As much as Lucky drew her to him, she had never felt that spark. Not like she did with Cassian.
She pulled away, covering her face with her hands.
“Cora,” he murmured, and then said her name again and again. She was shaking so hard that she leaned her head against his chest and thought about how before him, before this place, everyone thought of her as a victim—her family, her classmates, the media, even Lucky. But Cassian had never looked at her that way. He had always known that beneath the smile she’d been told to wear, she was strong.
Cora started crying because she didn’t want this, and it was wrong, and she didn’t know anything about him. Cassian might have been Mali’s hero, but he could never be hers. How unfair, then, that suddenly she felt closer to him than anyone.
He touched a hand to her cheek. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”
He knew, just as she knew, that what was happening between them was wrong. That he couldn’t fall in love with a human and she couldn’t fall in love with her captor, but here they were.
“Please,” he whispered. “Whatever you ask, it’s yours. Just tell me that you feel—”
“Stop.” Her hand went to his lips, silencing him. “Don’t say that.”
His muscles were tensing and untensing as he gave up the last remnants of his fight to cloak his emotions. He rubbed a hand over the bump in his nose, turned his head to the side and cursed. He was acting just like . . . a person. And that scared her most of all.
“Cloak your emotions again,” she ordered.
“I don’t want to. You asked what I was like in my private life. Let me show you.” He leaned in, touching his forehead to hers, his lips a breath away. “You captivated me. I knew you were different. Strong. So full of potential. You baffled the researchers. You baffled me too. I did everything I could to understand you, and you were still a mystery.”
His chin started to tilt toward hers. His lips parted. “I want to know what it feels like,” he whispered.
My god. He was going to kiss her, and it was so wrong, and so was how badly she wanted him to.
She turned her head at the last second. “Don’t. If you cared for me, you’d help me escape.”
He balled his fists and straightened, trying to gain control over his emotions. He was a jealous person, she hadn’t forgotten. And Mali had said they were unpredictable when their emotions were uncloaked. As much as Cora wanted to think of him as human right now, she had to remind herself that he wasn’t.
He took a step away from her, pacing in the surf. “Is that what you want? To be away from me?”
“We weren’t meant to live behind bars.”
“What you are asking me goes against logic. You want to leave this place—leave me—when I’ve so recently discovered that you remaining close is the only thing I truly want.”
She urged her foot to take a step closer. Her hand drifted to her collar, to the charm necklace that tied her to a different world. She didn’t stop until she felt the heat from his body.
“I know,” she said. “I’m still asking.”
“Here I can at least see you, and touch you, and keep you safe from those who might do you harm. Why would I help you when I would lose even that?”
“Because I’d never be happy here. And caring about someone means you would sacrifice your own happiness for theirs.”
“That is a human way of looking at things. Not Kindred.”
“Well, you said you wanted to understand humanity.” He was silent, though he paced through the surf with his storm-cloud eyes still on her, and she added, “I’m not asking you to break the rules. I don’t want you to be punished. Just look the other way.”
He regarded her steadily, trying perhaps to see around his own mental blocks and read her thoughts. He put one hand around the back of her neck and moved closer.
His lips touched hers.
The flood of electricity broke through the dam of her lips and flowed into her chest, her arms, her head. She steadied herself against him. He hadn’t kissed before. It was stiff and hungry, but he had seen her and Lucky kissing, and Nok and Rolf. He knew what it looked like. He threaded his fingers though her hair like Lucky had. Cora let everything go, then. She didn’t care if other Kindred were watching.
She kissed him back, showing him how a kiss was meant to be, though she hardly knew either. He learned fast. His people might not kiss, but she could tell by his heart thumping under her hand that he enjoyed it, that he responded to it the same way humans did. Quick breath. Radiating warmth. Hands running over every inch of her back, arms, waist, like he had imagined this all in his head a thousand times. Everywhere he touched her rippled in goose bumps. He wasn’t careful and gentle with her, not like Lucky had been. He knew she wouldn’t break.
