by Rebecca Rode
“Like before, I fail to see what we get out of this, Legacy Hawking.”
I glanced at Kole. He watched me with little expression, his eyes wary and full of gravity yet trusting. Whatever I chose to do, he would support me.
I lifted the box to my mouth. “Help me take the throne, and I promise you here and now that I will restore every centimeter of your former lands to you and your people. We’ll live together as neighbors, just like you wanted.”
The line was quiet.
“Legacy,” Kole whispered, squinting. He hefted his stunner and aimed it into the darkness. “We aren’t alone. It’s time to go.”
“I am willing to reconsider,” Kadee finally said. “How do I know you will keep your end of the bargain?”
I blinked. I hadn’t expected her to agree so quickly. Maybe our bond of blood meant more than I thought.
“We each have a witness here,” I said, eyeing Chadd. He dipped his head once in acknowledgment. “Once I have the Copper Office back, we’ll put it in writing. We’ll even make an announcement.” I imagined how that would go and felt my cheeks warm. I’d worry about it later. “There’s one last thing. You know what it is.” The medicine.
“You’ll have it when this is all over and no sooner.”
I looked at Kole, who seemed confused, and swallowed. “Fine. I need four hundred soldiers at the station tomorrow night. They’ll receive instructions then.”
“There is just one complication,” Kadee said. “We don’t have sufficient weapons to arm four hundred soldiers. If you provide stunners, I will agree to your bargain.”
Arming her soldiers with our weapons would not only give them power but effectively disarm us at the same time. I hesitated, feeling Kole’s eyes on my face, irritated I knew so little about my own birth mother. Could she be trusted or not? She had allowed me to leave her underground city when I wanted, and Chadd had given me the space I needed since we arrived home.
“Well?” Kadee prodded.
There were so many ways this could go bad, but the alternative was certain to be worse. I needed an army in order to take the Block from my brother, and I refused to ask my supporters to become that army, not when they were untrained, unskilled, and in need of medical help. That left only one option—Kadee’s army. My people would come to understand in time.
Kole placed his arm across my body protectively. “I think I saw some Firebrands on patrol,” he hissed. “Time to wrap this up. We need to get back to the transport now.”
“Kadee,” I said into the receiver. “You have a deal.”
Twenty-Six
Kole
We hid around the building until the patrol passed. The grounds were still quiet a few minutes later, so we crept toward the transport with our weapons raised. Travers hadn’t left, which was either a good sign or a really bad one.
A few yards from the transport, I pulled Legacy to a halt and listened. The night was as quiet as before, but it felt too still, as if the very air were trying too hard to go unnoticed. The transport’s windows were completely black. If Travers still sat inside, I couldn’t see him. I lifted the stunner, motioned for Legacy to stay back in the shadows, and crept forward.
A dozen figures sprang from behind the transport and surrounded me in seconds, leveling their stunners at me. I went still, inwardly pleading for Legacy to pull deeper into the darkness. The last strolled out with a casual air and motioned for me to hand him my weapon. “You aren’t going to need that anymore.”
Zenn.
I cursed inwardly. Of all times for him to take his revenge. They’d probably taken out Travers while we conversed with Kadee, oblivious. I lifted my arms, clutching my weapon between two fingers to look less threatening. Their eyes followed the stunner. Then I turned my head and called over my shoulder. “Legs, run!”
I expected to see a figure darting across the shadows. Instead, a whoosh of air came from her direction and smacked into the Firebrand closest to me. He hit the ground and moaned. A second collapsed without a sound. I hid a grin.
The weapons aimed at me swung toward the shadows, looking for the source.
Now.
I ducked and spun around, taking out another two with my stunner as they searched the darkness for Legacy. I rolled over the hood and dropped to the ground just as a shot struck the transport, making the metal reverberate with a low hum. My hurt ribs screamed in protest. Someone shouted, then a furious exchange of wind and sound echoed across the parking lot. I ducked around the front and shot at a pair of legs that immediately collapsed, giving me a perfect shot at the guy’s back.
I took down two more Firebrands, a man and a woman, before a couple of the others came around the transport for me. I quickly looked inside—no Travers—and scrambled around to the other side, shocked to find so many unconscious Firebrands on the ground. I didn’t know Legacy was that good of a shot.
The transport’s metal shell rang again, and the figures following me stiffened and collapsed. Only one left now. If I could just get to the shadows where Legacy waited . . .
A cold barrel pressed against my temple. “Drop the stunner, Kole,” Zenn said.
I straightened, lifting my arms to the dark night sky. My gut wrenched as three figures emerged from the darkness—two Firebrands and Legacy, her arms secured behind her back. She made them drag her by the elbows, digging her feet into the ground with each step. They weren’t alone. Two more Firebrands dragged Travers just behind her. It was hard to see in the shadows of a distant streetlamp, but his face looked a little discolored. He hadn’t given up without a fight.
“Drop it now,” Zenn snapped.
I tossed my stunner aside. A second later, someone grabbed my arms from behind and snapped them into cuffs. They shoved Legacy and Travers to my side, making Legacy stumble.
“Watch it,” I growled.
