Crimson Rising (23 page)

We sit in the back of the cockpit. Her head leans on my shoulder, eyes half closed. Eva dimmed the lighting and programmed the console on auto-pilot. We’ll take turns keeping watch.

“How are you feeling?” I reach over and pull the hair from her eyes.

“Don’t worry about me.”

“What was it like, after Seattle?”

There’s a silence before she answers. I can’t see her face from this angle, but I’d imagine she’s troubled. “I don’t remember anything inside the city after Madame showed up. I woke up laying on my back in the cabin of a cruiser.”

“If I hadn’t passed out, I would’ve—”

“Shh.” She yawns. “They restrained me with some sort of fluid pumping into my arm. I don’t know … it made me sleepy, and in a way I was grateful for that because it meant I didn’t have to think. My brain was crammed—so many things swirling around at once. I thought about you, and all that happened since we’d left the Academy. I thought for sure Madame captured you. It was only when they brought me back to the Lodge and I realized that she was missing that I could even hope you might have escaped.”

I close my eyes. “Do you think she’s dead?”

“Now?”

“Yeah,” I whisper, “after what happened in Syracuse.”

“No. People like Madame don’t die.”

My heart sinks. She’s right. “You were at the Lodge all those months?”

“Mmm hmm.” She nods. “After they pulled Madame from the wreckage and nursed her back to health, I still asked about you. I was convinced they were hiding you somewhere. You wouldn’t believe how many secret rooms and passageways she’s got in that building. Even I don’t know them all.”

“When did you finally find out?”

“Madame told me when she was well enough to speak. She told me what Cassius had done and that you and the entire Academy split from the community. I didn’t completely believe her. I wanted to, but there was no way to know if she was telling the truth or not.” She raises her head and meets my eyes. “You wanna hear the sickest thing?”

“Sure.”

Avery smiles. “She kept my room.”

“What do you mean?”

“My room … the one I grew up in. She had it kept just the same as I remembered. I’d have thought that after all those years I’d spent at the Academy, all those months of estrangement, she’d have replaced it with something else. It was so weird going in there and seeing all my old things. I could barely stomach it knowing what I do now. She wanted everything to be like it was back then, like I was her make-believe daughter.” She pauses. “I didn’t know it then, but she’d been pumping medication into my system on that cruiser ride. And she’d been sneaking it into my food and seeping it through the vents in my room.” She runs her hand over her head. “And then one night, they put me under and installed the harnessing device.”

“Alkine said coming to look for you would be a mistake.”

She falls back to my shoulder. “Of course he did.”

“But I don’t trust anything he—”

“Listen,” she interrupts. “You’ve got so many more important things to worry about than little old me.”

“But—”

“Shh. You know, I can’t help but feel responsible.” “For what?”

She sighs. “If I’d never been in your life, you’d never have met Cassius or Theo and none of this would be happening. Pearls would still be Pearls and you’d be a happy Skyship kid getting closer to graduation.”

“I was never all that happy.” I shrug. “And we both know I was never gonna graduate. Besides, this was going to happen either way. At least with me around, we’ve got a chance of fighting back.”

“You believe that?”

I wince. “I’ve got to. It’s what’s keeping me going.”

“Good for you.” Her eyes close. “I feel stupid for ever thinking you were a wimp.”

“You’ve changed your mind?”

“Of course I have.” Her voice trails off. “You’re gonna be a hero.”

I swallow. Or die trying.

“Now go to sleep, Jesse. We both need it.”

I close my eyes. She’s right, at least about the sleep thing.

Cassius sat at the edge of the cabin. He’d tried to sleep. An hour had passed. Then he took over for Rodriguez at the pilot’s seat. Now he was back, and wide awake.

He stared at Theo’s slumped-over body from across the room. He was dying to burst forth in flames. He didn’t want to attack, necessarily, but he needed to let off steam. Nothing had gone right, and he feared it was only the beginning.

He stood and moved to the boy, stopping inches in front of him. Theo’s face was covered in dirt. His ratty hair hung just over his closed eyes.

Cassius clenched his fist to control the fire longing to stream from his fingers. He knew he should leave the kid alone. As long as Theo was unconscious, he wouldn’t be a problem. But he wouldn’t be an asset, either. And he always had the stunners, if necessary.

