I raise a white pill, a Tylenol, to Dyl’s chapped lips.
“Here,” I say. “It’ll get rid of the pain.”
He waves my hand away. “It’s fine. I can handle the pain.” He scratches his arm. “The cold is slightly harder to handle. Can you get me a shirt?”
I stand up and brush the leaves from my pants. Then I walk through the forest to the others. Trevor and Natalie are curled up together on the ground, with Trevor’s massive arm covering most of Natalie’s torso. Juliet is sitting on a large moss-covered rock, her legs dangling over the edge. Her hair is straggly and she’s fiddling with some wires: the Bolt Gloves. Her eyebrows are furrowed and her lips are pursed.
She places the wires down and picks up an open can of beans. She offers it to me.
“Baked beans?” she asks. “They’re cold and terrible, but they made me feel a little bit better. So maybe they’ll work on you.”
I grab the can and raise it to my lips. I fill my mouth with the metallic-tasting beans. I swallow, then place the can back down on the rock.
“Caden,” says Juliet, “I’ve decided to forgive you.”
I wipe my chin with my sleeve. How can she forgive me so fast? How can she be over it when I haven’t even begun to forgive myself for what I’ve done to her?
“You don’t have to do that, Juliet.”
“I know. But I’ve decided I want to. So I forgive you. We’re okay.”
“You have no idea how much that means to me,” I say.
I’m being totally honest.
“I think I do,” she says. “It’s why I’m forgiving you. But enough about that. How’s Dyl?”
“He’s awake. And he’s all right, I guess, considering what happened to him. He can move, at least. How are you?”
“I’m okay. Not good. Just okay. I’m trying to come up with a way to get out of this alive. To do that, I need to know more about the LIC. Nat’s told me a bit, but your memory is fresher, so I’d also like to ask you some questions. How much do you know about it? They spy on people they think are important, right? Why? What does that achieve?”
I cross my arms. “Juliet, they don’t tell Love Interests everything. We’re on a strictly need-to-know basis.”
“I understand that, but someone as smart as you must know some things about their operations. Please, Caden, this is important. If we’re going to escape them, I need to know more about them.”
I sit down. “Fine. All I know for sure is that they sell the information they collect. That’s what Mr. Craike, who is the leader of the place, told me. He asked me how much I thought someone would pay for information that could destroy a president.”
“No,” she says. “They can’t be…”
“But they are! This goes really deep. If you think of anyone who has ever been anyone, chances are they had, or have, a Love Interest beside them. That’s the thing, Juliet. This has been going on for centuries. He showed me this hologram of all the Love Interests throughout history, and there were hundreds of them. These people have been lurking in the backgrounds of history for generations, collecting secrets for the LIC to sell. We live in a world where a piece of information can kill careers or start wars. The people who run the LIC have been taking advantage of this for years.”
She nods, taking it all in. “It’s actually kind of genius. Of course people are going to share secrets with their loved ones. That’s kind of the whole point of having them in the first place. What the LIC is doing is disgusting, but it’s genius. That said, I think I’ve found their weakness.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Secrets are their business, but their existence itself is a secret. I imagine their clients are small in number, or maybe they don’t even know how the LIC gets its information. My point is that people who know about the existence of Love Interests are dangerous to the LIC. It’s why they want to kill us so bad. If word got out that they’re using loved ones to spy on people, they’d lose all their power. If we could find a way to tell the world about Love Interests, then…”
“A Stalker will—”
Her eyes light up as she interrupts me. “That’s the thing, Caden. It always comes down to the threat of Stalkers. Without them, the LIC would just be … people. And that’s the thing about technology—as much as I love it, it becomes a crutch. I’m sure they had ways to keep Love Interests in line before they invented Stalkers, but now I’d bet they’d be lost without them. If we could find a way to destroy the Stalkers, we would buy enough time for Love Interests to come forward. We’d need a lot of them to do it, but that would destroy the LIC for good.”
