by K. K. Perez
“Don’t hold your breath,” she said, but she tucked the scrap of paper under the elastic band of her leggings.
Lucy couldn’t think about Rick’s proposal right now. She couldn’t think about the floppy disk that had been hidden in a safe that could only be opened with her blood. All that mattered was getting Claudia home safe.
HIGH LIFE
Her gaze lifted to the winding steel structure. Lamplight glinted off the elevated railroad, tangerine and pearl.
“Try to act natural,” Amara cautioned as they ascended a steep set of stairs from the street level to the linear park that slinked along the West Side.
Lucy barely contained a snarl. “Like your dad didn’t take my best friend against her will?”
Amara smiled. “Precisement.”
Lucy snorted, tightening her hands into fists. Meifen shadowed her more closely. Despite Rick’s offer of protection, she couldn’t forget he would do anything to achieve his goals. If he believed Lucy would ever voluntarily contact him, he was more deluded than she’d originally suspected.
As they reached the upper deck of the High Line, low beams of light traveled the length of the abandoned railway tracks, bringing tall grass into sharp relief. The pinpricks fluctuated as Lucy walked past. The closer she got to Claudia, the more Lucy feared she would slip through her fingers and the more violent her oscillations became.
The tourmaline in her shoe was no counterbalance for Lucy’s outsized emotions.
Wildflowers sprouted between the tracks in a riot of muted colors, and Lucy counted each steel bar, stealing shallow slivers of air. If she wasn’t careful, her feet might get stuck. There was altogether too much metal around.
Why had the Freelancers chosen this place for the exchange?
As if reading Lucy’s mind, Amara said, “This railway was constructed in the time of Tesla. There is a certain symmetry. Rick loves to be poetic.” Meifen laughed. Amara watched Lucy, gauging her reaction. “Did you know there were so many freight train accidents that this became known as Death Avenue?”
Lucy worked hard to blanket her face in a detached expression.
“Thanks for the history lesson.”
Amara shrugged. “You know what they say. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.”
“I’ve had enough veiled threats for one night, thanks.”
“It’s not a threat. It’s a warning.”
Lucy threw her head back, and shifted her gaze to the dark waters of the Hudson River. Couples leaned against the railing together, flirting, kissing, taking in the vista of New Jersey now cloaked in velvety black. Amber city light spilled onto the flowing river. As her eyes focused on the obscured horizon, a voice crackled in Lucy’s ears, her nerves interfering with the signal.
“We’re here, Lucy. Hold tight.”
We? Who had Ravi brought with him?
Surreptitiously, she scoured the faces of everyone they passed, scanning the Manhattanites lazing on wooden chaise longues, not that she would recognize any of Ravi’s friends or comrades or whatever. Oh no. Her heart kicked. Lucy wouldn’t recognize the members of Ravi’s rescue party—but the Freelancers might.
Lucy’s eyes landed on the one face she wanted to see more than anything else.
Clauds. The crowd had thickened around her friend, swaying to the alt-rock from a band located at the bottom of a terraced row of steps. It reminded Lucy of an ancient amphitheater.
Claudia was on her own, and she seemed unsteady on her feet. Most likely the effect of the sedative. Lucy’s anger surged. Where was Jess?
Amara flattened an arm across Lucy’s collarbone, holding her back, and eyed her sidelong. “Natural, remember?”
“Oh, I remember.” She showed her teeth. “Has your dad told you what I can do?” A satisfying moment’s hesitation tightened the other woman’s face and Lucy waded purposefully into the crowd.
Her armed escorts followed at a small distance, fanning out farther into the throng, no doubt keeping watch.
“Claudia!” Lucy called over the din. Her friend’s head jerked in Lucy’s direction but she couldn’t spot her. Lucy picked up her pace.
A line of people snaked away from the green-and-white umbrella of a beverage cart into a blue-washed tunnel. Lucy spied Jess among them. Her eyes were trained on Claudia, face wan. No hint of triumph in her stance. Maybe she really did love Claudia. It didn’t excuse her actions tonight. No matter what she believed the Archimedeans had done to her brother.
