Page 166 of You Only Love Twice
And just like that, all the doubt vanished.
Kincaid snorted nearby. "Christ. Fuckin'. Jaysus. Byrnes and I are going to have to sort you out, mate. A shock collar?"
"You wouldn't understand if I tried to explain it," she told him.
"It's done, Gemma," Malloryn said, slipping out of his coat and sliding a shoulder holster over his arms. "Jack said the neural implant was deactivated when he tested it."
Only Obsidian understood. "There are no certainties the neural implant won't reactivate. And until you've lived through it, it's difficult to believe you can trust yourself. I'm Gemma's guarantee she won't lose control again."
She needed that certainty. The fluttery feeling was gone. Shecouldn'thurt anyone if Obsidian held the shock controller. She felt like her old self again.
Grabbing a fistful of his coat, Gemma stretched up on her toes, finding his mouth. The kiss was hungry and desperate. And regrettably, all too short.
"Remind me to thank you later," she breathed, as she lowered herself onto her toes.
His hand slid over her bottom, where he gave her a cheeky pinch. "I'm counting on it."
"Now let's go burn this hellhole to the ground."
* * *
Black waters stirredbeneath them as Gemma paused on the edge of the Core dock. They'd spent twenty minutes traversing the cold, dark tunnels of Undertown, jumping at every rat that scurried away from them in the darkness.
She couldn't see a damned thing below the water, but Obsidian assured her it was there, and he'd taken out adhampiracolyte on guard in the entrance to Undertown.
One down. Far too many to go.
Byrnes, Herbert, and Ingrid were going to swim into the Core with a handful of Nighthawks, attacking from the rear, thanks to Byrnes drawing the short straw. There was an escape hatch there, Obsidian had explained, which would lead them directly to the munitions factory. Blow the factory and get the hell out, Obsidian had told them, because the training center was nearby and there'd be a dozen good littledhampiracolytes in there, vying for Ghost's attention.
Charlie and Kincaid were suited up in a pair of mech suits. Kincaid wore his Achilles II after the first had been crumpled in the draining factory, and Charlie wore a revolution-standard Cyclops that stood about twelve feet tall, his pale face serious behind the single glass slit in his head-mask that gave the Cyclops its name. They were leading a team through the elevation chamber down to a sublevel of the Core, and working their way up.
Which left the air ducts and the cells.
"There's the duct." Obsidian pointed to the enormous steel pipe that clung to the nearby wall. "It will take us directly to the cells."
"Any rousing speeches?" Charlie whispered loudly.
"Don't get killed," Malloryn retorted, tucking his aural communicator into his ear. "Get in, lay your charges, and get out. We've got Ava and Jack on communications, so make sure you touch in with them. Rendezvous point is the safe house at midnight if we lose each other. Watch your backs."
"Aye, Your Grace." Charlie snapped a salute, pistons hissing in the Cyclops suit as he and Kincaid headed for the elevation chamber that led down into the Core. Ten Nighthawks followed them.
"Ready?" Gemma asked, staring at the air duct. An access hole rested several feet above them, the enormous wheel rusted over from the damp tunnels.
"Ladies first?" Obsidian graced her with a smile as she tested the buckles on her harness.
"Heading into a creepy underwater bunker filled withdhampir?" Gemma grinned at him. "It's possibly the only occasion where I might insist you go ahead."
Obsidian climbed up to the access hole and used sheer strength to twist the enormous wheel. He popped the cover open and vanished inside, feet first.
Gemma followed, finding herself in a narrow duct that led directly down. Using her hands and feet to hold herself there, she clipped the steel cable that was attached to her harness to an empty rivet hole, took a deep breath, and then dropped down through the duct.
The cable whizzed from the reel at her waist, letting her plummet almost to the bottom. Light spilled through another access hole Obsidian had opened, and she hauled herself up short and slipped through, unclipping herself.
Obsidian knelt beside her, packing away his harness into the small satchel he carried. He drew a pair of wicked-looking knives. "Ready?" he mouthed, as Malloryn and several Nighthawks joined them.
Gemma nodded.
The fluttering had gone away, her heart was pounding, and all her senses were on high alert. Drawing the pair of sai strapped to her thighs, she gestured for Obsidian to lead.
