Poison

by Lan Chan

  “Jackson!” Vargas says. “I told you I wanted the weed killer report this morning. Imagine my surprise when I noticed it wasn’t on my desk.” He sniffs the air. “Why do you smell like flowers?”

  I make some guttural noises in my throat and cover my mouth with my hand. “Sorry, boss,” I say in as low a voice register as I can. I pepper my speech with coughing. “Flowers are some new medication the doctors put me on. Think I’m coming down with something.” To prove my point, I hock up a loogie and spit it at the ground between us.

  Vargas steps backwards in disgust. His eyes narrow, and I think for sure we’re caught, but then he pulls on his sleeves as though that’s enough to keep my germs away.

  “On my desk in the morning or else.” Then he turns and climbs back up the watchtower stairs. I waste no time following Aiden as far away from the wall as possible. We run for what seems like an age, and only when the dense undergrowth of the forest shields the wall from us completely does Aiden slow to a stop.

  “Thank goodness,” Aiden says. “I thought for sure he made us. Good thing you’re so good at lying.”

  It’s hard, but I let the comment slide.

  “What’ll we do if this Jackson woman actually shows up?” I ask.

  “She won’t. I slipped her something that Yuri cooked up. Which way now?”

  I point in the direction I travelled to the Citadel and try to suppress the unpleasant memories that surface. “We need to get across the river,” I say. I replay the moments before the piranha tore Leura from the bridge. I cling to the image of Leura’s smile and the way the sunlight picked up the brown tones in her dark hair. I close my eyes and relive Sully barking at me to keep moving. My lips tremble and I pinch myself to keep in the real world.

  “Rory?” The alarm in his voice dispels my demons. I look up and find his hooded eyes staring into mine. Or at least where he thinks my eyes are. We stay that way for too long, and I start to feel overheated. He breaks the silence first.

  “I never noticed how haggard Jackson is,” he says. That’s a coincidence because it’s just dawning on me how incredibly handsome Aiden is. A desperate howl of a sabrewolf drifts to us on the wind. I reach for my knives.

  “It’s okay,” Aiden says. “It’s one of ours.”

  “How can you be sure?” He points to the red light on his neck. It’s the first time he’s acknowledged the implant. I know so little about what experiments have taken place since I’ve been away, but Aiden was always good with animals before. What must it be like now?

  “Does it hurt?” I ask.

  “Every second I’m awake,” he says. “But it’ll get us over the bridge in one piece, so that’s something.”

  I’m sceptical, but when we’re halfway across the bridge with no sign of swelling waves of piranhas, I have to admit the effects of the implant are real.

  “Why does the Citadel even have the bridge here if they clearly don’t want people to cross it?”

  “It’s a training bridge used to test the control of the beast pilots. The blood you see on the slats is Seeder blood.”

  That would make me feel a little better, until I remember that at least some of the blood belongs to a Farmer girl who will never smile again.

  I take the lead once we’re safely across the bridge, and it’s like wading through a nightmare. That’s the spot where Leura stuck her feet into the water, not knowing how deadly it could be. There’s the tree with the lichen on it that I had to eat to stay alive. And then, just as I think the memories are going to overwhelm me, I catch a hint of honey and vanilla on the breeze. I lean on the trunk of a tree in relief.

  Aiden disables the hologram cuffs. “What if somebody sees me?” I say.

  “If somebody sees Jackson climbing a tree so high, we’re done for anyway. Besides, the sabres will warn me before their pilots sense us. It’s scary enough when you climb up there; I want to at least see the real you and not Jackson’s bony behind.”

  “You mean you’re not coming up with me?” I feign surprise.

  “What did I say about being a smartass?”

  I start climbing so this doesn’t turn into a real quarrel. Climbing the tree feels like coming home. I’ve missed the many textures of bark against my hands. I pick as many of the Micah’s Rose as I can possibly fit into one of the rucksacks. The rest I leave for the Seeders. The trees are almost bare when I’m done. There are enough plants for a few vials of serum and no more. I just hope it buys me some time to plan my next move.

