The Girl Who Dared to Think

by Bella Forrest

  “Oh! Me too, me too!” Tian exclaimed, jumping up and bouncing up and down on her toes. “Because I knew she was going, and I didn’t tell anyone. Oh, and also, I told her that she should go. Because you and Maddox do it all the time, and she was just really sad about her friend.”

  I couldn’t keep the gratitude off my face, seeing all three of them come to my defense. They supported my decision to go after Zoe, and were backing me. Cali’s decision was simple now—boot out all of us (and risk a massive tantrum from Tian), or keep us so she could make sure the Paragon stayed in production. Roark was the only one who knew the formula, although I was certain Jasper was analyzing it even now.

  Cali looked around the room at all of us, her eyes flat and hard. “That’s all well and good, but I’m not even ready to begin to address that aspect of this yet. Liana, you said you threw off the Knights that were in pursuit. How did you lose them?”

  “Lashes, and a lot of luck. I stayed out for as long as I could, but as soon as the morning lights came on, I came right back here.”

  She nodded, her eyes flashing with approval. “Smart. Were you injured?”

  “Not really, although I have never seen anyone use their lash to bring someone down to the ground like that before.”

  Cali cocked her head and smiled. “You got lassoed?”

  “Lassoed?” I repeated, confused.

  She nodded. “Basically, you use your lash and harness to entangle and reel in the criminal. It requires precise lash work, and an excellent sense of timing, especially when your opponent also has lashes. Some of the best lassoers in the Citadel could knock another lash bead out of the air.”

  I blew out a stream of air, extremely impressed by what she was saying. I was good, but I wasn’t sure I was that good. “I guess that explains why the Champion knew how,” I said. “I imagine it was one of the challenges in the Tourney.”

  “What do you mean, the Champion?” Cali asked sharply, her green eyes flashing in alarm. “Devon was there?”

  “He was,” Grey said, his words dragging in confusion at her reaction. “I mean, what the Champion was doing at the Medica at three in the morning is anyone’s guess, but he was there. And he remembered us.”

  His words may as well have been air for all the attention Cali gave him. She was already moving directly toward me, and before I had a chance to be alarmed, she grabbed my arm in a firm grip and was pushing me down the hallway.

  “Quess!” she shouted, just as the tall man brushed by her, heading down the hall toward his room.

  “I’m on it!” he replied, and I looked around, alarmed by the sudden flurry of movement from the Sanctum members.

  “What’s going on?” I demanded, just as Grey asked, “What’s wrong?”

  Cali didn’t answer as she propelled me forward into Quess’s lab. Quess was pulling something off a shelf—a long black plastic box with some sort of rod or wand connected to it by a black cable.

  He jumped off the table he had been standing on and came over to me, the wand in his hand.

  “What’s going on?” I asked again, as he began to pass the wand over my body, keeping it about an inch away from touching me.

  “You got into a lash fight with Devon and he hit you,” Cali said.

  “Yes, I told you that, but what does that have to do with—”

  A loud screeching noise erupted from the box as Quess waved it over my leg, where Devon had used his lash against me. Cali cursed and let go of me, stalking away to run a hand through her hair. I watched her, straightening up, alarmed by the nervous energy radiating off of her. After a moment, she turned.

  “We have to go. Quess, get Tian and the bug-out bags. I want us packed to go in ten. Liana, leave your uniform behind.”

  “Wait!” I cried, and she turned. I sucked in a deep breath, feeling like I was drowning in the panic that was beginning to grip me. “Why do we have to leave?”

  Cali licked her lips and sighed, waving Quess through. “Devon has special lash ends, which he can open to release a radioactive isotope. It leaves a distinct trail. He didn’t follow you because he didn’t have to.”

  I leaned heavily against the table, my knees suddenly weak. Damn it. I had done this. I had led him here.

  “My trail...” I started weakly. “I went all over the place—that has to buy us some time.”

  “The equipment he has is specialized,” she said bitterly. “And he’ll start around these levels. He’s come close to catching several cells near this greenery, so he knows we’re somewhere close. The man is relentless.”

