Pounding footsteps sounded a little further down the tunnel and I knew my advantage would soon be lost.
I raised both my guns and somehow pushed off the wall.
Everything hurt. But most of all my heart. It was tearing apart and dying fast in these tunnels of doom. All I wanted to do was squeeze my eyes shut and wish the world away. But I didn’t. I held my hands as steady as I could and watched Garrett – who had just murdered his wife – and Sebastian Mercer, who had just skidded to his father’s side. Neither had noticed me. And for once I was grateful for their arrogance.
Sebastian was out of breath. ‘Dad!’ he screamed. ‘Dad, no!’ He grabbed his hair with one hand, his gun resting comfortably in the other.
I didn’t hesitate. From somewhere I found the strength and will to finish this. To cut off – like Eliza had wanted – the head of the snake.
‘Hey!’ I yelled, causing them both to spin in my direction.
My first bullet hit Garrett Mercer in the chest.
The gun’s kickback felt like a ball of fire slamming into my arm and caused me to stagger. But I straightened and ignored the pain. The second and third bullet came fast, hitting just below the first. Garrett barely had time to look up in shock and register who the shooter was before he went down.
My teeth chattered and my body trembled, fighting me as I forced it not to give up. Not yet.
I adjusted my aim towards Sebastian, opening and closing my eyes a few times to steady my focus.
He dropped the gun he held by his side and raised his hands. ‘It’s not what you think,’ he said quickly.
‘Did you or did you not shoot your own brother?’ I hissed through ragged breaths before I let out a cry of agony that had nothing to do with my physical pain.
He looked around nervously, keeping his hands up. ‘Yes, but –’
I shook the gun, cutting him off.
More shots sounded around us. Troops were shouting out commands about closing in the perimeters. The coded commands told me that it was Pre-Evo soldiers.
We were winning.
Just one last thing to do.
I straightened my arm and shook my head at Quentin’s murderer. ‘He was your brother and he loved you!’ I said, my finger putting pressure on the trigger just as I heard the voice of a ghost.
‘Maggie. Don’t shoot him,’ he said. Calm. Soft.
My finger hesitated and I squeezed my eyes tight again, thinking I was imagining his voice.
But then, I heard it again. Closer. ‘Mags. Please.’
I flinched and looked over my shoulder to see a form approaching through the smoke.
He was limping, a gun hanging loose in his hand by his side. He was dirty with tunnel soot and had a deep cut close to his left eye, but he was alive.
When his face cleared through the fog, I felt the tears pour down my face. ‘You’re here,’ I whispered.
Quentin nodded and furrowed his brow in that perfect way of his as he looked me over, his eyes lingering on my shoulder where Sam had tied up the lab coat.
I shook my head, increasingly confused, and kept the guns trained on Sebastian. ‘No. Sebastian told my father that you were dead, that he killed you … He was talking through a truth zip …’
‘I told your father I killed my brother. And I did kill my brother, Maggie,’ Sebastian said, causing me to jolt. ‘Just not this one,’ he said, his genuine sorrow bleeding into every word.
It still took me a beat to get it. ‘Zachery?’
He nodded.
‘Sebastian was playing both sides like Mom,’ Quentin explained, coming a little closer but still moving cautiously. ‘They just never realised it. He’s been working with a group of the United Nations. Maggie, he’s not with them.’
‘I never was,’ Sebastian threw in with a hesitant smile. ‘I’ve being implanting my own team down here for the past six months – all of them working from within M-Corp’s ranks. I’m aligned with the British arm of the UN and used my work trips to hide what I’ve really been doing.’
‘But your father?’ I said, shaking my head, worried Sebastian was tricking us. ‘You ran to him. You stood by his side, armed, and he wasn’t afraid of you.’
Sebastian nodded in a placating gesture. ‘He never knew. He never realised I’d given my team the green light. He never knew, Maggie. I swear to you, I would have shot him in the head if you hadn’t done it first.’