Taking a deep breath, he reached out and slapped the boy across the face. The blow knocked Theo’s body to the side, but the cuffs kept him in place.

All at once, Theo shook to life. His head slammed back into the wall. His arms and legs tensed as his eyes opened.

Cassius took a step back. “What did you do to those men out there?”

Theo blinked, then closed his eyes like he was about to drift off again. When he finally spoke, his voice came out slurred and quiet. “Where am I?”

Cassius crouched so that he could see the boy’s face. “You’re chained to a chair, where you belong. What did you do out there?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Shifter. Ridium. These words mean anything to you?”

Theo spit, then coughed. “Is this how you do-gooders get your jollies? Torturing kids?”

Cassius scoffed. “You’re about as innocent as a serial killer. Seven men down there, dead.”

Theo looked up at him, chin tense, expression grim. “What do you mean?”

Cassius frowned. “The daggers.”

“You still got my knife? That’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made taking it.”

“I’m not scared of you,” Cassius said. “So you can cut it with the intimidation.”

Theo smiled. “Madame’s probably looking for me right now. You’ve pissed her off.”

“Good. Now tell me what you did down there.”

Theo shrugged. “I’ve been tied up like this ever since Syracuse! Of course, it’s not gonna last much longer, but you should enjoy the peace while you’ve got it.”

Cassius stood. His mind flashed back to the Fringes— the energy pouring out of Theo’s eyes, the way he stumbled, almost like he was sleepwalking. “You said Madame picked you up wandering the Fringes?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You said there was an accident?”

Theo’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe I did.”

Cassius turned around. “You’re a freak, just like the rest of us. You’ve got no idea what you can do.”

Theo stayed silent. After a few seconds, Cassius turned to see if the boy had fallen unconscious again. His eyes were still open. They darted around the cabin, taking in every detail. “This isn’t the cruiser. This isn’t the same room. What happened?”

“Maybe I don’t wanna tell you.”

“You trying to scare me?”

“I guess I was wrong bringing you back. You don’t know a thing. Too bad. I really didn’t want to have to kill you.”

He felt a tingle at his wrist. He looked down to see the bracelet vibrating against his skin. It forced itself around in circles like it was about to bore right through him. He glanced over his shoulder. Theo’s teeth were grit. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.

Cassius reached to grab the bracelet with his opposite hand. Before he could touch it, the Ridium pulled upward. His arm went with it, forced above his head in a sprained position. Theo’s concentration remained fixed.

Cassius shook his head. “This is crazy.”

Another pull. This time his entire body was yanked sideways. He stumbled across the length of the cabin, propelled forward by an unbreakable force. The bracelet hit the wall with a heavy clank and stayed there, pinning his wrist to the metal.

He gripped tight, trying to break the pull.

A redness coursed through Theo’s pupils. Nothing as dramatic as back on the Surface, but obvious even from a distance. The bracelet started to collapse inward. Cassius yelped as metal mashed his wrist bones. An agonizing pressure constricted his arm. Seconds more and his entire hand would be crushed. “Stop,” he yelled through the pain. “Don’t you know what you’re doing?”

The door to the cockpit swung open.

“What’s going on?” Avery’s voice sounded behind him, though he couldn’t see her. The cabin began to black out around him. His arm pulsed with panicked blood.

“Stunner!” he shouted. “Grab the stunner!”

The bracelet released its hold. His wrist drooped to his side and he collapsed. The Ridium expanded to its usual, seamless state. Color blurred around him once more.

Through the pain, he stared at Theo. The red washed from the boy’s eyes like rain-wiped watercolors. Within seconds he was back to normal, except for a smile across his bratty face.

Wasting no time, Cassius lunged for the stunner, wrapped his finger around the trigger, and fired right into Theo’s shoulder.

The last of the sun sets beneath the mountains in the distance. I hold Ryel’s cube in front of me, marveling at the sheer sleekness of it. It’s seamless—perfectly uniform. I’m not sure how something so simple can have such a hold on me, but I can’t take my eyes off it. I’ve gotten used to the chill that runs up my arm when I hold it. Now all I want to do is look at the tiny reflection of my face in its gleaming walls.

