Gemma squeezed his hand. Not being fully functional had to be eating at him.
Colton pressed his rifle into his shoulder as he stepped cautiously through the hole in the capsule. Gemma dug out her daggers and gripped them tightly while Hawk and Imara flanked Christian.
Gemma staggered her stance, ready to pounce, and held her breath. This would be her first step toward getting revenge for the Dissent using her love for her sister in some sick, twisted plan, and she was so ready.
But Colton shouted an all clear from inside. Gemma shoved her daggers back into their sheaths, her heart sinking.
Hope stung like a prick of poison when it ended up being false.
The four of them took off their helmets, relishing in the cooler evening air, and joined Colton inside where a slew of weaponry and equipment sat, housed in labeled plastic boxes. Guns, ammunition, grenades...How had the Dissent acquired all of these?
“Blast, this is worse than we thought,” Hawk said.
“No, I think this is about what Rami thought it would be,” Colton replied, the face mask on his helmet lifted so he could be heard. “There are some sort of plans and a radio over there.”
Christian was the first to reach the small, square table, on which metal folders sat. He snapped one open and started to pull out the papers. “These are blueprints for Zion.”
Imara and Hawk crowded around him to get a better look, but Gemma ran her fingertips over one of the plastic boxes, her stomach in her throat.
She’d almost taken out Rami. And if she’d succeeded, her actions would have offered enough of a distraction that the Dissent’s true operative would’ve had no problem fulfilling whatever crazed mission they’d been sent on.
What if the Dissent had more of these sites scattered across Reva? If they had blueprints, and an undercover spy, and more weaponry than they’d seen inside Zion...
Everyone in that tower stood zero chance if it were breached.
Gemma was yanked from behind.
A powerfully strong arm wrapped around her, holding her arms taut against her body despite her thrashing. The point of a dagger pressed against the skin at her jugular. She ceased moving, whimpering.
The noise caught the attention of her friends. They spun around, their pistols flying into their hands.
“Do you guys have any idea how hard it’s been to let you tag along on this little trip?” Colton’s chest rumbled against Gemma’s back as he spoke. “But I figured, hey, this could be fun.”
Her eyes burned.He was the operative?
She wriggled against him, and Colton pressed the blade deeper into her skin.
Christian’s glare was so fierce, even Gemma felt a bit afraid of him. “Let her go. Now.” His tone was deep, merciless.
Colton snorted. “No, I don’t think so. See, there’s a piece of equipment in here that I need, and it needs to get back to Zion in one piece. So, I’m going to take Gemma and the equipment with me, and when I get to Zion, I will let her go, unharmed.”
Christian stepped forward, cocking his gun.
“Really?” Colton snarked. “You’re going to try shooting me with one arm and risk hitting her? Not likely.”
“How do you know we won’t chase you down and slit your throat while you sleep?” Imara seethed.
“Because this little guy has poison on it.” He scratched Gemma’s neck with the point of the blade. She turned her face away from it with a gasp.
“It’ll take a full five days for the effects to truly kick in,” he continued, “and onlyIhave the antidote. In Zion. So, if you want her to live, you’ll let me keep breathing, thank you.”
Hawk stepped around Imara, and the click of his gun cocking stopped Gemma’s heartbeat. He wouldn’t waste a chance to kill Colton, even if it meant ending her in the process.
One life for hundreds.
She looked at Christian, her jaw shaking, using her watery eyes to tell him to let her die.
Christian’s nostrils flared as he shoved his pistol in Hawk’s face. “Don’t even think about it.”
