Viktoriya starts running before I’m aware of her decision, and I feel like I’m being shaken about inside her… This is like with Corin that time when he was in control…that dream. The dream that wasn’t a dream.
A spirit brushes my hand, Viktoriya’s hand.
We shriek. Coldness, icy pins diving through the thick gloves, and—
“Run!”
I can’t run fast enough. Help me, Seer!
I try to run too, try to run with her. But her legs are clumsy, and her body feels heavy. Slow and disproportionate. Thicker limbs. Pain surges through me.
And I get her legs—control of her legs—make her go faster. Don’t know how I do. I just manage it and—
And I’m exactly like Raleigh. He controls my body, and I know what that feels like. And I’m doing the same to Viktoriya, exploiting her, controlling her.
I freeze.
Don’t stop! Viktoriya’s voice. Loud and deafening in my mind. Help me. Help me!
I take hold of her body—all of it, as much as I can—and I don’t know how I know what to do, exactly what to do, but I know. And I pour my energy into it, into her, feel our efforts mix. We work together. We run. We run as fast as we can. And I’m fast, the fastest.
We pump our legs, share everything. Our feet slam the ground, the compacted snow. Frost and icy bitterness drive over us, showers us. A flash of gold.
We dive to the ground. Snow invades our mouth, numbs our teeth. Pain in our head and—
A hand grabs our left arm.
I jolt, feel myself momentarily separate from Viktoriya who doesn’t flinch at the contact. I look up, slide back into her, see the face. Taras.
“That way!” he yells, and his eyes! They’ve got a golden light in them now, no longer dark, and that light bores into us—into me. Straight into me. He knows I’m here.
A streak of orange flits across the sky. Rusty sparks fall down. A cackle of laughter.
“Get inside!”
Viktoriya and I are one again, and our head jolts up. We see the chums, through vision that blurs with the biting, dark air. Taras surges forward with surprising speed—fueled by something? Seer powers? And then a white light flashes from his hand, aimed at the spirits and—
The spirits scream. More of them.
Here.
Our heart pounds, harder, harder. Adrenaline floods our system. Our blood burns and—
We see the others. Marina and Dominika, the men—men who weren’t there during my last visit—and—
A spirit erupts from the ground.
We scream, jerk back. A branch or something flies out, and we duck.
More white light.
Shit.
A spirit, sharp teeth—flesh and—
I push our hand forward, reach for my powers. Something clicks around me, a deafening click, and I stumble. Viktoriya rights my error, and I turn, feel jarred, feel…feel the surge of energy as my own white light bursts out of Viktoriya’s hand. I feel her surprise as it springs forward, hits the spirit, and—
A flash of lightening. A shriek.
I hunker down, feel Viktoriya shaking. Feel her thoughts, her feelings—her fear at angering the spirit.
“Get inside!”
The chums—abruptly so close.
We trip, and then Viktoriya’s got more control than me and—
Something’s squeezing me. A flash of pain. Movement in my head. Things are shifting inside me, compressing, stretching, slotting into place and—
I feel them, my powers, more and more. My Seer powers are—
Inside.
We’re inside.
A fire. Flames. The sound of the raging snowstorm outside.
Dominika stands over me. She’s frowning, and the frown’s etched deeply into her chest. “What the hell was that white light, girl?”
“You ain’t a Seer,” another voice says.
“That wasn’t—” Viktoriya’s voice, and they’re her words—not mine. “That was Seven Sarr.”
There’s a moment of silence, when everyone stares at her—at me, at us—and then Taras stands.
“I’m glad you came back. I was beginning to wonder.” And he looks into our eyes, but it’s mine he sees. I just know it. “Just as well when you left your powers with my granddaughter.”
“What?” Dominika splutters.
“No.” Marina shakes her head, stamps her foot. “It is not right. This—” She shakes her hand at us. “Impossible.”
“She just saved us. Blasted all the spirits, got us enough time to get in the chum. She saved us, and it’s just as well.”
