Page 44 of Kingdom of Tomorrow (Book of Arden #1)

I will help you; do not fear what they can do to you.

Focus! I stuffed my riotous thoughts about Cyrus and our momentary indiscretion into a box, along with worries about a second aidem shot, and labeled it “Unpack and Dissect Later.”

Let Operation Mine Peek begin.

I was living the development The Book of Arden had predicted. Though I hadn’t memorized the passage I’d read, the words now filled the corridors of my mind.

I rush down the hall as fast as my feet will carry me, determined to get my hands on Cyrus’s transmitter. All I must do is adhere the camera to a mine cart, and I can watch the feed to see what’s being mined.

The perfect plan, there for the taking. I dashed for Cyrus’s quarters.

Well, “our” quarters. Perhaps he was headed there too.

Perhaps not. I was banking on not. He probably had meetings or something.

The passage I’d read hadn’t mentioned him.

But one way or another, I’d make this work.

His transmitter was the only way to get inside a pritis mine without leaving my post.

I pumped my arms, fueling my feet, only slowing when I reached the security checkpoints.

I did my best to breathe and not alert the guards to my mission by insisting they hurry.

Just when I thought I might snap, I entered the suite.

No sign of Cyrus. Good. He probably wanted me to do this.

He’d all but begged me to speed up my snooping, after all.

I sailed into his bedroom. The armor and its various accessories hadn’t been organized or relocated.

Where were the camera and the transmitters?

I scanned each piece on the bed. The right nightstand.

The left. There! He’d never miss them in this mess.

I put in the contacts, but I didn’t activate them.

I would watch a recording of the feed as soon as I was dismissed from duty.

Single minded, I shoved the small case into my pocket, raced out the door, and retraced my steps.

A clock kept time above the locker-room door.

One minute and thirty-three seconds until the start of my shift.

Doubts slithered in, as insidious as a feeder’s worms. Mr. Victors or even Soal himself might be manipulating me, and I was playing right into their hands.

According to Cured , that was standard maddened behavior.

But I had to know more about the pritis stones.

They kept coming up. Shiloh believed they were a secret worth killing to keep.

Mr. Victors claimed the stones died, as if they had once lived.

Ember challenged me to dig into their origins.

I wavered, going back and forth. Do this. Don’t do this. My skin flashed hot and cold. Agreeing to pretend babysit Cyrus to gain access to forbidden places was one thing, but doing full-on spy work was another. A true betrayal of Cured . Treason.

If I intended to back out, I must do it now. Before I stepped over a line.

Head high, I flattened my palm against the door and pushed into the locker room. Truth was too important.

Conversations tapered to quiet, and every gaze found me. I discovered a mix of my teammates and knights. Saying nothing, I soared past them all, going straight to my locker.

“Congrats on your special assignment.” Boots in hand, a grinning Juniper sidled up next to me. “Or maybe I say condolences .”

I snorted. “Probably both.”

“You’re sleeping with him.” Miller stood at the adjacent bay of lockers, a little huffy. “Admit it.”

Titus elbowed him in the gut.

Rather than insult Miller in front of everyone, as he’d done to me, breaking my vow to protect my teammates, I said, “If it makes you feel better to think I was chosen because I’m sharing his bed, that’s on you.

” I refused to let his accusation intimidate me.

Granted, Cyrus’s dating hopes had played a part in my selection, but it also had something to do with the Soalians and my expertise with plants.

“Wow, Mills, wow.” Juniper tied her boot with extra force.

“What?” the soldier demanded, tossing up his arms. “I can’t be the only one who noticed their steam.”

“Making fun of me for sweating during a workout when I ran triple the laps you did. Not exactly a boss move.” I tsk-tsked.

He scowled. Several of our teammates threw towels at him.

“Leave her alone.” Lark tugged her hair into a ponytail.

“You might also try thinking before you speak. Desire can be one-sided. The HP is royalty. Top tier. He has more kills and captures than anyone who’s ever completed the program.

There’s no way he’d lower himself to consort with a lady-in-training. ”

Um. Thank you?

