I almost laughed out loud.
Like I know how to pilot a hovercopter. I scampered over to it anyway. With an agent right outside the door, I could hardly go that way.
I crawled inside, inhaling more dust than air. I wheezed, trying not to cough out loud. That didn’t work. I sank into the pilot’s chair while sneezing into the crook of my arm.
I froze, waiting for the spark of a taser. For an angry voice to yell, “Don’t move!”
The door opened. Someone took a few tentative steps. I squeezed my eyes shut, as if that would make me invisible.
After a minute that felt like forty, the door closed.
When I opened my eyes, a large panel of knobs stared back at me. I wished I’d paid more attention to that pilot. I didn’t even know where to put my hands.
Or how to start the stupid thing.
So I did the only other thing I could think of. I willed the machine to turn on.
And it did.
My right hand naturally reached out and gripped the joystick in front of me while the left one fiddled with a few knobs on the ceiling.
I had no clue what I was doing, but all my movements felt practiced. Precise. I flipped two more switches and the fans whirred to life. I eased the controls back and the hovercraft, get this, hovered.
I wanted to throw up. But something about flying this machine felt . . . easy.
I maneuvered it toward the simulated wall. Or at least where I thought it would be.
A grating of metal on metal caused a string of sparks. I yanked the controls to the left and around the corner just as the door flew open. I tapped three buttons in quick succession and pressed the joystick flat against the control panel.
The hovercopter shot forward, straight toward the glass.
I closed my eyes just before impact. Yeah, I’m that kind of chicken. I expected to bounce off the barrier, get bloodied up and then arrested.
Instead, the glass broke. The hovercopter sailed into the ocean, leaving the agent behind.
The machine didn’t handle as well in the water. I made clumsy turns, following an unknown path. I just felt like I was going the right way.
Up ahead, a wall of coral shone brilliantly. A steel door beckoned.
I flipped a switch, and the door slid to the side. I quickly maneuvered into an elaborate tunnel of seamless tech, tapped the switch and twisted to watch the door slide shut. Ocean water glistened on the floor. Then my hand located another button and pressed it.
Tiny holes opened in the floor, successfully draining the water. I focused on piloting the hovercopter, and before I knew it, I entered a cavern carved in dark brown rock.
I powered down the craft and got out. Four stalls lined one wall. Each one housed a hovercopter. What a great getaway cave.
A single doorway lay across the cavern. The walls were stone, built before the earth had burned and the Association of Directors was founded. The floor sloped downward, and the air grew colder with each step. My eyes adjusted to the darkness with ease, probably because I willed them to.
The light from the cave had faded by the time the hall branched in two directions.
Control or don’t control.
Alone or together.
Zenn or Jag.
Duty or death.
I hate only having two choices. Really, really hate it.
Now, staring at the solid wall in front of me, with an option to the left and one to the right, I wanted a third alternative. I pressed my palm to the stone. It felt rough and smooth at the same time. Hot and cold. I closed my eyes. I leaned into the wall, willing it to move.
The stone sank into the ones surrounding it. Soon the rock had moved six inches and a loud noise shook the air around me. I stepped back as the wall slid to the side as if built on rickety old tech.
I moved through the opening into a cavern without a ceiling. Jag was very close; I felt the thrill of his touch in my mind.
Numerous hallways branched off the chamber where I now stood. More choices.
Rescue Zenn.
Join Dad and the Association.
Run away with Jag and live on the beach.
Save the world.
Before I could decide, Zenn’s controlled voice echoed behind me. “She’s here, sir. I can sense her.”
I could almost feel the caress of his hands on my face. I paused, desperate to help him. He hated being controlled as much as I did. I knew he’d helped me remove the sticker. As much as he was able, he’d always protected me.
“We must find her before she enters the center.” Dad’s tone chilled me. I probed the minds of the people with him and found a dozen SF agents.
Violet, Dad said when he discovered me lurking in his mind. Zenn loves you.