He was so warm, so full of energy and life that Cora never wanted to never let go. But she had to.
She pulled away from the kiss. He kept his arms around her as she closed her eyes, grounding herself in the coppery smell of his uniform. Something had happened here. They had crossed a line there was no going back from. It was a mistake—but some mistakes were worth making.
“Go at night,” he said. “The ocean isn’t as deep as it appears; there’s a pressure lens separating it from an equipment chamber beneath. You have to swim down far enough to reach it. The pressure will increase to the point where continuing feels impossible, but it’s not. You’ll break through the pressure lens. After that, you’re on your own.”
“Won’t the Warden and his researchers be watching?”
His eyes had returned to black, but his emotions were not totally gone. He pressed his lips to her forehead very softly, and then whispered a few words in her ear before letting her go.
“Leave them to me.”
He dematerialized, leaving her alone in the crashing waves.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
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51
Cora
CORA SPENT THE AFTERNOON hidden within the boughs of the cherry tree, until it was time to rendezvous with Mali. The jukebox music came, signaling dinner, and she heard the others’ voices chatting as they ate, then the crack of mallet against wooden ball as they played croquet beneath the stars.
Cora flinched at each crack, remembering Rolf slamming it into the pumpkin. She drew her knees closer. She hoped desperately that Mali had talked to Lucky, and that he’d been able to convince the others. Otherwise, it might be her head under that mallet.
Once the cage was quiet, and the house lights turned off one by one, Cora crawled from her hiding place and ran toward the side of the movie theater. She paced nervously, jumping at every shadow. She watched the house lights carefully, praying the others were all heavy sleepers. At last the sound of footsteps came, and Cora sighed with relief.
“Mali—”
But she froze. In the starlight, a tattooed face stared back at her.
“Going to leave us, sweetheart?” Leon grabbed her before she could run. “I don’t think so.”
Her heart shot to her throat.
“I wasn’t going to leave you!” she stuttered. “Please, Leon, keep your voice down. Don’t wake the others. . . .”
“I saw you out there with that black-eyed bastard. I was under the boardwalk. I heard you say you were going to escape and he would help you.” His voice bellowed. A light turned on in an upstairs bedroom, and Cora cringed.
“It’s true—I do know the way out, but I’m not leaving without you. Why do you think I’m still here?”
Rolf appeared in the house’s doorway, the military jacket slung over his thin bare chest, Nok behind him. Anger twisted their features. They tumbled out of the house just as Mali came down the trail, a few minutes too late. Her eyes darted to Cora’s, heavy with warning.
“What are you doing here?” Nok yelled. “They’re taking away my baby because of you!”
&nb
sp; Cora straightened. What was Nok talking about?
Mali leaned close to Cora. “I cannot convince them. They strongly dislike you.”
“Yeah—I figured that out,” Cora whispered back. “I was right about the ocean, but we have to leave tonight. Cassian’s distracting the other Kindred.” She glanced at Rolf, who scooped up one of the croquet mallets. “But we’ll have to get through them first.”
“If it comes to this I am ready.” Mali cracked her knuckles. Cassian had said that Mali was an incredible fighter, so she might be able to handle Rolf, maybe even Rolf and Nok, but not Leon too.
“Where’s Lucky?” Cora asked.
Nok tossed her pink hair back, narrowed her eyes. “He left. He couldn’t stand to be here anymore after you tried to kill him.”
Cora chewed on the inside of her cheek. She couldn’t leave without Lucky. Maybe they weren’t soul mates, maybe they’d hurt each other, but she owed him this one thing.
“Things have changed, Nok. I know how to get us out of here. We can leave tonight, if you’ll just come with me.”
“Escape?” Rolf shook his head. “You really are stupid, aren’t you? There’s no way out of here.”
Leon paced in front of her. “Oh, she’ll be just fine. She’s got the Caretaker on her side. I heard it myself. He’s protecting her. She kissed him, right out in the ocean.”
