“I’m also really happy that you’re the one taking me to the Community Garden,” I say. “Are you still planning on staying for a few days?”
“Yes. I mean, if that’s all right with you. And I don’t have to stay in your cabin if you don’t want. I can stay in the hotel.”
“I would love for you to stay in our house, but that decision really is up to Dad. I should warn you…he’s not too keen on politicians.”
He grins. Laughs a little. “I know, Ember. You made that quite obvious at The Tap when I first met you.”
When we first met. How strange. I feel like I know him quite well, but it was less than two weeks ago that we met. If he’s going to stay in the Garden for a few days, it’ll give me a chance to get to know him on a more personal level. I’ll get to see him, how he really is, unmonitored, without the constant worries of daily life hounding him.
Sirens blare in behind us.
My entire body tenses, my grip tightens on the car door, and I glance at the rearview mirror just in time to see two Defender jeeps dart down the street.
Straight toward us.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Oh. Oh no. Not again. I’m so close. So incredibly close to leaving Frankfort and all its unnecessary drama behind, and I suddenly wish that Forest would speed up, take us out of this cursed city once and for all before we’re stopped.
But, ever the law follower, he pulls the vehicle over. “I’m sure there’s a good explanation for this.” His jaw is tight.
Right.
True to my bad luck, the jeeps pull over, too. One behind our vehicle, and one in front.
“Stay calm,” Forest says. “In fact, don’t say a word. I’ve got this.”
A Defender walks with his gun in hand straight to Forest’s door. Forest rolls down his window. “What seems to be the problem?”
“We’ve orders to arrest Miss Carter.”
“Arrest?” Forest laughs mirthlessly. “She’s already been forgiven by Chief Whitcomb. Tell me, who gave you orders to arrest her?”
“Our orders come directly from Whitcomb.”
Directly from Whitcomb. Which means that no one can stand against it. Except…me. Because I have Alpha Blood. Leaning over Forest, I look the Defender in the eye and say, “Let us—”
“—Ember don’t—”
“—go.”
The Defender’s eyes flicker, and he steps back, blinks, nods.
Wow. That was easy. The thrill of power courses through my veins.
A shot rings out.
A gun shot. Loud and deafening. And my head is suddenly pounding and I’m living my escape from the prison all over again, and then I see it. I see the Defender I’d just compelled stumble. And fall onto the road.
My mind starts buzzing. My heart is pounding. What the shoddy inferno just happened?
Forest utters a curse. “I was afraid that would happen.”
“What? What just happened?”
“Titus is always one step ahead.” Two Defenders begin walking our way now, and Forest speaks quickly. “The Defenders were told that if one decides to let us go, the other will shoot him. No doubt, if you manipulate this one, another will shoot him and take his place, and so on until all six Defenders are killed.”
I grit my teeth. As much as I want to leave, it’s not worth a needless bloodbath just so I don’t have to face Titus again.
The Defenders part ways at the front of the vehicle, one coming to my door, the other to Forest’s.
“You will both step out of the vehicle,” Defender number two says.
Forest glances at me. “Ember—”
“It’s fine.” I grab the door handle and yank it open. “Let’s just get this over with.”
The Defender on my side of the vehicle grabs my arm as I step out of the car. “You will come with me, Miss Carter.”
My heart stops.
Because that voice is too incredibly familiar. And maybe I’m just imagining it. Maybe, like everyone else in Frankfort, I have officially lost my mind, but I look at my Defender just to be sure.
His uniform is buttoned up to his chin and his hat shadows his eyes. But he’s no taller than me. And he’s thin and wiry and that face. I would recognize it anywhere.
“L-leaf?”
It can’t be, though. He died. I saw him. I saw him get shot and fall on the stage and—oh. He didn’t die. They kept him alive. He’s alive. I can’t stop the flood of emotion filling my entire being, like a wave of hope has decided to consume me. Because Leaf is here. His brown hair is cropped short above his ears, and his hat and red uniform make him look a little stiffer than the Leaf I’m used to, but he’s here. Alive.
