Abandon

Jag 21.

I blamed the evacuation on Thane. That solved all my problems. I already disliked him. And then I wouldn’t have to think about or deal with one of my own team betraying me.

We had enough hoverboards for everyone in the cavern except Indy and her team, who had arrived by transport. Our escape would not be fast or easy. The transport had been parked several miles to the southeast, hidden in a grove of trees. I sent Indy and her assistant, Lex, to retrieve it.

By the time they returned, the food was packed. Pace had the tech boxed up. Extra clothes and blankets had been bagged. Everything went through the emergency exit and into the transport.

I put Indy’s people in with the supplies and sent them off. “Vi, anything?”

“Thane definitely got a comm from Van, but I don’t sense the Director anywhere near here.”

I turned to Thane. “Could it have been a repeat? Sent earlier and you’re just now getting it?”

“You’ve asked me that four times. The answer is still no.” Thane alone seemed undisturbed by the flashing blue light and the flurry of activity surrounding him.

“Gunn and Raine, you’re on deck. Fly west. Meet up in Grande.”

“You got it, boss,” Gunn said, guiding Raine through the emergency exit first.

Five minutes later I sent Thane out into the wild with Indy and Pace with strict instructions for them to watch him closely. Pace saluted, but Indy glared. Vi and I were the only ones left in the cavern. I deactivated the alarm and stood in the shadows, waiting.

“I don’t think he’s here,” Vi said. “Honestly, I don’t.”

“Do you think he knows where this place is?”

“Possibly.” Her tension indicated that she had more to say, and that I wouldn’t like it.

“Then we can’t stay here,” I said.

“Raine should be scanned again.”

My arms felt heavy as I raised them to stretch. Exhaustion clung to me. Sleepless nights kept Vi from entering my nightmares, but I was paying the price. “Anyone who’s been inside city limits should be scanned again,” I said.

I motioned to her hoverboard. “After you. Use the solar portlet until the sun goes down.”

She climbed out, and I followed. I unfolded my board and set our course more toward the west than the south. Vi brought her board close and took my hand in hers. This simple touch ignited a fire in my blood.

We flew side by side, hand in hand, until the sun went down.

* * *

With true night closing in, I needed to find somewhere safe to spend the night. I touched down near a couple of trees, thinking we could use them for shelter. This excursion reminded me of the morning Vi and I had found refuge in an old shack in the Fire Region of the Goodgrounds.

I wondered if she remembered. What had been taken from her? I knew her memories of me were limited at best.

“I remember,” she said, landing behind me. “I remember everything now.”

“Nice,” I whispered, pulling her close. Her blue-green eyes were two bright spots against the reigning blackness.

She closed her eyes and kissed me. White noise filled my ears. I couldn’t bring her close enough. She couldn’t hold me tight enough, despite the twinges of pain from the healing skin on my back.

A low sound came from her throat, one I took to mean I love you, Jag Barque. I matched the moan, our mouths moving in sync. I would never tire of her lips, but I slid mine over her neck and toward her ear. She pressed closer in response.

The thin barrier of clothing between us was too thick. Vi’s skin felt searing hot.

“Jag,” she breathed, but it wasn’t her usual We have to stop. It was more like I want you to kiss me forever.

I was more than happy to oblige. Her hands slid over my shoulders and tenderly down my healing back, along the waistband of my jeans. My fingers tangled in her hair, and then pushed the collar of her shirt to the side, revealing her milky white shoulder. I kissed her there, desperate to hear her approval.

She gave it in a single word. “Jag.”

I wanted her to say my name again and again in that throaty, pleasure-filled voice. I didn’t expect what came next.

“Stop.”

I didn’t. I couldn’t. Or wouldn’t. They were the same.

“Stop.” This time her throatiness was replaced with urgency.

I stopped.

“We’re not alone,” she whispered, hastily adjusting her shirt with one hand as she clung to me, looking over my shoulder into utter blackness.

Zenn 22.

“I am alone,” I said out loud, to myself, and the words disappeared into the endless sky, confirming their reality.

Jag 23.

We’re not alone. Vi’s voice sounded in my head this time, spiking the panic already welling in my gut.

Zenn 24.

I took three steps toward Cedar Hills and called Saffediene’s name. I changed direction and repeated this procedure until I’d gone in a complete circle. I reached out with my mind, desperate to find her lurking just over the hill.

She wasn’t. The closest person I could find was collecting water from a well outside the border.

A squeal pierced my ears and my left hand flew to my left ear to deactivate the cache. While it shut down and restarted, I recalled the basics of the mission to Cedar Hills.

Enter through the friendly northern border and proceed to Greenhouse Eighty. Cedar Hills was in the business of preserving and classifying species of flowers, trees, shrubs, and herbs.

The flora was then transported to other cities for the repopulation of the country’s greenery. Greenhouses covered the entire northern half of the city and nearly every Citizen of Cedar Hills worked in them.

According to Gunn’s dad, Greenhouse Eighty was run by Insiders. Meetings were held there, beneath vines and aspens. The foliage and soil of the outgoing plants contained coded messages.

The sun beat down on me, but I clung to my thin blanket, the only thing I had to my name at this point. As