by Rebecca Ann
“Okay. We’ll go.” Something beeped from the desk. She sighed and picked up what looked like a net-screen. “My parents are on their way home. They’ve been in trade meetings all afternoon.” She intertwined her fingers. “Anyway, now that I’ve made a complete fool of myself, let’s get to the real reason I wanted to talk to you. I’ve read a lot about Caldwell’s LI school, and I’d love to implement something like that here. Students use their powers when they can, but we don’t have formal training in our curriculum, and—”
I quirked a brow. Seriously? Madalina wanted to talk about an LI school on Ada? “Hold up. One thing at a time. We can talk about a school after I make sure this program is legit.”
“Understood. After we see District One, I’ll make sure you’re on the next ship back to Caldwell. There’s one leaving tomorrow. I want to make sure you get your friends here safely. And if it helps, Victoria’s mother has been helping me get this program started.”
I stared at her, trying to wrap my mind around the last two words. “Victoria’s mother?”
“Yes. You do know she works here, right? She was recently released from prison and has been here for a few months. We sent her to the underground in Caldwell to help convince the other LIs to come to Ada.”
I gripped the edge of the seat as my heart pounded, my mouth dry. “You said you sent her down there to see Victoria!” More fury made its home in my chest, and it took every ounce of willpower not to jump from the chair and strangle Madalina.
“We did!” Madalina sat forward in her chair, hands on the desk. “Listen, Elizabeth was experimented on. It’s the reason she sent Victoria to Earth when she was seven. If she’s willing to stay here and give me a chance to help LIs despite the past, then I think you should too.”
I sat back in the chair. This conniving little sneak. But if I was going to get on that ship to Caldwell, I had to at least play nice for a few minutes. “Okay. What time is the ship leaving tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll let you know.” Madalina’s voice had lost some of its confidence. “I’m so sorry, Lindsey. I know this is a lot and we haven’t known each other long. I really hope you see I have the best interests of both LIs and Controllers at heart. I really want us to unite as one family.”
I blinked. She sounded so genuine, so passionate. Maybe she was. Either way, I couldn’t back out now. I’d come here to gather proof, and I only had a few hours to do so. “I’ll see you tomorrow. And thank you for allowing me to bring my people here.” I had to at least pretend like I agreed with all this. I started to curtsy, but Madalina held out her hand, laughter in her eyes. I froze, eyebrows raised. “What? Am I doing it wrong?”
“No. You’re doing it right. You don’t need to do that. We’re a team. At least, I hope we will be.” She patted me on the shoulder. “Now, go find Melody. I’ll let you know when my father arrives.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.” I exited the room without another word to find Melody leaning against the wall outside the study. “Spying, are we?” I joked.
Melody shook her head. “No. Just waiting. How’d it go?” She started walking across the foyer. “I wasn’t eavesdropping, I swear. It’s just not often that Madalina pulls a staff member into her study unless it’s something serious.”
“She wanted to talk to me about the LI school in Caldwell and get my father’s advice on improving the education system here,” I muttered, arms across my chest. “And tried to get me to go with the ship tomorrow to get my family. I told her I would if she showed me District One. She agreed.”
“Wow.”
I stopped walking. “What do you mean ‘Wow’? She wouldn’t normally be that agreeable?” When Melody didn’t say anything, I poked her in the chest. “What do you mean?”
Melody pushed my hands away. “Nothing. Just—” The words faded into a sigh. “Look, it’s nothing, okay?”
I dropped my hands. “I feel like I should wait a few days and see what things are like here. Get settled as a Royal Watcher.”
“Wel—” Melody spun around as voices sounded in the front hall. “They’re back! Madalina’s parents!”
My breath caught. Oh, great. “What do we do?” The voices grew closer until a woman with long, curly dark hair wearing a flowing dark green dress came into view, silver earrings dangling from her ears. She walked as though she were balancing a book on her head.