I glanced nervously at Quentin, who now knew I had killed his father. I was on the verge of being sick, but somehow the adrenalin kept me going.
‘Please, Maggie. I need to help my mom,’ Sebastian pleaded.
I glanced at Eliza, who wasn’t moving. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not.
I dropped my guns. Sebastian leaped over his father’s body and rushed to his mother’s side. Quentin instantly had me in his arms. I had no strength left. Everything was numb.
‘Where the hell is Gus?’ he growled, looking around in frustration. ‘He should be with you!’
My voice shook as I replied. ‘He saved me, Quin. He saved my family.’
The air left his lungs even as he continued to hold me. He knew what I was saying.
‘How badly are you hurt?’ he asked.
I took in as much air as I could and forced a half-smile. ‘I’m okay. We got the antidote. Go check on your mom,’ I said. Then, using what felt like the last of my strength, I nudged him towards her. ‘Then find my mom and brother. They’re in the core lab and they have everything Michael will need to make the antidote.’
Quentin’s brow furrowed as he looked between his mom and me. Finally he took a step towards Sebastian, who was crouched over Eliza and calling for medical support teams on his radio.
I swayed back and forth a few times, the darkness beckoning. The last thing I saw was Sebastian stand with Eliza cradled in his arms and then the world around me faded away to background noise. I heard snippets of commands and even a distant cheer. I vaguely registered the pain when my knees hit the gravel.
The world went dark and I heard the only voice I wanted to hear call my name over and over. It was urgent and yet I was suddenly calm. I let it lull me to sleep.
Finally to rest.
Thirty-three
I drowned in the dreams. The nightmares. Always the same.
My eyes are open wide.
But I can’t see.
I’m shaking and starving.
I hear my breathing.
My heartbeat.
I hear the ventilation fan.
I am alone, and yet …
A hand suddenly grasps my arm, fingers digging to the bone.
Then he is there, close to my ear, his whisper echoing off the walls until it becomes a chant that swirls around me like a tornado.
‘You chose this path, Margaret. You forced it when you should’ve left well enough alone.’
My father’s voice mocks me. Then suddenly he is injecting something into my arm.
But this time the dream changes. I see now, he is not injecting me but withdrawing. Taking part of me. Using me.
I look to my right and suddenly Quin is there. There are trays of needles around him too. He looks sick. Tired.
‘Quin,’ I whisper.
‘For the greater good, sacrifices are often made,’ my father says.
The faces come. Images of all the negs I have failed. I see them all clearly – so many. And finally, I see Kelsey. I see Travis.
I see Gus.
My father pulls me up so I can see the chaos that is my own doing. He laughs and points at Quentin who crumples to the ground. ‘You have ruined him too. Left him with nothing.’
I shake my head hard. ‘No. He has me! He has me!’
My father laughs. It is evil.
‘But you have given up. You are dying.’
Suddenly they are gone and I am back in the cell. Alone. In the dark. Starving. Quivering.
This dream is different to the others. This dream comes with a choice. I can
feel in my bones, in my veins, the life pumping through me and slowly fading away.
I am tired. Have been tired for so long. Rest beckons and, though I know I do not deserve it, it lures me. Pulling like a magnet when every other direction feels thick, like pushing through wet cement.
I inch towards the darkest of the dark.
But my hand will not go with me. It stays behind me, as if something is holding it, pulling me through the cement.
I look back.
The faces are all there. The memories. The past. The heartache. The truth of all of my mistakes. It hurts to look. But then I feel his hand in mine.
It squeezes. It begs.
I cry out to the darkness. But there is no answer. Only choice. Mine.
I am dying. I know.
But I’m not dead.
Death no longer lurks like in the other dreams, it dances all around me, so confident in its victory.
And then I am pushing towards the faces, through the pain I know I will carry with me for all of eternity. I push through it all. Because he is my choice.
He will always be my choice.
