by Olivia Arndt
My tears began to fall more rapidly. “Griffin, I’m sorry! I’m so, so–”
“Shhhh,” he urged, kissing my neck gently. “It’s not your fault, you don’t need to apologize to me.”
“I gave you hope, even though you told me not to!” I insisted, guilt finally piling onto me. “I–I hurt you–”
“A lot of people have hurt me, Tess.” He pulled away, looking into my teary eyes. “But not you.”
I studied his gentle eyes, running my hands down his scarred arms. I remembered the first time I had seen his eyes in the dark of my room, it seemed like a lifetime ago. Back then they had seemed so cold, so unforgiving, nothing like the gentle tired eyes looking back at me now. I felt as if I was seeing him for the first time all over again. Not as Asher, not as another cloud gone dark, not as a Fugitive, but as Griffin. Someone who had been through so much, had everything taken away from him but continued to give back. Someone who had seen so much death in his life, that he almost lost himself among them.
“Griffin, you’ve been strong for so long,” I whispered, feeling hot tears of my own, dripping down my cheeks. “It’s okay to be weak.”
He let out a shaky breath, wearing a mixed expression. He mouthed something, seeming lost in that world of his again. I feared one day, I’d lose him for good. That he’d get so far lost in his past, that I would never be able to reach him again. And I thought I had when he spoke. Softly, with a gentle smile curving his lips. “Griff,” he whispered. “Call me Griff. I love the way you say it.”
I cupped his scarred cheek in my hand, wiping away the tears. “I love you, Griff.” I pressed my lips to his, giving him the whisper of a kiss. “And I know that you aren’t ready, but I’ll wait. I won’t leave. Whatever happens tomorrow, I want to leave you with no doubt in your head of that.”
When he smiled, his green eyes seemed brighter somehow, and I didn’t realize why until I looked up. The cloud that had once been black, hopeless, and empty, was now a radiant yellow. Brighter than the sun, casting light upon his features in a whole new way. Even though my vision began to blur with the tears filling my eyes, there was no mistaking how bright that broken cloud had become.
Slowly, as if he was afraid that he might shatter me, he took me in his arms and gave me a shaky kiss. He began softly singing the chorus of our song, his voice choked up with tears. I joined, wiping them away. I felt as if this sweet harmony was in dedication to Sugar. She would not be forgotten, and neither would…neither would my mother.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Friday morning was etching closer as the hours ticked by. I needed more time; more time to think, more time to face the truth. I hadn’t slept at all, instead, I had spent the fading night calculating every single place I had gone wrong in my life to get me here. So many moments, so many words I wished that I could take back. Where were my friends now? What had happened after I had cut them all off. For what? Because my brother had made a mistake that cost the people around him more than he would ever know? What would have happened if I had just stuck with my mom? Just ignored my soulmate and had given up? No. There were a lot of things I regretted, but Griffin was not one of them. No matter how much had happened to get us here, I would never trade the boy curled up beside me for anything. That scared me. The only people I had ever cared about like this were dead; I had never been willing to give my life for anyone, yet for Griffin, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
What would have happened if I had pulled the trigger? I shuddered remembering the look in his eyes and scooted closer to him. He wasn’t asleep, and I could tell by his ragged breaths that he was still crying. I wished that I could have turned back time. I wished that I could have gone back to the days when my brother was alive, when life was easier. How did I get here? How had they all died?
Thoughts ran rampant as I stared blankly at my bedroom’s wall. What if today was the day that I died? I didn’t want to die…even if it meant seeing them again. Feeling completely numb was a strange sensation, it made the world seem darker, harsher.
Calloused, cold fingers found their way to mine, making me smile. I squeezed his hand, gently stroking his hair away from his forehead.
“We’re going to make it…you know that, right?” he murmured softly into my shoulder. “No matter what happens later, we’ll still be alright.”
“Don’t make promises that you can’t keep,” I whispered, meeting his tired gaze.
