"Come on, Lexa, put your back into it," Doc called.
She grunted and tugged at Quinn's arm. "He's too heavy!"
"It's about leverage," he told her. "Don't pull. Use your hip to bump me forward. The momentum is all you need."
They'd been trying all morning to teach Lexa how to flip someone larger over her shoulder, but she couldn't seem to get it.
"Hellcat, this is basic close-quarters combat. You don't figure this out, we might as well teach you to sew."
Lexa let out an impressive string of swear words, including something about Doc's mother. Quinn threw back his head and laughed. She was so cute when she was indignant.
"Mistake," she growled, and with surprising speed, she rammed her shoulder into Quinn's stomach and, as he bent over, dragged him over her back to drop him on the floor gasping like a fish.
"Yes, just like that!" Doc said, laughing so hard, tears were in his eyes.
That hurt Quinn's pride, and he struggled to his knees. "Lucky shot."
Lexa propped her fists on her hips. "Was not. Want me to hit you again?"
"Enough, enough," Doc said. "You two have been sniping at each other all day. You need a break. Go play."
"Play what?" Lexa asked. "We can't go outside anymore."
"And who's fault was that?"
Quinn and Lexa pointed at each other.
"Exactly," Doc barked. "Reprogramming all the gardening equipment to mow the words 'Maren's Pizza Parlor' in the grass was a bad idea."
"It was Quinn's idea!"
"Lexa crawled into the garden shed and disabled all the safeguards."
"You thought it up!" she said. "And now we're being punished."
He glared at his shoes. She had no idea just how much punishment was to be had after a prank, and that was the point. Maren told him he had to keep her in hand, so every time they got in trouble, he took the blame. Being grounded to the house paled in comparison to the burn marks on his lower back. He felt like they'd never heal-and they might not, since Piers repeatedly burned the same spots to "keep the merchandise as damage free as we can."
Merchandise. Slave. Bolt.
Names he'd been called that meant he was less than human. None of that was Lexa's fault. He was just having an ugly day. Anger stirred in his chest, and he knew he was seconds away from blowing. He turned and stormed out of the room.
Lexa called after him, but he used his long legs to his advantage and outdistanced her easily. He banged into the stairwell and took the stairs two at a time to end up on the ground level near the service entrance. Maren was getting a delivery of food from a gourmet shop in town. Guests again. Another night of pretending to be invisible so no one would know she'd succeeded in creating artificial children. He tried to tell her it didn't matter-that he could pass for human easily-but she said his existence was top secret, and the incident with the Shaws only made the need for that more apparent.
He stared out at the beautiful spring day. A soft breeze whistled into the delivery bay, bringing the scent of cut grass and the rose bushes near the gate. The human guards were busy chatting up the cute delivery girls, while the artificial guards inspected the cargo. It would be so easy to walk away. Turn invisible and leave this place behind. Trackers messed with internal electronics, so he didn't have one-the last artificial that had one installed had gone homicidal. Instead, they used pain switches to ensure compliance? but Quinn didn't have one of those, either. They were so confident in their ability to find a rogue artificial that they allowed him his free will. And they were so confident they'd cowed his free will that they didn't worry about him roaming the house without supervision.
Their arrogance made him seethe. If it weren't for Lexa, he'd do it. He'd walk away.
"Beanpole? What are you doing down here?" Piers whispered in his ear.
Quinn jumped. He'd been so lost in thought that he'd failed to hear the man creep up on him. "I needed some air. This is the closest I can get."
"Now, that's not true. Your bedroom window opens two inches. Why are you really here? Thinking of disappearing?" Piers grabbed him by the back of his T-shirt and yanked him into the hallway. "I'm watching you. Screw up and little Lexie might suffer your punishment for a change."
Quinn's nostrils flared. "What do you want with me? Why are you always lurking like some kind of candy man waiting to take me to the black market?"
"Candy man? Black market? Where did a Bolt like you learn about those things?" Piers's smile was wolfish, turning his cold, pinched features into something primal. "But what I want is simple. I want you to understand that you can't outsmart me. Petty tricks are one thing, but you ever try to escape, and I will hunt you down like the abomination you are."
"Don't you call him that," a shrill voice demanded.
Quinn froze. "Lexa, it's fine. Go back upstairs."
But Piers was already on the move. He lunged and grabbed her wrist. "Don't you ever talk to me that way, rat."
"Don't you talk to me that way, you piece of shast!"
Quinn didn't have time relish the shocked look on Piers's face as he realized Lexa wasn't scared of him before she twisted, threw him over her shoulder, and came up holding his stunner. She aimed it at Piers's head. "Oops, safety's off. Move and I'll burn your brain out."
