“But Raleigh caused harm to a pregnant woman.”
Esther.
My eyes snap open. Hadn’t realized I’d shut them. I blink, groggy, and—
“She shouldn’t be pregnant though,” another voice says and—
Someone’s carrying me. I’m in someone’s arms. The metal chain is clinking. How long? Fear chugs through me.
“She hasn’t been approved for population growth. And she’s Untamed, spreading that evil….”
“Raleigh’s still going to be reprimanded though—she’s still pregnant, and he had her injured. Outrageous!”
My head pounds and my chest—there’s pain, and they keep talking. I’m not sure if I miss the next words or not. Because there’s a gap. A gap when I’m just floating. Floating—and my head, it hurts. I hit it and—
“Raleigh won’t stand for that.” That’s Three’s voice, and I try to latch onto it, try to dig my nails into it.
But just then the delicious smells get stronger and stronger, and my mouth is watering, but I feel sick, and the alarm’s still going off. I listen for more of their conversation. But they’re quiet.
And we’re at my cell.
The air’s cooler. Easier to think…even though my head’s pounding and—
Clare. Esther.
I flinch as their names flash through me, as I remember.
“Did they escape?” My words are mumbled, my voice sticky.
“Our teams will find them,” an Enhanced tells me, his voice glassy. “Those poor creatures don’t have a clue where they are…” His lips keep moving, but, for a moment, it’s like the sound’s been turned off. Then his voice is back. “We’ll find them, and we will bring them back to civilization and safety—”
“Raleigh’s in surgery,” a new one says, running up to the group. “He was shot by that vile woman, but Dr. Andy is as excellent as always. Our master will be back in no time.”
The Enhanced take the metal cuffs off me, then unlock the first manacle and unwind the chain from my arm, before locking my door, shutting me in on my own. I wait a few moments, listening, trying to get my head to stop pounding. Don’t think they’ve moved away—I haven’t heard any footsteps yet.
A moment later, I hear the steps. I count them, to be sure—though the numbers are heavy, and they keep running into each other and echoing, trying to confuse me. I shake my head, try to get my ears to stop ringing—and they’re suddenly ringing so loudly. I place my hands over my ears. They feel too warm. Oh Gods, I haven’t done something serious to my head, have I? I breathe out slowly. I need my wits about me. I need to escape.
Escape. Yes.
When the Enhanced have definitely gone, I try the door handle, but it won’t move. On wobbly legs, I pace round and round my cell, breathing deeply, then I have to sit down as my head, it’s too… I rub at it, at the back, and wince as pain flares up. My eyes smart, and, through my blurry vision, I see the iron unit on the wall with the big ring; at least I’m no longer chained up.
I tell myself to think. Got to think. Need to think. But there’s fog in my head, and it’s churning round and round, trying to confuse me.
Esther and the others. Did…did they get out?
Nausea wells up in me suddenly, and I freeze, hold my breath. Wait for it to pass. Wait for minutes and minutes. Sweat lines the back of my neck, then drips down my back, sticking my overalls to me. I breathe deeply, go to run a hand through my hair, then stop when my fingers touch the short strands. My shoulders sag, and the movement sends chilling pains down my spine.
I flex my neck carefully and take another deep breath. I need to think. Need to get out. Need to escape.
But my head’s still fuzzy—so fuzzy…and I know there’s no escape from this room. No… I need a…a window. A window equals hope. But I can’t see a window…and even if I could, what happens when I’m outside?
I groan. That Enhanced man earlier told me about the different regions…didn’t he? Knowledge of the outside? I frown, and the words come back to me, but they’re so slow, as if they’re caught in thick honey that’s trying to drag them back, stop me from seeing their shapes.
I touch the side of my head, tentatively. Then the back of it. Everywhere feels raw, tender. Like everything’s trying to stop me from thinking about escape. But I need to.
