Numbers Collide (Numbers Game Saga Book 5)

by Rebecca Rode

  I snatched it from his hand and angled it toward the streetlight. “Certificate of Adoption,” it read. My parents’ names were listed there, along with my name. There was no mention of a birth name or biological mother. The hope I’d allowed to flare inside me fizzled and went out, leaving my insides cold.

  I shoved it back at him. “This isn’t proof. There’s nothing here that everybody doesn’t already know.”

  “Look again.” He pointed to the section with signatures.

  I brought it closer to my face. There was my mother’s signature—a butterfly with a square around it and her initials. And the strong hand of my father’s signature—five hash marks crossed out to form a fancy M shaped like the Block. Beneath them, where it read “Biological Mother,” someone had scrawled “Kadee Steer” in hesitant lettering. The “Father” line remained blank.

  I handed it back to him, disappointed. “There is no Kadee Steer. My dad already searched years ago.”

  “That’s because you searched NORA records.”

  I felt sick as the implication sunk in. “She’s from Malrain.”

  “Bingo.”

  I had no idea what bingo meant, but I felt an odd dizziness join the nausea.

  I carried Malrain blood.

  Me, from the bloodthirsty nation that sheltered Virgil and sent soldiers to attack our borders. How many citizens had they killed over the last two decades? If my biological mother really was a foreigner, the mountain I climbed now had just gotten steeper. It would be hard enough to convince the country to allow the Hawkings’ adopted child to rule, but a child of our worst enemy?

  “Who was the father?” I asked numbly. Please say he’s from NORA.

  “That, you’ll have to ask Kadee. She wants to meet you.”

  “Wait, you didn’t say anything about me coming with you.”

  “Would you have met me here if I had?”

  Not a chance. It didn’t make me feel any better. I kept the weapon trained on him. “Why didn’t she come herself?”

  “She didn’t have time. You’ll see why soon enough.”

  “That’s it?” I snorted. “You wave a certificate in my face and expect me to come with you, no questions asked?”

  He sighed. “Look, you asked questions, and I answered them. If you want to know more, you’ll have to come with me. We don’t have much time. If we leave now, I can get you back by morning.”

  It was tempting. Oh, how I wanted to go with him. I imagined sitting at my biological mother’s side and chatting about all the years we’d missed and the reasons she left that hospital without me and who my dad was. I wanted to see myself in her, to know I wasn’t as alone as I felt and meet the extended family I never knew existed.

  I wanted to escape all this. Just for a few hours, I wanted to set the name of Hawking aside and be myself. But that wasn’t possible, no matter how badly I wanted it to be.

  “I don’t know how long you’ve been here,” I began, “or how you even got past the border. But we’re in the middle of a succession war here. I don’t have one hour, let alone the entire night. If Kadee wants to meet me, she can sneak in however you did, and I’ll do my best to meet her then.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. The sound echoed across the street, making me jump, but he didn’t seem to care. “You think she wants a nice, cozy chat over tea? You really haven’t heard of Kadee Steer?”

  I gaped at him.

  He chuckled again. This time there was a cruel tone to it. “You Hawkings are so oblivious. She’s only the leader of the entire country, is all. It’s an alliance she wants to discuss with you, not the weather. And she isn’t even in Malrain—she’s hiding at our base a few hours away by train.”

  Had he just said . . . ? “Wait. You have a base within our borders?”

  “You really need to get over the border thing. We’ve had people there for decades, since way before your group came. We’ve kept to ourselves ever since, so I’m not surprised you didn’t know. Like I said, though, we have to leave right away if we’re going to get you back by morning. You’re the one who complained about being busy and all.”

  An alliance with Malrain. The words gripped my mind until I barely heard him. Dad and Gram would have spat at the very idea of allying ourselves with our enemies after years at war. But they weren’t the ones fighting to save a country headed for disaster. I was. Visiting with Kadee wouldn’t mean I agreed to anything. It was a meeting. Nothing more.

