“Is everything okay?” I ask as he rises from his chair.
“It’s better now.” He kisses me softly.
I press my lips together, but I’ll wait until we’re in the privacy of my apartment to get an explanation. He wraps his arm around me and strokes my shoulder as we leave and get onto the monorail across the street. I squeeze his hand as we zip through the city. It’s almost over. We’re getting out of here together.
***
“I have good news that will cheer you up!” I say as we walk into my apartment.
“I’m with you. What could be more cheerful?”
Cute, but I can top that. “We’re leaving tomorrow night!”
“What?”
“Everything is ready. It’s happening.” And there will be no living with Frey now that he did indeed hack the broadcasting system so quickly.
“Wow.” Jase drops onto the sofa. His gaze is far off, and his lips press together in a tight line.
“I know,” I say, sitting next to him. “It’s overwhelming, but it’s good, right?”
“Sure.”
That was convincing. “What’s going on?”
He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Krisalyn and I spent the day making failed attempts to create an antidote for the amnesia drug. It’s frustrating.”
I tilt my head as I consider what that means. “An antidote? You could recover the lost memories?”
“That’s the idea, but we haven’t been successful yet.”
“That would be amazing!”
“It would be, but now we won’t get it done before we leave.” Disappointing, but any urgency to get that done can decline now that our departure is imminent. I can’t wait to be rid of the vial in my pocket.
The elevator opens, admitting Vogue. “How did you beat me home? I think you’re going a little too far with the minimal working hours to look lazy and normal.”
“It doesn’t matter much what we look like anymore,” I say.
“Why?”
“Want to leave the city tomorrow?”
“Really?” She gasps, and I nod my assurance. “Oh, thank goodness! I can’t handle having you here anymore. Wait, does that mean I get to break into the military system?”
“Yes, you do.”
Vogue’s voice drops to a wicked pitch. “Oh, that will be exciting.” Her eyes light up in exhilaration, like a child who gets to play a new game.
I shake my head. “If you say so.”
“I’m going to start getting ready,” she says.
“For what?”
“We’re going out tonight, remember?”
“Your rebellion preparation plan includes going out?” Going to a nightclub couldn’t be further from what we should be doing before we light the fuse to blow up the world.
“Absolutely,” Vogue says. “This is our last night here. We’re on the brink of war. I want one last night of fun while it’s still an option.”
Jase only shrugs when I look at him for support.
“You’re going,” she says as she disappears into her bedroom.
I curl into Jase’s chest and wrap my arms around him. “Do we have to?” I could stay just like this.
“Maybe we should—”
“Get moving!” Vogue swoops back in to grab her purse.
“It won’t take me long to get ready,” I insist.
“We are going full-scale Kaycian tonight, Serenity. Go!”
I smile despite myself. Maybe she’s right. It could be fun to go all out. One last fling in all of our Kaycian glory to get it out of our system—a going away party of sorts. “Sorry to abandon you like this,” I say to Jase. “I’ll see you eventually.”
His slight smile looks strained again.
“Are you all right?” I ask. “We don’t have to go.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll go get changed too.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” This smile is a little better. “I’ll be back soon.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
BRAM
Tori glances up at me briefly before returning to whatever she was doing before I entered her office. I close the door and take a seat in silence. I should start talking, but I don’t know what to say. It would be awkward to get right to business after everything that’s happened between us and our latest conversation about Serenity. Wouldn’t it?
Finally, she looks up at me and casually asks, “What’s going on?”
Or not. “Planning a trip.”
“Oh, really?” Her eyes light up. “When might that be?”
“Tomorrow night.”
She bites her lower lip before a relieved smile washes over her face. “Great. Good riddance to this place.”
My eyebrow arches. “The others are doing this because they sympathize with the islanders. You seem to just hate the city. Why is that?”
“Does it matter?”
“We don’t have to deal with everything alone, you know.” She can’t argue with her own words.
“I don’t think you want to go down that path now.” She flashes a cheeky wink.
Shortly after she said those words to me, we found ourselves in my bed. I did not think that was a line we used to… Ugh. I really shouldn’t be allowed to speak to people. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know, I’m kidding. Relax. You can’t be walking on eggshells around me. We are going into war together, and I need you to be sharp.”
She’s right—I can’t be second-guessing my every move and word around her. I need to get out of my own head. “Okay.”
“If you really want to know, yes, I do hate this city.” Tori sighs and leans back in her chair. “It isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and I don’t make any sense here. I’m not girly enough, not fashionable enough, not artsy enough. I don’t belong here. It’s not who I am.”
“Not belonging among Kaycians isn’t the worst thing.”
“If I was somewhere else, maybe.”
“Where do you want to end up at the end of this?”
“Probably Gladstone.”
“Why?”
She brushes her hair behind her shoulder. “It’s a long story.”
“Then you better hurry up and tell it before the world ends.”
