I wasn’t more important, was I?
Mila’s voice.
I freeze, then jolt, look around. But she’s not here. Of course she’s not. But—
I touch my head slowly. It wasn’t her. Wasn’t.
Me—just my grief.
Really? You don’t look like you’re grieving.
“Move then,” I bark at Nico. “We’re leaving in ten.”
I barge past him and head straight to the Sarrs’ hut. Katya’s not there, but I see her walking over. She gestures for me to go in, and I’m glad to see no one else is here.
Katya watches me carefully long after I’ve told her the plan.
“You’re grieving too. This isn’t a good idea.” She shakes her head firmly, and the movement makes her silver earrings flash. They’re the earrings Bea really likes.
I flex my neck a little, wait for it to click. “I’ve got to do something,” I say. “I can’t leave things like this with Bea. I’ve got to try.”
But Katya cuts me off by pressing a finger firmly to my lips.
“We both know what this is,” she says. “I’ve seen it happen before. I’ve felt it.” She sits down slowly and adjusts her blouse. It’s a vibrant yellow, and it makes her dark skin look glossier than usual. “I felt it, Keelie. I’ve felt it many a time. The deaths of my mother, my father, One, Two, Four, and Six. Each one made me want to do something reckless, follow them there, to the New World.”
I push my hair behind my ears. “I’m not going to a town. And I’m not going to die.” Except I am. Caia-Lu’s words: Your death is written in the silk of time. But everyone dies. I straighten up. “I’m going to find Bea. That’s all.”
“And what if Bea doesn’t want to return? You cannot force her.”
I breathe hard. “Then I’ll give our mother’s necklace back to her. She can’t have meant to leave it here… But I have to see her.”
She shrugs. “I know I cannot stop you. No one can stop you. But, be careful, my dear. I don’t want the boys coming back, delivering some reckless tale of your behavior that ends in death. Your death. I know what you’re like.”
“That won’t happen,” I say. “I told you. And I’m not going to a town or a city. Not going anywhere near the Enhanced.”
She shakes her head. “But you will.”
I drive because I feel more in control that way. Elf sits directly next to me, and Nico’s on his other side. I can tell by the way my brother’s glowering at the road ahead that he wants to drive, and my position makes me feel smug. I love driving.
Elf points ahead. “Where do you think these other Untamed will be? Bea said she was going north to find them, according to Yani. But how far?”
I shake my head and shrug. “If there even are any.”
“You think there aren’t?” Elf’s gaze snaps toward me, and I feel it burning the side of my face. He sounds disappointed, and it takes me a moment to realize why: because, if we don’t find Bea, then we need to hold onto the hope that she will find others out there. Untamed who are on their own don’t tend to survive for long.
I grip the wheel tighter. “I don’t know where they’ll be. But I don’t think they’re going to be anywhere near our territory else we’ll have seen them.”
Nico clears his throat. “But that woman I saw—the one with the child—said she saw that Untamed woman and Enhanced man together near here. So that’s one Untamed around here.”
My heart thuds, and the memories of me and Red together make me feel sick.
How can something that was so perfect make me feel so sick?
But it can’t have been us she saw. We would’ve seen her.
“We’d know if there are any other Untamed around this area regularly. And Bea would’ve seen them and told us, she walks around these parts a lot.” I steer the truck onto a particularly rough patch of ground. The suspension isn’t great, and we’re all jolted back and forth for several moments. “No, we’ve got to drive a lot farther. That’s what Bea’s going to be doing. Going into unknown territory.”
Except it won’t be unknown. Because my siblings and I traveled from the north. Could Bea be trying to find our old group? In case there are many more survivors, like Red? People whom I left behind….
“So we keep driving until we see signs of Bea or other Untamed?” Elf asks.
I nod. “Guess so. But we’re the only Untamed near New Kimearo—that’s our main raiding source. Nico, get the map out. What’s the next nearest Enhanced town or city, going north, that could be the edge of a territory for another Untamed group?”