“Melody! Where’s Madalina?”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the woman’s obviously fake politeness. This must be Madalina’s mom. “Lindsey Cooper, Your Majesty,” I interjected. The comment earned me an elbow in the side. “Um—sorry.”
The queen’s dark eyes landed on me, and I tried not to look away at the tiny smile playing on her thin red lips. One that could mean a hundred things. She took a step closer, her olive-skinned hand outstretched, not to shake mine, but to run a finger along my cheek. I flinched at her cold touch, jaw clenched, but didn’t dare move. What was this woman doing? Apparently the royalty here thought they had the right to touch people without permission. Madalina had done the same thing back in Caldwell. Before I could say anything, the queen dropped her hand and breezed past us.
“Where’s Madalina?” she asked, her tone sharper, almost harsh.
“Welcome to the palace,” the king whispered as he walked past, the pins on his shirt glinting in the light.
“Father!” Madalina hurried across the foyer. Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek. “Welcome home. I see you’ve met Lindsey Cooper.”
“Is she the one from the news?” the king asked, his gaze fixed on me as though I was an animal escaped from the zoo. “Madalina, why would you bring her here?”
“Because she can help us! You said you needed more Royal Watchers, and—”
The king stared at me for such a long time that I chanced a look at Melody, who shrugged. At last, he said in his deep voice, “You’ve got courage, Ms. Cooper. Please know I don’t take what you did to those Watchers lightly, but you’ve got skills, and we could use someone like you. You’ll start training after you go get your family and bring them here tomorrow.” Without another word, he walked away, the queen trailing behind him.
I stared after them as they rounded the corner into the sitting room. “Okay, what was that? Did he just give me his blessing to be a Watcher here?”
“I think so!” Madalina said in a higher pitch, the same one she’d used when we’d docked. “Mel, take Lindsey to the Watchers’ barracks and show her around. I’ll see you both later.”
I stared at Madalina’s retreating form. “Okay, I’m happy about what just happened, but why does every royal person on this planet think they can touch people like that?” I kept my voice low but didn’t bother hiding my annoyance as I touched my cheek.
“Well, you’re an Invie,” Melody pointed out as we headed toward the door that would take us downstairs. “And she did experiment on LIs for a long time.”
I said nothing as I started down the steps, making sure to be extra loud as I walked. Nausea tossed my stomach. Two minutes with Madalina’s parents and—well—I would never say this aloud, but I didn’t trust either of them.
I’d already made two mistakes. Mind-Controlling my boss and letting Elizabeth go down to the hiding place. I wasn’t about to make another.
Chapter Fifteen
VICTORIA
The street welcomed me with its silence as I stepped out of the apartment the next morning. I shut my eyes for a brief moment, the smell of food wafting toward me. My stomach rumbled, but hard as it was, I walked right past the dining hall and toward what I’d nicknamed the donation building. People would be arriving in half an hour, and I needed to get things organized. My cane moved through the gravel as I swiped it from side to side, the crunching of my feet loud in my ears. Another yawn left me, and I covered my mouth with my free hand. Six a.m. was an ugly time to wake up. I still wasn’t sure about my feelings toward my mother being here, and the more she talked about the pr
ogram on Ada, the more I wanted to disappear. I wasn’t going to let her dreams of having me with her on Ada persuade me. She was the one who left me all those years ago.
As I neared the register building, my stomach churned, and a tiny needle prick started in my fingers. I exhaled as I went inside. Guess taking even half a pill on an empty stomach hadn’t been the best decision. Oh, well. I’d get something to eat later. When I finally located the donation room, I turned on the light with a shaking hand. I couldn’t believe I was getting people to give up their light. And for what? A few more days down here before we were all taken to Ada?
No. I couldn’t think like that. We were safe down here. Lindsey wouldn’t let us get discovered.
Lindsey.
Was she okay? Was she safe? Had the Controllers done something horrible to her?
