The ground shook with another blast.
“Was I mistake, or is your gift suitable for offensive warfare?” Rylan asked Sasha as he stepped past me.
“It can be,” Sasha replied, stepping beside Rylan.
“Good. We are about to be attacked,” he stated.
It was only then that I noticed the tear to the shoulder of his uniform, the blood that dripped down his fingers, or that his gun was in his hands.
“Attacked?” I asked, not sure if my heart could handle more adrenaline.
“Percy, I need you to go to your chambers and barricade both doors,” Rylan told me.
Before he had even finished speaking, I heard thepop pop popof an automatic weapon. The window beside us shattered outward. I instinctively ducked, and watched as Sasha waved her hands—pieces of rock from the window frame flew past me, turning to dust as they were hit by what I presumed were bullets.
Rylan wanted me to hide. There was no escape from our rooms. I would be hiding, unable to do anything to help anyone. Unable to go to Selene.
I needed to find Selene.
I felt desperate. Near hopeless.
What use was I in this fight? I wouldn’t be able to make it out of here to find Selene on my own. I needed to trust Rylan—trust that he would come for me and help me get back to Selene.
“Now!” Rylan roared.
I had never heard him raise his voice before. It made me hurriedly stumble to my feet. I saw four rebled with guns aimed in our direction before I turned and ran as fast as I could towards Selene and my rooms.
The door was far from easy to open, even with the counterweight, it took three attempts and all my weight behind me to push open the first door. It slammed shut behind me, and I looked—while catching my breath—at the barricade contraption that Selene had explained to me on our first day within Ardens Estate.
The counterweight was what made the door manageable—well manageable for those with more strength than me. I needed to unattached the weight. Without the pully and counterweight, the door would be near impossible to open. That’s what Selene had said. Impossible for all but pureblood vampires.
I only hoped that there were no pureblood vampires among the Rebels.
I smiled, recognising a clevis pin as the mechanism connecting the counterweight to the pully chain, like the shackle of an anchor chain. I knew how to remove the rue ring lockingcotter pin—my only issue was reaching it. Even on my toes, I couldn’t reach the joint to remove the clevis pin.
The counterweight hung at my waist height, was at least double my width in circumference. I could reach the top of the counterweight but not the joint holding the large clevis pin.
The sound of chaos and fighting growing closer made me move without thought. I pulled myself up and on top of the counterweight. It swung ever so slightly side to side an indication of just how heavy the weight was.
Once crouched on top of the weight it was an easy task to remove the pin.
What I hadn’t anticipated the falling of the counterweight—and me falling with it too. I landed roughly on my side, bruising my elbow.
As I got to my feet, my heart pounding and the sound of running water in my ears, someone—or something—began slamming against the door. I backed away.
“I can’t budge it,” a voice called out on the other side.
“Are you sure you saw her go in?” another voice asked.
“Yes, I’m sure,” the first voice replied.
My breaths felt laboured—like my lungs didn’t have any space to expand.
“Stand back,” a third voice ordered.
Followed by a hard bang against the door.
I turned and ran up the spiral stairs. My lungs burned the entire way—like fire eating at me from the inside. My vision unfocused at the edges.