I try to think harder. There must be a way out into the wilderness nearby—Corin got away. If he was in the city, they’d find him… No, he’d have gone for the wilderness—it’s what all the Untamed do. I swallow hard, think of that time when I thought I was him. When he coughed, but it was me.
Only that didn’t happen. It was a dream.
But then the flash of an image enters my mind. Me, looking down, seeing tattoos on a man’s arm, a man’s hairy arm… Oh Gods.
But it can’t have been real! Hallucinations…they were both when I was sick…weren’t they? When I was sick from the augmenters? Yes, that dream where I was Corin…that was when I was becoming Untamed again…the end of the hallucinations,
I stare up at the brick wall as adrenaline slams its way around my body, like it’s a comet bouncing off rocks, destroying rocks, and shards of rock are flying about, puncturing me. I bare my teeth, grimace, shake my head. There’s too much stuff in my head, in my body…just zooming round and round. Each one wanting attention.
And time seems to pass slowly, but quickly too. Or maybe it’s not passing, I don’t know.
I think of my traitorous brother, and I feel sicker, but my thoughts are a little clearer now. My pendant’s still hot against my skin. Or maybe it’s cooled and is now heating up again—I’m not sure. I breathe deeply, and darkness washes over me. I was wrong when I thought he was on my side because he gave my pendant back to me. He’s not.
But why did he give it back? I exhale hard. So I don’t get stuck in the Dream Land and prevent the Enhanced from winning the war?
I flinch, breathe deeply. More pain in my head, but it’s like a worm, not a snake.
Or maybe he did just give it back because it’s mine, because it’s always been in our family, and our mother left it for me.
I scratch at my face, shake my head.
And Esther’s pregnant. I blink several times. Manning’s name tastes bad as I think it, and my hands squeeze into tight fists. My knuckles click, and then something in my head keeps clicking. Clicking with names.
Corin, Esther, the Zharat.
And they’re out there.
And I’m in here.
And I didn’t escape because of my brother.
Instead, I’m concussed or something. I groan again, put my head in my hands, feel weak, vulnerable, small.
Anger takes over me.
I didn’t escape because of Three.
He stopped me.
I shake my head, hard. Feel like screaming.
Next time, he won’t stop me.
No one will.
Some time later—I’ve no idea how long has passed, but my grogginess has mainly worn off—a single pair of steps returns to my door. I hear the bolt slide back, and I get ready—need to get out, have to join them.
The door creaks open, and I run—
Run straight into Three.
He shouts something and shoves me back, locking the door, all in one fluid movement. My nostrils flare, my lips flatten. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. But I force myself to push the waves of anger away—need to be calm, in control—and stay surprisingly light on the balls of my feet. I can’t let my emotions dictate my actions. He’s just an Enhanced One.
“What do you want?” My question comes out as a snarl, and I see the shock on his face. His reaction makes me feel good.
“The drones have found them,” he says.
“What?” My eyes widen, and I stare at them, in his mirrors. “Drones?”
“Yes, Shania.” Three folds his arms slowly. “The Chosen Ones use thermal imaging to scan the lands as relatively few spirits inhabit these regions when it’s not the Turning, so few spirit
s can interfere with the imaging. But the drones pick up on extra heat levels indicative of humans out there. And anyone not at a compound will be Untamed.” Suddenly, his arms spring away from his chest and he gesticulates wildly. “Gods, the technology here is phenomenal. You’ve no idea! They’ve got assemblers…and the height of medical equipment. And their radios—no foxholes here, they’ve got multi-way devices that can send and receive across huge distances. Like the ones we used to have—only better. And the computers! Raleigh says I can meet his head technician when we’re back at New Kimearo, and I can start training in IT management.”
The excitement in his voice is tangible—so strong, I could reach out and hold it—and it makes me look at my brother carefully, at the way his right cheek is plumping up as he smiles and how his shoulders bounce with energy. It’s that excitement that makes him seem Untamed.
But I know better. It’s just an act. Has to be. If he was Untamed, he would’ve let me escape, no matter what.
