Pawn

by Aimee Carter

  “Didn’t tell me what?” I said, looking at Knox over Lila’s shoulder. He focused on the carpet, not meeting my eye. “Knox?”

  “Celia thought it best if we kept you in the dark as much as possible,” he said. “We didn’t know you, and this isn’t something you shout from the rooftops.”

  Lila snorted and rubbed her cheeks with her sleeves. “What he’s trying to tell you is that my mother is the head of the Blackcoats, and he’s her first lieutenant.”

  Silence filled the room, and I stood there dumbly, my mind racing. It made sense, didn’t it? With how much Celia hated her family, what they’d done to her, her attempt to kill Daxton—I didn’t know enough about the Blackcoats to decide if I’d been an idiot for missing it or not, but with the way Lila stared at me, I felt like one.

  This went way beyond sibling rivalry between Celia and Daxton.

  I took a deep breath, trying to make sense of the knot of words on the tip of my tongue. “So those bombings—all those people dying—”

  “I didn’t mean it, okay?” said Lila, her eyes overflowing again. “My mother never goes into the bunkers, so Knox decided he could hide me in one close by. He told the other lieutenants to keep their mouths shut, and I didn’t know that this would happen.” She sniffed and looked at Knox. “Mother won’t be happy when she finds out you hid me, you know.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you really have to tell her, Lila? Everyone has enough to worry about already. I’d rather not have to worry about Celia killing me, as well.”

  “You make sure I get to crawl back under my rock, and you won’t have to worry about it.”

  “He already promised he’d help you,” I said. “You don’t need to blackmail him into it.”

  She smiled ruefully. “Haven’t you heard? It’s our family’s way of saying ‘I love you.’”

  “Lila,” said Knox sharply, and she gave him a withering look. He turned back to me. “Kitty, I’m sorry we didn’t tell you, but—”

  “You lied to me,” I said. “You told me you had nothing to do with this before Lila died.”

  “You did?” said Lila, eyebrow raised.

  Knox opened and shut his mouth. “I—”

  Without warning, the door burst open, and Augusta marched into the suite. I paled. Had she been listening?

  If she had, her expression didn’t show it. Instead she clasped her hands together and looked down her nose at the three of us. “Good, you’re all up. Get dressed. We’ve received word from Celia, and we’re making the trade at dawn.”

  Lila swore under her breath and stormed back into the bedroom. I stood motionless, and Augusta raised one perfectly arched eyebrow.

  “You, too, Kitty.”

  My insides clenched uncomfortably. “I thought you were trading Lila for Greyson,” I said, my throat like sandpaper.

  “We are.”

  “Then I’m not going,” I said. “You have Lila. You don’t need me.”

  Augusta took a step toward me, and with monumental effort, I stood my ground. “I thought you might be difficult, which is why I have another deal for you. You can take it or leave it, but know that I do not bluff.”

  “What, going to offer me my freedom if I do this one last thing for you? I know what freedom means, and I’m not interested in being sent Elsewhere.”

  “What about your dear friend?” said Augusta. “Benjy, is it?”

  My blood turned to ice. “You can’t.”

  “I already have. Benjy has been taken to a secure location, and he will be released following the exchange. Whether he continues to work for Lennox or is sent Elsewhere all depends on your willingness to participate.”

  Cold rage spilled through me, spreading from the tips of my fingers to my toes until I was numb with fury. I’d let them get away with destroying my life and stripping me of my identity, but if Augusta sent Benjy Elsewhere—

  No. It wasn’t going to happen. Even if it meant stepping in front of whatever bullet was coming my way and smiling when it hit me, if it gave Benjy the life he deserved, I would do it.

  “Do we have an accord?” said Augusta, and I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. “Very good. Now do as I say and meet us downstairs in five minutes. Knox, I trust you will see they make it on time.”

  “Of course,” he said, and with that Augusta left. As soon as the door closed behind her, Knox touched my arm. “Whatever this is, Kitty, I won’t let anything happen to him.”

