by Emery Hale
Kayson sneered. ‘The American.’
I exchanged a look with Lily, each of us as confused as the other.
‘Boys. You two talked about relationships?’ Lily asked.
Grace sighed. ‘She didn’t understand why Chris wanted to stick around. She was insecure – Jess’s dad left and her mum doesn’t want anything to do with her. She wanted to know what love was. Forgive me, but I don’t think admitting you’re terrified of love is something a cold-blooded killer would do.’
‘What about Willow’s note?’ I asked.
Grace sighed. ‘They never got on, and from the moment Willow found out that Charlotte worked with the Pyramid Delegates she never trusted her. When I found the note, I fell into the same rash thinking Willow lived by.’
‘You knew?’
‘I’m her second, of course I knew,’ Grace told me.
‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ Lily asked, stepping forward.
‘Lily, you were paranoid enough ever since we uncovered the connections with Russia, I didn’t want to add to that. Besides, thinking about it rationally, Jessica has always been loyal to us.’
Apparently, as well as theories, this team had been keeping secrets from each other – Quinn’s obvious bewilderment told me she knew nothing about it. Lily and Grace were locked in a hard stare-off, while Kayson tiredly sat down on a chair, hands cradling his head.
‘She could be working with Trojan,’ Lily stated.
‘Yeah? Then why save me from gunfire in Brora?’ Grace asked. ‘She pushed me out of the way. Willow’s death, she carried Lily from the scene.’ Then she looked to me. ‘If she really was a double agent, then why keep in contact with you?’
‘I – uh,’ I fumbled trying to come up with an answer.
‘Naomi, Trojan keeps ties for usefulness. You weren’t useful when Jessica joined but she tried her best to keep in contact because she cared. I argued with her for months but Jess wouldn’t let you go. Then when things looked tense she sent Kayson to watch out for you because she couldn’t.’
As Grace laid the facts out, waves of guilt rolled over me. She was right. Speculation had impaired my judgment. When Jess was being interrogated by Harkness, she hadn’t given me up. If she was a Trojan agent, she would have given me up easily.
Kayson lifted his head. ‘Her brother just died and she was carried away screaming. Harkness didn’t know we were there so it wasn’t for show. Jessica isn’t working with Trojan.’
‘Then we’re all agreed?’ Grace asked.
Everyone nodded, but then they all slowly turned in my direction. Sure, I hadn’t nodded along, but I agreed.
‘Naomi?’ Quinn asked.
‘What?’
‘Do you agree?’
‘Yes, everything you said makes sense. I don’t see why you have to ask me, though.’
Quinn gave a soft sad smile, her eyes glittering with her past before she came back to the present, taking my hand.
‘You’re the Carrier on this team, your opinion matters.’
Hold up, that was only meant to be a temporary thing. My mouth dropped but Grace spoke before I could muster a response.
‘I’m Team Lead when Jessica isn’t here so Naomi, will you be our Carrier?’
I didn’t know what to say, wasn’t I replacing Willow? How could I replace a girl that had such an impact on this team? I couldn’t replace the one that Quinn loved.
‘I don’t know,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘I’m not trained and have no clue what I’m doing.’
‘That’s what I’m for,’ Quinn said with a bright smile as she squeezed my hand. ‘Willow would have wanted someone to take her place, someone we trusted. You came back for us Naomi, people who the world couldn’t give a toss about. I want you on this team, if you’ll have us.’
A civilian on a mission to tear apart a regime – well, there were worse things I could spend my nights doing. Would Jessica allow it? The last time we spoke she shot venom from her mouth like a viper, and rightly so – I’d accused her of murdering her brother. Jess told me she never wanted to see me again, had that opinion changed?
Last night was the first time I’d heard her scream. She may have been a murderer but now it was clear, she was anything but a monster.
‘OK, I’ll do it.’
‘Great, now let’s plan a jail break.’
The meeting itself went on for what felt like hours, Grace of course took the lead, Quinn pulled up blueprints of the school while Kayson and Lily planned out our entry and exit strategy. It involved pretending to still be stuck under Harkness’ thumb.
