Rivals (Book 2 of The Warden series) Read online

  Her eyes widened. She waited for another comment, but he crossed his arms and didn’t let anything resembling a smile trickle to his face. She narrowed her eyes. “You son of a bitch. I offer my mind to you…”

  “That’s a separate deal. Any time you want to skip our study sessions, you go right ahead.”

  “You just took my pain away! Don’t tell me that we haven’t established enough of a rapport to warrant my asking for your help.”

  “Rapport!” He was up against the bars with her. They faced off like prize fighters about to start pummeling each other. “You think what we have is friendship? If you even comprehended what I have of you, you wouldn’t dare to suggest that. I have more of you than any friend, relative, or lover could even dream to have. I have your mind. Just because you refuse to acknowledge how dangerous I am doesn’t mean you have to treat me like a caged dog. I am not willing to do your dirty work for scraps of… chocolate cake.”

  He pulled away and paced in his cell. Her anger slipped away as she tried to comprehend the accusation laid at her feet. She realized that she had made a grave miscalculation in trusting him as blindly as she had, but at that point, he was all she had. She had no choice but to lie in her bed of ignorance and hope no one stabbed her in her slumber.

  “I’m sorry, Cleos.” His head whipped back to her with a hard stare, like she had just insulted him. “You’re right. If you know me as well as you claim, then you know that I was considering bribing the other inmates with perks to get them to help me. So I shall offer you the same. What do you want?”

  He moved to the bars, slamming his hands on them and shaking them. The door rattled slightly, but otherwise the bars didn’t offer the exhibition he was likely hoping for. “You don’t understand. I could have anything from you. I know you too well. I could manipulate you like putty.”

  Cori groaned, feeling the pain in her head starting to come back. She rubbed her temples, trying to find some relief. “Okay.” She looked back to him. “You want me to be afraid of you. You want me to understand that you are dangerous.” She threw up her hands. “Done, I now cower before you, you great, all-powerful mind sucker. I will be your slave.” He glared at her sarcasm. “Now, Cleos, or should I call you ‘Master’?” She winked at him, which only spurred a colder glare from him.

  “What do you want to do with the last two hours—err—” She looked at her watch. “—hour and a half of our life together? I can let you out, but as you know, we are in lockdown, so good luck with escaping. How about me?” She waved her hand down her body. “Shall I disrobe?” He gave her body a cursory glance, but he didn’t seem tempted by the offer. “You’ve already told me you know me better than any lover, so you should be the best lay I ever had, right?

  “No, better yet, why don’t I just make you promises that I can’t keep, because you and I both know that I will have to grovel to get any minor perks out of Danato. That is, of course, if I’m still alive. All bets are off if I am dead, you know.”

  Cleos’s glare softened and he backed away from the bars.

  “So, what do you want?”

  He paused. “I want to be moved to a different level. I want to be away from these loud, hideous, uncivilized creatures.”

  Cori scoffed. “That’s it?”

  He nodded.

  “You freakin’ baby.” She pulled her all-purpose janitorial keys from her pocket and unlocked his door. “Why didn’t you just ask? I would gladly fight to get you off this level with or without the risk of death over our heads. I hate these creatures as much as you.” She motioned for him to come out after swinging the door open.

  “Really? You’ll do that?”

  “Like I said, Danato is the man to ask, but I’ll—” She stopped mid-sentence and dropped her jaw in sarcastic awe. She leaned against the doorframe. Even though it hurt her hip, she wasn’t willing to let her reprisal performance lose any ferocity. “Oh!” Her voice dripped with derision. “The mind master doesn’t know that I would be willing to do that for him?”

  He shifted uncomfortably, taking her reproof respectfully.

  “I guess knowing my brain inside and out still doesn’t make you any better at predicting my decisions than it does anyone else.”

  “I have your memories—”

  “Memories don’t determine my decisions. My past reflects a great deal about myself, and my present is no doubt a great predictor of my future actions, but…” She got in his face. “I am my own person. I make my own decisions. I don’t doubt that you do know me better than anyone I’ve ever been close to, but you don’t know me better than I do.”

