by Terina Adams
“If he noticed, we would never have gotten off the train. At least you didn’t send it across the aisle again.”
“If you don’t think he noticed that one or the other in the hull wall, why the rush?”
“I believe he had another motive other than helping you out of the mess you were in. You triggered his interest. He was focused on you most of the ride. It’s likely the clothes.”
“I felt pretty uncomfortable, believe me.”
“Did you look him directly in the eyes?”
“Yes. But briefly.”
“Retinal scan. He may also have collected some of your hair for marker analysis.”
I halted. “What? You’re joking.”
“If he didn’t manage a retinal scan, then he’d use the sample, hair, skin, whatever. Sweepers carry portable EPH devices for the analysis.”
“I don’t know what that means, but it sounds bad. What will he do?”
“Feed the results into a database on his cephulet. He would be able to determine your citizenship status within minutes, plus other things.”
“Other things? What other things?”
“That you’re not from here. A sweeper can detect a deception in minutes.”
“But why pretend that’s what he was doing? Why not ask me to surrender some hair to him?”
“Why do your intelligence services monitor certain people in the community?”
“So they can catch more than one criminal.” I tugged on his arm, forcing him to face me. “By being with you, I’m putting you in danger.”
“I can do that all by myself. Let’s just focus on getting off the streets before we worry.”
“But we’re trapped. Surely they’ll monitor the passengers on the skytrains departing from here once they realize I’m a non-citizen.”
“Let’s save the freaking out until we’re safe. The most important thing right now is to protect your true identity. This is worst-case. I may be wrong about his motive.”
Jax fell silent as we walked. I did the same, suspecting he was consulting his cephulet for a restaurant. I’m sure they would have apps or something that showed places to eat within the area.
“If we head left at the next turn, we’ll cross over into the Aris quarter, which is where we want to be. Not far down that road and we’ll find ourselves a place to eat. You hungry?”
“You’ve got to be joking.”
“At least we can get off our feet for a while.”
“I’m not going to settle until we’re back at your place.”
He didn’t reply, so I glanced up at him, trying to decide from his profile if he was consulting his cephulet or unable to find something suitable to say. He caught me in his periphery and looked down. His eyes roamed my face, no doubt reading the silent question, because he said, “There’s something else I should tell you, but maybe not just now.”
“At a time like this, you don’t say something like that and let it dangle.”
“If the sweeper’s purpose was for the reason I suspect, then he’ll also be able to tell what your true factional nature is.”
“I’m doomed.”
“Only if you get caught.”
“How am I supposed to evade a city of sweepers?”
“Maybe you don’t have to. Perhaps it’s time to leave Califax.”
What? God, yes. I couldn’t believe I was hearing him straight. This was what I wanted, but maybe leaving the city meant something different for him. And I couldn’t enter Uradra, at least not with this tattoo on show.
I slowed. Did he include himself when he said that? I couldn’t keep Azrael’s big, round eyes out of my head. He wouldn’t want to leave them behind. Maybe he would insist on them coming with us, if he planned on coming at all. I should ask him. If I did, I may hear an answer I didn’t like.
There was no demarcation for the crossover into Aris territory except a stone tower standing about two meters tall. The stained red symbol of Aris was carved into its face. On the back of the tower was the symbol of Set. I thought there would be some greater divide, but it seemed the abhorrence the people held for differing factions was enough.
The modern modular houses were cozied up beside each other, leaving little space between. Aris neighbors could lean out their side windows and almost touch their Set neighbors’ walls.
“What are you looking at?”
“I expected better segregation.”
“This is one of the newer areas of Califax. The boundaries were better defined before, but most of it’s been rebuilt under the new senate. This is their propaganda. They wanted proof that the grafting was a good idea, so the houses were built side by side along the boundary. The separation point was nothing more than the stone column we passed. It demonstrates how well everyone can live together once grafted without the need for walls, like cages.”
“Why was this sector rebuilt?”
“Because of the wars.”
“And yet those on the fringe have no boundaries at all.”
“You can’t compare the two. Those in the fringe are forced to live alongside each other and trust one another for their survival. They also have a lot more to lose if they can’t get along. It’s not the same here.” He dropped silent, so I glanced at him. I must’ve had a questioning look, because he continued. “It’s a mess, really. It’s so complicated. When you used to argue about what Carter was doing, it made me start to think about the outcome if he succeeded. What would the people do if they were freed from their grafts? The people aren’t even mixing, not really. How are they going to get along when the senate has continued to feed their natural dislike of each other? I don’t know if it’s in us to get along, not in the long run.”
“You hate the division. I know you do.” Alithia and Azrael were proof of that.
“I do not make up a city.”
“What my dad did, was that the reason you joined Carter?”
“I was already involved before then. My dad got me involved.”
I wanted to probe more, but the tight edge to Jax’s words, sounding like they would screw his mouth shut at any moment, stopped me from questioning further. Alithia was the reason? Her and Azrael? A child of mixed heritage was a good reason to want an end to the divide, an end to fearing each other.
