Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

“It looks painful. Maybe you should stop doing it until this is over.”

“Funny.”

She wasn’t being funny. She was serious. “How about we just wait for Enforcement to rescue us. You don’t have to worry about being arrested. I’ll tell them you’re my bodyguard. They’ll believe me.” Maybe. She batted her eyelashes at him, trying to appear as innocent as possible.

It didn’t work. “You only think they’ll believe you because you’re one of them. The rest of us know that Enforcement will do exactly what Miriam Shepherd tells them to do. And she only follows her own law.”

“That’s not true. She swore to uphold all of the law when she became president, and she’s doing a good job of leading the territory.”

“Princess, she isn’t leading this territory. She’s running a company. Those are two totally different things. Now, are we going to argue, or are you coming with me?”

Dumb question. “I think we should argue.”

“Why did I ask?” He lifted her up again, like she was a doll. “I’m putting you as far along the ledge as I can reach, so that there’s room for me to climb out beside you.”

Her nails dug into his arms as she held on tight. “I don’t like this idea. I want a new one.”

As usual, when he didn’t agree with her, he just ignored her. “Keep an eye open for any shards of glass I’ve missed,” he said as he looked out onto the ledge.

“How can I keep an eye out for glass shards? I can’t look down.” Not while her entire focus was on not dying.

“If you feel something sharp,” he said with clearly strained patience, “don’t freak out. Just keep going, and we’ll deal with it once you’re through the other window.”

Oh, she did not like the sound of that. “What if I get a serious gash, and I bleed a lot, and the ledge becomes slippery with blood, and I fall to my death?”

He just shook his head, leaned out of the window, and placed her farther along the ledge. Keiko didn’t let go of him. She couldn’t. It was impossible.

“I want to scream.” It was a whispered confession. “Take me back into the room. This isn’t going to work.”

Every muscle in her body became rigid as her eyes scrunched tight. There was no way she was letting go of Mace. None. She planned to hold onto him like he was a life raft and there were sharks in the water.

“Princess, open your eyes.” His voice was soft, calm, even. “You need to help me out here. You need to take a couple of steps along the ledge to make room for me to come out there with you.”

“No.” She shook her head furiously before freezing just as fast, afraid the movement would cause her to plummet to her death. “Take me back inside. I want to come back inside. If I’m going to die, I want to be shot instead of being splattered all over the ground.”

“Nobody’s going to die. Take a step or two along the ledge, and I’ll come out there beside you.”

“There’s no space for you. There’s barely space for me. You’re too wide for this ledge.”

“How would you know? Your eyes are shut.”

“I can’t do this,” she whispered. It wasn’t possible. She could hardly breathe, which was ironic, considering she was surrounded by air.

“You can do anything you put your mind to. You’re one of the bravest women I’ve ever met.”

“That would be more reassuring if it wasn’t so sexist. Why not bravest person? Why woman? Like we need a different standard? Where does this attitude come from? It’s as though you were born in another time.”

“That’s it. If you can sass, you can open your eyes and move along the ledge. I’m gonna count to three, and if you haven’t opened your eyes, I’m gonna climb out there anyway, put you under my arm, and carry you to the other window.”

That made her eyes snap open. “You wouldn’t.”

“The terrorists are getting close. We need to move now. Hold on to the wall and flatten yourself to it. You’re going to shuffle to the corner. I’ll be right beside you. The window we need is around that corner. We’re talking twenty steps at most. You can do it. I won’t let you fall.”

“I hate you,” she muttered.

“I know,” he agreed. “Now take the steps, princess.”

With her stomach pressed flat against the wall, her cheek brushing