Chapter 34

Nyle's declaration left Darren grinning. He'd told the genius twink to stay away from him and Aiden after Marcus' visit yesterday, but clearly Nyle had other ideas. As for Aiden—he shifted his attention to the wounded man—the defensive frown dominating his face betrayed he had no idea the twink had been onto them from day one.

"How?" Aiden asked, somewhat containing his surprise.

"I'm quite good with computers. Too good in fact, if you asked a certain corporation's head. I did a little digging around and connected the dots." He smirked. "Don't ask how, because that's a secret."

Darren still didn't know how Nyle could do any of this stuff from inside a prison, but every time he'd asked, Nyle had just batted eyelashes at him and smiled.

"You should go back. It's not safe for you to be here," Aiden warned, already a step ahead of Darren.

"It's too late for that now, isn't it?" Nyle indicated Aiden's shoulder with a tilt of his head. He also raised three fingers. "I already know about you, the listening chip, and I might have followed you from the field and accidentally overheard the rest."

Darren didn't buy that, but he also didn't say anything. He and Nyle had been ‘jokingly' discussing a plan to break out of here already, but to even attempt that, they needed a phone and someone who could actually get them off the prison floor. With Aiden now in the same boat as Darren, they had both.

Nyle hummed, tucking a lock of blond hair behind his ear. "Okay. So, I can pretty much guess what happened, though I'm surprised the whole prison is not in lockdown already." He scanned over Aiden's bruises, curling his lip. "If I had to guess, the chip must've gotten damaged somehow. Still." He trained his gaze on Darren, offering one of his flirty smiles. "You better take that out of there, just to be on the safe side."

Aiden's eyes bounced from Nyle to Darren, posing the question before it made it out of his mouth. "What exactly is this chip you two are talking about?"

Darren pressed on the bump, making Aiden hiss. "A listening device. It's been implanted under your shoulder blade. That's why you've been sore all day." He rubbed the spot gently to make a point and because he just couldn't help himself from taking advantage of the opportunity to touch Aiden.

Aiden suppressed another wince. Or was it a shiver?

"What Darren said. He can sort you out." Nyle grinned, flopping onto the couch. He leaned back and held up his hand. "I'll need your phone in the meantime."

Aiden took the device out of his pocket, then hesitated. "Marcus probably has it monitored. He'll know it the moment you book a shuttle, so he'll probably ground it."

Nyle beamed, self-satisfaction rolling off him as he produced a network chip and held it up between his lean fingers. "I came prepared. Now, phone, please. And no more questions until the chip is in pieces."

Aiden tossed the phone over. "Howe, the first aid kit is in the cabinet under the shelf. Second drawer."

The commanding tone had Darren suppress a smile as he wondered whether Aiden would be just as bossy in bed. It was unlikely he'd ever find out, but his imagination didn't seem to care either way, bullheaded and stubborn just like his interest in the man.

After he retrieved the first aid kit, he applied anesthetic to the shoulder area and used the scalpel to make a small incision. He pulled out the tiny device, placing it on a piece of tissue. "Any idea when this happened?"

Aiden made a dejected face. "I don't know. Sometime yesterday? I went straight home after work and then… I drank. I must've had more than I thought because I don't really remember much other than collapsing on the bed." He paused, frowning. "With my clothes still on, I'm pretty sure. But they were off when I woke up and... I had this strange taste in my mouth."

"That explains the when then," Darren concluded, just about able to guess how it had happened. A break in, then paralyzing gas and a quick but shitty job of implanting the chip. No wonder the swelling was so bad.

After cleaning the cut and applying after-care gel, he did the same to the gunshot wound, then wiped the blood off the chip and inspected it for damage. A tiny crack ran along one of the traces connecting its sound receptor to the offloader. Only the tracking indicator light was flashing.

"The listening interface is busted. Only the tracking works," he said, placing the chip back on the tissue. Relief washed over him that Nyle's assumption had been mostly correct, but the moment of victory was quickly replaced by anxiety and the need to get away from Horizons as soon as possible."We need to go. Marcus probably already knows something is wrong."

"Great. I hope you have a way to get us to the docking level, warden." Nyle clapped his hands and jumped to his feet. "Our ride will be here in twenty minutes, and trust me, we don't want to miss it."

Aiden pushed off the desk, face contorted in thought. "The emergency elevator at the Zone D storage area. We can use that."

"Wouldn't that flag the system? They'll know we are on the move the moment you use your access card," Darren pointed out, worry filling his stomach.

Aiden nodded. He circled the desk and produced a blue access card from the top drawer. It was the same as the one he'd given Darren on the night of their confrontation. "I have a spare maintenance card for the contractors."

Good enough.It would buy them some time.

Darren helped Aiden button his shirt, ignoring the glare which didn't leave the man's face. Nyle checked that there were no guards in the corridor and the three of them slipped out of the office, leaving Aiden's phone behind. They made their way to the storage zone, Darren belatedly realizing it was the same one where he and Aiden had been sorting out inventory in what felt like ages ago. He couldn't help but remember how close to the man he'd gotten then, how clueless he had been of where it would all lead.

For two years, Darren had been a prisoner. At first, he'd hoped he would figure a way out, but the more time had passed, the more he'd wondered if an opportunity would ever present itself. He'd been powerless to make it happen himself, shackled and chained and stuck in the same torturing loop of despair until he'd simply given up. Accepted that his life would end here however and whenever Marcus deemed he didn't need him anymore. Some days, he'd wished that time would come soon, but other days, he hoped it wouldn't, because as long as Marcus kept him alive, Sara's hideout would be safe.

And today, granted they made it out of here, everything was going to change.

