CHAPTER 18

Lexi dreamed of railroads, and of smoke, and of Riva Latour.

She escaped her bunk before sleep could catch her again. Her hair had become a fluffy white mess in need of a wash and a little gel, and she fussed with it, to no effect, before dressing in yet another borrowed item from Riva’s wardrobe: a white button-down shirt. The jeans were still her own. Good jeans never had to be washed. They were the cockroaches of fashion, designed to survive anything.

Callie mumbled. She was face-down, butt sticking out of the sheets. Sweat covered her bare shoulders. Something was seriously wrong with the way this girl slept.

Lexi touched Callie’s warm forehead and searched for the odd, shifting shape of a mind dreaming. She was chasing roads beneath a black and orange sky. A dark shape swooped overhead, casting a wide, deformed shadow. Beyond the mountains, dead things opened their eyes to the night. Her mom was sitting in the back seat, and she didn’t dare turn around, because that old bitch was dead too…

Lexi dissolved the nightmare and coaxed forth better memories, which mingled in the haphazard manner of dreams. Now the sun was out. She was following a trail near some abandoned mines, looking for little things—springs, screws, cogs. Mineko was helping, turning rocks and peering at dust. As she knelt beneath an overhang, the afternoon light streamed through the gaps in the rocks, dappling her thoughtful face.

Lexi stroked Callie’s cheek as she withdrew her hand. “Sleep well, kid.”

As she walked the silent halls of the bunker, it seemed at first that nobody but her was awake. She paused in the galley. The lights were on, suggesting she hadn’t been the first to rise after all.

She took the steps to the surface slowly, tracing the rough wall with her fingertips as she climbed, and sauntered down the long hall.

The front door was open.

It was just before dawn, the sky still dark but tinged with an early hint of sunlight. Riva stood on the footpath, her arms folded against her chest and her face turned upward. She seemed somehow to belong out here, a thin, Mohawked silhouette against a black sky streaked with red. A natural element of this melancholy hour that was neither morning nor night.

Lexi held her from behind, and they watched the morning emerge. Even sunrise couldn’t make this street attractive, but the shadows were deep enough to conceal the worst of the decay, and the glow rising above the fractured cityscape held a certain tragic grandeur. After all, the sun didn’t give a damn what it rose on. It had risen on worse and would set on better.

“I didn’t sleep well,” said Riva, still staring at the sky.

Lexi planted a light, nuzzling kiss on her neck. “I hope you know it’s dangerous out here.”

“Don’t worry. I’m still within shrieking panic of the front door.”

Lexi tightened her hold on Riva’s skinny waist. “I’m going to tell you a story. Three years ago, Callie had a girlfriend. A cute little brunette who worked behind the bar at Zeke’s. Now, Callie loved this girl. Spoiled her rotten. But she’s a smuggler, you know. Odd hours, long trips. And this girl, she wasn’t immune to getting lonely.”

“And that’s where you come in?”

“I used to frequent Zeke’s place back before him and me fell out. It’s the best queer club in Foundation. The only one, really. The other places are just gay and dyke bars. Anyway, every night, this gorgeous girl served me, and of course I’d flirt, because that’s how I’m wired.”

“Oh, Lexi…”

“I thought it’d be harmless, but it turned out I hadn’t read the girl right. She was out to detonate the relationship, and she used me. She fucked me so that she could fuck over Callie. I’m still not sure why.”

“You didn’t use that chip on her?”

“No. That would be disrespectful. A violation, in fact.”

“And now, three years later, Callie still won’t forgive you?”

“I won’t apologize. That’s why.”

Riva looked toward the horizon, where a line of ruined towers was highlighted by a soft red glow. “Pride?”

“Principle. In the aftermath, Callie called me a slut. That crosses the line. A grown woman issued me an invitation to fuck her. I took it. Why should I apologize? The sex wasn’t wrong. It was the woman’s motive that was wrong, and that’s not my problem.”

“I said sorry to you last night, but not because I didn’t have a good reason to react the way I did. I apologized because hurting me was the last thing you intended to do. Did you want to hurt Callie?”

“No.”

“Yet despite your best intentions, you did.”

“I get your point.” Lexi sighed. “Did somebody hurt you?”