  He looked her over again, in that not-quite-lustful way. “Yes, very addictive.”

  She rolled her eyes and walked out. “Come on, we’re running out of time.”

  27

  “You know this isn’t going to bode well for your career prospects,” Cleos said.

  Cori looked across the elevator at him. His eyes looked red and puffy. Even though the lighting was at half power, she could tell he was uncomfortable being out of his dark surroundings. “I’m not up for that job anymore, you should know that.”

  “Mmm.” He tipped his brow. “I would have predicted otherwise.”

  “Didn’t you get the memo on Mr. Nose?”

  “Yes, didn’t you get the memo on Danato’s unwavering devotion to the daughter he never had?” He smirked.

  “Danato is also devoted to his job.”

  “You’re right.” He turned away from her and waited for the doors to open. “I’m sure he’ll choose to follow that corporate dickhead instead of fighting for you.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “Someday you and I will have to have a chat on how I feel about enigmatic men. Someday, when I’m not holding six multitasking M-60s.”

  He glanced at the guns, and nodded.

  The doors opened to the seducers level and they located their first potential partner. Cori stopped before a glass enclosure, which was frosted on the outside. She motioned for Cleos to back up and used the flame from her gun to defrost the window a little. As the frost melted away, an old albino woman with long hair and bright red eyes was revealed. “Onna.” Cori stepped forward.

  The woman smiled. “What can I do for you, sweetheart?”

  Cori glanced back at Cleos, who shrugged.

  “Onna, I’m Cori—”

  “I know, dear. I’ve seen you around.” The woman brushed some frost off her gray jumpsuit. “You haven’t probably seen me much.” She gestured to the glass that was already beginning to fog up again.

  “I don’t have much time to explain, so I can only hope that you are genuine in your pleasant nature.” Cori raised her weapon and turned to show off the other five guns hanging from her shoulders. “The prison has been taken over by the elementals. I have a plan…” She glanced at Cleos. “We have a plan to free the guards.”

  Cleos stepped forward to the glass. It was a small gesture, but it made her feel confident that he was actually with her and not just along to watch the carnage play out. “I have to get these guns to the guards. The guards are being held captive in the gym. One of the elementals has powers similar to yours. You would be resistant to it. Is there any way I can get you to help us? I’m not offering you freedom, but if I can try to make you more comfortable. Is there anything that would make your sentence more tolerable?”

  The old woman thought for a moment. “A defroster on my window would be nice. It’s just part of being me, but it would be nice to have a view.”

  “A defroster, that’s it? Any specialty items, food, clothes?”

  “Hot chocolate,” she said promptly.

  “They don’t let you have hot chocolate?”

  “They do. Around the holidays, but it’s always cold,” she said with a smile.

  “I think that—“

  Cleos grabbed Cori’s arm and whispered in her ear. “To give her hot chocolate, they would have to bring it to her still boiling; it’s a safety issue for the guards.�
��

  Cori nodded. “I’ll get you a defroster, and I will personally bring you at least one hot, hot, hot chocolate around the holidays. Can I let you out under that truce?”

  “Certainly, dear.” Onna smiled.

  “Please put your hands in the pass-way,” Cori instructed her.

  The woman placed her hands in a small opening that was designed for passing food through. Cleos touched her, but pulled back like she had stung him. “Wow!”

  “What? Is she trustworthy?” Cori asked, inspecting the smiling albino woman.

  “Very much so. She doesn’t lie, but never ever put her in a box,” Cleos said.

  “A box?” Cori looked over the confines of her cell, wondering if that counted as a box. “What does that mean?”

  “Claustrophobia,” Cleos clarified.

  “Revenge, dear,” Onna said without her friendly smile. “Revenge placed me in this cell. A far more comfortable surrounding than my previous containment, I assure you. I have no ill will for this prison. I won’t harm you or your friends. I will do as you ask, and return to my cell.”