“Let’s just focus on finding ourselves somewhere to lay low. We need to strategize.” He sounded like we were in Dominus. “We’ll find a mall next right.”
Who heard the footsteps first, Jax or me? Almost there, a few more strides to make the turn, but someone was coming up behind us. There’d been no one in the street. We both spun at the same time. I inhaled sharply, more so to catch the tail of destruction.
The sweeper’s weapon was already raised.
Chapter 17
Destruction snarled like a wild animal, the noise slipping past my lips. Jax’s hand gripped my elbow, digging in to the point of pain.
He leaned close. “There’s no running from this.” His voice strained as he disguised what he said.
I turned to him, hiding my face from the sweeper so he would not see me speak. “What do we do?”
Always, I fell into the dark pools of Jax’s eyes, but this time the flashing glare kept me out. He proved back in the fringe he would step over the line if there was no hope. But out here, that couldn’t happen; we had nowhere to hide. There would be no help, no pills to put him back together. A fight was out of the question. Neither could we comply if the sweeper wanted us to go with him. That meant it was up to me.
The sweeper was disguised by his helmet and the ripple of air, like heat on a summer’s day rising off the road, surrounded him. This time, the ripple appeared more substantial, not just a shimmering opaque film. It ballooned around him like frosted glass.
Jax avoided nothing, but he avoided my question. He wanted to keep destruction contained, wanted to spare me the truth, wanted to spare himself? Whatever the reason, his silence arced my factional nature. Soon, I’d have to open a small seam and release
a little or risk detonating a lot and causing irreversible damage, and not just the physical kind.
“You will remain where you are.”
The might of destruction hammered my pulse. With it came anger, not fear. The rush of my blood, the surge of adrenaline, and a coldness moved through my mind and heart. I turned to face the sweeper, squaring my body with his. The move must’ve looked threatening—it was—for Jax placed a hand on mine with a tight squeeze, a firm warning to keep my cool. It felt like a cage. The urge to rip my hand away from his burned hot through my heart, as did the sudden fire, flaring more adrenaline, surging a greater urge to react and an almost unbearable need to destroy.
Get your hands off me. I heard the words win my head before they came out. I pushed them down, choked on them rather than let them free, let the feral win dominance over me.
I glared at the sweeper, but not with the eyes of a good citizen, not with the eyes of the contained or defeated. Was this the sweeper from the skytrain? He’d seen the buckle, seen everything, including the truth within. He knew I was Persal. And as a Persal, I didn’t need to touch him to do terrible things—if only we could make him lower his shield.
“You’ll take your last breath shortly after you move… if you are foolish enough to do so,” the sweeper warned.
“Timing and control are weapons,” Jax whispered. His way of explaining the plan. Nothing needed to be said. There was no answer. We needed to stop the sweeper swift and silent if we were to disappear.
“Lie face-first on the ground. Do it slowly.”
Jax remained standing, as did I.
“Lie down, now.” The sweeper waved his weapon to remind us who was in charge.
Destruction would not reach him while his shield was up.
Jax nodded to me. “Do as he says.”
He inched to the ground, placing his hands on his head, not an easy feat.
Destruction would not allow me to sink to my knees.
“Lie down on the ground or face the consequences.” The sweeper raised his weapon, staring down the barrel.
“Sable.” It was a warning, pitched to reverberate in my ears.
I will not kneel. But I had to. Could destruction breach this new more robust-looking shield? It would be a useless defense if one factional nature could win through. Maybe he couldn’t fire his weapon with the shield up. Did I really want to risk it?
“Lady, this is your last warning.”
I wasn’t Sable, the girl dragged from riches to the slums, not anymore, not while destruction had control, and it would not let me do it. Jax was on his knees, which was wrong.
No, I should be there too.
Comply, comply. It hurt to think that. The thoughts built a wall. I could feel the casing, a hard layer locking the shadow of me out, the sensible part that wanted to follow Jax.
A high-pitched buzz split my ears. The sudden heat in front of my face was all the warning I had. Destruction moved just as fast. It wasn’t me in control, but it was. This was the other part of me that had always been Persal.
A white light flared in front of my eyes the moment I felt the wave of energy release, channeling out of my body in an unstoppable gush. I shielded my eyes from the blinding light, unable to block my ears from the roar of the wind. Everything disappeared as fast as it came.
I felt the sudden movement, the eddying of air, and heard the crunch of his boots as Jax left my side. The blowback of energy caught on the shield rippled colors across its surface. It was still up. Jax launched himself at the sweeper. And now I could see what the visible difference of the shield meant. Impenetrable. Even to physical attack. He wouldn’t win, but Jax would try anyhow, pounding against the shield with the force of bloodlust. I couldn’t see his eyes to tell, but I knew the ferocity at which he hit.
This time, the whole of me was in control. The part of me that was from home, plus the part gifted from my father, very much of this world, welcomed destruction to rise. I savored the feel of it swelling within, charged and powerful.
