“I don’t know, Shai,” Remiel said. “When love touches us, it leaves a mark we never forget. No matter what.”
“I guess.” She sighed, knowing he was talking about his love for her. She wouldn’t let herself think about that right now. She was finished choosing between the Elyon brothers. From now on she would focus on the plan to save the Laelite children. No distractions.
“You sound unsure. You want to back out?”
She shook her head. They’d come this far. The children needed them. “No. I’m going through with it. It’s the only way.”
Back at the girls’ house, Sasha had fallen asleep curled up next to one of the other children. Grunt must’ve gone back to the boys’ house. With their few supplies unloaded into the tiny kitchen, Remiel and Shai leaned against the counter, side by side.
The smell of death still lingered, but Shai doubted that would leave anytime soon. Especially after she emptied the children’s pendants. But she didn’t want to think about that right now.
She leaned against Remiel, who kissed her forehead. His lips were soft against her skin. His kiss was longer than usual and she closed her eyes, breathing him in. The scent of the outdoors mixed with a hint of the soap he used and the acrid smell of smoke.
“Don’t forget me,” he whispered into her hair.
“Never,” she said. Even though they both knew she would.
Her fingers touched Sileas’s pendant hidden inside her pocket. Even if she forgot who she really was in the Outerlands, she’d always have this little piece of Lael with her. A silent token of everything she was living for.
CHAPTER 43
Shai
None of the children stirred when she pulled their pendants from their caps. Guilt made her hands slippery and her blood pound in her ears, but she told herself she was on a mission of mercy. Remiel had gone to talk to Grunt, so she had precious little time in which to do it.
She saved Sasha’s pendant for last. The little girl lay curled against the side of a tiny dark-haired girl she’d seen earlier. Shai pushed aside a few sticky locks of hair and found the pendant nestled in the hollow of Sasha’s throat. With two fingers she held the tiny metal pendant that was so similar to her own. Sasha’s heart beat beneath her hand, bringing tears to her eyes.
“I’m so sorry.” She bent over the little girl’s face, feeling the soft breath fan across her wounded cheek. She pressed her lips to Sasha’s cool forehead the way Remiel always did. Sasha stirred.
“Mother?”
Shai choked back a sob. “Yes, baby. Go back to sleep.” She answered the way Eliana used to because she didn’t have the heart to correct the little girl. The moon had broken through the dark sky and, for a moment, lit up Sasha’s face with a soft silver kiss. The girl’s lashes fluttered and she smiled the sweet smile of sleep.
It was now or never. With a quick tug she released the cap from the girl’s pendant and poured the fine yellow grains of her essence onto the hardwood floor. The essence made no sound as it fell, but to her it sounded like a thousand shards of breaking glass. The sound she imagined her own heart making.
Remiel found her curled over her knees a few feet away from Sasha’s still form. The little pendant cut into her palm before she realized she still held it.
“It’s time to go.” Remiel’s soft voice broke the stillness in the room.
“Did you tell Grunt we’re leaving?” She took the hand Remiel offered and let him haul her to her feet. Sasha’s pendant fell from her hand; it made a hollow aching sound as it rolled away. If Remiel knew what she’d done, he didn’t say.
“He said he wasn’t leaving them. He’d give them a few drops of water every hour until—”
His voice broke. He knew. She didn’t have to ask him if he’d done the same thing while he was at the boys’ house. She heard it in his chest as she leaned her head against him.
“Let’s go,” she whispered.
She laced her fingers through Remiel’s and welcomed the pink and green spots as they danced in her eyes. The opening to the portal shimmered in front of them.
“I love you, Rem.” She didn’t know if he heard her, but if she never saw him again, she wanted him to know.
He squeezed her fingers. I love you more.
What if—she began.
What if I told you I believe in you? he interrupted her just before they stepped into the portal and everything went black.
Then that’s enough for me. And it was.
Until she met Jake.
