“Thirty seconds, Kaye. Maybe less. Tell me what you need.”
“Keep talking. Distract me.” From the memory of Black Monarch clawing her way out that hole in the wall. From not knowing where it leads, or what waits on the other side.
The air immediately drops ten degrees once I’m inside. It carries a sweet taste that coats my tongue like rot, though it’s not stale. There’s ventilation, but from where? Whoever made this tunnel never meant for it to be used, and it shows.
Not that I can see in the pitch dark in front of me. No windows. No light. Black Monarch must carry a flashlight with her.
Taking a deep breath, I gather at the threads of power coursing through my veins, kindling that warmth and heat in my palms. When I open my eyes, there’s a dull, red glow emanating from my skin. It’s not much, illuminating no more than a foot or two in front of my face, but the comfort of having some kind of guide in the darkness can’t be denied.
I turn, smiling, and almost step into empty air—a two-foot-wide hole in the floor surrounded by a metal lip. My heart catches in my throat, stomach plummeting. I stumble backward.
“What’s happening?” Zane asks.
The red glow from my palm does nothing against the complete blackness of the tunnel. Something crawls along the edge of the light. Something with far too many legs. At last I find a small, metal ladder set into the wall. I try not to think about how deep it might be as I sling my legs over the edge. “How about that distraction?”
He clears his throat. “The first time I saw you, I thought I was losing my mind.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“You were smart and fierce,powerful, and so damn sexy that I almost melted where I stood. You looked at me with utter loathing in your eyes, but I still wanted you. When we fought, each battle heightened that desire within me. I did hate you for that and so many other things. But hate could never encompass the complexity of what I felt facing you day after day. And I despise the idea of you alone in that passage thinking that.”
Rung after rung passes through my fingers, painted in light pink from my glowing hand, as I watch the outline of the entrance grow smaller and smaller. If I thought I knew darkness before, it was nothing compared to this wholeness that swallows me. It’s awkward work, this descent, with each step suspended in air, kicking until I make contact with the next solid surface. All the while knowing that one wrong step could send me careening to the bottom.
“Would you have saved me if C hadn’t sent you that note?”
“Yes,” he hisses it, almost like speaking around a wound. “I was looking for you, Kaye. That has to be how C knew to get the information to me. I had informants looking for you for months before I received it.”
Months. “I was only in CCP custody for about a week before the auction.”
But I—or rather Checkmate—had been gone for some time before that happened. Being a hero isn’t like other jobs. I couldn’t ask for vacation time or report off. So I just disappeared for a little while. I knew others would step in to pick up my slack, and I kept an eye out just in case anyone truly needed me to step in. That doesn’t mean I didn’t feel guilty.
My foot reaches for the next rung and is met by solid ground instead. Toeing the surface, I check for ledges, steps, or blocks before letting go.
Everything as far as the eye can see is cloaked in shadow. I can see where the ladder drops from the ceiling to the floor, but nothing beyond. No walls or lights to guide my way.
“There’s something I have to tell you, Kaye, about when you were gone,” he falters. “I did something?—”
A band of strength comes out of nowhere, wrapping around my throat before I can react. I scream, but it comes out as a choked burble. My fingers claw at the arm around my neck. It doesn’t give as I struggle, bucking and thrashing with my entirebody against it. I forget about the heat coursing through my veins. Forget everything but fight or flight, life and death. It all comes down to air, and the thing stopping me from getting it.
“Shh,” a female voice consoles against my ear. “Be still, Checkmate. I only wanted to say hello.”
Black Monarch.
I can’t catch a breath. Zane is screaming in my ear, but I don’t hear a thing. There is only that arm around my neck, her mouth against my ear.
I go limp in her grip. Instantly, the muscle banding my neck loosens and I’m able to gulp in a haggard breath of air.
“Good girl,” the assassin praises. “Stay just like that, hmm, my pet? And keep those lovely hands to yourself. This can be nice and easy.”
We take one step forward, then another, as she leads me along like a puppet into that blackness. I can’t see her face. She must have some kind of night vision goggles or something. I briefly contemplate resisting, but just as I’m about to act, I feel the press of something cold and sharp against my ribs.
“Don’t make me put a hole in your charming new suit.” She sighs.
“Let her go.” Zane’s tone is lethal in my eardrum. With her cheek pressed to mine, I realize she must be able to hear it too. She laughs, and it’s a light, tinkling sort of sound. She has the kind of laugh that makes people want her to laugh again, full of delight.
She nuzzles my ear, feeling the device without having to take her hands off. “Youarefull of surprises! Good evening, Charade. Care to play a game?”
“Let her go.”
