breath, every beat of my heart, made me feel alive. Caden teased that I was an adrenaline junkie, getting off on the high. I couldn’t argue. There was something about walking the line between right and wrong. Life and death. Getting caught or escaping.
Headlights from the train came into view, and my pulse pumped faster. The outline of the conductor became more solid the closer he got.
My ears thumped, my bones vibrating as the train passed us, slowing as the lead car turned for the bridge.
“Shit,” Caden muttered under his breath. I didn’t need to ask what he was looking at because my eyes were already on the guards lining a few of the doorways along the train, rifles at their sides. This was new. “We can’t, Brex. It’s too dangerous.”
“No.” I gritted my teeth; my resolve to go forward fought against any logic. Seeing the guards only made me want this more. Whatever they were shipping out was more than their normal trade. Istvan had involved me, my life. I would not be blind or ignorant to what was going on around me.
Darting forward to the final car, I heard Caden hiss my name. Ignoring him, I leaped on the steps of the last carriage. Silent. Keeping low, I scrambled up to the platform, my head snapping around.
Caden jumped up after me, his lids narrowed on me. “Brexley, don’t be stupid.”
“Too late.” My words were almost lost between the wind and the squeal of the carriage curving along the track. We were on the bridge. The clock was on.
Crouching, I opened the door with my device, the lock unlatching with a click. My pulse and breath marked off the seconds, dragging more panic through my chest.
My eyes adjusted to the darkness, the magic-infused fire-bulbs on the bridge casting a dim glow through the windows. Many of the carriages utilized for cargo were once old passenger cars, the seats torn out to make room. Nothing in Budapest was trashed because products were a lot harder to get or make. We reused and adjusted things of old. New items cost money, and we were dependent on the fae for items fitting into this new world.
When the walls between the Otherworld and Earth fell, magic flooded in, crushing a lot of human-made objects that were not able to hold up against the weight of magic. Everything from bridges to laptops had to be redesigned for the new world, which was why so much of the old items had been pushed out. The king of the Unified Nations (UN) was constantly updating and changing technology, making the Seattle area of the United States the most advanced and prosperous place in the world.
Hungary lived decades behind the rest of the world and was not up on the latest gadgets. Our separation from the rest of the UN left us far in the dust. Only the uber-wealthy had luxurious items like computers or mobile devices.
The thick waves in the sky were normal to me, but anyone older than twenty told stories of when Earth held no magic, when fae hid in the shadows. A world with no fire lightbulbs, magical herbs, or fae doors was a result of the stress on Earth as the two worlds merged and caused thousands of tears in the atmosphere. I had never seen one, but I heard soldiers talk about them being out on the field. We lost people to them. A fae door, which was invisible to human eyes, was easy to step in by accident and never be seen again.
Making my way to the large crates, the tool was ready in my hand to rip them open. I peeled off the cover, but stuffing concealed the top layer. Tearing through it, my fingers hit metal.
Guns.
Sadly, it didn’t surprise me—guns, drugs, and money were heavily trafficked through the country. A train full of rifles would not make Markos and Lazar invincible. Confused, I dug deeper, hitting another layer of guns before I found stacks of cash.
Bribe money?
This was nothing new either in the shady world I lived in. Stuffing the cash into my bag with one hand, I dug even deeper with the other, my knuckles rapping against a thin layer of plywood six inches from the bottom.
It was set to divide the contents or appear at a glance as the bottom.
A false bottom.
“Brex,” Caden yelled, tapping his watch. “Thirty seconds!”
Forgoing any plans to move on to another box, I tore at the thin lumber, the wood ripping