I stare at Taras from the corner of Viktoriya’s eyes. “I left my powers in her?” Viktoriya’s voice sounds stranger when I use it.
The man nods. “You must’ve stayed too long. Couldn’t sustain the connection—not on your first proper journey…and so far too. It jarred your Seer powers, lost them between you and your host. They sprang back to Viktoriya. And they’ve been calling to you. At last, you heard the call, and now you’re getting them back. And you’re sewing them into your soul now—they are yours, you’ll know how to control them from now on.”
Seven!
“Someone’s calling you,” Taras says. “Someone back in your part of the world.”
I nod.
“Go.”
My body tightens.
Something inside me snaps as I disconnect, as I shut my eyes, think about my body at New Kitembu… I’m lying on the bed…with the dog….
No, that’s not right….
Something squeezes inside me, and then there’s pain in my chest. My body? Where is it?
Floating. Floating. Floating.
The dog barks, and I hear him like he’s next to me, like he’s—
I gasp, spluttering—can’t—
Water in my throat, burning…muscles squeezing together and—
Too much water…the lake, the black lake with Jed, and—
I move, splashing, thrashing my arms about. Something hard hits the back of my left hand, and I turn sharply, but I slip—I’m lying on something and—
Hands pull me up in one swift motion, and I yell out, try to get away from Jed, manage to turn and water flies everywhere. I cry out, and cold air rushes against my bare skin. Naked.
The bath—
“Seven! It’s all right!”
And then—and then Jed’s face changes, and it’s not Jed.
It’s Three.
My brother. He’s—
He passes me a towel, then turns away, toward the open doorway. “Dry yourself and get changed. Don’t do anything else—I mean it. I’ll wait out there.”
My heart pounds as I watch him pull the door shut after he leaves. I wrap the towel around me. I can see it’s soft, fluffy, but it doesn’t feel like it. It feels like ice, ice against my skin. Ice and—
A low roaring noise fills my ears, and I turn, heart pounding. See the bath, with the water draining out, and the whirlpool the suction makes. I take a step back, shaking. When did the plug get pulled?
But, as I stand here, my hearing gets better. I hear other sounds. My dog whining nearby. Three’s lowered voice.
I dry myself quickly, change into the clothes I took off before, because they’re all that’s here, then I stare at the wall, and I…I see through it for a moment.
A storm gathers in front of me.
When I enter my room, Three’s sitting on the bed and patting the terrier awkwardly. The dog’s here again? The terrier keeps looking at him, starting to wag his tail. Then stops. He’s confused and looks toward me.
My hair drips down my neck. I expect the terrier to run at me, happy. But he doesn’t. He stays with Three, though he doesn’t rub against my brother’s legs, but keeps a short gap away.
Three jumps up the moment he sees me. “What the hell were you doing trying to drown yourself?”
I shrink back, eyes widening. Drown myself?
“Seven? Have you any idea how selfish that is—trying to
—” He breaks off, shakes his head, then grabs the back of his neck, rubs the skin there hard. His whole body shakes with anger—anger that an Enhanced One shouldn’t have. “Gods, if I hadn’t been coming to find you—and if the dog hadn’t been whining at that door, scratching it—look.” He grips my arm and turns sharply. Pain shoots down my shoulder. “Look at the scratches! Thank the Gods the dog realized what you were trying to do and got help.”
What I was trying to do….
“I—I wasn’t!” I cry. Then I swallow quickly, realize what he said.
Seven. Three called me Seven. Not Shania.
My brother—still in there?
No. I can’t hope, can’t believe that he is, not again.
And then I frown, frown so hard that my head feels heavy. When I was with Taras and Viktoriya, someone called my name. Was that his voice? Calling me Seven? Like he did before…just after I’d been bound to the Enhanced….
And then I feel it, the power within me—feel it in a way I’ve never felt it before. It’s like a mountain inside me, growing and growing, the summit getting higher and higher. And I can feel every part of it. Every single part. The way the ground shakes with the power, how new earth forms, is pushed up, exposed from the earth’s crust and…and I know.
