Five’s eyes narrow. “Was that him? The one from New Kimearo that let you get away?” she demands. “The one you kissed. It’s him, isn’t it?”
My heart pounds faster, faster, faster. I nod slowly.
Immediately, her expression changes. She looks sickened.
I need to explain, but Red’s warning flashes through my mind. If I tell them he’s still one of us, it could put him and his mission—whatever that is—at risk. That’s obviously why he took off.
Five looks disgusted. “I was joking when I said it would be cute if you fell in love. I didn’t mean for you to do exactly what I said and go out here and—” Her eyes widen. “You’ve seen him before. Out here. That’s why you dumped Nico.”
Elf makes a strangled noise.
I glare at them. “Look, can you both turn around so I can get dressed? I’d rather not have this conversation while I’m practically naked.”
“I’d rather not have this conversation at all,” Elf says darkly, but he turns around, and so does Five.
I pull my clothes on as quickly as I can. As I do so, I scan the area. There’s no sign of Red at all now. He really just ran off. Needed to stay undercover. Hell, he can run fast.
“You had sex with one of them,” Five yells as soon as I say I’m decent. “With an Enhanced One? What the—”
“You don’t understand,” I say, trying to keep calm. I look at Elf, begging him to understand, see that his face is turning an alarming shade of crimson. “Just listen. He’s not… He’s not like the other Enhanced. He’s fine, really—”
“Fine?”
Both my brother and best friend look like they’re going to explode.
“Look! I’m still Untamed, see!” I point at my eyes. “Nothing has changed.”
“Except you let one of them…” Elf trails off, then coughs violently. When he’s finished, his eyes are watering, and he wipes away the tears. “How could you? Gods, why don’t you just join them? Join them now, Keelie. It would make it easier for you if you want to be with him—or what is it? Just a conquest for you? Something to prove how strong you are, so you can say you’ve slept with an Enhanced and still got away Untamed?”
I raise my eyebrows. Part of me can’t believe he’s even saying that. Just the thought of joining them, becoming one of them—the people whose feelings are artificial, the people who are robotic and devoid of humanity—makes my skin crawl. I clench my hands together. The Enhanced are wrong. Being Untamed is the right way of life. The only true way of life. As if I’m going to leave the Nbutai group!
But then my heart drops. The moment anyone at Nbutai hears about this—the moment Rahn hears about this—it’ll be over. He’s going to kick me out. They all are.
Shit.
I have to tell them. Have to. And they wouldn’t endanger Red, would they?
“Elf, didn’t you recognize him?” I fold my arms.
“Recognize him?” Elf yells. “Unlike you, I wasn’t that close. I have boundaries.”
My temper flares. “Will you just listen? I can explain it all. But you two mustn’t tell anyone, else you’ll mess up everything. Promise me.”
Five throws her hands in the air. “Mess up everything? You’re the one who’s messing up, Keelie! How long did you think you could get away with this? I just… Gods. I don’t even know you anymore.”
Elf watches me, massages his neck.
“I can’t believe you did it so close to Nbutai.” Five’s voice is dark. “It’s one thing if you want to play dangerously, but it’s quite another if you want to sacrifice us all.”
“We’re hardly on the doorstep of Nbutai—you can’t even see it from here. And he doesn’t know where the village is.” I grit my teeth. “But will you listen and let me explain? Red’s on our side.”
“No Enhanced are on our side,” Five yells.
Elf’s face pales considerably, and it’s quite a contrast to his previous red hue. He stares at me, then takes a step back. “That man… Red?” He’s shaking.
“What?” Five looks confused.
I step closer to my brother. I can deal with Five after. “Yes, that was Red,” I tell him. “He survived too. And he’s undercover. It’s a secret operation. He can’t tell me much, for my own safety—and his own, and those in his team. There’s like a group of them. But no one else is supposed to know, otherwise it jeopardizes their safety. They’re Untamed.”
Elf seems to swallow with great difficulty. He shakes his head, then runs his hand through his hair. I watch as he turns around and looks in the direction that Red retreated. I look too, wonder if Red could be hiding behind a rock down there, or whether he really has vacated the vicinity so quickly, like I first thought.