  “This is all my fault,” I whispered, defeat starting to creep into my heart. “Your home...”

  Hands grabbed my shoulders, pulling me upright, and I looked up to see Maddox standing over me, her green eyes hard. “Get it together,” she said evenly. “This is just a place; the home is the people in it. We don’t have any time to waste, and if you want your trip to the Medica to mean anything, you’ll change your clothes, grab your gear, and get ready to go.”

  She let go of me abruptly, then reached over to grab a metal box on the table. It rattled as she picked it up, and I watched as she marched right out with it. In the hall, Zoe raced by, carrying a box, followed by Eric, who carried a heavy sack on his shoulder.

  Maddox was right. I straightened and met Cali’s gaze. “Ten minutes,” I said.

  “Eight, now. Hurry up.”

  I ran to the bathroom and changed quickly. Grey was in our room when I returned there, already throwing all of his gear, and mine, into some bags. I threw the crimson uniform to the side and took over my bag, placing my meager possessions inside. A blanket, cup, toothbrush, and soap, plus the clothes I was wearing, my lashes, and my baton were all I had left. But I didn’t dwell on it, just closed the bag up and raced over to help Roark pack his gear and the medication, Grey by my side. We collected everything—we couldn’t leave any of it behind. Paragon was the best and only defense we had at the moment. If the Medics got their hands on it, if they knew what it could do, then we would be lost.

  With it, they could figure out where the flaw in the nets was, and make the medicine useless. That was why giving it to Jasper had been such a risk.

  Grey and I worked quickly and quietly. I sensed we were both feeling pretty guilty about the whole thing, although I didn’t know why he was feeling that way—it wasn’t his fault. I was the one who had led them here.

  As soon as the bags were filled, I hefted one up, and then stopped, looking at Grey. “This is awful.”

  He nodded, his eyes dark and heavy. “I know. But it’ll be okay, Liana. They figured out he has a way of tracking you, and they figured it out quickly. We’ll be out before he gets here—okay?”

  I nodded, grateful to him for giving me the words I needed to hear. Only time would tell if they held true, but for now, it was enough to keep me going, heading up the stairs and toward the main living area.

  Cali was already there, on one knee, speaking very softly to Tian, one hand on the girl’s shoulder. Tian’s white bob dipped up and down as she listened carefully to whatever Cali was saying, fighting back tears. She clutched her bag between her hands, shifting nervously from side to side.

  A stab of guilt seared through me as I entered the room, knowing that I had put that fear in her, and I resolved to do something about it—as soon as we were all out of here and safe. It didn’t matter that she had told me to go; she never could’ve imagined this. I dropped my bag on the floor and looked up, raking my hair out of my eyes.

  Roark pushed past me, dropping the bags and moving over to grab a few notebooks on the table. I slid my bag off, turning to drop it into the pile that was collecting by the hall entrance, before turning toward Cali, intent on asking her where we were going.

  A crimson-clad figure dropped from the hole in the ceiling the ladder ran through, and immediately slammed his baton into Roark’s back as he moved away from the ladder. Roark screamed as his body went ramrod stiff, the notebooks in his h
ands clattering to the floor. Devon held the baton there for a second, then two, not breaking the connection, and Tian began screaming, a high, shrill note that resonated in my ears.

  I gaped, shock rippling through me. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he had found us so fast.

  Devon continued to hold the baton to Roark’s chest, and I felt bile start to rise as I realized he was trying to kill the old man with the baton. I surged forward, my hand already snatching my own baton out of my belt, but Cali was there first, her arm sweeping up and hooking his arm, breaking the connection with Roark.

  Roark toppled over, limp, but Cali ignored it as she slammed an open palm into Devon’s chest, shoving him back a few feet, and then caught him in the jaw with a spinning back kick. Devon rocked back, stunned, and Cali took the opportunity to grab Roark by the collar of his faded jacket, pulling him several feet away from Devon before dropping him, to meet Devon’s renewed attack.

  Grey immediately raced up to grab Roark, hauling him back the rest of the way, while Tian cowered behind Maddox’s leg. Maddox stared, her eyes wide as she watched her mother and Devon spar, and the stare made me realize we were all just standing around like idiots, instead of making our escape.

