***
I’ve been formulating a plan in my head. I haven’t spoken a word of it to anyone, but I’m sure Ethan knows what’s coming. He knows me too well not to suspect something. Outwardly, I’ve been cool, if not a little detached. I overheard Flynn whispering to Mistress Catherine, something about post-traumatic stress.
Good.
Let them think that. The truth is that since my chat with Tesla, I’ve never felt more focused. Every sense is on hyper-alert. I can hear footsteps as they pass outside my door. I can smell the meals being served in the cafeteria even from my room three floors up. Of my group, only Kara seems unchanged by the attack. She’s been told about my brother, that I know. But she hasn’t said anything. I can feel her pulling away even as I do the same.
Ethan and I are playing a game of chess at my desk while Kara is painting my toenails a brilliant, crimson red. No one is talking. Kara finishes, twisting the top back on the contraband bottle of paint, when I finally decide to speak up.
“Hey Ethan, can you go do that voodoo that you do?” I ask, jerking my head toward the computer terminal next to the door.
Without a word, he gets up and walks to the panel. Pulling a pocketknife from his pants, he pops off the plate and starts fiddling with the wires inside. It sparks brightly before Ethan turns back to me with a nod.
“I need to go.”
Kara looks at me hopefully. “What? Like to the bathroom?”
I shake my head, but it’s Ethan who speaks up. “To get her brother.”
His voice is calm, amused, as he walks back over to the table. Like he can’t believe it’s taken me so long to say something. Kara frowns. She’s clearly disappointed, but not surprised.
“Okay. Here’s the plan. We know the Peacekeepers can locate the Hollows because of the Contra, right? Well, I’ve managed to get my hands on a couple. We’re going to use them to track your brother down. I’m thinking smash-and-grab. We go in heavy, disable their defenses, grab Alexei, and—”
I cut him off. “I’m not coming back here, Ethan.” I can’t. I have no idea why Tesla wants Alexei or what he intends to do to him. We’ll have to hide, but I’ve come to accept this. We will run and hide somewhere, and Tesla will never be able to find us. We might have to run forever.
That must surprise him because he pauses, but only for a second. “Fine. Then we land someplace else. The plan is still fundamentally the same.”
Kara throws her legs over the bed and stands up. “Forget it. I have no desire to leave my home and go searching for some sketchy, drug-addled Hollow. Even if he is Ember’s brother.”
“What is your problem, Kara?” Ethan asks, his eyebrows raised.
Kara gets to her feet, lifting up the side of her shirt high enough to expose a long, jagged scar across the front of her ribs.
“Your precious little brother did this to me. Let’s just say my first time out ended with a three-week stay in the hospital wing.” She drops her shirt and points at me. “He would have killed me, Ember. And he still would if he had the chance.”
She hurls a bottle of nail polish so hard that it shatters, sending red liquid down my wall. “He’s our enemy and always will be, so get that through your thick skull and quit trying to plan a family reunion.”
I reach out to her, but she jerks back. She’s hurt; I can see it on her face. But she must understand.
“Kara, you know I love you like a sister. I do. But Alexei is my blood. I have to find him before something terrible happens to him. He’s my responsibility.”
“Then we will help you,” Ethan offers, ignoring the nasty look Kara shoots his direction.
I hold my hands up, “No, I have to go alone. It isn’t that I don’t want you with me.” My eyes flicker to Ethan, who looks stunned and a little sad. “But I don’t know where I’m going to go or even when we are going to go once I get him out. I can’t ask you guys to risk that with me. I won’t.”
Ethan rolls his eyes. “Ember—”
I don’t let him finish. “When Tesla realizes what I’ve done, he will hunt me down. I’m going to have to run far and fast.” He opens his mouth to say something else, so I add, “It will be easier to hide out if it’s just my brother and me.”
Ethan snaps his mouth closed. I can tell he wants to argue, but he can’t find the right words. I know how he feels. I don’t want to go without him either. There’s a pain in my chest, and I really think it might be my heart breaking.
“Kara,” he whispers after a moment, “you owe me.”
I don’t know what he’s talking about, but a look crosses between them. She rolls her eyes.
“Fine. If you’re determined to do this, I’ll at least get you out of here,” Kara says tapping her chin. “I think I can create a suitable distraction.”
“If anyone can be distracting, it’s you,” Ethan says, only half-joking.
She bows as if he has paid her a great compliment. “And Ethan, you can hot-wire the rift chamber. Ember just needs to steal a Tether. Can you handle that, Princess?”
“I think she can handle that,” Ethan says, looking at me. “But I’m going with you.”
He’s clenching his hand so hard his knuckles are white from the strain. I put my hand over his and squeeze. Kara glances between us, mutters something under her breath, and steps out the door. As soon as she’s gone, I feel the weight of Ethan’s stare.
“You can’t.” There are so many things I want to say. I want to tell him how much he means to me, how I would never risk him—not even for this. But it feels wrong to say those words when I know I’m about to leave him behind. “I need you to run the rift chamber.” It’s not the whole truth, but it’s what I’ll have to settle with for now.
