Renegade

by J. A. Souders

  “But the Guards saw you.”

  “Who will Mother believe? The Guards? Or her own daughter? Now come on!”

  “Fine, but this conversation isn’t over,” he says, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “So, we’re on the run now, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Great.” He grabs my arm and spins me around, and then pushes me back with his body so I bump into the wall. Before I can say anything he leans down so his mouth captures mine.

  At first I freeze, afraid of the punishment that’s surely coming. I start to struggle to get away from him, but then, as my mind fogs from his scent and taste, I melt in his arms. If not for his hands holding me steady at my hips, I would be a puddle on the ground. His lips are sweet and soft, but insistent. The kiss makes my head spin. As far as first kisses go, I can’t imagine a better one.

  Without warning, another memory slides in: a different dark corridor. A different pair of lips on mine. The scent of Gavin mingles with the memory of the other person’s and, for a moment, I’m confused. Terrified. Something bad is going to happen. Or maybe it already has.

  Before I can try to think, Gavin changes the angle of the kiss and his touch quickly overpowers the other memory, making me forget everything but him. For once I’m grateful for not being able to remember.

  Then, just when I make the conscious decision to take more, he’s pulling away, but only enough so our lips aren’t touching.

  “I would have been ready,” he whispers.

  I can only nod when he backs away. My head is still swimming as I hitch my backpack farther up on my back. I don’t have time to think about this. I blindly turn around and walk headlong into the wall.

  Whoa! I shake my head, trying to clear it.

  Gavin chuckles and turns me around so I face down the corridor. “I think we go this way,” he says.

  A little spurt of anger from the embarrassment of it all clears my head. “I’m fine.” I march in the direction of the Palace Wing. “If I take you back toward my gardens, can you remember the way to the door you came in from?”

  The smile slides off his face. He’s all business now. “Yes.”

  I try not to think about the kiss, but it doesn’t help that my mind keeps replaying the scene over and over in my head, distracting me. I touch my fingers to my lips. They feel tender and swollen. My lipstick is all gone and I slide my eyes to the side to sneak a peek at Gavin. His lips carry a tint of the red that had been on mine.

  My stomach flutters at the same time that I lift a foot to climb the slick stairs, and I slip. Before I can crash face-first into the stairs, Gavin grabs me around the waist. Then, in one move, I’m being spun around to face him and he’s only centimeters from me.

  His pulse flutters in his neck. I see what’s in his eyes and my body responds in kind. But before anything happens, he’s righting me so I stand, somewhat shakily, on my feet.

  “Oops.” His voice is light, despite his rapid breathing. “Don’t want you to get hurt before we figure out a way out of here.”

  Still staring at him, I nod before straightening my dress and turning to walk up the stairs. What is this? What’s wrong with me? I’m not entirely sure what Gavin was doing—or what game he’s playing at—but this time I’m careful to watch where I’m stepping.

  I stick carefully to the shadows. It’s of the upmost importance that no one sees Gavin. Sector Two is filled with people, and although he’s been allowed to wash, Gavin’s not as clean as the people of the city. It’s not a stretch to see he’s the Surface Dweller.

  I turn around to make sure he’s still with me, only to panic when I see he’s drifted away from the safety of the shadows and is instead staring at the glass ceiling and heading toward the glass walls.

  Glancing quickly to make sure no one’s seen him, I rush over to him and grab his arm and firmly but gently guide him back to the shadows.

  “Don’t do that! Pay attention,” I say. “Do you want to get caught?”

  He shakes his head and we start back to the Palace Wing, but it isn’t long before Gavin starts drifting off again. While amusing and kind of sweet, it’s annoying to have to keep pushing him forward whenever he pauses.

  Just before we reach the marble arch that frames the tube entrance to the Palace Wing, I pull Gavin into the shadows. A Guard waits at the gates and an Enforcer should be somewhere nearby. I rely on the hope that Mother hasn’t anticipated me rescuing him and hasn’t alerted anyone here to be on guard.