He is not just my match. He is my heart, my love, my redemption.
He is paradise.
I start to convulse. Fighting the dream and searching for reality. I know when I am getting near because it is agony. Inside and out.
Suddenly I feel the strain of my struggles and my body breaks out in a sweat. It is cold and only spurs on my battle against the demons that have me trapped.
Then I hear him. ‘Breathe. You have to breathe. You have to breathe so you can come back to me.’
His voice is getting closer.
I fight for him. I will fight forever.
‘Maggie! Feel my hands, Maggie. Feel my hands in yours.’
He has said these words before. And like before, I clench my hands. They are empty, and yet …
I feel something. Distant.
Then he speaks again and his voice is close, whispering to my heart and to my will. ‘I love you, Maggie. With everything I am, that’s the one thing I have always been sure of.’
The one thing.
I push. It hurts. I scream. The pain is so intolerable I know I am close.
And then finally, after what feels like lifetimes of struggle, I feel it, clasping my hand, urging me on. Home.
I open my eyes.
He is with me.
Quentin pressed his forehead against mine, his chest convulsing a few times.
I swallowed. My throat was raw, but I tried to speak. ‘Hey,’ I managed.
He took a deep breath and looked up. I could see the tears in his eyes that he was trying to hold back. ‘I thought I’d lost you. You … you …’ He looked around, lost for words.
It was then that I noticed we were not alone. There were a number of people around me. I thought they were doctors, but I wasn’t sure. Most were in combat gear. A few in white coats. From the hard metal table I was lying on, my eyes darted left then right. We were in another lab. There was equipment all around me, but this was not a hospital.
I flinched.
‘Still … underground?’ I asked, even though I knew.
Quentin seemed to sense this and instead answered my unspoken question. ‘We have control. We couldn’t move you, Mags. You’d lost too much blood. They needed to do a transfusion.’
I nodded, trying to clear my foggy mind. ‘Who?’ was all I could manage. ‘How?’
He knew why I was asking. ‘Me. Turns out most true matches have the same blood type, which comes in handy when you’re AB negative,’ he said with a small smile.
‘Oh.’ Then another thought occurred to me. ‘Mom? Sam?’
‘We’re here, Maggie,’ Mom said, appearing behind Quin. She was wearing gloves and one of the white coats.
‘Your mom has been taking care of you. She was amazing,’ Quentin explained.
I closed my eyes and wasn’t sure how much time passed before I opened them again, but they were both still there. ‘I thought … you and Sam were supposed to get out.’
Mom nodded. ‘Your friend Grace came to get us once all the shooting had finished. She brought us to you. You didn’t think we would really just leave you behind, did you?’
‘But … What about …?’
‘The information about the antidote has been passed on to the right people. As for the other thing, Gus’s equipment is safe whenever you are ready. But right now you need to rest.’
How could I possibly rest now?
I looked at Quentin and he raised an eyebrow.
‘Your … mom?’
Quentin dropped his head and shook it.
‘I’m so sorry. I should have …’
He ran his hand down my cheek. ‘She knew what was at stake. I’m pretty sure she walked into these tunnels knowing she wouldn’t be walking out.’
But would he still feel that way when he knew I’d just stood there and let it happen? I looked around at all of the other people buzzing around the lab. Then I saw Michael talking with another white-coated woman.
‘How long?’
‘Just over twelve hours,’ Quentin answered.
My eyes widened. ‘The antidote?’
Michael looked over then, his eyes meeting mine, and he smiled. ‘We got it. Thanks to you, Maggie. We have the cure. We’re just about to run the first batches through the tunnel water pipes. Would you like to watch?’
I licked my lips and nodded. Mom tried to argue, but Quentin helped me sit up and they turned my metal bed towards the huge monitor screens. There were dozens of them, all focused in on the neg hubs. Within each hub, the containment shells had been deflated and the negs had been returned to their prison cells.