Without thinking, I lean in and embrace him. But something’s off. He doesn’t hug me back—he actually stiffens. He grips my arm and steps back. And he stares at me like he doesn’t even know me. Oh. He’s been brainwashed. Like every other Defender, he’s been manipulated into thinking a certain way.
“You…do remember me, right?” I ask.
He blinks. Smiles a stiff smile. “Of course I remember you. But you’re wanted by Chief Whitcomb.”
Chills spread out across my skin. “Do you have any idea why?”
“Of course not. I don’t question my chief.”
My heart sinks a little at his lemming way of thinking. At the fact that he’s not who he used to be.
His features remain expressionless. His eyes, once filled with laughter, are cold and…dead. He pulls an electroband out of his pocket.
“Leaf…You’ve gotta let me—”
“Ember.” Forest’s voice cuts me off and I look sharply at him. “Remember what happened to the last Defender.”
I look at Leaf, and realize I could persuade him into letting me go. But then he’ll be shot. Titus really is one step ahead.
“Chief’s orders are to arrest you,” Leaf says. And he takes my hand and straps the electroband around my wrist. And I need to know. I need to know just how far gone Leaf is.
“So, what about Jonah Walker? You hid him in your house once. H-how do you feel about him now?”
Leaf looks sharply at me, and now there’s an emotion in his eyes. Rage. Anger. Disgust. “Say that name again,” he says very quietly. “And I’ll put a bullet through your head myself.”
My lungs collapse. But I nod, my heart pounding, and follow him to the jeep. I want to tell Leaf everything. I want to tell him that Titus isn’t good and that he’s fighting for the wrong team. I want to tell him everything I learned in Frankfort about our blood, and I want to tell him to let me go and that I’ll rescue him. I’ll give him the antitoxin. But I’m afraid anything I say will only get him killed. So I keep my mouth shut. I fight back the tears of betrayal, because my best friend is arresting me. Because my best friend threatened to kill me.
And there’s everything wrong with that.
I glance back at Forest. He starts to follow, but the other Defender stops him.
“Don’t worry, Ember.” He shoves the Defender away. “I’ll go meet with Titus right now.” He leaps back into his vehicle and speeds off while Leaf shoves me into the backseat of the jeep. After closing the door behind me, he takes the front seat and the driver pulls down the street.
I can’t believe it. Leaf, my best friend is one of them now. No wonder they didn’t kill him or arrest him and send him to the Rebels Circle for treason.
Because Leaf, my best friend, is a Delta.
There’s no need to arrest someone who can just be brainwashed. They must only arrest Gama and Beta Bloods. Because their brains can’t be overwritten. But arresting a Delta would be a complete waste when you could just convince them to act a certain way, to think a certain way, to become a part of an army and defend a flawed country.
And I decide, this will be one more request to make of the chief. I’ll ask him to give Leaf the antitoxin and let him live in the Garden with us. That is, if Titus will listen. Why does he want me, anyway? I thought my records were cleared. I thou
ght he believed me when I told him I was good. And now he’s arresting me. And he’s turned my best friend against me.
He just made this whole manipulating the government thing personal.
A homicidal impulse wraps around my heart, its claws reaching up my throat until it’s hard to breathe. I hate Titus. I’ve hated him since the day I met him. I hate his brutality. His inhumanity. His games. I hate his need for control over everything and everyone.
Control over people like Leaf.
My nose gets congested, but I swallow the lump in my throat and glance at Leaf sitting in the front seat. I’ll get him back. I don’t know why the chief wants to see me. Or why he intends on torturing me by making Leaf bring me. But I’ll figure it out. And we’ll settle it like siblings. Then I’ll get Leaf back.
We arrive at the capitol building minutes later. Strange that I was here just two days ago to find out I’m the chief’s sister. What sort of unswallowable info am I going to learn now?
