Gauntlet: Chapter 9

Clio shrugged. “Would you just sit around if it were you?” she retorted. Without waiting for an answer, she started back up. “What are you doing here so early?”

He followed. “Change of plans. How did you know I was here?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Clio hummed. She glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see his dark brows drawn together in a scowl–but Chance was smiling faintly instead. “What?”

“Nothing. You seem more relaxed than usual.”

“I do?” Clio shot him a slanted grin. “Well, I have been working on my tan.”

She watched his gaze search her face and then drop to her bare arms and shoulders. His eyebrows rose, as if he wasn’t sure if she was teasing him.

But when their gazes met again, he looked away like he’d been caught ogling her. Clio had to wonder about August’s words again.

“Good to know you’re not spending all your time defacing buildings,” Chance said gruffly.

“Was he really mad?”

Chance gave a low chuckle. “You have no idea.”

A savage grin curled her lips. “Good.”

They made it to the top, and Clio was irritated that she was more out of breath than Chance. He stopped at the edge of the flat lawn of the tower and took it in silently. Clio watched his reaction with an odd sense of possessive pride.

“Are those guava trees?”

Clio laughed at his eagerness. “Yeah. There are all kinds here, but I guess I know which are your favorites now. Want some?”

She pulled a few guavas from the tree and washed them under the spray from the shower. He trailed after her to the gazebo, and she tossed him one of the fruits.

He bit into it and made a happy sound. “It’s sweet,” he mumbled around a mouthful of fruit. “It’s been forever since I had fresh guava.”

Clio laughed again, a little charmed by his boyish enthusiasm. She put the others next to him. “It is nice up here.”

“I guess you weren’t kidding about the sun bathing.” August wiped a bit of juice off his chin with his thumb. “Now I’m more surprised you left here to go tagging.”

Clio snorted. “Oh, that was therapeutic, too. But I started out just exploring the tunnels. It wasn’t until I found the box of paint that I got the idea.”

“It wasn’t a bad idea, actually,” Chance admitted. “It’s made August lose his focus in some ways, and that’s been…helpful. Of course, everyone else might not thank you. His famous charm is definitely cracking around the edges.”

Clio winced. “I’m sorry about that. Is he…taking it out on other people?”

“Worry about yourself. He’s even more determined to find you.”

“Yeah, I heard.” Clio kept her voice neutral, but Chance looked at her sharply. She wasn’t positive, but it seemed like his face took on the faintest tinge of red.

He opened his mouth and took a breath, then closed his mouth again. She waited.

“I know you don’t have a good reason to trust me,” he said at last.

“You helped me get away from him,” she offered.

He frowned, maybe wondering why she was providing him with points in his favor. “Yes, just like August helped you get away.”

They exchanged wry grimaces.

“You know where I am, and you haven’t told him.”

“That’s true.” Another humorless smile crossed his face. “But I could have my own agenda.”

He was telling her what they both knew and she’d considered already. She eyed him speculatively.

“So now you’re telling me not to trust you?” she clarified.

“No. No, that’s not it. I mean, I wouldn’t blame you, I just…” He broke off and rubbed his hands nervously against his pant legs. “What you heard August say…I wouldn’t do that. I won’t try to trick you, or…sell you out…or…”

Clio leaned forward. “But this could all be a really convincing act for something else I don’t know about. Make Clio think she’s safe. Make her believe you’re her friend. Tell her that you’re working with Britt, someone you know she trusts.”

Chance looked startled, and his lips parted, but he didn’t speak. Clio continued.

“Make her feel grateful, keep her isolated until she gets lonely enough to want a little comfort, a little human contact, and then…seduce her? After all, it worked before.”

“No.”

Chance bit out the word so sharply that Clio jerked back. But she relaxed again and grinned at him in a challenge.

“No?”

“I’m not like August,” he growled. “No matter what he thinks.”

“Okay.” Clio leaned back and snagged one of the fruits from the cushions. She took a bite, enjoying the sweet, mild flavor of the soft fruit.

Chance frowned. “Okay what?”

Clio shrugged. “Okay. You aren’t like him. You won’t sell me out and you don’t want to seduce me.”

She felt a little evil as she watched him avert his eyes and turn away.

“That’s it? You…trust me?” Chance asked.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Clio cocked her head. “It’s all a gamble, anyway, since I can never be sure of anything in this damn place. Unless…”

“Unless what?” he asked warily.

Clio felt her heartbeat pick up speed. She’d only been testing him a little up until now. August’s words still bothered her, but she was willing to trust Chance at this point–she had to play the cards she was dealt, and this seemed a safer hand than most. If she really wanted something like proof that she could trust him, maybe it was time to put all her cards on the table.

It was a huge risk that would pay off big…or end everything.

“Clio?” Chance looked nervous now. It was almost endearing, but Clio pushed that thought away.

She slowly slid the bracelet off her wrist. Chance’s eyes widened. She reached for his hand that curled around his pant leg and spread the broad palm open.

“It’s yours,” Clio said carefully.

Chance gaped. A flush spread over his face and down his throat, and for a moment he looked like he might choke on his own breath. Then he exploded.

“What are you doing?!” Chance snatched up her arm and shoved the bracelet back over her wrist. “This belongs to you.” He shot up and walked halfway across the lawn in agitation before spinning around to glare at her. “Don’t pull a stunt like that again.”

A sense of lightness bubbled up in Clio. A wide smile pulled at her face.

