The ducts were quite spacious and at roughly fifty foot intervals were small control panels, I couldn't help but smile, they had their own issues with signal down here, they provided me with easy to find markers so I could place the comm. boosters confidently whilst being able to move around up here freely, I soon found that all the grates were attached the same as the one by the air con unit, simply stuck with a glue like substance. Reassuring, as it meant I could get down from here quickly if I needed to. I moved quickly and silently, creating a mental map in my head of where I was, occasionally making notes of door numbers I could see through the grates I passed in case I needed to find my way out on the ground.

Suddenly the ducts shook violently and a rumbling noise rolled over, I pressed against the sides of the duct to steady myself, praying that it didn't collapse. After a minute or two the shaking and rumbling subsided. Was it an explosion? I hoped not as that would not help us with the escape, I muttered under my breath that Lathain had better be behaving himself.

A short while later I came to a cross roads in the ducts, taking a quick look below the grates I found I was in a dorm area, I slowed and moved more carefully, with bunk beds close to the ceiling there was an increased risk someone would see me. Most of the dorms were empty, some had children's toys scattered across the floor, these were the family rooms. I sincerely hoped that they were empty because the guys had succeeded in their work.

This hope was confirmed as I passed over an office of very panicked looking guards frantically trying to scan cameras to find the missing people. It seemed that letting the captives loose had triggered some unspoken command within a resistance cell to start their uprising, perhaps the break out had been planned for a while. The important thing was that we had them out, good. I moved on and fitted my last booster, leaving the bag behind; I didn't want it causing noise as it swung around.

I made my way back a little towards the dorm area, but activity on the ground was too much to safely get down, there were calls for head officers to meet. I figured now would be a good time to get down and out, I cast my mind back to an area just a few turnings from here, the corridor had few doorways and seemed more just a connection area between units, little foot traffic. It would do; it didn't take me long to find the right area, the grate was smaller than some of the others, sitting on a hinge, but still sealed with the same crappy sticky substance as the rest.

The grate flipped down silently, I eased my fingers from the grating and carefully lowered my head over the edge to check the corridor before me. The coast was clear this way; I spun slightly to look behind me only to stare down the barrel of a heavy Rugar pistol.

Shit.

"You're far too pretty to work in maintenance, and even if you were one of ours you're probably armed and in a section that's been designated as off limits; so I would slide out of the vent slowly with your hands up if I were you"

I focused past the gun point to the man that held it; intensely blue eyes stared at me from behind a pair of thick rimmed glasses. He wore the blazer of the base, a rough insignia hastily sewn to the upper arm; too rough a job to be standard issue, a rogue perhaps? The patch emblem roughly matching the one I had been shown by Lindsey, and I'd heard from the basic chatter of a resistance movement, was he a part of that? Everything else was home owned, in top condition but not standard regulation, his hair long enough to fall into his face. No, definitely not a standard grunt then, were it not for the patch I would have taken him as officer material, there was something else about him too; the way he held that pistol of his told me he wouldn't hesitate if he needed it. I snuck a quick glance down the corridor behind him; empty but there were a few doors, I would have to be careful not to make too much noise when I took him out. I slowly placed my hands either side of my shoulders on the lip of the vent opening.

"If you're thinking of taking me out quietly I assure you that isn't going to happen" I hid the surprise from my face, had he been reading my mind? Probably not; though now that I suspected it I thought I could feel the light tingle at the base of my spine that marked him as a mage, faint though.

"I only make a fuss if it's really necessary" I told him slowly drawing my body head first from the vent, weighting my body slightly to the left "And in this case . . ." Quick as lightning I spun my body, freeing my legs and arching them to connect with the guards face. The gun fell and skittered behind me as I dropped to the ground ". . . I guess it's necessary"

The man blinked to clear his vision and took a step back; had he been a centimetre closer it would have been lights out for him, guess we'd have to do this the hard way. With his hands raised, feet placed, he took a stance; so he was trained in unarmed combat, well unlucky for him so was I.

I dodged his first blow easily, narrowly avoided the second, wind whistled by my ear; he was using his size to press the advantage. I dodged, ducking under his arms turning to spin a kick at his solar plexus. It hit but he caught my foot, rolling inside my thigh he lifted me by my leg to slam into the wall. Sharp pain exploded across my back and I hissed, my fire berry hair fell in front of my eyes blinding me. Between the strands I saw his spare hand come towards me, I blocked and hit him square in the nose with my free hand, he let go of me and I fell to the floor, no longer supported by his arm. I dodged a knee that came up to meet my face. I rolled and kicked his feet from under him as I went; he hit the ground hard, glasses skittered from his face across the metal floor.