  I shrugged his hand off and walked away. “You already have.”

  * * *

  Knox wasn’t allowed to come with us. The helicopter waiting behind the mansion only seated five passengers: Augusta, Lila, me, and two guards. As we lifted off the ground, I pressed my forehead against the window and watched Knox grow smaller as he raised his hand in a silent goodbye.

  I didn’t return it. It wasn’t his fault that Benjy was in danger, but he was the one who’d come up with this stupid plan in the first place, and if anything happened to Benjy, I would never forgive him.

  The helicopter soared over the city, and I stared down at the unfamiliar buildings. From the street I was sure I would have recognized them, but from the sky, they looked foreign. For a moment I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what my life would have been like if I’d gotten a IV. I wouldn’t have stolen that orange or had to leave the city and Benjy behind; I would never have followed Tabs to the brothel; and Daxton would never have gotten his slimy hands on me. If only I’d done better on the test, my life would have been unrecognizable, and Benjy would have been safe as a VI in a government building somewhere far away from Augusta.

  I spent most of the trip trying to figure out what she was planning. Five passengers meant one of us wouldn’t be returning, and somehow I didn’t think it would be a guard. Maybe she intended to keep her bargain with Celia, and I would be the one sitting next to Greyson on the way back. Or maybe she was going to kill me and blame it on Celia so Lila would be on the flight home. I bit my lip and pictured a reporter talking about the heroic death of Lila’s body double, protecting her from harm. Maybe they would make up an elaborate story about how I’d jumped in front of Celia’s bullet. Maybe I would even get a funeral.

  The helicopter touched down in a clearing surrounded by mountains. The sky was the kind of gray that announced the approaching dawn, and this high up, there was already a swirl of snow in the wind. I drew my coat tighter around my body, but it didn’t help keep out the biting cold.

  “You’re sure this is it?” said Lila as we stood together beside the helicopter. It blocked out the wind from one side, but it was still freezing. I shivered and slipped my hands inside my sleeves, but when I glanced at Lila, the cold didn’t seem to bother her.

  “Yes, I am sure,” said Augusta, checking her watch. “It is not quite dawn. Give them a moment.”

  I searched for any sign of Celia or Greyson, but I only saw bare trees and frozen ground. “How could they survive out here?” I said, trying to keep my teeth from chattering.

  “The family has a cabin a few miles from here,” said Lila. “There are hiking trails all along the mountain. I don’t get why you didn’t send guards to flush them out, Grandmother.”

  “Because I don’t trust your mother not to kill Greyson,” said Augusta. “Now hush.”

  My feet grew numb while we waited, and I had to stamp them against the ground to get the blood flowing again. It smelled like winter up here, crisp and cold and dry, and I breathed deeply in an effort to keep myself from panicking.

  At last, when we’d waited so long I thought my fingers would fall off, one of the guards pointed to something in the distance. “There,” he said. “I see them.”

  Augusta motioned toward us. “Girls, on either side of me.”

  I moved next to her, and this time the numbness t
hat washed over me had nothing to do with the cold. I squinted at the tree line, and finally I saw them: two figures arm in arm trudging over the hard ground, one with dark hair and the other with a knit cap. Celia and Greyson.

  “Hello, Mother,” called Celia. She and Greyson stopped twenty feet away from us, both wearing thick winter coats, scarves, and gloves. At least Celia hadn’t made him freeze to death getting here. A gun holster hung at Celia’s hip. “I see you brought both of them.”

  “So I did,” said Augusta frigidly. “And now you have a choice, my darling. You get to pick the one you keep. Isn’t that exciting?”

  Celia’s expression hardened. “I want my daughter.”

  “I know that, dear,” said Augusta. “But which one is she?”

  I frowned. The only differences between us were so minor that there was no possible way Celia could see them from a distance. I couldn’t even see them when Lila and I were both looking into the same mirror.