  I thought about Kole and flinched. “I’m not going anywhere without a security team. We’ll meet you here tomorrow night and go then.”

  He gave me a long look. “Do you really have time for that? I mean, don’t get me wrong, but I thought your country was falling apart. And I think you’d have guards with you now if you thought I would hurt you.”

  I gripped the stunner more tightly in warning. “Who says I don’t?”

  He smirked again, but I fell silent. He was right about one thing—I didn’t have time to wait. After the move to the island, traveling to the mainland would be much harder. After tonight, Kole wouldn’t let me out of his sight. I imagined Kole sweeping through the house in a rage, looking for me and shouting at the guards, demanding to know where I’d gone. No, tomorrow wasn’t really an option.

  It was now or never.

  “The slightest glimpse of danger and I’ll use this thing,” I told him.

  “I have no doubt. You coasties have always been jumpy.”

  “Coasties?”

  He shrugged. “You took the land along the coast and left us the driest parts.”

  “But still. That’s a terrible word.”

  “If you say so.” He smirked yet again, a look I was beginning to know well. Then he turned toward the train station and gestured for me to follow. “Okay, then, let’s go.”

  Seventeen

  Legacy

  Chadd sat across from me, his knee bouncing impatiently in the empty aisle. Under the train’s dim lighting, the shadow of growth on his chin and the redness of his eyes were easier to see. He carried no overnight bag. His shirt collar was opened low, showing very pronounced collarbones and a chain necklace. Around us, the seats were empty and smelled of sweaty shoes and old vomit. I doubted this train even ran this time of night. It must have cost Chadd a fortune.

  I never thought my first train ride would happen quite like this.

  I kept my stunner across my lap, watching his every movement. He seemed completely unaffected. Soon, he rested his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. When his mouth fell open and the sound of light snoring floated across the aisle, I let my attention drift to the window to watch the passing streetlights. I’d never been this far from home alone before, let alone with a stranger from Malrain.

  “Out of range,” the radio in my pocket alerted. “Out of range.”

  I grabbed it and turned the dial, silencing the voice. I was officially on my own. An irrational joy welled up at the first real freedom I’d had in years. No official schedule, nobody questioning where I went or how I got there or why.

  I’m going to see my birth mother. The thought sent a little thrill through me.

  A woman’s voice boomed in the speaker next to my head. “Northern border. End of the line.”

  I leapt to my feet, forgetting about the stunner in my lap. But I managed to catch it with one boot, softening its fall just before it clattered to the floor. I swept it up and swung back to Chadd, who watched me in amusement as the train began to slow.

  “We’re here, then?” I said, trying to look as unconcerned as he did.

  “We have some walking to do, but yes.” He rose to wait by the doors. They slid open with a whoosh. Then he leaped out and disappeared into the night.

  I lingered, hiding behind the doorframe and squinting into the darkness. This was the moment of truth. The entire Malrain army could be out there, waiting for their prisoner to walk into their hands. For a second, I considered telling the train driver to close the doors
and take me home.

  A few seconds later, Chadd reappeared. “Coming, Hawking?”

  I counted down, then leaped to the ground and took cover behind a bench. No shots came. Nothing moved in the shadows.

  Chadd covered a smile. “Are you done?”

  I glowered at him as I stood there. “I expected some kind of escort.” Not the good kind either.

  “Believe it or not, Kadee wants to keep this quiet as much as you do. I’m taking you straight there myself. But we have to hurry. The train driver will only wait a few hours.”

  I fell in step behind him, following the outline of an old sidewalk, and tried to calm my pounding heart. This place felt . . . off. There was no grass, not a tree in sight, and the crickets were a distant memory. There was nothing but broken concrete and the remains of a train station lost to generations past. “Why did Kadee choose you?”

  “I told you, she’s my commander. I follow orders even when I don’t understand their importance.”

  “You don’t think this trip was important.”

  “Let’s just say I don’t think you’re the solution to our problems. She disagrees.”