"Howe?" Aiden's voice ripped Darren out of his thoughts. "Come on, we don't have much time," he urged, holding the access card at the sensor to keep the elevator's doors open.

Darren blinked, realizing he'd stopped and the two men were waiting for him. He jogged over and got on, answering Nyle's raised eyebrow with an awkward shrug. "Sorry."

The storage door opened, the voices of two of the guards ringing through the cavernous space.

"Barry just got lucky, man. I can't believe he snatche—Warden Kesley? Wha—"

Darren didn't think it through. He just acted, charging at both of them before they had the chance to realize what they'd stumbled upon.

"Shit!" the closer one yelped, bolting to the left as Darren collided with his companion.

The zap of a taser bracelet made Darren grit his teeth. This was going to hurt. He squeezed the first guard's throat tighter, and stood up, intending to use him as a shield against the current of electricity.

Aiden crashed into the second guard, knocking him to the floor.

"Use the taser!" Nyle yelled from the elevator, keeping the doors open with the maintenance card.

"It's not working!" Aiden grunted, trying to immobilize the thrashing man.

Darren made quick work of his opponent, tossing his limp body to the side the moment he passed out. He tore the bracelet off the guard's wrist and shocked the second one just as Aiden pinned him down.

"Guys, we need to go!" Nyle urged, his gaze trained on the door.

Darren helped Aiden up, and they sprinted over. Aiden keyed in the right floor, then scanned the card on the inside. The elevator took them to Zone D-3, where they picked up a hidden gun from one of the restrooms. After that, Aiden led them to an emergency staircase, and they descended half a floor to a narrow corridor that took them directly to the docks. A civilian shuttle was already parked there and a woman in a blue tracksuit was leaning against it with an electric cigar in her hand. She was short and her gray hair was laced with white, though her face had barely any wrinkles, hiding her actual age.

The woman didn't notice them until they were walking down the platform where she'd parked. The moment she did, she extinguished the cigar, tossed it inside her trousers' pocket and flashed them a beaming smile. "Nyle!"

Nyle smiled fondly and let her sweep him up in a hug. "Hi, Nan."

She placed a kiss on each of his cheeks and his forehead. "What's my most favorite grandson in the world been up to?"

"Breaking out of prison, as you can see," he laughed, shaking his head.

"I'm surprised you lasted that long," she tossed at him, snickering with affection. She tousled his blond hair, making a mess of it, and then frowned when she studied his face. "Oh no! Why is there a bruise on my dear Nyle's perfect face! Who did this to my boy?"

Darren couldn't hold in his chuckle. "You should've seen the other guy."

Shifting her attention away from Nyle, she glanced at Darren and Aiden. "Oh, I bet he had it worse. And who might you two lovely gentlemen be?"

"The grumpy fake blond is the prison warden, Aiden Kesley." Nyle scrunched his nose. "Or ex-prison warden, I guess? And the raven-haired cutie is… Darren Howe. A fellow inmate."

The way Aiden's forehead creased with disapproval at Nyle's introductions made Darren stifle a snort, which in turn earned him a nasty glare.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. I hope my Nyle didn't cause too much headache," Nan said, not sounding remotely bothered that she was technically helping criminals. "I'd love to kno—"

"Nan, you can interrogate them later," Nyle cut in, herding them to the shuttle. "We need to go. They'll sound the alarm any moment. Did you get the radar camo mod like I asked? We can't have anyone picking up on our signature."

"Yes, dear. It's already plugged in and running."

Nyle pecked her on the cheek. "You are a star." Then to Darren and Aiden, he said, "C'mon, guys, hop in."

Filing in through the driver's and front passenger's doors, they boarded the craft. Nan and Nyle sat at the front, while Darren and Aiden occupied the back seat, thighs and shoulders squished against each other in the narrow space.

Nan's hearty chuckle boomed in the small space as she navigated the shuttle past the anti-collision barrier surrounding the station. "Sorry boys, if I knew Nyle was bringing friends I'd have taken the larger one," she said, accelerating to what felt way faster than typical cruising speed.

"That's quite alright," Aiden quickly offered, gazing out of the window. "We are grateful for your help."

"Oh!" the woman gasped, pointing at a group of five chrome shuttles. They were almost shapeless from this distance, but they were definitely approaching the station, and fast. "Looks like we missed them by a hair's breadth!" Another giggle and she refocused on piloting. "Now then, where should I take you?"

Nyle craned his head back, arching an eyebrow in question.

Darren considered their options. "I have a place, but we can't go there yet. We should probably stay off-planet for the time being. If you can get me a secure line, I'll get in touch with one of my contacts to pick us up."

"Hmm, I'd say that with the mess you seem to have created at Horizons, we have enough time to swing by the Owens' main house," Nan mused, nodding to herself. "We'll get you that call and some food before they figure our sweet Nyle is missing, too."

"Let's do that." Nyle placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Now, shall I tell you about my time at one of the Global Nations' flagship secure prisons?" he snorted, dragging her into a slightly exaggerated tale of his stay at Horizons.

Deciding it was best to let them have their reunion, Darren leaned back and didn't interrupt, instead watching the soft rising and falling of Aiden's sleeping form. He'd drifted off the moment the five shuttles were out of sight, his head propped against the cold window and his arms folded around his stomach like a protective cocoon.

Darren shifted in his seat, biting down a smile. Aiden had tried to scoot away when they'd initially boarded, but given up upon realizing the space didn't allow for such luxury. As a result, his forearm and thigh were now pressed against Darren's, and as much as Darren tried to ignore the warmth seeping into him through the contract, he simply couldn't. So he accepted it, let it spread through him and settle into his chest, enjoying this stolen moment only he would remember.