Abandon

A few minutes later Jag sent Pace and Saffediene back across the ocean sporting backpacks filled with supplies, which only left me, Gunn, and Vi to bust Thane out of Rise One.

“We’ll attract less attention with a smaller group,” Jag said. “River doesn’t have more fake IDs anyway.”

“Who’s going to tether the boards?” I asked.

“Yeah, that,” Jag said, and I knew I wouldn’t like whatever came next. “Pace took your board. He left his for you—with the tethered boards.”

I glared at the ocean, as if it was to blame for this.

“Your board was the only one not voice activated,” Jag continued. “I had no other choice.”

Right. Or it was just another clever way for Jag to stick it to me.

* * *

Ten a.m. found me changing into standard-issue clothes and clipping a fake ID to my collar. I descended to the lobby, where the rest of the rescue team waited.

“Nice,” Jag said, examining us in Freedom’s finest. “We look official enough.”

We took to the streets with River’s team of three at ten thirty a.m. The few people out walked in straight lines, black suits glinting in the weak March sunlight. I was used to the silence that permeated the streets of Freedom. If people spoke, they used their cache.

Insider Tip #3: Follow the rules of the city you’re in. If you don’t know the rules, keep your mouth shut.

I glared at Jag, hoping he wouldn’t speak out loud. He must’ve gotten the message, because he kept quiet the whole way to Rise One. We walked right up to it and past a huddle of Enforcement Officers. River held the door open, and we filed toward the ascenders in the back of the lobby.

I couldn’t believe how easy everything was going. Adrenaline surged through me, making my nerves jump.

I swallowed hard when we arrived on the seventh floor. The air felt charged, yet eerily abandoned, as if the whole operation had been moved somewhere else since we’d been gone. Lab seven, though the largest, certainly wasn’t the only place in Freedom where heinous acts went down. Maybe we were in the wrong room.

But the two doctors standing guard at the end of the hall suggested differently. They’d already drawn their weapons and aimed them in our direction.

Gunn and Jag sprinted toward them while Vi squeezed her eyes shut. Even though my mind control wasn’t very developed, I knew she was keeping the guards frozen and silent.

Then Gunn and Jag said in tandem, “Release the weapons. Open this door.”

The guards put down their tasers, punched in the codes to open the door. Vi and I joined Gunn and Jag, and we took a collective breath as the glass slid sideways.

Inside the lab Raine already had her hand cemented to Thane’s. The walls blared with color that almost formed images.

“Damn,” I said.

Jag 9.

This is a trap circled through my mind. Everything felt too easy, despite the fact that Raine’s hand was already glued to Thane’s. A sense of unease skittered over my skin.

“Zenn, Gunn,” I said so softly I wasn’t sure they heard me, but they both sprang into action.

“Release her,” Zenn commanded the lone technician in the room. He didn’t move. Zenn’s fingers curled into fists. “Release her. Now.”

The technician held his ground, his dark eyes glinting with defiance. He thrust out his jaw. “I won’t. You can’t brainwash me.”

Zenn cocked his fist back and punched the technician in the face. He crumpled to the floor, leaving Zenn’s path to the counter of supplies unobstructed. I heard Gunn talking somewhere nearby. I heard metallic clangs and a shout. I heard a girl scream.

But I couldn’t tear my eyes from the two men seated at the silver counter: Regional Director Van Hightower and the General Director of the Association himself, Ian Darke.

Vi had to leave, now. I glanced at her, silently pleading with her to turn and return to River, to Rise Twelve, to safety. She spared me a half-second glance before returning her attention to her father.

“Ah, Jag Barque,” Ian Darke said, drawing my attention from Vi. Everything blurred along the edges, the same way it had when I found myself in that impossible situation in the Goodgrounds almost a year ago. Then, there had been so many voices. So many tasers. So many green robes. I’d managed some major speaking damage—until They silenced me.

Now, only Van and Ian stood before me, but I felt just as unsettled, especially with Vi still here.

Darke smiled and threw his arms wide, as if welcoming me home after a long absence. “So glad you could join us.”

I didn’t know how much time we had, but I knew it wasn’t long. Maybe not even minutes. Could I speak, though? Nope. I just stood there, staring at him. Thinking, So this is who I’ve been fighting for years.

I mean, I’ve always known it was Ian Darke. His profile in the Resistance is legendary. He’s powerful—and power hungry. His file is rivaled only by Van Hightower’s. If possible, he’s even hungrier for control, and rumor is he’d do anything to unseat the General.

“Hello, Ian,” I finally said. Around us, the images on the walls began to wash into grays.

“Jag,” Ian said, his voice scraping against my eardrums. “No cache, I see.” He tsked, as if I were a naughty boy who’d taken his feed out early.

“We just want Thane and Raine,” I said. “No one gets hurt.”

Van’s laugh was maniacal. It echoed off the silver in the cavernous room and actually made Vi whimper. Zenn squeezed her arm, then quickly set to work helping a very weak Raine onto one of the spare hoverboards.

Please go, I begged Vi again, but she didn’t look at me.

“Take them,” Ian said, waving his hand dismissively. “We got what we wanted.”

What? Or who? I thought, my hands tightening into fists. A distant, barely audible pinging echoed in my head. Thane’s drain couldn’t have been completed; we hadn’t been late.

“Everything you wanted?” I asked, molding my voice into coolness. If I could keep Van and Ian talking long enough, maybe the no-one-getting-hurt thing would actually happen.

“Except you,” Ian said.

You, you, you, echoed in my mind. I forced him out, the anger burning through my body with enormous heat. I took a breath to quench the fire inside.

“How’d you get in my building?” Van asked.

“Your city is not as secure as you think it is.” I’d deliberately left River and her team down in the lobby. No need to compromise their identities if I didn’t have to.

Van’s eyes narrowed. His chest rose in self-importance. “I’ve destroyed all the Insider hideouts.”

I crossed my arms and shrugged with one shoulder. “That you know of.”

Rage transfigured his features, and I took a step backward at the change in him.

“You will not leave here alive,” he growled.

“Oh, I think I will,” I said, but my heart jumped as if it might be on its last beats. Just like in the capsule.

I schooled my thoughts, shoving the disturbing reminder of imprisonment to the back of my mind.

Ian snapped his fingers, and a door in the back of the lab clicked. “I’ve heard you have no stomach for confined spaces.”

My breath wisped against my dry throat. I raised my chin in a gesture to Gunn to get the hell out of there.