Inner Circle

by Y A Marks

  Grabbed my arm, she dragged me back to my station. With the little energy I had, I pulled back.

  “No, I’m fine. I want to get up,” I said.

  “Not until you’re cleared,” the nurse said.

  “Aghhhh.” A playful voice said behind me.

  I turned around just in time for Trivet to reach up and slide his arm inside the nook of mine. Touching was not one of my strong suits, but I had a feeling that Trivet wouldn’t care. In his giddiness, his face shone as bright as the sun. I decided there was no point in fighting the inevitable and despite myself, I was starting to grow fond of him.

  “She’s clear enough,” he said.

  “Sir, you can’t just grab people once they look like they are okay. She could fall over due to complications at any moment,” the nurse said.

  “Not this one. She’s got iron in her bones.” He gave his biggest smile, showing each one of his golden teeth. I knew then that Trivet didn’t lack anything in prison except freedom because coffee glowed from his incisors.

  I winced at his praise. At one point, I didn’t think he believed that much in me, but maybe the problem was I didn’t believe enough in myself. Both those worries were behind me.

  “Fine,” the nurse said curtly, “Just don’t leave MedBunk.”

  “Scout’s honor.” He put two fingers over his heart.

  The nurse rolled her eyes, shook her head, and walked off.

  He gave me a tight, half hug. “I’ve been coming down here for the last few hours, hoping one of you would wake up. It would be the legendary Paeton who was first.”

  My mind half spun, but I focused on his words and kept my legs steady. The room slowly rolled under my weakened knees.

  We walked over to a seating area at the far end of the room. I glanced at all the numbers, monitors, and pristine, white walls.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “This is my little getaway. Do you like it?”

  “It looks a lot like a hospital, but yeah, it’s nice.” I still had my reservations about Trivet, but he had held up his end of the bargain. If he hadn’t shown up when he did, there was no telling what may have happened to me, Ares, Jonas, or Shannon.

  “Well, this is just a small piece. I’d love to show you the whole thing, but I doubt Ms. Fussypants over there will let me take you out to view it.”

  “When did we get here?”

  “A day ago,” he said.

  “So, I’ve been out for a day?” My teen years were passing me by while I lay unconscious.

  “Yeah.”

  “What about the others, Shannon, Jonas, and—”

  “We were able to get almost all of you out safely. Out of the eight of you, well…” his expression fell. “We could only save five.”

  “Eight?” I asked. “There were only five of us.” In my mind, I thought about everyone in the glass corridor: Moody the Monster, Raj, Norwood, Pyra, Ares, Shannon, Jonas, and me.

  “Well, the MedEvac guys just grabbed everybody. I figured we’d sort it out later.”

  A fog swept over my mind. “You grabbed Norwood?”

  “I didn’t. The MedEvac guys did. Didn’t I just say that?”

  Confusion flooded my veins.

  He shrugged. “I don’t think they knew what anyone looked like. It was better to be safe.”

  “Trivet, you wouldn’t believe what happened in that hallway.”

  His eyebrow rose.

  “Norwood.” A wave of pain came crashing back into me. “He… He saved my life.”

  Trivet’s face tightened, then relaxed. He forced an exhale out of his drooping lips. “Well, it’s a great thing we didn’t throw him overboard then.”

  My heart froze, refusing to beat. “What are you talking about?”

  “Cause the fall would have killed him. Not to mention he’d drown way out here.”

  Whiteness drove my thoughts from my mind as I sought for the facts. “What—wait—hold on. Norwood is dead.”

  “Ugh, not last time I checked,” he said. “He’s right over there.” Trivet pointed his finger to the station with an 8 over it. “I thought about killing him. But I just said, well, let’s just wait until somebody wakes up and then we can find out what to do.”

  “But that’s—” I stood and stumbled forward.

  Trivet grabbed me before I took two steps. After a confused expression, he helped me over to the station. With nervous fingers I yanked the curtains back. Norwood lay in the bed, a mask over his face. A pump was to the side regulating his breathing. The slow strum on in-and-out echoed in the air.

