Once I made it to my room, I retrieved my comm and tucked myself in my closet. My body made its displeasure with my movement known, and I winced when stabbing pains shot through my chest, but I pushed through the discomfort and closed my eyes, hoping all wasn’t lost.
“Liza? Are you there?”
Silence greeted me. I fought to keep my breathing steady, even as my heart pounded. What if she didn’t answer? She could still be in Summerhill with Marco, for all I knew.
“Liza? Please respond. I need to talk to you. Liza?”
A muffled scrape struck against my eardrum. “Eden?”
Relief welled up in me at the sound of Liza’s voice. “Gates prevail. I’m so happy to hear your voice!”
“Eden, what’s going on? Marco and I got back here last night and there was no sign of Derek. I’ve been hearing some reports come through from some of our sources about an attack on the Guard.”
“And cadets,” I added. “It was Derek. He and a group of I don’t know how many demons attacked us. Liza, he took Nate.”
Liza released a slow breath. “I was worried about something like this.”
Fear prickled along the back of my neck at the note of concern in her voice. “Worried about something like what? What are you talking about?”
Liza took a few seconds to respond. “I heard… whispers… from Amberg. Nothing calling out Derek by name, but I don’t know what other group he could have been working with.”
“What group?”
“They call themselves Phoenix. Like the bird, you know? Born of flame. They’re not new. They’ve been around for years.”
“So you know them?”
“Not really. They’ve always been more about changing things through politics. They start a lot of petitions and write to their senators. You remember Dylan Osgood’s mayoral bid in Amberg? Phoenix was running his campaign.”
I felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle. “Okay, so they’re a political group. What does that have to do with Derek? With Nate?”
“Something changed after Osgood lost. They put other demons on the ticket in cities before Amberg, but they never stood a chance against the incumbent. McGown stole that race. They played by the rules, and they still lost. The rumors are that there were some major power shifts within Phoenix’s ranks after that.”
“But what does this have to do with Nate?”
“That’s what I’m trying to explain. Phoenix isn’t playing by the rules anymore. They were protesting in Amberg, yes, but the protests weren’t enough. Maybe they realized they needed to do something more drastic to get the help those people need.”
I gulped as the fear that had been bubbling inside me finally boiled over. “Or maybe Derek saw an opportunity and jumped at it. Liza, this is my fault.”
“Stop that right now. This was Derek’s doing.”
“But he couldn’t have done anything if I hadn’t told him about the field experience. I should’ve kept it all to myself.”
“It was my decision to put him at the comm board. He was acting off, and I knew it, but I ignored my gut. It wasn’t until I got home to find him gone that I realized it was a mistake to trust him. He’s not himself.”
I barked out a choked laugh. “You’re telling me? A small army of demons attacked my group. Canaan dragged me into the forest. Nate followed. He came to save me. But Derek knocked us both out with darts, and when I woke up, Nate was gone.” I gulped down the panic rising in my chest. “He had demands for the chancellor—all Guards out of Amberg, and medicine for the people there. But the chancellor said no, and Derek said he’ll kill Nate if he doesn’t get what he wants.”
“Idiot,” Liza snarled. “I’m sorry, Eden. I’m sorry I wasn’t here. But Marco—”
My throat tightened. “How is he?”
“Too soon to say.” Her voice took on the diplomatic tone she used when news wasn’t favorable. “Doc said his lungs don’t sound great, and he gave him some medicine we hope might clear them up. Neurologically, he’s still testing in normal limits. But there’s not much else we can do now but wait. Even if Doc had the L-B4 treatment on hand, Marco wouldn’t have taken it. He says he’s already had his shot, and it’ll either work or it won’t. Stubborn.”
“He’ll be okay,” I said, wishing my words held the power to make it so.
“He will or he won’t. That a problem for another day. Now we have to worry about stopping Derek from starting a war he can’t win.”