I rolled again and stood; he rolled onto his back and flipped to his feet. I swung in quick using his blindness to my advantage, too late I realised my mistake, a heavy steel toe boot hit me square in the chest knocking me backwards, I landed in an undignified heap on my ass, bruised. I caught sight of his glasses on the floor, the glass thick, he shouldn't be able to see . . . I looked at him more carefully a I stood brushing his boot print off my vest; his eyes clear and focused; either those glasses weren't high strength or they were for show, and if they were for show then what else was I underestimating?

He moved at me, I jumped high and gripped the open grating using it to swing my leg up to connect with his face; observant bugger must have anticipated something like this as his arm was up and ready. Caught and pinned, his momentum driving me back so I had to let go of the vent, he didn't however, anticipate the other leg swinging to connect at that most tender spot that men so love to protect. A vindictive move on my part but this guy was nails and annoying me. He went down, hard. Unfortunately for me, trapped by him so did I; I landed back first, the weight of him crushed me knocking out my breath a moment.

"That . . ." he gasped as he pinned an arm trying to hit him ". . . was a low blow . . . could have hurt someone with that" he rolled his leg up to pin across my chest and pulled my arm back in a professional pin, pain exploded across my shoulder, I gritted my teeth, from this position I had little leverage, but . . . I bided a few precious seconds

"Well, I wasn't sure if it'd work, your average grunt doesn't really carry much below the waist" despite the insult he actually grinned at me, finding the humour in the remark

"I guess that means I'm not like other "grunts" then" he said applying a little more pressure, I hissed I just needed a few more seconds . . . "who are you and why are you here?" he asked I felt the pull at my mind, easy but there, like a compulsion to answer, the pressure on my arm increased again; that was it!

I pulled hard, yelled out in the pain, using the force of my pull to lift my legs up and over the man's head and round his throat, instinct made him let go of my arm and clasp my legs but the force of momentum was too much and he went down, I rolled over him pinning him, He brought a leg up and round, unable to defend my left side with my dislocated shoulder he easily got the grip he needed and we went down together, neither able to move.

"You dislocated your own shoulder?!" he groaned at me "You're nuts"

"Nope, just using what I have" I retorted, I flexed what muscles I could, assessing the situation, a true stalemate with my shoulder on fire, I wouldn't be able to get up, but if I put him out . . . I squeezed my legs a little but I couldn't get the right angle to cut off his air, I hated stalemates, I needed an exit strategy, my eyes caught sight of his gun belt, if I could just . . .

"So are you going to answer my question?" he asked, his voice distracted, probably plotting something, he seemed the type, too much like myself, which meant I didn't just suspect he was up to something, I knew it.

"Nope"

"Really?" he sounded genuinely surprised, maybe he figured his magic should have provided him with the answers he needed, well they didn't work on me, I guess today just wasn't his day

"Really, really" just a centimetre more

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours" he said, that's when I sensed it, that pull again at my conscious, he was trying to persuade me with more than just natural charm, I huffed and took a breath, he smelled of leather and cinnamon, sweet but hardy. He smelled of home, of warmth, the leather scent pulled my mind back to times out on the hunt with Torrin; the scent so out of place in this underground hell hole, like he didn't belong here. I felt something then, a longing to be outside, and I caught the image of rain and huge trees. What?! Get a grip! I shook off the sense, more of his magic or had I just been hit too hard? Perhaps his mind magic was backfiring and I could see what he was imagining?

"So where do you want to go from here?" I asked, my fingers found their target, if I could only remove it from the holster without him sensing it.

"Well I was thinking if you weren't doing anything later we could maybe go for a drink" he said, he almost sounded like he meant it. I was glad that in my position I couldn't see his face, though I had a fabulous view of his firm backside. . .

"Think I'll have to pass" I said quickly averting my eyes "not really dating material"

"Really? Because if you weren't trying to kill me right about now I think we could have made something work out" that push again, slight, barely there but noticeable, for me anyway. I shuddered; the floor was cold, time to move.

"That's sweet" I said gritting my teeth ready "But I gotta go" I ignored the flare of temptation, not sure if it was me or him, I would have to have a sit down with my hormones and tell them all about fraternizing with the enemy! I leant back and released a leg; automatically his grip shifted, anticipating an escape, perfect. I brought my heel down into his face and I heard a crack. He released his legs and I scrambled up; he got there first, one of my blades in his hands; sneaky bastard, he really did think just like I did.

"Sorry" he said "but I can't let you go" Blood had exploded across his face and down his t-shirt, a slight sheen of sweat on his brow from the effort of the fight, he held my knife competently, ready and trained, he would do what he had to, and so would I. I smiled and raised the gun; his face fell as he recognised it as his own.