Blinking back tears, I folded up my cane and placed it on the table by the door. I spent the next few minutes putting out the schedules and several pens for the sign-in sheets. By the time I was done, only five minutes had passed. For the next twenty, I paced around the room, my thoughts returning to Lindsey. If only I could get in touch with her and find out what Ada was like. Then maybe I could make a decision.
“Victoria?”
I jumped, spinning around at Elizabeth’s voice. “Hi! What are you doing here?” I tried to keep my tone casual. I’d left early for a few minutes away from her.
“I brought you some food,” Elizabeth said as she held out a white bag. It crunched in her hands. “Taking that pill on an empty stomach isn’t a good idea.”
I took the bag from her and stuck my head inside, inhaling the smell of chocolate. “I’m starting to realize that. Thank you.”
“I also came here to tell you that Rick is holding a resistance meeting in an hour.” She paused. “Can I go with you?”
The bagel I’d started taking out of the bag dropped back inside it as my head shot up. “Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“I won’t interfere. I just want to talk to them about the program.”
I didn’t answer as I took the bagel out of the bag and bit into it. “We’ll see,” I said once I swallowed.
“You want me to wait for you to get done?” Elizabeth asked.
I nodded as I bit off another chunk of bagel and walked over to the sign-in table. For the next hour, I helped people sign in to donate and demonstrated how to do it. About twenty people donated, including Bethany, who came over to the table once she was done.
“Are you free to practice this afternoon?” she asked as she wrote down the date and time next to her name.
“I think so,” I said as I grabbed my cane. “I have to come back in here at one, but I can practice at two.”
“Awesome! I’ll meet you here, and we’ll go to a practice room,” Bethany said. “See you later! Bye, Elizabeth!”
“Bye, Bethany!”
I walked toward the door and into the hall where a few people stood talking. I waved hello but didn’t stop to chat, making my way out of the building and back onto the street bustling with activity.
“Come on,” Elizabeth said. “The meeting is about to start.” She grabbed my hand before I could protest. We walked through the lobby of the dining hall and into the conference room. My stomach sank as the talking stopped when we walked in. Hopefully, I wouldn’t be kicked out of the resistance.
“ELIZABETH, WE HEAR you,” Rick spoke up, cutting her off mid-sentence. “But as I told Victoria, we can’t take everyone to Ada until we know for certain this program isn’t some ploy by Queen Carmella.”
I followed Elizabeth’s black and white top as she walked around the long table where the main members of the resistance had been sitting for the past hour. I hadn’t had time to convince her not to before we were walking through the doors into the conference room, demanding they listen to her. That had been an hour ago. She’d spent the last fifty minutes showing them pictures and explaining the program only to have no one believe her. I shifted in my seat. I could never tell her I was one of them. I could imagine their stoic expressions as they drank their cold coffee, which was starting to make the room smell less than pleasant. The dim lighting that came from the ceiling didn’t help, but none of that mattered to Elizabeth as she continued to pace around the table.
“I understand your concern, and if I could get rid of Queen Carmella, I would, but I can’t.” She stopped pacing, leaning against the end of the table opposite from where I sat in a hard-back chair. “What are you planning on doing? Taking down the president instead? No ruler will ever accept us. We’ll be better off on Ada, and the sooner you realize that, the better. You can live free. Out of this dirt mound. Your children can go to a real school, and you’ll never have to worry about being discovered. You can learn about your second power.”
I couldn’t keep back a smile as Elizabeth’s words of determination and conviction hit the stale air. I may still be skeptical of this program, but she made it sound so wonderful. I wanted to believe her more than anything. Silence settled over the room, and I looked at my hands. Wait. She’d mentioned something about our second power. My healing ability. With everything going on, I’d forgotten about it. Maybe it was another reason to go to Ada.
“Here’s what we’ll do,” Rick said. “You have my permission to go to Ada and take those that want to, but the rest will stay here until we hear from Lindsey.”
“Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!”
