“The tracker would show Jake…Aliah everything I’d remembered from Lael, and…everything.” She finished in a whisper. Silence ensued. The warmth of Kael’s hand on hers was just enough to keep her grounded. She was woozy and disoriented. Part of her thought she was explaining everything to Kael just so she could convince herself. Hope refused to die.
“Then why’d he throw you in here?” Kael’s question echoed her unspoken one.
“He must have a reason.” She put her forehead against the bars again, peering through them at Kael. “Where am I?”
“Underground. Beneath the Camp.” Kael sounded weary. She hadn’t convinced him of anything yet.
“There’s a prison down here? What for?”
Kael sighed and dropped his hand. His silhouette ran both hands through his hair. “I don’t know. Ava said something about this being used as a containment before executions or something.”
Shai suppressed a shiver. “What would she know about the executions? This Camp was Elchai’s design. He wouldn’t have made a prison in a place that was meant to be a safe house for children.”
Kael stepped closer to the bars again. “He did, though,” he breathed. “He’s never kept evil out of anything he’s created, Shai. I don’t think he meant to either. It seems he’d rather contain evil temporarily and deal with it later.”
Shai swallowed, her tongue heavy as lead in her mouth. “Are you saying he knew…” She left her question unfinished, where it hung in the air. Of course Elchai knew Ava would use a portal to get here. He’d written the Book, after all. He knew the end from the beginning. All of this…was his idea.
She turned her face away from Kael and spat on the ground again. Lael, the Division, the Outerlands, they were all game pieces for him to move around. Her stomach clenched with anger. What was the purpose of this? The purpose of her life? He was using her. He was using all of them. Suddenly, all she could see was the wickedness of his plan that earlier had seemed good.
Before she’d come here, he told her he was with her in Thunder Manor when Aliah had locked her in that room, in Zev’s care. He told her he had known she was safe, so he didn’t step in, which meant that he could have. Of course he could have! He could have written anything in that Book, but he’d chosen to write…this!
She gripped the bars with both hands and tipped her head back. “Where are you now! Are you enjoying this?”
“Shai?” Kael put his hand through the bar, trying to reach her face. Trying in vain to calm her down. “I’m here…it’s okay. Shai!”
But she continued screaming like a madwoman with her eyes squeezed shut. “I’m not playing your game anymore! Do you hear me?” Exhausted, she sat on the cold hard ground, chest heaving.
Kael grew quiet. His arm, still on her side of the bars, now hung limp. “Don’t give up, Shai. It’s when we’re tested that we have a chance to come out stronger than before. Just don’t give up.”
Oh, she was far from giving up. She scratched her nails on the hard ground until the fury in her diminished somewhat and she could think.
“Can you find a way to get Ali—Jake to come down here? Tell him…tell him I’m dying or…I don’t care, tell him what you want. Can you?” Her head pounded, and the chill had crept straight through her meagre clothing into her bones.
Kael cleared his throat. “I don’t know, Shai.”
She looked up at his shadowy form and touched his fingertips before he withdrew his arm from between the bars.
“I’m not giving up, Kael. I need your help to get out of here.”
“Okay.” He walked away. Shai counted his steps until they disappeared, swallowed up by the maze of tunnels.
CHAPTER 51
Shai
A full day passed. Or maybe two. She lost count. Her stomach was past the point of groaning with hunger and now twisted inside her. Most of the time she spent leaning up against the bars, peering into the darkness and waiting for Kael’s return. The dim light that cast everything in shadows came from the generator that groaned a few feet away from her. There had to be more than one, though. This Camp was too big to keep alive with only one generator.
She was sitting on the ground with her back against the bars when she heard someone approaching. The footsteps were heavier, louder than Kael’s were.
She hastened to her feet and pressed her sore cheek to the bars, straining to see into the darkness.
He stopped in front of her. Not close enough to touch like Kael had, but several feet away. Intentionally keeping his distance. Her pulse thrummed.
