Read Online Rebel's Consort - Phoenix Book 1 by KH LeMoyne - Free Book Online

have been running for years. The guards have been looking just as long. They pick up one person, and someone will fill the hole and start again.”
    Her hood bobbed, the gesture giving nothing away.
    He knew better. Rasmond had lost two grandchildren to the detention camps. She held no love for the Regents or their practices. Then again, he wouldn’t trust her not to sell him out. Whether she knew he’d provided medical aid when her daughter had been attacked, he didn’t know. Even so, it would only buy so much loyalty.
    “They’re leaking information on movement of a new child.”
    “Who?”
    A nail gestured toward the immunization squad now entering the market.
    He pocketed the batteries, retrieved a cred coin from his pocket, keying in the amount and his authorization ID. Neither were traceable, thanks to decades of his family’s paranoia in safeguarding their money. “I’ll take the metal, as well.”
    “They’re going for more than one. A big show.”
    Her hand searched in the bowels of her cloak and produced the tiny box of metal, which he added to his pocket.
    “Keep your head down, doctor.”
    He froze, but her fingers urged him to move quickly. He dove into the crowd before the squad reached the stall.
    Avoiding the obvious routes in favor of the darker, tighter spaces, he sped faster toward his first safe house while contemplating hard choices.
    If the witch-hunt targeted a large haul, with a public arrest and execution to send a strong message, and the Regents suspected Onyx, then Piper was a prime target. Rasmond’s declaration confirmed as much.
    He would go underground and burn all paths before they closed in, stopping any way of tracking Analena or her small troupe. Then what?
    He couldn’t risk contacting her. Though, if she messaged him, his lack of reply would send her a warning.
    Glancing at the communicator inside his mask, he willed it to activate from her call. It would probably be a cold day in hell before she asked for his help again. He would be more than happy to crawl to hell and back to keep her safe. Or maybe just to keep her.
    Safety for all of them meant wiping Onyx off the map. He could gather all his supplies in several hours. He’d distributed his stash over three locations in case of this eventuality.
    Once finished, even Analena wouldn’t be able to find him. Which was fine, he thought with a fresh surge of energy. He would go to her. He refused to leave her exposed and alone. Communication was too dangerous, but he could lay enough false trails throughout Down Below and New Delphi so the Regents would never find him.
    He only wished he had an idea of how exposed she might be. If there were truth to leak of a child in need, nothing would keep her away.
    Yet, in spite of Analena’s resilience and independence, she must have others in her network. She couldn’t have arranged the extraction of so many children on her own. Shepherd had confirmed the network would monitor feeds to Piper to avoid this circumstance. However, nothing prevented her from receiving intel through other means. Aaron had access where she didn’t. Trace could only hope that the boy scrutinized what information he passed on with as much care as he exacted on assessing him.
    Which was why Trace was going back. To Analena’s role as soldier, rebel, and surrogate mother, he could add nothing except medical expertise. Fine. But for the woman, he could provide sanctuary and protection she didn’t realize she lacked.
    Granted, he’d shot a big hole in his credibility. But he wasn’t afraid of a little rejection if it saved his angel’s life.
     
    ***
     
    “You reek,” said Hena.
    Aaron shook his head and scrubbed at his face with one hand. “I want points for the lengths I’ve suffered to procure information.”
    “Suffered? Hardly,” Analena said, a frown marring her features as she waved a hand in the air before her nose.
    He held out a hand for Gar’s water cup and screwed up his face when the