Determined in my decision, I filled my mind with memories of Jag.
Zenn’s voice grew louder. He called my name. I willed the wall to move back into position, blocking him.
Then, choosing a tunnel, I ran.
Jag stood in a circular chamber, his eyes shining like he was on the best adventure of his life. His pants hung too low, his shoes looked too big, his shirt faded into the blackness around it. The gems on his necklace glowed in the dark with a light that softened his jaw.
I ran to him and wrapped my legs around his waist when he caught me. He spun with me, both of us laughing.
Yeah, all right, I was in love with Jag Barque.
“Zenn’s here,” I whispered into his neck. “He’s being controlled by my dad.”
“Where’s Gavin?” He set me down and wiped my cheeks. I hadn’t realized I’d started crying.
“Gavin. We need to talk about Gavin.” I stepped back. I didn’t need to say more. Jag would pick up on my feelings.
He drew me into an embrace, leaning his forehead against mine. “She’s nothing to me. Just my trainer.”
“Jake said you spent hours in her bedroom.” I hated the accusation behind my words.
“Jake talks too much.” His eyes filled with adoration I didn’t deserve. “Vi, you’re my Choker.” He didn’t use his voice.
I nodded slightly, stupid tears spilling down my cheeks. Jag wiped them away before kissing me.
“So what’s with that stupid simulator?” I asked. “Jake said you—”
“Like I said, Jake talks too much. You needed that test.” He chuckled. “So, where’s Gavin?”
“I don’t know. And what test?”
Jag strung his fingers through mine. “Jake has this elaborate system for discovering talent.”
“Making people pick doors is his elaborate system?”
“Yeah. Works, too. See, he programs the simulator for three talents: tech, elements, and genetic adaptations. Every ranger falls into one of those categories. When you select the door with your true talent, you’re led here.”
“So it’s not a simulator at all.”
“Sure it is. For the two talents you don’t have. Everyone gets a clue. I wrote yours.” He sounded so proud of himself.
I wanted to inform him that his low-class, two-word clue was anything but helpful. He squeezed my hand hard, so I kept my mouth shut.
“So, did you pilot the hovercopter?” he asked. “Or ride the wind? Or maybe you adapted. Sprouted wings, perhaps?”
“Sprouted wings?” I was so glad I didn’t pick the door with the darkness. “You’re insane. I flew the hovercopter.”
“I know. You have a way with tech.”
“What don’t you know?” I hated how he was always right.
“I’m not always right. I’ve just seen you take out a Mech or two. Or twenty. So, where’s Gavin?”
“I don’t know. My dad—oh, no.” I gripped his hand tighter. “My dad was at Ty’s house. What if he arrested her?”
“Her place is insulated. He can’t touch her.” He moved his hands to my face, and his cool breath brushed my cheek. “You guys have such a powerful bond. And such strong gifts. I guess that’s what you get from someone like Thane.”
I
looked around the cavern so I wouldn’t have to think about my dad. It was empty except for the two of us.
“And Zenn?”
Jag’s jaw tightened. He stepped back, scrutinizing me. I knew that look. He was checking out my feelings. I didn’t try to hide them. Maybe he could make sense of the mess I had going on inside.
“Ty said he arranged her escape. He helped me remove my sticker.” I held up my hand so Jag could see.
He traced the thin scar. “Zenn was my best friend for years. We share the same goal, but believe in two very different methods for achieving that goal.”
“You can’t blame him for what he’s done while being controlled. That’s not fair.”
“What if he’s used his control in bad ways too? Then what?”
I searched Jag’s face, finding the little boy inside who simply wanted to be told that everything would work out.
“He helped me remove the sticker,” I repeated.
“Doesn’t mean he’s a good guy now.”
“There are no good guys, Jag. That’s just it. Good and bad mean nothing.”
The fire entered his eyes. “I don’t believe that. And neither do you. There are things we think are right and things we think are wrong.”