  I grabbed Norwood’s hand. I had to be sure. These machines could be lying to me. His hand wasn’t hot, but it wasn’t cold. It was just warm enough to let me know there was life in him.

  “How?” Tears tapped against my tear ducts. I pressed the side of my hands against my eyes to keep the tears from falling. My dream of him being back with his family was coming true.

  “How what? He’s in a coma.” Trivet’s words were matter-of-fact. “The blood loss is what did it. The three gunshots did some damage. All of them missed his heart. A lung collapsed. We think he’ll be okay in a few weeks.”

  A wave of relief flooded through my body, and I fell back into Trivet’s arms.

  Norwood was alive. He could go home to his daughter and be a good father. My dream of someone having a better life had come true. Twisting around, I hugged Trivet.

  He wrapped a heavy arm around my waist. After I pulled away, he winked. “A kiss is good, too,” he joked.

  I took a step back, glancing at his thin lips and bushy goatee. I wanted to laugh at him, but I smiled instead. “Maybe, the next time you save somebody I care about.”

  His forehead wrinkled, and his lips pulled into a dot. “Okay. I can live with that.”

  A thought spun in my head. Trivet had rescued eight of us. Three were dead. Who were those three, if Norwood was still alive? I was just about to ask when a shriek rattled the room.

  “Where’s Pyra? Where is she?”

  I didn’t even have to ask who it was. I knew it was Shannon. I hobbled away from Norwood’s station after tugging the curtain back into place. Shannon stood in the middle of the room with her hospital gown on. She leaned on her IV stand for balance. Her face warped in anguish as tears slid down her ruddy cheeks.

  In my one day with Shannon, I understood that she loved Pyra. They had been friends for over a year before I showed up. Pyra was barely alive when we made it into the corridor. I didn’t have to think about it long. If Norwood was alive, then she must be dead.

  My chest opened. A blast of compassion for Shannon’s grief worked its way from my limbs and sat atop my heart.

  I left Trivet and moved to her. As soon as I reached her, she stared at me. Her head shook from side to side, and she kept mumbling the word “no.” Tears rushed from her swollen eyes, and her mouth twisted. She babbled the useless statements that we all have when we lose someone: “What happened? She was okay. She was supposed to make it. Where’s her body? I don’t believe them. They’re wrong,” and on and on and on.

  I exhaled away all of my personal concerns and breathed in Shannon’s. I wrapped my arms around her as she tried to push me away to go on a useless search.

  I knew exactly how she felt. I had those same thoughts a week ago when Dhyla left me, and just a day ago when I had thought that Norwood was dead. I didn’t want Shannon to know this kind of pain, but all I could do was hold her, share those hurtful moments until they faded enough from her mind that she could move on.

  She fought against me, her arms struggling, her mouth speaking anything, trying to find a release. Her hands pushed against my worn body. I just kept yanking at anything I could grab and pulled her back into me. After a long time, she wailed and yielded. Her arms wrapped around me and tightened. The pain in my arm swelled and cut through me, but it was okay. I would share in this moment, no matter what the cost was to me. I stroked her hair and rocked her back and forth.
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  “Shhhhh, it’s going to be okay. She’s free now,” I said.

  Shannon’s sobs increased, and her body trembled before the height of her pain drifted away. She slumped. Her fight with the truth was over.

  “I loved her. I loved her so much… I loved her so much,” she said. “Why did she leave me, Paeton? Why? We were so close.”

  “I know. I know,” were the only words I could say. I couldn’t say that I liked Pyra, but I would share in Shannon’s pain as best I could. Only time would heal her heart.

  Trivet and one of the nurses helped me get her back into her bed. Afterward, one of the nurses injected her with something. I held her hand until her dark eyes vibrated and closed.