They’re back. Properly. The powers.
And they’ve grown. They’re full-sized. They’re—
Oh Gods!
A strong tingling starts off at the back of my scalp, then spreads.
I am a strong Seer.
I’m the one the augury speaks of.
And I will beat Raleigh.
“I will,” I whisper, and my lips burr together.
“What?” Three grabs me by the shoulders, shakes his head hard. “I—I… Gods, I don’t even know what to say—why would you want to do that?” He releases me, wipes the back of his hand across his mouth. Then he turns toward the door. “I need to get Raleigh—”
“No.” My chest tightens, and I lunge for him, get his arm. “No. Three, you can’t.”
Because Raleigh will know.
As soon as he sees me, he’ll know my powers are back and—
Shit.
I need to get out. Get far away.
I look at my brother carefully. Really try and see him, like I keep trying to. Would he help me? And it’s confusing, because he’s both like the other Enhanced and not. There’s emotion when he speaks. And his fear—I can see it in his eyes, his mirror eyes. Fear over me. Brotherly fear.
Still Untamed?
I nearly scream. I just don’t know. Too many mixed messages. I can’t trust him to help me, can’t rely on other people, on him.
And then I feel the guilt riding in, my guilt, guilt over what he is now. My fault. I gulp. Am I reading more into his behavior because I want part of him to be Untamed, not just because he’s my brother, but because it will lessen my guilt too?
But what if part of him—part of the Untamed Three—is still there? Just a small part…and maybe it wasn’t in control before…maybe it can’t greatly control him… And I know. I can’t bank on it. No, I need to get out, not waste time overthinking this.
“Just…why—tell me why, Seven,” Three says.
I shake my head, my chest rising and falling quickly. “I wasn’t—I…” I look around. Weapons. If I’m out there—once I’m out there—I need weapons. There’s nothing in this room. I look back at Three, wonder if he’s got anything on him, and he’s still staring at me. “I fell asleep,” I say. “I wasn’t—”
“You fell asleep in the bath?” He exhales hard, then steps away from me. His shoulders droop. “Hell, I shouldn’t have even come here—but thank the Gods I did…if I hadn’t…if I hadn’t stopped you from—”
“Three! Stop it! I wasn’t trying to drown myself.” I muster up as much strength into my voice as possible. “Now, have—”
“But you cut yourself before—Raleigh told me, and I read the reports and—”
“Three! Believe me. Just trust me—”
He swears under his breath. “It’s not right. Not right that Raleigh’s letting you suffer like this. There must be some augmenters you can—”
I cut him off quickly. “Three, why are you here? You said you were looking for me when…” I start again. “Why are you here?”
My heart pounds frantically. Because…because he’s going to help me?
A voice screams inside me, and I’m doing it again.
“My name is Tomas,” he says.
“Fine. Tomas.” I fold my arms. “Why are you here? To spy on me? Report back to Raleigh?” I breathe deeply, and I get that feeling again—of the strength in me. “Or…” Or something else?
He clasps his hands together tightly, turns his head toward the door. “Because…because I thought you should know….”
“Thought I should know what?” I swallow slowly and wait.
Know that there’s a way out of here? Something I can use as an advantage?
Know for sure that my brother’s on my side? That him locking me in the corridor and preventing my escape was a blip—a moment when the Enhanced part of him got more control? But that he can resist….
“What?”
“Eriksen.” Three exhales loudly and his whole body jolts. “The men caught him before. He’s been here a while, and I thought you should know, Seven. Corin Eriksen is here.”
For a moment, everything around me stops, and all I am aware of is myself: the way my heart beats…not fast, just forceful, as if it’s telling everyone I’m alive, reminding me I’m here; how my breathing gets louder, as if each breath is fighting for its release, begging not to be dragged back into my lungs, back into the darkness; how my fingers are cold…cold like a dead man’s fingers…stiff, cold….