Jax smashed into the shield, unable to reach the sweeper, but the force of his impact warped the shield inward, forcing the sweeper backward. He staggered a few feet then caught himself and aimed his weapon. Destruction was already released the moment the light from his weapon passed the shield. The two met, and a shower of light exploded outward in an arc of white and blue. Emboldened by the armor of protection destruction provided, Jax renewed his brutal attack. Lost to bloodlust, his pummeling on the shield became immense, cratering it inward, but still it would not break.
Electrical sparks flecked through the air followed by a loud crack the moment destruction made contact with the shield. One pulse, that was all, then Jax pounded forward again, growling out his fury as he battered on. Although hidden behind his barrier, our joint attack forced the sweeper backward. Destruction met the relentless fire of his weapon halfway, turning the lethal release into a harmless light show.
Engaged in the fight, we had no choice but to follow through to the end. Just like in Dominus, there was no backing out, no safe ground. The sudden expulsion of energy as the shield disintegrated threw us backward. I stumbled to my ass. The momentum kept me going until my legs went over my head. Destruction raged at my vulnerability, burning hot and white through my core. It swept the confusion of my fall, the disorientation of going over my head aside. I kept my mind enough to follow my roll back over onto my knees. All the while, I harnessed destruction into a thin stream. I stared into the barrel of the sweeper’s weapon, funneled destruction up the shaft of the weapon, which then blew out the back of the gun and straight through the sweeper’s eye. He recoiled, lost his weapon, and staggered back, but by now I was inside, tunneling toward his mind. Caught in the ecstasy of my power, I severed the synapse connections, electrical impulses, communication flow, everything that made his mind function.
Destroying his mind was easy, too easy. But it felt good, made me hungry. I wound my power into a tighter coil, searching out places untouched, driven by an insatiable desire. More, more, more, echoed through my head.
A sharp pinch on my upper arm, and destruction unraveled from the sweeper’s destroyed mind, recoiling then rearing as Jax tore me around to face him.
A violent shake, his face in mine. “Look at me.”
My mind felt wild, destruction uncontrollable. About to rip myself from his painful hold on my upper arms, a loud crack drew both our attention. The pavement at our feet spilt, creating a seam that ran away from us, widening as it went until it reached the sweeper’s body.
Jax shook me again. “Sable, enough. Stop this.”
I wrenched myself from his hold again as the windows of the house behind blew inward. Jax pinched me hard on the upper arm. And that was all it took. The shock gave me control to snap destruction back inside its cage.
I covered my arm where he pinched none too gently and glared at him, filled with residual energy from my factional nature. “Holden kissed me for the same effect.”
“You were on the verge of destroying the neighborhood and everyone in it.”
I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t.” But it was true. I’d been lost.
The sweeper lay prone on the ground, staring blankly into the sky. Sweet Jesus, I’d done it again.
“He’s not dead. But he might as well be.”
I took a step back, palming my mouth, but that was not barrier enough to separate me from what I’d done.
Jax seized my arm before I distanced myself farther, pulling me along like a rag doll. “Don’t. You had no choice. It was him or us. Sorry, but we don’t have time to fall into a dark hole. If we move quickly, no one will know there were two of us. It’s best the senate stay ignorant of the truth; that’s if he didn’t relay his situation to security control.” He stripped the sweeper of his belt then yanked me away.
He kept a firm hold on my arm as we jogged down the street. “Are you okay?”
No. “Yes.” But the word rattled around in an empty space.
“I know.”
“If not you, it would’ve been me. Either way, one of us had to do it.”
“I know.” The words continued to rattle through space, my mind not on the conversation.
“Down here.” We headed off down the next left onto a smaller street, like an alley, a clean one. The houses seemed to loom inward like pointing fingers. We see you, they seemed to say. The choking narrowness of the street, the imposing edifices of the apartments on either side, I was suffocating. The guilt chiseled through my sane mind now that destruction was spent.
“The noise is likely to attract people into the street. We need to disappear ASAP.”
I’m not sure who broke into a run first. The sound of our feet echoing off the walls of the apartments sounded like an army on our heels. My pace quickened as we neared the mouth of the alley. Jax kept beside me. At the end, he threw out his arm to haul me back.
“See the glass building over there?”
Diagonally opposite us, a five-story glass-and-metal rectangle spanning a block diameter dominated the surrounding houses. Orange-and-red-tinged trees lined the pavement in front, a sight I would normally think beautiful. There was nothing beautiful about this city, about this world, about me.
“An Aris mall.”
“You’re not still thinking about food?” My stomach was stripped raw.
“I’ve got a plan.”
“What—”
“We don’t have time.” Taking my hand, he pulled me out into the street.
The distance to the mall felt like an eternity. The small but steady stream of shoppers entering and exiting the glass doors looked like the enemy. Any minute, they would transform into fighters armed with blades or axes.
“You sure we should be in public?”
“We won’t be for long.”
My adrenaline inched higher the closer we came to the entrance. This was not the first time I’d been amongst people of this world, but this was the first time since the things I’d done, since we’d become fugitives. Jax had a plan. I had to trust him.