That’s fair, but it still smarts like a slap to the face.
I don’t know how to explain. Every word I think of sounds like a trap, or a lie. So, I start with the basics.
“It’s the old Blackgate Fortress.”
They fall silent and share a loaded look.
“Near the Black Mountain Pass.”
Viper grunts.
I don’t have anything left to lose, so I add on a resigned exhale, “General Stone is there.”
Without hesitation, Knox thumps his fist twice against the metal wall, wordlessly communicating something.
Shade slams on the brakes, shifting down the gears, and turns the wheel sharply. The truck skids and jolts as we turn.
"What's happening?" I ask, but no one acknowledges me. "Where are we going?"
“To see our old commander,” Viper replies distantly, before ominously adding. "We have some questions for him."
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the surrounding chaos and the emotions I can't bear to process. I know I've hurt them, and I can feel the weight of their betrayal in every breath they take.
They might hate me, but my body still sings for their touch.
Chapter Ten
Viper
Blackgate Fortress isn’t how I remember it. I trained here for three weeks when I was still a rookie, enduring the blistering winds and frostbitten toes. Back then, it was a deserted, bleak, and crumbling ruin on a cliff’s edge.
Shade drives up to a large, fortified gate, the headlights illuminating the stone walls of the stronghold. A hive of activity buzzes from within. The fortress is no longer deserted and is once more fulfilling its purpose as a military outpost.
It commands a view of the sprawling mountain range separating Fathim from the lawless Blackreach Province, its panorama extending for miles in every direction. The steep rock face it’s butted up against protects it from the rear. It's strategically placed to keep watch over the only narrow passage through the mountains.
In an instant, soldiers surround the truck, holding us at gunpoint. Their voices boom, filled with hostility and suspicion.
“Get out of the vehicle with your hands raised!”
‘Easy does it, fellas,’Shade warns.
We exit the vehicle slowly and stay behind the bulletproof doors. We don’t raise our hands either. That would be a tactical error. Instead, we keep our ready weapons low as a sign of no intention of hostility.
We might have come here for help, but we won’t leave ourselves undefended.
Halley clambers unsteadily from the truck with no such precautions, and a hush descends upon the soldiers.
The muzzle of their guns lower.
Halley peers up, squinting against the bright floodlights. With the light shining on her face, I can see how our three months apart have changed her. Her eyes are sunken with dark circles, and she's lost weight. Her hair, which used to be so shiny and lush, is dull.
Some of the anger that has been flooding through me dims.
I wonder what she sees when she looks at us.
"Sparks?" someone asks.
"Jason!" she cries out, hobbling forward with her arms extended. She falls into the embrace of a Beta.
