Free Masked by Nicola Claire

happening out there," I replied.
    Tan turned to Lena, his mouth open to speak.
    "President Tan," the Cardinal in charge said. "We need to move now."
    "I'll be fine," Lena told him, making my jaw ache. Again. "Coordinate through Si. We'll be your eyes on the ground."
    "We've got Cardinals for that," Tan argued, allowing his guards to usher him out.
    In the hall were half a dozen more, laser guns lit up, the electronic whine competing with the cacophony of noise we could hear out on the street. Otherwise, Parliament House was silent.
    Lena shook her head, halting in her tracks. It took several steps for Tan to realise she wasn't right behind him. He struggled with his guards for a second, before they realised they were wrestling their precious President, and then looked over his shoulder at us.
    "Elite," he said, knowing damn well how that moniker affected her coming from him.
    "We need our gear from the security station at the front," she explained, moving off without a backwards glance.
    "There's only one available exit," one of the Cardinals shouted at our backs. "All the rest are locked down!"
    "We'll find it!" Lena shouted back, already breaking into a run.
    I nodded towards Paul, one last instruction conveyed through our eyes alone. Take care. Take care of yourself. Of the penthouse. Of our secrets.
    He nodded back, and then they were lost as we tore around the corner of the grand hall and skidded to a stop next to the security desk.
    A lone Cardinal stood on the other side of a glass divide. Face stoic, laser gun resting across his arms; a blatant challenge.
    "We need our gear!" I called through the thick partition.
    He simply shook his head.
    "President Tan has sent us," Lena tried. The Cardinal laughed. It was short lived.
    "Just give us our earpieces," Alan yelled. He was right. Without Si, we'd be blind.
    "Not happening," the Cardinal advised, his deep voice reaching through the thick glass easily at the same time as a the whir of electronics sounded out overhead. Followed by a distinctive whine.
    All three of us stepped back, our gazes drawn to a laser gun muzzle now directed at us through a purpose built hole in the wall.
    I slowly raised my hands as we continued to back up.
    "We're going," I said, not raising my voice. He could hear. The glass was soundproofed. Bulletproofed. Laser-proofed. There'd be a mic that carried our words, just like there were speakers that had conveyed his earlier ones.
    He didn't move a muscle as we turned on our tail and ran back along the corridor to where we'd left Tan. The President's car and entourage had disappeared by the time we found the exit, guarded, but this time word of our impending arrival had preceded us. And egress was offered without the use of a fucking laser gun.
    We were unarmed. Cut off from Si. And in amongst the chaos of a war-torn Wánměi.
    "What now?" Alan demanded, frustration making his words come out as a growl.
    My eyes naturally found the distant smoke and dust clouds of the fallen Sky Tower, above the tall buildings that danced in shadows all around us. My heart beat frenetically, sweat already beading my brow. I glanced toward Lena. No longer quite pristine in her linen dress, but that fire I'd seen earlier was burning out of control in her eyes.
    "Are we rebels? Or are we rebels?" I asked them, my gaze locked on Lena and no one else.
    "Rebels," they both said in unison. Lena's lips spread into a mischievous smile.
    No matter what, she was with me. No matter what, she'd always walk by my side.
    I've had people obey my orders before. I've had many fall over themselves to do what I wanted whenever I desired. Not quite sycophants, but loyal followers. Rebels who understood I was in command. But not one of them mattered, the way Lena mattered. Not one of them meant as much to me as this Elite.
    No matter what, Lena was mine.
    And I was so fucking hers as well.
    "We grab what we can on the way to use as weapons," I instructed, taking hold of Lena's hand in