  CHAPTER 27

  Four hours later, the doctor cleared me to walk around what I learned was a ship. Trivet had flown us to a gigantic tanker off the coasts of Savannah. On the outside, the boat was downright disgusting. It was a rusty mess with blue and black paint flecks peeling away from the surface. From a distance, it appeared like an abandoned ship that someone stored trailers on. However, on the inside, it was new, better than new. It reminded me of a Hollywood movie starship. The personal rooms were comfortable and carpeted. The hallways were white with holographic displays and touchscreens to help someone if they got lost. There was a galley filled with delicious foods like at Perimeter Market, and the hangar had loads of shiny, new vehicles. The tech at the bridge was beyond anything I had seen. This—this was what I had pictured a rebel organization to look like.

  Trivet gave me a grand tour. At every turn, I was throwing compliments at him left and right. I didn’t even know I had such a large vocabulary to describe the word “cool.”

  “How did you do this? When? Weren’t you just in jail?” The whole situation didn’t seem real. I was starting to believe Trivet was a bigger thief than I was.

  “You learn to work the middle,” he said with thinned eyes and a bright smile. “Everyone wants to be at the top or they think they can never leave the bottom, but the best place—the absolute best, is in the middle. One person needs something, so I get it for them. Another person needs something else, so I get that. I have a huge network of trades and purchases.”

  My mind snapped into understanding. “You run a black market.”

  “Precisely. I’ve learned that the key is getting everyone, to help everyone else—cooperation and trade. That way, everyone comes back.”

  We entered the huge hangar area. Tall rods arched five stories high over dark gray metal. A plane landed in the distance. The jets popped into silence as the hoverpads guided it forward.

  “Like with your people in prison, like with Ares,” I said. “If you’re good to them, they are good to you.”

  I had never thought of things that way before. It was logical and simple. The best way to make anyone follow you was to make sure they were happy. Ares never flinched when he knew he might die. He had enough confidence in Trivet to know that his son would be protected and cared for.

  “Yes,” Trivet continued, “all my people know that I’ll do what I say. If I say I’m going to find a way to get my circle out, then I will. I used what talents they had to find out information from other people who had talents, and so on, and so on.”

  We continued to the edge of the runway where the rows of planes ended. The outside doors to the hangar slowly shut in the background, silhouetting the plane in front of us. I briefly glimpsed the clear blue sky before the doors boomed close.

  Excitement stung me in tiny waves. Once it was gone, another wave flooded into me. “How long did it take you to build all of this?”

  “Four years. I started almost immediately after I went to jail. I thought I’d need another two years before I could get out until you came along. Because of you, I fulfilled my promise to the Razorback Circle. And now, I’m indebted to you. Whatever you need, I’ll get it. People think I’m smart, but I’m not really all that smart. I just know how to bring things together.”

  Trivet gave me a smirk. Confusion grasped my mind like a tickling wind on my skin. There was something more in his expression. It was as if he was letting me know that he had something for me, too.

  He nodded toward the plane. Blasts of steam shot from the engines and smoked over the floor. The plane seemed oddly familiar. I had been through a lot, but I clearly remembered the private-style jet with a huge engine built on the outside.

  My stomach tightened as I looked at Trivet for confirmation. He smiled and squeezed my shoulders. “I always get my people what they need,” he said.

  The plane doors opened, and a stretching AJ stepped forward out of the fuselage. I stared at the plump, bald twenty-something. I couldn’t believe it was him. I brightened from the inside out, joy pouring into my veins.

  “This had better be good,” he grumbled over the idling engines.

  “AJ?” I asked, glancing between AJ and Trivet as though I were asking permission from Trivet to go to AJ.

  “Wha—Paeton, is that you?” he asked.

  I laughed. I didn’t like him all that much, but all of a sudden he seemed like the perfect Christmas present.

  “Paeton? Where is she?” someone else said. A hand pushed AJ to the side, and Sun Hi appeared at the doorway.

  “Sun Hi!” I almost leaped into the air and stumbled as I held onto Trivet.

  I couldn’t contain myself any longer. Releasing Trivet, I scrambled toward the plane, my legs fumbling to stay underneath me. She dashed down the stairs and wrapped her arms around me. Tears rolled down my face and hot cheeks. I didn’t know I would miss her this much. I couldn’t catch my breath.

  “Where are the kids?” I asked.

  “Safe. They are with my aunt. They’ll hate kimchi by the time we pick them up, but oh well. No one will ever look for them there.”