“Tell me where he is. I’ll go to him, and I’ll convince him to—”
“Don’t you understand?” Liza cut in. “I don’t know where he is. He’s with Phoenix now—or he’s entirely rogue. Either way, he’s not here. I can check with some contacts and see if anyone has heard anything. But I don’t see how you think you can be the one to go talk to him. I’m betting they won’t let a cadet just walk out of the academy—especially right now. It should be me.”
Although I knew she was right, leaving Nate’s fate in her hands—in anyone’s hands but my own—hollowed me out. What if she couldn’t convince him? I needed to be there—just in case. “I’ll check back in with you soon. Maybe an hour?”
Liza sighed. “Talk to you then.”
I turned off the comm but left it in place as I began pacing the room. But I limped across the floor only a few times before the pain in my chest became so intense I had to sit down. My fingers trembled with nervous energy. I couldn’t just sit here for an hour. I needed to do something. Except there was nothing for me to do. It wasn’t as if I could leave campus and start searching for Derek’s hideout myself. I wouldn’t even know where to look.
But even as the thought entered my mind, I knew it wasn’t entirely accurate. Derek couldn’t have left the forest long before the angels did. And when he called, it didn’t sound like he was in a car, so he must have already been back at his lair. That could give me a search radius. There were plenty of maps at the library. Maybe physics could come in handy after all.
Before I could figure out anything definitively, I needed to know how long I was out and how long it took to make it back to the vehicles. Wincing, I stood and strode to my door. Clio might have answers.
The second-floor hall was so quiet I wondered if she hadn’t gone somewhere else after leaving the infirmary, but as I drew closer to her room, I was sure I heard voices.
“Clio?” I knocked a few times. “Are you in there?”
Silence greeted my question, followed by hurried shuffling. “Uh… Just a minute.”
When she finally opened up, the polite surprise on her face didn’t quite disguise the pink flush in her cheeks. “Eden! What did the doctor say?”
Although she had the door open only far enough to wedge her body in, I glanced at the slice of room beyond. “Bruised ribs. Banged up shin. But I’m fine,” I added quickly. “Actually I had a question about what happened while I was out. I’m thinking we can come up with a search radius based on travel time.”
Clio scrunched her face. “Oh, I don’t know. I was so worried, I don’t think I kept very good track of time. And if you’ve got bruised ribs, you should really be resting. Here—let me walk you back to your room.”
She tried to step into the hall, but I pressed my palm against her door, blocking her path. There was only one reason she would be acting so squirrelly. “In a second. But before we go up, maybe I could ask Bridger and Thor what they remember.”
Clio’s shoulders slumped. “Fine. Get in here.”
No sooner had she closed the door behind me than the guys spilled out of the closet. “I told you she’d know we were here,” Bridger muttered.
I lowered myself to the edge of Clio’s mattress. “Why are you guys here?”
“Same reason as you, I imagine,” Thor said, leaning back against the wall by the closet and folding his arms over his chest. A butterfly bandage closed the cut on his face. “To figure out how to save Nate.”
The weight in my stomach seemed to lighten. I should have
known the other Keepers wouldn’t give up on him—even if his own father had. “Okay. I was thinking—when Derek called, it didn’t sound like he was in a car or anything, so he must have already had Nate at whatever lair he’s holed up in.”
Identical looks of surprise spread across the three Keepers’ faces, and I realized my mistake too late.
“Derek?” Clio asked.
My mind spun, grasping for a reasonable explanation. “Yeah. The kidnapper guy—he told me his name when I first picked up the phone.”
Bridger snorted. “What kind of idiot gives their name when they’re demanding a ransom?”
“A big idiot, hopefully,” Clio muttered.
“It might not be his real name,” I suggested lamely. “Or maybe he wants some kind of notoriety out of all this. But like I was saying, if we have an idea how much time elapsed between when he took Nate and when he called, maybe we can narrow down where he could be hiding out.”
