33

When Cloe had found out that Ebony, Slade and K.C had been caught and thrown into the cells, she had felt absolutely sick to her stomach. She had known about their risky plan and wanted to help, but both Ebony and K.C had insisted that her and Patsy was to be kept out of it as much as possible. In case things went wrong.

And now they had. Patsy was beside herself with worry and Cloe couldn't blame her. K.C was her loved one and his fate was now in very dangerous and unpredictable hands. Cloe had gotten to know Ram a bit on her stay with them and she knew he could easily kill off one of his own men, if he had a bad day and felt like it, and wouldn't think twice about it afterwards. He was a complete psychopath.

Her and Patsy had sat in her room all day trying to come up with a plan to help them. They agreed that they had to try and get down there to talk to them and then maybe they could come up with something.

Cloe had been trying to avoid Ved all morning. She couldn't stand lying to him, but it was vital that she continued her charade a little longer, until they found a way to beat the Technos. Or at least until they could free Ebony, K.C and Slade.

They went into the kitchens to gather some food, and then went down to the cellars, under the pretense of bringing food to the prisoners. Thank god most of the guards in this tribe were not very bright, so they let them in without any questions and closed the door behind them.

"K.C!" Patsy cried as soon as the doors closed and she ran the last couple of metres, the food on her tray wobbling dangerously. She put the food down on the ground with shaky hands and ran to the cells. K.C stretched his arms out through the bars and held her trembling body, "It's okay, Pats."

Cloe walked over to them as well, handing them the food through the bars.

"Are you all alright?" she asked, eyeing Slade's beat up face.

Ebony looked back at him as well, "More or less."

Then she turned back to Cloe, "But we won't be if Ram has his way. And he always does. We're in real trouble, Cloe."

Cloe sighed, "I know – he's totally mental." She looked at K.C and Patsy in their embrace and resolution filled her heart. She had to do something. She couldn't just stand back and let Ram delete her friends. There was just no way that was happening. She knew it meant betraying Ved, and that he would hate her, but there was no other way. Besides – it had been the plan all along, right? She'd been sent in as a spy and therefore had been betraying him this whole time. But now she had to betray him even more. And she felt sick to her stomach thinking about it. Tears whelled up in her eyes as she thought about how hurt he would be when he finally found out. She bit her lips to keep them from quivering and blinked her eyes to get rid of the blur. Then she turned to Ebony, "We'll get you out of here."

"But how?"

"Ved has a key card." Her insides twisted as she said it out loud, "It has access to every door in this building, including this cage."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. He told me once. I'm sure."

"Well can you get it?" Ebony was sounding both hopeful and sceptical at the same time.

"Yeah. He won't suspect anything." Cloe looked down at her feet, "He trusts me."

"Good," Ebony said, "Try and get it tonight, then come and get us."

"But what about the guards outside the door?" Patsy asked nervously.

"We'll take them out," Ebony said, looking at K.C who nodded. They were outnumbered and easily taken care of when taken by surprise. And then they just had to get out of the building fast enough without getting caught – again.

"We'll come back later tonight, I promise," Cloe said. Patsy reluctantly detatched herself from K.C's arms and kissed him through the bars.

As they turned around to leave, Ebony called out, "Hey."

Cloe turned back to look at her.

"This whole spy thing – you did good."

Cloe just nodded. She knew Ebony meant it as a compliment, but couldn't help but feel horrible about herself. She grabbed Patsy's hand for support and then they made their way out of the basement to begin their plan of saving their friends.

—

Cloe was in her room, trying to come up with a plan as how to get Ved's card without him knowing, when suddenly the door barged open and Ved stormed in. The enraged look on his face told Cloe that he had finally heard about what had happened.

"Tell me you had nothing to do with this!" He demanded as soon as the door had closed behind him. His furious glare cut through her like a knife.

"I had nothing to do with this," she said and tried to sound sincere, although the words tasted foul in her mouth.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Ved snapped and took a step closer. Cloe's heart was beating out of her chest and she tried to steady it, so shaky words wouldn't betray her.

"I was here all along, check the security cameras!" she said, feeling the panick rise. It wasn't a lie – she had been in here the whole time, not directly participating in the crime. But she had known about it.

"But you were in on it!" Ved pressed on, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"Stop yelling at me!" She needed to calm him down. She couldn't think when he was screaming at her. It hurt too much.

Ved let out an angry breath and seemed to relax a bit. He came to sit by her side on the bed and looked down at his hands in his lap, "Sorry."

Cloe reached over and took one of his hands. They were trembling slightly.

"I promise you, I had nothing to do with it," she said, looking at his face. She only managed to do so because he wasn't looking back at her. He just kept looking at their hands.

