Page 45 of Created in Chaos

“Then what?”

“Remember when she had some problems in the library? What if it was the same person who attacked her?” I pose the question as I head toward the security office. I should have asked for the video feeds a long time ago, but my brain was scrambled.

“I thought you didn’t know who it was?”

“I don’t. I’m going to ask for any surveillance from that day.”

“And you think they’ll give it to you?” Nox scoffs. “You’d be better off having Morozov hack into the feeds. The second the Umbras get wind of you wanting something, they’ll either destroy it or try to use it as a bargaining chip.”

“Shit!” I stop in my tracks. He’s right. Thank fuck I called him first. I turn on my heel and head right back in the direction I came from, noting the empty space where my lamb was only a few minutes ago. I should have waited for her to go into class instead of leaving her in the hall, but I was hyper focused on getting that footage.

“Call Morozov and have him meet us in the office. I’m going to make sure she made it to class, then I’ll be there.”

“You didn’t take her to class?” He’s pissed.

“I left her right outside the door. I just want to be sure.” The teacher stops speaking when I haul the door open and look around the room. Every head turns to the back of the class, but only one person groans—Nova. “She’s good,” I say into the phone, then let the door close.

“Good. Call Morozov, I need to finish getting dressed,” Nox snaps, then hangs up on me. I look down at the phone with a wry grin. My brother is coming back to me.

LUCIAN

I pass a few people on the main floor as I make my way toward the offices at the back of the house. I don’t know many of them by name, but their faces are familiar. Gertrude and her family are the only people my parents permitted in the house alone, but things have changed a bit in their absence. Gertrude now handles hiring staff and when they come and go. They pretty much ignore me, which is exactly what I want.

Nox and Morozov are already in the room when I enter. The tech specialist stands to greet me. “So we’re busting into the school and hacking into their security?” He gets right to the point.

“Do we need to bust into the school? It’s not something you can do remotely?”

He shakes his head. “No, I need to patch directly in, or they will know someone is trying to get in and lock it down.”

“How do you know?” Nox asks, voicing the same question I was going to ask.

“It’s my job to know.” Morozov shrugs. “I gave them a gentle nudge after the shitshow the other night. I figured their security would be easy enough to hack, since they said someone interrupted their feeds to let the ????????? escape, but it was tight.”

“Do you think they locked it down after he escaped?” I question.

“No, there wasn’t enough time for a full overhaul,” Morozov states confidently.

“Alden’s getaway was an inside job for sure,” Nox chimes in.

“It would certainly seem so to me,” Morozov agrees.

“What kind of access do you need to get into their system?”

Morozov smiles, showing a gold canine tooth. “I just need to slip in their backdoor.”

NOX

Nervous isn’t the right word to describe how I’m feeling, but anxious could sum it up pretty nicely. I want to know what we’ll find, if anything, on those tapes, and there’s a sense of urgency pushing me to make sure it gets done as quickly as possible.

Lucian and I took care to make sure it would be nearly impossible to distinguish between the two of us, not that anyone usually can other than Nova, and the only explanation she can give as to how she does it is a feeling she gets.

I check my watch again as impatience tugs at me. Nova’s class should be out any minute. The plan is to get her out of the school quickly so Lucian can handle his task. I wasn’t on board with his plan, but I couldn’t come up with anything better, so his way it is.

The low hum of voices emanating behind the closed door causes me to push off the wall with expectation of her arrival. Unexpectedly, Nova is one of the first people to exit the class.

“Hey,” I call, grabbing her attention when it seems like she was just going to walk right past me. She pivots and comes straight toward me, angling through the other students hurriedly. “What’s wrong?” I move to meet her.

“Thank God you’re here. I have to pee so badly.”

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