Cassian fiddled with his vest as they padded to the main exit. Salem stopped and turned to him.
“Are you sure you want to join me? You don’t have any training and…”
“I’m sure,” Cassian said clearly.
As she lifted her gaze from his lips, she narrowed her eyes.
“Okay.”
He flinched as she grabbed both sides of his vest and jerked it forward before pulling at the straps, tightening it to his chest. A shiver went through him when her hands moved to the front of his belt and adjusted the strap there. He quickly averted his eyes, trying not to choke as her small fingers worked deftly in righting his pack and securing the straps before she stepped back and turned again.
Lips parted, Cassian watched as she started walking towards the exit.
“Thanks,” he managed to get out, then shook his head.
Moving to catch up, he kept stride with her as they approached the exit.
“I don’t know how many are left, so expect an ambush. They’re waiting for us but they don’t know that we know they’re out there so we have an advantage, barring the fact that we’re outnumbered. Stay behind me, keep your mask on and your gun down. If we can convince them that we’re one of them, we won’t have to shoot our way out.”
Taken aback by her authoritativeness, he nodded jerkily.
“Good.”
Cassian did his best to act normal as they approached the exit. The large doors were wide open. From what he could see, there were a few dozen enforcers at the entrance. Some milled around, some sat on the ground just outside the door. A group sat on the hood of an armored truck, one tossing his radio around in his hands.
They were just waiting.
One foot in front of the other, he walked through the doors behind Salem, keeping his head straight forward. Even though they couldn’t see behind his mask, he didn’t move his eyes from the spot on the back of her head as they stepped down onto the grass and passed the first of many trucks outside.
“Hold up.”
Cassian cringed as he slowed to a stop. But Salem didn’t stop at all.
“Hey!”
She continued walking.
Shit. She can’t hear them.
Cassian knew that he’d blow his cover if he tried to run after her or made any odd movements. With her back facing him, there was no way to alert her.
Stop, stop, stop, stop, he begged over and over again in his head.
“Stop right there!”
Turn around, Salem. Come on…
Salem stopped walking, turned, and faced him, her hand coming to rest on her gun. Cassian huffed with relief.
That was close.
“Where’s your unit?” The one sitting on the hood of the truck slid off and palmed his radio as he approached Cassian.
Cassian flicked his eyes to Salem. She said to follow her lead but if she spoke, they’d realize she was a woman.
Clearing his throat, he spoke up.
“We lost them on the top floor. We were with the back-up team but we had to retreat,” he said as steadily as he could.
“Well, where’s she now?” the enforcer questioned as others in the area started to tune into their conversation.
Cassian quickly thought of a lie to tell them. A lie that wouldn’t put the others in danger.
“I think they got out. We were going to do a quick sweep of the training fields and report back.”
That wasn’t the best thing to say. If they searched outside, they would be more likely to find Hewn and the civilians.
The enforcer tilted his head.
“Under whose orders? Ivar made it clear that we weren’t to move from our posts. Next unit every thirty. That’s it.”
They didn’t know. They didn’t know that Jude was dead.
“He was the one that sent us. You can ask him when he comes down.”
As he finished speaking, Cassian tried to turn around and keep walking when the enforcer pushed.
“Oh. Then you won’t mind me sending a few with you? You know, for safety.”
No.
If Cassian said no, they’d be suspicious. If he allowed them to follow, he’d lead them right to Hewn and the civilians. He just needed to stall, he could do that.
“Yeah, sure,” he nodded before turning to Salem. She probably had no clue what was happening. Cassian just hoped that she could read the atmosphere and go along with it.
“Connor, Luca, and Tag. Go!”
Tag? Cassian didn’t recognize any of the other names, but he knew Tag. They’d worked together for his father. They weren’t close by any standards but they’d grown up together. All it would take was one slip-up.
Cassian led them out of the palace gardens as he tried to think of a way to lose them. They couldn’t walk around forever but he couldn’t take them to the woodlands either.
On the bright side though, he was grateful that Salem wasn’t acting out of the ordinary.
“So.” Tag. “What sector are you guys from?” he asked conversationally as they walked along the perimeter.
Cassian cleared his throat trying to make his voice deeper. “Southern sector,” he said gruffly.
“Oh. Connor, aren’t you from the southern sector?”
“Yeah, I am,” Connor responded cautiously. “Hey, what’s your name?”
Think, think, think.
Duck…
Cassian whipped his head around and in all directions as the voice whispered in his ear. None of the guys seemed to have heard it. They just watched and waited for him to answer the question.
“Uh…it’s…”
Duck! The voice was louder now. Cassian turned again and slapped his right ear. Was he hearing things?
Tag looked at Connor, then back at Cassian.
Cassian, DUCK!
Cassian startled at the volume and instinctively ducked. As he bent, Salem sprang into action. She moved so quickly. Using the butt of her gun, she knocked Connor clean out. Holding onto both ends of the gun, she looped her arms around Luca’s neck and pulled the barrel, bringing his head down on her knee. Tag seemed to catch on as he tackled Cassian to the ground. He quickly reached for his knife but before he could pull back his arm, Cassian lifted his hips and they rolled.
On top of Tag, he twisted his arm until he dropped the knife before striking him in the temple. Tag’s movements slowed. He used the opportunity to pull the handgun off his belt and press it to Tag’s head.
“No,” Salem was at his side in an instant, covering his hand with hers. “Too loud.”
Placing a hand on the side of Tag’s head, she lowered her voice to a whisper and looked into his eyes.
“Sleep…”
Cassian watched her eyes closely as her pupils contracted before swinging his gaze to Tag. His eyes fluttered before his head lolled to the side.
Salem stood as if it was nothing while Cassian stumbled to his feet, both awed and off-kilter.
He moved to stand directly in front of her before speaking slowly, lips moving clearly.
“That voice in my head. Was that you?”
She blinked at him before furrowing her eyebrows.
“You don’t have to speak to me like I’m stupid. And yes, it was me.”
Her eyes flitted between his. “Maybe you’re the stupid one, considering it took three tries to get you to listen.” There was no bite to her tone. Just her making an observation. She turned and started walking in the direction of the woodlands. “We need to move. Hewn won’t be able to hold the cloak for much longer.”