  “And the Firebrands? Are they the solution to your problems?”

  “I highly doubt it. Be careful on these steps. There’s a lot of debris.” He started down a flight of stairs toward a mass of black in the distance. I shuddered to think what that blackness looked like in daylight and carefully picked my way down, grateful for the bright moonlight.

  We walked in silence for at least thirty minutes before the city finally took shape around me. Or rather, what had once been a city. Now it looked like a massive pile of rubble against the distant blackness of the ocean. I hurried to keep up with Chadd, shuddering to think of the number of corpses a broken city this size could hide. It smelled of wet concrete and mud here, sending goose bumps across my skin. “The Old War?”

  “Yep. Everyone died but us, as you’ll soon see. If you stay on this path, it’s easier.” He motioned to a barely visible trail cutting through the debris and marched onward.

  Soon he brought me to the remains of a storefront missing its windows. This structure had survived better than its neighbors with their crumbling walls. Chadd didn’t bother with the front door. He simply stepped over the window base and disappeared inside. I lifted my stunner as I followed, but there were only shadows. After letting my eyes adjust, I followed him toward the back. As we entered another doorway, the sudden brightness of golden lamplight stung my eyes. A flight of stairs descended into blackness.

  “Don’t trip,” was all he said.

  The air, thick and musty, somehow grew heavier as we descended. At the bottom, we turned into some kind of tunnel. I blinked. The walls were a patchwork of materials, mostly brick and mortar and old wood broken up by the occasional narrow door and support beam. Every few feet, an electric lamp lit the way. Not a tunnel, then. It almost looked like . . .

  “The old underground city,” Chadd said. “Long story. There was a big fire, and most of the city burned, and they wanted to fix some drainage issues anyway, so they set the new construction up a level. Eventually, the only businesses left down here were the rougher ones nobody wanted to see. Same with the people. When the war broke out, nobody remembered the outcasts below them until we were all that remained.”

  “You’re descended from the survivors,” I said breathlessly, taking it all in. “So you’ve lived here your whole life?”

  “Until a few months ago. Kadee asked me to be a liaison for our people in the city. And before you ask, yes, we have hundreds of them throughout your country, and no, I’m not worried you’ll root them out. You’d be surprised how easy it is for us to go unnoticed.” He chuckled. “You don’t even notice most of your own.”

  I frowned, but he plunged on.

  “To answer your other question, there are more survivors than those you’ll see down here. We have two other settlements, both larger than this one and situated along what you call the border. They used to be larger before your group came with their silent weapons and took our farms for their own. They even harvested the grain we planted.”

  Gram would never have allowed such a thing. I wondered if she even knew. “If that’s true, I’m sorry. If I ever take the Copper Office back, I’ll do my best to make it right.”

  He shrugged. “I think that’s one reason Kadee wants to meet with you, to see if the call of your blood can drown out your upbringing.” He motioned to the right, and we turned down another narrow hallway, then climbed a set of worn stairs. I still hadn’t seen a single other person.

  The call of my blood. Was that where all these doubts came from? After spending a lifetime hating Malrain because I’d been told to, I felt like the world had just been turned upside down. Walking around underground didn’t help the sensation. “Where is everyone sleeping?”

  “This is the historical district, where we do our business. We live in another section entirely, one they expanded before I was born. More natural light and better ventilation. You won’t be seeing it, though, at least not until Kadee decides you can be trusted. It’s already a huge risk for us to bring you here.” His tone said it was a risk he didn’t agree with.

  It seemed an eternity before we reached another low, narrow door. This time, Chadd knocked six times and stood back to wait. A woman opened the door and narrowed her eyes at me. Her bleached-blonde hair hung long over her shoulders, tapering unevenly at the edges as if it hadn’t seen a trim in years. Her hair nearly reached the old-fashioned pistol at her belt.

  “Legacy Hawking to see Kadee, Aunt Rosa.”

