Stormbreacher - Book 1 of Titanomachy Series

Chapter 17: Rush of Shadows

I ran.

I ran like I'd never run before.

I ran like my ass was on fire because it might as well have been.

I slammed right into the door of the arsenal, grabbed the handle, and tried to swing it open with my full weight. It refused to budge.

"Dammit!!" I hissed—it was locked. Couldn't dwell on it. I sprinted to the elevator, each footstep thundering like drums in the silence. I didn't care. I knew there was a staircase leading up from that room to where I was, and I could hear somebody's, probably Zeno's, footsteps stomping up the grate. The elevator, still waiting there, beckoned for me with its glass doors wide open like cold, icy hands. I crashed inside and punched the red RESTRICTED button—C'MON!!

"Provide vocal identification."

It was the same stupid computer as the one that tried to lock me in down below. "Oh, fuck you!" I snarled furiously, and I tried the same trick as before. "CAMRONCONCRD!!"

It didn't work this time. "I'm sorry, that name is not registered in the database. Repeat?" the computer said. I spluttered out a stream of spit all over the control panel and punched it again. "No, you stupid—never mind." I shook my head. If it wouldn't take my BS, fine.

"Stinger? Are you here?!" I exclaimed.

"I'm right here!! Just fix the stupid elevator!!" he shrieked from somewhere. He wasn't in my bag, but he at least was in the elevator. I slapped my hand against my forehead and struggled to think of the best way out.

First floor's closest to the surface...first floor! First floor!!!

I punched the first floor button. It didn't ask for vocal ID, thank God. The glass doors shut.

I thought I might be able to make it up and out undetected, but just as the elevator began to rise, Zeno appeared from around the corner of the hallway (still shirtless!). He caught a glimpse of my face as I began to disappear, and he froze. He was...surprised? Was he surprised?!

Don't know, don't care. I was long gone by then.

I heard the whoosh of wings as Stinger crossed the elevator to land on my shoulder. "Athena!" he squealed. He was blindingly white now, completely unable to control the color of his scales. "Athena, that guy can kill you! Holy crap!"

"You don't say!!" I snapped. "What's the quickest way out?!"

"First floor! There's stairs and then another elevator that leads to the surface!" Stinger exclaimed. "Are we going to the first floor?!"

"Yup!! Cool! Okay, Stinger, I need you to be my eyes and ears. You're going to watch out for Zeno, and you're going to give me as much important information as you possibly can, do you understand?!"

"Got it!!"

"Good!" I let out a gasp of panicked air. Good fucking God, what the hell was I thinking?! I knew this was a stupid idea!! I knew it, and I still went!! And now I was about to die for it! Holy hell!!

They didn't even ask who I was. They didn't even look. They do not care. And Dad's dead.

That was one of two trains of thought running through my head. The second was how the hell I would escape. Once I made it to the first floor, run like hell, I suppose and find the elevator, regardless if I bump into anybody, and then...see if I could make it. I at least had a headstart on Zeno. Unless there was another elevator, he'd have to climb the stairs, meanwhile I'd be fresh and ready to run. Whether or not I'd make it before him...errr...