There was a moment of stunned silence. Cora couldn’t deny it. In their eyes, she was already the enemy, and this just distanced her even further.
“It doesn’t matter,” Nok said, breaking the tension. “Serassi gave me a device I can use to reach her, in case there’s a problem with the pregnancy. It’s in my bedroom. If you leave, I’ll raise the alarm. Not even the Caretaker will be able to help you.”
Cora looked to Mali desperately, who cracked her knuckles a few times, stretching her neck like she was warming up for a fight. Rolf was blinking up a storm, fingers tap-tap-tapping, one eye wincing like his head throbbed.
“I’m not letting you do it, Cora.” He pressed his hands against his temples. “They’re taking away our baby because of your violent outburst with Lucky. They’re taking away all the artifacts from Earth, because you used one as a weapon. If you try to escape now, they’ll think we’re too rebellious and take away the habitats, or the shops, or chain us up.”
Rolf hefted the mallet and started for her. Rolf, quiet little Rolf, who Cora was certain hadn’t hurt a fly before.
Mali cracked her knuckles one more time.
“Wait!” Cora scrambled against the movie theater wall. “Wait! If the Kindred aren’t going to let you keep your baby, don’t you want to raise it back home, where it can be free?”
“Freedom doesn’t mean anything.” Rolf clenched his jaw, as though a bolt of pain ripped through his skull. “We were free at home, and we were miserable, all of us. You want to send me back to those bullies? You want to send Nok back to the tiny apartment where she was a glorified prostitute? I won’t let you!”
Glorified prostitute? Now it all made sense—Nok’s lies and evasions about her life in London. But before Cora could think, Rolf raised the croquet mallet. Time fractured like a kaleidoscope. Mali sprang forward to stop him, but Leon lunged with a growl. They rolled to the ground, clawing at each other. Nok jumped back just before the two of them trampled her.
Cora was left facing Rolf, the boy who was once here in her place, bullied to the point of near death. He raised the croquet mallet.
“Karl Crenshaw!” she screamed, throwing her arms over her head. “Karl Crenshaw hit you with a cricket bat and nearly killed you. Cricket bat, croquet mallet—it’s the same thing. Is that who you want to be, Rolf? A bully? A murderer?”
His eyes were blinking like mad, the muscles in his jaw twitching, but the croquet mallet paused above his head.
“That’s not you,” she continued in a rush, fighting against her own throbbing head. “That’s not who you want to become.”
He staggered back, just as Mali slammed her foot into Leon’s face. Blood spurted everywhere. Cora grabbed the mallet from Rolf’s hand, but his grip on it was loosened, the mallet already forgotten. Rolf sank to his knees in the grass, looking dazed.
“Rolf, don’t listen to her!” Nok screamed.
The croquet mallet gleamed in the light from the street lamps. Still within reach. Rolf’s eyes shifted to it, debating.
Cora’s heart pumped harder. “Nok is trying to manipulate you, Rolf. I heard her on the porch hitting on Lucky. She’s been sleeping with Leon too.”
“She’s lying,” Nok snapped, cheeks bright red. All eyes went to Leon, who wiped the blood from his face and didn’t deny anything.
Rolf’s fingers started tapping again. He looked confused, like the past few weeks hadn’t happened and he’d just woken here.
This is how it ends, Cora thought. With our bleached bones buried beneath the sand.
“Is that true, Leon?” Rolf asked in a deadly quiet voice.
Leon put a hand to his head, wincing like Mali’s last punch had jarred him too hard, or else he was suffering the same headaches. “She threw herself at me, brother. Sorry.”
“Sorry? Sorry, that’s it?”
Leon coughed, still wiping away blood. “What do you want, a greeting card?”
Rolf shot back something about Leon deserving to be alone, how Yasmine would have hated him, and Leon’s entire body went rigid.
Cora took a step back.