Her look says something like, you’re a pain, but I’m glad you’re joking with me again. “I have family there.” She frowns, and her gaze becomes distant.
What? She can’t have family anywhere except here. “How is that possible?”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “My dad was from Gladstone. The Establishment experimented with the placement test on the islanders during selection, and they identified him as an ideal fit for the health department.”
Shock doesn’t begin to describe it. “The Establishment moved someone here from Gladstone? That’s crazy!”
“I know. Adelle Nemes had just taken over the Department of Education and Placement. She was passionate and very convincing, apparently.”
“She was already there when your dad was fourteen?”
“Yes. I think she set a record for the longest anyone has ever held a council seat. Anyway, she moved him here, he lived with her until he turned sixteen, and the rest is history, I guess.”
“Wow.” I’m not the first person to be aware of living on an island and Kaycie.
“Is he the only person they’ve ever moved here?” I ask.
“I’m not sure. If there have been more, I think it’s been a while.”
I can’t imagine the Establishment even considering moving someone here. It contradicts everything I know about the Establishment. How did Adelle pull that off? “Do you know Adelle?”
“Yes. My dad remained close with her until he died. The vaccine for the extirpation drug was for the greater good, but the amnesia vaccine was for her.”
“Why would she need it?”
“When someone retires from the council, the Establishment erases any confidential information from their me
mories. For Adelle, that would have been nearly forty years of information. My dad didn’t want to see that happen.”
This is the biggest explosion of information I’ve gotten since I learned about Kaycie and the island system. I’m at a loss for words. I don’t even know what to think.
“Still glad you wanted us to share?” Tori teases. It brings me back into focus a little bit.
“Let me get this straight, Adelle took the vaccine, so she is retired and fully aware of everything, but the Establishment doesn’t know that?”
“Correct.”
How can they not realize that? “And she’s hanging out in her townhouse, unconcerned for the uprising she kind of set up?”
“Sophos keeps in touch with her. She’s aware of what’s going on.”
“Is she coming to Lawson with us?”
“No, she wants to stay here to help Kaycie during the transition.”
“Okay, then.” My mind races through my memories. Could I have figured any of this out myself? “So, when I said Serenity is Kaycian like you…”
“I scoffed because I am not Kaycian. Or at least, only half. And like I said, I don’t feel Kaycian. I used to try to be, but when my dad told me he was from Gladstone, it clicked. I knew why I didn’t fit in here, and I stopped trying to. I didn’t want to be one of them anymore. I don’t fit in here any better than you do. This isn’t who we are, Bram.”
It all comes full circle, swirling around in my head. Her anger, identifying with being from an island she’s never seen, I’m the first islander she’s met who wasn’t brainwashed. It all makes sense now. The enigma that is Tori Foster is solved.
“I’m okay with that.” Without thinking, I lean in and kiss her.
She kisses me back, but only for a moment. “Don’t.” Her lips press together in a frown. “There’s nothing here. We’re too similar—both dark and angry. We need people to brighten us up. It was unfair of me to act otherwise. You’re the only other person who isn’t from here, and I let that moment get away from me in February. Then I saw you warming up to Serenity, and it felt like my whole life in summary—not being as appealing as them. Part of me wanted to keep you hooked so I could feel like I’m not less than them, but I understand what you see in her.”
Wow. I never thought I’d live to see Tori show vulnerability. “You’re not less than anyone.”
She shakes her head as if to clear her mind. “I’m going to need you to forget this conversation ever happened.”
I smile my consent, equally content to move on from this topic. She’s right. I already knew we couldn’t be more than friends, but understanding her makes me regret that. Is my attraction to Serenity really a result of needing to brighten up my darkness?
Tori moves on to a new subject. “Anything left to get ready for departure?”
“Maybe one thing.” I bite the inside of my cheek, debating whether I want to ask for this or not. “Do you think there’s any way we could get my brother out with us?”
Her eyes open wide in surprise for a moment, then she taps her teeth together as she thinks. “What time are we leaving?”
“Four in the morning.”
She rubs her forehead. “We can’t pull him out of here in the middle of the night unseen. So,”—her lips press together as she searches for a solution—“I could assign him to overnight patrol, then we grab him on our way to the station.” Her eyes bounce back and forth as she considers it. “That should work.”
“Try?”
“Okay.” She taps her desk, opening a holoScreen to adjust the assignments. Her eyebrows furrow as she works. “Where the hell is he?” she mutters.
My head cocks slightly, and my heart speeds up. I force deep breaths and wait for her to find him. She will. I don’t need to panic. There’s no reason to panic.
“This isn’t possible,” she says, shaking her head.
“What?”
“I only have maybe ten percent of the regiment available. Mostly trainees. Where did everyone go?”
My breath catches in my throat. What the hell is going on?
“They’re not in this system anymore.” She knits her eyebrows. “I don’t understand.”
“There has to be some record.”
“Not in here, but there should be in the main Security system at the EC.”
“Let’s go then.” I jump to my feet.