"I really want to believe you Clo," he then said quietly and sighed, "But it doesn't come easy to me." He finally met her eyes, "I mean, you're a virt. And a Mallrat. And I know they are your friends." His face fell dark as he then said, "K.C were mine too."

Bile rose in Cloe's mouth. Ved had finally become friends with K.C, and he and Cloe had just found each other. And they had both betrayed him.

"I know he was."

They sat in silence for a while, then Cloe asked, "Am I in trouble? I mean, does Ram think…"

"No," Ved said, shaking his head, "He has no idea that you are a Mallrat. I've deliberately kept that from him. To keep you safe. Just in case…" He trailed off.

Oh.

Then he turned his whole body towards Cloe and took hold of both of her hands, "Look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with this," he said urgently, "Promise me."

Cloe's mouth went completely dry. She had to lie to him directly. She simply had no choice.

"I had nothing to do with it - I promise."

Ved gazed at her for at moment, debating. Then he sighed, "Okay. I believe you."

Cloe felt both immensely relieved and very heartbroken. There. Mission accomplished. Yay…

Ved leaned in for a kiss, "I trust you…"

Don't.

He kissed her again, this time more deeply.

"I love you," Cloe croaked, kissing him back. She needed him to kiss her, to make her forget the awful guilt and the worry for her friends. She deepened the kiss and wound her arms around his neck, clinging to him like he held her life.

Feeling her desperate need for him, Ved grabbed her hips and pulled her onto his lap. He loved her so much, it actually hurt. He had never loved a girl like this before, and frankly it scared him.

Surprise hit him as Cloe's shaky hands found the zipper on his shirt and started to slowly pull it down. His heart started to pound. Cloe's hands pushed the shirt out over his shoulders and down his arms and he helped her the last bit, shrugging out of it. This is it, he thought and he watched in awe as Cloe remove her own shirt. And he wanted her, needed her like he had never needed anyone before.

He leaned in and kissed her passionately and they both fell down onto the bed. Cloe let go of all thought, all the worry and pain in her life - and gave herself completely to him.

It was dark when Cloe woke up. She looked at the digital watch on her night stand and saw that it was just after midnight. She had just spend the most perfect night with Ved. It had been her first time and Ved had been very gentle and sweet and just perfect. She detacthed herself from his arms very slowly, careful not to wake him up. He just stirred and turned around in his sleep.

With pounding heart Cloe got out of bed and got dressed silently. She was scared that he would wake up and find her leaving. She would then have to lie to him again and it made her heart ache. She walked around the bed and found his pants on the floor. She dig through his pokets with shaking hands undtil she found his card. A single tear escaped the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. This was her biggest betrayal. When he found out, he was never going to forgive her.

She fled to the door, not looking back at him as she slid outside, fearing she would not be able to if she looked at his face. It closed shut behind her with a soft sound and she ran to Patsy's room as fast as she could. Together they ran down to the basement and found pillows and blankets, which they carried to the dungeons. They told the guards they were sent here to provide the prisoners with blankets and they let them in without questioning.

"Did you get it?" Ebony asked as soon as the girls were inside.

"I got it," Cloe said in a monotone voice.

"Excellent!" Ebony said and went back to Slade, "You ready to go?" He nodded and got up. Cloe ran the card through the device and it clicked open. Patsy ran into K.C's arms and hugged him tight.

"Alright," Slade said, "Time to split."

"I'm coming with you," Patsy said, looking up at K.C.

"Patsy, no – it's too risky," K.C said firmly, "What if we get caught? You'd be in trouble as well. I won't have that."

"I coming!" Patsy said just as firmly, daring him to argue, "I won't be without you."

"We'll all go," Ebony said, "Let's get the hell outta here."

"Okay, okay," K.C gave in, not really wanting to leave her in here after all. He looked Patsy in the eye, "But keep close to me."

"Always."

As they walked towards the door, Cloe faltered and then stopped, "I'm staying." The others looked back at her.

"Cloe, are you sure?" Ebony asked, taking a step towards her.

"I'm sure," Cloe said, "My work here isn't done." And she couldn't leave Ved. It was simply not possible.

Patsy went back to hug her friend, "Please be careful."

"I will. Now go!"

They opened the door with Ved's card and K.C and Slade took out the two surprised guards, dragging them inside the cells and locking them up. Then they fled up the stairs and down the hallway. Cloe ran back to her room and snug inside sounslessly. She put the card back into Ved's pants, stripped down and crawled into bed. Halfawake, Ved wound his arms around Cloe's body and pulled her closer, snuggling his face in her neck and sighed deeply. Cloe let out a long breath and tried to steady her heart. She hoped she could sleep like this forever – warm and safe in his arms.

Deep down, she knew that was just a naive dream.