  Cori looked to Cleos, who was struggling to warm his hands. He nodded to her. “Really, she’s okay. Trustworthy, just very deserving of her sentence.” Cori didn’t like the sound of that, but she was already in too deep to get fussy about the crimes her partners had committed. She pulled out her all-purpose janitorial keys and unlocked the door to Onna’s cell.

  28

  “I want three squares a day. None of this feed in bulk once a day crap. I’m a cecaelia, not a damn fish!” The half-human, half-octopus female, going by the name Aaryn, sat on the edge of her wading pool, listing the many things she desired in order to participate in the rescue. Her body was almost entirely humanoid except for the movement of her appendages. Her body didn’t so much sit or stand as sway, an undulation akin to residents of the ocean floor.

  Fingers and toes were all intact, but with a little more stretch in them. Despite the reference to an octopus, she had only four limbs, each of which had obscure suction cups. She looked relatively normal until you got close. “I want my pool cleaned twice a week, and I want a fountain put in for movement. My gills are functional; I should have oxygen in my water.” She gestured to the thin flaps on her neck, which Cori wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t pointed them out.

  Despite the long list of “needs,” they were all easy enough to attain, and didn’t seem to violate anyone’s safety. “Agreed,” Cori said with confidence. She nodded at Cleos to do his thing. He touched her hand. He must have received some resistance from her suckers, because he tugged rather firmly to break contact. He gave her a nod of approval. She noted a look of annoyance in his eyes, but she didn’t have time to ask what it was about. “Are you capable of being out of the water for long?” she asked Aaryn.

  “Only about an hour; more if this water elemental refreshes me, less if fire boy dehydrates me.”

  “Get one more swim in then. The next pick-up is a little warm.”

  29

  “Why should I help you?” Rodan, the lava rock monster, grumbled in his cell, still stiff from his last spray of water.

  “Because I can get you a cage outside during the winter,” Cori said.

  “Outside…” His rock brow crunched as it lifted. “…in the cold air?”

  “You could broil in bliss, but stay just cold enough to be slowly mobile. We wouldn’t have to use the water that hardens you.”

  “No more water? No more stiff joints?” he asked. Cori nodded with a smile. “I want a bigger cage,” he added as if he couldn’t wait to see what else he might be able to get out of this deal.

  “We would have plenty of room to build a bigger cage,” she conceded.

  The lava monster glowed as his joy super-heated him.

  Cleos leaned in behind her to whisper in her ear. “Do I have to read him? He looks pretty scalding.”

  “No, he’s easy to control if he gets out of hand,” Cori whispered back.

  30

  Cori, Cleos, Onna, and Aaryn waited around the dock for Rodan to arrive in the freight elevator. They had all come down in one group, but Rodan was too large for the regular elevators, and too hot to be accompanied. They had a little while to wait since the lift was intolerably slow, even slower than the main ones. Plus, she wasn’t sure Rodan was able to work the controls. There were only a few buttons, but with big fingers and a head of rock, who knows how long it might take him?

  With nothing to focus on, she felt the pain in her head come back. She leaned against the wall and took in a few deep breaths. She closed her eyes and let herself rest just for a second.

  When she opened her eyes, she saw Cleos staring at her from the pillar he was leaning against. He looked concerned. She locked eyes with him, wondering if he could tell what she was thinking at that moment. Ouch, should have been easy enough to predict.

  He moved over to her, not taking his eyes from her. He stopped in front of her and raised his hands to her face. She grabbed them and shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.”

  He drew back slightly as if he were going to abide by her request, but came forward again. He placed his hands on her face, with hers still overlapping his. She felt a slight release of her pain. “It may not last long,” he said as he drew back. His eyes were still filled with unease for her harrowing condition, indefinite as it was.

  “If I don’t make it through this…” she said. His chin rose defiantly, but he didn’t offer her any objection. “Would you make sure Ethan knows how I feel about him? I mean, really feel.”

  “He’ll know when you finally get the courage to tell him yourself,” he scolded her.

