I glanced around at the immaculate and orderly living quarters of the most powerful leader left in the country—the only leader who’d had enough foresight to construct an enclosed city to contain and protect the richest and most elite people in the world. New Caelum had been pitched as a sort of Noah’s Ark—but instead of protecting its inhabitants from a flood, it protected them from a deadly virus that swept the nation.
But the world’s most powerful leader—President Layne—did not appear to be the same woman I remembered from when I was a child. The woman I had known was a figure to be reckoned with, in control of everything around her. She didn’t accept “no” when she needed a “yes.” Those who worked for her never crossed her if they wanted to keep their jobs. But she was also kind enough that in the rare instances when someone did defy her, they almost always regretted it afterward and sought forgiveness.
The woman who had eaten dinner with us tonight was not the same woman who had put herself in charge of saving humankind. And by the look on West’s face during dinner, he, too, knew she wasn’t herself. Which meant the change was recent. Had something happened to change her while West was on the outside?
And then there was Justin Rhodes, vice president to President Layne. He was clearly the real power in New Caelum. What was his story? And what was going on between him and West? On several occasions already, West had looked like he could have gone a couple of rounds with Justin—although so far he’d succeeded in showing restraint.
I returned to the guest room. The queen-sized bed was piled high with six pillows and a down comforter. Under different circumstances, I would have loved to have crawled into that luxurious bed and not have come out for days, but right now, sleep was the last thing on my mind.
I checked out the closets and dresser, and found them packed to the gills with clothing, mostly in the same shade of rich blue that I’d worn to dinner. In the back of one closet—there were three altogether—was a dress, in sapphire blue, that glittered with sequins and jewels. It was the loveliest dress I’d ever seen. And everything was in exactly my size.
Wait. Everything was in my size?
A sudden sensation of nausea had me grabbing at my stomach. I swallowed hard against a watering mouth. How could they have been ready with so many clothes that would fit me? I looked down at the shoes. They, too, fit me perfectly—and I had unusually small feet. It was as if they had expected me. And the color, everything in this same royal blue… what did that mean?
I left the guest room behind and decided to explore the rest of the suite. Out in the hallway, all the doors were closed. I assumed that one of these was President Layne’s bedroom—and West had said that she had already turned in for the night, so I tried to be as quiet as I could as I turned the knob of the door closest to mine.
Behind the door was what had to be West’s room. His walls and bed were covered in dark paint and fabric, and his open closet was filled with nothing but charcoal and black clothing.
Colors definitely meant something here inside New Caelum. The dark gray and black clothing seemed to be the color of choice for the top-level executives, including West.
I hadn’t seen anyone else wearing sapphire blue yet.
I didn’t want to poke around in West’s room, so I continued down to the very end of the hallway and again opened the door cautiously and quietly. It was a good thing I did, too—this was the door to President Layne’s bedroom, and she was inside, sleeping with her back to the door.
I softly closed the door and moved on to the only other door in the hall—which led me to Willow’s room. And this room was a dream. A four-poster bed was covered in all-white fabric, with curtains draped along its corners. Large white tree branches were painted on pale gray walls. For a splash of color, hot pink pillows sat in the middle of the bed, and larger hot pink pillows had been arranged in one corner to form some kind of reading nook. Willow’s name was painted in a large scrolling font above her headboard.
Unlike the guest room, which had only necessary clothes and toiletries (though still far more than I could ever imagine needing), this room looked lived in. Willow had an extensive collection of books, a computer, and a jewelry box of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. It was a room filled with both memories and… well, things. The kinds of things those of us on the outside hadn’t bothered with for the past six years. When I opened her closet, I was only mildly surprised to find all charcoal and black clothes, just like in West’s closet.
Unlike me and West, Willow had a window, and I crossed the room to take in her view. The suite was higher up than I had thought, and as I looked out at the mountains surrounding New Caelum, I was able to pick out the faint outline of my forest of trees in the darkness.
I reached up and ran my fingers along the cold glass. I couldn’t help but wonder what my life would have been like if I had never left New Caelum—had never gotten to know the freedom of exploring that forest. Would I, too, have a closet full of dark clothes instead of royal blue? Would I still live here with the Laynes, or would I have been demoted to a lower class—as an orphan? After all, my parents apparently demanded even less respect than the lowest of the classes inside New Caelum, seeing as how they were sentenced to live out their lives in exile in another country—and probably died there.
I didn’t get to wonder about a life inside New Caelum for long, because a shrill-sounding alarm broke the silence and caused my heart to leap into my throat. I turned and stared at Willow’s closed door. Was the alarm because of me—because I wasn’t in my room?
I took a step toward the door, intending to hurry back to the guest room, but as I did, I noticed the corner of a box sticking out from under the bed, and my curiosity got the better of me. Bending down, I slid the box out from under the bed and lifted the lid, revealing a quilt. A keepsake, maybe? Or just an extra bedcover for when Willow got cold. I didn’t know why, but I found myself lifting the quilt and rubbing the soft fabric against my face. It reminded me of a blanket I’d had as a baby—one Mom had made for me.