“Jake?” Her voice was rough from hours of disuse. “Is that you…Jake?” She didn’t dare use his real name. Not until she knew who she was dealing with. Who it was that had come to see her.
“Kael told me you were having side effects from Tribond.” His tone was clipped. All businesslike. So, it was Jake who’d come. Jake, who was feeling guilty for using Tribond on her. She smiled a little. How smart of Kael.
“Yes. Can you…can you check out my implant? I think…it’s infected again. Or something.”
She was counting on the fact that Jake had somehow convinced Ava to keep her alive for whatever reason. Otherwise, she was sure she’d be dead by now. It was miraculous that Ava hadn’t left yet, considering she had the necklaces. Unless Jake hadn’t given them to her.
Jake didn’t answer right away. He stood there, shifting his feet. Shai could hear it in the way his shoes sounded on the ground. Funny how when one sense became dull, the others were heightened.
She didn’t breathe for a few seconds. Then Jake walked closer and held out his hand. She exhaled slowly and put her hand through the bars. The second his fingers touched her, she grabbed his hand. He resisted, and it took all her strength to hold him.
“I know what you saw.” She had to tread carefully. One wrong thing, one misstep and she’d lose any ground she’d gotten earlier. “Lael. The Division.” She took a deep breath, her eyes stinging with tears. “Ellersly, your father…”
His hand relaxed in hers ever so slightly. “Your brother, Remiel…” She pulled him toward her until her face was only separated from his by the bars between them.
“Me,” she whispered.
Shai.
She felt it. In her chest, her hands, all the way down her back…everywhere. She felt him remembering.
“Yes. It’s me…Shai.”
He exhaled. Her hair fluttered against her face. Her chest warmed the way it used to. He put the other arm through the bars and drew her closer. Her body pressed painfully against the steel, but she welcomed it. She closed her eyes and breathed him in. The woodsy-spicy smell she remembered so well. Earth. He smelled like outside, after it rained. Rich and poignant like the melody of a song that hung in the air long after the last notes were played.
He closed his eyes and pressed his face up against the bars. Their lips met. His warm and soft, hers cold. His arms came around her, his fingers going up and down her back, then into her hair. They breathed together, mouths never separating.
Shai, how long I’ve waited.
She kissed him harder, the months of grief and regret rolling away with the pressure of his lips against hers and his fingers in her hair.
“Aliah,” she breathed.
He jumped back. She looked out into the shadows to see what had spooked him. No one was there.
“Aliah?”
His breaths were short, sharp. Coming too fast like he was afraid. “No. I’m…Jake.”
She grabbed the bars and banged her forehead against them. “No, no, no! You’re not! You’re Jachin Aliah Elyon! Why can’t you remember that? Does she have such a hold on you that it overpowers our connection?”
He stood there, breathing heavily, his arms hanging at his sides.
“What about the Coalition? What about Remiel?” She should stop, but she couldn’t. Frustration rolled over her in hot angry waves. “What about us? I’ve loved you for a lifetime, Aliah! I’m sorry it took me this long
to see it. I’m sorry you had to die for me to realize what we had!” Sobs clogged her throat. She choked and coughed.
“You always tried to get me to see who I was and finally I do! I know I’m alive to protect humanity. I’m a guardian, not a human, but I don’t care. I’ve accepted that.” The words tumbled out and, with them, the truth. Peace and courage and hope welled up inside her. She finally understood. If she was to die in the Camp, then so be it. She’d complete her mission even if it meant giving her life. Remiel had done that and so had Aliah. Maybe Aliah had twice.
“It’s my turn, Aliah,” she whispered, not even sure if he was still there. “You’re the one who made me see the importance of believing. You believed in me, and now it’s my turn. I believe in you. Somewhere inside of Jake’s genetically perfect body is a man I’m in love with.”
“You’re right.”
She opened her eyes to find him standing right there. He reached through the bars and put her hand on his chest. The bumpy ridges of his mark were warm beneath her fingers. She traced the outline of it, tears pouring unchecked. He moved her hand higher, to his neck where she felt something hard.