Yeah, he was right. But my dad’s words haunted me. It’s all about who you choose to believe.
And I still didn’t know what I believed.
“What now?” I asked. “Jake said I’d find what I needed down here.”
“And you will.” Jag picked up his backpack. “Use your connection to find Gavin.” He stuffed something in his back pocket. “I gotta go.”
I grabbed his arm. “No way. Where are you going?”
“We’re sending our people to White Cliffs. There’s a council meeting set for tomorrow morning.”
“White Cliffs?”
“It’s a couple of hundred miles north. Don’t worry, you’ll be teleporting with Pace. I have to help with the evacuation. If Thane shows up, I can use my voice to make sure everyone still gets out.”
“I’ll go with you.” Everything I wanted to say but couldn’t, everything Jag needed to know about how I felt about him, filled those four words.
He took both my hands in his and studied them as he spoke. “Pace and Gavin are coming here. Then you guys will all teleport to White Cliffs. I’ll meet you there in a couple of hours. Please, wait for Pace.”
“No. You won’t make it to White Cliffs.” I just knew, like I knew he wouldn’t come out of his house in the Badlands, like I knew how to fly the hovercopter.
“Of course I will, babe. I told you I’d never leave you.”
But I heard the lie hiding in that promise. After all, he’d left me before. I shook my head, fighting back angry tears. “No. Don’t go.”
He leaned down and kissed me with a new edge to his mouth I hadn’t felt before. Something desperate and raw. It seemed like he’d never stop. Then he pulled back and whispered, “I’ll find you. I love you.” He turned quickly and disappeared down a tunnel.
I stood in the dark chamber—a place where I was supposed to be able to find what I needed.
But there was nothing there.
Just me.
46.
I checked my pockets for the phone. My fingers closed around something hard—the teleporter ring I’d taken from Baldie. Along with the diminishing tech, the locator, and my food cube, the phone completed my arsenal.
I closed my eyes and connected to Ty. She was a few hundred yards away, on the opposite side of the wall behind me. I crossed to it and put my hand on the stone. She did the same; I felt her touch as if we were skin to skin.
“Left,” I whispered. Ty kept her hand on the wall to maintain our connection.
“Left again,” I directed. A few turns later, she entered the chamber.
“Thanks, Vi,” she said, grinning. “Well done.” She had changed into jeans and wore her phone clipped to a holster around her bicep. “You’re a natural.”
She checked the screen on a piece of tech. “Hmm. No directional readings. No Directors.” She pocketed the device and held out a purple pill.
“I don’t want that,” I said. “I jumped off a building last time I took one of those.”
“That wasn’t because of the pill.”
“I still don’t want it.”
“You’ll need them,” she argued. “Thane will try to confuse you with the tech.” Ty pressed the pill into my hand. “Take it. Trust me, you’ll need it.”
I studied her face. “All right.” I swallowed the pill, but nothing happened.
Unless you count the fact that I didn’t sense the tech buzz before the man appeared. I scrambled behind Ty as she took refuge in the shadows.
The man twitched. His silver hair fell in a ponytail down his back. One final shiver ran through his body before Pace Barque turned. His gray eyes didn’t sparkle the way I remembered, and his cheeks were sunken into his face. Ty squealed and ran toward him.
“We need to go,” he said as he hugged her.
“To White Cliffs?” I wouldn’t leave without Jag.
He ignored me and frowned. “Thane—uh, your dad—will be here soon.”
“Jake said he couldn’t find us here,” I said.
Pace reached into his pocket. “I know, but technically, Thane’s the only one who can’t enter. Zenn and his squad of agents can—and will—be here any minute. Here, take these. We’ll be in White Cliffs in a couple of minutes.” He passed a teleporter ring to Ty.
When he handed me a ring, I took it and slipped it into my pocket with the other one. “I’ll get Jag and meet you there.”
