HMS Valediction

Chapter 33.2

A solid, metal door blocks me from the cells. John creeps over my shoulder to stab the security access panel above it.

The door cracks open an inch. It's enough space to wedge my fingers in and pull back. When it creaks far enough to squeeze my body through, I slide in, scanning the myriad marble and gold cells lining the wall.

"Let me out!" Ledi screams in my voice. The words echo through the cold, cavernous space. "I'm going to fucking kill you, Moon. You back-stabbing piece of shit. Get me out of here."

Keeping my back against the opposite wall, I follow the clamor.

The cells are filled with starved people. They hang to life by the luxurious threads of their garb but their skin sinks into their bones like hollow earth. With wide eyes, they watch me, Coodi, and John slink by. I worry they'll give us away. Maybe they'll holler at the guards in the hopes of a reward. But when I gaze into their eyes that are dim with hunger and press my finger to my lips to beg for their silence, they nod. They nod or they retreat farther into misery.

Metal doors rattle. "Let. Me. OUT!"

"Quiet in there." A guard shouts from the opposite end of the room.

I pause, slinking back into a shadow with Coodi on my tail. From his place on the ceiling, John pauses above us.

"When I get out of here, I'm going to slice your fucking throats. The three of you."

Three guards. Between me, Ledi, Umpire, Coodi and John, that will be easy to handle.

They guffaw and wander off to some other unseen place. When their laughter fades to silence, we press on. Ledi continues rattling the bars.

I see him ahead, my small hands wrapped around the gold bars, shaking and causing a ruckus. Running forward, I come face to face with Ledi in my body. My tussled, bruised face, red welts across my throat and cheeks make my mouth dry. They fucked me up pretty good. I know Ledi had to create those images on his projection to make it look realistic, but it still prickles the hairs on my arms to see myself as such a black-and-blue disaster.

This must have been Dean's living experience with me. Poor guy. I get it now.

Umpire leans on the bars in the next cell over. "How'd it go, Reaper Boss?"

I grit my teeth. "Not fucking well."

"Shit."

My eyes in Ledi's head flash blue as he reaches around the cell door and jams his finger into the lock pad. The pixels displaying my image over his hardware flash as if disrupted by a bad signal. He twitches once and rights himself. A second later, the door clicks and swings open. When he steps through the opening, I sense his immense melancholy.

Shit went wrong. He knows it. I know it. Now, he's probably got some low number hanging over our situation. I don't want to hear it. I don't care what probability says about the shitstorm we're in.

Ledi hangs his head. My dark hair flops forward to cover forlorn eyes and a frown deep enough to sink me into the ground. Immediately, my first reaction is to scream at the image. Pull it together, I want to shout along with dropping copious swears and aggressive gestures, there's no time to mope. I want to berate the image for being soft and letting the situation get out of hand. I want to push it around some more, add another few bruises and ding it up some more. I want to punch and kick and scream because nothing is going the way it was planned. Nothing.

But when Ledi raises his gaze and I stare at my own eyes that are wide with frustration and fear, I pause.

Enough. Enough fear. Enough anger.