I’d always known they wouldn’t be released straight away, but still, it was hard to see that, after everything, they were still locked up like animals.
‘Ready?’ Michael called to the room.
After a series of replies, he hit a button and across all the screens we could see fire sprinklers raining down in the negs’ prison cells.
‘We needed to keep everyone locked up to ensure they would be in the right place to receive the antidote,’ Michael explained.
‘How much do they need?’
‘Barely anything. Once it hits their skin, it will start to work.’
‘Do we have enough?’
Michael paused and looked at me then Quentin. ‘We were lucky with the supply we found. It will be enough to create the initial doses, and we have teams tracking down true matches around the country so we can gather more of their combined pheromones.’
I glanced at Quentin, who quickly put a finger to his lips, and then back to Michael, who gave me a wink before looking back at the monitors.
Somehow they’d kept our match a secret.
I let out a breath and watched in amazement as negs stood beneath the sprinkler systems as the antidote rained down on them.
‘By tomorrow we will know who really is and isn’t a neg,’ Michael commented.
‘But I thought we were going to stop the tech from telling us that. Aren’t we?’ I questioned, feeling groggy again. That was the promise Eliza had made.
‘She needs to rest,’ my mother said from behind me.
‘Wait. I want an answer,’ I said stubbornly.
‘Maggie, that is the plan, yes. But it’s complicated. Some of these prisoners were actually moved here from state and federal prisons for crimes they’d been convicted of. We need to be sure what and who we are dealing with.’
It seemed simple enough to me. If they were in prison before, then they should either be given pardon because of what they’d been through, or be sent back to a normal prison where they could have visitors and not be locked underground like sub-humans. But I didn’t have the energy to argue.
‘Why don’t you rest, Maggie? We promise it is all in good hands,’ Michael said, seeing my unease.
I watched him for a beat. He was a good guy. But bureaucracy complicated even th
e most basic solutions. Slowly I nodded, casting one more look at the monitors, and let Quentin wheel my bed to the side of the room.
I grabbed Mom’s hand.
When she saw the look in my eyes, she sighed and nodded, looking over her shoulder to someone else. A few seconds later Sam was by my side.
‘Hey, sis.’
‘Hey, Sam.’
‘Thought you weren’t going to make it there for a bit. Should’ve known you’d be strong enough to put death in its place.’
I smiled. ‘Thanks. Do you still have what I left with you?’
He nodded and discreetly pulled Gus’s small laptop out from beneath his shirt. But when he tried to pass it to me, I was suddenly woozy and my hands slipped away.
‘She needs to rest!’ Mom snapped. ‘This can wait.’ She started to push Sam and Quentin away. But Quentin didn’t budge. And Sam pushed back.
‘Give it to Quin,’ I said to Sam.
Sam looked dubious and I knew he wasn’t sure if Quentin could be trusted.
‘Please, Sam,’ I whispered. ‘Please.’
Thankfully it was enough and he handed it over. Quentin took the laptop and gave me a quizzical look.
‘It’s the program Gus developed for the first time we went in. It has everything. The proof. The pictures. The truth.’ My vision was blacking out. ‘Enter the password and the world will know.’
‘Maggie, Jesus, I don’t know. Maybe we should wait until you’re better. Until we’re out of here at least,’ he said, looking around. ‘I need to be sure you’re safe.’
I shook my head softly, knowing I would lose consciousness soon. I pulled his hand towards me and he got the idea, leaning close. ‘Then get me out of here. Your parents are gone, Quin. You and Sebastian are the heirs. You have all the power. Everyone who’s a part of M-Corp answers to you now.’
The last thing I saw was Quentin’s eyes flash with understanding. And fear.
Thirty-four
That was the last time I saw Quentin Mercer.
When I woke up, I realised he’d done exactly as I asked and moved me out of the underground. I was in an ambulance, Mom and Sam beside me. I didn’t stay awake for long – just enough to say his name and see their eyes drop. I knew it then. So I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.