The nearer Lucy drew to where her friend was standing, the more overpowering the music became. It became impossible to hear Ravi over the baying of the electric guitar. She kept her gaze focused on Claudia’s headband, a slash of teal against strawberry locks.
“Claudia!” she tried again. Her anxiety spiked. She shoved a few drunken music lovers from her path. They jolted back, cursing, as if they’d received a shock. Which they had. Lucy was losing control, but she didn’t slow down. She couldn’t.
“Clauds,” Lucy gasped as she threw her arms around her. “Are you okay?” Frantically, she patted down her friend’s hair, stroked her cheeks. Claudia’s eyes remained slightly dilated.
She rubbed them, shaking her head. “Luce?” Another rub. “I’m so confused.” Her friend’s voice cracked, parched. “What are you doing here? What am I doing here?”
Lucy squeezed Claudia into another hug.
Help.
The word rocked Lucy’s world. Her fingernails bit half-moons into Claudia’s bare arms. Like a still from an old-fashioned film reel, the room where Claudia had been held popped into Lucy’s mind—from her friend’s perspective. Help, Claudia had whispered it to the universe.
Help. Lucy plucked it from her frequency, replaying on a feedback loop.
Angry prickles rushed along her skin, her power demanding release. She should have done a better job at protecting her best friend. Lucy couldn’t blame Ravi; all of this had been her fault.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered in Claudia’s ear.
“Why are you sorry? And where’s Jess?” her friend asked, tongue still sluggish. “She was just here.”
Lucy pulled back to look Claudia in the eye. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“I…” She scrunched up her nose. “Prom. The lights blew. I don’t know, it’s all disjointed. Like a dream.” Her eyes were gradually becoming less dilated. “Then I was here,” she continued. “With Jess. She said to wait here.” She frowned. “How much did I have to drink?”
Lucy was grateful Claudia didn’t remember what she’d seen in her mind. She also couldn’t believe Ravi had been right about the whole telepathy thing.
“Clauds,” she began, voice heavy. “Jess isn’t coming back.”
“What are you talking about? Of course she is.”
“I’ll explain later, I promise. But we need to leave. Now.”
Claudia planted her feet, regaining some focus, seeming more herself. “Not until you tell me why we’re in Manhattan and where Jess is.” She folded her arms, wearing the same expression as the moment before she’d decked Tony Morelli all those years ago. “And what happened to your dress?” Oh yeah, Claudia was back.
“Did someone call for a ride?”
Ravi appeared from nowhere, interrupting the best-friend showdown. He placed a warm hand on Lucy’s shoulder. His question came out serious but, as she angled her gaze at him, she spied a quarter grin. A grin of relief.
“What is he doing here?” Claudia said, swinging her eyes between them. “You better start explaining what on earth is going on, Luce.”
Ravi gave a deliberate shake of the head. He didn’t want Lucy to reveal herself. But lying is what had gotten them here.
Claudia tapped her foot. “I’m waiting.”
Jess emerged from the crush of people before Lucy had decided what to do.
“So am I,” said the other girl.
Down below, the drummer decided to barrel into a relentless solo. Hoots and hollers r
ose from the audience scattered along the terraces.
“Jess?” Claudia said, her voice hitching up. “Where’d you go?” She took a step toward the person she still thought was her girlfriend, and Lucy blocked her path. “Luce, what are you doing?”
“Trust me,” she told her best friend, but for the first time ever, Lucy wasn’t sure if Claudia did.
“I’m sorry, Clauds,” Jess told her. “I never meant for you to get caught up in this.” Her eyes roamed Claudia’s face, a deep crease cutting the bridge of her nose.
“Caught up in what? I don’t understand.”
Jess nailed Lucy with a hard glare instead of answering. “You were supposed to come alone. Throwing your lot in with the Archimedeans was the wrong call. You broke our agreement.”
Lucy stepped out farther in front of Claudia. “Rick and I completed the mission. There’s nothing for you here.”
“What mission?” Claudia demanded from behind her.
No one answered. The beat of the music pulsed through Lucy as if the drumsticks were pounding the inside of her skull.
“Unlike the Orders,” Jess said, slashing Ravi with a glare. “Rick doesn’t own me.”
Ravi scoffed. Jess pulled something from her waistband.
