“No,” I said coldly, but inside I found myself praising Maddox’s cleverness. Because in those messages, Salvatore had told Sadie to use any means necessary to secure his win in the Tourney, and she had. If there was anything that could reach my dad, that was it.
But it still didn’t make me want to forgive him.
“If you had believed me when I told you something was going on, then things might be different. But you chose not to. In fact, you told Salvatore that Mom’s loyalty couldn’t be counted on! You betrayed your own wife and daughter!”
My father met my gaze head-on during my tirade, his eyes solemn as I laid my litany of his crimes at his feet, for the whole world to hear. As soon as I was done, he nodded, his mouth tight. “I know,” he said simply—and to me, it wasn’t good enough.
“You know?” I said, incredulous. “You know?! You know nothing! You don’t know what it’s been like the last few months, trying to survive this nightmare long enough to figure out what was going on! Being set up for Gerome’s death, killing Devon Alexander! And I had no one to rely on except for Alex and my friends! And you tried to make sure of that!”
He sighed heavily and stepped closer to me, reaching for me. I jerked away, almost stumbling over the chair in the process, too angry and bitter to ever want his hands on me. He froze for a moment, arms still out, and then slowly lowered them to his sides.
“Let me try this again,” he said tiredly. “You’re right. I hurt you. I may have gotten your mother killed. It’s my fault, and I know there are no words to ever convey how sorry I am. But that doesn’t matter now. What does is that we stop whatever Sadie and Salvatore have planned.”
I stared at him. His words sounded sincere—hell, he looked sincere—but years of his abuse had left me filled with doubt and mistrust. I couldn’t believe him; it was too bizarre, too far-fetched.
And that had to be showing on my face, because Astrid made an irritated little noise and stepped around my father, placing her hands on her hips. “Look, believe your father or not. We’ve got bigger problems. We brought a contingent of Knights up here to defend against Salvatore and the others three hours ago, but we haven’t heard anything from central command in an hour. They had runners moving around with information and updated orders, but we haven’t seen any since the last one, and we have no idea what the situation is on the levels beneath us, or even in the surrounding areas. Whatever you have planned, you need to get moving. So please tell me you have a plan, or at least know what the hell is going on.”
“Sage,” I said, snapping out of my disbelief and focusing on what Astrid was saying. I didn’t like the news, not one bit, but at least there was some hope. Maddox had been doing an incredible job keeping the Knights on our side organized and working to defend the Citadel. She had been able to organize a defense against our enemies. Even though she didn’t know it, she had kept them from their true goal of getting ahold of Leo. The only problem was, she had no idea that was who they wanted, or that the sentinels were on the loose, so she couldn’t take steps to further ensure his safety.
Well, that and the fact that Astrid had lost contact with her.
Astrid cleared her throat, and I realized I had started to tell her what was going on but had gotten sidetracked by my thoughts. Shaking my head, I swallowed back my fears and focused. I needed to tell as many people as possible what was happening in case I didn’t make it to my friends or died trying to stop Sage. They needed to be aware, so they could keep up the fight. “Sage is really—”
Everything I had been about to say stopped when I heard a vicious grating sound coming from down the hall. My head jerked toward the sound, my eyes already searching for the source, and I saw the hatch we had come through now hanging by one hinge and wide open, with a pair of chromed silver legs dangling from the hole… and descending closer to the floor.
The sentinels! They had followed us. I hefted up the gun and strode toward the barricade, about to deliver orders, but Astrid grabbed my arm and jerked me around.
“We will hold this line,” she said, pausing when several lancer rounds shot by overhead, telling me Salvatore was back, and had brought friends. My hatred for him was rivaled by the realization that she was right—I had to get to Leo, not stay here and fight.
I cursed, and then began shrugging off the plasma rifle. “Here,” I said, thrusting it toward her. “You’re going to need this to take out the sentinels. Fire here, and—”
“I’ll handle that,” Dylan said smoothly, shoving the handgun into my hands and taking the rifle. “You and Rose get moving.”
I gaped at her, and then shook my head. “No, I need you,” I said, unwilling to lose her. I’d started to rely on her, and now that we were this close, I didn’t want to give her up, and leave her to potentially die. “I’m gonna need your help—”
“No, they are,” she said, pointing to the younger Knights. “And you need my help out here. I’m recognizable as your competitor, the girl who could’ve won, and I’m still on your side. That’ll make the Knights on the other side reconsider their choices, especially if we can hold the line here. So go. I’ve got the Citadel. You and the others get to the Core and stop Sage.”
Still I hesitated, not wanting to leave her. It was Rose who made the decision for me, prompted by the sharp cry of a young man on our side getting hit with lancer fire. Dylan immediately sprang toward the barricade, shouting, “Run!” while Rose grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, pulling me toward the elevator area. I stumbled forward, confused by the sudden shift in my world. It felt wrong leaving without Dylan. We had saved each other too many times to count!
“Rose, we can’t—”
We can and will, Tony said stubbornly. We are too close to finally putting a stop to this for you to be torn about it. This is what Dylan wants. She wants to keep her fellow Knights safe, and you should let her. You have to trust she can handle it and let her make her own choices!