“I’m serious,” he said sharply.

Clio fell back against the cushions and dissolved into full-fledged laughter. She wasn’t sure what drove the instinct, but it felt good. The tension rushed out of her with every bubbling breath.

Chance stomped back over and stared down at her with that bewildered, angry look on his face…and maybe something else. Clio’s laughter faded away.

She cleared the saliva from her throat. “I think it’s obvious I can trust you now.”

Chance’s frown cleared, and a grudging smile of admiration took its place. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “But you’ll be the death of me.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Clio said, and she was half-serious. She reached for a fruit and tossed it at him.

“Now sit down so we can figure out what we’re going to do.”

***

The tunnels made their meetings a lot easier after that. They still didn’t have a workable plan, and August had disappeared with Sunshine two days earlier. Chance didn’t know where he’d gone, which worried both of them.

“Not that it matters,” Clio muttered. “I still don’t know how to get out of here.”

“It’s got to be somewhere in the tunnels,” Chance said, maintaining an annoying sense of calm.

“I’ve gone over every inch a million times!”

“Be patient and try again.”

Clio growled. “Easy for you to say.”

“Maybe we just have to wait.”

His practical answer didn’t pacify her. She threw her hands into the air.

“You mean I can’t find a way out because the mythical Overlords haven’t waved their magic wand to make one appear?”

Chance snorted. “Something like that.”

Clio kicked the wall of the tunnel and leaned back against the rough cement, crossing her arms over her chest. “This sucks,” she grunted.

Chance looked out through the viewfinder as people walked on the street above them. He pursed his lips.

“Do you think I could get back to the first building?” Clio asked with little optimism. “Back where I came from? Maybe I could find the theater again and get to that exit on the map.”

“Shh.” Chance waved a hand at her. Clio scowled, but she moved up next to him.

“What?” she whispered.

He turned around abruptly. “I have to go.”

“Already?” Clio cringed a little. God, I sound whiny.

“August is back.”

That wiped away her self-pity in a heartbeat. “Did you see him? How did he look? Was Sunshine with him?!”

Chance jerked his head from side to side. “They said he just returned. And…that he seemed happy.”

Clio’s stomach sank. Chance look worried, too.

“I’ve really got to go. I probably won’t be able to get away until tomorrow.”

“I’ll meet you here,” Clio began.

“No!” Chance said severely. “I mean it, Clio. Don’t come here until you hear from me again. I’ll try to get out to the tower tomorrow.”

“You should take the spade charm,” Clio offered. “That’ll make it easier for you to get in, and I won’t need it as long as I stay in the tunnel.”

“You want to just hand it to August now?” he asked witheringly.

“That would only happen if you gave it to him!” she snipped. “Fine. Since I thought I could trust you, I was just trying to help you for a change. But I won’t bother anymore.”

She turned to go, but Chance took a step toward her, reaching out a hand that stopped short of her shoulder.

“Clio…I just want you to be careful. I don’t know what to expect if August’s back and happy.”

“I know.” She had to tilt her chin up to meet his gaze, and her stomach faltered at the concern she saw in it. It softened her frustration.

“I’m going to talk to him. I might have a plan, but I need to see him first.” His hand dropped, but Chance’s eyes begged her to agree.

“All right,” she said grudgingly. “But don’t screw yourself.”

“I won’t.”

They stood in uncomfortable, awkward silence until Chance moved away; that tight feeling in her chest eased with some space between them. He scaled the ladder to the street and exited through the small door that sealed behind him.

She was frustrated that this all seemed to be another dead end. Clio wanted to talk to Britt, but Chance swore she was outside of August’s reach and creating a lot of headaches for him. If she could get back to Britt, she was willing to bet they could find a way back inside the building complex. They could both get out, and Chance could come with them…

She entertained herself with the pleasant thought as she gripped the rungs bolted to the wall that led up to the base of the tower. Then another thought struck her.

Her tower wasn’t the only one.

She’d been distracted by her tower’s attractions, by the tunnels, by the business of hiding and surviving and trying to work out what to do. It hadn’t even crossed her mind to try and get inside another tower. None of the tunnels led to them, after all.

She wanted to smack herself on the head. Britt probably would’ve explored them all in the first freaking day.

She shed the self-loathing with a pragmatism Britt would have appreciated. It wasn’t too late.

Clio considered some obvious facts. She would have to go above ground if she was going to try it. Chance definitely wouldn’t approve.

Good thing he’s busy with his own plan now.

She climbed to the top of her own tower to work out the best route to the closest one. She’d try all of them if she had to, but she wanted to hit the first one and be back before Chance returned. If she had good news, she would surprise him. If she didn’t, he didn’t even have to know about it.

Other than dark clouds that slowly rolled in and threatened rain, Clio’s luck was good. She stood at the base of her tower’s clone not half an hour later, her fingers gliding over the rough stone.

She whooped quietly when her fingers found a groove. The tiny spade fit like a charm, and Clio grinned to herself at the pun as her heart swelled in anticipation. The tower opened up to her; she stepped inside.

There was no spiral staircase like the one in her tower, but an old-fashioned elevator filled the wall of the tiny room. A control panel was mounted next to it, featuring a single button. It was the kind that lit up when pressed–but when Clio tried it, the button stayed dark.

She wasn’t surprised. Surrounding the button, like points of a compass, were four indentations: a diamond, a club, a heart, and a spade.

Proceed to Chapter 9, page 3–>