Shadow War by Jina S. Bazzar

Author:Jina S. Bazzar [Bazzar, Jina S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jina S. Bazzar
Published: 2023-01-26T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Once it was determined that the path had permanently been closed and whichever members of The Resistance still alive had been killed, captured, or fled, I really believed that it was over. That the nightmare that started that night in Victoria Chrisoula’s office was finally done. That with Ortega’s promise of a clean slate, all I had to do was walk away.

I was wrong. How foolish of me. Roan had led Tim and James from room to room, floor to floor, searching for more members. I’d gone back to the second floor, to the apartments of Doctor Leo and the other leaders. We found Calham’s journals in Doctor Leo’s apartment, inside a pressure-locked container in his closet. I knew they were the original journals from their mustiness and how ancient they looked.

They burned just as easily as everything else. We destroyed every other document, all the devices, even the napkins. We left nothing behind, no matter how insignificant. Once done, we climbed to the third floor and did the same to all the rooms, then the same on the fourth floor, even the lab.

Ortega had told me he didn’t trust a House member not to get tempted and filch details for the ritual during the cleaning, and I wasn’t going to take chances. Though I planned to tell Ortega to blow up the place too.

It was decided that we’d stay in the farmhouse where Merit and the rest had camped for the night, then travel back to the city at dawn. Urgency hung over us like a cloud of doom, and there was very little talking. No one wanted to believe how thoroughly Bellator had been compromised, not even after Merit had put in two more calls for help. But the evidence was there, in the absence of military support.

Beatrice had only cornered about a dozen Resistance members, two of which were just teenagers. Still, it had taken two trips in both SUVs to get everyone back to the farmhouse, with Joseph and me, along with Bradley, in the last group. I’d have gladly slept during the drive back to the house, but my mind refused to disconnect. Even after I’d hugged Aiden tight and we’d shed some tears and I began to believe he was safe, my mind still refused to cooperate.

Despite having stashed the Resistance members in one of the three upstairs rooms, the house felt too crowded for me and my heightened senses, preventing me from dozing. I’d have loved to have Bradley with me, but he and Beatrice were two out of the four Zenith combatants in the group, and they were taking turns watching the prisoners and keeping guard outside.

So I’d climbed down the stairs to a brightly lit kitchen, where I found Edge seated, tapping on his touchscreen and mumbling to himself, a cold cup of tea—still full—beside him.

He glanced up when I entered the kitchen and pushed his tablet aside, eyes assessing. “You lost weight,” he said and picked up the cold tea.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.