“Absolutely. But it’s not going to be easy.”
“Nothing for me ever is.”
He leaned down until our foreheads were resting on each other. My hand went to Reece’s chest until I could feel his heart beating beneath it.
It beat for me.
He was mine now.
We stood like that for a long time until Reece pulled back. “We should get upstairs, there’s so much I have to tell you. We’re attacking on President’s Day.”
“We’re taking Stone down on her special day? It sounds… poetic.”
“She’ll get what she deserves.”
We twined our fingers together to walk upstairs, Reece talking about his morning missions the whole time. When we reached the top, we let our hands fall free. We might think we were ready for people to know, but maybe we weren’t quite.
Joseph hurried over when he saw us. “Wren, I have been looking for you.”
“Join the club,” I joked. He didn’t get it but Reece did. “What’s going on?”
“I need to speak with you alone.”
“Me?” Why would he want to speak to me alone? I was just about the most useless person in the whole Resistance.
“Yes, you.”
I glanced at Reece who didn’t seem overly impressed with the request. Still, I was curious to know what Joseph had to say to me when nobody else was around. “Okay.”
“Wren—” Reece started before I cut him off.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him, hoping he read the honesty in my expression. He finally nodded and stepped away while I followed Joseph into his office. He was one of the very few whose office actually had real walls instead of just sheets or tarpaulins.
“Take a seat,” Joseph ordered. I sat opposite him, his desk between us. He had set up his office nearly identical to his office in the bunker. Maybe that was how he found his own peace, making order of his private space.
“What is it?” I asked. I was full of nerves, unable to keep still while being kept in suspense.
“In the next few days I am sending a team in to extract President Stone’s DNA. We will be targeting her in her home as that’s the place she seems to spend more of her time recently.”
I nodded, wondering what it had to do with me. Just the thought of Stone’s mansion gave me the creeps. My time there had not been fun or enjoyable.
Joseph continued. “I understand you spent a considerable amount of time in her mansion.”
“I was in the basement cell.”
“But you did move around her mansion. Did you not?”
“I was running at the time,” I pointed out.
“Still, you are the best resource we have. I want you to sit down with our extraction team and tell them as much as you can about her mansion. The layout, where the guards are usually stationed, the locations of the rooms she is most likely to be in, etcetera. Will you do that for us?”
“Of course. But I want to go with them. I want to be in on the mission.”
“No, that is out of the question.”
“Why? I could really help.” My voice was rising and I didn’t want to get angry with Joseph. I wanted him to agree with me so we could stop arguing.
If anyone deserved to face down Stone and take her DNA, it was me. She had hurt me the most out of anyone. I wanted to look into her eyes and tell her we were going to win in the end.
Even if it meant returning to that mansion.
Even if it meant Stone would want me dead more than ever.
Joseph leaned on the desk, his expression serious. “You are the most wanted person in Aria. If I send you into the home of the woman who wants you dead the most, she will do everything she can to kill you. I can’t have that kind of mess on my hands. I need this mission to be fast and smooth. There is no room for error.”
“You think I would mess up?” Thanks for the vote of confidence, I wanted to say.
“Not on purpose. But we need people that Stone wouldn’t suspect, that is the only way they’ll be able to get close enough to extract a sample of her DNA.”
Realization dawned on me. “You’re planning on having it look like an inside job, aren’t you?”
Joseph nodded slowly. “Yes. We don’t want to tip her off to the fact we know about all the clones in her parliament. If she turns out to be a clone herself, she would run straight to her Maker and tell them what we are doing.”
“And then we wouldn’t have the element of surprise.”
“Precisely, Wren.”
I understood why it was impossible for me to go on the mission.
But I would face Stone one day.
One day soon.
Chapter 14: Reece
Only one more week to go.
I’d ticked off seven full days with missions that took us closer to bringing down Stone and her parliament. When I wasn’t on a mission, I was with Wren.
Mostly we trained.
Sometimes we just spent time together.
I didn’t plan on telling her my feelings. I was going to remain strong and keep it all to myself. But when I saw the look on her face in the training room that day, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t walk away from her knowing that I was the one hurting her.
I’d promised that I would never hurt her, but there I was doing it.
Now I saw her smiling more than ever before and I loved it. I loved telling her how much she meant to me, how much I loved every moment we spent together, how extraordinary she truly was.
I’d spent the last seven days telling her that.
And now it was time to convince her to leave.
Wren was just finishing with breakfast when I dragged her into the corridor. It took all my resolve not to shower her with kisses right then and there.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking deep into my eyes.
“I want you to find the tunnel again and leave Aria,” I blurted out. There was no way to sugarcoat what I was trying to tell her.
“No.”