I breathe in the clear, crisp air. It’s too nice, too easy, to be true. If this plan were feasible surely someone must’ve tried it. “Well, maybe that’s true. But right now all I know is that we need to move.”
But I can already feel her idea worming its way through my brain, finding a spot to nestle and take root. We can fight back. I pick up a black shirt from the pile beside Trevor’s head and walk back to Dyl.
He’s standing with his hands in his pockets. I grip the shirt tight. This boy tricked me, and tried his absolute hardest to kill me. I should want to beat the crap out of him. Yet the sight of him standing there only reminds me of our nights together. It was fake, I think. It was all fake. I can’t long for those moments because they weren’t real, and I can’t keep treating Dyl like he’s the guy I thought he was.
I pass him the shirt and he grabs it with one hand.
“It’s Trevor’s,” I say. “So it’ll probably be a bit big. But it’s black, so I thought you’d like it.” I wince. I guess it’s not as easy as just deciding to stop being nice to him. “We need to move,” I say, my tone harsh. “Is that a problem for you?”
He shakes his head. “No, it’s not. I’m fine.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“Don’t you trust me anymore?”
“Just … put your clothes on. We’re moving.”
Keeping eye contact with me, he pulls the shirt over his head, flinching as the material touches his chest. Once it’s on, he smoothes down his hair.
“So what’s the plan, Caden?”
We rejoin the others. Natalie and Trevor are now standing. She is stretching, and he is yawning a massive yawn that shows all his teeth.
“We need a new car,” I say. “So we need to get out of the woods and buy one.”
Trevor clears this throat. “We should be pretty close to Brookman Bay. It’s a pretty quiet town but it has a great pool. Dad used to take me there for meets sometimes. I’m pretty sure it has a lot of used-car dealerships—it’s that type of town, one that reeks of desperation.”
“They’ll be able to trace my card if I use it,” says Juliet. “I’ve got two thousand in cash, but dealerships probably aren’t going to accept that much seeing as it’s so freaking sketchy and it puts them at risk. So we might have to use the card and then run as fast as possible.”
“But where are we running to?” asks Dyl.
Juliet turns and faces me, her eyes wide and questioning. I nod slowly.
“We aren’t running anymore,” she says. “We’re going to fight them.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
Juliet and Trevor were chosen to buy the car. I advised them to buy the second-cheapest one, because that wouldn’t look desperate, just budget conscious. Everyone volunteered to go, but that pairing was selected because a white heterosexual couple is the least remarkable and therefore least memorable pairing, should someone decide to interrogate the salesperson. Trevor was chosen over Dyl and me as we figured they would be looking for people with our descriptions, not his. Also, of all of us he looks the oldest, which might be an advantage. Juliet told us that, legally, one of us would need to be eighteen in order to register a car. So all we can do is hope that either the salesperson skips that step, or we find someone who is a little bit sketchy. It’s not ideal, but we don’t have a choice.
While we wait, Natalie ins
ists we remove our implants.
So I’m standing in the woods, in my underwear so as not to get blood on the only clothes I have, with Dyl’s rolled-up belt in my mouth. Natalie advances, holding the knife. My teeth clamp down on the leather. It tastes dry and earthy.
“This isn’t going to work,” she says, with a flourish of the knife. “You’re too tall. You’re going to have to lie down.”
Dyl is pacing back and forth. He’s worn a little trail into the mulch. “How do you know this is going to work? How do you know this isn’t going to scramble him?”
I take the belt out of my mouth. Why does he care so much? He wanted me to die before, and now he’s worried about my safety? It doesn’t make sense. Yes, I tried to kill him as well, but at least I was backing away toward the end. He never hesitated in his plan to take me down, so he doesn’t care about me. But that doesn’t explain why he looks so worried right now, or why he took my hand when I offered it to him when we faced the Stalker. “I’ll be fine, Dyl.”