Thor studied me as he pushed off the wall. He crossed the room and pulled something out of his pocket before tossing it onto the mattress. “Or we could call and ask him.”
The pieces flip phone the chancellor had stomped lay scattered across Clio’s patchwork quilt. “They gave this to you?”
Thor shook his head. “We noticed a couple of shards near a trash can in the hallway when we were leaving the infirmary. Someone swept it up and tossed it in there.”
I studied the wreckage. The keypad was mostly intact, and although the screen was smashed beyond repair and the outer case was cracked, it was possible the circuit board wasn’t completely destroyed. “Does it work?”
“Does it look like it?” Bridger asked, circling the bed to take a seat on the other side. “Unfortunately, I missed all my classes on fixing ancient phones, so I’m not even sure what I’m looking at. It looks like something out of the Dark Decade.”
It was, but I didn’t bother pointing out the fact. I poked through the pieces. “I know what I’m looking at.” Before we figured out how to deal with the range issues on the in-ear comms, Liza would give old phones like these to associates doing med runs. The devices were almost impossible to track, unlike newer ones. I’d spent countless hours tinkering with them, trying to increase battery life or boost reception inside buildings or in underground bunkers.
I turned to Clio. “Do you have any tools? A small screwdriver, maybe?”
She bit her lower lip. “No, but…” Without finishing her thought, she scurried to her dresser and began searching through a small wooden box on top of it.
I pulled my leg up on the bed to get a better view of the pieces, hissing when a wave of pain coursed through my chest.
“Stop,” Thor said, holding up a hand. Before I could ask why, he tugged Clio’s nightstand toward the end of the bed and moved all the chunks of the phone onto it. “Probably easier to work on a flat surface.”
Clio returned with several small items including tweezers, push pins, a nail file, and a pair of fingernail clippers. “This is the best I’ve got.”
I surveyed the makeshift tools. “I’ve made do with worse.”
The room fell silent as I set to work. The damage, while severe, wasn’t complete.
My back ached as I crouched over the bedside table. I tried to keep my mind off how long the repairs were taking. Had an hour passed since Derek’s first call? What would happen if he dialed this number and no one answered? I wanted to believe Derek didn’t have it in him to actually kill Nate, but every time I dared let myself consider it, I remembered the way he tranqued Keats on the roof of City Hall for no reason other than he wanted to. I shivered when I recalled the icy glint in his eyes when he knocked me out. Although neither of those shots had been fatal, there had been no hesitation in him either time.
When I finally reattached the pertinent wires into place, I pressed the device’s power button and held my breath. The others gathered around as cracked screen remained dark for several seconds before glowing to life. The display was a pixelated mess of color, but anything was a good sign at this point.
Clio leaned in closer. “Is it working?”
“Maybe.” It wasn’t as definitive an answer as I would like to give, but it was the best I had at the moment. I’d hoped the splintered screen wouldn’t be an issue, but apparently Isaiah had done some real damage when he stomped on it. “I might be able to access the recent calls menu. But if the kidnapper blocked his number, it won’t go through.”
I studied the buttons on the device. The setup seemed similar to phones I’d used before, and I spooled through every memory I could about how to get to the call log.
“Before we do anything, shouldn’t we make a plan?” Bridger asked.
“The plan is to get Nate back,” Clio said.
“Obviously,” Bridger said. “But have you given any thought as to how? I get the feeling this dude isn’t going to hand Nate over if we ask nicely.”
Clio threw up her hands. “Well, what do you suggest we do? We can’t exactly meet his demands. We don’t have that authority.”
Thor stood up a little straighter. “Maybe we can offer him something else.”
I risked glancing away from the phone. “What are you thinking?”
He pressed his lips together for a long moment. “We offer him our Blades.”
Bridger chuckled and Clio scrunched her face, but Thor gave no indication he was joking.
“Tell me you’re kidding,” Clio said finally.
“I don’t mean actually hand over our Blades,” Thor insisted. “You know as well as I do that even if we put them right in this guy’s hands, they’ll just sublimate and reappear on their stands.”