  “Is there another way out?” I hissed, grabbing Maddox’s sleeve and yanking her attention toward me. She met my gaze and then nodded, once. “Grab the gear closest and get to it,” I ordered. “Don’t wait for me or your mom—just go. Get everyone out of here.”

  Grey looked up from Roark’s still form, his eyes wide and horrified. “He’s gone,” he whispered, and I looked down to see that the old man’s eyes were wide and... empty. His expression slack. I felt a wall of pain unexpectedly slam into me, and looked away.

  “Get out of here,” I managed to grind out to the group of horrified people in front of me. “Mourn Roark later—but run for him now. Go!”

  Eric grabbed Zoe, and they all flew apart at my command, snatching up bags—except Grey, who remained.

  “You’re not hanging back alone,” he said, curling his hands into fists.

  I shot a look at Cali, watching her block a blow and land a solid one to Devon’s chest. “Grey,” I breathed, “you need to lead them out—Maddox is worried about her mom, and so are Tian and Quess. They’re going to hesitate.”

  “Eric can—” he began to protest, but I cut him off.

  “They don’t even know Eric. Please, just do this.”

  Grey’s face hardened, and for a second, I thought he was going to keep arguing, but then he nodded—once. “I’ll be back as soon as I get them out. Wait for me.”

  With that he turned, and I was already spinning in time to see Devon land a blow with the baton to Cali’s chest. The woman fell to her knees, her limbs locking up as the electricity rocketed through her body.

  He yanked the baton back suddenly, and ran a hand through his short hair, panting.

  “Dammit, Cali,” he said after a moment, standing over the groaning woman. I looked around the room, and then began to creep toward the far side, trying to get behind Devon. “I should’ve known it was you.”

  Cali groaned and coughed, sliding over onto her side, her body curled up in the fetal position. “Hello, Devon,” she wheezed. “Been a while.”

  “Twenty years, Cali. It’s been twenty years since I came home and found you gone.”

  My eyes widened and I froze, shocked.

  Devon and Cali had shared a home? Did that mean... I looked over at Cali, and saw the fear on her face as she stared up at the man who must have been her husband. “You abandoned me,” he growled.

  Cali gazed around the room, her eyes slightly unfocused. She locked eyes with me and then looked away, not drawing Devon’s attention to me. Her hand, however, lifted slightly—a flat palm, telling me to stop. I hesitated, uncertain whether it was an order I should really follow. I glanced back at the hallway and saw Grey stepping back in. I met his gaze, and watched as he moved into the kitchen, heading for a knife on a cutting board.

  “You agreed to start killing people. You voted with Scipio for it. I wasn’t about to let that go.” I turned back to see Cali struggling to sit up more.

  Devon was quiet for a long moment, his hand on his baton. “I can’t stop what’s about to happen, Cali. The Knights are less than a minute away.”

  Grey moved onto the glass, his stance low. I moved a few steps deeper in, intending for us to flank Devon.

  “Scipio is diseased, Devon, and you know it. You were part of it.”

  “This dream of the outside world is a fantasy, and you know it.”

  Cali laughed, a bitter sound, and shook her head. “At least I dream, Devon. And that is something that no Knight, AI, or Tower can ever take away from me.”

  I met Grey’s gaze, and gave one single nod. Then I began to creep forward, through the pillows on the floor and toward Devon, Grey mirroring me on the other side.

  “Everyone in here is going to die. I can’t stop it.”

  Cali smiled. “You’re right, but only partially,” she said, and I noticed her fingers moving, and realized she was signing to me in Callivax. L-a-s-h-e-s, she said, and alarm coursed through me. I turned and hurriedly signaled to Grey, waving a hand to get his attention. He looked at me, and I began to sign Cali’s message, translated for Grey: G-r-a-b s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g.

  “And how’s that?” Devon asked.

  “You and I are going to die, at least.”

  Grey gave me a confused look, and then movement from Cali dragged my attention back to her as she lifted her right hand up—the one that had been hidden to me behind her body. I got a flash of the small black item in her palm before she slammed it down on the glass floor. There was a high-pitched tone, and then all of the glass shattered, the floor vanishing from beneath all four of us.

