22. Adina

22

ADINA

W e slipped out of Londabad under the cover of predawn darkness. Jeffry had loosened my bonds—somewhat. My hands remained locked behind my back, but Bingo had managed to free himself from the ring's power.

My clever companion could have undone my restraints in seconds, but I signaled him to stay put. His existence needed to remain a secret until we reached the Vault, and I could formulate my next move.

This marked my first venture beyond the city limits, and it was unsettling. As daybreak approached, the sky transformed from inky blackness to a vibrant orange, then a soft pink, before settling into a sickly yellow with occasional patches of blue peeking through. The air felt drier than I was accustomed to, thick with dust and pollutants. Without my mask and regulator, I would have been doubled over, hacking up a lung within minutes. Our mode of transport—a CAML—didn't improve matters.

CAMLs, or self-Contained Automated Movement Lorries, were the military's go-to for general transport. Solar-powered and equipped with massive tracks capable of traversing almost any terrain, they were as slow as they were sturdy. We never exceeded twenty-five miles per hour, which was fortunate given that the mountains were only a hundred or so miles away. Sitting in the sweltering, open-air cabin with a sour-faced Jeffry, haunted by the memory of James's devastated expression, was far from an enjoyable way to pass the time.

The landscape was desolate—nothing but sand, dust, and the occasional crumbling ruin as far as the eye could see. No settlements, no other vehicles. Part of me itched to explore this barren world, but my survival instinct kept me focused on the immediate future.

As we neared the mountain foothills, the path narrowed to a crevice that barely accommodated the CAML's bulk. After another grueling half-hour, we reached a dead end—a solid rock wall.

Jeffry killed the engine and roughly shoved me out of the passenger seat. Only then did he finally unlock my cuffs, releasing my hands. I rolled my aching shoulders, resisting the urge to introduce his smug face to my fist.

"Um..." My voice sounded muffled through the respirator, but the absence of the engine's rumble made communication easier. "So, what am I supposed to do here? Climb somewhere?"

"No." Jeffry reached into his shoulder bag and thrust a black plastic container at me. "You're supposed to find the door, break in, and retrieve my item."

"Okay, but where is the door?"

"Here." He gestured vaguely at the stone wall. "My sources say it can be found here, and you'd better hope you find it, or I will have no more use for you."

Subtle as a sledgehammer, this one.

"Got it," I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm as I opened the container.

Inside was a rudimentary lock-picking set and a handheld EMF scanner. Great. I could have procured something ten times better back in Londabad, but then again, I didn't need this to actually work. I just needed Jeffry to think it did while Bingo did his thing.

"Ghost protocol one-eighty, then," I murmured.

"What?" Jeffry's scowl deepened.

"Just a little catchphrase in the thief world," I said lightly, secretly signaling Bingo. "I'll get started, shall I?"

"Do that. Quickly."

I approached the rock wall, scanner activated. I made a genuine effort to search, but whoever had designed this door—if it truly existed—was a master of camouflage. The scanner detected nothing, and there wasn't a single crack or crevice to suggest human intervention. As Bingo silently worked to locate something, anything, I found myself pondering increasingly desperate escape scenarios.

I could charge at Jeffry... but he was too far away, and he was undoubtedly armed. Plus, there was that damned genie to contend with. This wasn't looking good.

"Five minutes, girl."

Shit. I redoubled my efforts, fingers probing the rock face as I silently prayed for a miracle. The timer on my life was ticking down. Again. How many times can one person face death in a single day?

No luck, no luck, no?—

I stumbled over Bingo, still sporting his invisible skin. Adjusting my sight filters revealed his outline against the ground, carefully manipulating a single protruding rock. I crouched down.

"I think I've got something," I called back to Jeffry. "Give me a few minutes."

"You get two."

Son of a... I pretended to use the lock-picking set while monitoring Bingo's progress. A few more twists and turns of his craftiest tentacle, a small jolt of electricity to jumpstart the mechanism, and?—

Crrrssssshhhh .

The ground gave way beneath me. Not completely—it transformed into a set of stairs—but it was enough to scare the living daylights out of me. I scrambled back up the few steps I'd fallen down as more and more of the staircase revealed itself, descending into what appeared to be impenetrable darkness.

"Excellent," Jeffry hissed from beside me.

I startled—when the hell had he gotten so close? Bingo silently reattached himself around my neck, maintaining his invisibility.

"Now will you tell me what you want me to grab?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice steady.

"Certainly. What I need you to find is this." He produced his own scanner and pressed a button, projecting a hologram. It was... a lamp. An old-school, battery-powered lamp, the kind you might hang from a backpack. I'd only seen such relics worn by the occasional trader entering the city; they were practically antiques in this day and age.

"Seriously?"

"Quite," he replied. "Bring that up, and only that. Don't take anything else, don't even touch whatever else you might see down there. This place is filled with traps, and the likelihood of you making it out alive decreases dramatically if you trigger any of them."

"Great, thanks for the warning."

"You're welcome," he said, his tone dripping with false pleasantness. "Now, get down there and find me my lamp. Once you're back, I'll fulfill my end of the bargain."

"Letting me live," I said.

"Precisely. I promise you, Adina, I have no interest in killing you. Once I have my lamp, you're free to go."

And what, trek a hundred miles across the desert back to Londabad? But what choice did I have?

"Got it," I said, resigned. Activating the scanner's light function, I began my descent into the Vault, each step carrying me deeper into the unknown.