Natalie lifts her hair up, revealing her scalp. A large, dotted scar is visible above her ear. It curves, following the shape of her skull. “After Trevor chose me, I was brought back to the LIC one last time and they removed it. Apparently they reuse them, which is too gross to think about. The point is I know this will work. His scar won’t be as pretty as mine, but he won’t die, Dyl, I promise. Caden, please lie down.”
I pop the belt back in and lie down on the rocky outcrop. I lie on the very edge, so my right arm hangs limply in the air. I tilt my head to the side and Natalie rests the point of the knife against my skin. I close my eyes.
“Ready?”
I nod.
The side of my head explodes. The knife digs in over and over and over, parting my skin and scooping out the gelatinous red flesh beneath. Every part of me is cold save for the side of my head, which is a burning inferno. The belt feels like it’s climbing down my throat, choking me, so I try to spit it out but it’s caught and I can’t and I start choking. Two weights clamp down on my arms, the sensation stronger than the pain. I open my eyes, and through the tears I see a blurry face. The face moves away, then returns. My vision clears, and a pair of green eyes meet mine.
Dyl.
He pats my shoulder. “It’s done, man.”
I blink and sit up. Sharp pain burrows into my brain. “Is it out?”
He nods and starts unbuttoning his shirt. His shaking fingers fumble and he finally just rips the shirt off. I gaze at his chest for a second, then look down at my hands.
“It’s done,” he says. “Now move; I need to get mine out.”
I roll to my trembling feet, then fall forward. My chest slams into a tree and I cling to it as the entire world vibrates. The forest jumps up and down and left and right. I grip the rough, cold wood and breathe in. The shaking at the edges of my vision gradually returns to normal. I breathe in deep, then push away from the tree. Dyl screams, and the sound hurts me more than the knife did.
I stumble toward him. When I reach him I place my hands on his bare shoulders and hold him down, just how he held me. Natalie’s mouth is a firm line, and she’s holding the knife steady. She flicks the tip of the knife, and a small silver ball falls out of the cut. It lands on the stone with a clink.
I grab Dyl’s hand and pull him up to a sitting position. He sways, but remains upright.
“We’re back!” calls Juliet. She and Trevor are making their way through the forest toward us. They’re both smiling. “And we were excellent! Well, Trev was. He got us a great deal on the car, plus he had the genius idea to get you two some more comfortable clothes and some tents to sleep in. We …” She reaches us and falls silent.
Trevor raises his hands, revealing three large black canvas bags that are full to the brim. “It’s just a bit of blood, Jules, they’ll be fine. Don’t let them take our story from us, because it’s a cracker. So the girl at the store, she was—”
Natalie interrupts with a grim smile. “Babe, I love your stories, but now is definitely not the time.”
He sighs. “Fine. The car was four grand, so we had to use the credit card. We figured we may as well spend as much as we can, seeing as they’ll know we’re here anyway. So Jules and I went on a spree and bought you guys a bunch of crap.”
Juliet hands me a plastic bag. “These are yours, Caden. I hope they fit.”
I open it and peer inside. It’s a plaid duffel coat, a gray shirt, a pair of dark jeans, and black dress boots, the kind that hipsters love. She’s staring at me expectantly, her eyes wide.
“Thanks, Juliet,” I say. “These look great. Truly.”
She presses her lips together, then turns and walks back to the others.
I walk into the woods and get changed. The boots are a little too tight, maybe one size too small, and they pinch my toes, but the material is soft and the ache that’s been building at the bottom of my calves starts to lift. Everything else fits perfectly. I walk back into the clearing. Dyl is now wearing a navy button-down, and he’s holding a black leather jacket. The side of his face is covered in blood, matting down thin strands of dark hair to his scalp.
Juliet picks up her bag of gadgets. “You two need to get washed up before we go back into town. We passed a creek on our way here.” She points to her left. “Wash the blood off, then we’ll go.”
Dyl and I trudge through the forest. I lead the way.
He climbs over a rotting log. “Does it still hurt? The cut, I mean.”
“What else could you be referring to?”