He gave me a thin smile. “Tess, I need you to promise me something.” He paused, letting his gaze fall to our intertwined fingers. “Whether we win or lose tomorrow; no matter how many others around us fall…I need you to live. I can’t lose you too.”
I gently lifted his chin, to look at me. “I promise.” He smiled, giving me a delicate kiss.
“Thank you,” he breathed.
“And Griff?” I felt a smile forming.
“Yes?”
“That goes for you too. I can’t go losing you either.” I gave him a gentle nudge.
He took my hand and gave it a light kiss. “You won’t, Tess.” Then looking back up at me, he grinned, “ready for whatever comes next?”
“Ready for whatever comes next.” I gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Now, let’s go show the Opulents just how ‘wonderful’ our nation really is.”
…
I’d only ever seen the Opulent streets before in broadcasts. They were huge and so shiny that I could see my reflection in the polished, marble tiles. As we passed the enormous golden gates, I expected to see some citizens wandering around opening shops, but the town was completely desolate. The sun peeked over the mountains, causing the gold of the head building’s roof to sparkle. The world outside these gates started at eight o clock; I guessed the Opulents didn’t have school or work to go to seeing how they had private tutors and no need for extra money.
Groups of Outsiders and Standards silently flooded in around the stage, waiting for the signal to strike. Seeing two polar opposite groups of people uniting was strange. The Standards with their perfect postures, and neat clothing beside hunched over Outsiders with grime coating their scarred faces. There was a clear divide between them.
We made our way to the stage where most of the broadcasts took place, where they had killed Sugar. Her blood had once stained these tiles. I bitterly looked down at the white stones; how many innocent people had died here?
Griffin’s hand found its way to mine and grabbed it. I met his gaze and gratefully squeezed it, remembering the broadcast in vivid detail. This was for her.
He gave me a grim nod, pulling up his mask. I followed suit, creeping into position around the stage. It was crucial that we were completely silent until the explosives went off. One of the Outsiders, a man named Liam, had wired them the night before, he explained that when they attacked the old towns some of the explosives hadn’t gone off and they had rewired them. It was a mystery to me how he had even known how to do that.
After what couldn’t have been longer than half an hour, Griffin held up two fingers. The message was clear: two minutes. Anxious waves were bubbling inside of me, making me feel sick. I silently pushed myself closer to Griffin, keeping my eyes locked on the podium. He wordlessly laced his rough fingers in mine.
Holding up a one in the air, he leaned over and pressed his lips to my ear, “Be careful.”
I gulped, nodding as he pulled away with a solemn look. I hadn’t ever seen an explosion before, and I hoped it wouldn’t be too loud. Would it be close enough to harm us? No, they would have thought of that…right?
Without warning, the podium in front of us erupted in flames, sending waves of boiling hot air towards us. I was thrown into Griffin by the impact, who protectively pulled his arm around me and started barking out orders. A rush of giddy excitement coursed through me; we blew up the stage! I helped blow up an Opulent landmark!
Jumping to my feet, I surged forward along with the others. This was it, we were doing it. Sentinels and Officials flooded towards us, but they were
all still too disoriented from the explosion to properly fight. We pushed through their forces like it was nothing, but I knew they would come to their senses soon. The explosion had paved a way for us, but it hadn’t taken out nearly as many Sentinels as it should have. All the smoke from the fire made it hard to breathe and stung my lungs. Opulent citizens were stumbling out of their grand houses around us, clearly confused.
The Officials screamed at the citizens to get back to their houses, but there was too much noise for anyone to take notice. People were screeching, and even crying. I would have felt bad if these weren’t the very people who had cheered for Sugar’s death.
Bitterly, I continued forward. We were a force, marching towards the head building. The Officials were outnumbered.
“We’re going to make it!” Griffin called excitedly from behind me. I turned back to face him, smiling. “I told you, silly.”
