Page 62 of Venomous Heart
“If I had known, I would have.”
“Of course.” He shook his head. “You are physically incapable of following directions, and you love to make sure I have to rescue you from the direst situations possible.”
Ava laughed, then nestled her head against him. She moved closer to his body, making herself comfortable, and he watched as she closed her eyes and fell asleep like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Like she was completely safe. Like she trusted him with her life.
Now all he had to do to deserve it was save the entire Ring from the threat of Knut, and retrieve a priceless piece of medical equipment to save a dying boy.
18
Ava
Silence wrapped around Ava and Arlen as they stood in the thick of the forest. All around them was only greenery and the wind as Ava turned around slowly, doubt insinuating itself into her mind despite her knowledge that she was on the right path.
It should be here. It has to be.
“We have arrived.” Arlen turned to her, breaking the silence and coming to stand by her side. “These are the coordinates you gave me.”
His sharp eyes scanned the forest. She knew he could see, hear, and smell better than she could, but it did little to reassure her. The forest was eerily silent, no small animals scurrying around or insects buzzing. Everything was quiet.
That silence filled her with apprehension. This could easily be a trap. The same trap Arlen’s previous teams had fallen into. They would be powerless against any attacker from their position; completely defenseless.
At least, she would be. Arlen was another matter, but even he couldn’t outrun an ionic gun. An Eok wasn’t a god, no matter how much he looked like one.
“Are you sure you read them correctly?”
“I was sure, but not so much now.” More than anything, she wished the piece of paper hadn’t been rendered illegible in the water. “It should be here. The Vault has to be here. I just don’t know what to look for.”
But it simply wasn’t. Or was it? She had never actually been to the Vault. Knut had trusted her more than any other in his life, but that didn’t mean he had allowed her to come to the place where he kept what was most precious to him. The only reason she knew anything about the Vault was thanks to her habit of sneaking around and collecting any scrap of information that would help her escape with Uril.
“What do you mean?”
“Knut obviously hid the Vault well.” Ava talked as she turned around, scanning the surrounding forest for the hundredth time. “The entrance will be well hidden, you can be sure of that.”
Arlen pursed his lips in an angry gesture, but didn’t argue with her. They were here, in the middle of nowhere, and now they had to decide what to do.
“Maybe we should canvas the area, like in a grid?” Ava suggested, but as she looked at him, she saw Arlen wasn’t paying attention to her.
He was crouched on the ground, his hand splayed flat on the thick cover of leaves, his eyes shut tightly. Ava opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, but stopped at the last minute.
Suddenly, Arlen opened his eyes and got to his feet.
“It’s here,” he stated. “We’re right on top of it.”
“Here?” She looked around, confused. “I don’t see anything.”
“That’s because it’s underground.”
Arlen walked around, his face intense, scanning the forest for something Ava didn’t understand. Then, after a few minutes, he tilted his head slightly as though he could hear something. He walked to a tree with a trunk so thick, three men standing side by side could hide behind it, and ran his hands over the bark. He smiled triumphantly and pressed against the tree, revealing a small door.
“You found it!” She came to stand beside him, incredulous. “How did you know?”
“I could hear the buzz of the electronics inside.” He said like it was nothing. “It was low, but not enough to fool an Eok.”
Ava opened the door to reveal a small access panel. She stared at the innocuous bio-reading panel, then sighed. It was a true state-of-the-art bio-control panel, scanning anyone who wanted access for their DNA signature via a drop of blood, a palm scan, and a heartbeat reading. It was virtually impossible to fool.
Of course the Vault wouldn’t be so easily accessible. Only maybe it was. Of all the people on Aveyn, there was only one person other than Knut he might have given access to. Only one he had been close to trusting.