I got to my feet as Elizabeth headed for the door. “Elizabeth! Wait!” I hurried after her, almost tripping over a chair in the process. As we stepped out into the dimly lit hall, I said, “We’re really going to Ada?”
“Yes.” Elizabeth stepped in front of me and took my free hand. “You deserve a life of freedom, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get you that.”
“You interrupted their meeting,” I said as I wrenched my hand out of Elizabeth’s hold. “You weren’t even supposed to be there.”
“I had to talk to them,” Elizabeth said as we walked down the hall and out of the building. “They say they’re a resistance, but I don’t see them fighting for their freedom.”
“They’re scared,” I said as I unfolded my cane and followed Elizabeth down the empty street. “Not everyone has led a rebellion or trained with their powers for twenty years. You told me I didn’t have to have control of my powers for you to be proud of me.”
“Victoria, that’s not the same, and you know it.” She didn’t slow her pace as we continued down the street. “These people are part of a resistance which means they either need to be fighting for their right to stay here or think of something else. Not waiting for something to happen.”
“How do you know they aren’t trying? You’ve been here a few hours.” I raised my eyebrows as I looked at her, lips pinched into a thin line.
“Victoria—”
“No! I’m glad you’re here, and I want to go to Ada with you, but your way isn’t the only one.” I exhaled. I hadn’t wanted to do this now, but it was bound to come up eventually. “I love you, and I’ve waited twenty years to see you, but we don’t know each other. I want to believe that this program is going to get us to freedom, but you’re a stranger to me. How do I know you’re telling the truth? I haven’t seen you since I was seven. I barely remember Ada. You handed me off to my father to lead a rebellion.” My heart roared in my ears. My breaths quickened. The mask had come off. “I’ll see you back at the apartment.” I took off down the street, my cane bringing up dirt around my feet. What was wrong with me? I’d waited my whole life to see my mom again, and now I was pushing her away. It was her fault. She’d left me. She’d chosen her precious rebellion over me. I might get to Ada only to have her leave me again. And I couldn’t take that. Not after everything that had happened the last few days.
I arrived back at the apartment sweaty. My heart thudded with such intensity I was certain it would pop right out of my chest. I shut the door and went over to the couch. The silence lasted only a s
econd before the door opened again. I didn’t need to look up or listen to her footsteps. I could smell her perfume from across the room. A sharp, sweet scent that made my nose itch.
“Victoria, we need to talk.”
I turned to face her, trying to school my expression into something pleasant. I wasn’t ready to apologize, but if she was going to help me, I had to act like an adult. “I’m sorry about earlier. I guess I have more anger about all this than I realized.” I sat down on the couch. I wasn’t about to tell her why I was angry. I didn’t know her.
“It’s okay. It really is. I didn’t expect us to pick up where we left off.”
“Well—”
“Victoria?”
I glanced over at Lily, who was coming out of her room. “Hi! What’s up? Where’s Sarah?” When Lily joined us on the couch, I put an arm around her.
“Reading. I have a question.”
“Okay. Shoot.” I removed my arm from around Lily’s shoulders.
“Can I go with you and your mom to Ada? Please! I really want to see Lindsey!” Lily stood from the couch. “Please!”
“Oh, honey, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Elizabeth spoke up. “Not unless your parents say it’s okay. Your dad isn’t exactly, um—”
“Thrilled with the idea of everyone going to Ada,” Lily interjected. “I know, but you said they don’t experiment on LIs anymore, and you’re Victoria’s mom, so that means you wouldn’t lie.”
I stared at my hands, my stomach heavy. “We don’t know that to be true,” I whispered, gaze on my lap. “Why don’t we see, okay?”
“But your dad did say people that wanted to could come to Ada,” Elizabeth interjected, as though she hadn’t heard a word I said. “We need to talk to everyone! Do you know if anyone has a large screen we can hook a net-screen to?”
“My dad might,” Lily said, jumping off the couch. “I’ll be back!” She ran for the door, throwing it open. “Hi, Shannon!”