  Aiden is in the exact same spot I left him, his head turned up as though he’s been watching me the whole time. I leap the last three metres and land with a soft thud. Aiden looks like he’s going to pass out.

  “I’ll never understand how you do that,” he says. He takes the laden rucksack from me and slings it over his shoulder.

  “If we had trowels, we could bury them now,” I say.

  “Too time consuming. Besides, being caught with random flowers is less condemning than being caught burying random flowers. I’ll just hand them over and say I found the rucksack,” Aiden says. I shrug.

  “It’s not like the Council will know how to use them.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Ninety-five percent of the flower is poisonous,” I say absently. “There’s only a small segment that can be used.”

  “What segment?”

  I find myself hesitating. Micah’s Rose has been my secret for so long that speaking aloud about it feels unnatural. Though, I don’t doubt Yuri will be able to discern the plant’s properties in a second with his fancy tests.

  “You don’t trust me,” Aiden says flatly.

  “I don’t trust anybody,” I say in my defence.

  “Am I supposed to take that as some sort of consolation?”

  I don’t like his tone, and the more he pushes, the angrier I get.

  “I don’t have to explain anything! If our roles were—”

  A click interrupts my rant. Aiden and I freeze.

  “Don’t mind me,” Vargas says. He comes out from behind the trunk of a tree with his gun lazily swinging from side to side. He’s followed us. “Keep arguing. This could almost be like old times.” He wanders closer, and Aiden steps out in front of me.

  “What are you going to do, Captain?” Vargas taunts. The red light in Aiden’s neck blinks rapidly, and I swear his hair is bristling. “You really want to hit me, don’t you? Go ahead and try. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

  I catch Aiden by the arm to stop him from advancing. His skin is dangerously hot and his muscles strain against where my fingers dig into him.

  “Remember what I said to you before?” Aiden says quietly. I do, but there’s no way I’m running.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Vargas says. The barrel of his gun is now firmly aimed at my chest.

  “As if you’d shoot her, you sick freak,” Aiden spits. “I knew there was a reason you applied for the guard. It was just so you could get posted near her, wasn’t it? I should have killed you when I caught you in her dressing room.”

  “But you didn’t, did you? And now Daddy’s an enemy of the Citadel. Nobody’s going to bail you out this time.”

  I can barely keep up with what they’re saying, but the implication is more than I can tolerate. If I’m right, then it means Vargas was the rabid fan in my dressing room. It means everything he’s done so far is born of a crazy obsession, which is much worse than if he truly hates me.

  I don’t remember his face, but it was years ago, and the scars help to disguise him. It can’t be a coincidence that Vargas’s scars look animal inflicted and Aiden is now a sabrewolf pilot.

  “What do you want, Vargas?” I say. The penetrating look he gives me tells me more than enough. I think of him telling me he was there the day I fell. I recall how interested in me he was back in the Landing. How he chose to address me as Wind Dancer instead of using my name. It turns my stomach.

  “You’re right about one thing, Captain,�
�� Vargas says. “I wouldn’t shoot her.” He lowers his gun a fraction. “You, on the other hand, are a different matter.”

  I scream as the gun goes off three times. I try to push Aiden aside, but he’s rooted to the spot. I know the moment he’s hit because he gasps and his knees bend, but he doesn’t go down. Instead, he growls like a wounded animal and charges towards Vargas. Unprepared for an attack, Vargas takes a step back and aims again. I flick a knife at his outstretched hand, and he screams but doesn’t drop the weapon. He shoots wildly, and I duck behind a tree to avoid being hit. Aiden barrels into Vargas and pushes him backwards. Vargas slams into a tree trunk, and the gun goes flying.

  Aiden towers over Vargas, and I expect him to pull out his own gun, but he doesn’t. “I told you the next time you go near her, I’d kill you,” Aiden says. He grabs Vargas by the scruff of his collar and slams him repeatedly into the tree. The older man cries out in pain.

  Vargas kicks out at Aiden’s midsection, and though his foot makes impact, it doesn’t faze Aiden in the slightest. Something is definitely off. Although Aiden’s physique has the makings of a warrior, right now Vargas still outweighs him. There’s no way Aiden should be able to throw Vargas around so easily. Tired of playing with his quarry, Aiden reaches for Vargas’s throat, and with a sickening crack, he breaks his neck. I don’t make a sound. It was so quick and much too precise for it to have been the first time Aiden’s done that.