“A lot of things, I guess.”
We reach the creek Juliet was talking about. The water is only about an inch deep, a thin stream of clear water running over dark pebbles. Dyl lied to me. I should ignore him, or do something, to tell him our friendship is done. We’re alone right now in this quiet forest, so it’s easy to pretend that he isn’t the person he is. Like this is just another moment, like our kiss or the drives. But it’s not another moment, so I need to start treating him like the person he really is.
He pushes up his shirt sleeves and crouches beside the water. I do the same, scooping up a palmful of icy water and splashing it onto my face. The water comes away pinkish. The contact doubles the pain, and I grit my teeth. Dyl dips his hand into the water and then rubs his bloody skin. He’s cringing and his eyes are full of tears. I start to say something to comfort him, then I remember everything he’s done. Instead, I scoop up a handful of water and hurl it at the wound on the side of my head. The water slaps my flesh and feels like a million bee stings. All energy leaves my body and I fall to my knees.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
I reopen my eyes.
Dyl is looking at me. “Are you all right?”
I nod.
He shuffles forward, raising his hand. “You missed a spot.”
My head jerks back.
His right eyebrow rises. “That move was platonic, I swear. I’m a bro helping out another bro who has blood on his face.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re so full of crap. Stop pretending to like me at all, Dyl. Just be yourself. It’s why we did all of this, so you may as well be honest.”
I stand up, using my left hand to find the last remaining spot of crusted-on blood. I dig my fingernails into it, scraping it off. It feels gooey, and clings to the edges of my nails.
I walk away from the creek back to the clearing, where the others are standing in a small circle. They’ve all changed into more casual clothes, jeans, T-shirts, and jackets. Juliet is wearing a pale-pink hoodie under a gray winter coat that reaches her thighs. Her hands are covered in fingerless gloves.
A branch behind me snaps. I turn and see Dyl standing there, a tiny speck of blood on his forehead.
“You missed a spot,” I say before I step into the clearing. “Bro.”
Sitting on the rock beside a puddle of blood are our trackers. I step toward them. “Which one was mine?”
Natalie points to the one on the right.
>
I crouch down and pick up a rock that’s about double the size of my fist. It’s covered in dirt and mulch. I stop beside my tracker, then bring the rock up and slam it down. The orb breaks with a satisfying crunch. I raise the rock again. The orb is now a jumble of eggshell-thin pieces of metal, tiny red wires, and silver powder.
“Stop!” calls Juliet. She grabs my hand and holds it tight. “Don’t break them!”
“Why not?” asks Dyl. “That looked fun.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Plus, they’re using them to track us, remember? They need to go, right?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yep, they’re tracking us, but they’re also our only shot at finding the LIC, and I can’t do that if you smash them.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Think about it, Caden. They’re sending a signal to the LIC. That means that, if I had the right tech, I could use the trackers to track them. For my plan to work, we’re going to need to attack the LIC directly, and we can’t do that if we don’t know where it is.”
Dyl pouts. “Oh, you’re still on this dream. Good to know.”
Natalie steps forward, grabs the orb, and tucks it into the front pocket of her jacket. “We have to go. As my mom says, we can fight in the car. But, for the record, I’m with Juliet.”
The girls bump knuckles, then we walk out through the clearing to the road. Parked on the side is a small red car. The paint has faded, and the passenger-seat window is cracked.
Juliet opens the front door. “Caden, could you sit in the front? I’d like to talk to you. I need to pick your brain for more info about the LIC.”
“Sure.”
I walk around the front of the car to the passenger door. In the window is my reflection. My skin is überpale, and there are Godzilla-sized bags under my eyes. My hair hangs limply over my forehead, and the patchy beginnings of a beard are growing on my cheeks. I raise a hand and rub my prickly skin, my fingertips running along my jawbone.
Trevor catches me staring at myself and smirks. “You’re not so hot anymore, huh? Don’t worry, we all look like shit.”
The Love Interest Page 25