"Lex," Quinn said, hands up. He moved slowly away from the wall. "Put the stunner down. This is trouble we don't need."
"He called you an abomination. He called me rat. He hurts you-I don't always forget, you know, no matter what kind of pills they give me. This has to stop." She looked down the hall, to the delivery bay. "We could go. Quinn? We could go."
"You go, and I'll have you down in seconds," Piers growled, staring at the business end of his own stunner.
Lexa tightened her finger on the trigger. "Nah, you'll be too busy drooling and wetting your pants."
Quinn was about to suggest they all forget this happened when Piers lunged for the stunner. Lexa, fast as a young cheetah, dodged him, jumped, and shot him on the fly. He dropped, his limbs twitching.
Lexa shoved the stunner into her belt. "Let's go."
Quinn took a look at Piers's limp form and smiled. Suddenly, he wasn't afraid anymore. What was left to be afraid of, anyway? They were dead, either way, so why not taste freedom first. "Ladies first."
They crept into the delivery bay. The two artificials were reloading the crates after their search, and the human guards were still flirting with the girls.
Lexa led Quinn along the wall, walking light on her toes. He tried to emulate her, but he was too big to stay hidden in the shadows, so he frog crawled instead. Maren's fleet of hovers would hide them most of the way, but they would have a few moments in the open at the bay doors.
"Lex," Quinn breathed. "Wait until the delivery hover starts up and slip out as they leave."
She gave him a thumbs up and crouched in the corner near the door. Quinn scooted in next to her, his heart hammering like crazy. They were doing it. They were really leaving.
The delivery hover spooled up with a whine. Lexa caught his eye, jerked her head at the door, and crept forward. The door started to close, and they rolled out of its way into the edge of Maren's garden by the gate. Being surrounded by thorn bushes wasn't what Quinn imagined his first few moments of freedom would be like, but he'd take it. He breathed in the scent of roses. They smelled different out here.
"Okay, where to?" Lexa asked.
"To the lake. There's lots of places to hide in the ruins, and if we need to, we can swim out so dogs won't be able to track our scents."
She nodded, and they crawled down to the edge of the drive, watching for guard patrols on the roof.
"We're clear," she said, darting out into the road.
Quinn hurried to catch up, then took the lead as they sneaked through the alley and into the field of grass near the lake. Lakefront property-so many places to hide. He showed Lexa how to army-crawl through the field, staying low so the cameras or guards wouldn't see them. Their progress was slow, t
hough, and before they made it to the towers Doc had shown him all those months ago, the alarms went off at Maren's house.
"Go!" Quinn said, shoving Lexa toward the lake. "Into the water. Hurry!"
Guards were pouring out of the house and into the field like ants after a discarded candy bar. Quinn shoved Lexa again.
"Doc didn't teach me to swim yet," she whispered, eyes huge.
"It's simple. Hang on to me, and if we need to go under, hold your breath. We can hold our breath longer than regular humans. We'll go under a minute at a time, okay?" He pulled her into the water and settled her on his back. "Just like a dolphin ride."
"What's a dolphin?" she asked. Her teeth chattered audibly next to his ear as the cold water seeped over them.
"I read about them once. They're mammals, but live in the ocean."
"They can't have gone far!" Piers yelled. He sounded murderous. "Find them or I'll have you terminated."
Shouts and the sounds of men running spurred Quinn forward. "We're going under. One, two, three." He kicked off from the bottom and dove into the murky shallows, using the slimy underwater grass to pull them along rather than kick his feet and give them away.
They surfaced a few moments later, and Quinn stayed low. The men were walking a grid through the field, while Piers and another guard took off in a security hover. He flew straight toward the lake.
He'd have heat-sensing equipment on board.
"Lexa, we're going under again. Longer this time."
"O-o-okay."
He dove, using one hard kick to push them to the bottom. There, he slithered along like an eel among the water plants, hoping they were deep enough to hide their heat signature from Piers.
The water was dark and dirty, so he had to feel his way. That's how he missed seeing the concrete piling. He rammed it with his shoulder and Lexa let go.
No! He looked up, and she was floating to the surface. He clawed his way upward only to find Piers's hover right over them.
"Clever, but not clever enough, beanpole," he shouted. "Now, swim back to shore, or I'm going to shoot you and pay the consequences with Ms. DeGaul later."
Lexa bobbed next to him, fear in her eyes. "I can hold my breath longer. Promise."
Quinn put an arm around her waist to keep her afloat. "It's no good. We tried. It's over."
She slumped against him. "I won't let you take the punishment."
"You have to," he said. "She'll kill you, otherwise."
As he started paddling toward shore, careful to keep their heads above water, Lexa said, "But I'm afraid that this time, she'll want to kill you."