“The key?” she whispered.
“Both of them.”
He slipped one from around his neck and fumbled around for a minute. The loud clang of metal on metal echoed; then suddenly Aliah stood with her, inside the cell. He placed the key he’d used around her neck. She looked down and recognized her key, the one Raine always wore.
“You opened the lock? You let me go on and on when all along you could’ve gotten me out of here?”
He put his hands on both sides of her face. “You don’t know what it’s been like. I’ve been torn between two people.”
“Me and Ava?”
He laughed lightly. “Jacob and Aliah.”
She nodded. “I think I can understand that.”
Then his arms were around her, their chests pressed together. His lips found her neck, and he placed a row of soft kisses from her ear to collarbone. She sighed. Her fingers ran up his muscular back, threading into his dark hair.
He picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he pressed her back against the cold wall. His arms supported her while hers were still in his hair. Sighs got lost in his shoulder. Muffled sobs filled the small cell with gratitude and longing. When he finally found her mouth, the anticipation was almost too much. The urgency of their lips brought a rush of heat to her. A firestorm that had been ignited long ago was finally allowed to burn, and she could hardly breathe.
Her breath tangled with his. Their hearts beat together, two tiny red dots of light that blinked in sync. Beacons in the dark.
“Aliah?”
When he pulled away this time, he did so slowly like it agonized him to do so.
“I need to get out of here. I really have to pee.”
He put her down, then grabbed her hand with a laugh. “I’ll bet. You’ve been locked down here for ten hours.”
Was that all? It felt more like years.
“And I have to finish what I came here to do.”
Aliah’s silence jabbed her. He led her in the relative darkness for a few minutes before saying, “I know.” The sadness in his voice was unmistakable. Maybe he really did have a connection with Ava she wasn’t aware of. The thought of it turned her stomach sour.
CHAPTER 52
Shai
They came up through a part of the Camp Shai had never seen before. Aliah kept a grip on her hand until they burst into a brightly lit room she recognized. The Food Bar. She’d have never guessed the way to the underground was through the Food Bar, into the kitchen and down several flights of dark stairs.
The Camp must’ve still been on lockdown since the room was empty. Aliah was still dragging her behind him and was about to exit the room when she yanked on his hand.
“Wait!” She let go of him and looked around the room. She needed a weapon. The only food served here was biochemically grown in the labs, so there were no tools of preparation like knives. She turned a slow circle until her eyes fell on a nearby table that had two silver serving trays. They obviously had missed being put into the wall receptacle for cleaning and were still piled with dirty plates and dried-on leftover food. Shai spotted something that could pass as a weapon. Her hand closed around a fork, which she shoved into her back pocket before she made her way back to where Aliah was waiting.
He raised his eyebrows at her before scanning his wrist to open the door.
She shrugged. “Better than nothing.”
Then her mouth dried when she thought of something. “Should you be doing that? Scanning your implant will leave a trail.”
Aliah stuck his head out into the corridor. “She’s tracking me anyway.” He tapped on his neck tattoo.
Right. That.
“Then she knows you’re with me.” She licked her dry lips, afraid to know the answer to her next question. “What does she think you’re doing?”
Aliah looked at her over his shoulder as he pulled her out into the hall. “Getting rid of you.” He smirked.
She stalled, eyes wide.
“I’m not, though, am I? It’s me, Shai. It’s really me.”
She sighed and followed him down the empty corridor. “Where are we going? Where is she?”
“Would you just trust me for once? What’s with all the questions all the time?” Aliah hissed.
She stifled a laugh. It really was him.
“Miya?” a soft-spoken voice called out from behind her. Shai’s heart skidded to a stop. She whirled around, without letting go of Aliah’s hand.
“Paige, get out of here!” Miya whispered through clenched teeth. The girl looked haggard. She could use a trip to the Grafter. Her eyes had swollen from what looked like days of crying, and her nose and cheeks blazed a hot shade of pink.
