Page 14 of The Stone Survival
“You have no right to?—”
“We haveeveryright,” Levi snapped. “Wewere the ones in the firing line. The ones who almost lost their lives. If anything,weshould be interviewingyou.”
“One of you is a traitor,” Curi said. “Working with the graynites who took Serath in the first place, and there isnoway we’re letting you get your hands on him again.”
“You want to talk to him, you can do it with us all present,” Shar finished.
Our unity had pride swelling in my chest. “We’ve cooperated with you. Told you everything we know. We’ve waited patiently. But we’re done. You can either open the door and let us out or we’ll break it open ourselves. I think you’re forgetting who we are. We’re the fucking elites.”
Silence reigned for several seconds as they processed our words. The door wasn’t anything special. It was locked, but there was no doubt in my mind that either Curi, Shar, or Serath could bust it open if they wanted. Derek could let us out if I called him. He wasn’t here, but he was close, I could feel him. But shifting into a chimera had weakened him. He needed to recharge.
Still, we could walk out of this room if we wanted to, and they knew it. They were relying on us being good little guardians to make us stay put.
But I was done following the orders of a corrupt master. “Break it down.”
“With pleasure,” Curi growled.
He attacked the door, shoulder slamming it once. Twice.
“Stop!” someone ordered over the intercom, but the splintering of the door as it busted open drowned them out.
We rushed out and were met by a group of guards. Goyles working for the council. Not guardians like us but trained in combat, no doubt.
“Stand down,” one of them said. “We just need Halle.”
“Over my dead body,” Curi snapped.
“That can be arranged.” He whipped out a stun stick.
How cute. “You think you can take us down?” I arched a brow. “Bring it!”
We attacked as one, forming a barricade between them and Serath. Curi went for the leader, moving fast to disarm him and then headbutt him in the face, while Shar aimed for the groin of another, busting his nose with her knee when he doubled over. Levi grabbed one in a headlock, and I ducked to avoid a blow, then gut punched the guard attacking me.
“Stand down!” a voice boomed.
Orix stood behind the guards, his eyes bright. “Guards, you’re dismissed.”
The guards backed away, groaning and clutching their injuries.
Orix’s gaze settled on us, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. “Well, you made your point. Now follow me.”
“That was ballsy,”Orix said as he led us down a gray corridor.
“It had to be done,” Shar said.
“Yeah, it did,” Orix replied. “But they’re going to push for more tests on Serath, and I think you should let them; we have no idea what was done to him. You said so yourself, Serath, that you can’t recall.”
Serath’s jaw tightened, and I squeezed his hand reassuringly.
Orix had no idea of the full truth, and there was no way to tell him until we were out of here and back at the tower.
I drew him to a halt, my hand on his arm. “We can’t let them have Serath. We can’t trust them, Orix.” I kept my gaze on him, intense, and dropped a nod, hoping that he’d understand that there was more to this. “Please…trust me on this.”
He frowned. “I trust you, of course I do. I’ll do what I can to help.”
This time the room we were taken to was painted gray, and once again, there were no windows, but there was a floor-to-ceiling mirror with a row of chairs facing it.
“Take a seat.” Orix fell back to stand with his hands clasped behind his back.