  The solution was simple. I glanced at Lila, hoping she would tell Celia the truth, but she was strangely silent. I opened my mouth to do it for her, but before I could make a sound, Augusta cut me off.

  “Choose wisely,” she said, her voice echoing as it carried through the clearing. “Because whichever one you leave behind will die.”

  XVIII

  Password

  My confession that I wasn’t Lila died on my lips.

  The moment Augusta announced one of us wouldn’t be leaving the clearing alive, I understood why Lila had chosen to run rather than risk death. No matter how much I’d prepared myself for dying at the hands of this twisted family, the thought of it happening now made the world spin and the edge of my vision go dark.

  With Augusta between us, I couldn’t see Lila’s reaction, but I did feel Augusta’s hand wrap tightly around my shoulder.

  “Not a word, girls,” she said. “Else I promise you both a slow and painful death.”

  Engulfed in mind-numbing fear, I could barely breathe, but that was nothing compared to the look on Celia’s face. Her mouth hung open, and she looked between us wildly.

  “Grandmother, you can’t do this,” called Greyson. “Celia will let me go, and there’s no reason for anyone to die. Think about what you’re doing. She’s your daughter.”

  “Celia is no longer any daughter of mine,” said Augusta, her voice rising. “She tried to kill my son, and she kidnapped my grandson.”

  “Only because she thought you’d killed her entire family,” shouted Greyson. “If you do this, Grandmother, you won’t just lose her. You’ll lose me, too.”

  Her grip tightened on my shoulder, and I winced. If I survived this, I’d have a nasty bruise. “You don’t understand now, but you will in time,” she said. “Now, Celia—you have ten seconds to make your choice, or I will make it for you.”

  The guards drew their weapons. When the one beside me pressed the barrel of his gun against my neck, all I could think of was Benjy and how he’d stormed off before we’d had the chance to say goodbye. Would he hate himself for it, or would he eventually forgive himself? Would my death save his life? Or would he be sent Elsewhere so Augusta wouldn’t have to worry about him, either?

  “Five,” said Augusta. “Four. Three. Two—”

  “The one on the left,” cried Celia.

  The crack of a gun echoed off the mountainsides around us, and I instinctively ducked, covering my ears with my trembling hands.

  I was still standing.

  My eyes flew open, and Augusta smiled cruelly down at me. She set her hand on the back of my neck and traced the three ridges underneath my VII. “Go, Lila,” she said. “Go to your mother.”

  On the other side of her, crumpled in a heap, was Lila. My stomach twisted violently, and it took everything I had to put one foot in front of the other. But as I walked away, I noticed a tiny blue plume sticking out of her neck, and her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths.

  She was still alive. Would that have been me if Celia had chosen Lila? Had Augusta known which of us was which?

  As I crossed the clearing, Greyson knelt on the snowy ground and gathered up Celia, who had collapsed. She’d kidnapped him and threatened to kill him, and he was hugging her.

  “Greyson,” said Augusta sharply. “Come.”

  The look he gave her could have melted steel. He helped Celia to her feet, and without wasting any time, she reached for me. As she wrapped her arms around me, I looked at Greyson, and he touched the middle of his chest—right in the place where the silver necklace rested against mine.

  As the guard led him away, I gave him a small smile, and he returned it. Even if I never saw him again, at least he was safe.

  Celia held me so tightly that she nearly broke my ribs. “Lila?” she whispered.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “But she’s still alive. It was some kind of dart—”

  Celia swore and pushed me away as if I’d burned her. She stumbled forward and desperately searched the group across the clearing, where Augusta ushered Greyson into the helicopter, but Lila was already gone.

  “Come on,” said Celia, grabbing my wrist. “We have to get out of here.”

  I didn’t question her. Just as the roar of the helicopter started again, another gunshot echoed off the side of the mountain, and a clump of dirt exploded in front of me. I ducked.

  “What—”

  “What do you think?” she growled.

