Max sighed, looking defeated. “Simin came in and saw the code ready on the screen, so I had to blame it on someone.”
I gritted my teeth, trying to hold in all the pain. I tried to get to the peaceful place, tried to touch the shining calm like I was able to do in meditation practice. But all I could feel was rage.
“Is that all?”
He nodded. “I swear, Zoe, that’s all.”
I grabbed him roughly by the arm and dragged him up off the floor. “If you try to get away again, I’ll kill you.”
Max’s eyes widened. He looked at me like he didn’t know me, and it was true—he didn’t. I realized in that moment I was capable of much worse, and that if something happened to Adrien, I might even enjoy it.
He nodded slowly.
“Good.” I forced him ahead of me with my grip like a steel band around his arm. The telek sang in my mind, a harsh screaming harmonic. I spoke into my arm com, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible. “I’ve got him. Meet me in the Caf.” I pushed the mangled equipment room door out of the way and steered Max out into the hallway.
Hurried footsteps pounded down the hallway toward us. I looked up just as a shrill voice called. “Max! Max!”
Molla, stomach protruding far in front of her, was running straight toward us.
“Stop,” I said, putting out an arm to keep her back with my power. Molla struggled like a wild animal against the soft invisible barrier my telek created. I heard more footsteps behind me and saw Cole and Juan running after her.
Tears gleamed in Molla’s eyes. “They said you’ve been here all this time…”
“I’m sorry,” Max said, his eyebrows knit in what looked like genuine remorse. But I knew him too well now. He slipped on masks like others did a fresh tunic. “I tried to talk to you, but you always turned me away.”
“Because I thought you were Adrien!” she shouted. “You didn’t come back for me, did you? You came for her.” She spun on me, hatred in her eyes. “Why is it always her?”
She launched herself at me, but Cole and Juan caught her and held her tight. She struggled against them.
“Calm down, Molla, please,” Max said, pleading. “Think of the baby.”
Juan looked at Cole. “Can you take her out of here?”
Cole nodded and swept the weeping girl up into his arms.
“I’m sorry,” Max called after her.
Juan looked at Max with loathing, pulling out a syringe from his pocket. “Jilia gave me this. He deserves much worse.”
“I’ll hold him still.” I turned to look at Max and poured my telek over him so he couldn’t move while Juan stepped closer and inserted the needle in his neck. “Take him to the Med Center and let Jilia know that Saminsa was innocent.”
“Wait, Zoe, I’m so sorry,” Max said. “You have to believe me, I’m so sorry—”
He slumped to the ground.
When I got into the Caf, I saw Adrien’s mother pointing at a 3-D satellite map hovering in the cube over the central table. The rest of my team was sitting around the table and several Rez fighters stood nearby. I hurried in and grabbed a chair.
“Ginni says Adrien is in Portston, and the Chancellor is with him.” Sophia pushed on the image and the map zoomed in. “Right here, in this building.” She pulled back. “So we need to organize an extraction mission. Can we get the schematics of the building?”
“Wait,” City said. “Shouldn’t we think about this? Won’t it be another trap?”
Sophia’s eyes flashed. “He’s my son!”
“And Bright is the Underchancellor of Defense.” City’s voice rose. “She has squadrons of Regs at her command. It’d be suicide.”
“The girl’s right,” said one of the Rez fighters, stepping forward. “We can’t risk countless lives on a mission just to rescue one person.” Things were quickly spiraling out of control, everyone arguing and panicking. The General slammed her hand on the table.
“Enough,” she said. She turned to the Rez fighter. “Normally I would agree with you. But he’s not just any boy. His visions make him an incredibly dangerous asset that is now in the Chancellor’s hands. Leaving him with her could endanger us all. The Chancellor will know every step before we make it. She’s already crippled us. If Adrien stays with her, she’ll be able to finish us off.”
“But you just said it. She knows every move we’ll make. She’ll see us coming if we try to rescue him,” City said.
Taylor looked at her calmly. “Yes, she will most likely see it coming. But we still have to try.”
“Even if we get past all the security measures she’s sure to have, there’s still her compulsion power to consider,” Tyryn said quietly. “She could use her power to make us surrender, or even turn against each other.”
“Tyryn’s right,” I said. “I’ve seen her make people throw themselves into concrete walls, stab themselves. As soon as you get within a hundred yards of her, she could make you all attack one another.”
“What about the gas? That could take out her power,” Xona said.
Taylor shook her head. “No one could get close enough to administer it without falling under her compulsion first.”
A terrifying realization settled in my bones. I felt cold. Really, I’d known it all along. There could be no other way. “It has to be me, and me alone.” My voice was loud in the suddenly still room.
Taylor nodded. I could see she’d long ago come to the same conclusions. “Yes. Every day he stays with the Chancellor is another day the Resistance’s secrets are compromised. More and more Rez cells are getting cracked. We thought it was because her network of spies was increasing, but it’s clear now it’s because she has access to Adrien and his visions. The only way we have a fighting chance is if we remove him and kill the Chancellor. Then all knowledge of the future Adrien’s already told her dies with her. She wouldn’t have trusted anyone else with those secrets.”
I nodded. “So I go in alone, kill her, and get Adrien.” The words sounded absurd to me even as I said them. I had the urge to laugh hysterically. It was beyond impossible. I balled my hands into fists instead.
“And if the girl fails?” asked one of the Rez fighters. “What then?”
“That’s why Zoel is not going alone,” Taylor said.
“But I have to—” I started, but she interrupted me.
“You can’t even operate a duo. How do you expect to get there?”
I thought about how much trouble Adrien had when he’d driven the thing during our escape from the alcove, and he’d grown up driving and flying. The panic I’d been trying to contain threatened to bubble out. “So what do we do?”
“I’ll fly you in as close as I can get and still be out of the Chancellor’s range of compulsion. We’ll land here.” She pointed to the rooftop of a building near where Ginni said Adrien and the Chancellor were. “There’s a skywalk connecting the two buildings.” She zoomed in and I saw a glass-enclosed walkway threaded between the top floors.
Sophia looked at the General. “But if the Chancellor does somehow manage to catch you in her compulsion web, you’ll tell her all the Rez’s secrets. I should be the one driving Zoel in. I’m no one, I don’t matter.”
“I will be taking her,” Taylor said, her voice hard. “I’m the best pilot here, and I’ve pulled myself out of the inner circle of intelligence for quite some time now, since I come and go so often. Not that it will matter. I won’t get close enough for the Chancellor to use her compulsion on me anyway.”
Taylor directed her attention back to me. “You stay on coms with Ginni and she can direct you to where Adrien and the Chancellor are in the building. The rest of the team will follow at a distance behind us in an attack transport in case we encounter any difficulties trying to leave. Once the Chancellor is dead, they can move in without risking falling under her compulsion.”
“But what if it doesn’t work?” pressed the Rez fighter who’d spoken up earlier. “What if the girl is unable to