Five shakes her head, then laughs. “And you believe that story? Actually believe it? Keelie, it’s lies. He’s Enhanced, and he’s trying to get you to trust him.”
“If he’s Enhanced, he would’ve converted me. He’s had plenty of opportunities, believe me. And I’m still Untamed—still one of us.” I nearly bring up Bea seeing him—but I don’t. I don’t want them confronting her about it in the village, where others could hear.
Five looks at me sadly, shaking her head still. “Undercover Untamed are impossible. We can’t pretend to be them. We can’t. Keelie, he’s got to you, twisted your thoughts. He’s got inside you and—” She breaks off, probably realizing her word choice. “We saw his eyes. Mirrors, Keelie, mirrors.”
“They’re fake,” I say. “He doesn’t always have them.”
“No,” Five says. “He’s Enhanced. He’s using you—he’s using you and your soppy ideas of forbidden love and how exciting and romantic it is in order to get to all of us. You’re putting us in danger.” She glances at Elf, and he shakes his head. “We have to tell the others. I’m sorry, Keelie, but you’re a liability.”
My breath catches in my throat, and I spin around. My black hair slaps me in the face, and I shove it away. “What?” My eyes widen. “You’re not going to tell the others! You can’t—weren’t you listening? It’ll risk their whole operation, and then a load more shit will happen.”
I stare at them as they don’t say anything but exchange a long glance between them, as if they’re communicating telepathically. My brother and my best friend.
“Keelie,” Elf says. “I think he’s brainwashing you. You believe all this stuff—stuff that isn’t feasible—”
“Are you not listening to a word I’m saying?” I nearly explode.
“We are. But it’s bullshit,” Five says. “Absolute bullshit. And you’re so caught up in it all that you can’t even see it. Keelie, you need to be rational, logical. Just think about it. He’s Enhanced—this undercover story is a lie.”
“Then why am I still Untamed?”
“Because he wants all of us. He wants to get close to you and find Nbutai.”
“Well why not convert me and get me to tell him where the village is after I’ve been converted?” I ask, hands on hips. I nod, triumphant. “Don’t you see?” I stare at Five, challenging her. “Why don’t you think about it? Gods, it’s so obvious.”
But Five shakes her head. “If he was undercover like you say, one of us, he wouldn’t have run away, would he?”
I bite my lip. “He didn’t know that you’d give him time to explain. You could’ve killed him straight away.”
“We have to tell Rahn,” Five says.
“No.” I look to Elf, imploring. He’s being too quiet—so he must be thinking about it, coming around? “You can’t tell Rahn. He’ll banish me. Any excuse, we all know he wants to get rid of me. Elf, come on, I’m your sister. He’d throw me out in an instant. You wouldn’t do that to me. You care about me. We’re twins—twins of the stars.”
I watch his eyes harden.
“I care about the safety of the group,” he says. “And Five’s right. Red could be Enhanced. Hell, we don’t know it’s even him.”
“It is.”
Elf shakes his head. “Rahn has t
o know if there’s a chance we could be in danger. We can’t keep this from him.”
“You don’t care about me?” I raise my eyebrows.
“I care about the safety of the group, and, from what I can see, your mind is already being converted, Kee.” He looks down for a moment, and Five places her hand on his shoulder. When my brother looks up, his gaze is hard. “You’ve been lying to us—even if he is Untamed, you’ve still lied. And it’s only a matter of time before you lead him to Nbutai, even if you don’t mean to—or you get converted. And I’ve got to put our people first. We can’t take risks.”
I stare after them as they walk away. I shout, but they don’t stop. Five’s talking to Elf—needing to persuade him more?
My heart hammers against my ribs, makes me feel sick. I follow them, looking around desperately, as if there’s something out here that can help me.
“You’re going to ruin everything,” I yell. “There are three other undercover Untamed working with Red in New Kimearo. Could be more—other teams, I don’t know. But you telling Rahn is going to put them in danger.”
Neither of them replies to me.