  Vargas slumps, and gravity makes his body inch farther and farther towards the ground. Aiden braces himself against the trunk, his breath coming out in heavy gasps. The implant glows steadily red. Every now and then, he makes a low rumbling sound in his throat. It reminds me of the way Sully used to pace back and forth and growl if she was uneasy. If I didn’t know better, I would swear Aiden has regressed into the mindset of some kind of predator. But that’s just not possible. His head snaps upwards as though he’s sniffing the air. All of a sudden, he spins in my direction.

  “Aiden?” I have no idea what to do when suddenly he’s right in front of me. On his chest are three bullets lodged into a bulletproof vest. His arm shoots out and grips my left shoulder. I wince as his thumb digs into the flesh around my collarbone.

  “Ow! Aiden, let go!” My pleading falls on deaf ears. His head sways left to right and he growls ferociously. I draw back and slap him hard across the face with little effect. The pressure on my shoulder is unbearable. I squirm and my knees give out. His eyes are rabid and unfocused, and it dawns on me that his instruction for me to run might not have been due to outside dangers.

  I reach for one of my knives, hoping there’s still poison in the receptacle. With all my strength, I slice the blade across his forearm. He roars and tosses me aside, clutching at the wound. I don’t hesitate this time and start to climb as fast as I can. I’m out of luck because the poison in the blade should have immobilised his arm. Instead, he does something that makes me sure any trace of the sane Aiden is gone. He starts to climb after me.

  Thirty-Three

  There’s nothing I can do at this point but keep going. If I falter, there’s no telling what Aiden might do to me in his savage state. I leap from the tree I’m in to the next, and clumsy though he might be, Aiden does the same. His landing is less graceful than mine, but his sheer strength as he latches onto a branch keeps him from falling. The impact of his body shakes the tree like a storm, and I’m showered in leaves and drops of water. The animal in Aiden recognises his weight means he won’t be able to climb as high as I can, so he shakes the tree with all his might, and I have to circle the trunk with my arms to keep from falling.

  As soon as he ceases the shaking, I’m on my feet and diving for the next tree. This one is shorter, and the branches that will hold me are lower to the ground. This time, Aiden is slower to follow. His jump is less precise and he misses the mark. His fingers graze the target branch, and then he’s falling. I see him curl into a ball to protect his vital organs, but that doesn’t stop him from tumbling through a maze of sharp branches.

  I hold my breath as the moment of his impact sends a shower of humus into the air. Nausea washes over me when I don’t hear him stirring. I make my way down and almost can’t believe it when I see he’s sitting up with his head cradled in his arms.

  “Aiden?” I don’t dare go any closer.

  His head snaps up and there’s blood running down his face from a cut on his forehead. His eyes have lost their animalistic fervour, but he continues to sniff the air between us.

  I take a step closer. He doesn’t move. After a while, I relax my posture but don’t sheath my knives. The adrenaline wears off slowly and a chill creeps in, making me shiver.

  “I told you to run,” Aiden says, finally unfurling from his cocoon. All trace of the madness appears to be gone.

  “I didn’t know you could climb,” I say. “What the hell have they done to you?” When he doesn’t answer, I creep forward and bend my knees so we’re face to face. “Aiden?”

  He sighs, running his fingers through his already tousled hair. “It’s the implant,” he says offhandedly. “Sometimes when I get agitated, it heightens my aggression. I can usually control myself enough not to let it take over.”

  “Usually?” If he has any sort of control, he could have fooled me. “And all the sabre pilots have the same chip in their heads?”

  His eyes close for a moment, and when he opens them, he seems far away.

  “Mine is a prototype. Something I agreed to in order to keep from being killed after my father was stripped of his title.”

  “They experimented on you.” Suddenly, I feel like of the two of us, I’m the one who got lucky. For the first time, I consider how much worse it would have been for Aiden alone in the Citadel, unable to trust anyone.