  I didn’t even get the chance to check whether Grey had grabbed something in time before I started falling, shards of glass sparkling all around me as I succumbed to the laws of gravity. My body worked from muscle memory, so used to the sensation of falling, and threw the line. It hit and connected on the ceiling above, arresting my fall some fifteen feet below where the floor had been.

  Immediately I spun around, searching for Grey. To my relief, I spotted him hanging from a thick pipe on the ceiling, his arms and legs wrapped around it. He must’ve grabbed it as the glass broke.

  With Grey momentarily handled, I spun around and searched for Cali, finding her tangled in her own lashes, forty feet beneath me, frantically trying to break free from the lines around her body. I grabbed my other bead, intent on making my way over to her, when I sensed something stirring in the shadows above us. It was Devon’s dark form, clinging to a ladder, having apparently used it to stall his fall. He was moving to where Cali’s bead was connected—to the metal framing the glass had been seated in. Cali looked up from where she was dangling, and I could practically see the realization in her eyes as to what was about to happen as he drew closer.

  He thrust out his boot and pressed it against the bead that held her in place, disconnecting it.

  “No!” I screamed, my lash already spinning out, trying to catch her with it, but it was too late and she was too far. She fell, and I was helpless to do anything at all.

  Anything, except for run.

  And I had to. Cali was gone, and the others needed me. There was no time to grieve.

  I lashed up to where Grey was clinging to the ceiling pipe, already in a panic. Devon wasn’t far away, though at least the humid atmosphere down here meant his lashes wouldn’t work. Grey climbed onto my back as I watched Devon, his back still to me, staring down at where Cali had dropped into the deadly churn of the waters below. It was all I could do to not lash over there and kick him in, but the knowledge that more Knights were coming was too heavy to ignore. There wasn’t anything I could do.

  I threw my lash from the ceiling, connecting it to the concrete floor that made up the kitchen and swinging down between the frames of metal where the g
lass floor had been seated. Grey’s fingers dug in tight as I used faster speeds to propel us across, under the pod that formed Sanctum, dangling under the arm of the greenery, then back up the other side, fighting back the urge to cry.

  I caught sight of Quess hanging by his lashes over the pod, Eric on his back, familiar red goggles over his eyes. “Hey!” he shouted when he spotted us, and I shook my head, pressing a finger to my lips.

  Eric’s hands flashed in Callivax, signing for me to follow them, and I nodded, keeping pace as they lashed away. Quess wasn’t a terrible lasher, but with Eric’s heavy frame on top of his own, he was struggling a bit to keep their balance and momentum going. Still, he managed.

  We lashed for what felt like forever, moving farther and farther away from the Tower’s walls and into the open air beneath the greenery’s arm. The farther we got from the hydro-turbines, the quieter and clearer the atmosphere became. Catwalks cut this way and that, and Quess took a route that allowed us to avoid swinging over or under them, just in case anyone was around to notice.

  It all seemed to blur together after a while, and I just focused on keeping up with his shadowy figure. A deep weariness had settled into my bones, making me feel numb and robotic. Eventually, we stopped and crawled into a hatch where the rest of our group was inside, waiting. I looked at all of their faces, and then looked away.

  “Cali’s gone,” I announced hoarsely, bracing myself.

  Tian started crying first, softly in the beginning and then faster and harder. Maddox immediately pulled the girl into her arms and held her, rocking her back and forth. The larger girl was struggling not to cry, but her eyes were filled with anguish and horror. She looked so lost, and in that moment, so very small and vulnerable. My heart ached for her. For them both.

  Quess was less overt—his expression stony, his jaw tight. I could tell he was hurting too, because he shuffled up to Maddox and Tian, clearly needing to be close to them. I wanted to cry with them, wanted to ask Maddox about her mother’s marriage to Devon, ask how it had been kept so low-profile that I hadn’t known about it, ask whether Devon was her father, but it wasn’t the time. We still had to find a safe place, and this small room on the other side of an external hatch was not it.