I sighed, beginning to jog towards him when the building to my right burst into flames with an ear-rattling boom. I was knocked to the ground by the force, and quickly stumbled up trying to get to Griffin. I sprinted towards him, horrified. Fire shot through my arm, feeling like it was burning. The Assassins. They were everywhere, surrounding us. I stumbled blindly towards him, the pain becoming unbearable. My vision turned black at the edges as it doubled. I am dying. I am dying. I didn’t want to die.
“Tethys!” His voice echoed over the shouting, as his desperate eyes searched through the crowd. My ears were ringing, and everything sounded muffled as if my head was underwater. I tried to call after him, but the words were replaced with a strangled scream as someone grabbed my injured arm. I turned, looking straight into the eyes of the Sentinel who had taken my brother.
“Runs in the family, huh?” He said with a smirk. I tried to rip my hurt arm out of his grip, but it only made the bleeding worse. My vision was going blurry around me; the pain was blinding. “What’s wrong, child? Don’t have a song?” He asked evilly. Then noticing the X under my ear, his expression turned devilish. “Oh, now that is quite interesting, isn’t it?” He seemed amused at my pain. “Sweet on a Fugitive, are we?” He pulled out a gun, “I’m sorry, but it’s for the greater good of the society. Shame, really.” I thought of my mother at his words, the solemn look in her eyes, the muddy gray of her cloud.
I squeezed my eyes shut, gasping from the pain, and waiting for it just to end. But instead of hearing a gunshot as I had anticipated, I was knocked out of the Sentinel's grip. I quickly scrambled to the ground and searched around for the sentinel’s gun. Was I dead? I was supposed to be dead. But instead, I saw Griffin crouching in front of me.
“Aw, you’re sweet on me?” He asked, giving me a wink and helping me up. The Sentinel lay on the floor a few feet away, blood spilling from a cut on his temple.
“Whatever,” I let out a breath of relief, I wasn’t going to die. The pain in my arm wasn’t as bad now that the Sentinel wasn’t digging into it, but everything still sounded like I was underwater on my right side. Refocusing on the task at hand, I scanned the mayhem around us. There were so many Assassins, too many. We were outnumbered. Why were they in the Opulent towns? Weren’t they just Outsider gangs? Where was the advantage? How could we win? Then I saw it. The head building shining at the center of the Opulent town.
“Griffin, I know what I have to do,” I said, locking my eyes on the building.
He followed my gaze, unsure. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“Hey, if I wasn’t killed by the most wanted Fugitive to ever live, I think I’ll be fine,” I smirked, picking up a broken piece of wood laying on the floor, wincing a little at the strain on my arm.
“You flatter me,” he rolled his eyes, “but if that’s your weapon choice, you must be insane.” Then seeming to get an idea, he pulled out a jet-black dagger. “This is the dagger that got me through all those years, Tess. Make sure you bring it back and make sure you come with it.”
“I will.” I took the dagger in my hands, taking in its silver detailing.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he whispered with a small smile curving his lips.
“I’m not, Griff. And Sugar didn’t either.” I put my hand on his shoulder, quickly checking that no one was around us.
He smiled, “I adored her, Tess, and I…feel similarly towards you.”
“Maybe if I make it back alive, you can elaborate on that.” I smiled, offering him a quick kiss on the cheek, and running off.
Chapter Twenty-Five
It was possibly even dumber than our first plan, but it made sense. Without a leader, they were defenseless, and I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be too difficult to take on the Head Official. It was still a long ways away, and I hoped I wasn’t too late.
Avoiding all of the Sentinels stalking around the city wasn’t an easy task, but thankfully they were stretched thin and I managed to sneak by most. The others that I wasn’t so lucky around was where the dagger came in handy.
The head building was quite possibly the tallest in the entire nation. Our flag was blowing in front, a navy blue rectangle with the symbols of all five of the ranks arranged in a star. The immaculate walls were a light creme color, at least thirty feet tall, and held more windows than all of the houses in the Standard sector combined. Its tall poles seemed to touch the sky, and its lush lawns were too perfect. I didn’t like how easy it was to get in. No guards, no defenses. This was wrong, nothing this important should be this easy. I walked along the grand halls; they resembled the type of luxury you’d expect to see in a palace. Gold pillars and paintings that looked like they cost millions lined the walls and staircases. I approached an elevator and knew that if I wanted to speak with the best of the best I’d have to go to the very top floor. It was a long way up, and the music was terrible, making me glad that I couldn’t hold on to the tune. I was happy that I had the song that I did, not only did it lead me to Griffin, but at least it was catchy.
