Intermix Nation (45 page)

But she promised Lumi she wouldn’t break.
And she won’t. This goes beyond her. Niko’s words finally make
sense. The rebels, the citizens of Renatus, they need to see this.
The Chancellor is wrong, in so many ways he is wrong. Her death
will not be the end of the rebellion.

It will be the catalyst.

That has been her job all along. “Become the
moon,” she whispers, choosing her fate.

She places the gun back into the case, shuts
it. There are noises outside her door. Nazirah shoves everything
into the drawer, quickly standing. Gabirel walks into the room,
smiling brightly. “Beautiful morning to die, isn’t it?”

The guards lead her back through the grand
room, up the crystal staircase to the roof. It’s pouring now. A mob
of people already gathers, warm under their coats and umbrellas.
Nazirah sees the television crews, reporters, prominent government
officials, armed police, lucky onlookers … all waiting for her. The
guard who helped Nazirah up last night walks her onto a makeshift
platform, built atop a helipad. She gives Nazirah’s arm a discreet,
comforting squeeze. Nazirah holds the tears, looking up to the sky.
The wind howls, gusts and powerful gales. Rain falls against her
skin, cleansing her, washing away the blood and torment and
misery.

She is not afraid anymore.

Gabirel raises his arms,
silencing the crowd. “Nazirah Nation!” he proclaims, “Intermix,
traitor, anarchist,
murderer
.… Today, you answer for
your crimes against the honorable citizens of Renatus! Your death
will be swift and just. Repent now! Call an end to this foolish
rebellion! Tell your fellow conspirators to stand down, and accept
the lives God has chosen for them!”

“I will not.”

The crowd murmurs. Gabirel snaps his fingers
at one of the guards, who hands him a pistol. “Very well,” he says.
“Any last words?”

She has a few.

“My name is Nazirah Nation!” she says
clearly. “I am the daughter of Kasimir Nation, a loving and
compassionate Oseni, and Riva Martel, a strong and idealistic
Eridian. Against all odds, my parents fell in love! Because of that
love, they are now dead.”

“You dare lie before God?” Gabirel shouts.
“Before your country? Your parents were slanderous rebels! Be
silent now and meet death with dignity!”

“I will not be silent!” she
screams. The rain falls in embracing sheets, calling her to the
heavens. “I may be intermix, but I am no liar! I am a girl who has
lost everything and still has everything! I am a friend, a sister,
a daughter” – her voice cracks – “a
murderer
, just like you … and I will
not be quiet! We have been quiet for far too long! Where is your
wife now, Chancellor?” Gabirel’s eyes flash dangerously, but
Nazirah has nothing to lose. “And her intermix lover?” The crowd
erupts as Nazirah raises her arm, displaying her burn, mark of the
intermix. “You may take our lives, but you will not take our
voice!”

Gabirel aims the pistol at her head.

Shivering in the rain, Nazirah holds her
arms out passively, palms open. She looks into the crowd, imagining
she sees Cato or Niko in the sea of Medis, with her until the end.
Death is not her enemy; it’s where Nazirah will reunite with her
parents. Absolved of fear and hatred, graced with acceptance, she
is not her enemy either.

Today, Nazirah is free.

And that is something she holds onto.

Everything slows. Nazirah’s heart rate
drops. The rain slacks. The shot fires, lighting and thunder
scorching the air. Nazirah waits for the pain to tear through her
like a thousand knives. She waits and waits and waits for her life
to end.

It doesn’t.

Gabirel clutches his throat. His gun,
unfired, escapes his grasp and clatters to the ground. Blood
trickles from his mouth. It spills, gushing as he falls to his
knees. Gabirel makes a strangled, gurgling sound. Then he collapses
into eternal silence.

Brown eyes meet green.

A war erupts with Nazirah standing frozen on
the platform. Shots are fired, fists are thrown, and blood is
spilt. Reporters and bystanders scream, ducking for cover as rebels
surge onto the roof. Insurgents emerge from the crowd, including
Niko and Luka, pulling down their hoods and brandishing weapons.
Shock wearing off, the Medi troops retaliate. Many people slip in
the rain, off the edge, plummeting thousands of feet to their
deaths. Smoking gun still in hand, Adamek looks at Nazirah once
before disappearing into the fray.

A grenade explodes nearby. Nazirah is
wrenched off the platform, pulled out of the line of fire and
detonation. “You’re with us?” she cries, glancing into the face of
Gabirel’s kinder bodyguard.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?” she yells
back.