  I kept my head down as Celia pulled me into the forest. The earth around us took bullet after bullet, and I ran blindly, my lungs burning. Even after we reached the trees, we kept going.

  Celia led me down a winding trail, and we didn’t stop until we reached a vehicle parked on the edge of another clearing. Without saying a word, Celia opened the door and pushed me inside, slamming it shut behind me.

  She jumped into the driver’s seat and ran her thumb over a sensor. The engine purred to life, and she stomped on the accelerator. “You’re sure she’s still alive?” she said, steering the car expertly around curves I didn’t see coming.

  “I saw her breathing,” I said as I wrestled with my seat belt. “I don’t think Augusta knew who was who until after you chose.”

  Celia breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

  Once I managed to slide the buckle together, I squeezed my eyes shut and willed my stomach to settle. The twisting path did nothing to help. The heat was on full blast, and soon a trickle of sweat ran down my forehead. My heart raced from the adrenaline rush, and I knew taking off my jacket wouldn’t cool me off much. Besides, I’d have to put it back on later, and if we really were being chased, it would waste precious seconds.

  “Why did you kidnap Greyson?” I said as she sped down the side of the mountain. “You must have known this kind of thing was going to happen.”

  “How could I?” she said. “I had no idea she was still alive. It’s really Lila? How did you find her?”

  “It’s her,” I said, and I launched into everything that had happened since she’d taken Greyson. She demanded details, especially about where Lila had been hiding. I made a point not to mention Knox’s role.

  “Christ.” She turned the wheel sharply again, and the car emerged from the trees onto an open road. Celia sped up, and the forest became a blur. “None of them told me. She was with them the whole time, and not a single one of them said a word.”

  “They love her. You said so yourself.”

  “I can’t believe she let me think she was dead.” Celia shook her head in disbelief. “Where did I go wrong?”

  It wasn’t my place to tell her, so I didn’t answer. Instead I stared out the window and kept my eyes peeled for any signs of a helicopter in the morning sky.

  Suddenly a great boom rattled the car, and I twisted around to look out the back window. Several miles aw
ay, a cloud of black smoke rose into the clouds, and orange flames flickered up from the trees.

  “What was that?” I said, panicked, but Celia was silent. Her grip on the wheel tightened, and when it became obvious she wasn’t going to answer me, I added, “Where are we going?”

  “To the city,” she said. “I’m getting my daughter back.”

  * * *

  By the time we passed through the outskirts of D.C., it was nearly noon. I tried to nap, but I couldn’t find a comfortable position, and I was too worried about Benjy to fall asleep anyway. I’d fulfilled my side of the bargain, but I knew better than to think Augusta would do the same.

  We ditched the car a few miles from Somerset and started out on foot. Avoiding the crowded main roads, we took back streets and alleyways, which muted the buzz of the city. The sky rumbled above us, threatening a storm, and on the side of a building I noticed a screen with a picture of Celia’s face on it. Words scrolled underneath it, but I had no idea what they said.

  “Celia,” I said, pointing to the picture. The blood drained from her face. “What is it?”

  She stared wordlessly at the screen for a good half a minute. When she spoke, her voice was rough. “They’re saying—they’re saying I’m dead. And that Lila and Greyson are safe, but in the middle of the rescue attempt, you—Lila’s double—valiantly gave your life to protect her.” Celia swore. “I can’t believe she’d do this to me.”

  I could. It was exactly like I’d predicted, except the part where Celia had died, too. “It’s not a bad thing.” Before she could snap at me, I added, “If everyone thinks you’re dead, you’ll have an easier time of disappearing.”

  “I’ve never had a problem before,” she muttered, and we continued forward in silence.

  I didn’t recognize where we were until we reached the metal door. Now that I knew it was the Blackcoats’ bunker, a shiver ran down my spine as we stepped into the dark hallway.

  “Why are we here?” I said.

  “Because we need weapons,” said Celia. “Now stop asking questions.”