I try again, and I’m panting, out of breath, struggling to keep up. “Fine,” I say. “If you’re going to tell Rahn and jeopardize Red’s mission, then I’m not coming back to Nbutai with you.”
That stops them.
Elf turns slowly. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll go straight to New Kimearo.” I point in the direction of the town. “I’ll go there now.”
Elf pales.
“See,” Five whispers. “She’s joining the Enhanced. She knows he’s one of them. Elf, I’m sorry, he’s brainwashed her.” She looks at me. “Has he given you augmenters?”
“No.” I stamp my foot. “I wouldn’t be joining them. I’d be going to warn them.”
“Warn them?” Elf says.
“Yes, because you’d be putting them in danger. Don’t you see? You tell Rahn, and, if he believes that Red is undercover, he’s not going to let it go. He’s going to head in there, find them, draw attention to them. So, I’m going now.” I turn away, but keep my eyes on them. “I’m going to find Red, tell him that you—his friend, Elf—is betraying him. And I’m going to make sure that he and his undercover friends leave with me. We’ll go somewhere else. Somewhere safe. Because that’s what we do. We’re Untamed. We protect each other. And you’ll never see me again.”
Elf stumbles a little. I smile to myself; so he doesn’t want me to leave Nbutai—or be banished by Rahn.
“You can’t go to New Kimearo now,” Five says. “You’ve got no glasses on. No truck. You’d get caught immediately.”
I fold my arms, feel the wind on the back of my neck. “It’s a risk I’ll have to take, when you’re going to ruin everything and get rid of the one actual advantage our people have. Even though we’re supposed to protect each other.”
Five exhales slowly. “Keelie, I just…” She tugs on her hair. “We don’t know he is undercover. And you can’t be one hundred percent sure either. Yet you’ve slept with him. Been having a relationship. Don’t you see how that makes you a liability?”
“So you’d betray the other undercover Untamed because you’re unsure?” I raise my eyebrows. “They could get killed. Their deaths on your hands.”
“Keelie, I’m sorry. I think he’s Enhanced. I think this is all a game to him. If he was undercover, he’d be focused on it. He wouldn’t sneak out to see you.”
“Except he would. Because it’s Red, and we love each other.” Saying the words immediately makes me feel strange.
Five laughs.
“When are you next meeting him?” Elf asks.
“Day after tomorrow.”
“You’ll be grateful when you realize we saved your life,” Five mutters.
Elf nods. “Fine. I’m coming with you then to see him.”
“What?” I stare at him.
Elf folds his arms. “I want to talk to Red, see if he can persuade me he’s undercover too. I need to know more about this undercover stuff to justify not telling Rahn and the others.”
“What?” Five exclaims. “Elf, if he’s Enhanced, you’ll be walking straight into his trap. He could convert you both. Don’t tell me Keelie’s persuaded you?” She lets out an exasperated sigh.
“We’ll take weapons, we can defend ourselves,” Elf says. He looks at me. “Don’t go off to New Kimearo now, please. Stay with me. I promise neither Five nor I will say anything to Rahn today.”
Five doesn’t look happy. “You’re making a promise on my behalf?” She shakes her head. “Just wait until my mother sees that man leading the Enhanced here. Then you’ll realize I was right. I’m not buying this story.”
“But he doesn’t know where the village is, so there won’t be an attack,” I say. And I nod to myself: Red made sure of it, by giving Bea the note for me. He’s protecting us, in case he gets caught—that way, he can’t give up our whereabouts and endanger us.
Five shakes her head. “Fine. But I think he’s Enhanced. And the day after tomorrow, Elf, you’ll see you agree with me, and then we’ll tell Rahn.”
“Nothing gets done until then though,” Elf says, glancing at me.
Five snorts. “And, Keelie, just for the record, I think you’ve been very stupid and put us all in danger.”
“Oh really? Hadn’t realized you felt like that,” I mutter.
We walk back to Nbutai in silence. I keep an eye on Five, part of me convinced she’s going to tell Rahn anyway. And, when we get to Nbutai and see Rahn sitting on the steps outside his hut, right in front of us, I freeze and get ready.
