Page 43 of Legion

Riley smirked. “Maybe you should try that on yourself, Luther,” he said mockingly. “It would certainly be an improvement.”

The other Basilisk turned on him, eyes narrowing to black slits, but Mist broke in before he could say anything.

“You had your chance, Luther,” she said, disdain coloring her voice. “Mr. Hill was not pleased with the results of your interrogation and has put me back on assignment. Your skills are no longer required.”

Luther bared his teeth with a hiss, making me tense. For a split second, I could see his other form, a thin black dragon with mottled green wings, looming over the girl. A chill raced up my back, even as the blood in my veins boiled. The image had been so real; I had never seen anything like that before.

Mist faced the furious Basilisk and didn’t back down. “If you are displeased, take it up with Mr. Hill,” she said. “Or, better yet, you could go straight to the top. I am sure the Elder Wyrm will be very interested to learn of your failure.”

The blood instantly drained from his face. “N-no,” he stammered, backing away. “That’s not necessary.” He gave us one last glare, eyes gleaming, before turning an oily smile on Mist. “Well, good luck, Miss Anderson,” he said, his tone oozing. “Perhaps your techniques will succeed where mine did not, but if you need any help, or expertise, you have only to call.”

“Thank you,” Mist said icily. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Luther nodded, gave us one last smile and continued down the hall. Mist watched him until he turned a corner and was out of sight, then glared at Riley.

“If you don’t want us to be discovered, Cobalt, perhaps you shouldn’t antagonize everyone we come across.”

Riley grinned. “Worried, Miss Anderson?” he replied. “I thought you wanted this to be realistic. It would have been more suspicious if I just took the slimy bastard’s insults and didn’t say anything.”

Mist shook her head. But she didn’t say anything else as she led us down the corridor again, moving a little faster now, until we came to the elevators near the end of the hall.

“Get in,” she ordered as the doors opened. We did, and the clones followed, flanking us inside the box. Mist pressed a button, the doors slid shut and the elevator began to ascend.

Mist motioned briskly to Riley and inserted a key into the cuffs at his wrists. “I have your phone, Cobalt,” she said as the shackles were removed. “When we get to where we’re going, I need you to contact your hacker friend and explain the situation. I hope he’s as good as everyone seems to believe. From here on out, we have to move as fast as we can.”

“What are we looking for, anyway?” Riley asked.

Mist hesitated, then turned to me. “I’m not entirely certain,” she admitted, unlocking my restraints. “But that computer is supposed to hold the plans for...something big. Something that has to do with the vessels, and what the Elder Wyrm intends to do with them. There have been rumors circling about something called the Night of Fang and Fire, which I admit sounds cheesy but is troubling all the same. My employer would like to know exactly what this Night of Fang and Fire is.”

Riley and I shared a glance. The Night of Fang and Fire? It certainly sounded like we should be worried about it. At the same time, it made me desperate to get to Ember. To get us all out of here and find someplace safe before the world exploded in a hellstorm of dragonfire.

The elevator stopped, and the doors slid open to reveal an office-type floor, though the hallways were dark and looked deserted. The only lights came from the glow of screen savers through open office doors.

“Stay here,” Mist told the clones, who didn’t so much as blink at her. “Guard the elevator until we return.” To us, she jerked her head down the hall. “The room isn’t far. Let’s go.”

Following her lead, we hurried down the corridor, turned a corner and paused at a plain office door with narrow floor-to-ceiling windows on either side. Mist produced a key card from a cord attached to her belt and slid it into a slot reader near the handle. The door beeped once, and we slipped inside.

A large desk with a single computer sat in the center of the room, and Mist quickly shut the inner window blinds before turning to us. “Here,” she said, tossing Riley a phone. “Call your friend. I figure we have a couple minutes before night security comes by, so make it quick.”

I carefully pulled down the blinds a crack and peered into the darkened hall, watching for moving shadows or flashlight beams, while Riley spoke urgently into his phone.

“Wes.” His voice was a raspy whisper. “It’s me...No, I’m not dead, obviously...Yeah, we were caught by Talon.” He winced. “Ow. Dammit, will you calm down? We’re fine, no one is dead yet.” He frowned, and his voice became a growl. “Look, just shut up and listen, all right? I don’t have a lot of time.”

A thin white beam flashed down the hall before a shadow turned a corner and came toward our room. I motioned to the others to be silent and pressed back against the door. Riley and Mist ducked behind the desk, Riley hiding the phone in his jacket to snuff out the light, and we held our breath as a human passed in front of the windows. His shadow slid over the blinds, and his footsteps knocked against the tile floor as he went by, not slowing, and faded away into the dark.

I slumped in relief as the other two popped out from behind the desk, Riley snarling quietly into his phone again.

“That’s what I said. I need you to hack into Talon’s computers and...” He paused, frowning. “Dammit, Wes. What do you want me to... Hang on.” He pressed a button on the phone and placed it on the desk. “All right,” he whispered, sliding into the desk chair. “What do you need on our end?”

“Bloody hell, Riley,” came Wes’s voice over the speakerphone, sounding harried. “All right, listen. First, you’ll have to open the browser and go to this IP address. That will download an exploit that will grant me access to—”

“On a time limit, Wesley,” Riley growled. “Don’t need an explanation, just give me the damn address.”

“Right. Hang on, then.” He rattled off a list of numbers, and for a moment, the sound of tapping keys filled the silence of the room. I turned back to the window and peered through the blinds, searching for the guard. On the phone, Wes and Riley muttered back and forth for a few tense moments before Wes gave a triumphant grunt.

“I’m in. Found the file.” He paused a moment, his next words begrudgingly impressed and eager at the same time. “Well, thatisa nasty encryption, isn’t it? I’ve just the thing for you.”

A flashlight beam cut through the hall again, and I motioned everyone to get down. We dove behind cover and held our breath as the guard passed by once more, but this time stopped to shine his flashlight through the cracks in the blinds. I flattened myself to the wall, holding my breath, until the light dropped from the window and the guard moved on once more.

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