CHAPTER 44
Miya
Miya sat on the floor of the Sun Room, slightly hidden by an overstuffed chair. Her head ached from the swarm of images that had been assaulting her mind over the last several hours during the tracker’s extraction. She sat with her stiff legs crossed, hands folded in her lap to keep them from fidgeting.
She’d been hiding in the Sun Room for several hours after she’d woken up alone in her room. The last time she’d seen Kael, with his messy hair and misbuttoned shirt, was when the extraction had just begun. When he’d failed to retrieve the tracker, he tucked her into her bed and left. He’d followed Ava to the Outerlands because of the Book, but his concern for Shai had made him follow Miya around. Even though he had to know by now of her intent to kill his sister.
She rubbed her arms. The goose bumps on her skin had refused to go away in spite of the elevated temperature in the brightly lit room. Her stomach growled. When was her last meal?
From the corner of her eye, Miya saw Jake enter the Sun Room. He sat next to her on the floor without touching her.
“I heard you weren’t…well.”
“No thanks to you.” She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to ease the vulnerability she felt around him.
He looked sideways at her. “You think I was responsible?”
She bit her lip. “Maybe.” She glanced at his neck where she’d stabbed him with the injector. There was no trace of any wound. “I see you’ve recovered.”
A small smile turned the corners of his mouth up briefly. He touched his neck. “The Grafter is an amazing piece of machinery,” he said quietly.
She shifted on the hard floor. The simulated sunshine seemed suddenly too bright and too hot.
“You’re right.”
She lifted her shoulder in a small shrug. “About?”
Jake ran a hand through his hair. A gesture that was so…familiar. “The tracker. I ordered it.”
She dug her fingernails into her palm until the sting drew a sharp breath from her. “Why?”
He scratched his neck, near his tattoo. “I need your help. But since you’re so resistant, I had to force you.”
Miya’s breath caught in her throat. “What did that get you?”
Jake’s clear green eyes gave nothing away.
Miya chewed her lip. “You didn’t have to steal information, you know. You could’ve asked.”
Jake narrowed his eyes. “And you would’ve readily answered any question I had? Somehow I doubt it.”
She stood up, heart in her throat. “It…it was wrong, what you did. It was…an invasion.”
Jake was suddenly right in front of her. The heat of his body went right through hers when he pulled her to him by her arms. His heart thudded against her chest.
“It’s not an invasion. I own you, Miya Thorne. Every. Part. Of. You.”
His tone was clipped. Anger edged in. The tension in his body hardened his muscles.
No. You don’t. She kept her eyes on his, ignoring the pressure of his body against hers, and reached up to touch his neck. He didn’t move. Didn’t try to stop her as she traced his jawline with two fingers, pressing a little harder when she touched his tattoo.
In that second, she felt a word—that name again—move through her like water.
Shai.
Her eyes widened. He thought it, and she felt it. Their connection was unmistakable and no longer avoidable.
“It’s not…you’re not…” Jake stumbled
over his words, his chest heaving.
Shai. He said it again—thought it again—and her mind fought to understand what was happening.
“How do you know me?” she whispered.
He didn’t answer. His mouth worked like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how. He just stared at her, unblinking.
Heart hammering, she moved her hand down to his chest. Her palm against his heart. He couldn’t have known what she’d just done. That she’d just given him up. She wanted to be wrong about him. Who was this government soldier with wild eyes and a softness that set her insides on fire? How did he know her? Why did his every movement send her heart racing with familiarity?
“Who are you?” she asked softly as her fingers moved across the thin fabric of his white shirt, touching something on his skin, just above his heart.
Jake reached up and covered her hand with his, stopping her fingers from tracing whatever lay beneath his shirt.
“Don’t.” Jake’s eyes suddenly darkened and he pushed her away from him. Too late. She felt what he was concealing, and her heart leaped into her throat.
You can’t be. She reached out to touch his face. The face that had been so carefully reconstructed. The Grafter had done an amazing job on the face she’d once loved but had forgotten.
Until now.
But it was too late. She’d summoned the Leadership. Tears blurred her vision as she looked into his eyes. The pain of her betrayal cut her deeply.
