The Key to Fear - Kristin Cast Page 0,60

a corner.

Nerves exploded in Elodie’s legs and she sprinted to Aiden’s side, away from those echoing bootsteps, and pressed her back against the wall.

He’d asked her to trust him.

Boots thundered closer … closer.

She didn’t have a choice.

A woman’s voice called out, clipped and strong. “I can only divert Key attention for another five minutes.”

Eos had arrived, just around the corner, at the ELU door. Tears scraped Elodie’s eyes as she pressed herself against the wall in hopes that it would swallow her whole. These five minutes would be her last. “We’re going to die down here. They’ll set off a germ stack or—” A whispered sob escaped. “They’ll shoot us. We’ll end up in boxes in your unit.”

“None of that is going to happen.” Aiden peered around the corner before jerking back. “Eos won’t hurt us.”

Elodie shook her head back and forth against the painted white wall. “We’re not going to survive.” Her teeth clacked as fear pulled the glacial cold of the concrete wall through her uniform into her quaking bones. “No one survives.”

Aiden pressed his palms against the wall, framing her head. Warmth rolled off him, and his breath caressed her lashes. He was too close. But every part of her clamored to draw him closer, fit him against her as a shield.

“I promise, Elodie.” His moss-green gaze clung to hers. “Nothing is going to happen.”

Her heartbeat quickened, and her palms glued themselves to the wall. “Aiden—” A breathy sob spilled from her lips.

“You’re braver.” His elbows bent, drawing him closer, wringing the air from the space between them. “Stronger than you think.”

She sipped shallow breaths. The moment numbed her frigid, trembling limbs.

The telltale hiss of the ELU doors opening awakened Elodie from the blissful few seconds of confidence Aiden had gifted.

“In and out, gentlemen,” the woman hollered. “You two, scan the halls.”

The boots began again.

Closer. Closer.

Elodie hardened. “They’re killers, Aiden. They’re Eos.”

Aiden stiffened as the soldiers rounded the corner. His hands slid down the wall as he pushed himself away from her and stepped in front of the Eos soldiers, their helmets the same golden orange as the rising sun.

“She’s with me.” Aiden fisted his hand, rested it over his heart, and bowed sharply.

The masked soldiers nodded and bowed, fist over heart. “After the storm comes the dawn,” they chanted in unison, before turning and marching back to the ELU entrance.

Elodie clapped her hands over her mouth. The shriek seared her palms.

Elodie stumbled backward. Her hands smacked against the concrete wall as she used it to keep herself from falling.

Aiden was one of them. A member of Eos. Her friend. Her confidant. Her Aiden.

No!

The word screeched between her ears. It tore her to shreds. She could feel it—pain pooling in her gut. She clutched her stomach and tried to run, but her body betrayed her. It always did when she was with him. It told her she should trust him, care for him, like him.

Hot tears distorted her vision. She pinched her eyes shut and swiped at her face.

Her body had deceived her. And Aiden had deceived her too.

“Elodie.” Aiden stood there. In front of her. He’d gotten so close to her so quickly. “I can explain,” he said, though his words were slow and hushed, drowning under the thoughts that tore through her.

You are matched. You have friends. A career. This is what you get for not being satisfied. For being greedy. Needing more, more, more. You deserve this mess. You deserve this!

“Stop! ” Elodie screamed at Aiden, at herself, at the world for allowing this to happen.

She backed away on wobbly legs, ricocheting against the wall as she tried to replace the image of the Aiden she cared for with the picture that had come to life in front of her. “Stay away from me!” The wall was her crutch, and she slid along it, using the cold concrete to carry her away from Aiden and Eos and any other monsters he had yet to reveal.

But the wall opened up behind her back and Elodie fell into a room filled with dizzying lights and beeps and whirrs.

Aiden’s footsteps followed her and he was next to her in seconds. He reached back and scanned his cuff under a sensor and the door hissed shut behind him.

He’d gotten lucky. She’d corralled herself. And now she was trapped. Alone with—

She scrambled backward until concrete slammed against her shoulders. “Who are you?”

Aiden’s breath caught. His chin trembled slightly. “It’s still me. I haven’t changed.”

“You’re one of them!”

A stumpy yellow bot