And he didn’t.
And now he’s trying to trick me again; this display of enthusiasm over their technology—this synthetic emotion—is to try and fool me, to make me trust him again.
I stare at him, coldly, feel my body lock up. I’m not stupid.
“They’re assembling a team to collect the escaped Untamed now,” Three says, his voice returning to a more monotonous tone.
His face is a plain of expressionlessness once more, and I immediately feel more justified in my anger at him—because it proves he’s really just an artificial shell of who he once was. He’s been converted. And I hate that I need to feel justified to feel as I do about him, an Enhanced One. As if our familial status should override my feelings about what he’s become—even if it wasn’t his choice.
And it wasn’t.
I thought he was dead, that he couldn’t have survived the gunshots to his face and abdomen. Even when Esther told me he was alive, I refused to believe her. I didn’t go after him, didn’t even try and rescue him when the Enhanced were converting him. Even when the Dream Land warned me—because I didn’t see the bison, didn’t realize it was a warning. My fault. I let him become like this. The tips of my anger turn inward, and then it’s a torrent of red-hot pain rushing at me. The guilt I’ve been ignoring, pushing away, suppressing; it’s an angry storm inside me.
“I’m going out as part of the team,” Three says. “I came to let you know.”
“To let me know?” I keep my voice low, blunt, and touch the base of my neck, rub it. Need to stay in control, mustn’t show weakness…or my guilt. “Why?”
“So you don’t need to worry,” he says. “They’ll be safe again soon. I’m going to bring her back. Bring Esther back. My Esther.”
I tug on my earlobe, still watching him. My fingers find a scabby bit of skin, and I pick at it, wonder if it’s one of the old kavalah spirit scars. Three smiles softly—thinking about Esther? His Esther?
“She’s pregnant.” And I watch him carefully for a reaction—something genuine. And I don’t really know why I’m still searching. Because I know what he is, who he is.
But you don’t want to believe it.
I grit my teeth. I don’t. But I have to. Have to accept reality. He’s one of them now.
Three nods. “I know. I scanned her when she came in.”
“And you didn’t tell Raleigh?” My fingers move to the edge of my jaw, and I find another imperfection there. My nails savagely gauge it out, as if they’ve got a life of their own. As if it’s not me…as if it’s Raleigh doing it? No. That’s not right. He wouldn’t do that. This is just me.
“I wrote it on her records,” Three says quickly. “It’s not my fault that he didn’t read them. Or the later reports. But it will cause trouble with the Section, his negligence.”
My hand drops to my side. “What’s the Section?” The Enhanced have mentioned it before, and information is important. I straighten up.
“The circle of leaders,” Three says, “from across the world. All the Enhanced. They make up a governing body. Raleigh’s power outweighs the rest of them as his lands are the biggest and the wildest. Most dangerous. He governs this continent, delegates leaders of the other compounds within his kingdom. But—” Three pauses. “Raleigh’s the leader with the biggest Untamed population within his lands. Because the spirits are bigger here, in this section, more problematic. They make it harder and—” His eyes widen, and he presses his lips together.
“Three?” I frown. “What is it?”
“Tomas!” he shouts. “That is my name. And—and I have to go.” His voice is strange, so unlike him, so cold. “We leave in twelve minutes, and I have to get Esther back.”
He’s too quick with the door for me to attempt an escape. I hear him slide the bolt across on the other side.
Twelve minutes. How long will it take to get them?
Oh Gods. Drones. I shake my head. If they’ve got drones and can scan the lands for body heat, why hasn’t Corin been found? I shake my head slightly. Maybe they don’t know where to look.
Or maybe they’ve already got him… Maybe they haven’t told me in case we try and find each other, start a rebellion… Keeping me in the dark does seem like a logical thing for the Enhanced to do. Yet I can’t help but think that Raleigh would gloat about finding Corin.
But now they’re going to get Esther and the others who escaped.