"Sorry" I said "But I don't have the time to hang around" He raised his hands in surrender, not a defeated look, but an accepting one, he couldn't take me out whilst I had this in my hand. Shame he didn't know how much I hated guns, he might have had the balls to come after me again. I made a mental note to stay as far away from him as I possibly could and to get off the base as quickly as possible. I glanced behind him, he blocked the corridor I wanted to go down, but I would simply swing back around.

I backed off down the corridor, gun aimed. He simply watched me go, blood still pouring down his face from his broken nose, I felt bad for him, it must be quite painful, but then my shoulder was on fire; sure I'd done that to myself but he'd caused it so fair game.

When there was a safe distance I gave him a wink, turned and sprinted down the corridor; ten feet to the turning, I was away!

Suddenly the ground beneath me was slick and slippery; I went down, HARD. Sliding head long into the wall at the end with a crack, I grew dizzy a moment, my hands wouldn't grip the floor . . . it was cold; too cold . . . I looked down to find my hands on ice! He'd frozen the floor! So he was a mage, damn it!

My eyes focused on him striding down the corridor, setting his nose with a snap on the way, he barely hissed at the pain! Just who was this guy? The falling flakes of snow, moisture in the air that had frozen with his attack peppered his hair as he strode forward, sure and easy strides. I had to move, there was a very real chance that he could kill me, come on MOVE! Before I could clear my head he was in front of me. I stood and he smacked aside the gun; I moved to punch him, but with my shoulder still out there was no force, I only hurt myself more as he caught it in one hand, his other hand gripped the knee that swung up to meet him. He lifted me swiftly and easily as if I weighed nothing and pinned me to the wall, my back quickly freezing from the slick ice, and with both feet off the floor I had little I could do. I punched him in the face with my free hand, he rolled his body slightly, using the weight of him to pin me there whilst he gripped my other hand.

"You are a damn hell cat" he hissed, those blue eyes of his stared at me, intense, I suppressed a shudder. From the strength of his gaze, the cold of the wall or fear I didn't know "You should apologise" his voice little more than a whisper.

Desperate I head butted his nose, cracked it again, he simply shook it off! This guy just would not go down! I arched my back and head butted him again with more force, he hissed but didn't drop me; his pin strong, he instead moved his arms to pin both of mine under one of his large hands; shackled at the wrist he now had a free hand to first wipe away the blood before placing a hand beneath my throat.

"Do it" I whispered "Cos if you don't I'll take you down" he stared at me long and hard, he didn't laugh, didn't joke as I expected. He seemed to be waiting for something, judging me, expecting something. His hand moved around my neck, finger tips brushing my hair, his thumb over my throat, lips parted as if to speak; then his blue eyes fixed on mine, suddenly softer but yet even more intense. Then slowly his eyes closed and he leant forward; his lips brushed mine, gentle and soft. I felt heat flare everywhere, my breath caught in my throat. It felt . . . felt . . .

What was I doing?!

I moved to head butt him again, bucked to get free, an arm came loose and I grabbed him by the throat, his eyes went wide from the surprise of the attack; his spare hand gripped my wrist, but my hold was strong, I stared into his blue eyes, angry for a moment, but there it was, or should I say wasn't, no sense of magic, no sense of . . . well anything, there was no maliciousness, no force only. . . I loosened my grip and leaned in, he flinched away a moment until I kissed him, his eyes widened in surprise again then kissed back, intense and all fire, he let go of my other arm pulling me closer, lifting me higher so I could wrap my legs around his waist. There was heat and need, I couldn't see anything beyond him, could only breath in the scent of leather and cinnamon, I could feel the charge building, strong firm hands and need, I needed . . . I broke off the kiss, eyes wide, what was I thinking, this was . . . was . . . He immediately sensed the change, breathing deep, husky he lowered me to the floor and took a step back. My body felt cold away from him, that moment of fire being whipped away; my pulse was racing.

"I'm, I'm sorry" I said voice deep, bad Ghost, contain yourself!

"It was my fault I . . ." he began

"No, not that" I said, my legs collapsing from under me from their shaking. "This" I let the charge go. A huge volt of electricity whipped across the floor; using his ice attack against him it carried the charge straight to the guy before me. His whole body stiffened from the shock; those azure eyes going wide a moment before collapsing unconscious at my feet.

I felt bad for him; I really did but I had to get to Lathain. I slowly rose unsteadily to my feet; smacked my shoulder into the wall to put it back into place and moved down the corridor casting back one last look at him, I tried not to let my sadness show.