His words made me angry, but only because he was right. There was no reason for me to think she couldn’t handle herself, and the Knights there were going to need her. Because she knew how to fight the sentinels. If anything, she was going to save everyone in that hallway—or take out as many of the enemy forces as possible.
But it was the last thought that made me fearful for her. I cast one last look at her, watching as she fired a volley of purple plasma down the hall before ducking down to avoid several crimson rounds. Some of the Knights were less lucky. The blades ricocheted and tore lines along their arms, legs, and sides. But all of them were fighting.
Fighting for me.
It was a humbling, yet necessary, reminder that I had to stop Sage. And soon. Before things could get any worse.
I poured on the speed and moved past Rose, that reminder giving me a much-needed dose of energy and determination. “Let’s get out of here,” I told her, taking a moment to chamber a round in the gun Dylan had handed me and turning the safety off.
28
I took a cursory glance at the elevator bay as Rose and I emerged from the hall, checking to make sure the coast was clear before heading to the nearest one. I stopped in front of it and automatically gave my name and ID number, expecting the elevator sensors to start scanning me almost immediately.
But they didn’t. The elevator remained dark and still, and I realized that whatever Quess and Leo had done to restore power, they hadn’t been able to restore it everywhere. I cursed as the sound of fighting from behind us increased, definitely drawing nearer, and quickly spat out Lionel’s code, nervously scanning the entrances to the other halls and wondering what was happening in each of them. Had Astrid and my father set up other barricades there as well? I assumed so, but what was their condition like? Were they holding the line, or were they being torn apart? Were the sentinels coming through there, or were they just in the one hall?
I hated running away from a fight, especially one of which I had been the root, but there was no alternative. I had to get to Leo, becaus
e it was the only way to stop Sage’s plan outright.
The elevator lit up and a pad slid out of the wall, and I stepped on it quickly, motioning for Rose to follow. I told it my destination, level 65, and we began to descend.
But not before I saw a sentinel emerging from the hall in which I had left Dylan, its eyes glowing yellow, its silver hide drenched with blood. My mouth dropped in shock before it fell out of view as the pad descended, and it was all I could do to keep from throwing a line out and racing back down the hall to check on Dylan and Astrid.
Because I already knew—had known since Rose had grabbed me and forced me down the hall—that they were dead.
Pain slammed into me, and I closed my eyes, trying not to give in to it. But it was hard. Everything had happened so fast, and now they were gone.
Tears started to form, my stomach churning, and I sucked in a shaky breath, trying to stave it off. But my fear was beginning to mount as well. I had no idea what I was going to find in the Champion’s quarters. I just prayed it wouldn’t be anything like that damned hall.
“Get down!” Rose cried, shoving me back behind her. I slammed into the wall as she moved in front of me, and then ducked down when she staggered back, the elevator pad shaking under my feet as something heavy crashed onto it.
Confused, I looked down between her legs and saw another set of them, facing her. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the sentinel in the hall had realized which elevator we had taken… and jumped down after us.
Rose took a half step back, crowding me closer to the wall that was speeding past.
“You won’t survive us, Sister,” Alice spat. “If I see you, we all see you!”
Rose finally managed to catch her balance and began pushing at the sentinel in front of her, giving me a little more breathing space. “You’re choosing the wrong side!” she cried with a final shove, slamming Alice into the wall with a spray of sparks. The other sentinel tried to break Rose’s hold, but a moment later she fell through an opening in the wall as a doorway opened up.
She disappeared into the hole, but I kept my eyes on it, knowing she would be back up and coming down the shaft for us at any moment. I grabbed my baton, twisting the dial to increase the voltage and then pressing it down to hold a charge.
“I’ll stun her!” I cried as I caught a glimpse of movement from above. “When I do, smash her hard drive!”
Rose nodded as a dark shadow began to form above us, her eyes already on it. I stood behind her, ready with the baton when the sentinel came crashing down on us again. The clash of metal was even heavier this time, and the pad rocked back and forth, scraping the walls. My heart nearly stopped, as I was certain that any number of the fragile components inside the pad would break apart and stop working, but when they didn’t, I quickly leaned around Rose and jabbed my baton at Alice’s midsection.
Alice was a step ahead of me, though, and broke Rose’s hold on her, then leapt back before I could get her. She reached up, grabbed a fistful of the wall, and clung to it like a spider. Confusion slammed into me as we began sliding away again, wondering why in the world she would be letting us go—but then I realized what she meant to do.
She was going to fall on us again. She was trying to take out the pad.
“Rose,” I started, about to tell her of Alice’s plan. But she whirled and hugged me to her chest, curling around me protectively. Before I could ask what was wrong, I heard the unmistakable sound of lancer fire, and the world around me exploded into lines of crimson as several whirring blades shot past us and ricocheted off the walls of the elevator.
The best I could figure was that several people had been just outside the elevator when we passed, ready to fire in. Alice must have managed to notify them of our descent—or they had seen it light up with activity and decided to fire on whoever was inside. Either way, the blades continued to rain down on us as we moved past, with Rose curling even more protectively around me and taking the hits.