Claudia gasped as light gleamed off steel. Lucy’s pulse skyrocketed. The streetlamp directly overhead began to flicker.
“I want answers,” Jess said, and pointed the gun at Ravi.
“Jess!” Claudia exclaimed. “Why do you have a gun?” Thunderous applause all but swallowed the question.
Her friend rushed forward and, again, Lucy blocked her. She felt the hammering of Claudia’s heart as if it were her own, her friend’s energy a blaze of panic and confusion.
Lucy’s eyes combed the mass of vibrating bodies for Amara and Meifen. A public confrontation wasn’t part of Rick’s carefully laid plans. What would they do?
Ravi walked toward Jess, brows drawn, unafraid.
“Put the gun down and we can talk,” he said.
“Do what he says,” Claudia pleaded, voice quavering. Jess regarded her with sheer misery.
“I can’t, Clauds.” To Ravi, she said, “I put the gun down, I’m as good as dead. I know how this works.”
“What does she mean?” Claudia whispered, grabbing Lucy’s arm.
Lucy had no idea, but, “Ravi isn’t the one in the kidnapping or murder business!” she yelled at Jess.
Jess ignored her. “Tell the Initiates to show themselves,” she said.
Initiates?
Ravi looked toward the sky. “Chaps?”
A cherry-red dot instantaneously appeared on Jess’s forehead.
Snipers? Snipers! Ravi had brought sharpshooters! What the frak?
Jess caught Lucy’s eye. “That’s right. I told you, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
Lucy swallowed, not wanting to admit she might be right. When Ravi had told Lucy he could take care of himself, she’d imagined some martial-arts moves for self-defense, not … this. Why did scientists need their own special-ops unit?
Still, the Archimedeans wouldn’t shoot a twenty-year-old girl in cold blood. In a public place. This had to be a bluff.
Returning her focus to Ravi, Jess said, “I want to know the truth about what happened to Jeremy. Tell me why the Initiates killed my twin—what he found—and I won’t shoot you before they shoot me. Make me believe it.”
Ravi stood a foot in front of Lucy, back turned, so she couldn’t see his face. And yet, from the way he flinched, she knew there was at least a shred of truth to Jess’s accusation.
He dropped a hand to his waist. Ravi must be armed, but he didn’t draw his weapon.
“The Sophists killed Jeremy like they killed my parents,” he said in a level tone.
“The Order of Sophia make a rather convenient bogeyman,” Jess retorted. “Tell me something more original.”
“Well, they tried to take my head off tonight,” Lucy snapped. “They’re capable of anything.”
“They did?” Claudia gulped. Fear surged through Lucy—Claudia’s fear. Fear for Lucy. Lucy was no longer convinced she deserved it.
Another red dot appeared on Jess’s shoulder.
“You’re surrounded,” Ravi said.
“So are you.”
Lucy followed Jess’s eye line. Meifen and Amara had circled closer. Other long-limbed, black-clad men were also closing in. Friend, or foe? And what did that even mean anymore?
Meifen reached Jess first, coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with her while Amara hung back.
“These odds don’t seem fair to me,” Meifen told Ravi, face blank. Lucy had no doubt she would carry out Rick’s orders—whatever they were. Her stomach triple-knotted itself.
The nearby speakers went on the fritz. Frak. Lucy did not need a repeat of prom right now. Had that only been earlier this evening?
Claudia used the distraction to dart out from behind Lucy and put herself directly in the line of fire. “Clauds!” Lucy shouted, but she was too late.
Her best friend stepped between Ravi and Jess, shielding him with her body.
No! What was she thinking?
Claudia held up her hands. “Jess, I don’t know what’s going on here. What you think happened. But I know this isn’t you.”
The gun trembled in Jess’s grip.
She took another step. “Please, Jess. I know you miss your brother. Just put the gun down. Nobody needs to get hurt.”
“Do something,” Lucy whispered, praying Ravi could still pick her up on the com.
“Claudia’s right,” he said in a collected tone.
“Jess, look at me,” Claudia said, voice stern, commanding her attention. “I love you, I love the way you put Sriracha sauce on pancakes. And the way you sing—badly—in the shower. And the way you kiss me awake. You’re not a killer. That’s not who you are.”
