CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

THE PRISONER IN THE SILO II

It’s the principle of the thing,” Cass said, shaking her head at the patch of freshly trampled dirt. “Do you know how hard I worked getting those seeds to sprout?”

Cass walked over to the door, where a security guard was now posted twenty-four hours a day. She and Clay wouldn’t be able to sneeze without Ms. Mauvais knowing about it.

“Did you even wait to apprehend us before destroying my garden?” Cass shouted at the door. “Strange set of priorities, if you ask me!”

I could say the same to you, Clay thought, but he didn’t say so aloud.

He sat against the wall, slumped down with his chin on his knees. He wished Cass would stop yelling so he could be miserable in silence. He had failed—totally, utterly, no-bones-about-it failed. No, it was worse than that. What was it called when you double down on failure? Instead of rescuing Cass, he’d been thrown into jail with her; there were now two prisoners rather than one.

All they could do was sit and wait… for what? Who would come save them? Owen and the Earth Ranch crew were grounded, thanks to the volcano’s appetite for seaplanes, and who else was there? Max-Ernest? Yeah, right, Clay thought. Fat chance.

Cass stopped pacing and looked at Clay, as if noticing him for the first time. “Clay? I hope you’re not just sitting there moping,” she said sternly.

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“That’s ridiculous. Things could be much worse.”

“Worse?” Clay said, exasperated. “How?”

Cass shrugged. “We could be trapped in here with one of those dragons. Or they could be torturing us for information. Or we could be shipped off to some supersecret Midnight Sun prison in Antarctica.…”

“Okay! I didn’t actually want examples,” Clay said. “I just can’t believe I messed this up so badly.”

“Don’t blame yourself. It’s very self-indulgent.”

“Thanks,” said Clay sarcastically. “That makes me feel a lot better.”

Cass seemed like she was about to lecture him some more, then stopped herself and sat down next to Clay. “Look. Back in the day, your brother and I got in much worse scrapes, and we always got through it.”

That was the last thing Clay wanted to hear about. “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. “My brother never would have screwed things up so bad. And I’m sure if he was here, he would tell me all about it.” He paused. “If he talked to me at all.”

“Uh, excuse me?” Cass said, leaning back to look at Clay. “Max-Ernest screwed things up plenty of times, believe me. And let’s face it: He has a lot of faults, but not talking has never been one of them.”

“Oh yeah?” Clay scoffed. “The last time I saw him, the only time he visited in two years, he talked a lot, sure—to you, on the phone. But he only talked to me for a minute, and that was about what kind of helmet I should wear when I skateboard. I don’t think safety lectures really count as quality time.”

Cass looked at him with what for her passed as sympathy. “You know what he was talking to me about that day?” she asked.

Clay shook his head.

“He was trying to convince me not to come here alone.” She glanced around their silo prison. “And, in hindsight, he had some good points.”

“Okay, so he doesn’t even convince you not to go on a suicide mission—sorry, it’s true—and then the minute he gets off the phone he runs off to Mexico with that Anthony dude. He barely said good-bye.”

“Well, he and Anthony had to go talk to this man named Perry about the Keep.”

“Perry? You mean Brett’s father. The guy who kidnapped Ariella for the Midnight Sun.”

“Well, whatever he did in the past, he’s a broken man now. The Midnight Sun beat him up and left him on the side of the road in Baja. More or less.”

“He deserves it,” said Clay, remembering the moment when Brett’s father left him and Brett under the volcano to die.

“Maybe so… Your brother and Anthony didn’t get anything useful out of him, but they had to try.” She sighed. “Anyway, I’m sure they enjoyed themselves. It was their first trip together and all.”

Clay looked at her askance. “Wait—you don’t mean together together?”

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Cass asked, flustered.

Clay shook his head.

Cass could see the wheels turning inside him. “Are you surprised that he’s with a guy?”

Shrugging, Clay considered this. “I guess I’m surprised he’s with anyone at all.…”

Cass smiled. “I know what you mean. Max-Ernest isn’t exactly the dating type.” She nudged Clay with her shoulder. “That’s why we should be happy for him, right?”

“I guess so,” said Clay, not entirely convinced.

“But maybe a little sorry for Anthony,” Cass joked.

“Yeah, heh…” Clay chuckled. “I hope he likes puns. Like, a lot.”

(I’m afraid I don’t see the humor here.)

“At least he’ll get chocolate,” Cass reflected.

“What about you?” Clay asked. “Weren’t you with Yo-Yoji?”

Cass threw her head back and laughed so loud it echoed in the silo. “Oh that was a long time ago! Yo-Yoji has had a lot of girlfriends since then. Comes with the territory, traveling the world as a DJ. You know he’s designing his own product line now? It started with headphones. Now there are phone cases, sneakers, sunglasses…” Cass shook her head, lost in some memory. “I’m counting on him to start funding the Terces Society.

“And you?” she asked. “You seem a little more… advanced than Max-Ernest and I were when we were your age.… Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Er, no, but…” Clay could feel his face turning red. He was grateful for the darkness.

“There’s a girl you like?”

“Sorta.” Clay avoided meeting Cass’s eyes.

“She has a boyfriend?”

“I don’t think so.…”

Just then there was a loud tinny banging sound from above, and then an echoing caw.

Clay looked up in surprise. Satya’s falcon, Hero, was swooping down from an air vent with something hanging from her beak.

“She has a bird, though,” he said, staring.

“That one?”

“Yep—ow!”

Hero landed on Clay’s shoulder, digging her claws in, and dropped Clay’s ski hat into his lap.

“Thanks,” said Clay to Hero as calmly as he could.

The falcon bowed her head in acknowledgment. Then, job done, she lifted off and flew back up and out of the vent, leaving Clay rubbing his shoulder.

Inside the hat, there was a folded-up piece of paper.

Cass raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s one way to send a love note.”

Blushing even harder, Clay opened it. Satya had scrawled a few words in pencil:

Be ready in five—

Reading over Clay’s shoulder, Cass smiled. “Hmm, I think I like this girl.”

They were waiting right beside the door, when Satya stepped into the silo, leaving the door cracked open behind her. Hero was sitting on her arm.

“You guys ready?”

Clay nodded, his ski hat now back on his head. “What happened to the guard?”

Satya grinned and held up a walkie-talkie. “I used my dad’s walkie to call him off. But he won’t be gone long. We have about three minutes to get out of here, tops.” She looked at Cass. “I’m Satya, by the way.”

“Cass. And thanks,” said Cass.

“Yeah, thanks. This is so… awesome of you.…” After his confessional conversation with Cass, Clay was having a hard time looking Satya in the eye.

He made for the door, but Satya pressed a hand to his chest.

“Wait—first I want to know who you are. Really.”

“I wanted to tell you,” said Clay eagerly, “but—”

Cass clasped them both by the shoulder. “I don’t want to ruin the moment, but can we do this later?”

“Sure.” Satya nodded and pushed open the door.

“Clay! My name is Clay!” Clay said as the three dashed outside.