“In one week Aria is going to be in hellish chaos. It’s going to be too dangerous here. If you’re outside the gate you can be safe. You can find Rocky and the others—”
“Save your breath, Reece. I’m not going anywhere.” Her eyes betrayed her sincerity. I didn’t know how to make her see sense. I wanted her to stay safe more than anything else. Being outside of the walls was her best chance.
“Please do this for me,” I begged. I was only a few moments away from dropping to my knees and pleading with her. I would do it if I thought it would work.
She shook her stubborn little gorgeous head. “This is my fight too, remember? I’m not leaving until I know Stone is gone and my life is safe.”
“Stone could be a clone.”
“She might not be too.” Wren sighed and cupped my face with her little hands. “Trust me, Reece. Trust that I can look after myself now. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been, thanks to you. I can fight now, I’ve earned my right to stay.”
She was right.
Damn it.
Wren had turned into an outstanding fighter over the last week. She was fierce and precise. It was difficult getting her on the mat now, I had to be smarter than her to overpower her. Which was not easy.
She twined her fingers with me. “Let’s go to the training room. You can test my abilities so I can kick your butt.”
I couldn’t stay mad at her even though every instinct I had screamed at me to protect her. Somehow I doubted even Stone herself would be able to convince Wren to leave the city.
We went down the steps into the training room. Samson was there already, whaling on a punching bag. The man had a serious right hook.
“Hey,” he said when he saw us. “Just getting some final prep work in. Not long to go now.”
“There certainly isn’t,” I agreed. One week felt like a lifetime and the blink of an eye at the same time. “Mind if we train?”
“Be my guest.”
Wren and I stood on the mat, waiting for each oth
er to make the first move. I charged, intending to take her knees and pull them forward until she fell over.
My move was blocked. Wren jumped out of my grasp and went to kick me until I lost my balance and fell sideways. I didn’t move fast enough and she succeeded. I landed on the mat with a jar to my shoulder.
“Well done,” I said.
“You should have been faster.” She grinned.
I stood, ready to prove I could still get the best of her. I charged while she wasn’t expecting it, grabbing her around the waist and pushing her backwards. She crashed onto the mat with me on top of her. I held her there a little longer than I needed to.
“You two are good,” Samson commented. He had stopped punching the bag and was watching us now. “I can see how you’ve lasted this long.”
“More like luck,” I replied, sizing Wren up again. I faked a lunge to the left before ducking for her right side. She knew exactly what I was doing and was ready to block me. I tried to use her sore foot to my advantage but she shifted all her weight to her good one so she didn’t lose balance.
I ended up on the mat, sprawled out with the wind knocked from my lungs.
She looked down at me as she stood over me in triumph. “You taught me that move. You should know better than to use it against me.”
Wren held out her hand and helped me up. We continued sparring until we were both covered in sweat and puffing for breath. It was the best workout I’d had in ages.
Samson had given us some pointers before he left and we both learned something from him. I now knew he was a former member of the President’s Personal Guard. That was about all I knew of the guy but it was enough to know he was lethal when he wanted to be.
Wren and I sat on the edge of the mat, gulping down water while we regained a normal breathing pattern. It was difficult to believe we’d be putting our training into action in only a week’s time.
Seven days wasn’t enough.
“How come you joined the Resistance?” Wren asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
“They killed my brother.”
“Stone did?”
“The troopers did. Nelson signed up to join the troopers a few years before I did. They suspected him of being disloyal to the president so they executed him. He didn’t have a trial or anything, they just took him out back and put a bullet through his head. Our mother received a note in the mail informing us of his death.”
The memories were still vivid and raw in my head. It was a Tuesday when the note arrived. My mother opened it, expecting it was a letter from her son and nothing more.
What she didn’t realize for a few moments was the horrible news it delivered. She had cried out in grief, collapsed onto the floor still clutching the piece of paper.
We always thought joining the troopers and protecting our great city was a noble job. We had placed them on a pedestal and practically worshipped at their feet. It only made the betrayal burn even worse.
“That must have been awful,” Wren said.
“It was.”
“So why did you join? It was after then, right?”
“Yeah. We weren’t told anything about the circumstances of his death, just that he’d died. I wanted answers so I joined the troopers and asked around. It wasn’t difficult finding out what had happened.”
“And then you joined the Resistance? To avenge his death?”
I shrugged. “In a way. I guess my whole life was building toward that moment. We had nothing growing up, I had to watch my parents go without food just so Nelson and I could eat. I saw kids in the street without any clothes or food. There was so much suffering everywhere and nobody was doing anything about it.”
My hands still wanted to ball into fists and punch something every time I remembered it. Everyone in my neighborhood was a good person, they didn’t deserve to live in such a harsh world. We all deserved better.
“When I heard whisperings about the Resistance, and then Joseph found me a few weeks later, I knew it was the answer I was looking for,” I continued. “They were the ones doing something about it, and I wanted to join them. I pledged my allegiance and took my orders from then onwards.”