A few blades got through, though. One zipped by, clanged off of Rose’s chest a few inches away from my head, and severed a few loose strands of my hair. The other barely nicked me on the shoulder, but the pain was indescribable.
Still, I clenched my teeth on it, focusing on my warning to Rose about Alice’s plan. “She’s planning on jumping down on us again!” I shouted. “If she does, the pad could break. We need to check and see where she is!”
“Get ready to get off the elevator pad in twelve seconds!” Rose replied, and a moment later, her arms let go of me and she drew away. I half turned in the low crouch she had forced me into, confused by her directions, and then saw her reaching for a chunk of wall, grabbing for it like Alice had done.
Before I could ask what she was doing, she was gone, her grip on the wall stopping her descent, but not mine. As I watched, she quickly lifted her body up, placing her feet on the other side of the shaft and forming an X over it. She was using her body to block the shaft!
A second later, I realized that the impact of Alice hitting her would kill her. Alice was at least seven or eight stories above Rose at this point. When she hit Rose, and they fell to the pad, they would both be severely damaged, to the point where neither one would survive.
She was sacrificing herself for me.
“Rose!” I cried, unable to accept the gesture for a second time in twice as many minutes. “Please, don’t!”
“Follow Lionel’s orders!” she shouted back. “Don’t stop for—”
Whatever else she was about to say was cut off by a dark form slamming into her with a terrific clang that seemed to shake the very air of the shaft. I flinched back as Rose was ripped from the wall, one arm severed clean off, and plummeting toward me.
My eyes widened as the sentinels twisted in the air overhead, hurtling toward me. To make matters worse, I felt the pad starting to slow its descent, alerting me that it was about to stop on my level.
I had only seconds before the two sentinels crashed into me. Not enough time to get the door to my quarters open. I eyed their trajectory as they bounced against the walls, and then moved, letting nothing but instinct guide me—with a little help from Tony. Making the best of the small space, I raced for the opposite wall and planted a foot on it, then leapt straight up in the air, staying as close to the wall as I could. I felt the breeze of their passing ruffle the hair on my neck. There was a sharp snap and several sparks from below as they crashed into the pad, likely shattering the thin disc, but I didn’t look down. My eyes were up, focused on a fixed point on the wall. I snapped one arm down, forcing a lash bead out of my sleeve, then spun it up as gravity began to pull me back down, and finally cast it, the lone bead glowing brightly against the darkening lights of the shaft. There was a bright blue spark as it hit the wall, and I was jerked to a sudden halt before I had the chance to pick up much downward momentum.
I looked down, my eyes focused on the glowing lights below, but Rose was already gone. I squeezed my eyes shut, my heart sick. I’d lost not only Dylan, but Rose as well, in a matter of minutes, after we’d come so far. For all my grand speeches and lofty goals of getting us through this alive, I’d failed.
Suddenly, I wanted to break down and cry right there in the shaft. It wasn’t right—wasn’t fair. Rose might’ve been an AI, but she was a sentient creature who had the right to live. And as for Dylan… That girl had intimidated the hell out of me at first, but after I’d gotten to know her…
They hadn’t deserved to die like this. Not for me. Not because some bitter old man who couldn’t let go of the past had turned me into public enemy number one. Again.
Anger burned new life into me, taking whatever tears I had and melting them away, and I set my mind on who was truly to blame. Sage. I was going to take him out, just as soon as I got everyone else I cared about to safety.
I quickly turned on the hand light that was still wrapped around my wrist and looked around, trying to figure out what level I was on. My light finally caught the white 67 painted on t
he side, and I quickly threw a lash down and headed for the area between the 64th and 65th floors, where my quarters were located.
The door was still sealed—a good sign, in my mind, until I remembered there were six elevator shafts with doors that led to the room. Still, if the power was on and Sage hadn’t managed to get control of Cornelius, then the legacies would’ve had to fight their way through a slew of defenses to get to my friends.
At least, I hoped they had to. I would find out soon enough.
I gave the order to open the door using Lionel’s code, not wanting to waste time trying my own, and then swung in as soon as the door opened, landing lightly on my feet.
I took a quick look around and realized I’d entered at the third door in. I quickly followed the curved hall that looped around and paused, instantly on guard when I saw another door to the outside standing wide open. I pulled my gun out from my pocket, aimed it at the elevator shaft, and searched for any sign of movement.
A quick look into the shaft told me it was clear. I wasn’t sure whether that meant the attack had been repelled, or I was too late. All I knew was I needed more information. I hesitated for a second, and then thought, Cornelius? You there?
His reply was almost instantaneous, filling me with some small measure of relief, if only for a moment. I’m here, Champion. But please be aware, the war room is surrounded by your enemies and is about to be breached.
29
Panic slammed into me, urging me to run and get there, but I tamped it back, knowing I needed to be smart. How close to being breached? I demanded, moving down the hall for the main walk in a quiet stalk. Put me on speaker with the others.
Of course, he replied. You may speak now.
Guys? I said. My heart formed a swollen knot in my throat at the thought that I was about to find out whether any of my friends had died, and I did my best to swallow it back.