The face is different, but Nazirah
recognizes the staunch voice. She asks, “Ms. Bairs?”

“I still haven’t read that essay,” Ileana
jokes grimly, pushing her further to the ground.

“How –”

“MEDIcine!” she yells, struggling to be
heard over the chaos. “It was Adamek’s idea to tell everyone at
headquarters I was visiting my mother! I’ve really been
intercepting and relaying information to Nikolaus for months. I
didn’t learn of your kidnapping until too late!” She covers
Nazirah’s body as part of the platform collapses. “I wanted to tell
you last night, but I couldn’t risk it!”

“What’s happening?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Nazirah?” she says. “The
revolution has started!”

Smoke fills Nazirah’s lungs. Silver and gold
bullet shells litter the rooftop coast, treasures of war, relics of
a dream. Nazirah peers over the edge, dizzy with height. The
skytowers around them are thick with fire and ash. Sirens blare
throughout the city, sounding horns in warning. Nazirah turns
around, sees a flash of blonde. Lumi embraces her, handing Nazirah
back the dagger. She wears a bulletproof vest and there’s an
excited spark in her eyes. “I don’t have another gun,” she cries,
“but I kept this safe for you!”

“Get down!” Ileana shouts, crouching.

The explosions around them continue as Medi
helicopters barrage the roof with bullets and fire, army soldiers
descending by ropes. The rebels retaliate, trying to bring the
choppers down with cannons. More insurgents flood onto the roof
from inside.

“Stay here,” Ileana yells, “until you can
find a suitable weapon! I have to get Solomon into the control
room!”

They watch her crawl away. Nazirah sobs, “I
never thought I’d see you again!”

Lumi smiles, glances over her shoulder. “A
promise is a promise, right?”

“How is this possible?” Nazirah asks, still
in shock.

“I took the train back to Krush like you
said!” Lumi yells over the whir of the chopper blades. “I hid in
the one that smelled like rancid fish and hoped it was right! When
I returned to headquarters, it was absolute chaos! Ivan’s troops
were destroyed, all fallen and dead on the ground. Aldrik and
Adamek were already there. They knew something was wrong when you
didn’t show up to the meeting! They tried to find us, but we were
already gone!”

“But –”

Lumi scoffs. “What do you think Niko has
been doing for months? For years, even? He and Solomon have planned
this for a long time, Nazirah! Your kidnapping set everything in
motion. The rebels were up in arms when they heard you had been
kidnapped!” A helicopter crashes through a nearby skytower, sending
a huge fireball into the sky. “Niko contacted our allies throughout
the territories, told them what was happening. We rode the trains
to Mediah this morning!”

“How did you get in?”

“It was kind of brilliant!” she says. “A few
of us used MEDIcine to disguise ourselves … just enough to overtake
the guards lining the city walls. Then we broke loose, marching
through the underground tunnels and storming the trains! Some came
here, to besiege the capitol building. Mobs of intermix are
protesting! Cayus is leading riots in the streets with firebombs!
Deathland mercenaries are battling the army, charging the Medi
armories. They may have better weapons, but they’re the unprepared
minority! We’re taking over!”

“Lumi, watch out!”

A soldier hurtles towards them. Lumi shoots
him without hesitating. She looks at Nazirah, a little proudly.
“That was for Taj!” she cries, shaking.

“I’ll get his gun!” Nazirah shouts. She
glances around, crawling from safety into the bullet storm. Nazirah
has barely moved when she hears a bloodcurdling scream. She turns,
watching a man barrel into Lumi, intent on pushing her off the
roof. Thinking quickly, Nazirah stabs him in the ankle. He shouts,
grabbing for her. She kicks her feet into his chest, knocking him
over the edge. Nazirah clambers over to Lumi, who’s hanging on by
her fingertips. Nazirah stands up, ignoring the gunshots, ignoring
the vertigo, laser focused. “Grab my hand!” she yells.

“I can’t!” sobs Lumi, terrified.

“I won’t drop you!” Nazirah screams.

Lumi shuts her eyes and reaches for Nazirah.
Straining and sweaty, Nazirah pulls Lumi from the ledge. Lumi
slumps onto the roof, hugging the ground, coughing and sputtering.
Just then, another Medi spots them, grabs Nazirah’s fallen
dagger.