Underneath the quilt were some old clothes. And unlike every other set of clothes in this place, they actually came in varying colors: white, pale blue, green, red, and the color of oatmeal. I was going to investigate these as well, but voices in the suite outside stopped me. I quickly patted the clothes down and stuffed the quilt inside the box, then pushed the box back under the bed, further this time, so the corner didn’t stick out.
I hurried to the door and opened it slowly. The alarm was even more obnoxious in the hallway. I now recognized the voices as Justin’s and West’s; they sounded like they were in the living room, where we’d had dinner earlier.
I slipped out of Willow’s room quietly. My door was just down the hall, but unlike Willow’s door, mine was within view of the living room, so I doubted I could slip in without being noticed.
Then again, what was I even afraid of? Snooping was wrong, I supposed, but it wasn’t like I’d left the suite, and no one had told me the other rooms were off-limits.
I closed Willow’s door softly behind me and walked down the hallway. Sure enough, Justin and West were in the living room, and now they were screaming at each other—though maybe they were just trying to be heard over the alarm.
“I don’t know why he’s here, Justin.” West held his hands out to the side, making himself appear bigger. “But my advice? Take him seriously. If you hurt him, Christina will never cooperate with you.”
My pulse sped up, and I took a few more steps into the room. “Who’s here?”
They hadn’t even heard my approach. Both of their heads rotated toward me.
The alarm stopped—mercifully—and a guard appeared. “We’ve shut off the alarm in the executive wing of the building, Mr. Rhodes. As soon as we’ve confirmed that no other outsiders have infiltrated the space around New Caelum, we’ll turn off the alarm everywhere.”
“Very good. And the young man has been properly restrained?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Who’s here?” I asked.
I spoke directly to West, but it was Justin who answered. “Apparently you have a knight in shining armor.”
I kept my face completely emotionless. “Since I know for a fact that no such thing exists, why don’t you tell me what you’re talking about?”
“A boy who calls himself Dax made a ruckus outside our gates tonight.”
I couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped my lips. Dax was alive. And that meant he wasn’t sick like his brother. But why would he come here?
“Did you hurt him?”
Justin’s lips twitched upward. “Of course not. The boy started screaming about having some information regarding the virus, and said that killing him would result in dire consequences for the people of New Caelum. What does he mean by that, Christina? Is this boy threatening us?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Well, he’s asking for you. Made a pretty strong argument for getting what he wants. Says that ‘the mechanism you ordered from Zara’ is in place.”
My breathing sped up. By “mechanism,” Dax meant bomb. I was partly relieved, but also terrified. I felt confident I could get myself out of this prison, but now I would have to save Dax as well.
“Justin,” West said finally, his eyes glued to mine. “You gave me a directive earlier this evening, and I aim to fulfill it. Cricket is my responsibility. Right now, I’d like to take her to Dax. That’s the only way we’ll find out what he wants to tell us.”
Justin glanced sideways at West. “Fine. But it’s late. It can wait until morning. We’ll have tested Dax for Bad Sam and decontaminated him by then. I’ll be back first thing to have breakfast with you and your mother.”
At that, Justin left. And West simply stood there staring at me.
I let out a breath I’d been holding. I had to believe that Dax would be okay.
“Did you mean what you said in your note?” West asked. His brown hair was disheveled; this had been a very long, tiring day for him as well.
“What?” My voice was barely above a whisper as I thought back to every single word I’d written to him. Of course I had meant it.
“Did you mean what you wrote to me? That in another life you would have loved that I had found you?”
“Why are you asking this?” I averted my gaze, looking toward the windows on the far side of the room—looking for an escape. I couldn’t tell him what I was feeling. That I craved the feeling of his arms around me. That I had actually slept more soundly that one frigid night in the forest than I had in years.
I took a deep breath and turned my eyes back to his. Hazel in color, his irises were outlined in black. His clothes, dark with significance, brought out the brilliance of his eyes. And right now, those eyes were pleading with me.
“In another life… we would have had a chance,” I said.
“We have a chance now.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?”
West grabbed my elbow and pulled me down the hallway with a sense of urgency, but not in a scary way. He passed the guest room and led me through the door to his bedroom. After closing the door, he walked quickly to his bedside table and picked up what looked like some sort of remote control. He pushed a few buttons, and music poured out of speakers in two high corners of the room.
Then he walked toward me and leaned in close to my ear, his breath hot across my cheek. “They’re listening to our every word, but the music will drown out our voices if we whisper.”
I glanced up at him as his fingers circled around my wrist. “Is Dax okay?”
“He’ll be fine. Justin is scared about something, but I don’t know what. I found him having a serious conversation with Dr. Pooley earlier. You haven’t met him, yet. He represents the medical sector on the council, and is Willow’s doctor. They were examining the box you brought. The one with the clock on it.”