“More importantly, Arden’s love life isn’t our business,” Titus announced.

“He’s right.” Roman approached and slung his arm over my shoulders, showing his support. “Say another word about her assignment, and you’ll earn us all an extra hour at the mines.”

Sign me up for that extra hour! But one by one, soldiers resumed what they’d been doing before my arrival.

“I’m worried about you,” Roman admitted at low volume.

He bent his head, ensuring no one overheard him.

“I believe your assignment is legit, but that doesn’t mean feelings won’t change with proximity.

Just ... be mindful. The HP has a high body count off the battlefield too. From officers to our hot doctor.”

I stiffened, even though I had no right to care. I’d heard about Miss Soti, and I’d suspected Dr. Korey, but not others. “I’m really not sleeping with him.” And I wouldn’t. I’d never trusted a guy enough to risk being so vulnerable. Most breaks occurred at home.

Who wouldn’t want to speak with the much-desired wife of the high prince? Mr. Victors’s pronouncement drifted through my head, and I bit my tongue. Still not happening.

Roman released me and shrugged. “I’m only relaying what I heard. Knights, barons, and viscounts love pillow talk.”

Guess Cyrus wasn’t the only one with a high body count. “I appreciate you looking out for me, but there’s no need to worry.”

“Okay then.” Roman ruffled my hair, spurring a laugh from me. “Let’s go do our duty.”

“Yes, sir.” I finished strapping on an array of weapons. “Let’s.”

Together, we made the trek to our designated mine. Lights illuminated the windowless stone-and-metal enclosure built on the side of a mountain. Huge boulders and braces bracketed the mine itself.

We joined the current guards, and Roman called, “Everyone shadows a knight. Every hour, they’ll switch positions, and you’ll move with yours.”

I was one of two knights in front of the boulders nearest the cave’s darkened entrance. Titus claimed the second space, beating Juniper and Lark, and we exchanged nods of acknowledgment.

The knights didn’t speak to us, but noises spilled from the mine’s wide opening. Muffled voices. Hammering tools. Thuds. Signs hung from the rock face.

No soldiers past this point.

Stop ! Authorized personnel only.

Unauthorized entry results in a fine and prison.

Do not Speak to Miners !

Cameras peppered the entrance, recording our every move. Thankfully, I didn’t need to enter the mine; I just needed a trolley to exit. But the first hour passed to no avail.

At the position switch, I moved with my assigned knight, dragging my feet to the second boulder, taking Titus’s place. Come on, come on.

“We shouldn’t have to do this,” Miller complained, standing beside the trolley door on the other side of the chamber, netter in hand. “This facility is protected from the outside. There’s never any action in here. And it’s not like feeders can touch the stones anyway.”

“It’s practice with minimal risk, so shut your mouth and do your job,” Roman commanded from the center of the room. He and his knight acted as lookouts from a center dais. “Remember what the HP said. Everything is a test, and we will be quizzed.”

“Bet Arden aces it,” Miller quipped, and a handful of our teammates snickered.

“I bet I do too,” I replied without heat. I’d picked this path, and I couldn’t complain about it now. “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

He scowled at me.

“Focus up,” Roman snapped.

I obeyed. He really was a good leader. Someone who took control of every situation and never cracked under pressure. But I might. As minutes ticked by, my final hour at the mine neared its end without the emergence of a cart.

I shifted from one foot to the other.

“Eager to see your sugar bear?” Juniper teased softly. She’d taken my previous spot.

My head fell forward, and I groaned. “You guys heard that?”

“Everyone on base heard, but only because none of us kept quiet about it.”

“I was joking,” I whined.

An intermittent, high-pitched squeal registered at last, and I stilled. A mine cart! I readjusted my stance, stealthily reaching into my pocket to free the transmitter from its case.

“Switch,” Roman called. We’d reached the end of the hour.

My knight stalked to his next position. Another switch. No, no, no. I hung back.

Roman noticed and clapped his hands. “Put some hustle in your steps.”

Juniper and her knight approached me. But the trolley wasn’t close enough.