  “Just follow my lead, all right?” I say. “Don’t say anything, and look a little scared.”

  He places a hand on my arm. “Why?”

  I slide my arm out from under his. “We have to get by that Guard. If he senses something is wrong, he’ll alert Mother. I have a plan, but you have to trust me.”

  “I do,” he says, keeping his eyes directly on mine.

  I straighten my shoulders and saunter up to the Guard with my hips swinging. The Guard’s eyes darken and he smiles when I stop to talk to him.

  “Good evening. All is well?” I ask.

  “Fine, Miss Evelyn.” He glances over and narrows his eyes at Gavin. “Are you aware this man is the Surface Dweller?”

  I laugh. “Yes. Mother has chosen him to couple with me. Apparently he has perfect genes and will help foster the growth of the perfect heir.”

  The Guard’s eyes widen. “Him?”

  “Yes. Ridiculous, isn’t it? But Mother is quite insistent.” I sigh heavily. “Well, we’ve got to go, Mother has us on a schedule.”

  The Guard, still in shock, waves us on. Gavin stops in the middle of the tube and looks around, his eyes wide. “It’s gorgeous,” he says. “No wonder you don’t want to leave.”

  I smile, looking around as well. The lights outside are fully lit and make the water appear to be a beautiful sapphire blue. Different schools of fish swim around. Their colors stand out in beautiful jewel tones of blue, yellow, and orange. I press a hand to the glass and one of the little blue ones swims closer, as if he’s trying to touch my fingertips.

  “Yes, it is, isn’t it? It’s easy to take it for granted sometimes.”

  With a sigh, I pull my gaze from the water and continue forward. He follows, still gazing at the water. We have to take the stairs because the elevators are loud, not to mention there shouldn’t be anyone using them. It is only for family, not for the Guards, Enforcers, or Servants, and I’m supposed to be safely shut in my room right now. Taking the stairs is faster anyway.

  It’s times like these that I wish my gardens weren’t on the very top of the three-story building, but there isn’t anything for me to do about it now. If all goes well, there will be no reason for me to do anything about it at all.

  We finally get to the door that leads to the gardens, and it’s almost time to let Gavin take over, but I pause and signal for him to wait for me. We’ll pass right by the entrance to the family wing, and I don’t want anyone to hear me.

  I stoop to slide the zipper down the boot and slither the leather down my leg before doing the same with the other. When I stand up, Gavin is watching me with a strange expression.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He curses under his breath and shakes his head. “Nothing.” He strides away and I frown as I chase after him.

  About two hundred meters from the entrance to my gardens there is an alcove that’s about five meters by five meters. It houses a camera and a turret, both mounted to the ceiling and facing not toward the hallways, but the utility closet that houses the electronics for both of them.

  “That’s it,” he says, nodding his head toward the utility closet door. His stance is wary, and he keeps casting glances all around. He must not trust me, despite what he said earlier.

  “Are you sure? It’s just a utility closet.” I’ve seen dozens just like it.

  He points to what appears to be a bloodstain on the wall and floor. “I’m sure,” he says.

  I stare at the stain for a long time. Why is that st
ill here? Mother should have had the Servants clean that up a long time ago. It also dawns on me that Mother obviously already knew where he’d come from. So why all the secrecy? Why all the questions?

  Only one reason: She was waiting to see why I was so interested in him. Something shiny grabs my attention, and I see a little silver loop. It looks like an earring. I grab it and show it to Gavin, who stares at it, sadness pooling in his eyes.

  “It’s Con’s,” he says, taking it from me.

  “Your friend?”

  “Yes.”

  I raise my brow. “He wears jewelry?”

  He smiles, but it’s still sad as he pockets the small loop. “Yes.”

  “I see,” I say, but I don’t really. Why would a man wear jewelry? Only women do here.

  But that doesn’t matter now. I place my hand on the glass plate next to the door. A red light emits and traces over every inch of my hand. Then the door unlocks with a click and I pull it open.