The hiss of the door swishing open sounded more like a blow to the head. She didn’t have to look at who’d just stepped into the room, but she did anyway. She wanted to watch what she’d just done. She needed to so she could recall every detail later when she questioned her decision. Because she’d question everything later.
Oren’s eyes went from Miya to Jake then back again until they fastened on Jake. Two pieces of cold dark steel.
The muscles in Jake’s jaw twitched. He glanced at Miya, a question in his eyes.
“It’s okay…” she breathed. She didn’t know what was okay, because nothing was. Saying it’s okay was a lie. Her head told her the decision was right, but her heart stood up against her chest, gripping her rib cage like prison bars.
Oren suddenly grabbed Jake and pulled him away from Miya. “Thank you, Miss Thorne. Well done.” Oren was cool and calm. Too cool and calm. Her lungs fought to expand. Fought for enough oxygen as she slowly realized what was happening. Oren knew she’d meet Jake here today. He didn’t need her to summon him; he had followed them here and waited for the right time. She was just the bait. Her betrayal was in vain. A useless, agonizing waste of guilt.
“NO! Damn you! You set me up! Oren, you set me up!”
Jake’s eyes fell on her. Heavy, as understanding dawned on him.
Helplessly she watched as Jake let Oren lead him out of the room by the elbow without fighting. Jake was taller than Oren by a foot, his muscles leaner and stronger, but he didn’t fight back.
Oren’s dark eyes danced. “Ava’s going to be very happy to see you.”
“NO!” Miya launched herself toward the two men as they were leaving the room, but the door slid shut before she reached them. Over and over she tried to scan her implant, but found it had been rendered useless. She was trapped inside a room with her biggest enemy. Herself.
She slid down the wall and stared at her hands. Too late her fingers had discovered the mark on his chest that told her Jake was really Jachin Aliah Elyon.
CHAPTER 45
Miya
That Oren had eliminated her from the system when he’d been protecting her before could only mean that Ava had gotten to him. Shai had noticed his hand tremors and the dark circles under his eyes began with Ava’s arrival. What had she said to Oren to make him so compliant? Oren Roc wasn’t easily intimidated. Now here Miya was, invalidated. A nobody, with no access. Miya glanced around the room, hoping to find something to break the panel with.
Finding nothing but pillows and cushions, she pounded on the door until she was breathless and her hands were bruised. She wanted to scream, but stuffed her knuckles in her mouth instead.
“Attention, all Camp residents!” Miya jumped at the deep automated voice that boomed through the room’s speaker system.
“The Camp is on lockdown until further notice. Repeat, the Camp is on lockdown until further notice. All residents must stay where they are until door locks have been released. Anyone seen in the corridors will be eliminated on sight.” After a tinny-sounding beep, followed by a horrible shuddering, grinding noise, the automated voice turned off, drowning the room in thick silence.
Lockdown? Miya slid down the wall and sat with her chin on her knees. She could be locked inside here for days. This had to be Oren’s doing.
After a while, she started to fall asleep only to jerk awake with visions of Oren hauling Jake away.
She got up to bang on the panel again. This time she used the heel of her shoe. The panel flashed amber, and statistics scrolled across the screen.
Light: 65%
Heat: 63%
Oxygen: 72.5%
She patted her pants pockets, hoping to find a toximeter, but came up empty.
She chewed on her lip and recalled everything she knew about the Camp’s design. Elchai had programmed a safeguard into the system. If something were to go wrong, the Camp would operate on minimal energy, diverting all the resources to preserving the children. Each of them would be locked securely in their rooms and could live for weeks on protein pills and water.
But the Sun Room was never meant to sustain life. Her whole body grew weak. She sagged against the wall again as she realized if she didn’t figure something out soon, she’d run out of breathable air in about twenty-four hours.
She’d slowly suffocate in the sunny, yellow room. She collapsed into a nearby chair, squeezed her eyes shut, and mentally ran through the system as Elchai had explained it to her. The lights are kept on by power that normally runs underground. On lockdown, everything’s powered by a backup generator.
