Denied - 44. Chapter 44

I wiggled my tongue against the capsule cautiously. I couldn’t break it, but I wanted to. My heart was racing, and tears were leaking from my eyes. Captain was cursing and pissed, Deke wasn’t any better, and their struggle and failure to suppress their rage helped our disguise.

Only the promise I’d forced them to make kept us going after I’d become paralyzed and the first salty drop streamed down my cheek to drip off my chin. I’d feared it would happen, because losing control was a trigger Lakshou had taught me all about.

All the things that could go wrong floated through my brain. The capsule might not work. We might be walking into a trap. Someone could get hurt. Deke said he had my back, but I’d rather he stayed close to Captain’s.

Two of the guards from the other ship were pushing me. One was a tiny Phlonian with its rounded body protected inside its large, jointed legs, two on each side. Its body rose and fell as it walked, making me dizzy so I tried not to watch it. The other was a tall, sharp-edged female of some species I didn’t know. All her limbs had points on them, spikes with jagged tips in bright orange. Her large eyes were the same color and set on the sides of her head, protruding outward and rotating constantly to scan our surroundings.

She’d be my warning if something or someone was coming for us, so I focused on her. I listened for Captain and Deke, but they were quiet, keeping up our pretense of being under guard.

And I gently touched the capsule, the barest flicker of my tongue the only movement I could manage.

Whatever code Freska had obtained got us in a side door apparently because we didn’t encounter the security I expected. We were greeted by several voices, but they took our escort at face value, didn’t search Captain or Deke or me.

“Move.” The Phlonian shifted to one side. A human stepped up to the grav, peering at me. “So that’s the one, huh? Where’s Lakshou?”

“How the hell do I know?” one of the others said.

“He’s expecting a big payday for this one.” The human stepped back. “You expect us to believe he doesn’t want it?” He narrowed his eyes and sneered, his voice screaming suspicious.

Not good. If my heart could beat any faster, it would have.

“From Elliard? Hardly,” someone scoffed. “Frujil’s the money man.”

The ugly twist on the guard’s face smoothed out. He pursed his lips before he clicked his tongue in a rude sound. “Truth. I’d make three times as much for him. And not be in as much danger as here.” He looked around the Intelligence building. “Damn government. Never know who’s crooked and who isn’t.”

“Isn’t everyone crooked?” someone else said. “Sort of the definition of government. They’re all out to screw us if we don’t get ours and get the fuck out before they can.”

“Ha!” Elliard’s guard barked out a harsh laugh. He clapped one of the guards on the back. “Truth. And if you have to stab a few family members in the back…” He eyed Captain Querry. “Too bad. I heard you weren’t a bad guy to ship out under. That’s what you get for being too fucking honest like a naïve stripling. Someone your age who’s been through the war should’ve known better. Old fool.”

Captain lunged forward, and the guards caught him, pushing him back into Deke. I couldn’t tell if he was really angry or if it was acting, but he had to hold it together. I needed him calm and cool; he had to stick to the plan.

“You need to calm down, like right now. Or someone might get hurt.” He looked at Deke and then me. The guard turned. “Let’s go. This whole section’s deserted for renovations. We got a lab set up to dissect the freak later today as soon as the docs get here.”

If my body had been under my control I would’ve hyperventilated, or I would’ve attacked and ruined everything just so I could escape. Those words set off a cascade of images and fear not even Captain’s promises could hold back.

If his hand hadn’t landed in mine, if he wasn’t squeezing my fingers tight under the cover of Deke’s body from where they’d stumbled together, I might have broken the capsule before we got through the scanner so I could do all that.

But he was, and I held onto the brink, barely keeping the terror from swamping my mind and sending me into survival mode. We broke apart to move, but it had been enough.

Enough to get me through the corridors. To the scanner where I was shoved through, one of my guards going first and then the other following so the machine only picked up my vitals. Techs scrutinized the screens but passed us, weapons and all.

I was afraid there would be a second scan but Aparoe said the antidote needed time, so I had to break the capsule. Praying I wouldn’t destroy all our plans, I gathered all my strength. It was like trying to move the shuttle, taking every bit of my strength straining just that one tiny muscle, but the fragile capsule broke and cold swirled through my mouth and down my throat as I inhaled.

After that I kept my breaths even and steady through sheer force of will. I couldn’t test to see if it was working. I had to stay still, not twitching a muscle, not even the tiniest flicker.

Two of the guards opened doors and the third led the way in.

“Elliard, you traitorous bastard!” Captain shouted.

“Shout all you want. It’s soundproofed.” His cousin smirked.

“Good,” I said. I curled my body and spun off the grav, my foot catching the guard under the chin, snapping his neck.