  Gavin is right. It’s definitely not a utility closet, but it won’t do us any good, either. There’s a wall of dirt and rocks blocking the entrance. Apparently Mother knew what I was planning. She’s blocked the entrance—and the only means of escape he has.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Differences are the root of all evil. Accordingly, all differences will be eradicated. At any cost.

  —MOTHER’S JOURNAL, PAGE 176

  Of course she has. She knew the whole time. She was just playing games with me, trying to figure out why I had taken to him. I should have known. How could I be so stupid?

  “Damn it!” I punch the rock wall, causing the now somewhat fragile rock to crack and splitting my knuckles. Little bits of rock and dust fall to the floor in a cascade.

  Gavin jumps forward, taking my hand gently between his. “Hey, hey. Don’t do that. You’re going to hurt yourself. It’s not that big of a deal. If there’s one, there’s more. She wouldn’t block off y’all’s only escape.”

  Blood trickles from the wounds in my hand. I don’t think I’ve ever punched anything in my life. It hurts like hell, but I don’t care. I yank my hand from his grasp. Why does he keep persisting in touching me when he knows it’s forbidden? “That’s not it. She was expecting this. She was playing us the whole time and I fell for it. Damn it.” I kick the door shut, then hiss when pain zips up my toes. I quickly shove my feet back into the boots to avoid jamming my toes into anything else.

  He narrows his eyes. “If she was expecting us, where are they? Shouldn’t they be trying to stop us?”

  He has a point. I glance around and listen. Not a sound. Not even a peep. The slamming of the door should have brought someone.

  “You’re right. Something is wrong.” I press my fingers to my eyes, smearing blood on my face. “Okay. This is what we’re going to do. We need to get out of the Palace Wing. It definitely isn’t safe here. Then we’ll need to come up with another plan. Follow me.”

  It’s obvious Mother already knows what we were planning, or at least was sure Gavin would try something. But I need to get us out of here and to a place they won’t be able to find us—and it’s very much an us situation now. But finding a place they won’t find us is much easier said than done, especially with Gavin looking like the Surface Dweller he is.

  I remember there’s supposed to be a waterproof map in my evac bag. Extremely mindful of the time we’ve been standing there, I pull out the map and study it quickly.

  “What is that?” Gavin asks.

  “A map. It lists all the designated evacuation areas in case of facility failure or Surface Dweller attack. If we stand any chance of escaping, one of those will be it.”

  He lifts an eyebrow. “A map? Can we trust it?”

  I don’t even spare him a glance. “Of course we can. It’s supposed to be used for emergency evacuations. Mother doesn’t want her Citizens to die and she especially wouldn’t want me to die.”

  He doesn’t look convinced, but doesn’t say anything.

  “All right,” I say after a minute. “It looks like there’s an evacuation area in the Square of Sector Two. Let’s head over there.”

  I fold up the map, but keep it in my hand, so I can reference it quickly if I have to change course and pinpoint the exact location.

  We slip by the Guard, who is too busy reading something on his holoscreen to notice us—not that he would be looking anyway. His duty is to prevent people from getting in, not from getting out.

  This time we hurry to the Square, still keeping to the shadows and avoiding the large crowds of Citizens. It’s more crowded than usual today because of Festival. With all the Couples dressed in their colorful carnival clothes, we probably won’t stick out as much as I thought we would, but I’m still the Daughter of the People and highly recognizable, and so is Gavin with his torn and dirty clothes. The only problem is, the farther into Sector Two the thicker the crowds. Even in the shadows it’s difficult to push our way through so no one will notice.

  Making it worse, Gavin gawks at everything. It makes him stick out like a sore thumb, but he keeps up so I don’t say anything. I need to focus on getting us through here. My nerves are stretched to breaking and my heart is in my throat because I’ve spotted three Enforcers. They don’t appear to have noticed us and from their relaxed postures I know they aren’t on alert, but I also know that doesn’t really mean anything. If I can see them, they can see me. We must tread very carefully.

