Page 1

Chapter 1

The high-pitched squealin Jude Ember’s ear had him wincing. He yanked the earbud out. “Dragon damned piece of junk.”

It wasn’t the technology’s fault. The State were getting better at masking their comms signals. They were quicker at picking up when he was listening to them. It was making it harder to keep everybody safe.

“Is there a problem?” The voice of his brother Tobias sounded through the speakers. He was a hundred miles away in Alpha zone seven, scouting a potential new underground bunker for them to expand into.

Where Jude lived—a secure underground facility in Old London—was crowded. With over four thousand people in the long-abandoned Cold War bunker, they needed more space. Not that he minded. Jude was glad they had so many people joining them in the fight against the State—the ruthless leader who’d swooped in one day, killed the ruling monarchy, slaughtered the dragons, and taken their place.

“An equipment malfunction,” said Jude. “Change to channel fifteen. We should get a few minutes of peace before the State track us.”

“Copy that.”

Jude smiled ruefully. His brother was always the professional. He used to be an outgoing guy, always cracking jokes and laughing with anybody. Then he’d been buried alive for three days when the State blew up the building he was in. After that, he was different. Who wouldn’t be?

“How’s the site looking?”

“Empty.”

“Has it got potential?”

“I think so. We’ll need to drill lines for cabling so we can get power. This stuff is from the fifties. It needs a complete refit.”

“Are you thinking of setting up home there?”

“Not unless it comes with a rooftop apartment.”

That was another thing about Tobias; he hated being underground. It was the reason he’d chosen the dangerous job of finding new locations for them to set up secure bases.

“You should put in that request to Danni,” said Jude. “She’ll tell you what you can do with your rooftop apartment idea.” Danni Hannigan was in charge of all the bases. She kept everyone in line with her no-nonsense, practical attitude. As a former member of the armed services, she could drop you with one punch. Not that she ever needed to. People around here respected Danni.

“I’ll ask if I can have a private swimming pool as well,” said Tobias. “She could even join me if she liked.”

“I didn’t know you were into older women.”

“Any woman would be good right about now,” said Tobias. “It’s been an age since I’ve had anything soft and sweet in my bed.”

“You’ve only got yourself to blame,” said Jude. “If you ever stayed in the same place for more than five minutes, you’d find somebody.”

“Like Octavia, you mean?”

Jude pressed his lips together. His brothers teased him about his infatuation with the mysterious Octavia Cantrell. He didn’t care. Octavia ran the pirate radio station Flame. She’d been his constant companion in the bunker, pumping out rock tunes and passing on valuable pieces of information about the movements of the State. That information had saved him and his brothers on numerous occasions. He considered Octavia a friend. Actually, he considered her much more than that.

Tobias chuckled. “I think it’s cute you’re into her. She plays decent music.”

“And she saves our butts.”

“That’s definitely a bonus. Do you think you’ll ever meet?”

“I’m working on it,” said Jude. He’d asked Octavia to meet him three times. On each occasion, she’d turned him down, saying it was too dangerous. He hated to admit it, but it stung that she’d rejected him.

“You need to work harder,” said Tobias. “A sexy-sounding woman like that will not stay on her own forever.”

Jude nodded. That was the problem. As far as he could work out, Octavia was all alone. He’d never been able to get an exact fix on her location. He figured she must move around the country to stay under the radar of the State. It was a smart thing to do. If they ever found her, they’d kill her. She’d helped their enemies too many times.

“I’m at the next secure door,” said Tobias. “What are the schematics showing you?”

“You’re entering the living quarters.” Jude scanned the blueprints in front of him. Thanks to Kade, his genius systems-hacking brother, they had access to information on the site Tobias was scouting. “There should be room in there for at least five hundred people.”