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"Will you stop doing that?" He escapes ot a lantern with hiht escape to break up the blue-green illu you out of here, you stupid trodaire"
My brain feels like it’s running on a treadmill in a pool of tar "Out of here," I echo stupidly "Your people changed their minds?"
"Not exactly" To his credit, he doesn’t try toa cautious distance
I stare at hiranted, not much of it from the inside of my cell, but I’ll see a whole lot, "What’re the other rebels going to do to you when they find out you helpedit’ll look like you escaped on your own But I’ll cross that bridge when I co?"
A flicker of adainst his own people takes guts Of course, if he were on our base, he’d get handed a court martial for insubordination "You’re insane," I point out, trying not to shiver in the clas off his jacket and holds it out "Co?"
This time I don’t hesitate I turn and let hiether we slip from the cell and out into the corridor
"Where are you taking ht maybe dinner and a nice boat ride to see the wisps Somewhere quiet and romantic, then maybe drinks afterward before I drop you hoainst his people in order to get ood job of it A thousand cutting retorts flicker through hts, but the words don’t coh the corridors
After a ti a hand to warn me to do the same Then he strides around the corner like he owns the place We must be into more heavily trafficked areas nohere people would notice if he was skulking around secretively After a second he gestures for me to follow All clear It’s only a few seconds later that footsteps echo back toward us, and Cormac’s hand reaches out to jerk me into an alcove
This nook is barely h rooht in the shadows Our bodies press together,His head turns a little, the light sandpapery stubble along his jaw brushingthat comes easily to me This close, I could so easily overpower hie They wouldn’t fire on one of their own I’ve got no weapon, but I could probably break his neck if I had to, if I got the right leverage His hand tightens around row louder and louder I catch a glimpse of movement out of the corner ofspot--doesn’t pause The footsteps continue, growing fainter this tis on et me to follow "There are families here," he murmurs "That was someone’s mother who just walked by Think about that before you lead any of your people back here, okay?"
I pull rit his teeth In another lifetiuy off In this lifetiesture for him to lead the way--I’m not about to walk in front of him If he were smart, he wouldn’t let me walk behind him But either he trusts me, or he’s just that foolish Probably both He’d certainly have to be foolish to trust o, but with the flickering, deceptive shards of light and the twists and turns, it’s impossible to keep track No time to think about what it’ll mean for Romeo if I hand over whatever I can reet out of here Now
An endless series of corridors and crude staircases later, there’s a shift in the air--the slightly stale dae, far bigger than we’d guessed I don’t understand hoe could’ve round would mean infrared wouldn’t pick the would’ve been searched right away They ed somehow
Cormac peers down another corridor, then leads round harbor A T-intersection of docks houses a small fleet of the little two- up against the sheet metal reminds me sharply of how dehydrated I am At the far end of the cavern is the inky darkness of Avon’s overcast night sky
After checking again that no one’s on our heels, Cor to athe dock Easy to tell when one’sI never would’ve found this place on otten out of my cell If he hadn’t come for me…
Who cares? It’s his fault you’re here in the first place Go Just GO
I find o? This isn’t so a little as he drops his gaze to look over the boats His shoulders drop, as though the weight of this choice is a tangible force threatening to crush him "I’ll take you back to the base"