Leaf shows the guards his badge at the door, and I can’t help but feel just a little bitter.
“You already earned your badge, huh?” I ask, not making any effort to hide the mockery from my voice. He glares at me, but I shrug. “I just thought it took longer, but you must have really pleased the chief.”
He shakes his head and leads me inside, up the marble stairs, and toward the chief’s office.
This is when the fear begins to take a hold of me. Because Titus is emotional and unpredictable and all-powerful. My heart pounds harder and harder the closer we get to his office, until we reach the double doorway. I feel something sticky on my thumb, and look down to see that I’d picked right through my cuticles because of my nerves, and now blood smears across my finger.
The doors to Titus’s office open and Leaf leads me in.
My fists clench at my sides as we approach Titus, who sits smugly at his marble desk. I know Rain and Forest told me to at least pretend like I like Titus. But I can’t. I’ve never held any fond feelings for the chief, and after seeing how the Patricians live, I like him even less. And with this brainwashed version of Leaf standing beside me, it’s proving harder than ever to plaster a fake smile on my face for the person I’ve come to hate.
“Ah, sister,” he says, a brilliant smile on his face. “How nice to see you again.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
I try to smile as I stop in the center of the room beside Leaf. “Nice to see you too, brother.”
His jaw hardens. He rises from his desk and walks toward me, a bowl of grapes in hand. “Hungry?” He holds the bowl out.
I shake my head. “No. Not really.”
“No? Not even for one grape? They’re awfully delicious. The best around Ky. I believe you know who manages the vineyard, yes?”
Yes, I almost say. Ilene and Charlie Jackson. They’re one of the few people I got to say goodbye to before everything went to hell. Charlie was just barely able to walk. He was old and wiry and knobby and sometimes I would go over and help them harvest their grapes. But I keep my mouth glued shut.
“I had the Jacksons work extra hard during harvesting season,” Titus says, inspecting the grape between his fingers. “So we could have fresh grapes through the winter. And wine, of course.”
My stomach tightens into a cold, hard knot.
“They worked so hard, in fact.” Titus looks at me, frowning. “That I’m afraid a one of them might have died off. The man. What’s his name?”
My mouth drops open and a shocked breath escapes me. I just saw him less than two weeks ago. He seemed fine. I cover my mouth because I think I’m going to throw up.
“Ah, doesn’t matter,” Titus says, waving his hand in the air. “It wasn’t too bad a loss. He was getting old and slow. I just had a couple newly careered Prots replace him and his wife.”
“His—his wife?”
“Well, she was pretty slow too. And was going to be useless without her husband around. I had her killed off and buried.”
Grief then rage is flooding my blood stream, and I’m a train wreck just waiting to happen and the train is coming—it’s coming at 200 mph and I shut my eyes tight and the train crashes into the front of my brain and it’s smoke and fire and flying debris and loud thunder, but I take a deep breath.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Replenish bad air for good. Open my eyes. And despite the explosives still going off in my head, I force all emotion out of my eyes, bite back my tears.
“So,” Titus says, grinning and clearly amused. “Do you want one?”
And my eyes are burning and I my heart is pounding and I want to punch him. I want to slap that stupid smile off his face and shove all those grapes down his throat at once until he chokes.
Instead I take another shaky breath. Slowly let it out. “What do you, um, what do you want with me, Titus?”
“I want you to eat a grape. Just one. Just one little grape to show your appreciation to Charlie, to show that his hard work didn’t go unnoticed.”
And now I can’t contain it anymore. I can’t hide it. “I’ll die before I accept anything from you.”
He grins. “Ah. There she is. The rebel.”
“I’m-I’m not a rebel. Just because I have some measure of humanity does not make me a rebel!”
“I’m not talking about your pathetic humanity, my dear sister. I’m talking about this.” And he pulls a small slip of paper from his pocket and unfolds it and holds it up for me to see.
It has a drawing of an apple in flames.