Mali’s hot breath came in her ear. “If we do not leave now, I do not think we will have another chance.”
Rolf and Leon started throwing insults like punches. It wouldn’t be long before they were trading real blows. Across from them, Nok was taking small steps backward, glancing over her shoulder at the house. Rolf suddenly lunged for the croquet mallet, and Cora dropped to the grass, afraid of the crossfire when he swung it at Leon’s face. Her mind flashed to that first day, the fight between the two of them in the toy store. “I’ll owe you that punch,” Rolf had said, and now he meant it. He was quick, just like his twitching fingers, and he was back on his feet before Leon could catch him.
Rolf let out a furious yell and hurled himself forward—at Nok. Not Leon. Rolf tackled her to the ground, using the mallet to pin her arms as she screamed wildly. Leon was still braced to duck the blow that was less and less likely to come.
“You said you loved me!” Rolf choked, ignoring her pleas. “I saw the way you looked at Lucky and Leon, but you told me I was just being paranoid!”
Nok screamed something in a mix of Thai and English, struggling to get away.
Cora pushed to her feet. “Rolf—”
Rolf threw Cora a look over his shoulder. “Just go! Get out of here! This is between me and Nok.”
Beneath him, Nok gave one final twist, uselessly. Suddenly all the fight rushed out of her and she started sobbing, big racking tears that didn’t seem like acting at all. Nok’s whole life had been a struggle, it seemed. Rolf’s words had been enough to put together a picture of a life in London that wasn’t the jet-setting dream, but rather dirty rooms and flashing lights and bruises hidden beneath flimsy little dresses.
Rolf blinked a few times. “I won’t hurt her,” he said. His voice had grown softer, just like his grip on Nok, anger melting away into devastation. “I would never hurt her. But leave us alone; you never belonged here. If you can get out, then go. Whatever the consequences for us . . .” He swallowed hard, looking at Nok sobbing. “We have bigger worries right now.”
Cora glanced over her shoulder toward the churning sea. “Come with us,” she said.
He shook his head. “I can’t. Chances are it’s my baby. We might not be free, but we’re safe here, and right now that’s more important for the baby than freedom. But Lucky might go. Try the boardwalk. He walks there at night when he can’t sleep.”
The light overhead shifted. Mali pinched herself anxiously, throwing glances toward the ocean. Cora knew she would never see either Nok or Rol
f again, but good-byes felt wrong. Her lips wouldn’t form the words, so she turned instead, blinking hard to clear her eyes, striding toward the ocean.
“Cora, wait,” Rolf called.
She turned, brushing the moisture from beneath her eyes. Nok was still sobbing, oblivious to everything. Rolf rubbed the marks on his neck slowly. “You were right, in the medical room. I was studying their technology. Those blue cubes above the doors are amplifiers. Destroy them, and the Kindred won’t be able to open the doors with their minds. It might buy you some time. I’ll make sure Nok doesn’t sound the alarm. Now just go.”
Over her shoulder, the waves were crashing. Beckoning. Mali tugged on her arm.
“Thank you,” she whispered. He gave a curt nod, his attention already back on Nok. Cora turned to Leon. “It’s not too late.”
He cracked his knuckles anxiously, keeping a good distance from Mali, looking toward the ocean, then back toward the jungle. “I can’t. This is where Yasmine is. Her ghost won’t let me go.”
Mali grabbed Cora, and they started running for the beach. Cora didn’t look over her shoulder to see them all one last time, because she knew their faces would be burned into the space behind her eyelids.
They raced to the boardwalk, where a figure heard them coming and stood from the deck chair, in the darkness looking as vague as the night sky.
His hand drifted to the side of his skull, where Cora had hit him.
The last time she and Lucky had spoken, she had hurt him deeply. A broken head and a broken heart. She was supposed to be his partner, his match. That rainy night on the bridge would forever tie them together. He had lost his mother. Cora had spent eighteen months locked up.