  She smiled. “Yes, Master Cleos.”

  He smiled at the designation, but the amusement was short lived and he was back to admonishing her. “Don’t let them get in a hit on you.” He paused. “Not one.”She nodded, understanding the implications.

  A garbled ding announced Rodan’s arrival and the doors to the oversized freight elevator at the far end of the docks opened. The rock beast stepped out followed by a precipitous wave of heat that forced everyone to take a few steps back. Aaryn moved all the way back to the entrance to maintain her waning moisture.

  Cori checked the clock on the wall. “We only have twenty-eight minutes to get this prison under control before we go down with the ship. I am depending on all of you.” She looked over each of them to drive that point home, in case betrayal was running through anyone’s mind. “I’ll go in to bring their attention away from the hostages. I don’t want any human shields. You can follow once they are grouped to fight me. Just… don’t wait too long.”

  Cori pulled her hair back in a sloppy bun and prepared for an all-out cardio workout. “My advice is to go after your equal. Draw their attention to you. As soon as they are aware of your comparable skills, they will start attacking whoever is vulnerable to them. Whenever possible, help each other out, because they will be helping each other. Cleos will come in after the fight has begun to hand out the additional weapons to the guards.” Cori eyed Cleos, searching for an acknowledgement.

  “I’ll be in,” he said, giving her the reassurance she needed.

  “What about the lightning man?” Onna asked. “No one here controls lightning.”

  “I’ll concentrate on him,” Cori said. “But I have no defense against any of these prisoners, including all of you, so try not to kill me in the crossfire.”

  “We shall serve you well.” Onna nodded to her.

  “Thank you.” Cori nodded back. “As soon as the elementals are subdued you need to surrender to the guards.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Aaryn hollered over to her. “Let’s get this going; lava man is drying me out.”

  Cori stepped over to Cleos and handed him all the weapons except one. She caught his eye several times, but she didn’t know if she could convey anything to him beyond her indescribable fear, so she just kept looking away.

  “Corinthia.” His v
oice wasn’t gentle. She looked up at him and saw the severity in his eyes again. “You know that egotistical, noncompliant, belligerent side that Mr. Nose is so concerned about?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s who we need right now. We don’t need a war hero or a brave knight or a werewolf rock. We need you.”

  She gulped, feeling more emotion than he had probably intended to incite. She was glad at that moment that he knew her better than anyone, because she’d needed to hear that. She rolled her shoulders, trying to take back a little slack from her sorrow demon. “All right, people, let’s go find out why these elementals are such a big freakin’ deal.”

  31

  Cori stepped through the gym door with her gun hanging at her side. For a moment, no one looked at her. Her entrance must have been quieter than she thought. The grouping of guards by the dragon’s bay doors looked beaten down. Most of them had probably resigned themselves to death.

  Amongst them was Danato, who could never look beaten down, but part of him, she could tell, had lost hope. Belus was beside him. His leg looked like a mere scratch to the gash on his face. A tinge of guilt filtered through her bravado, but she pushed it aside for later.

  In the far corner, away from everyone, was a collection of four people: the infamous elementals. Cleos had given her a quick rundown of the group so she knew who to shoot what at. Garr, the tall, skinny blond in black, was the fire elemental. He leaned against the wall popping sparks with the snap of his fingers.

  Efrat, the one who had caused all her injuries, was pacing slowly. His lean, muscular build wasn’t clad in a prescribed prison jumpsuit either, but it was nothing as showy as Garr’s. He wore a pair of stone-wash blue jeans and a t-shirt covered by a plaid button-up shirt. His only embellishment was a large silver belt buckle. If he hadn’t been standing with the others, she may never have recognized him as a prisoner, let alone her enemy.

  His face wasn’t the porcelain beauty of Garr’s. It was rugged and indisputably handsome. His fair-haired five o’clock shadow wasn’t as noticeable as some men’s. His stick-straight, sand-colored hair was a little long, resting just over the curve in his ears. It flared out a little, making it look feathered.