I tried to pull back, but West held on tight. His other hand slid to the small of my back, pressing firmly and bringing my body closer, if that was possible. “I need you to be honest with me,” he whispered. “What is that box? And does it have anything to do with what Dax was talking about?”
I decided it was time to play my hand, to find out just who West really was and what I truly meant to him. One way or the other, my insurance policy was in place. I’d either have West’s help, or I wouldn’t.
I tilted my head back so that I could see his eyes. Though I knew eyes could lie, it was unlikely that I would misread the initial reaction on his face. “The mechanism that Dax is reporting as ‘in place’… It’s a bomb. The timer is the countdown.”
West’s face remained stoic at first. His eyes widened just slightly, then his cheeks dropped a bit. “What do you mean? It’s obviously too small to do too much damage.”
“It’s not that kind of bomb.”
chapter twenty-eight
West
“What kind of bomb is it, then?” I studied Cricket’s face, looking for any clue as to what she was plotting. But as her eyes remained fixed on mine, unchanging, I suspected that I—and even more so, Justin—had underestimated the people surviving outside of New Caelum. I knew for certain that I had underestimated Cricket’s ability to take care of herself once she got inside my city.
“If I’m not released from New Caelum before that clock hits zero, your computerized air purification system will be disabled, and several vials of the virus will be released into your ventilation system—into the air your people breathe.” Cricket looked down at my hand on her arm, then back at me, her gaze severe.
I didn’t realize until that moment that I had a monstrous grip around her elbow. I let my fingers slip away, but kept my hand pressed to the small of her back, not wanting to let her go. “How could you possibly have built a bomb that would do that?”
Cricket explained the sophisticated bomb and computer virus that was designed to cripple New Caelum, and how she and Zara had used our own state-of-the art system to do it. I wasn’t sure if I was angry or turned on by her tenacious self-preservation strategy, but the heat building beneath my palm on her back didn’t do anything to calm the blood flowing through my veins. She was threatening to kill the very people my mom aimed to protect—people I was meant to protect.
“Say something,” she said. Her voice echoed through what seemed like a long underground tunnel.
My mind raced around the many scenarios. Was she insane? “Are you so angry about being forced to live outside of New Caelum that you want everyone inside New Caelum to suffer the way you did?”
“What? No.” She tried to pull away again, but I wouldn’t let her. “Let me go, West.”
“No.” We had to have this talk or I would never know the truth. I didn’t want to spend another minute the way I had spent the last six years—not knowing about the fate of my first love. “I need to know. Why did you come here? What did you hope to accomplish? Do you and the other outsiders not even care about what happens to us inside?”
Her back tensed and her eyes widened. A laugh escaped her lips. “Ha! Pot, meet kettle.”
“Okay, I deserved that. But Cricket, what is this? Some sort of revenge mission?”
“Please understand.” Her gaze remained intense.
“I’m trying to,” I said quickly.
“I was entering a city virtually unknown to me without any way to defend myself. And I’d already experienced what you and your people do to people like me when you don’t get your way.”
I squeezed my eyes, remembering how I’d tasered her to the point that she fell unconscious.
“And I have no intention of being held prisoner inside New Caelum,” she continued. “That bomb is simply leverage—the only thing I could think of to ensure I have a way back out. If things go badly, I need Justin to believe I would sabotage your perfect little utopia. You people alrea
dy think we’re savages, so I’m sure he won’t doubt me. But West, I want you to believe me: the last thing I want is for anyone to get this terrible virus. As long as Justin and President Layne cooperate, I’ll make sure the mechanism to scramble your air filtration system is deactivated, and that the virus bomb is destroyed.”
When I opened my eyes, her eyes were still locked on mine. “So you didn’t come here to destroy New Caelum.” I said.
“You know I didn’t. I came to find a cure for Bad Sam, to stop it before it spreads again. I want your sister to see another birthday. I don’t want your friends Ryder and Key to suffer and die. I want to save Dylan. I came for you.”
My heart constricted. I was accusing her of so many things, yet I was discovering that I was very wrong about her heart. “And you’d risk your entire future to come inside New Caelum so that you could save them.”
Cricket stopped fighting me. The muscles in her back relaxed. She lifted her hand and touched my cheek. “No one deserves to suffer the way I did. I risked my future to make sure your sister would have one.”
“If that bomb should detonate and Bad Sam breaks out among my people…”
“It won’t. And besides, this is an opportunity for your city to prove they can work with those of us on the outside.”
She had a point. Wasn’t that what I wanted eventually? To merge the citizens of New Caelum with those on the outside? Wouldn’t it be easier to do that if key people on both sides found a way to work together?
I covered her hand with my palm and leaned my face into her touch. As I stared into her eyes, I couldn’t imagine letting her walk away from New Caelum again. From me.
“I think I’m falling in love with you.”
The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Instead of locking her up with Dax, like I should have after hearing about this bomb, I was confessing my true feelings for her.
Her entire body stiffened beneath my touch. “Don’t say that.”
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