Rage and Ruin | 2

6 | 8

K A N E

I felt strange as I watched Riley approach the spot we'd been hiding, like I shouldn't be looking at her the way I was after what had happened. What my brother had revealed about her. But I couldn't help myself; it seemed that my eyes were drawn to her whenever she was near. I needed to know that she was safe.

      Now was no exception. She'd somehow made it back safely, which I had feared she wouldn't do. But I knew that she always got what she wanted, and this time, it was to get in and out undetected. And she'd done it.

      I tore my eyes off of her, hating how my heart pounded faster when she was near. She'd betrayed everyone, giving out secret information away to my brother. Even though it wasn't right, I might have been able to work through it with her if it hadn't been my brother. But she knew, she knew how difficult it was for me to see him as a monstrous shell of a person. I'd told her about my pain to let her know that even though everyone else had walked out of my life, I had decided to be there for her. And what had she done with that trust? Thrown it back in my face like it meant nothing.

"You're back," Arlo said, eyeing her pointedly. He'd made his distain of her very clear.

"Tell me everything," said Delphinium as she stood. "What exactly did you see down there?"

"The facility is huge, even bigger than it seems. We went all the way underground, down so many stories that I couldn't even keep count. And down there...they have missiles. The engineers were still building them, but once they're ready..." She shook her dark head. "I don't know what they're planning to hit with them, but whatever it is will soon be nothing but ashes."

      "And the fuel that you were transporting powered them, along with many of the other weapons in the fortress." Delphinium paced back and forth. "There could be some way to work with that..."

      "I also saw them taking those same containers into the engine room. They must be powering the entire fortress with it."

      Delphinium stopped suddenly. "The engine room?" Riley nodded and I could see she was proud to have found something of such importance.

      "There is definitely a way to work with that," Jake cut in.

      Delphinium turned to him. "What are you thinking?" But he didn't answer, clearly in his head about this new plan.

      "There's something else." That made the assassin's attention turn back to Riley. "There was this room, this white room." She trailed off a bit, seemingly at a loss for words to describe what she'd seen. It made me feel angry on her behalf, protective of her, despite now having mixed feelings.

      Delphinium's full attention was on Riley, her eyes boring into Riley's alluring face. "What did you see in this white room?" My eyes narrowing, I watched the assassin. She seemed more tense than before.

      "I saw...a machine of some kind. It was definitely incomplete, but it had a series of needles and pointed edges." She wrapped her arms around herself in an uncharacteristic act of unease. "I don't know what it could have been, but whatever it was, it gave me a strange feeling. I went away from the doorway as fast as I could."

      "Was there anyone inside?"

      "No. The room was empty when we were there. Why, do you have any idea what it was?"

      "Not exactly." The two words came somewhat slowly. She was either thinking about her answer or hiding something. "During my enslavement, I heard whispers of torture machines, horrible things that would slowly skin you alive or poke hundreds of needles straight through your body. I'm sure that machine was one of them."