Finally, the elevator doors opened to reveal a glass floor beneath me. I nearly screamed when I looked down. I looked like I was going to fall through the clear glass to my death hundreds of feet below. A huge garden the size of a football field filled with flowers and stone benches could be seen beneath me. It would have been nice under different circumstances.
I approached a large set of oak doors and wondered if I should knock. This was where the major broadcasts were filmed...huh. I pushed open the door to find an empty room except for one chair and a big control panel. I had no idea how he hadn’t heard the door open, but it had to be him. Sitting on what resembled a throne was a short and chubby man who wore a mink robe and a crown. Mr. Rafael Lieu, the man behind it all. He was looking out the huge glass windows with a smirk on his face, and the cloud over his head was a muddy shade of yellow. This was going to be easier than I thought. Approaching quietly, I raised the dagger, ready to strike at any moment.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He said, turning to face me. He waved his hand at the knife as if all this was putting him out. He wore a content expression as if no one could hurt him. “Hmm, let me guess.” He flipped through a massive book by his side. “No, no don’t tell me!” He giggled as if this was all just a game to him.
“Ah, here we go.” He squinted at me as if inspecting me. “Blonde, blue eyes, 5’, Standard…Here it is! Tethys, is it?” He looked back at his book. “You’re not Hyperion, right?”
I gulped, hearing his name again. “No.”
“And I trust you know who I am?” He smirked, looking amused.
“Of course I do,” I rolled my eyes. “You’re Mr. Lieu, descending from Henri la Beaulieu himself.”
He looked satisfied, then as his eyes wandered to the X, he gasped. “Oh no, my dear! What have you done? What did he do to you?” He sounded concerned, like he actually cared for me. “I remember your drawings in school! You were our best student.” He crossed his arms over his bulging belly. “So much potential…yet, used so easily.” He gave a grim nod,
and spoke softly, “did he hurt you, sweet child? Did it hurt to be used for something that rightfully belonged to you all along?”
I blinked, beginning to ask myself, then quickly shook my head. “O–of course not!”
“Manipulation is a powerful thing, isn’t it?” He mused, giving me a pitiful look. “May I ask, was it worth it?”
“I–” Stammering, I tried to push his words out of my head, but they were so convincing, so sincere. “Stop it, you’re nothing but a coward.”
He chuckled, the exact kind of laugh I had imagined him to have. “Name-calling, are we? I suppose it would only make sense for you to repeat what he did to you.” He shook his head, giving me the same condescending look. “I’m quite sorry, if I had known what he would do to you, I would have made sure he died five years ago.” What did he mean?
“Five years ago?” I felt my grip on the dagger slacken a little, I hadn’t meant to let go.
“At the war, my dear.” He explained patiently. “Did he not tell you?”
I remembered the book entry and smiled a little. “Kind of.”
“Quite interesting,” he gave me a humorless smile and gently patted the chair across from him. I stood my ground not wanting to be trapped there. “I understand you do not trust me, dear, but I am only doing what’s best for you, as I am for the nation.”
I stared in his gentle eyes, and for a second considered believing him.
“If I recall correctly, he was the one who took your own mother’s life, was he not?”
“How’d you–”
He cut me off, waving his hand in dismissal. “Don’t you think I’d find out if one of my lovely citizens had been killed by the very Fugitive that we are after?” He shook his head grimly, as if the very thought made him sad beyond belief. “You’re not an accomplice, my sweet girl. It’s not too late to do the right thing. You can join us, the people who helped your family prosper for years! You can aid us in rebuilding Lieu, so no one is unhappy.”