“Oops.” I bent down and fiddled with the tie of my boot, keeping my concentration on the squeak.

Almost ... Now! I leaped to my feet and darted to the side, as if chasing my knight.

Meanwhile, I moved right in the trolley’s path.

We collided, and I purposely fell, stopping the motion-sensitive hauler in its tracks.

Good so far. Pretending to use the transporter to help myself stand, I covertly adhered the disk onto the cart’s rim.

“Do not touch,” an automated voice announced, spurring two knights to rush over to intervene.

“Apologies,” I muttered, hightailing it to my next post. I tried not to trip as elation mixed with trepidation. I’d done it. I’d succeeded with step one.

I’d all but thrown myself into the fire now. There was no going back.

As the next hour passed, my trepidation reached new heights. If that transmitter was spotted, Cured would track it to Cyrus, then me. Had I destroyed both of our lives?

Odds were low the transmitter wouldn’t be spotted. As low as the odds Victors hadn’t set me up for a trap.

By the time I reached my fifth post, my knees were knocking. I began to wheeze my breaths. No, no, no. Not a panic attack. Not here, not now. I’d done so well. Had grown so brave. But, but ... What had I done?

I needed to think, but I also needed to breathe, and breathing was becoming more and more difficult. In, out. In. Why couldn’t I breathe in? Lowering into a crouch, I ducked my head.

“Take five, Arden.” Roman’s directive penetrated the panic.

Yes, yes. Five. This would probably cost me the top-soldier title, but I didn’t care. I seized the chance to watch the camera feed. To see everything was fine. I would calm and come up with a plan to retrieve the camera.

Oh, dang! The camera. Retrieval. A step I hadn’t considered.

I launched from the room, certain of only one thing. My life had been forever altered by my actions today.

In the locker room, I sealed myself inside a shower stall. Inhale, exhale. In. Out. Okay, I could breathe. In, out. In, out. Maybe there was a chance what I’d done wasn’t such a big deal. I mean, if the pritis mines were on the up-and-up, no one should care that I’d seen inside one.

Fighting tremors, I adhered the tiny transmitters behind my ears.

Inhale. Exhale. I pressed the correct button inside the case and started playback.

Suddenly, the gray stall walls vanished, superseded by the camera feed.

The building that housed the mine formed around me.

Sweet goodness, it was as if I had become the mine cart, watching myself glide along the track.

I saw Roman marching on the dais with his gun at the ready.

Spread out around him were other teammates in the process of assuming new positions.

I continued moving, exiting the room through a tunnel door.

The world blackened, all light snuffed out, and I pressed my hands over my mouth to silence a spontaneous protest. I could see nothing .

A high-pitch squeak sounded, and I jumped.

But no big deal. It was just the cart’s wheel.

I increased the speed of the feed, swallowing a whimper of relief when the cart cleared the tunnel.

Light flooded in. Too bright! I flinched, pressing into cool tile.

The feed glided forward, an unnerving sensation made worse as I logged my new surroundings.

A room with two workers. An oil-smeared mechanic and a tech girl.

“Check the front right wheel,” she called.

“Got it,” he said, hustling over with tools.

The closer he came to the camera, the stiffer I grew. Yes, the transparent disk was designed to be invisible, but come on. He worked on the wheel with his face directly in front of the camera lens.

I didn’t expel my breath until he called “Good to go” and jogged off. Then the cart was rolling on. No one checked for pritis. The cover was never removed, a load never dumped before the cart returned the way it had come, going through the dark tunnel and into the mine.

Again I increased the speed. Finally, the cart reached the heart of the mine. Rocky walls supported by beams. No workers labored nearby, despite the soundtrack of clanking metal. The dimly lit, winding path led to a dead end.

Hmm. There wasn’t even mining equipment. No tools of any kind. The place looked abandoned, as if it had dried out. But that presented a new mystery. There was no reason to pretend to mine pritis. No reason to guard the mines at all.

I was missing a lot of facts, the puzzle growing murkier, and I had no idea what to do next.