Runaway Chef

By Cassandra Hamm

If Remy didn’t know any better, she’d say they were heading farther into Lord Filch’s fortress instead of toward its exit.

The dull blare of an alarm punctuated Remy’s footsteps as she followed Kyanne through the servants’ passageway. Only Axel’s hand in hers kept her noodle legs from collapsing. “Kyanne,” Remy gasped, “where exactly are we going?”

Without slowing, the elderly woman said, “The kitchen cellar leads outside.”

Axel grunted. Remy couldn’t imagine how much pain he was in from his recent round of torture.

“My granddaughter, Cinnia, is in the kitchens,” Kyanne said. “I’m not leaving without her.”

Cinnia—the broad-shouldered teenager who loved to experiment with spices. Remy could almost imagine the girl being her assistant back at the rebel base.

Of course, that required getting back to the base.

“Fine,” Axel said through gritted teeth. “As long as you can get us out of here.”

“The rebels can survive one more minute without their fearless leader,” Remy said.

“Never thought I’d hear you compliment me,” Axel said.

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

They burst through the door at the end of the passage. Remy blinked in the fluorescent light. The kitchen staff gaped.

“Cinnia?” Kyanne weaved through tables stacked with pots and pans.

Remy’s mouth watered. Thin, crisp nozpeca slices rested on a cutting board. Nearby sat a bowl of batter full of honey-sweet lavi flowers and tangy airi leaves.

Axel yanked open a drawer, then another, startling the staff away. His scowl deepened with each thunk!

Hiding a smile, Remy opened the knife drawer. “I think you’re looking for these.”

Cheeks pink, he began rifling through the knives for a suitable weapon.

“I can’t believe you turned my grandma into a rebel.” Cinnia bulldozed her way through the remaining servants. “Way to go, seriously. It’s about time.”

“It was long overdue.” Kyanne knelt by the wall and unlatched a trapdoor.

“I heard some rebel rats had escaped.”

The calm voice made Remy freeze. She’d heard it too many times––both to snap at her while she cooked and to condemn Axel to chains and her to servitude. Boss Lady.

Snatching an uncut nozpeca, Remy spun around. The woman who’d captured Remy and Axel stood in the doorway, gun drawn.

Axel dragged Remy behind a kitchen island. A gunshot cracked the wall behind where she’d stood, splitting plaster. She screamed. Kyanne disappeared through the trapdoor.

“Give up this charade,” Boss Lady called. “Reinforcements will be coming any moment.”

Axel peered around the island, gripping the knife hilt. Cinnia, back pressed against a cart, clutched a pan. Now the sweet-smelling batter made Remy’s stomach lurch.

“You said my cooking was the best you’d ever tasted,” Remy said. “Doesn’t that count for something?”

Footsteps. Cursing under her breath, Remy darted to another island, Axel close behind.

“I did.” More footsteps. Boss Lady was on the move again. “But you’re more trouble than you’re worth, chef.”

Cinnia crawled under a table, emerging on the other side of the aisle.

Boss Lady’s boots thumped, too close. Remy froze, nozpeca in hand. There was no time to hide—

“Wait!” Axel stood. “Don’t shoot until you hear me out.”

Despite the blood on his scarred face, the bruises marring his muscular arms, he looked far more regal than Filch ever would.

“You’re in no position to bargain, rebel.” Boss Lady came into view. Her finger rested on the trigger, the barrel aimed at Axel’s heart.

“I’m the leader of the rebellion,” Axel said.

Remy gaped at him. The information she’d been trying so hard to hide… Would Axel’s words really save them or just make things worse?

“Some leader.” Boss Lady’s eyes flicked dismissively over Axel. Remy contemplated smacking her.

“If you kill me, you lose all bargaining power,” Axel said.

Cinnia materialized behind Boss Lady. Pan in hand, she inched toward the Faithful.

“You’re right,” Boss Lady said. “I guess we’ll just have to settle for the chef.”

She aimed her gun at Remy’s forehead. Remy froze. She was on a cutting board, and Boss Lady held the knife.

“Wait—” Axel cried.

Cinnia’s boot scuffed against the tile. Boss Lady turned.

Remy hurled the nozpeca. It glanced off Boss Lady’s jaw. She whipped toward Remy, fury in her eyes. Axel lunged, embedding his knife in her bicep.

The gun went off. A bullet clipped the side of Remy’s foot. She screamed as fire shot up her leg. Pots and pans rang with the reverberations.

Cinnia smashed Boss Lady’s ear with the pan. Boss Lady slumped sideways, gun clattering to the ground.

“Remy!” Axel gripped Remy’s shoulders. “I didn’t realize—”

“I’m fine,” she mumbled.

Cinnia, still clutching the pan, yanked open the trapdoor. “Grandma?” she whisper-shouted.

“Oh, Cinnia! I heard the gunshots, and—” Kyanne’s voice was choked.

Cinnia descended into the blackness.

Axel drew Remy to her feet, then helped her to the trapdoor, each step fresh torture. “I’ll go first,” he said.

She wobbled without his support. The alarm continued its incessant shrieking. Was that the sound of more Faithful?

“Jump, Remy,” Axel said. “I’ll catch you.”

Forcing herself to breathe, Remy tipped into the emptiness. She slammed into Axel’s waiting arms, yelping as pain exploded through her bullet wound.

Cinnia darted past them and closed the trapdoor, dousing the cellar in darkness.

“I scouted ahead,” Kyanne said. “We’re the only ones here.”

“Good.” Axel’s chest rumbled against Remy’s cheek. Each step he took jostled her foot, but she stifled her whimpers.

“You really don’t have to carry me,” she said. “You’re hurt too—”

“I’ll always carry my chef,” he said.

She curled into his broad chest, his words filling her with warmth. I’m his chef.

“So, you’re really the rebellion’s leader?” Cinnia said.

“Yes,” Axel said.

“And you’ll really let us join the rebellion?”

“Of course. You hit a Faithful with a pan,” Remy said.

“A pan?” Kyanne sounded aghast.

Cinnia laughed.

They ran through the darkness, runaway rebels on their way to freedom.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cassandra Hamm is a psychology nerd, jigsaw puzzler, and hopeless romantic who spends most of her time lost in another world. Her work appears in various anthologies, including Stories that Sing, Bingeworthy, and Sensational from Havok Publishing; Warriors Against the Storm; When Your Beauty is the Beast; and Faces to the Sun. She suspects she may end up as a cat lady (or the owner of a Warrior Clan).

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