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12
“Silas?”I couldn’t help the note of surprise. “Why are you here?”
“Rescuing you, of course. Once I heard the commander’s breeder was arrested, I began making plans.”
“I can’t believe you risked yourself for me.” I really couldn’t, especially since we barely knew each other, and I’d failed to do as he’d asked.
His teeth flashed in the dim light from the hall beyond my cell. “We revolutionaries have to stick together.”
It didn’t seem to be a good time to tell him that I’d abandoned the plan and had no interest in being part of his terrorist cell. Right now, he provided my only means of escape.
“Put this on.” He offered me garments of pale yellow. “Anyone asks, we’re maintenance workers, here to do repairs on the malfunctioning lights in the stairwell.”
“With no tools?” I asked as I stepped into the jumpsuit, a welcome reprieve from the dirty dress I’d been wearing since the gala. I ignored the fact that he spent more time watching me dress than the hall.
“Don’t worry. I brought us stuff to enhance our cover. Including this.” He handed me a helmet. “Tuck your hair under it.”
When I was done, he stepped back and passed a critical eye over me. “You’ll do, but keep your head down if we come across anyone. Let’s go before we’re noticed.” He swept a hand, indicating the hall.
I exited my cell, but he dawdled a moment before shutting the door. Only as we reached the far end of the corridor did he say, “Get into the corner in the stairwell and protect your head.”
“Why?”
“Because we need to cover your escape.”
Before I could ask how, a rumble shook the very floor and walls. Lights flickered. Metal groaned. A siren started to wail.
I blinked at Silas. “What just happened?”
“Your cell block is now rubble. The commander will think we eliminated you to prevent you from telling them our secrets.”
“But I know nothing.”
“The Cabal isn’t convinced of that. There was talk of torturing you to get you to spill anything you knew.”
I almost blurted that Sebastian wouldn’t do that, only to recall he’d put me in that cell. He’d arrested me. He’d left me alone.
“Let’s go. Try to look traumatized.” He shoved a toolbox at me. I hugged it to my chest and didn't have to fake my shock as I followed him up the stairs, ignoring those in red who came down, shouting to each other.
“What happened?” asked the first guard.
Silas pointed down to the floor we’d left. “Terrorists blew up C level.”
“What makes you think it was terrorists?” barked one with a mustache.
“Because two men in gray ran past us on level D. Thought they were gonna kill us!” Silas sounded appropriately shocked. I must have looked sufficiently appalled, because they didn’t give us a second glance as they trotted down the stairs.
“Come on, before they decide to question us more,” Silas hissed.
I couldn’t believe they’d accepted his story without further query. I doubted the commander would have made such a mistake.
Funny how quickly I’d gone from thinking of him as Sebastian back to commander, as if that short moment of intimacy between us had never happened.
We went up another level before Silas went through a door, the card he slapped against panels somehow unlocking them.
He led me through an intricate maze of hallways and rooms, even through a large duct at one point, before we emerged inside a cave.
“We’re underground,” I noted.