It’s the paper Leaf gave me on Career Day. I automatically look at Leaf to see his reaction, but he stares emotionlessly ahead. I look at Titus. “Where did you get that?”
He laughs a little, stuffs the paper back into his pocket. “Rain claimed he found it in your cell.”
Rain? Rain. Rain betrayed me. Makes sense, I guess. He rescued me from prison so I could help him assassinate Titus, and when I refused, he saw no use for me. What a heartless jackal.
Well. Two can play this game. “Rain wants to assassinate you.”
His eyes widen a fraction.
“He just told me last night. He wants to assassinate you and make me leader.”
Titus bursts out laughing. He laughs and laughs and laughs and says, “Seriously? You expect me to believe you? Tell me why, exactly, he would claim he wants you as his leader, and then turns you in? I’m sorry, but spouting out drastic accusations is a poor form of defense.”
“Rain doesn’t like you.”
“Rain Turner doesn’t like anybody but himself. It’s what I admire about him. He’s self-centered and looks out for number one. He’s a sloppy, miserable, self-absorbed drunk whose one goal in life is to one-up his brother.”
I almost laugh because that’s not at all who Rain is. And he has everyone fooled. He seriously plays his role so well, he even has the chief tricked into overlooking his cleverness.
“Listen, Titus,” I say. “I’m not a part of the Resurgence. Can’t you understand that? Why can't you understand that? Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
“Hm.” He taps his chin and stares at the floor in mock thought. “Let’s see. Perhaps because you attacked a Defender,” he says, counting on his fingers. “You hid Walker and his gang in your room.” Two fingers. “You were at the site of the explosion caused by the Resurgence.” Three fingers. “And, oh. You’ve kept your true identity from me for sixteen years.”
“I had no idea we were related—”
“I didn’t believe you the first time you told me, and I don’t believe you now. So, tell me.” He perches at the edge of his desk, sets the bowl of grapes down, and crosses his arms. “When you spoke to Jonah Walker, did he offer you payment for your help? Did he even offer to take you out of Frankfort with him? Or did he just use you, then abandon you to the fate of crime?”
I press my lips firmly together, because Jonah did offer me sanctuary, and I refused. But I have a feeling telling Titus that will only fuel
his belief that I’m with the Resurgence. There’s nothing I can say that will change his mind about me. So I straighten. Try to turn this back around on Titus. “Forest said you were good at playing mind games.”
This gets his attention. His eyes spark with something…reminiscence? Regret? But he covers it quickly with a polite, Patrician smile as he pops another grape into his mouth. The grapes that Charlie picked with his last few breaths of life. My stomach twists.
“Forest,” Titus says, chewing his grape. “He’s had quite the thing for you since he found out you were my sister. Hungry for power, that one.”
“I thought—I thought you two were friends?”
“He criticizes my character by saying I’m good at playing mind games, and you think we’re friends?”
Well, shoot. I shouldn’t have brought Forest into this. “He didn’t speak lowly of you,” I say carefully. “He actually spoke highly of you. He just said you were…dangerous.”
“Ah. Well, you should have listened to him and not invited rebels to come into your room. I honestly don’t know why he insisted on having anything to do with you. He knew of my dislike toward you from the very beginning, yet he still insisted on helping you. He wanted to help you out of prison. He wanted to help you adjust to Frankfort life. He wanted to help you go home. He’s the exact opposite of Rain. He’s always looking out for others, and mark my word, that will be his downfall.” He looks at me. “In fact, I think it already is.”
“Leave Forest out of this.”
He smiles a little. “I’ll speak to Forest myself to judge his true character. As for you, you can say your goodbyes to the world. I already have your execution scheduled first thing in the morning.”
Wait—what? “But I haven’t been proven guilty!”
“You’ve proven yourself guilty several times. The only reason I let you get by with it was because I was hoping you’d slip up, reveal a secret of the Resurgence. But you’re pretty ignorant and useless, and I think I’m finished with you.” He straightens and begins walking around to the other side of his desk.
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