N. Walters - Threads of Destiny

“They’re coming,” she gasped. “My father, the General…” she waved her hand at the door.

Logan was already headed toward the secret entrance. “We have to move.” Kathryn dug into her large purse and pulled out two small but lethal handguns.

“Here. This is all I could manage to get.”

Tienan whistled softly as he took one of them and checked to make sure it was loaded. Flicking on the safety, he tossed it to Logan and then took the other one for himself, repeating his swift, sure motions before tucking it into the waistband of his jeans. “You stole these from the experimental lab.” It wasn’t a question but she answered him anyway. “Yes. I knew it was over when General Caruthers came into the labs this morning. They questioned me again and then released me. I could tell that he knew something, that he was just playing cat-and-mouse with me.” She slung the strap of her purse over her head and her right arm. This way her hands were free but she wouldn’t lose it.

Tienan grabbed his pack and hustled her over to where Logan waited. “I didn’t know what else to do. Maybe I should have just tried to brazen it out but when I got the chance I left and came home.” She closed her eyes as a feeling of helplessness overwhelmed her. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Logan assured her as he stepped into the tunnel ahead of her. It was dark but he had a flashlight that she’d taken from the kitchen several days ago.

Kathryn hated enclosed spaces but her fear of what was behind them was even greater than what was ahead. She plunged forward and Tienan followed close behind, shutting the secret entrance behind him. The darkness was complete, the only light from the flashlight.

She started to speak but Logan held up his hand, instantly silencing her. It was then she heard it. Voices coming from below. Shit! They knew about the tunnels. Panic welled up inside her, threatening her composure.

“I’m right here,” Tienan whispered in her ear.

As suddenly as that, the fear was gone, replaced by an overwhelming sense of calm and determination. She’d fight beside these two men and die beside them if necessary.

“We can’t let them take us alive.” That would be the worst thing that could happen to any of them. They would be brutally tortured for days on end, an example to anyone who thought to defy the Ruling Council. “Promise me.” She placed a hand against each man, needing his word. “Don’t let them take me.”

“I promise.” Tienan’s voice was little more than a low rumble.

Satisfied, she turned to Logan. “What do we do?”

“Up, we have to go back.” His face was solemn in the dim glow of the flashlight.

“It’s too easy for them to trap us here.”

She twisted on the stairs and felt Logan’s hand against the small of her back as they charged back up the stairs and into her bedroom. “If we can get to the west wing, there’s another secret set of stairs. Maybe they don’t know about that one.” Logan shut the door and dragged a sofa in front of it. It wasn’t much but it would slow them down.

“It’s too late.” Tienan dumped his pack onto the floor and forced her into a corner behind him, placing his larger body in front of her as he drew his gun and focused on the door. “They’re here.”

The bedroom door burst open and two armed men surged into the room, their weapons trained on the interior. Neither Logan nor Tienan hesitated. Two shots later the soldiers were dead on the floor.

“How long will your ammunition last?” a male voice questioned. Kathryn’s throat tightened. The General was here.

“Long enough to shoot you, you cowardly bastard. Just show your head in the doorway and I’ll take care of that little chore.” Logan plastered his body against the side of a large chest of drawers, letting the bulk of it shelter him.

“Ah, Logan.” The General chuckled. “You always were a hothead. Such emotion.

You’re the main reason the project needs to be terminated. Tienan is much more levelheaded. A thinker.” His tone changed, becoming hard. “Tienan, you have been deemed a success. Eliminate the two traitors beside you and you’ll be spared.” Kathryn jerked her head around to look at Tienan. He never flinched, never moved, his arm extended, gun pointed toward the door.

Logan laughed but the sound was anything but pleasant. “If you think either of us believe one word coming out of your lying mouth, I’ve got some land beyond the Gate I can sell you.”

“See, that’s why you’re being terminated,” General Caruthers taunted. “Your emotions always get the better of you, Logan. You’re a follower, not a leader. You won’t take a piss without Tienan’s permission.”

Logan’s finger tightened almost imperceptibly on the trigger but other than that, he didn’t move. Kathryn knew that both men could maintain their positions for hours without tiring. After all, it was what they’d been trained to do.

Another group of soldiers burst into the room and the men fired. Blood splattered and cries of anguish rang out as the men fell to the floor. Kathryn buried her face against Tienan’s back, not wanting to see the carnage that now littered her bedroom.

“You got any more bullets for these things, sweetie?” Logan’s whisper was so low she barely heard him.

She shook her head. “I tried…” There had been no time to get more. She’d barely gotten the weapons.

“Oh well.” He shrugged and tossed the gun aside. In a move so fast it was a blur, Logan dove and rolled, grabbing a weapon from one of the dead soldiers. A barrage of bullets hit the floor beside him as he continued to roll. Somehow he not only managed to return fire but kicked another weapon close enough for Tienan to swoop down and grab it.

For several long minutes, the walls and floors were peppered with gunfire. Tienan shoved her up against the bed, using the bulk of the piece and the mattresses to shield them. Silence reigned as the dust settled. A feather flew past Kathryn’s nose. Her pillows were in shreds.

“Kathryn, we know that this is all their doing. They brainwashed you into helping them. They’re smart and trained to manipulate a naïve woman like yourself. Did they tell you they loved you? Did they sleep with you?” She wanted to cover her ears.

Instead, she forced herself to listen to her father as he continued. “You’ll have to be punished but then you can go back to work in the lab. Everything will be the way it was.”

Tienan stiffened beside her. She ignored him as she tossed her answer back at her father. “Do you think I’m that stupid? The only reason you want me back is because I’m the best scientist you’ve got.” There was no conceit in her words—it was fact. “You’re more replaceable than I am and that sticks in your craw, old man. Always has.”

“You ungrateful little bitch. I should have killed you when I took care of your weak, sniveling mother. I can see that you have too much of her genetics in you.” Kathryn gasped and Tienan gripped her arm and shook her, pulling her back down beside him. She hadn’t even realized that she’d started to stand up.

“Enough. The bullets are gone in those guns you managed to take. There is no way out for any of you.”

Kathryn glanced over to the far wall where Logan was hunkered down behind a large armoire. She gave a small moan when she saw the patch of red on his arm. He looked at her and gave her thumbs up. Fists pounded on the secret door but so far the lock had held. Unless they knew where to find the latch, they’d have a hard time opening it. It wasn’t much but it bought them some extra time.

There was some activity just beyond the door and then a line of four men walked into the room, holding shields in front of them. General Caruthers stepped in behind them, followed by her father.