Crux (The Aurora Lockette Series) by Miranda Kavi Read Free Book Online Page B

buildings. It’s an unincorporated township.”
    “ What are we waiting for?” I asked.
    “ We need to find her first. If we tip them off that we know where to look, they’ll move them, or worse.”
    Fear and anger pulled at my soul. I knew what the “or worse” was—death—an end to Aurora.
    Dennis continued. “We need to survey it first, find out where they are. Then we’ll go in and get them. “Where are my Flyers?”
    Two girls stepped forward. They both looked young, just shy of twenty maybe. They were identical twins with big brown eyes and long black hair. They were dressed in form fitting clothes, all black.
    “ Here,” one of them answered. Something about the way she curved up one side of her lip in an eager, dangerous smile made me realize she was probably older than twenty, and deadly. I was glad she was on our team.
    “ Can you two cover this alone, or do you need help?”
    “ We got it,” she answered with a glance at her twin.
    “ Good,” Dennis said. “Take the thermal cams and don’t get too close. They can’t know you’re there.”
    “ We’re mere shadows in the night.” She pulled back her jacket to tuck the camera into her pocket, revealing double holsters with very large guns secured to her hips.
    He rounded up the rest of the group, ordering them to sneak into place on the entrances and exits of the dirt road. If they tried to run with Aurora, they’d be caught.
    I shrugged on a light jacket as we all prepared to leave.
    “ Where are you going?” Dennis asked.
    “ Out there. I need to be close.”
    He said nothing, staring out a window off to the side. “Fine.”
    “ I’m going to rest. I wish you would, too.” Carmen was beside me again, Konstantin hovering nearby.
    “ I can’t.”
    “ I know, but you will have to soon,” she said as she walked away. “Good luck.” She and Konstantin moved to one of the bedrooms, tired feet dragging on the ground.
    Fire raged in my chest, burning every piece of sanity I had left. I needed her to be okay.
    The other twin Flyer approached me. “We’ll find her, I promise.” She rested her hand very briefly on my shoulder, then left. The expression of pity on her face was burned into my mind as we all headed out into the night.

CHAPTER 8
    AURORA
    It was dark outside again. I could tell through the lack of light in the cracks between the boards in my window. Mr. X was not in my room; the occasional creek of floorboards from the kitchen alerted me to his presence in the house.
    I put my ear against the wall I shared with Keith. “Keith?” I tapped on the wall very softly, hoping that Mr. X would stay in the kitchen. “Are you there?”
    “ I’m here,” he finally responded, his voice sounding weak and thin.
    “ Are you okay? What did they do to you?” I pressed my ear against the wall, waiting for his response.
    “ They killed him. Killed him right in front of me, they…”
    Worry shot through my chest. “Who did they kill?”
    “ My handler.” His voice was raspy, and he sounded terrible.
    “ Keith, I’m so sorry.” I pushed my hands on the wall, waiting for the right words to come to me. “We have to be strong, Keith. Together. Are you hurt?” I wished I could reach through the wall and grab him. The seconds ticked off, and I wondered if he was still there.
    “ I was stabbed. During the struggle.”
    I rested my forehead on the cool wall. “Oh, no. Are you okay?”
    “ I don’t think so, Aurora. No. I tried to clean it in the shower, but it still looks bad.” I heard him grunt and shift, thumping against the wall.
    “ What are you doing? Stay still.”
    “ I just sat up. Can you hear me better?” he asked.
    “ Yes.”
    “ Why do you think they took us? Why haven’t they killed us?” he asked.
    “ The humanoid one told me that they wanted us for something. He talked about someone named Asag wanting us.” I shifted my weight to relieve some of the pressure on my neck from the awkward angle. “He said