But then Three’s words creep in, and they echo over and over in my head. I look up. My brother’s watching me. There’s a slight line etched between his eyebrows—he always gets that line when he’s worried.
“Are…are you all right?” he asks.
I stare at him, open my mouth. Shut it again. Something strange filters through my body. I try to clench my hands into fists, but it’s like I haven’t got control over them. Not properly. The best I can do is watch my fingers curl slightly. But it’s not like Raleigh’s controlling me. No. It’s just….
“Corin? Corin’s here?” The words are rusty, bad.
He can’t be.
Corin can’t be here.
Three nods. “We caught him…before. A while ago. Raleigh didn’t want you knowing.”
He didn’t? He didn’t want to gloat, make me feel bad…let me continue to think that Corin was out there. He lied. Lied to me. False hope.
But hope nonetheless.
Because he wanted me to be happy?
Maybe the Enhanced aren’t so bad. He was trying to protect you.
I swallow hard, with difficulty, and look at my brother. “How?” I shift my weight from one foot to the other “How was he caught?”
“A drone detected a human out there. It wasn’t until the team went out that we knew for sure it was Eriksen.” Behind his mirrors, I’m sure Three watches me carefully, and I wish I could reach up and pinch those mirrors, drag the films away from his eyes so we can all see clearly.
I shake my head slowly. “I don’t believe you… Corin can’t be here.”
No.
No.
Corin has to be out there. He has to be free, Untamed. He can’t be in here. He just…can’t.
Three shifts his weight slightly. The floor creaks. “He’s here, Sha—Seven. He’s here.”
I look at him carefully. “Why are you calling me Seven?” I take a step forward, but I’m shaking. “You keep doing it, Three. Why? I don’t understand. Are you still one of us?”
He wrings his hands out in front of him—a gesture that might’ve shown that the Untamed Three was nervous. But is that Three still in him?
He clears his throat. “You can trust me. I’m your brother.”
>
I hold myself carefully. “Are you Untamed though?”
He lifts his hands up higher. “Why are you questioning this? After what I’ve just told you? Look, Seven—Raleigh didn’t want you knowing about Eriksen, but I’ve let you know. Doesn’t that tell you that I’m still me. I’m still thinking about you. Your feelings.”
“Me? My feelings?” I shake my head. There’s a bitter taste in my mouth, and I bite down on my bottom lip for a moment. My heart beats fast. “Corin’s here? Really here… You’re not lying?”
“No. Eriksen is here.”
My shoulders drop.
Corin’s caught.
Trapped.
Here.
Everything in my body tightens. I bring a hand to my chest, touch my collarbone. It feels more bony than usual, like it’s sticking out farther. Then my hand finds my pendant.
“I’ll take you to him,” Three says, and he looks at my pendant.
My eyes widen, and I watch my brother carefully—very carefully. But Three doesn’t give anything away. A master of disguise now. Even lets his hands fall to his side. Just looks at me, his face a blank slate.
“Why?” My voice is small. I hug myself. The terrier’s by my legs—I’m acutely aware of the way his fur tickles my ankles—and his presence is reassuring. My vision darkens as I look at my brother once more. “Why would you let me see Corin? Put two Untamed together?”
Three sighs. “I know which cell he’s in. I’ll take you to him and I’ll… I’ll let you see him. Our dog will have to stay here though. It’s too risky taking him out.”
I watch him again, waiting for something more. But he doesn’t answer my question.
“Look, I’m reaching out to you here, but I’ve got to be careful,” Three says. “It’s the middle of the night—we can’t draw attention to ourselves. If you don’t want to—” He starts toward the door.
“I didn’t say that,” I cut in quickly, and he turns back.
“You can trust me, Seven.” There’s a strange look on his face, and it’s only accentuated by the metal plates obscuring a good deal of his face.
So it’s Seven all the time now. I turn that thought over in my mind.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “For not rescuing you. I—I thought you were dead.”
Three looks at me for a long moment, and I feel sick, like my heart is going to explode. Then he offers his hand to me.
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