“You can’t go to Jag,” Ty said, her voice foreign. “He’s going to Freedom. It’s the only way to satisfy Thane.”
The darkness in the stone chamber settled around me. The air thickened, too cold to breathe. “Freedom?” No way that was happening.
“We really need to go,” Pace said, looking over his shoulder. “I promised Jag I’d get you to White Cliffs safely, Vi. Come on.” He reached for me, but I stepped back.
“I’m not leaving without Jag,” I said, turning.
Tyson clutched my elbow. “You can’t go. Jag isn’t going—”
“Did you see him getting caught?” I asked.
“Not exactly.” She glanced at Pace. “He goes willingly.”
“You knew?” I looked at Pace, who studied the ground. “You both knew and didn’t tell me?” Hot tears pricked my eyes. I fumbled for the rings in my pocket.
“Vi, Jag’s known his role since the beginning.” Pace stepped forward, his smoky eyes glassy with tears.
“No.” I shook my head. “No.” This could not be happening. I would not abandon Jag. He filled my empty places.
Pace put his arms around me and drew me into his chest. His strong heartbeat pounded in my ear, the same way Jag’s did. “He knew he’d be the one to go. He just didn’t know about you until you showed up in prison. He almost ran away yesterday. He didn’t know if he could give himself up. He did it to save you.”
“Did what?” If I hadn’t spoken the words, I wouldn’t have recognized my voice. My breath came in spurts. My heart flopped against my ribs.
“He has to go with Thane,” Ty said. “I saw it a long time ago. That’s why he accelerated his training.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m never wrong,” she murmured.
“But you didn’t see me.” Every breath fanned the flames erupting in my chest. Surely my heart would stop pumping, as though the thought of losing Jag meant it no longer had a reason to keep beating.
“I saw that Jag would find someone instrumental to the Resistance. He found you.” Ty closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she merely shook her head.
“Vi, he knew he’d have to go,” Pace said.
“Shut up!” I pushed him away. “You’re lying. He would’ve told me. Tell me you’re lying.” I controlled them, willing them to tell me it was all a lie.
<
br /> They didn’t.
Instead, they shifted closer together, their faces grim.
I knew he’d lied when he’d said he wouldn’t leave me. He’d known all along that he would. My mind sharpened with the anger coursing through my veins.
Jake’s words came back to me as I gulped air. Remember the things he’s told you, no matter how small.
Oxygen spread through me, forcing the rage out. My mind was calm as I recalled something Jag had told me: We have to stay together. We have a better chance of survival if we stay together.
And his last words to me: I’ll find you. I love you.
He might have been willing to leave me, but I’d be damned before I’d leave him. I plunged my hand into my pocket and withdrew the rings. Fear spread across Ty’s face. Pace almost smiled.
“He needs me,” I said, placing one ring on my finger.
“No!” Ty lunged forward.
“Jag.” I disappeared as Ty’s fingers closed on nothing.
47.
I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t see. But I could hear. People whispered and moved around me. Flickers of techtricity licked my senses every few seconds, and when my sight returned, I saw a line of people in front of me.
A man—Baldie—stood at the head of the line, handing out rings. People slipped them on, spoke, and teleported away. The crowd snaked around a cramped, square courtyard and then out through an archway.
Jag loitered in the shadows next to the entrance, his arms folded and his gaze trained on every person’s face as they came into the courtyard.
I dodged through the line until I melted into the darkness beside him. “Jag,” I whispered.
“Violet.” Jag’s voice healed the hurt in my soul. His touch sent a shiver through my mind. I wanted him to hold me, kiss me, tell me he loved me.
But I also wanted to live.
“I asked you to go with Pace,” he said.
“Yeah, well, I asked you not to leave.”
He went back to scrutinizing the crowd. “This is going to be much harder now.”
“What is?”
His jaw clenched, and he didn’t answer. The people shuffled forward, continued to teleport away. My plan: stay with Jag, no matter what. When he went to White Cliffs, so would I.