As I took in everything in, memorising my role, I couldn’t help but notice the falling dread on Lily’s face. The usual spark was once again fading, overcome with tears. As the meeting drew to a close and the team went off on their own to prepare for tomorrow I made sure to linger behind. Lily had taken it upon herself to clean all of the guns, her fingers diligently going over every weapon.
Once the room was empty I cautiously headed her way, hoping she’d tell me what was so clearly wrong.
‘Lily?’
‘Fire thong, seriously don’t,’ she jumped down my throat. ‘Not in the mood.’
‘You can talk to me if you want.’
‘I don’t.’ Lily’s knuckles turned white as she rubbed the barrel of the gun. ‘Go find Quinn, she’ll have stuff for you to do.’
‘We both have a hard enough time getting through to Jess, I thought it would be easier with you, come on.’
‘Naomi, I am really not in the mood.’
‘Don’t make me get Grace,’ I threatened, but there was a smirk on my face.
Lily laughed heartily but then the smoke returned, smothering her expression, drowning her flame as she put the gun back on the table. She fiddled with the lone black ring on her thumb, twisting it gently. Her dark hair fell in front of her face but she didn’t bother to push it back into place as she plopped onto the floor.
I sat down beside her, but not too close. I wanted her to know that I was there for her.
‘We were meant to be saving the world but I’m being trained to destroy it.’
Unconsciously my hand shot forward, taking hers. ‘Lily you couldn’t have known.’ But the comfort was short-lived as Lily snatched her hand back.
‘I think I murdered someone – not just one person, five, maybe six people,’ she admitted, her voice like a ghost. ‘I don’t remember, there was screaming and blood, but I don’t know.’
I spun onto my knees.
‘Lily this isn’t your fault. Harkness did this,’ I told her firmly. ‘Dr McKay said they were cognitive drugs, they wiped out anything Harkness didn’t need. When I saw you last night, you barely spoke or moved. Harkness took your dignity but he can never take your pride, your soul.’
Tears fell from her bloodshot eyes, then a sob broke from her lips.
‘Hey, it’s OK,’ I said, pulling her into a hug, my hands wrapping around her torso. I wasn’t going to leave. ‘You’re going to get through this, we need you, Lily. You’ve seen me fight, I’m like Bambi on ice.’ A watery laugh burst from her lips. ‘You’re amazing at your job.’
‘Oh God,’ she muttered. ‘Don’t go all motivational.’ She pulled back, wiping the tears away.
I gasped in mock horror.
‘You’re kidding, I have a whole speech planned.’ She laughed again and I smiled gingerly.
It was like we were those first years I’d seen outside, just talking and laughing.
‘Don’t tell me you’re going to be that motivational Carrier who gives pep talks before every op?’ she asked.
‘No but I’ll leave you with this one, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’
She cringed a little, but then the spark ignited in her eyes, like it had never left.
‘What doesn’t kill me better run.’
CHAPTER 33
Alethiology
The study of truth.
NAOMI JADE
2 May 2016, 14:42
Scotland, The Reign Academy, Lower Levels
I don’t think I’d ever been this nervous in my life.
‘Carrier One, are you in position?’ Quinn’s voice floated through the earpiece as I slowly crept down the stairs to the lower levels.
They were darker than I thought, the walls even dingier. If I wasn’t wearing a school blazer I would have cringed at the dampness on the wall, the wretched smell making my stomach turn. Was there an open sewer down here? As I hit the last step and pressed my back against the wall, a thumping sounded from the floor above and the naked lightbulb began to swing. Above us were the interrogation rooms I’d passed on the way here – what poor student had Harkness thrown in this time?
I tapped my earpiece twice to let Quinn know I was in position. There was no way anyone could whisper down here without being heard – then again, that was the point.
‘Cutting security team comms now.’
The thumping from the floor above grew louder, the ceiling shaking. The movement meant the lightbulb swung closer to me so I shimmied to the left, cramming myself against the wall to avoid casting a shadow. I knew those games of hide and seek would come in handy.