The moment they say anything, I need to leave for New Kimearo, to warn Red.
Noise crackles through the radio Rahn’s holding, and he flicks a switch on it, brings the radio up to his face. The channel isn’t great; all I can hear is interference and a voice.
Rahn swears.
Elf and I step back quickly. Five starts to say something, but stops.
I look around: behind us, people are gathering. They’re looking worried. And some hold guns.
“What’s happening?” My heart thuds. We tune our radios into the Enhanced Ones’ channels—they often broadcast announcements of when they kidnap us and again when they’ve converted one of us. Sometimes, there are even progress updates. Except they call it rescuing and saving us.
The gathering villagers are tense, and some are armed. Rahn only allows us to have the weapons out—out like this—if we’re going on a raid or rescue.
Or if we’re expecting trouble.
I turn to Esther as she appears by my side. My chest squeezes.
“They’ve got them, haven’t they?” Esther’s voice is quiet, and there’s something in her eyes that makes me squirm. Fear.
“Who?” I ask.
Esther ignores me, points at Rahn. “I said they shouldn’t have gone, I told you—”
“Be quiet,” Rahn snaps, and then he’s fiddling with the radio—trying to make it work.
I look around, count the villagers. Everyone should be here—shouldn’t they? Everyone was here this morning, and nothing was planned for today, was it? I think hard. No. It’s not a raiding day, and we’ve got meat from Kayden’s gazelle, so not a hunting day either. And we won’t be out gathering until later.
But people are missing.
My eyes narrow as I pick out those who aren’t present.
Corin.
Nico.
Yani.
Paul.
Katya.
Finn.
I turn and… Where’s Bea? Then I see her, standing with Mila in the entranceway to our hut. Her eyes are wide, and she looks scared.
My heart pounds harder, and I look toward the other huts, willing the missing Untamed to come out. But they don’t. Six people aren’t here… Six is a good number, for raiding.
I turn to where we keep the trucks. I should be able to see all three from here. But I can’t. The red one’
s gone.
Rahn’s radio emits a high squeaking sound, then crackles. Four seconds later, it goes quiet.
“Three!” he yells. “What’s happenin’? It can’t break now. Sort it out!”
Rahn shoves the radio at Three as he rushes forward. He takes the radio and frowns at the coiled wire that’s exposed through the hole in the plastic casing. He taps it, then brings it up to his ear, listening through the tiny earpiece.
“Have you dropped it?” Three asks, then he pushes Five to the side, giving himself more room. Three frowns. “Where’s the—”
“Of course I haven’t dropped it.” Rahn shakes his head, baring his teeth. “This is just great, ain’t it? I had a channel—the Enhanced said they had an announcement, and then it cut off. Just like that.” He points a gnarled finger into Three’s face. “You better fix this, and you better do it now.”
An announcement? I go cold. The Enhanced love to announce when they capture Untamed.
But it doesn’t mean it’s an announcement about that, I know that. They also announce every time they create a new augmenter or grade. And when different shops are opening for special events. Boring stuff too.
“Have you tried one of the others?” Three asks, still frowning. Behind him, his youngest sister peers over his shoulder. Seven frowns too, and the sibling resemblance is uncanny.
“The others are barely workin’,” Rahn says.
“What’s going on?” I feel like I’m invisible, like no one’s hearing me. I glance at my brother, and he nods, then steps forward.
“Rahn,” Elf says, then looks at everyone else. “What is happening? Did they go on a raid? New Kimearo?”
Rahn’s face pales visibly, and his glasses suddenly look a lot darker. “I didn’t think it was dangerous. There shouldn’t have been any Enhanced there. It’s out of their range—they don’t go that far… But they should be back by now…” He grabs the radio from Three and shakes it, then swears again. “I should’ve gone with them.”
“Will someone please tell us what is going on?” I demand, turning to look at the others.
Esther looks pained. “A group of us has gone to Ninth Rock. Nico was out there earlier or something. Said he saw a woman and child—an Untamed woman and child. Bleeding and hurt. They went to get her.”
A Dangerous Game Page 14