Lucy held her breath. Without a doubt, her best friend was the bravest person she’d ever met.
“I love you too,” Jess said. A tear sluiced through the glitter still sparkling on her cheeks. “But you never really knew me.”
“I want to, Jess. I want to,” Claudia pleaded. “You just have to let me in.”
More tears spilled down the other girl’s face. She shuddered a breath and, slowly, she began to lower her weapon.
Before Lucy could sigh in relief, the bulb overhead exploded, casting them half in shadow. It wasn’t Lucy’s doing, however. Someone had shot it out. The Initiates? A second later, someone shot at Jess’s feet.
“Never trust an Archimedean,” she spat at Ravi. Incandescent rage shone from her face. “Move, Clauds!” she shouted. Claudia stood frozen.
“Hold fire,” Ravi barked at the Initiates, wherever they were.
“You think you’re in charge, professor’s pet?” Jess laughed in a broken way and started raising her gun as Meifen drew her own.
From where the other Freelancer was standing, she had a clean shot at Ravi.
“Ravi!” Lucy gasped. Meifen didn’t get the chance.
A howl of pain rent her lips as blood spurted from her thigh. She cursed as she crashed to the wooden deck, dropping her gun and cradling her knee.
The Initiates had fired. They had fired first. Into a crowded public place.
They weren’t bluffing. At all.
The lights at floor level burst. Those were Lucy’s fault.
Ravi pulled his weapon. Jess held her ground and aimed.
Lucy heard another shot and Claudia let out a shriek. Blood welled from her friend’s upper arm. “No!” Lucy hollered, and dashed to Claudia’s side. Now both of them formed a wall between Ravi and Jess. “Ravi, call them off!”
Jess snarled a laugh. “Archimedeans don’t play that way. Do they?” She kept her gun raised.
“Nobody is playing here!” Lucy screamed as she tried to cover Claudia’s wound with her hands. Thankfully, it didn’t seem deep, only a flesh wound. A bullet must have grazed her. Blood neverth
eless streamed through her useless fingers.
“Oh God, Clauds,” Lucy moaned.
Claudia tensed her jaw, tears leaking from her eyes. She’d gone pale, stunned. Lucy squeezed her arm tighter and her friend yelped from an unintended shock. She let go, fighting her seesawing emotions.
“See, Lucy?” Jess seethed. “They’ll stop anyone who gets in their way.”
Calm, Lucy. Shield, Lucy. Calm, shield; calm, shield. Who was she kidding?
Amara darted to where Meifen was slumped. Crouching next to the other woman, she glowered up at Lucy. “My father has too much faith in you.”
“No one else has to get hurt,” Ravi said to Amara without inflection. “Drop your weapons and you can all walk away.”
Amara kicked Meifen’s gun down the tracks. Then her own.
She pressed a comforting hand to Meifen’s cheek. “T’inquiètes pas,” she murmured as she slung one arm around the other woman’s waist and dragged her to her feet. Meifen let out a hiss of pain.
Amara nodded at Jess. “Time to go.”
“They’ll never let us walk out of here.”
Ravi glanced from Jess to Amara. “You have my word.”
“Your word means nothing,” said Jess, scoffing, eyes filled with disgust.
“Go,” Ravi ordered. Lucy had never heard him sound so ferocious.
The Initiates fired another warning round just in front of the Freelancers’ feet. Lucy heard a few pings as some of the bullets ricocheted off the metal tracks and into the audience. Finally realizing they were in danger, their screams tore from the crowd. The deck began to rumble with a stampede.
Jess didn’t move a muscle.
Amara, on the other hand, used the chaos to disappear with Meifen. Jess had disobeyed Rick, derailed the plan for her own personal vendetta, and the other Freelancers evidently weren’t sticking around to get shot. Jess lifted her chin, holding her gun on the three of them. Lucy couldn’t let Claudia get caught in the crossfire either.
Working on pure instinct, she pushed her friend forcefully aside and lunged to where Jess stood opposite Ravi.
“Lucy, no!” he shouted as she barreled straight into the other girl, knocking her to the ground.