“I…I’m glad you’re okay. I’m…I’m…” She sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve.
“It’s fine. I’m not mad at you.” Not really mad anyway. “I understand you thought you were doing what was right.”
Paige nodded and a fat tear dripped down her cheek.
“You can…help me, if you want.”
Aliah began tugging on her hand.
Paige nodded again.
“Go back to your room, and make sure you don’t come out, okay? No matter what you hear, don’t come out.”
The young blond girl smiled weakly before turning and running back the way she came.
“Let’s go!” Aliah yanked on her hand again. He started running, and she had to run twice as fast to keep up. The sounds of their feet pounding on the white tiles matched the hammering of Shai’s heart. When they finally stopped running, they were standing in front of the door to the Observatory.
Shai bit back the question on her tongue and watched while Aliah lifted his wrist to the scanner. Inside, the room was dim as usual except for the massive screen displaying the deadened world outside. Shai’s skin prickled as she realized what she’d been staring out at all this time. The Outerlands.
Aliah let go of her hand and Shai walked to the large glass wall. The square of frozen pixels remained as she’d last seen them. The magnetic pull of the world beyond was as strong as usual, maybe stronger. She stared out at the blackened, shrivelled trees and the stubbly grasses bent almost flat from the constant wind.
“Jake!” Ava’s voice cut through Shai’s stream of thought. She spun around. Her hand flew to her back pocket to touch the cold metal prongs sticking up.
Ava hadn’t yet seen Shai. She was on the far side of the room where Aliah stood rigid, his eyes wide. The vacant look sent a jag of fear up her spine. Had he become Jake again?
Shai.
She breathed out slowly, quietly. He was putting on a production for Ava’s sake. And the way he stood, the angle of his body showed that he was deliberately trying to keep Ava from seeing Shai. He was handing her the opportunity to kill Ava. Quickly. Easily.
But with a f
ork? She bit back a hysterical laugh.
“Did you do it? Is she gone?” The grin in Ava’s voice made Shai’s toes curl. It would be so easy to jab the fork into the side of her neck when she wasn’t looking. But she wasn’t a coward. She wouldn’t attack someone from behind.
Aliah’s eyes flicked her way. Shai bit her lip. He was wondering why she wasn’t doing it. She could see it on his face. The confusion mixed with impatience. Ava saw it too. She turned around. Her eyes went wide with surprise then dark with anger.
“You!” Ava scowled.
Shai expected her to come running at her, but Ava remained where she was. She only lifted a hand to her neck and closed her fingers around something. Too late, Shai realized what Ava was doing. The third key was still securely around Ava’s neck.
A sickening knot grew in her stomach when Ava reached for Aliah’s hand. Shai drew a sharp breath.
“No!” she screamed.
All three of them wore a key that gave them access to the same portal if they were touching. They were going to realm jump just like she’d done with Remiel, but he’d told her the portal could only handle one at a time, not counting Remiel.
She launched herself at Ava and managed to grab an ankle as they both disappeared. The darkness was absolute. It filled her mouth, crushed her chest. It took three whole seconds just to drag one draught of air into her burning lungs.
What’s happening? No sound came out. She clung to Ava’s ankle, digging her fingernails into the soft flesh until she felt it break. Warmth spread over her fingers, wet and sticky. She gripped harder. She imagined Ava screaming. She reached out with her free hand and waved it around in the thick darkness.
Aliah! Aliah!
She silently pleaded with Ava not to let go of him. Remiel’s warning that the portal couldn’t hold more than two kept echoing in her mind. How did it choose who to let through and who to let go?
She tried to draw another breath and felt a different darkness dragging her down. She would not die. Not before she finished what she had to do.
CHAPTER 53
Jake
“I’m Leadership QR1013. Jacob Hamilton, assigned to Level Seven, Quad One. Mission: terminate Shai Eli from Lael.” His ears hurt. Pressure and pain pulsed through his head. Darkness filled his vision. Someone had a hold of his hand.