Page 11 of Jump or Fall
Gordon
“ D o you want to go back right now, or can I show you something?” Gordon asked, trying to keep his voice even. He didn’t want this to end yet. Admitting the truth had left him lighter somehow. For the first time since he’d met her, he didn’t feel like he was holding his breath.
Mara’s gaze fixed on him. “What is it?”
“Is it okay if it’s a surprise?”
The corner of her mouth lifted, subtle but warm. “Is it as good as the ocean?”
“I hope so.” He grinned, not quite able to hide how much her smile affected him.
“Okay,” she said. “Is it close?”
“Closer than the sea.”
“Let’s see it then.”
He motioned to the right, his pulse pounding as they started walking. She hadn’t turned him down—even after learning the truth.
Maybe she liked being around him.
When she’d walked past him earlier, he could’ve sworn she moved closer on purpose.
Gordon led her through an older part of the tunnels. The walls were darker here, covered in grime from lack of maintenance, and the lights overhead flickered between white and a deeper orange hue .
He hated that a detour through dank tunnels was the best he could offer. She deserved to see something above. Something outside the walls.
After a few quiet minutes, they reached an access door. Gordon withdrew his key and slid it into the panel.
Please like it.
The lock disengaged with a sharp click . Fluorescent lights kicked on inside, revealing a metal stairwell.
Mara peered down. “You’re not tricking me into meeting someone else, are you?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I promise—no unpleasant surprises. I’ll go first if you want.”
She gave him one last skeptical look, but stepped aside so he could lead the way. His boots hit the stairs with heavy thuds, while her footsteps followed softly behind.
They descended into a wide, open room that smelled of dust and rock.
The bunker had thick concrete walls, cool and dry despite the moisture that infiltrated the tunnels above.
Along one side was an old desk with a monitor mounted on the wall.
Throughout the room were scattered storage containers and a few display cases with fogged glass.
Her eyes scanned every corner, wide with curiosity as she drifted toward one of the displays. “What is this place?”
Gordon approached one of the displays and opened it. Inside was an antique set of armor.
Her mouth dropped open and she hurried over.
“It’s the leftovers of an old armory,” he said. “From before Teichus closed.”
“Can I touch it?” she asked, wonder in her voice.
“Sure. No one will miss it if you break it somehow.”
Her fingers delicately glided across the gauntlets.
“So heavy,” she said, picking one up to examine it. “They didn’t have augmented strength yet, so they had to carry all the weight on their own. I studied diagrams of these old suits, but never had the chance to see real pieces.”
The armor was quite basic compared to what Mara crafted. It had a heavy chest plate that ended right above the hips. There were guards for the front of the legs and the upper arms, but most of the extremities were uncovered.
She tilted her head and let out a soft chuckle. “They had to make a tough judgment call on which parts of the body were important. If I left that much of the groin unprotected, I’d never hear the end of it.”
“I’m glad you’re the one designing the suits now,” he said, trying to keep the grin off his face. “I think most men would rather protect the head between their legs over the one on their shoulders.”
“I think you’re right.” Mara bit her lower lip, smiling. “Thank you for showing me this.”
He gestured to the dusty monitor. “I’ve got one more surprise.”
She followed as he crossed the room. He inserted an old override key into the bulky grey machine on the desk. It clicked on and a dull whir filled the quiet space as it booted up.
The monitor flickered before a search engine appeared on the screen.
“I was able to rebuild the old servers,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Everything is over fifty years old, but it’s like a window into the past.”
The light from the screen washed over her face as she leaned in, making her eyes even more luminous. Almost surreal.
“I can search something?”
“Go ahead.”
She typed slowly: “Teichus.”
The results loaded after a brief pause—pages on the city’s history, the construction of the wall, and its system of governance.
She clicked on a headline: Border Closure Considered Amid Rising Threats .
The article detailed the rising unrest in the city and the measures they were considering to keep peace.
Stripes had become the standard punishment for crime, and Division Eight had been set aside for those whose offenses were severe enough to earn a facial scar—a permanent warning to others that they couldn’t be trusted.
Could anyone have predicted how far it would go?
Eight had become a dumping ground for the scarred, the poor, and anyone too inconvenient to fit elsewhere.
It didn’t matter how someone got the scar anymore—or if they had one at all.
Simply listing an address in Division Eight on an application was enough to ruin someone’s chances of housing or a job in another Division.
Their reputation was stained and escape was nearly impossible unless someone on the outside was willing to share their address.
He’d seen it during his time in Surveillance. People born in Eight, or forced there by poverty, clinging to anyone who might get them out. That kind of desperation made them easy to use.
If a man promised a young woman a way out and demanded sex in return, who could she turn to? Enforcers from other Divisions rarely gave a shit about “Eight rats”. And if the enforcer she called was a Silver? He might decide to keep her for himself.
That was the cruelty of Teichus, it didn’t just trap people in impossible situations—it made sure they had no one to trust. No one to turn to.
His stomach clenched as he looked at Mara, now reading through a page about Naxos. She was beautiful. Smart. Trapped in a brutal system—and with a brutal man.
And still, she kept fighting.
He would help her fight. No matter the cost.
She deserved to be free.
“I wish I had the time to read everything,” she whispered.
“Let me see your tablet.”
She handed it over. He plugged in a key, installing the program he’d written to access it remotely. Then, he gave it back.
“I’ll leave the server on. Now you can read as much as you want.”
She looked down at the screen, lips parting slightly .
The urge to kiss her hit him hard—but he didn’t want to scare her away. They were partners on a mission, and he couldn’t fuck it up. Plus, maybe she’d never want another man after everything.
Fuck. What if she didn’t like men to begin with?
Maybe you shouldn’t have made a joke about your dick.
But she’d smiled and bit her lip if that was anything to go off of.
Her eyes met his, and he couldn’t figure out her expression—happy, maybe. Sad?
“How can I possibly match something like this?” she said.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
Holy shit.
Gordon froze, heart slamming against his ribs. She was hugging him.
He lightly draped his arms around her, something stirring inside him that he hadn’t felt in so long. The scent of coconut and flowers mingled with her own, filling his senses in an intoxicating blend.
“I didn’t do this to get anything from you,” he said, clearing his throat. “You don’t owe me.”
Her grip tightened for a second before she pulled back. “I’m still going to find something.”
“If you insist,” he murmured, trying to mask how much he wanted her to stay in his arms.
Was it a hug between friends?
Or something more?
Mara checked the time. “I don’t want to go, but I need to. Not sure how I’m supposed to sleep after this.”
He motioned for her to take the lead up the steps. “I’m glad you liked the armor.”
“I liked everything about tonight—except for Kimmie,” she said with a laugh.
“Understandable. She’s rough around the edges, but not a bad person. ”
They walked together through the tunnels toward the exit. Gordon stole glances, trying not to read too much into every look she gave him.
He couldn’t help recalling what Mara had said last time.
This was the most normal he’d felt in a long time, too.