  Six Guards are straight ahead, but they appear too busy flirting with the group of young women surrounding them to be paying attention. Since it’s either them or the Enforcers, I lead Gavin in their direction, double checking our position against the map and the location of the evacuation area. It looks like the evac area is in the middle of the Square, which doesn’t make sense, but maybe there’s something there I don’t know about.

  When we reach the designated spot on the map, I frown. This can’t be right. This is a supper club. Only Coupled Citizens and their families are allowed in here. But, I’ve been here a few times with Mother to catch a show with our dinner and I think I remember there being some kind of back room. Maybe that’s the evac area.

  Being mindful of the Enforcers and the Guards, I rush into it, with Gavin nipping at my heels. While music is playing, something from the entertainment for the night, I’m sure there’s no one in here yet. It must still be too early for the dinner crowd, but I don’t stop. My heart is thumping so hard I can feel it in my head. I pretend like I’m supposed to be here and keep walking until I find what I’m looking for—a drapery-covered wall. I push it aside and see a door. I open it to reveal a set of stairs, leading up into darkness.

  Gavin shuts the door behind us and the sound from the club becomes muffled, with only the thump, thump of the bass audible. At the top of the stairs the sound of music gets louder again and I can see lights peeking through a tiny gap in the wall. Curious, I go to it and find it’s another curtain. I’m actually peering out from behind the bronze metal latticework behind the bar. I release the curtain and continue forward, my foot kicking something that hits the wall with a metallic clink.

  I lift it up and study it in the light dripping in from the gap in the curtain. When I see what I’m holding, my blood turns cold. It’s a casing to a bullet. I’m sure this is where the Enforcers hide to watch over the Citizens. I glance up at the wall, just to verify, and sure enough there’s a plaque with one of Mother’s Enforcer statutes on it. The one about an Enforcer having to act at a moment’s notice. I’m sure if I looked farther I’d find another.

  “We have to get out of here,” I say.

  “You brought us here,” Gavin replies with a tight laugh.

  “I know.” I guide the way to two doors. The one ahead of me leads to another set of stairs. It seems familiar to me, so I’m hopeful it leads to the evacuation area.

  At the bottom of the stairs, a quick study reveals a large room and a second exit. That must be the evacuation area. I lead the way over to it. A group of la
rge boxes blocks the door and when I try to push one, I know it must weigh at least fifty kilograms. I’m not sure if I can even lift it, but before I can try, Gavin picks it up and moves it out of the way. Impressed, I can only stare as he moves the rest of them. Before long he’s cleared us a path and I’m opening the door.

  The hinges make a squealing sound as I push the door open, and the breath I didn’t know I was holding releases in a hiss when I see not a tunnel like I was expecting, but the back side of the supper club with an unimpeded view of the other half of the Square.

  Gavin peers over my shoulder. “Um … I may be wrong, but that doesn’t look like an evacuation tunnel.”

  I only turn to glare at him and slowly close the door, hoping the squeal of the hinges doesn’t alert anyone to our presence.

  “Now what?” I mumble, and take a closer study of the room.

  There’s a broken light in the far corner and it appears no one has come into this area in a long time. There’s a thick layer of dust on the boxes and on the floor. We leave footprints in it as we make our way to the shadowed area. My prints are quite small compared to Gavin’s. Then again, he’s tall. Even in my boots, he’s at least fifteen centimeters taller than me.

  For lack of a better plan, I sit on the floor and start going through my backpack, hoping for a better plan to come to me. I’m not sure why Mother’s map was wrong, but I have a bad feeling that Gavin was right about everything and I don’t really want to think about that right now.

  I’m pretty sure there’s a first-aid kit in there, unless Mother’s messed with that as well, and my hand is beginning to really hurt. Besides, there’s a lot of blood, and if it drips, they might be able to follow us.

  Gavin sits and watches silently as I try to fumble open the kit. He finally takes it from me. “Here, let me help you.”

  After opening the kit, he uses the antiseptic wipes to cleanse the wounds and sucks in a breath when he sees the large gash across the top of my hand.

  His touch is gentle as he says, “You have to be more careful. Your hands are too pretty to be smashing into walls like that.”