UNWANTED

CHAPTER 31 - G8.14 - LIZAVETA

Jazzy sprung into action, running ahead of us down the hall of the train, heading for the door leading outside. I made sure the train arrived early, that the crowds welcoming me would arrive hours later, that no one would see my fall.

Next came Zabdiel, who rolled his sleeves up as he followed her. I could see the air around his hands shimmer with heat. The door had to be opened by Onus blood, it was the Onus entrance, not the one open to all. There was no use of getting Ilyaas to the tunnels if he could be followed seconds later.

Zabdi would open it for Ly, I would guard him with my body.

The alarm blared while I pushed Ilyaas in front of me. "Follow them." It was my turn to guard his six. "Go! Go! Go!"

The alarm rang for Ilyaas Malak, and I knew the guards were ordered to shoot to kill. All hopes of hiding him quietly flew into the wind.

It must have been Uncle Hassan, or Natasha, or one of the ministers... but it made no difference now. All I could do was get him into the tunnel and face the consequences, whatever they turned out to be.

My hand didn't leave Ilyaas, and his eyes didn't leave Zabdi's back.

I could see the guards start rushing to their positions outside, seeing through the window. They were getting ready to barricade the door.

But this was a shock to them, the order surely didn't come from me, as their uniforms gleamed in white, not the imperial purple. They were less trained, less poised, less deadly... but deadly, nonetheless.

In my momentary clarity, I knocked on every door along the hall and screamed "GET OUT!"

The sleeping princes awoke with shock and ran down the hallway like mindless ants. They flooded into the entrance, our shield of precious heads no one would dare shoot. Off they went, out the sliding doors and into the cold marble floor of the King Solomon the Second, Imperial Station.

I shivered. The marble was the exact same as those in the crypts.

When the cold air of the early morning hit our faces, so did the blare of the megaphone. "EVERYONE HANDS TO YOUR HEADS!"

The clicks of rifles loading their ammunition into place filled the grand receiving hall in echoes that sounded like rain. But no water would fall today, only bodies.

That was when Jazzy roared.

The princes and billionaires fell to their knees as Jazzy surged forward, knocking down guard upon guard just as I asked her to. Fast... faster than any animal was supposed to be, she dodged the hail of bullets the barricading line set free on her body.

Soon enough the first line was breached, and while the princes cowered behind us, Jazzy pushed forward, closely followed by Zabdi, by Ilyaas, by me.

"Liz-" I looked back only once, sky blue eyes piercing mine, and before I let the guilt drown me, I ran.

We evaded the running guards, and they stopped shooting the moment they caught sight of my silvery gold hair.

Gunshots rang across the expanse of the train station, in a perfect incoherent dissonance with the siren. I could see the floor bleed in and out of white and scarlet, reflecting the lights of the alarm, marring my sight.

My throat was constricting, knowing where we were headed, and the air around me seemed to be buzzing.

The needled entrance was under the great portrait of my grandfather, in a high-ceilinged hall with indoor balconies. I remembered doors lining the walls of the hall, lining the second and third floor. It was so open, and when we got there, I knew the enemy would have the advantage. It would be like shooting ducks in a barrel.