“He’s dead,” I say. I surprise even myself with the lack of emotion in my voice.
“Your father?”
I nod.
Zane bows his head and curses. His eyes are moist when he looks up. “What happened back there?”
Trey steps in so that, thankfully, I don’t have to speak. “Enforcers showed up as Sienna and I were about to launch.” He pauses, clearing his throat. I want to plug my ears so I don’t hear the rest. Remove myself from this nightmare.
“They shot him,” Trey finally says. “And we had to watch.”
Zane takes my hand in his, and it feels like a lifeline. Like I’ve been treading water, hardly able to keep my head above, and someone has finally thrown me a buoy. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.
The dam bursts. I cry for everything I’ve lost. For the truth I’ll have to carry, never able to share with my mother. It would kill her to know that she was so close to having her husband back. No mother, no daughter, should have to experience the death of the same loved one twice.
Zane pulls me to his chest, and I cling to him, my face pressed against his neck, my tears bathing his skin.
“It’s okay,” he murmurs, stroking my hair. “It’s okay.”
But it’s not. It’s not okay. It will never be okay. I’m a wanted criminal for crimes I didn’t commit. My father is dead. And I’m a fugitive.
We bounce along in the back of the truck, my tailbone pressing against the cab, for who knows how long. Zane’s arms are tight around me, and I keep my head buried under his chin. I refuse to look up. I don’t want to see Trina or Nash’s faces. I don’t want to see anyone’s pity or fear. And for some reason, I can’t bear to look at Trey right now. He was there. He was there with me, and he did nothing to stop them.
I close my eyes and focus on the last hug I gave my dad. The last hug I’ll ever give him. His warm body, the scent of shoe polish, his salt-and-pepper hair.
It hurts. Why does it hurt worse than when I first discovered him on the floor of our kitchen? Is it because I watched him die this time? Felt the bullets like they were hitting my own skin?
Is it because he sacrificed his own life for mine?
We’re out of the city now. The sound of horns and the smell of exhaust have been replaced with the earthy smell of rocks and dirt and the sound of coyotes howling in the night. The truck slows to a stop, and Trey calls, “We’re here. Everybody out.”
Zane shifts beneath me, and I pull back to look at him. In his eyes is all the sorrow I feel.
“Are you okay?” he whispers.
I rake my palms across my face, drying the last of my tears. “I will be.”
Trey leans down and offers me his hand, and this time, I take it, wincing as the skin pulls around my shoulder.
“How’s the shoulder?” he asks.
“Still there,” I reply in a tired voice.
Trina is wide awake now, and as I jump down from the bed of the truck, she flings her arms around me. She doesn’t say anything, but it’s okay. Her hug tells it all.
“What are we doing?” I ask whoever will listen.
That Paige girl is striding toward us with her crew. When she hears me, she says, “Time to catch a train.” She grins. “And I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Paige.”
“Sienna.” Trying not to study her but wanting to at the same time, I take note of her olive skin, her dark hair that’s plastered to her head in cornrows, her cocky stance, and her cool gaze. “You’re the leader of Zenith?”
“I’m the leader of this division of Zenith. We all have our jobs, and mine is to protect people.” She shrugs. “What can I say? I’m good with guns.” She leans forward with a teasing grin. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
I stare at her, confused. Trey steps in. “Paige is the one who stayed your execution by taking out the guards.”
I remember the rope snapping from the beam like a bullet had severed it clean through.
“That was you?” I ask.
She nods, looking embarrassed and proud at the same time, if that’s possible. But then she says, “Well, I can’t take all the credit. Grey and Asher helped too.” She nods toward the two boys standing next to her with their arms crossed over their chests, showing off an insane amount of muscles. One is tall with smooth skin the color of coffee and the other is just as tall but with shockingly white-blond hair that stands on end.
“They’re snipers,” Trey explains. “They were on the mainland while Nash, Zane, and I came by boat.”
Nash is standing off to the side, scowling. “Can we get this party started?” he asks, his tone sarcastic.
Paige purses her lips and claps her hands together. “Right, well, now we wait for the big engine.” Pulling a Lynk from her back pocket, she glances at it and says, “Shouldn’t be long now.”
“I didn’t think normal trains still ran,” I say.
“They don’t,” Paige answers. “We commandeered an old steam engine, got it working again.” A grin spreads across her face. “Now, there’s no better way to travel. Sure beats waiting for the bullet train, and the crowds—well, nothing like having a train all to yourself.”
I glance around. We’re parked on the side of an empty desert road. Even though we’re far from the city now, the lights of Rubex illuminate the sky above so that it glows like a storm in the clouds. “I don’t see any tracks,” I say.
“This way.” Paige motions for us to follow her, and the seven of us do.
My footsteps are hesitant at first because the more I take, the further I get from my father. I know he’s gone, but there’s still a cord tethering me to him. Leading me back to Rubex. I turn and look back, one last time, and whisper good-bye.
43
SIENNA
We’ve only walked about two hundred yards when we hear it. The faint chug, chug of an oncoming train. The metal track, only a few yards away, glints in the moonlight.