  She stared me down in a silent warning before swinging the door wide. A torn black leather sofa sat against a wall covered in floral-patterned paper wilted at the edges. A desk, formed by two file cabinets and a long piece of thick glass, straddled the corner. A bright-red chair sat behind it. I felt like I’d entered an eclectic antique furniture shop the size of my closet at home. The heavy smell of dirt from earlier returned full force in such a small space.

  “Just so we’re clear,” I told them both as I walked inside, “I’m not giving you my stunner.”

  “Leave it in your pocket, and we won’t ask for it,” the woman said. “Pull the trigger, and you won’t leave this room alive. Sit.” She motioned to the stool in front of the desk.

  “I’d rather stand, thanks.” I turned back to Chadd. “Where is she?”

  “Coming.” He situated himself next to his aunt against the wall, suddenly looking too much like a guard for comfort. Aunt Rosa continued to glare like I’d stolen her firstborn. Apparently not everyone was okay with my presence here.

  “Aren’t you going to tell Kadee I’m here?” I asked Chadd.

  “She knows.”

  I stood there for a few minutes, feeling awkward, before finally sinking into the black sofa with the stunner across my thighs. My nerves felt like electric conductors sending a current of energy through my body. My mind kept sifting through all the reasons this meeting was a bad idea. Kadee could throw me into a dungeon somewhere, and nobody would know where I’d gone. I could end up dead, my body thrown in that massive pile of destruction above us, for the simple reason of who my parents were. I could be forced to agree to a treaty at knifepoint or get sick from some kind of plague. By the sound of tiny pattering feet, I knew the three of us weren’t the only living beings in the room. There had to be thousands of rats down here, all carrying diseases from centuries ago. Yes, this decision could be very bad.

  I didn’t allow myself to follow that line of thought very far.

  “You are a scientist,” Rosa said, “like your mother, Andreah Hawking.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. She didn’t seem like the chatty type. “Not exactly. I Declared—er, chose a position at Neuromen for personal reasons. I’ll never be as smart as she was.” Not like Millian and Kole and the lab assistants who slept in their new homes on the island right now.

  “You wanted to find out who killed her.”


  I gasped, nearly throwing myself into a coughing fit. I kept forgetting how much these people knew about NORA—and how little I knew about them. “Yes, actually. But I know what really happened now.”

  “A shame she didn’t remove her abomination of an invention from the world.”

  Chadd elbowed his aunt, who fell silent.

  “No, you’re right,” I told her. “Virgil harmed a lot of people with her research. My mother never wanted it used in that way.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Rosa spat.

  “Aunt,” Chadd muttered in warning.

  I straightened in my seat, no small feat considering the depth of the cushions. “If you have a problem with me or my mom, I’m sorry. I hold no malice for any of you, but it’s clear you can’t say the same.”

  Rosa sniffed and turned her glare to Chadd. “I cannot stand here and pretend all is well when Andreah Hawking’s daughter sits before me.”

  “Why?” I shot back. “My mom was a good person and a great scientist.”

  “She was neither. Good people don’t hurt others, and when they do, good scientists don’t cover it up. Andreah Hawking did both.”

  It took a second for understanding to dawn, and then I shot to my feet. “You were the assistant in that experiment, the one who got hurt. You disappeared because Virgil sent you here.”

  “I don’t know who sent me,” she hissed. “All I remember is pain like I’ve never felt before. It lasted an eternity. I thought I was dying. I woke up in a bed here a week later because Kadee found me dumped next to the train tracks. Even then I would have died if it weren’t for Kadee’s medicine.”

  My mind raced as I stood there, gaping at the woman, trying to piece the information together. Virgil had said Kole’s torture was a new update “few” would get. He had seemed to already know what it would do despite the fact he’d never used it before—and he’d been fascinated by the process, almost like he’d wanted to do it to someone for a long time. What if he knew about it from Mom’s research backup? The Neuromen custodian had mentioned Mom’s failed experiment and a patient disappearing, but I’d assumed disappearing meant death. It never occurred to me to look for the woman here.