I’ve never looked worse. Scratches and bruises cover my face. My hair sticks to my scalp, matted by dirt and sweat. A cut splits my bottom lip. I picture all of the insects from the swarm running around on top of me, fighting to crawl up my nose or under my eyes. It’s a miracle I’m still walking at all.

I reach under my shirt and feel the scars on my chest. They seem to fade with each passing hour. The sting is gone too, replaced with a dull, sick feeling every time I touch them.

I am already here.

Ryel’s words repeat in my head. I wish I knew what they really meant.

The cockpit door opens and a pair of footsteps approach us. I turn to see Avery supporting Cassius, who grips his wrist.

“He’s a Shifter alright.” Cassius sits against the wall. “My bracelet … he was able to control it.”

I grab my wrist instinctively. “You wanna drop him now?”

“No,” he replies. “He’s out. I’ve got plenty of tranquilizers. He doesn’t seem to know anything about it. It’s like he becomes a different person.”

“The red in his eyes,” Skandar says. “Like back outside the swarm.”

Cassius nods.

Eva glances at the radar. “We’ve still got approximately two hours until we can think about landing outside Lenbrg.”

“The stunner’ll keep him down at least that long,” he says. “But nobody disturb him. It doesn’t end well.”

I drop the cube into my pocket. “And then what?”

“And then I hit him with another round from the stunner,” Cassius replies. “I can’t shake the feeling … If you can free some more Drifters, maybe they can tell us something about him. If he’s an enemy, he may be more use to us alive.”

Avery frowns. “That’s something Madame would say.”

“Well,” he started. “You don’t grow up in the Lodge without learning a thing or two.”

––––

10:30 PM. Our ship sets down a quarter mile from the north end of Lenbrg. The closer we get, the more I start to recognize the scenery. Last time we were here, we were speeding from a Unified Party battalion on our way to Seattle.

After Avery kills the radar, Eva shuts down the engines and we crowd into the cabin. Theo comes to almost immediately, sitting upright. Groggy, he eyes us one by one. He doesn’t smile.

I glance at Cassius. He grips the handle of a stunner and takes a step forward until he’s about two yards from Theo’s chest.

Theo smiles. “You coward.”

Cassius pulls the trigger as his reply. Then twice more. Three darts of tranquilizer pierce just below Theo’s left

shoulder. The boy barely reacts, even at the loud thwack, thwack, thwack as the darts stick in his skin. He keeps his eyes locked on Cassius’s the entire time. In moments, his head slumps forward. His fingers loosen on the arm rests and, eventually, his eyes close.

Cassius lowers the pistol. “We have six hours. Maybe seven, given his size. Keep an eye on the time. We get in, we get food … rest. Then we’re out before dawn.”

With that we leave the comfort of the ship for the unbearable warmth outside. We must look like one motley bunch as we approach Lenbrg. We could all use a shower, to say the least.

The moon lights our way, casting a glow on the hilly fringe landscape. We’re heading into the coolest time of the night, not that it means much out here.

Heaps of trash form dark mounds in front of us. They’re the first signs of civilization, George Barkley’s collection of junk piled outside the back of his farmhouse on the northern edge of the town. It’s where the Unified Party ambushed us before. A shiver runs down my spine. I glance at the stars, half-expecting to see the outlines of cruisers following us.

Up until that point, this had been my one good experience on the Surface. Avery and I had been shocked to find a colony in the Fringes banding together to instill some sense of order. Rather than give in to chaos, they scavenge food and power a generator. There are bound to be other Fringe Towns like Lenbrg, but it’s not something you hear about often.

We continue to approach the piles. With every step, the smell worsens. From what I can remember, most of Barkley’s collection is nothing more than mass old junk he finds in the ruins of Seattle, but who knows how long it’s been since he’s seen the bottoms of the heaps. Things could be rotting down there. The oppressive heat definitely isn’t helping.

A few more steps and we’re bathed in floodlights. Everyone freezes. Sheets of light blare down at us from both sides, so bright at first that I have to shield my eyes. Before I acclimate to the glare, I hear the cock of a gun. Then a voice.

“Oh, hell no.” Barkley’s gruff, unimpressed drawl comes from somewhere in front of me. I rub my eyes and watch him appear from the light, walking forward with an oldfashioned revolver pointed in front of him. “It can’t be,” he continues. “Y’all are temptin’ fate.”