  “I’m so sorry,” I find myself saying. “I had no idea.” My apology makes his eyes go hard again.

  “You’d better get going,” Aiden says, changing the subject. “If this is how Vargas turns up, they’ll know I killed him.” He can’t really expect me to run now. But if I don’t, then what? Would I just run aimlessly and hope I’ll happen upon some Wanderers? More likely, the Seeders would get me first, and if not them, the Reapers would take me.

  An unpalatable idea presents itself at the thought of the Reapers. It’s so abhorrent I hardly dare suggest it. But the more I think about it, the more reasonable it becomes.

  “Have you got a hunting knife on you?” I ask.

  “What for?”

  “Do you or don’t you?” I snap.

  He takes out a bowie knife from his boot and hands it to me. We find Vargas’s body, and I reposition him so he’s lying flat on his back and tear open his shirt. The skin on his chest is so white in the moonlight. He is truly a ghost.

  “What are you doing?” Aiden says. He tries to snatch the knife away, but I slap his hand aside impatiently.

  “If I remove his heart and carve a Reaper symbol on his chest, it might throw the Council off your scent,” I say.

  Aiden staggers as though truly taken aback.

  “That’s insane.” I notice he makes no comment about Reapers being a myth, which tells me Reapers aren’t news to the Citadel.

  “Have you got a better idea?” Just as I suspected, he doesn’t. Bitterness rises in my throat before I’ve even made the first incision. I raise the knife and then slow my breathing. It’s just a pig, I urge myself. You’re just scoring pigskin like Kaede taught you. The tip of the knife licks Vargas’s chest and blood oozes over his ribs. I whine a little. Aiden’s hands cover mine.

  “Let me do it,” he says.

  I shake my head and continue to drag the blade across Vargas’s skin. I splutter and gasp as the stench of blood and foul odour of intestines pour from the now open cavity. I breathe through my mouth and force myself to continue. My cuts are amateurish and very rough. Vargas may as well have been mauled by an animal, because he’s a mess when I finish.

  “Can you,” I take a gulp of air. “Can you get
his heart out? I don’t think I’m strong enough.” Without questioning me, Aiden sticks his hand into the cavity and almost as deftly as the Reaper I saw that night, he rips Vargas’s heart out.

  I am dizzy from lack of oxygen, and the sight of so much blood makes me want to faint. Aiden is more confused than disgusted. I can tell he has no idea what to do with the heart. I want my Papa really badly. How did he do this every day? And to do it to save the lives of the people who killed my mother? The double helix I scrape across Vargas’s chest is more like two snakes having a fit, but it’ll have to do.

  “We need to move him,” I say. If the Council comes back to harvest the flowers and his body is found right here, it’ll be over for us.”

  Without another alternative, Aiden drops the heart into his rucksack amongst the flowers. Then he lifts Vargas’s body and we trudge back to the lake. We reposition Vargas on the banks, not close enough to the water for the piranhas to get him, but far enough away from the forest so anything is possible. For a second I consider throwing him into the lake but the Seeders would never believe he was that stupid.

  Aiden watches me with cool contemplation, his hands still caked with blood. “Is it safe to clean up?” I ask. In answer, he approaches the water to wash his hands, but I hang back until I’m sure we won’t become piranha food.

  Aiden reactivates the hologram cuffs, and we make our way silently back to the iron gates. I hold my breath as the gates swing open and we pass through without incident. I can’t believe it. I don’t let myself believe anything that’s happened tonight until I’m safely back inside the apartment.

  “Thank goodness Vargas didn’t mention going out to find you, or the guards might have been suspicious about why we came back without him,” I say to Aiden as he uncuffs me.

  His hand suddenly slides up my left arm and holds it there.

  “It wasn’t luck, Rory,” he says gravely. “He didn’t want anyone to know where he was going. As far as anyone knows, you were safe and sound in this room. He could have disappeared with you and no one would have realised until morning.” The severity of his meaning hits me like a bucket of ice. Any alternative outcome to tonight just doesn’t bear thinking about, and I won’t let it consume me. I can’t be a victim to Vargas’s memory along with everything else.