“Why would he go for that?” Bridger asked. “They’re weapons, not medicine.”
Gears spun in my mind. Derek wanted to help the people of Amberg. But if he couldn’t get the necessary resources handed over willingly, he might accept the promise of power to take them for himself. “I think it could work. The chancellor won’t give him the medicine, and I doubt he’ll call for the Guard to withdraw from Amberg. If we convince him the Blades will give him the edge he needs to get what he wants, he might go for it. We just have to make him give us Nate before we hand them over.”
“And then what?” Bridger asked. “Even if this guy falls for it, there’s no way he’s working alone. Look at how many people he had with him at the stronghold. How do we get out of a situation like that?”
“By doing what we’re trained to do,” Thor said.
Goosebumps rose on my arms. Could we really fight our way out if it came to that? I hadn’t gotten a full sense of how many attackers there were at the clearing, but their number had probably been at least equal to the team I’d been there with. Were they just muscle hired to do the job and gone now they they had been paid, or were they members of the mysterious Phoenix Liza had spoken of?
But this was Nate we were talking about. If there was a chance we could save him, we had to take it.
A shrill ring cut through the air and I pressed the phone’s answer button before I thought the action through. My throat went dry as the call connected.
“Is this Chancellor Kingston?” Derek’s voice came through slightly staticky, but still clear enough to understand.
I glanced at Clio, who stared at me wide-eyed. Bridger shook his head.
“I’m not a patient man,” Derek snapped. “If I don’t hear the chancellor’s voice in five seconds, so help me, I’ll—”
“You’re not going to hear the chancellor’s voice,” Thor said, taking a step closer to the nightstand. “He made his stance clear when you spoke with him earlier. He won’t negotiate with you. But I will.”
I held my breath as silence stretched over the line.
“Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?” Derek asked, his tone dripping with mock sincerity.
“My name doesn’t matter,” Thor replied easily. “All that matters is what I can do for you. But before we talk business, I need proof of life.
”
Clio covered her mouth with her hands.
There was another long silence. “Fine,” Derek said at last. “Here’s your proof.”
We all leaned closer to the phone. Muffled grunts spilled from the speaker, followed by the sound of tape being ripped off a surface. “Don’t do it!” Nate shouted. “Whatever he wants, don’t give it to—uh!”
I cringed, imagining the punch that silenced Nate’s warning. Indistinct grunting faded as, presumably, Derek walked away from where Nate was being held.
“There’s your proof,” Derek said coolly. “Now let’s talk. You’re not the chancellor, and I’m guessing you’re not a general or someone else who might actually have the power to get me what I want, so why don’t you tell me what you’re offering?”
“The Eternity Blades,” I blurted, regretting my outburst almost immediately. What if Derek let on that we knew each other? Could the other Keepers trust me if they learned of my connection to him? “The chancellor won’t negotiate with you, and the Guard won’t go against the senate. But with the Blades, you’ll have the power to make them do whatever you tell them to.”
Derek was quiet for a long moment. I stared at the phone, wondering if the connection had dropped. Finally, he spoke. “If the Blades make a person so powerful, why can’t you use them to make the chancellor meet my demands?”
My stomach sank. Leave it to Derek to pick out a flaw in the logic.
“We’re not interested in joining your rebellion,” Clio snapped. “It’s already treason for us to hand over the Blades. But Nate is my fiancé, and I’ll do anything to get him back.”
My heart clenched at the desperation in Clio’s voice. I’d been so focused on my worry for Nate that I had spent little time wondering how she was holding up. For the first time, I glimpsed the depth of her feelings for him, and the truth hit me like a punch in the gut. No matter where Nate stood, it was clear Clio loved him.
We waited in silence while Derek considered the offer. After what felt like an forever, he said, “I accept your terms.”
Thor met my eyes. Something passed between us—and understanding that this was the only way. Gulping, I nodded.
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