They know where they are.
And they’re going to bring them back.
Shit. Why didn’t I get away too? I clench my fists—if I’d been faster, if I’d escaped too and was with them, I could fight the Enhanced with my Seer powers. I could save my people.
But I can’t. Because I’m not there. Because I wasn’t fast enough.
Me, not fast enough? I’m the fastest runner the Untamed have.
But I’ve got to stop them from catching Esther and Clare and the others, got to stop my brother—but he’s not my brother. Not anymore. I can’t afford to see him as my brother.
Can’t you?
No! I want to scream, and I push the thought away. My brother has gone. It’s only Tomas who’s here. And I need to treat him as just another Enhanced, not my brother. I can’t waste my emotions, my feelings, on him—or let him dictate what I feel, how I feel. It’s exhausting. He’s just an Enhanced.
I press my lips together. And now I’ve been concentrating on him, when I should’ve been concentrating on the Untamed, on Esther and Clare and whoever else got away.
But I can’t help her, can’t help any of them. Not from in here. I’m trapped. Shit.
No! There’s got to be something I can do! Got to be!
I look around at the walls again. And the painted stone blocks start laughing at me.
I stare at them, and they’re stepping closer, dragging the walls with them.
Pins and needles fill my legs and I’m trying to keep standing, but I—
Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.
What the hell? I touch my head.
But the walls are still moving and—
I’m hallucinating? That damage to my head?
No.
No.
No.
I look up, but then Esther’s here—right in front of me. But—but she’s… My eyes widen.
Her distended stomach watches me—distended much more than it should be—and there’s a door in her stomach, and it’s opening and—
I take a step back, eyes widening, breathing fast.
“Help me, Seven!” she shouts.
And then there’s an Enhanced in here too, and he’s reaching for her stomach, and the door’s opening wider—and oh Gods, I don’t want to see—but something’s appearing. A tiny hand reaches out and—
What the hell? Heat whirls around me, and I stare at her. But it can’t be her. It can’t. I know that and—
“Don’t let them have my baby too!” Esther screeches, and she kicks out at the Enhanced, screaming and screaming, and there’s fire—fire everywhere.
It ends in fire for you.
I shrink back, heart pounding, feel my sweat dripping everywhere. I try to move, try to make sense of it all. But I can’t. This just…it can’t be real. Hallucinating. My head. It’s—
The flames lick toward me; the roar of the fire fills my ears. But under it, there’s a pulsing, a steady pulsing I can hear and—
“Seven, help me!”
Esther’s voice rattles me, but it puts the fire out, and—
What the hell is going on?
My shoulders tighten, and my breath bursts in and out.
“Seven!”
Snap.
Esther disappears and something prickly washes over me. A flash of red in front of me, and—
And everything…changes.
The walls shoot toward me, and something hisses. A door—the door—hurtles at me and—
I scream as I turn, hunker down, cry out, but my tongue’s tangled and—
Fine dust hits me. I try to move, try to turn, but there’s darkness—darkness and—where’s the door? The walls and—
Pressure fills my chest, my head, my whole body. A flash of white light, and my hands burn, my arms burn, everything burns, and colors swirl around me and—
My body folds in on itself, and I try to lift my arms up, need to protect my head, my back, my neck, and—
Cold air whistles toward me.
I stay as I am, cowering. I listen.
Silence.
Slowly, I lift my head up an inch, so I can see a little and—
My eyes widen.
There are metal pans in front of me, with the remains of food in them. They’re on a thick, woven mat. I stare at them, feel a strange creeping sensation fall over me.
My neck cricks as I lift my head higher, as I take in all the things around me. A kettle with a big black handle like an arching snake. Brightly colored fabrics, and a few furs and tanned hides. Woven baskets, and a baby’s crib made from fine pieces of wood all twisted together and—
I’m wearing gloves. I see my hands in them, see my fur sleeves, covered in a white dusting that’s melting. My eyes widen.
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