Chapter 3
Nix thought it was fate when she received a message to report to Commander Estro’s office first thing in the morning. Now she could request that Corey be transferred to someone else, someone who would be able to give him a fair training assessment. Even though she had personal issues with him, she knew him to be a dedicated warrior. She would do the right thing by him. Nodding to the warriors passing by, she stopped outside the door of the commander and knocked.
“Enter!” a loud voice boomed from the other side of the door.
She opened the door but then froze. There...sitting in a chair across from the commander’s desk...was the bane of her existence. Corey fucking Nash!
“Lieutenant Saber, take a seat.”
Moving inside, she sat down in the chair next to Corey, avoiding looking at him. “Sir, I thought this would be a private meeting.”
Commander Estro stood up and walked over to close his door. “I have a mission for the two of you.”
“What mission?” Nix asked, sitting up straighter in her chair.
“As you know, the tribes in the subway tunnels have plans to build underground cities and markets. They hope to repair all the subway tunnel tracks and subway cars to be able to travel from tribe to tribe, dome to dome, and connect new tunnels to other cities and maybe other countries. The expansion will take many years, but the current tribe locations need to be rebuilt immediately. It’s not safe or healthy for them.”
“Yes, I’m aware of the construction plans, but I don’t understand how this relates to me. I’m not exactly a construction expert,” Nix said with confusion.
“The current sites being worked on have had...interference.” Commander Estro told them.
“What kind of interference?” Corey asked.
“There have been skirmishes between the rebels and the tribe members building the structures. So far, the rebels have kept their confrontations with the Drastan warriors overseeing security to a minimum, but I’m concerned that won’t last. Their interference is delaying the renovations and in turn will delay our departure.”
“What would you like me to do?” Nix asked not even including Corey.
The commander looked her, “I need both you and warrior Nash to go to the subway tunnels—in disguise.”
“As what?”
“So far, only male warriors have been sent to the tunnels for security. I want you and Corey to dress as tribespeople and mingle with the other humans. See if you can get information on the rebels, particularly who their leader is and what their plans are.”
“I can do this on my own,” Nix insisted.
Corey glared at her and Devlon narrowed his eyes in frustration. “Warrior Nash is familiar with most of the people in the tunnels. No one will suspect anything. Being a female, you will not be seen as a threat, and dressed as one of the tribespeople, you should be able to blend in.”
Corey snorted at that last comment. She frowned, wondering what caused that reaction, but decided to ignore it. Turning back to the commander, she said, “When do we leave?”
“Maggie and Lily have clothes for you. You’ll travel down to Warrior Nash’s old tribe two days from now. The recent disturbances were reported from the Southwest tribe. I am not sure I trust the leader.”
“Reggie? He’s okay. I met him once a few years ago, but that tribe doesn’t know me that well,” Corey commented.
“Good, the leader will be able to give you the cover you need to infiltrate. Just don’t trust this leader completely, tell him only the basics. You're both there to observe the progress with reconstruction. If this leader is involved with the rebels, we don’t want them tipped off.”
“That makes sense,” Nix said.
“Go and prepare to depart. You have two days, but don’t talk about your mission with anyone. Liam and Kyle know about it, but no one else. We don’t want to leak this out since we still have rebel sympathizers of our own to battle.”
“Yes sir,” they chorused, and stood up to leave. Nix was out of there and halfway down the corridor before she felt a hand on her arm, pulling her to a stop.
Turning around, she glared at Corey. “What?”
“We need to talk.” Corey pulled her toward an private alcove.
“Let me go!” She jerked free of his grasp, furious that he would have the gall to grab her.
Once they were out of both sight and earshot of anyone passing by, Corey turned to glare down at her. Damn him for being those few inches taller, she hated looking up at him.