Nazirah hunches over Lumi protectively. He’s
a foot away when he collapses on top of them. Nazirah pushes him
off, revealing Cato with a gun, furious. They lock eyes and the
battle falls away. Nazirah is only vaguely aware of the explosions
lessening, of the rebels cheering as the last of the Medi troops
and choppers are either captured or destroyed. Cato pulls her into
a deep, rib-cracking hug. Nazirah is unable to believe he’s really
there, afraid to let him go again.

“I’m so sorry!” she sobs incoherently, into
his chest.

“No, Irri!” he cries, face full of dirt and
tears. “I’m sorry! I was so awful, and you were just honest.”

“Even, then?”

“Yeah.”

Nazirah half laughs, half cries. “I think we
won,” she says, not fully believing it.

“I think so too.”

Lumi tries to stand, but her ankle is
twisted. Cato helps her up, supporting her weight. Fists of every
race and color pound triumphantly in the air as the rebels raise
their victory flags in the skytowers across the city. Nazirah looks
around the roof shakily, not truly comprehending. It’s a bloodbath,
rebel and Medi alike.

Nazirah sees Cander through the mist,
hunched over a fallen intermix from the slums. Cander shuts his
eyes gently, sleeping corpse, says a prayer. Healers scatter,
sifting through the dead. Even Bilungi is there, tending the
injured. Several recruits cry over a lifeless Anzares, warrior
until the end. Nazirah feels sick. She was ready to die. And now so
many have taken her place.

Death is not racist.

Death welcomes all.

Nazirah stands over Gabirel’s body. Relief
floods her. But there’s incredible sadness too. That it has to come
to this. Adamek is now an orphan, just like she is. So many people
are dead. And more will follow.

Because although they have won, for now,
Nazirah has no idea what happens next or what the future holds.
“Beautiful morning to die, Chancellor,” she whispers.

“Irri.”

Nazirah whips around. Nikolaus sits a few
yards away, slumped against the broken platform. Bilungi and Aldrik
bend over him somberly. There’s a bullet wound in his chest.

“No!” Nazirah screams, crumpling before him.
She tries frantically to staunch the flow of blood with her hands,
desperate.

“Nation …” Aldrik gently grabs her
shoulder.

Nazirah snarls, wrenching her arm away and
returning it to Niko’s chest. “What are you doing?” she screams at
them. “Why are you just standing there? He’s your Commander! Save
him!”

“MEDIcine won’t work,” Bilungi says sadly.
“Bullet’s too deep, hit too much.”

“Just try it!” Nazirah yells.

“Irri,” Niko says calmly, voice hoarse. “I
don’t want them to try.”

Cato watches; Lumi sobs into his shoulder.
Nazirah’s vision blurs from salty tears. The rain has stopped,
streaking the roof in sunlight. Nazirah doesn’t feel it. “Don’t say
that!”

He touches her face. “It’s too late. Only
God can save me now.”

“Niko …”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been a better
brother.…”

“Stop, please!” she chokes, grabbing his
hands. “You’re the best brother I never wanted.”

“We both know that isn’t true,” he says
sadly, breathing shallowly. “I’ve been distant … for a long time. I
couldn’t handle everything … and shut down. I wasn’t there for you
when you needed me most.”

“Then be there for me now!” she cries.
“Don’t give in!”

“Seeing how much you’ve
grown,” he wheezes, “I’m honored to call you my sister … to call
you a Nation. Riva and Kasimir would be proud … they
are
proud. You’re the
light Irri … you give us hope.” He coughs. “And you need to be
strong now. The war is over … but our fight has only begun. Do you
understand?”

“Okay.”

“Tell me you understand.”

“I understand!”

He nods. “There’s more.”

“Don’t say anything else!” she weeps. “It’s
too hard.”

Nikolaus untangles their hands, touching her
heart, touching the pendant. He smiles in recognition, looks at
her. “I took a vow,” he whispers, “but there’s something you must
know.”

“What is it?”

“The conditions of Morgen’s pact.”

“Conditions?” she asks, bewildered. She
scans the roof for Adamek but doesn’t see him.

Nikolaus fights to stay conscious. “When we
first made the blood pact,” he says, “in exchange for his
allegiance … Morgen wanted only two things. The first was the sole
right to kill his father.…”

“I know this already!” she snaps, voice
rising. “He wanted to kill his father and receive amnesty.”