Just then I heard two sets of shoes smack in unison down the stairs ahead, and even though my mind told me it was Duke or Harkness, I knew it wasn’t. Kayson and Lily walked down, blank looks on their faces, but thankfully this time it was all for show. Neither of them made eye contact with me as they passed, and a couple of seconds later, their hollow footsteps came to a stop.
‘We’ve came to escort our Team Lead to medical. She’s in isolation.’ Lily spoke, her voice void of emotion.
‘No one leaves unless authorised by a member of staff,’ a gruff voice said, sounding like he smoked twenty a day.
‘We were sent by staff, they’re unavailable for this collection,’ Kayson said.
God, he made Jessica sound like an animal or a piece of meat. When we planned this last night, she was always referred to as the package – shouldn’t we have just used her name? Or her code name, since she chose it?
‘Who sent you?’ the man asked.
‘Ames,’ Lily replied, without a second’s hesitation.
Silence lingered in the air for a moment, my breath going cold in my lungs – did he believe them? I heard some clicking and then static, before the man spoke again.
‘I need to get Ames down in isolation . . . repeat, I need Ames in isolation now . . . is anyone there?’
Quinn’s work was at play and boy, I loved the sound of it.
A chair screeched back as the man continued to yell into his comms, but then frantic footsteps sprinted down the stairs in front of me, a slender, crooked hand curling around the entrance. If they walked any further would they see me? Would Lily and Kayson let me get thrown into a cell?
‘Cameron, comms are down!’ another man shouted raggedly. ‘Alarms are going off on the top floor, there’s been a break-in.’
Not even a second passed before the gruff man ran past me, not even looking in my direction as he followed his colleague. I was about to run from my hiding place when the man’s voice yelled again.
‘You two come with us, you can’t be down here!’
This couldn’t have gone better.
I tiptoed, keeping my back pressed against the wall before flipping to the wall behind, standing right next to the opening. From my new position I could see straight ahead: a long corridor with a green floor, a security desk to the left and a few cells lining the walls, and further ahead, another set of black grate stairs. Kayson and Lily followed the man’s orders and ran after him – just as Lily reached the steps she slammed a bunch of lanky, heavy iron keys into my chest, before disappearing up the stairs.
Quinn had hacked into Thompson’s files and found that the cells unlocked with a standard key, no need for a security pass. Once Quinn had knocked the comms out, Dr McKay called from the fourth floor (the furthest away from cells) claiming there was a break-in, and when the guards went running, Lily grabbed the keys.
‘Carrier One, cameras are down. You have approximately eight minutes to get in and grab the package before the security comms go back up and the guard returns to his post. Nightingale will meet you at the lift doors on the ground floor.’
Showtime.
With a couple of shaky breaths I took off running, the black grate stairs in sight. I couldn’t help but wonder if there were students in these cells – were they all occupied? At the top of the stairs my mouth opened wide – it really was a prison. To my left and right were walkways, cells on each side, then below another whole floor filled with even more. The whole thing was in the shape of a silo, but as I descended the stairs to the lower floor, the close ceiling suddenly resembled the heavens, bright floodlights bearing down on me.
‘Carrier One, you need to keep moving.’ Quinn’s words made me jump, the keys jangling. ‘Seven minutes.’
Right, on a deadline, need to keep moving.
From the records we found it looked like they’d put Jess in cell number 47, and thankfully, the numbers were on plaques next to each door. Then I spied it, four and seven, forty-seven.
I hurled over but before I let hope overwhelm me I remembered I was holding a whole ring of keys and they weren’t numbered. There had to be at least thirty keys on this thing.
‘Carrier One, you have six minutes.’
‘OK, slight problem, there’s a lot of keys,’ I said, spreading them out along my hand.
‘You’re going to need to try all of them,’ Quinn said. ‘They aren’t labelled are they?’
I didn’t see anything at a quick glance, but then I took a look at the stem of the key and saw a very familiar sight: X, V, L and I.