Her eyes danced around the room. Before she left, Raine had tried to warn her that someone was coming after her. She’d tried to warn Miya that Jake—Aliah—couldn’t be trusted. He’d been rewired to target her. To kill her. And Raine had come to warn her.
Miya reached up and touched the pin she wore as she put her head on her knees and squeezed her eyes shut against the hot prick of tears.
CHAPTER 46
Miya
“Miya? Are you in there?” Paige hollered and banged on the Sun Room’s steel door. Miya’s heart lurched into her throat.
Miya got up and leaned her forehead against the door. “Paige! Thank God! Yes, yes, I’m here. Can you get me out? The panel won’t give me access.”
Miya heard Paige trying to scan her implant.
“The lockdown’s preventing me from having access too. Stand back, Mi. I’m going to break in!”
Miya backed away from the door, wondering how a tiny thing like Paige would be able to get in when she’d been beating on the panel for what seemed like hours.
After a few moments of silence, Miya leaned into the doorway again.
“Paige? Are you—”
Suddenly the door opened easily, normally…and someone tackled her. Strong arms wrapped around her waist. She tried to push her assailant off.
“Stop struggling!” Oren. His lab shoes slipped on the shiny white flooring, pulling her down with him into a tangled heap. Her hip bone connected with the ground with a ferocious thump. She tried to twist away, but Oren’s weight was too much for her.
Bruised and breathing heavily, she put her cheek on the cold floor.
Oren stood over her, breathing hard, while she lay on the floor.
“You had us all fooled, Miya,” Paige said softly. “I wouldn’t have taken you for a killer, but when Nathan told me how you’ve never been online, it seemed the perfect way.”
CHAPTER 47
Miya
&nbs
p; “I’m not a killer!” Miya scrambled to her feet as Nathan lunged at her. He grabbed her right ankle. She kicked out with her other foot and connected with his jaw with a loud crrraaaack!
Just as Nathan let go, someone else snatched her by the hair and yanked her head back. Pain blurred her vision.
She screamed and reached up to dig her fingernails into their hands. They hissed with pain, but refused to let go. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nathan recover from her kick to his face. He came at her again. His head low, he barreled into her stomach. Air whooshed from her lungs. The room swirled as Miya struggled to remain conscious. With the last of her energy, she clawed Nathan’s face. He backed up, roaring in pain. The second attacker yanked her backwards, his fingers still tangled in her hair. Her scalp felt as though it had ripped clean off her skull.
As she struggled to stand, dark dots swam before her eyes. Nathan, blood streaming from his mouth and nose, stood in front of her, holding his face. Whoever had a hold of her hair suddenly released her. She turned around to see Jake pulling a few strands of her red hair from his fingers. Oren stood nearby—a mute spectator with a smug look on his face. Paige just watched everything with wide eyes and an open mouth.
“But…but you just arrested Jake! How can I be the killer?” Miya screamed.
“We were never after Mr. Hamilton, Miss Thorne. Shai Eli is the target. And Mr. Hamilton just confirmed that you are Shai.”
“What do you want with me?”
“She wants nothing to do with you, specifically. But you have something Ava needs.” Nathan wiped his bloody mouth on his sleeve, leaving a dark red smear.
“What?” Miya looked at each of the three men and Paige. Her stomach sank. They blocked every way of escape.
“Keys,” Oren said.
“Keys?” Paige parroted. Her entire face clouded with apparent disbelief. “What do keys have to do with anything? I thought you said she was a murderer!”
Stupid girl.
Jake glanced at Miya. A barely disguised smirk crossed his face.
Miya ignored him. “I…I don’t have any keys.” Her eyes flitted from face to face. Jake was the only one who’d truly know if she was lying, but so far he wasn’t saying anything.
The truth was, she didn’t know where the keys were. Raine’s necklace had gone missing days ago, and Aliah’s key that Elchai had given her? She hadn’t seen it since she arrived here. Not that she’d known she should look for it.