“Slow down! It’s probably not the best idea for you to go with me.”
“Oh, try to stop me.”
“Bram, I mean it. It’s getting late. It’s going to look odd even for me to go there.”
“We’re disappearing in a little over twenty-four hours. Let them start suspecting us. Who cares?” Her glare is surly. “It’s not just about Emrys anymore,” I say. “We need to know where the marshals are before we start this thing. What if they split them up over the islands? The islanders won’t be able to overtake them if the marshals double or triple their numbers.”
She presses a finger onto the bridge of her nose. “I know.” Finally, she pushes herself away from her desk and stands up. “Come on.”
Tori leads me out of her office and to the deserted armory. She collects smoke bombs and fire grenades from the shelves, tucking them into her belt and passing me some. I raise an eyebrow at her. This is a bit much for a visit to the Establishment Center.
“Who trained you?” she groans. “We’ve got twenty-four hours until go time and a huge obstacle thrown in our way. Let’s be prepared for anything.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I give her a mock salute.
“Also, I have the remote to set off the charges in the tunnels.” She pulls up a holoScreen from her cuff and flings it toward me. My cuff vibrates against my wrist, having received it. “We should both have it, just in case.”
Armed to the teeth, we leave headquarters. As I follow behind her in my robotic way, I notice there aren’t any marshals patrolling the streets. The last marshal we saw was at the doors to headquarters, and I don’t see any more until we get to the Establishment Center.
Tori taps her cuff to get into the building, and we go up to the third floor. As we walk down a hallway, Sophos’ voice behind us makes the hair on my arms stand up. “I’ll be in my office if you need me, Watt.” A door closes, and footsteps fade in the direction opposite ours. What is Sophos still doing here? And with the Director of Security?
Tori rounds a corner and enters an empty office, shutting us in.
“Did you hear Sophos?” I ask her.
“Yes. What is he doing here?”
“I have no idea.”
“You’re supposed to be his security detail. You should know where he is at all times!”
“He sent me to see you!”
“It’s too late for him or Watt Kemp to be in the office,” she says. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it.”
“Let’s find the marshals first, then we can deal with that.”
“Some last night in the city.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
SERENITY
Vogue pops in looking runway-ready to check on me while I work on my makeup. I don’t know if she got ready unreasonably fast or if I’m sluggish, distracted by Jase’s angst. Her eyelids are a wave of green hues, and her lashes glow at the ends. Her shiny hair is slicked back from her face before it cascades down in a waterfall of voluminous platinum and lavender curls.
“I’m going,” I assure her. “Can you pull the navy dress with the sweetheart neckline? It’s longer in the back, so it’s with the floor-length gowns.”
As she walks away, I see that her slinky pink dress plunges to her lower back, and her silver shoes could blind someone if they catch the light just right. She is certainly dressed to impress.
She retrieves it and hangs it next to the vanity. “I love this one!”
“It’s your mother’s.”
“She is good at what she does,” Vogue says, eyeing the dress.
I accent my dark smoky eyelids with spark
ly lashes and tuck some blue feathers into my loosely braided updo before slipping into my dress. I’m wrapping the straps of my shoes around my ankles when there is a knock on my door.
“Come in.”
Jase slinks in and leans against the door frame, watching me with his hand on the break line of his close-cut silvery gray blazer. I rise and walk over to him, all too aware of how intently he’s watching me. “You look rather dashing.”
He extends his arm out for my hand and twirls me slowly. “You are gorgeous.” He emphasizes each word.
I grasp both of his shoulders as I kiss him slowly, pressing his back into the doorframe. Black pepper. His aroma has a hint of black pepper. The pressure of his hands sliding up my back has me wondering why we agreed to go out.
“I have something for you.” He turns me around and draws a necklace around my throat. I close my eyes in response to his fingers on my neck as he fastens it. He clutches my shoulders and walks me to the mirror. The necklace looks like a silver vine with little blue flowers growing along it.
“Forget me nots?” I run my fingers over the cool metal.
A smile spreads across his face in the mirror as he nods. My gaze drops as a blush rises into my cheeks.
He spins me toward him. “Now, my record is only one-third awful gifts instead of half.” His mouth presses onto mine again, sending my pulse racing.
He steps back and takes my hand. “We have to go. Everybody is here.”
“And?”
“And beauty like this shouldn’t be hidden away.”
“It can be just for you.”
His golden eyes drink me in. I hold his gaze—nervous energy buzzing over my entire body. He kisses me with a hunger that burns me up inside. I weave my fingers into his hair and walk backward, pulling him until we fall onto my bed. When he pulls back from me, I look up at him, and the world ceases to exist. I don’t care what happens to my hair or dress, I don’t care that our friends are in my living room, I scarcely care about the uprising. All I want is Jase.
“You’re trouble,” he sighs.
“Not sorry.” I kiss him again. His touch has started a spark in me that threatens to engulf me in flames.
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