“Do your parents know what you’re doing?”
“They are both dead. They were accused of being traitors to the president and killed only a few months later. There was no trial or anything. One day they were living their lives and the next they were gone.”
“I’m sorry,” Wren said quietly.
“Don’t be. Everyone I’ve lost only makes me more determined to change things. We used to have a clone work for us, did I ever tell you that?” She shook her head. “She was about forty and her Maker had died. Her Maker’s family tried to kill her because she could no longer Fulfil Her Purpose but she got away. We hid her in our house and she cleaned for us in return.”
“What happened to her?”
“When my parents were killed I found a new family she could join. She still lives with them now.”
Someone knocked on the door to the training room, even though it was open. We turned around to see Samson there. “Guys, we have the DNA test results back for Stone. Everyone’s assembling upstairs.”
It was time we got some answers.
I held my hand out for Wren and she grasped it, allowing me to help her up. We took the stairs up to the main area of the shelter where people were crowded around.
Everyone was buzzing to hear whether President Stone was a clone or not. The rest of our revolution could go either way depending on the results.
Joseph cleared his throat. He looked especially small in the middle of so many people. “We have the results of the tests conducted on President Stone’s DNA. As you all know, we ran a test to see whether she was in fact a clone or not. We now have the answer.”
He paused and everyone ached for him to continue. The tension and anticipation in the room crackled like lightning around us. I couldn’t breathe until I knew the answer.
Wren’s life and her safety depended on the result. If Stone was a clone then she would be free from her Purpose. As far as we knew, Stone didn’t have any family that could order her clone’s execution on her behalf. Unless the laws changed, nobody could order her death. Wren would be free.
As free as Aria permitted, anyway.
Joseph opened the envelope and straightened the piece of paper inside. His eyes scanned over the words before he read the results aloud. “President Portia Stone is not a clone. She is a Maker, the original.”
Damn it.
I stole a glance at Wren but her expression never wavered. She had steeled herself for the results, not being foolish enough to believe things could be different.
Without warning, the door to the shelter burst open with a loud bang. Everyone turned their attention to the entrance.
Only to see troopers running in.
Their guns eager to destroy.
I pushed Wren forward and started running with her hand in mine so I wouldn’t lose her in the chaos. Gunshots and screams quickly filled the air, along with smoke that smelled of ammunition.
“This way!” I yelled.
A dozen or so people started following us, trying to keep up with the fast pace. The troopers must have cut the power line, darkness was the main thing I could see.
The shelter had few doors in which to escape. It was supposed to be a security feature, ensuring we couldn’t be compromised from different angles. It now worked against us.
Flashes of light started to explode around us, the troopers using stun grenades to disorientate people. They weren’t using their biggest weapons, which was a surprise.
Until I realized they were trying to take hostages.
People they could torture into talking.
And revealing our plans.
I pulled Wren along and then down the stairs to the training room. It was underground but there was a window in the top of the far wall. If we could get through it we would be out in the open streets above.
“Reec
e, where are we going?” Wren said. “We shouldn’t be going down, they’ll trap us. We need to go up.”
“Trust me,” I pleaded.
She didn’t say anything else but her feet did hurry down the stairs with me. I pushed her into the training room first, making sure no bullets could reach her without going through me first.
I pointed toward the window and we rushed for it. The sounds from above weren’t as bad down there but it wouldn’t take long before one of the troopers discovered the room. A bunch of footsteps padded behind us.
The window was high but I could still reach it. I flicked the lock and pulled it open. I pushed hard against the screen until it popped out onto the street above.
“Once you’re out, run,” I ordered. “Don’t stop for anything. Just choose a direction and move. I’ll follow.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“You won’t be leaving me because I’m going to be directly behind you.” I kneeled down and offered Wren my hand to step into. She was so tiny she was nowhere near being able to reach the window by herself.
She stepped into my palms and I boosted her upwards. She scrambled through the window until I could only see her shoes. “Run!” I called out.
She disappeared.
I faced all the people assembled behind me, grateful to see Samson as one of them. “Everyone needs to get out this window and run. Got it?”
A dozen scared faces nodded.
I pulled myself up to the window and crawled through it. The tight fit didn’t make it easy but I managed to wriggle enough to squeeze through.
Trooper trucks were everywhere, most of them empty. I considered stealing one to make a getaway but it would only attract unwanted attention. It was difficult to hide a trooper truck in the city.
I should know.
I’d done it before.
Wren was already a block away when I started running behind her. My instincts told me to go back and help the others but I couldn’t. Keeping Wren safe was my top priority. I had to trust the others would know what to do and get out too. We’d all spent our lives disappearing, it was what we did.
Plus, there was little I could do for them now. The troopers worked fast and efficiently. They could have overtaken the entire shelter by now.
One Spark of Hope Page 14