Chapter Fifteen

 

Four weeks later, the Arena in Gilt Hollow was once again filled with Gilt Hollow citizens who were looking forward to a special Games event. After the lion fiasco at the last event, the nobles had decided that the best way to restore confidence in the Games was to hold another event as soon as possible. Tension in the Arena was high, but cheers still filled the air. Everyone wanted to believe that the loose lion had been a one off event, but Otto had determined to make sure that this Games event also went poorly. Shaking the faith of the Gilt Hollow citizens in the Games was one of the best ways to shake their faith in the Gilt Hollow Emperor and nobles. The Emperor and nobles had spent so much time assuring everyone that the Games were humane and safe, so a disaster at the Games would cause quite a bit of trouble for the Gilt Hollow elite.

But disturbing the Games this time wasn’t going to be as easy as setting a lion loose. Security was high, especially in the area of the Arena near the wild animal cages. Otto had a plan though. A plan he and Kate had come up with together after reviewing some of the inside information they had learned from the meeting minutes stolen from the Severson vault. Quite a few plans were in process, actually. But this was the first and biggest plan since the shifters had acquired the minutes, and Otto felt a thrill of excitement as he double checked the time on his wristwatch.

“Ready?” he asked.

Kate nodded. “Let’s do this.”

Otto grinned at her, and they slipped out into the hallway together, leaving behind the noisy competitors’ room. This mission would not be nearly as dangerous as robbing the vault had been, but there was still an element of danger to what Otto and Kate were doing today. And that element of danger actually made Otto happy. He had realized that the resistance required risk, and that risk brought reward. And today, he was hoping that a little risk would bring a lot more reward.

Otto and Kate walked down the hallway trying to look casual. When they reached a door marked simply “Maintenance,” they paused for a moment to make sure no one else was watching. When they were sure they were alone, they ducked inside and closed the door behind them. Then they began the descent down a dark, narrow stairwell.

Thanks to a discussion recorded in the meeting minutes about the amount of electrical power being used during Games events, Otto and the other shifters had learned the secret location of a master emergency shutoff switch deep in the heart of the Arena building. And that knowledge had given Otto the idea for the ultimate Games disturbance. Of course, Kate had insisted on coming with him for this mission, and he was happy to have her along. He trusted her to lie low when needed, or fight when needed. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to fight any guards on this mission. It sounded from the description of the shutoff switch that the switch wasn’t guarded, because no one except the nobles were supposed to know the location of the switch.

Otto grinned in the darkness. This was going to be fun.

Kate reached for his hand and squeezed it as they descended the stairs. He squeezed back, his grin widening. He was staying alert for any sounds or smells that would alert him to the fact that someone else was down here, but so far it seemed safe to say that Kate and he were the only ones. He could still hear the roar of the crowds above. The first match would be starting soon, and that’s when he and Kate would work their magic.

Otto continued to hold tightly to Kate’s hand as they reached the bottom of the staircase. A simple wooden door stood on the other side of the small empty room they had entered, just as they had expected. Otto walked across to the door and turned the handle with his free hand, slightly worried that it would be alarmed somehow, even though the information they had about the door didn’t indicate any alarms.

No alarms went off, but the door was locked.

“Hang on a second,” Otto said, letting go of Kate’s hand. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal pick he’d brought along just in case. He hoped this worked. He could smash in the door if necessary, but he’d rather not have to cause obvious damage. The stealthier this operation, the better.

To his relief, the lock was easily picked. The door creaked open, and still no alarm went off.

“I can’t believe how unguarded they left this door,” Kate said as she followed Otto into the room.

Otto shook his head. “They’re overconfident. They think nothing can touch them, and that none of the shifters would dare oppose them.”

“They’re about to find out how wrong they are.”

“Indeed.” Otto scanned the room, his eyes taking in the beeping red and green lights of the large circuit boards. He was no electrician, and he didn’t know what the majority of this meant. But he did know what the master fuse would like, and when he found it he would make good use of it. That was the whole reason he had come down here in the first place.

He could hear the roar of the crowd growing even louder, and then a pause in the noise, indicating that the announcer must be talking into his bullhorn, announcing the first match.

“Almost time,” Kate commented. Otto only nodded and kept looking, his sharp wolf sight able to see well even in the dim light.

“Ah ha! Found it.”

Kate grinned at him. “Have your flashlight ready?”

He nodded, then patted his pocket to make sure that his small flashlight was still easily accessible. Even with his wolf eyes, seeing would be difficult down here once the power was completely cut. No light at all reached this room from above.

The crowd roared again, indicating that the first match was starting. Otto looked at Kate for confirmation, and she gave him a thumbs up.

“Time to give these Gilt Hollow citizens a taste of what it feels like to have the power randomly go out,” she said.

Otto laughed. In Bear Hollow, the electricity was notoriously unreliable, and blackouts were common. But here in Gilt Hollow, especially at the Arena, the electric service never failed. Until now.

Otto flipped the switch on the master fuse, and the crowd above fell silent for a moment as the whole Arena was plunged into darkness. The silence soon switched into screams, and Otto heard Kate’s muffled laughter. He turned on his flashlight and grinned at her, just moments before she turned on her own flashlight.

“We did it,” he said simply. “Now let’s get out of here before someone comes to check on this room.”

Hand in hand, they left the room, closing the wooden door behind them. As they ascended the staircase, Otto could hear the panic and chaos from the Arena growing louder, but he had never felt calmer.

This was huge. He had undermined the safety of the Shifter Games once again. The Gilt Hollow citizens would probably riot again, and they wouldn’t be so quick to forgive a second safety lapse. The iron grip the Gilt Hollow nobles had on the city was slipping, and as more chaos came, the shifters would have more chances to strengthen their resistance. This was the beginning of the end for Gilt Hollow’s oppression of Bear Hollow. Otto could feel it in his bones. And he had Kate to thank for this. She’d been crazy to go after the minutes, yes. But she’d done it, and now they had all sorts of leads on how to weaken the Gilt Hollow regime.

Kate paused at the top of the staircase, turning to look at Otto with a wide smile on her face. The strange shadows from their flashlights gave her an eerie appearance, but he still thought she’d never looked more beautiful.

“Thanks for believing in me, partner,” she said with a wink, then leaned in to plant a soft kiss on his lips.

He winked back at her. “You believed in yourself before I believed in you. That was the most important thing. But I’ll never doubt you again. I love you, Kate. You make a pretty kickass partner.”

She sighed happily. “I love you, too.”

He paused for a moment to savor the words, then reached for the door handle. “Come on. Let’s go see how our little stunt played out.”

They switched their flashlights off and walked out into the hallway. The panicked screams grew louder, and the sounds of chaos swirled all around them. It was music to Otto’s ears. This was the sound of freedom for the shifters. Their time was coming faster than ever, and he had never been so excited to bring down Gilt Hollow.

The future was full of hope, and full of Kate. He could not have wished for more. Best of all, the smile on her face told him that she felt the same. Arm in arm, they walked together away from the staircase and toward their destiny.