After a few moments of reluctance waging war on his features, he sighs. “Fine. But the second you figure out where and when you are going to land, come get me, okay? Don’t make me come looking for you.”
I promise, wondering how I’m going to pull it off, but determined to try.
Ethan heads back to the computer interface. He pulls a copper disc from his pocket and presses it into a small slot. “I’ve been saving this for a special occasion.” He winks at me. “Started working on it after the break-in. Just in case.”
I can’t help but be impressed at his forethought. “What is it?”
“It’s a virus. It’ll give us a few minutes off Tesla’s radar to get to the chamber while he tries to chase it down.”
I sweep a gaze across my room. Is there anything I want to take from this place? My hand moves to the cameo at my throat. It’s all I want, really. The only memory of this place not tainted with lies is hanging around my neck. Ethan grabs my rucksack and starts stuffing it full of clothes.
“Leave them,” I tell him. “I’ll get new stuff later.”
He doesn’t ask why or challenge me. Dropping the sack like it’s full of toxic snakes, he doesn’t look back. I take his hand, and we slink into the hall. Lights behind us come on as lights in front of us fall dark. Every so often, we enter a new section and the process repeats. “Keep in the dark,” Ethan says, pulling me behind him. “It’s where the virus is disabling the monitors.”
After what feels like forever, we reach the door to the tech locker. The door slides open, and we slip in. Lights blaze to life. For a moment, I can’t breathe. Weapons, energy pulse guns, and dormant Peacekeepers line the walls. For a heartbeat, I think I can hear the mechanical creatures grinding to life. I strain to hear better, dropping into a defensive crouch. As soon as I realize they aren’t moving, I force myself to relax.
“Breathe, Ember,” Ethan says, his tone mocking.
I snort. “Says the guy who wasn’t almost eaten by the things.”
He reaches up and stuffs a Peacekeeper in his pocket. “Valid point. I will carry the very scary Tinkertoy.”
I’m looking for the drawer that holds the other tech. Finally, I graze the correct one, and it glides open to rev
eal the rifting gear. “Do I need the Tether?” I ask, my fingers hovering above the shiny copper.
“I don’t know any other way.”
“The earbud?”
But even as I say it, I know the answer. I look over at Ethan, who has come to the same conclusion. “I think you have all you need. Let’s go.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I push the drawer closed, and we’re off to the rift chamber.
I half expect to run into someone along the way. Flynn or Mistress Catherine. Mentally, I prepare myself for a fight. Once, during our training, Mistress Catherine had warned us that we might someday have to face one of our own. And for me, today might be that day. She’d been talking about the Hollows, of course. I never could have expected I’d be the rogue. Could I do it? Attack one of them on purpose? As we turn the next corner, the answer is simple. Yes. To save my brother, I could do just about anything. Ethan holds up his fist, motioning for me to stop. For a second, I feel guilty, but not for going rogue or even for breaking up my team. I have put them all in danger. My friends. They are risking themselves for me. Ethan waves, and we continue forward until we are standing outside the rift chamber. The red light flashes and the door grinds open. Kara is already inside.
“Ember, stop!”
I turn just in time to see Flynn running for the door, but he’s too late. The door slams closed with Ethan, Kara, and me inside. Ethan turns back to the door and punches a string of numbers into the keypad.
“Locked for now. But it won’t take them long to get past it.”
As he shoves the Peacekeeper in my pocket, Ethan moves, grabbing me by the arm.
“You’re going to have to take this. It’s the only way to track the Hollows. Use it like a bloodhound. It’ll lead you to them, or at least get you close. “
I open my mouth to protest, but he holds up a finger.
“It’s the only way, Ember. Now get ready to go.”
Above me, I see Kara watching from the control booth. She presses a hand to the glass and mouths, “Good-bye.” Ethan pushes me onto the pad, and I grab the handles. He rushes to the remote console under the large viewing window and pries it open. Pulling on wires, he manages to create a few sparks, and then the device purrs to life. He turns to look at me over his shoulder, and his expression is one of determination.
That’s when I realize how much I really love him. I almost can’t contain it, as if the words want to crawl out my body. But he just winks and turns away, saying, “Hold on tight.”
As soon as he presses the button, the room spins. Blinking, I find myself standing at the edge of the stream. I pull the Peacekeeper from my pocket and carefully hook it to the buckles on my vests. It springs to life. The little legs saw through the air as if it could fly. I move to swat at it, as I don’t want it anywhere near me, but I can’t bring myself to touch it. It’s tugging so hard it’s all I can do to hold my ground, but it isn’t attacking me, which allows me to let out an anxious breath.
It wriggles like a dog on a leash. I step into the stream, letting it pull me toward what I hope is my brother. It’s already too late when I wonder, How am I going to turn this thing off when I get there? A sense of dread turns my blood to ice.
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