‘What’s the roman numeral for forty-seven?’ I blurted.
‘X, L, V, I, I.’ Grace’s voice cut through without missing a beat.
Fiddling with the keys, spinning them round the circle, I came to the key with those exact letters. Guess they had a thing for roman numerals around here. Thrusting the key into the lock I twisted it, yanking the door open.
I’d expected to see Jess crying in the corner but it seemed the time for that had long since passed. She was sat at the back of the cell, knees bent and body rigid, her face stained with dry tears. Her clothes askew, shoulders marked in red, lip split and bleeding.
‘They send you to shoot me?’ she asked, but her voice was tired, gritty like sand. ‘Thought they would at least have sent Lily.’
I felt like I couldn’t move – she thought I was here to shoot her? Didn’t she know this was a rescue? As I stepped further into the cell, the light cast on my face and Jessica’s eyes snapped shut.
‘You’re not real, these hallucinations are getting worse.’
‘You’re not hallucinating,’ I said softly. ‘Jess, we’re here to break you out.’
‘Now my mind is really going at it,’ Jessica laughed bitterly. ‘Got the hair colour wrong though and your face is weird.’
‘That’s just the disguise,’ I told her, rubbing at the foundation to expose my skin colour but she didn’t even notice, her gaze in constant battle with the open door.
She didn’t even try to run. Did she not think she was worthy of rescue?
I knelt down, taking her hands. She flinched, trying to pull away, but I kept a firm grip. Then her eyes fixed on mine, her long slender fingers reaching out to cup my cheek, grazing my skin. Jessica’s lips parted as a weight visibly left her shoulders.
Without a second’s hesitation I pulled her into a hug, her hands tightly gripping my body.
‘You’re here.’ Her voice but a ghost. ‘You’re real.’
‘I’m here.’
How many times she’d been thrown in here? How many times had she dreamed of escaping this cell? How many times had she dreamed of me? Gripping her shirt, I hugged her as tight as I could, as if she might disappear in a split second.
‘Carrier One, report,’ Grace’s voice demanded.
&nbs
p; ‘I have the package.’ At my words Jessica pulled away, her eyes flitting to my ear, but then I grabbed her hand, squeezing it softly. ‘We’re all here.’
Shock was the only way I could think to describe her expression, before it crumbled to relief.
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘Someone has a very persuasive group of friends,’ I told her with a soft smile. ‘I also made a promise, that I nearly broke, and because of that we nearly lost this entire team.’
‘Guys we can all have a good catch-up later, you need to start moving,’ Lily warned.
‘Four minutes,’ Quinn’s voice ticked away in my ear.
I took Jessica’s hand, pulling her up from the floor and leading her out into the light. Now came the tricky part. I took the lead, barrelling up the stairs as fast as I could, past the security desk to the main entrance stairs.
Then I stopped, pulling out the gun I’d hidden in my blazer pocket and handing it to Jess. A small smile graced her face as she took the safety off.
‘We need to make it to the ground floor, but these stairs lead to the floor above.’ Almost on cue a thundering bang echoed from upstairs, but Jessica knew exactly what I meant. ‘Shoot to injure.’
She paused at my words but nodded, unsatisfied, climbing the stairs.
‘Carrier One, package is being transported,’ I reported.
‘You sound so fucking weird saying that,’ Jessica said, and even though I was in front of her I could feel the grin on her face.
‘Just focus on shooting people, please.’
As we came closer to the top of the stairs I slowed until Jess passed me, taking the lead. The thundering bangs now sounded like smacking and cracking, like a boot on bone.
‘How did you get down here last time?’ Jessica whispered, looking back at me.
‘There wasn’t anyone there when I passed, I just brought the gun in case.’
‘Of what?’
‘Well, you know, someone trying to attack me,’ I mumbled.
‘Naomi, do you even know where to put the magazine on this thing?’ she asked.
‘Well, I don’t know how Hello magazine is going to help here.’ Jessica turned back, her face almost asking if I was serious, but then she turned back around, shaking her head. ‘What’s that face for?’