  “Thank you so much.” A thousand pounds of worry lifted. They weren’t dead or sent back to Juvie. They were safe. I put my hand over my chest and tried to stop the flow of tears.

  It took a second for me to notice Josalyn, who strolled down the ladder next. Sun Hi let me go just before Josalyn reached over and gave me a hug.

  “Well, you stayed alive. Watching you via security cam almost gave me a heart attack. I didn’t like that event in the glass hallway. Next time, kill him off earlier. For a long time, none of us thought you would make it,” she said.

  It did give me comfort to know that no matter what happened, I had a friend out there praying for me. “I’m glad you were watching. I knew you were.”

  “Always, ma chère, always.”

  Trivet walked up but stayed a few yards back. Josalyn’s face lost all emotion. “Trivet,” she said plainly.

  I spun around. Nervous energy thickened the air, and I trembled although I didn’t understand why.

  “Joss—ma chère, how have you been?” he asked.

  Josalyn shrugged.

  I wondered what all the French was about.

  “I’ve been keeping up with your blogs, all three of them,” Trivet said.

  “I know. You weren’t fooling anyone with your ‘nside_man’ ID.” She forced a smile as her eyes studied him.

  “I thought you’d figure it out.”

  “Um,” I started.

  Josalyn left me, and Trivet motioned for her to come over to him. They walked away and I turned toward Sun Hi.

  “What was that about?” I asked.

  “Remember, I told you about what Josalyn did to her boyfriend.” Sun Hi grinned.

  “That was Trivet?” My eyes bulged out of my head. If I wasn’t in such bad shape, I would have been shaking Sun Hi to get all the details. I did a double take of the Josalyn and Trivet. Who could be better for her than another person obsessed with information? I couldn’t have scripted their relationship better.

  “Boy, oh boy, I’m staying on Josalyn’s good side,” I murmured.

  Sun Hi touched my shoulder. “There’s one more.”

  I smiled. Anxiety tightened around my bones, and my
stomach squeezed itself into nothing. My face was scratched, my hair was held in a messy ponytail, and my fingernails were chipped. Baggy khakis and a pale blue shirt draped over my body. I looked an absolute wreck.

  But I wanted to see him.

  There wasn’t a moment in jail when I wasn’t ready to be back in his arms and taste his lips. Happy, anxious shudders played on my fingertips and spread up my arms and down my legs. I couldn’t keep still, nor could I steady my gaze from watching the plane’s opening to peeking around the room.

  Rylan stepped out of the plane. His eyes were bright, but his mouth didn’t move. A scar curved on his left cheek where he had been shot.

  We locked eyes. The gray of his irises burned. With a hint of his mischievous smile, he descended the stairs. Everyone and everything in the hangar faded away. His long fingers grabbed the baggy shirt and whipped me forward toward him. My body slammed into his while his arms wrapped around my waist and his fingers spread over my back.

  Dipping his head, our noses touched. A few dark hairs brushes against my temple and his hands slid gently along my back, shoulders, and neck. Leaning forward, I kissed his lips. A faint amount of pressure pressed against my mouth. I pulled back, confused.

  “Hey Paeton,” he said in a muffled voice. “Miss me?”

  “Of course… I—”

  My heart dropped. My fingers slid over his face, studying the scar and what felt like a metal cage inside of his mouth.

  “My mouth is wired shut,” he said. “I’ve lost a few teeth, but I should be fine.”

  “Rylan, it’s okay.” I ran my fingers over the scar and slid my index finger along his hairline. “It kinda gives you a bad boy thing.”

  One of his eyebrows flew up. It would be hard for a good guy to understand why girls go for the bad guy.

  I took a second glance at the scar, sitting on his perfectly squared cheek. Warmth slid through me. “Us girls, we’re—well, we’re into that sort of thing. How long will you have to have your mouth like this?”

  “A few more days,” he said. “Trivet is supposed to have some kind of tissue regenerator or whatever. Josalyn swears it works. I hadn’t even heard of this guy before a day ago, but Josalyn seems to know a lot about him.”