I wince. It is not a terrible idea, except for the part where Lydia is at risk.
“You would have to run fast,” I say, trying to imagine each step of the plan in action. “To lure Atakis out of his ship, he would have to see you on the planet’s surface, and then you would have to run downstairs, through the kitchen, down the ladder, down the tunnel and around the edge of the lake to be in position. If he were to see you walking around the edge of the cave rather than directly through the middle, he will not fall into our trap.”
To my surprise, Lydia grins, displaying her single rows of blunt teeth. “I don’t think you’ve made the acquaintance of Lydia, the Metal Cutout.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lydia
It hardly takes any time to lay the net over the lake and to dismantle most of the wall sconces. Still, I can tell Killan is getting angsty about how long we’ve been down in the caves. If Atakis decided to fly away in the meantime, we’d have no clue.
Probably no more than half an hour has passed since we first discovered Atakis’s betrayal, but I’ve got to agree with Killan that it feels more like a lifetime. My jaw aches because of how tightly I’m clenching my teeth, and every so often my heart seems to lurch in my chest as my adrenaline spikes. My T-shirt is drenched in sweat, thanks to the heat and humidity rising off the lake’s surface, and I have to keep brushing damp strands of hair away from my face. I’ve never felt less desirable, which is crazy when I think about all the effort Atakis is putting into capturing Humans.
Right on cue, my adrenaline peaks, along with my anxiety. I follow Killan at a run back to the ladder and don’t protest when he carries me up the three stories without asking first. He canclimb a lot faster than me, and I’ll need to save my strength for later.
He clearly isn’t grossed out by how sweaty I am. In fact, he kisses the top of my head before setting me down in his kitchen. Then he tucks his hands behind his back, watching me as if he’s trying to silently persuade himself not to lock me in the pantry and attempt to carry out our plan all by himself.
I recognize the expression because I’m sure that’s the way I’m looking at him, too. If I thought I could manage by myself and if I thought I could persuade Killan to keep out of danger, I wouldn’t be above dropping to my knees and begging.
If there’s one thing we have in common, it’s our stubbornness, and if we started another argument about which one of us should be taking the most risks, we’d end up wasting the whole rest of the day, when we can’t afford to lose the remaining sunlight.
So we both stay silent, and the air around us is heavy with unspoken words.
What I really want is to apologize for being a bitch when he said he loves me. It was a shitty thing to do, even for me. But I couldn’t let him distract us. I was having a hard enough time not panicking without his declaration.
Instead, I force myself to clench my hands into fists. It’s a fucking nightmare that, as I started to think of Ril II as my new home, there came the very real possibility that I’ll never see it again after today.
“Come on,” I say, speaking into the thick silence. “We’ve got work to do.”
My heart’s hammering as I open the outer door of the mudroom. I’m supposed to be acting all innocent and unsuspecting, as if the trashed house wasn’t enough to alert me to Atakis’s presence. In reality, my hands are shaking with worry that I’m going to fuck everything up, and I’m trying to hold my breath so I don’t breathe too much dust into my lungs. Because the last thing I need is an asthma attack.
I stare at the ship. Nothing changes, and if the external sensors are as messed up by the dust as I could be, the crew mightn’t even know I’m here. Still, I can’t risk stepping farther outside. I can’t risk not being able to duck back inside for cover.
I count the seconds in my head, guesstimating how much time has passed. All my instincts are screaming at me to run away and hide. But I make myself wait for a full thirty seconds before stepping back and slamming the door closed.
There isn’t a lock. I guess the brothers never had reason to worry about someone breaking and entering before today.
I spare a quick glance out the window and spot my first sign of life as the hatch at the back of the ship opens and a ramp is lowered to the ground. Not waiting to see if anyone exits, I turn on my heels and sprint downstairs.
Killan and I have already cleared a path through the scattered utensils and broken furniture strewn over the floor, partly so that I don’t trip as I sprint through the kitchen and partly so that Atakis and his crew will have a clear idea of where I’ve gone. I can’t risk them getting distracted and accidentally finding Killan’s hiding spot.
As I step out of the kitchen and onto the mezzanine surrounding the forest cavern, my knees threaten to give way. I can see the ground three stories below me through the gaps in the metal grate, and it’s nearly enough to turn my stomach. New sweat prickles my skin, and I’ve got to wipe my hands on myskirt before taking hold of the ladder and beginning my descent for fear they’re too damp and I’ll slip.
It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve done this climb on my own, it never gets easier. I swear I won’t complain about Killan carrying me ever again. I’ll happily be a passenger princess for the rest of my fucking life so long as it means everything goes back to normal.
Also, I’m wearing a cocktail dress, the same dress Fake Lydia is wearing, which doesn’t make climbing any less precarious. Hopefully, the alien crew are too busy chasing me to realize Fake Lydia and I aren’t wearing the same shoes or that I’ve got my jeans on underneath my dress, because there was no way I was going to attempt the ladder dressed as a prom queen. Not to mention the fact my hands are streaked with black eyeliner, since this is also the dress on which I wrote myI’ll be backmessage to Killan.
Over my panting breath, I hear the shrieking wind, followed by a door closing and footsteps. I can’t count how many…maybe four? God, I hope it’s four. If one of the crew stayed behind to guard the ship—but I stop that thought in its tracks.
When my feet finally hit solid ground again, they’re already climbing down after me. I wait another second, making doubly sure they’ve seen which way I’m going, and then I sprint down the tunnel leading from the forest to the first lake.
I can hear them following, gaining precious ground, and I practically throw myself to the side, crowding against the cave wall and using the shadows to hide barely an arm’s length away from the tunnel entrance.
A moment later, three figures step into the cave. I can see them silhouetted against the light from the tunnel. One has a crocodile snout, but I can’t tell if he’s Atakis or another member of the crew. They’re holding weapons. I’m unable to see the finer details, but they sure are a fairly standard gun shape.Maybe there’s no continuing evolution for weapons. Maybe everyone’s got the same basic shit, because how can something that’s designed to hurt others ever be considered “advanced technology”?
They pause, clearly confused by the sudden darkness.
I stop breathing, terrified they’ll somehow hear my racing heart and know I’m hiding beside them. We’re so close that I could reach out and touch them without having to take a full step.