“He won’t be able to stop,” Paige calls out, her voice getting lost in the rising wind.
“What? Why?” Trina asks.
“Too much momentum. And it takes too much steam to stop and start. He’ll slow down a bit, but we’ll have to hop on.”
“While it’s still moving?” I say, my voice incredulous.
“Right.”
Zane gives me a reassuring look, but when Trey tells him to be in charge of making sure Trina gets on, I can see the disappointment in his eyes.
Why does it feel like Trey is doing his best to keep us apart?
The rumbling sound of the train can be heard cutting through the night. For some reason, that sound alone gets my heart rate going faster than normal. My palms sweat as I think about jumping onto that thing. Do they not remember my short legs?
The train screeches as it begins to slow, its headlight shining down the track and illuminating the endless expanse in front of us. For a second, I’m blinded by the light. Blinking quickly, I look away until the white spots have faded from my vision.
There’s a low whistle like a soulful cry for help, and then it’s closing the gap.
As soon as the engine and first two cars pass, Paige hollers, “Let’s go!” She starts to run, looking over her shoulder to make sure we’re coming. The other two Zenith members take off running, followed by Nash and then Trina. Zane hesitates for only a second before he starts moving too.
“Come on, Sienna,” Trey says, his voice urgent. “We have to go.”
I shake my head. “I can’t do it.”
Trey’s eyes are fierce. “Don’t you give up now. I won’t let you. Come on!” His fingers wrap around my hand, pulling me alongside him as he begins to run. I trip, almost falling over myself as my feet try to remember how to work again. My shoulder throbs a pulsing beat of pain, similar to what I feel in my heart.
My heart may be fragile, cut from glass and breakable, but I’m strong, immovable, and I can rise up into the sky like a beacon in the night. Like a skyscraper.
I can do this.
&
nbsp; Or at least, that’s what I try to tell myself.
Up ahead, Paige and her crew have swung their bodies into a boxcar. I watch as Nash and Zane do the same, holding their hand out for Trina to grasp. She runs like a gazelle, lean and beautiful and effortless, and all I can do is watch her in awe. Medication must work differently on GMs, because none of the usual lingering effects of painkillers are obvious in her actions. She grasps Zane’s hand, and he pulls her easily into the car.
My breathing is hard and labored, my chest heaving. My arms pump, trying to propel me faster.
“We’ll never catch them,” I gasp.
“It’s okay. Let’s try for this one.” He glances behind him at an approaching boxcar, its door swung wide open.
“Ready?” he asks, his muscles tensing.
I nod. The moment the car is only a few feet behind us, we pick up speed, his hand clutching mine, pulling me along, holding me up.
He lets go only long enough to swing himself onto the train. He makes it look so easy. “Give me your hand!” he shouts, holding out his.
Without him pulling me along, I can feel myself slowing down. The train is moving ahead. Without me. I curse my legs and force them to move faster. My lungs are exploding, my legs trembling, my heart bursting.
“Hurry,” Trey hollers. And for the first time, I see doubt in his eyes. He doesn’t think I can do it.
And for some reason, that’s all I need to know.
With a burst of speed, I reach out and grasp his hand. In one swift movement, he pulls me up into the train, the momentum making me crash into him. He stumbles and loses his balance. I end up sprawled on top of him, my shoulder throbbing in pain. When he looks up and smiles, my heart flutters.
“Hey,” he says, his voice low.
I roll off and sit up shakily, my hands swiping through the dust on the floor. My breathing is still heavy, and I try to slow my heart rate by taking deep breaths. Trey sits up and looks around.
“This isn’t so bad,” he says. Then, giving me a mischievous grin, he adds, “I kind of like having a car all to ourselves.”
Gulping, I turn away from him and rise to my feet. I ease to the edge. With one hand on the door opening, I stare out at the darkness. The stars are a million times brighter than I’ve ever seen them. Tears fill my eyes as I think of my father, his finger pointed toward the sky, his voice low as he named one constellation after another.
Trey comes up beside me and gently rests his hands on my shoulders, careful to avoid my wound. I suddenly feel grounded, like maybe I won’t go spinning off into the sky after all. He leans close and whispers in my ear, “I’m sorry, Sienna.”
I turn and face him. “For what?”
“For everything. For all I put you through. For your father. For not being able to do anything.” He sighs. “I felt helpless. Watching him…”
“I know,” I say, wiping my eyes. “It was awful.”
His hands slide down my arms until they’re grasping my waist. “What can I do to make it up to you?”
This conversation sounds oddly familiar. I believe those were the same words he said to me in the Compound after he kissed me and then ignored me for days. Feels like an eternity ago.
I look away. “I don’t know.”
Trey’s hands drop. He moves to the other side of the car and slides to the floor, his back resting against the wall. After a few moments, he says, “What happened between you and Zane?”
I turn and stare at him.
“I mean, I know he’s in love with you. That I remember, but—” He exhales. “I don’t know how you feel about him.”
I close my eyes and rest my head on the wall.
“It’s just that—I need to know, Sienna.”
When I open my eyes, Trey is looking at me with such earnestness that it sends a pang to my chest. I walk over and sink down next to him, facing him.