“I kinda hoped you’d fight harder,” Zenn said. “Give us an excuse to shoot you. Dane wanted us to bring you in for him to deal with, but weapons malfunction all the time. Right, guys?”
The others laughed.
“He’ll be happy with these two, though.” He grinned at Legacy, who glowered back. “Kole and I have a reckoning of sorts.”
Legacy shot a worried glance in my direction.
“Not in front of them,” I snapped, my heart pounding so loudly I could almost hear it. “This is between you and me.”
“What, you don’t want your girlfriend to see us beat the living fates out of you?”
I wasn’t surprised. It was exactly what I would have done in his place just months before. But Legacy had changed me. Life had changed me. “No, because we have something to discuss.”
Now the Firebrands roared with laughter. Zenn stared at me with narrowed eyes. “You can’t talk your way out of this one, Kole. I had jaw surgery because of you. It even came out of my pay.”
Legacy and Travers looked at each other in confusion. Good. Neither one knew about the day I’d lost my wits. Better that it die with me.
“Put them in the transport,” I said. “You can bring us all in after you’ve taken your revenge. But first, we need to have a chat. Bring some of your buddies if you want.”
Zenn’s grip on his stunner only tightened. “What are you playing at, Kole? I don’t need your permission to take what’s mine.”
“No, you don’t,” I agreed, feeling oddly at peace with what was about to happen. Whether my plan worked or not, at least my conscience would be clear at last. “And you owe me nothing. But I’m asking anyway. Let’s do this in private.”
He looked back and forth between the others, then growled. “Fine. Put the others in the transport. Make sure they’re secure and keep three stunners on them at all times. The rest of you, see to the fallen.”
“You want help, Zenn?” Lorna, one of Dane’s recruits from last year, practically purred the question. Interesting. That had to be new.
He shoved his weapon into fatal mode with a decisive click. Several others in the group
flinched. “No, I’m good. Never been better.”
Lorna shrugged and bent over a body on the ground.
Legacy fought against being shoved into the transport, but Zenn didn’t let me stand around and watch for long. He pushed me toward the very shadows that had hidden Legacy a minute before. When we were out of earshot, he whirled me around and placed his stunner against my head again.
That weird peace settled even deeper, calming the flips in my stomach.
“You can start begging now. I won’t judge.” He smirked. “Too much.”
I thought of Legacy in that transport and Dane waiting for her. That hardened my resolve immediately. “I didn’t bring you here to beg. You deserve justice after what I did, you and the others too. No, I wanted to tell you why I’m not like my father. First, I’m about to apologize to you.”
His eyes widened. “The great Kole Mason, nephew of Dane Mason, says he’s sorry? That’s a first.”
“I forgot who my enemies were and took my anger at Dane out on you. That wasn’t fair. I don’t agree with what Dane’s doing, but that doesn’t justify turning against my friends like some robotic assassin. I’m horrified I acted that way. Second, I’m going to ask you for something I don’t deserve. I need your forgiveness.”
My former friend looked taken aback for a moment, then chuckled. “Yeah. You almost had me there for a second.”
“Zenn, I’m not like my father because . . . because I killed him to save my Mom’s life.” There. I’d said it.
Zenn took a step back, surprise registering on his face, but he kept the stunner trained on me. “And that’s supposed to make me trust you?”
“I had to choose between an abusive father and an innocent mother. One of them was going to die that night. So I chose the one who made the world better.” I saw figures approach in the shadows and raised my voice so they could hear. “It’s the same choice all of us have to make. Not next week or next year, but right now. One side is going to win, so which will it be? Virgil and his Rating system and manipulations, or Legacy and a fresh start with a slew of changes? Which will make the world better? I think you already know the answer to that, or you would have killed me by now.”
Zenn’s face darkened again. “You deserted us, remember? We swore to band together, to defend and protect one another. It was always us against them, and you joined them.”
I shook my head. “No. That’s what Dane says, but it’s wrong. It was never us against them, Zenn. Life is more complicated than that. Firebrand oath or not, what Dane’s doing is wrong, and you know it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Pretty sure you do. All those patients you denied hospital treatment to, the families with sick parents you turned away, the stores you ransacked for supplies that had to close against hungry neighborhoods, the homeless you implanted under Dane’s orders. There are kids who can’t sleep at night knowing the Firebrands roam the streets, afraid you’ll light them up in their beds. If we have to become the bad guys to accomplish what we want, maybe what we want was wrong in the first place.”
He hesitated. “Or maybe it’s like they say. The end justifies the means.”
“Do you like this end? You can see now where Dane is taking us. Do you agree with his vision for NORA?”
He looked stricken. “The Rating system is what we’ve worked for all this time.”
“No, equality is what we’ve worked for all this time. Freedom for everyone, no matter where they were born or what they look like or how many credits they have in their account. The Rating system’s version of equality is synthetic. If we have to rely on the government to make everyone equal, it means we’ve failed to do it ourselves. That’s on us. All of us. Believe me, I get what it’s like to get beat up and have my things stolen and be so hungry my stomach feels like it’s caving in. I know what people think when they look at you because I see it in their eyes when they look at me too. Violence can change borders and leaders and even laws, but it doesn’t change minds, and it certainly doesn’t change hearts.” I looked him right in the eyes. “So I’m asking you again to forgive me even though I don’t deserve it. I need another chance to do what Dane won’t. I want to help save this country—me and Legacy and whoever else wants to do this the right way.”