Nico leans forward. The glove compartment is stiff, and it takes him a little while to release the catch because he does it so carefully—I would’ve forced it. He takes the map in his hands, unfolding it. He studies it for a few moments, and Elf leans over, taking a look.
“New Webbon or New Lija. They’re both really far north of here though,” he says. “They’re on the other side of the mountains, and then some. We’ll have to cross the whole band—that will take days just to do that. Then there’s still a way to go.”
“So we go to those cities?” Elf asks. “Isn’t that risky? Those cities are big, and security will be great there. They’ve got sensors. If any Untamed are there then they’ll have been caught as soon as they stepped near the city walls.”
“No, we’d be searching the outlying land for Untamed,” I say. “Bea wouldn’t go to a city. And we probably won’t need to go that far. Bea’s less than twenty-four hours ahead of us, but she’s the only driver. She’s going to have to stop for rests. There are three of us. We can alternate.”
I take one hand off the wheel and push my hair away from my sweaty face. My skin is sticky, and my eyes feel strange. Like they’re dry. I have to blink a lot just to be able to see.
“Good point,” Elf says. “We’ll get her back.” I’m not sure whether he’s reassuring himself or telling all of us.
I look up at the mountainous terrain. We’re going past many of the caves that I know Bea loves. But we’re too close to Nbutai now. She won’t be around here.
Not unless she’s injured….
But I’m certain Yani and the others are going to look in the mountains by the village for her, no matter what Rahn says. Searching the nearby area is logical—even though I’m sure now that she won’t be injured.
No, Bea will be getting as far away as possible.
“Keep a lookout for the motorbike or tracks,” I say. The ground is hard and dusty, and I’m not sure how long tracks would preserve for at the moment.
“Kind of difficult when you’re driving so fast.”
“Got to go fast,” I say. “Got to find her.”
Got to find her.
Got to find her.
Got to find her.
The words sink into me.
My skin crawls as I stare at the map.
We’ve stopped for a break because the engine was overheating. There’s a shallow pool of water not far away, and Elf and Nico are refilling the skins and water containers. I watch them for a second, then look at the map again, hardly able to believe what I’m seeing.
Then I jump out of the pickup.
“Who did this?” I yell, marching up to them.
I reach my brother first and shove the map in front of him, pointing to where someone has stupidly marked Nbutai’s location on it. My skin crawls.
“What?” Elf says, lifting his hand up.
“Hey! Don’t get water on it,” Nico yells. “It’s only paper.”
“Was it you?” I turn on him. “Don’t you realize how stupid this is? Marking our village! What if the Enhanced found this—it would be a wipeout within, what? Hours?”
Nico and Elf look at the map. Nico’s face pales, and Elf’s dark eyes fix on me.
“I didn’t do that,” Elf says. “Keeping them away from our base is of utmost importance.”
“Nico?” My voice is sharp.
He shakes his head and holds his stubby fingers up. J
ust the sight of them infuriates me.
“Someone must’ve done it!”
“Well, it must’ve been done by someone else,” Elf says. “Back at the village?”
“But everyone knows—”
“Well, obviously they don’t,” Nico says. “And thanks for immediately assuming it must’ve been me, Keelie. Really appreciate that.”
“Look, it’s not a problem,” Elf says. “There are no Enhanced here. None will see it. We use the map for the rest of this mission, then, when we get back, we tear that part out—”
“We can’t tear out part of the map!”
“Well, stick something over it. Blot it out with a marker.”
“And draw more attention to it?” I shake my head. “I can’t believe how stupid you are sometimes.”
“What do you propose we do about it then?” Elf shouts. “Destroy it here? Burn it? Then we’ve got nothing to go on to find these other Untamed and Bea!” He takes the map from me and folds it up. “Just ignore it, okay—getting worked up isn’t helping us. You’re just getting angry, and you’re not even doing your job.”
“Which is?”
