for both of them.

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