My friend’s hand shook on the stunner. He stared down the barrel, his eyes intense and hard. I stood still, waiting, not daring to move a single tendon should his finger slip on the trigger. It felt like an eternity before he lowered his weapon.
“I trusted you,” he snapped. “Worshipped you, maybe. You were everything, and when you left, we all felt lost.”
I nodded. “I should have explained and given you the chance to join me. That was stupid.”
“Yep,” Lorna said, stepping out of the shadows. “Definitely stupid, and attacking three Firebrands at HQ? Tragic, I’m telling you. But I never liked that guy you shot anyway. Couldn’t keep his hands to himself. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to show Dane what’s what.” She turned to Zenn with a smirk. “Came for another reason, though. After Legacy Hawking told us about Kole’s little condition, I came to make sure he didn’t play the ‘I’m dying so you owe me’ card.”
Zenn cocked an eyebrow at me.
I tried to look unaffected, but inside my stomach crawled. My condition? What did Legacy know that I didn’t? I forced a smile and said the first thing that came to mind. “I don’t plan to die anytime soon.”
A short, squat guy materialized next to the girl. “I’m with Lorna and Kole. I don’t like what we’re doing either.”
Squinting, I could barely make out the outlines of half a dozen of Firebrands in the shadows. They’d been listening all along. They held their stunners at their sides too.
“My apology extends to all of you,” I said. “Whether you choose to join us or not.”
They murmured agreement with various degrees of enthusiasm. Inside, I felt a little thrill.
I turned to Zenn. “How about it?”
He looked around and rubbed the dark stubble on his jaw with his free hand. “I’m in, but there’s one thing I’m not willing to give up quite yet.”
“What’s tha—”
The punch came before I was ready, and it threw me sideways. I stumbled and worked my jaw to make sure it still functioned. “I deserved that.”
“Yes, you did.” Zenn was smiling.
Only one Firebrand remained as we reached the transport again. Zenn stunned the guy, insisting he was nearly as bad as Dane, then dragged him out of the seat and put him next to the pile of other unconscious Firebrands. Legacy looked on with wide eyes from the back seat. As they freed her and Travers from their bonds, I slid into the seat next to her.
She stared at me in wonder. “Maybe you should have Declared to be a city defender.”
“Defenders have to lie all the time. Every word I said was true.” I looked at her, trying to decipher the secrets she carried in that beautiful head of hers.
“What?” she asked.
“Did you tell them I’m dying?”
I’d hoped she would laugh and say she made it up, but she swallowed and shifted in her seat. Then I knew.
The damage from Virgil’s experiment. The nightmares, the attacks. They were all related. That had to be what Legacy had danced around in her conversation with Kadee.
Another headache lurked behind my eyes. The world pulled in a bit, slightly blurring around the edges.
“I know how to help you,” Legacy said. “We just have to win this first. I promise it will all work out.” She didn’t sound convinced.
Zenn climbed into the front. “So, what now?” He looked incredulous, as if still unable to believe what he’d just agreed to do.
“Head for the Shadows,” Legacy told him. “We have a safe house there, an abandoned gym that we aren’t using anymore. We can discuss the plan there.” Her voice had a hollow ring to it.
Zenn gave the transport directions and settled back, battin
g away the harness that swung down from the top. Lorna dove in and sat next to him, whispering into his ear. He grinned wickedly as the transport pulled away. The second transport immediately fell in line behind us, carrying the five other recruits. Smart of Legacy to use the empty safe house, just in case anyone changed their mind. We’d drop them off and continue to the island on our own. Then we’d return tomorrow night with every weapon we could find and a contingent of soldiers ready for action. The thought felt distant, like a city skyline across a channel.
I had no idea whether the specialist was right about my destiny. But then, I didn’t know a lot of things, like how Legacy and I would combine our very different lives into a lasting relationship. I didn’t know where I would live or what job to take when this all ended. All I knew was that we were so close to seeing this through, and I wanted to be there for all of it. I wanted to watch Legacy grow into her role in the Copper Office. I had to show her I trusted her and I wasn’t going anywhere, no matter what nightmares took hold of me or what impulsive rampages I had to fight off.
I’d never cared what anyone else thought about my capabilities before. I wasn’t about to start now.
Legacy scooted closer and placed her head on my shoulder. I reached down and took her hand, threading our fingers together.
We didn’t say a word the entire ride back.
Twenty-Seven
Legacy
Then next day passed quickly, partly because of the preparations that needed to be made and partly because Kole and I took turns sleeping, resting up for Kadee’s soldiers to arrive that night. I recruited Foster to do the hardest part of all—gather as many stunners as he could and transport them to the safe house, no questions asked. He seemed to know our intentions because he also arrived with a small contingent of guards. They’d insisted on coming, he said, but I knew the truth. It had Gram’s orders written all over it.