“Keeping a lookout,” Elf says. “That’s what you’re supposed to be doing while we get the water—you’ve got the gun! But you’re not, you’re getting yourself worked up about this. Meanwhile, a dozen Enhanced could’ve sneaked up and caught us.”
My eyes narrow. “Fine. I’m going back to the truck. But it was still stupid of whoever did that.”
I ignore their remarks as I stomp back to the pickup. The air is hot and sticky, and I don’t like it. It makes me feel worse. Angrier.
Or maybe I’m angry because I murdered Mila, and it was all my fault. Why did I use the gun? Why didn’t I listen? Why didn’t I strangle the Enhanced? Or kick her? And there’s nothing like thoughts like that to make you feel even more wretched than you already do.
I wait in the truck until Elf and Nico are ready, then we set off again, driving through the lower Titian Mountains. I think we’re making good progress. Nico sits next to me, in the middle seat, and he has the map out.
He points to the left. “I think we should have a look up there. The contour lines on the map indicate there’s a steep drop up there, sort of around the corner, but this rock is softer than down there.”
“So?”
Nico glares at me. “There could be huge caves. Up there.”
In my periphery vision, Elf nods. “Perfect place for Untamed to live.”
Perfect. I don’t know about that. Caves often only have one entrance, and, if an Enhanced One stood in that entrance, then those in the cave would have no escape route.
But we all know Bea loves caves, says she likes the tranquility and peace within them. And these ones aren’t within easy walking distance of Nbutai. These would be new to her. Would she be excited enough to stop and look, thinking that being in the caves would make her feel better? Maybe she’ll have spent the night in one, pleased to be away from the sound of the motorbike for a few hours.
I pull the truck over the rough ground. The terrain’s getting worse, but at least Nico let some of the air out of the tires before he got back in. That’s something.
I drive as far as the terrain will let me, then we reach the rocky area Nico was planning on, and we get out to look on foot. The rocks are unusually dark in color for granite in this area—and piled up somewhat precariously either side of the narrow path we pick. Not that it’s much of a path. We end up scaling the rocks most of the time. Among the rocks though, there’s vegetation. And I hadn’t realized until now just how green the plants are in this place. There’s a surprising amount of underground water in this part of the Titian Mountains.
I keep my eyes peeled for Bea, for any signs of her, and we call her name as loudly as we dare.
“Watch your footing,” Nico tells Elf, just as my brother treads on loose shingle and nearly goes flying. Nico and I grab him in time, though it snaps two of my nails.
I grimace.
“Caves!” Nico shouts suddenly. He turns back to me, grinning, apparently forgetting the low-burning animosity between us.
I look up, and I see them, a fair distance ahead. We start moving faster, it’s just instinct to speed up. Because my sister might be there.
Nico reaches them first and disappears inside. No sounds follow. So Bea’s not there? I hover by the entrance, looking for footprints. But the sand and compacted earth hold no signs, except for where Nico disturbed it.
He emerges and shakes his head.
“You don’t think there’s anyone here at all then?” Elf asks, a strange look on his face. “Not Bea, not others?”
I shake my head, but we still search them all.
I follow Nico. Elf brings up the rear.
It’s surprisingly light in the next cave; the stones overhead don’t quite meet up, and fragments of sunlight squeeze in. A handful of comb rat droppings litter the floor; comb rats normally take shelter in rock crevices, but a cave like this would be just as perfect for them as it would be for people…but only if there’s a water source here.
I head back out, blinking fast to get my eyes to readjust to the brighter light levels and look around. But there’s no obvious water source in sight. I’m high up—though not near the summit of a mountain—yet I can see far.
No. This cave isn’t that suitable for permanent human shelter.
But Bea would love it.
There were several caves at D’Elinous; on the other side of the village was the sea, and we’d walk along the coast for hours, Bea exploring all the caves. The first time she spoke to me—spoke properly—was when we were in a cave.
“It’s a little world for me,” she said, and her eyes sparkled.
