Page 31 of The Darkest Half

“Not enough to get her ass out of waist-deep shit,” Osiris puts in. “Be honest—the real reason you’re here at all ain’t got nothin’ to do with the girl; you’re here for your boy-toy, Niklas Fleischer.” His laughter echoes down the hall.

I won’t lie and say that’s not partially true, but I don’t want to save Niklas’ ass for the reason Osiris thinks I do. Niklas is just…fun, but there are definitely no feelings between us, that’s for sure.

“Let’s find them,” I say, ignoring Osiris’ jab, “and then we can leave.” Who the hell am I kidding? I make it sound like it’s going to be easy!

Several more floors and hallways later, and still no sign of anyone or anything. No guards. No cameras, at least none that are visible to the naked eye. No sounds are coming from any of the rooms. There isn’t even dirt on the floors or trash dumped in any of the dozens of small trash cans sitting against the wall outside every elevator door. I don’t know exactly what this place is, but it’s not a fully functioning building, even though it appears to be at first glance.

I stop dead-center in a stairwell; Osiris practically runs into me from behind, Hestia behind him.

“What’s up?” he asks. “You hear something?”

“No, I just realized something.” I turn my head slowly to look at them both, one and two steps beneath me, our voices echoing lightly in the confined space.

Osiris and Hestia wait impatiently for me to spit it out already; they each make restless faces at me.

“This entire building,” I begin, “is a façade. And those employees downstairs on the lobby floor—the baristas, the gift shop clerk—fifty bucks they’re operatives.”

Hestia’s face darkens. “Ah, hell no,” she says. “You done got us into some fucked up shit, Kessler.” She knuckles Osiris in the bicep. “This whole damn building is a trap, and you let this crazy bitch lead us right into it.”

Osiris looks me in the eyes, his lips hitching up on one side. “This mission of yours just got a whole lot more interesting,” he says playfully. “Fifty more bucks, there’s no fuckin’ way we’re gettin’ outta here the same way we came in.”

Or at all…

I shake my head, thinking about it. “Once we walked into the building and passed through the lobby, the operatives locked us inside.”

“A hundred bucks all the gun power is on the lobby and first several floors,” Hestia puts in.

“Even if we had to,” I say, “we couldn’t escape through a window because we don’t have any gear.”

“What the hell kind of place is this,” Osiris says, “to be surrounded by other public buildings and bystanders?”

“The Order,” I tell them. “Victor Faust sent us right into the mouth of the beast.”

Hestia starts hitting and cursing Osiris again, but I leave through the stairwell door, knowing now more than ever that there is no time to waste. Victor might’ve used us as bait and sent us in first like an infantry line, but that doesn’t mean I have to get distracted by feelings of betrayal. It doesn’t mean I can’t get myself out of here alive. Osiris and Hestia are on their own in that aspect; I couldn’t care less what happens to them. It’s probably a good thing I have them with me, so I can use them the way Victor seems to be using me, at least.

But if I do manage to get myself out of here alive, Victor and I are going to have a little talk.

Izabel

“She thinks it’s a setup, too,” I say. “I hate to say it, Nik, but Victor is using Nora.”

“Does that surprise you?”

“Yeah, honestly, it kind of does.” My head falls to the side, and I look right at him. “I guess I just didn’t expect Victor to betray any one of us.”

“She’s not family,” Niklas points out. “And she’s not you.”

“Still…it just rubs me the wrong way.”

“Izzy,” he says, “he’s doing what has to be done to get you out of here. My brother knows, the same damn way that I know, that sacrifices have to be made in a situation like this. He can’t come into this place on his own, guns blazing, and get you or himself out of here alive, much less the both of you. That’s why we’re not seeing him on that screen.”

“You sound like you don’t think it’s so odd anymore,” I say.

“No, it’s still odd for sure. Something about the whole thing is odd—I just can’t put my finger on what.”

Nora emerges from another stairwell door into another long, brightly lit hallway, with Osiris and Hestia following closely behind her.

Niklas and I watch, our unblinking gazes glued to the screen above us, headache still pounding inside my skull, heart wedged in the center of my throat.

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