“I don’t know,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. My fingers trail through the dust around me. “How did you feel about Rayne?”
Trey makes a face. “She’s not my type. I would never choose her.”
“But you did,” I say softly.
His eyes turn sad. “That wasn’t me and you know it.”
An image of Trey and Rayne, lips locked, bodies pressed together, heat practically steaming off their skin, sears into my mind. My stomach clenches as I look away.
“Maybe not,” I say, “but it sure looked real.”
Trey heaves a sigh and scoots closer. “It was supposed to. That’s what they wanted.”
“But you liked it, right? I mean, you liked kissing her?” I don’t know why I can’t leave this alone, forget it ever happened. Rayne’s dead. Why can’t I just let it go?
I guess because a part of me needs to know the truth, even if I’m terrified of it.
He frowns. “No. When I kissed her, I thought of you. Every time. Which didn’t make sense because there wasn’t an us. There wasn’t supposed to be an us. At least, not in my mind.” He clears his throat and runs a hand through his hair. “What about you and Zane? Did you kiss him?”
Guilt fills me like marbles filling a glass jar. A part of me wants to lie to him, but the other part wants him to know the truth.
“Yes,” I whisper.
A muscle in Trey’s jaw clenches and he looks down, fiddling with his shoelace. “I suspected as much.” When his eyes lift, there’s pain inside.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
Trey laughs, but it’s a harsh sound. “Why should you be sorry? After all I put you through?” He claps his hands on his knees and gives me a wry smile. “Technically, I gave you permission.”
He’s referring to the day Rayne showed up at Zane’s house and Trey told me he wasn’t the one for me. And then hinted that Zane was.
“You practically threw Zane on me,” I remind him.
When he chuckles, it sounds real. “I know. What an idiot I was.”
“But a very well-dressed idiot,” I say, biting my lip to keep from smiling.
“A clown suit.”
We both chuckle at that.
“So do you remember everything from when you had the chip?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
I think back to what I saw in the basement of the AIG facility. “When I snuck in the AIG, I discovered hundreds of people, lined up in rows on beds, in the basement. Do you know anything about that?”
Trey’s forehead wrinkles. “No, I never saw them. They mostly had me doing research. Sometimes, they studied my DNA.”
“Studied your DNA?”
“Yes, said they were trying to recreate a perfect genome.”
“So you were—” I pause. “A test subject?”
Trey cocks his head to the side and grins. “Well, I never thought about it like that before, but yes, I suppose so.” His smile fades. “And you were experimented on also, right?”
I nod. “They removed any memories I had of you.” I look away, folding my hands in my lap. “I didn’t remember what I’d lost, so in a way, it was kind of nice.”
“And that’s when you and Zane became close?”
I turn to look at him. “Yeah. But he’s the one who insisted that we figure out what they did and how to get those memories back.”
“So I should thank him?” he teases.
“You can.”
Trey grows serious and opens up his arms. “Come here.”
Scooting closer, I lean into him, resting my head on his chest. I can hear the steady rhythm of his heart through his thin T-shirt and feel the hard muscles of his chest. It’s all so… familiar.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispers.
I swallow hard. “I’ve missed you too.”
Breathing deep, Trey pulls me closer. The steady rocking of the train and the low rumble of the wheels beneath us combines to create a soothing sound. I close my eyes and relax my mind, removing myself from every bad thing that’s happened in the past year and a half. It’s just Trey and me on a runaway train. Go
ing everywhere. Going nowhere.
44
ZANE
The surrounding darkness and the rhythmic movement of the train along the track should be conducive to sleep, and yet, I cannot. When I close my eyes, I see her. With him. And I can’t bear it.
The inside of the train car is a mixture of light snores and heavy breathing. I rest my head against the metal wall of the train, willing the morning to come. I’m not sure if I’ve slept since Sienna was captured a few weeks ago. I’ve been on edge, blaming myself for leaving her in Rubex, leaving her vulnerable. And ever since she was imprisoned, I’ve been trying to find a way to secure her release.
In the end, there was no amount of connections, no amount of money, and no amount of power that could save her. We were seconds away from seeing her die. Too close. Much too close.
And we couldn’t save Curly. If we had gotten there a minute early…
Sixty seconds was all we needed.
I bow my head and thank God that Sienna is alive.
But now I must make a decision. Do I return to Legas? Do I take my place as heir of Harlow Ryder’s company and the fiancé of Arian Stratford? Do I marry a woman I don’t love but could maybe grow to love in time?
It all hinges on one thing. One person.
And if she can’t give me the answer I need, then I know what I have to do.
45
SIENNA
A grinding noise shocks me awake. Sunlight streams in from the open doorway as the train squeals to a halt. Trey and I are curled up next to each other on the floor, my head resting on his chest, his arm around my waist. We slept like this all night.
Someone jumps into our car. I blink quickly, trying to focus on the person.
It’s Paige.
I sit up too fast, and the blood rushes to my head.
“This is our stop. We walk from here,” she says. She jumps down from the train.
I shake Trey awake. He groans and rolls over onto his back.
“What’s going on?” he mutters.
“We have to get off the train.”
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