I smiled, and, together, we began looking at all the jewels and crystals locked into the stone walls.
“What are they for? What do they do?”
I couldn’t help but make up stuff, telling my sister that the red jewels would give the person who saw them good luck and the purple ones would give good health. Bea wanted me to cut them out of the walls so we could take them home, but I couldn’t do that. And telling her that had nearly broken my heart. Up until then, she always looked at me with a sense of awe. She believed I could do anything. That I was an amazing person.
And I shattered that.
I turn and look back down, toward where we left the truck and—
I go cold.
There’s a man. A man standing there. His back is to me, but I know immediately it’s not Nico or Elf. Another man. An Untamed? My eyes widen. There really are others about—that woman was real, she wasn’t me? And they’re here…and Bea’s here too? Maybe they’re all hiding… Maybe Bea’s told them about me, how I’m an Untamed who kills other Untamed, and they’re waiting for me to leave.
“Kee?” Nico calls, but I don’t turn. I keep my eyes on the man, narrowing them slightly, trying to see.
He looks tall, broad-shouldered. Muscular. The sun partly silhouettes him, so I can’t make out the exact color of his hair—it just looks dark.
The flash burns my eyes as he turns.
Shit.
My breath catches in my throat. One of them.
I reach for my Luger before the voice in my head can start screaming at me not to use it, to kill with my hands—but a gun is best for this situation, isn’t it? Only the moment I hold it, hold it like I’m going to use it, I feel sick. And it’s stupid, I’ve touched it and had it on my person a lot on this trip and not felt like this before.
Yet now I’m shaking, and I try to keep breathing evenly.
I focus back on the man, don’t think he’s seen me. He’s looking to his side now, shielding his eyes from the sun. Now would be a good time to shoot, I know that…unless there are others—firing would draw their attention to us. And there could be more of them than us.
My heart beats frantically as I back toward the cave, not taking my eyes off him and—
Then I realize
what he’s looking at. Why he’s looking that way.
The truck.
Shit. Shit. Shit. He’ll know there are Untamed about.
We need to get away, get away fast. Shoot him once we’re close enough to the truck for a quick exit? But there could be others about, others who would grab us, possibly disarm us.
And I don’t want to use the gun. I don’t feel the urge to kill rearing up inside me now. I just want to run.
My feet catch on loose shingle as I back up, and I stumble, arms wide, but catch myself. Then I reach the entrance of the cave, duck inside. There’s a crevice to my left, and I slide my body into it. Nico and Elf are farther back—I can just about see them, and I raise my arm in our silence! gesture.
Nico’s eyes widen. “What is it? Bea?”
So much for silence.
I hold my breath and lean forward, looking out of the entrance. The man’s not there. Only the sand-rock, broken up by a little greenery, is visible. I move quickly, over to the other side—and, immediately, I feel safer, between my brother and Nico.
“We need to leave. There’s an Enhanced One down by our truck.” I keep my voice as low as I can.
“What?” Nico and Elf shout the word in unison.
“Be quiet!”
Nico grabs my arm. “Are you all right? Keelie? Were you seen?”
“I’m fine. Don’t think he saw me.”
“How many—just one?” Elf asks, then he’s taking the Luger from me, and heading out.
“Stop!”
Nico and I grab Elf, an arm each, and haul him back. It’s like a twisted déjà vu—it was Elf who stopped me from charging down there when Mila was….
“I need to know how many there are.” Elf’s eyes narrow as he looks toward the entrance. “Let me go.”
“I told you—one is visible.” I hold onto his hoody tighter, trying to ignore how much I’m shaking, because this is ridiculous, pathetic. “And we need to be careful.”
“There’ll be others nearby,” Elf says.
Then I freeze. Have the Enhanced caught Bea? But if they have, they wouldn’t take her bike, would they? Wouldn’t that still be here? Or would they collect that as well?
Still, there’d be a struggle. There’d be something, some sign, I’m sure. Or rather, I hope.
A Dangerous Game Page 23