“In a sense. At first, I didn’t have the words to explain why I was hurting. Then, when I finally found the words, nobody wanted to hear them.”

“It’s a new day.” Lexi took Riva’s hands and entwined their fingers, their cold palms finding warmth together. “Maybe that’s nothing special. Happens every twenty-four hours. But if you want, you can make this particular sunrise mean something.”

“I’m too scared. I don’t want these memories to become so many scars. I love the way you look at me now, and if I confess to you, there’s every chance I’ll never see that look again.”

“It won’t end that way. Not with me.”

Riva took an unsteady breath. “Those pills you saw in my room. Some were hormones. Estrogen. The others were anti-androgens. Do you know what that means?”

Yeah. Lexi knew. Would forever remember the day she’d found her best friend shirtless and weeping. Lexi, they’re coming through.

Those dark, puffy nipples. They’d been coming through all right.

She’d put an arm around him, held him close. It’s no biggie. I’ll get you a binder.

It won’t help. He’d cried the way people cried for the dead, choking and shaking. I don’t want Ash to see.

“Lexi,” said Riva, her voice broken. “Please say something.”

“I understand. Babe, it doesn’t make any difference.”

Riva sobbed, and Lexi hugged her tight. “You can cry,” she said. “I’m here.” As she waited for Riva’s weeping to subside, she felt the convulsions in that delicate chest and thought of the boy who’d used to cry the same way, held in these same arms.

* * *

It was just the right wall from which to observe a sunrise. They sat pressed close for warmth while the sun crested distant towers and the sky faded to a moody shade of gray.

“I once told a woman who then accused me of having lied to her,” Riva said. “I couldn’t make her understand that I’m living truthfully every day. Deception is what I’ve decided against.”

“Don’t feel you need to bring up bad memories. I’m not like the others. I already understand without you telling me.”

“You do realize I have a…” Riva turned her face away. “I know you expected something else. That’s one reason I was afraid.”

With a gentle touch, Lexi tilted Riva’s head until their eyes met again. “Every woman’s body is different. For me, finding something unexpected is part of the fun.”

“Most hate the unexpected. I’m comfortable with the way I look and dress, but all I get is abuse for it. I don’t gender myself clearly enough for some people. They project their expectations onto me and get angry when they’re wrong.”

“Been there, done that, fuck them. We don’t exist to satisfy anyone’s expectations.”

The emotions swirling from Riva were impossible to tune out—relief, tenderness, battered dignity.

“I don’t hate my body,” she said, “but I hate the way I’m treated because of it. And sometimes it’s hard to tell those two things apart.”

“I’ve never seen the big deal. If I play with a girl’s finger, stroke it or suck it, that’s obviously fine. So if I do the same with her dick, what’s the difference? I hope to pleasure women, not body parts. I’m attracted to people, not organs. I’m sure there are some who see their partners as a collection of fleshy bits. They can keep the hell away from mine.”

“Have you ever been with a woman like me?”

“Twice. They were nervous too, but you’re something else.” Lexi looked back to the sunrise—it was well and truly underway, a radiant birth of light on the ruptured city skyline. “You’ve had it bad, haven’t you?”

“I just wish I’d trusted you earlier. When we had more time.”

“Stop thinking like this was some dark, guilty secret. If I don’t mention that my left nipple is a little smaller than my right nipple, that’s not a secret. That’s just me not telling strangers about my nipples.”

Riva smiled for the first time since her confession. “I’ve seen your nipples. I didn’t notice any difference.”

“You won’t notice until you get to play with them. I plan to sex you up, if you hadn’t forgotten. We just have to find our moment.”

“In the back of Callie’s van, maybe? Or we could just do it in the galley.”

“Not in Callie’s van. She wouldn’t speak to me for another three years.”

Lexi gazed at the sun swelling on the edge of the world she knew, and nostalgia took hold of her—a lazy sense of solace accompanied by inarticulate regret. “There’s something pure about a sunrise. We can’t fuck it up the way we’ve done everything else. Can’t deface it, can’t tag it, can’t break it just for fun. The sun’s going to keep on being beautiful, if only to spite us.”

“For about five billion years. Then there’ll be nothing but vacuum.”

Lexi grinned. “Let me enjoy a bit of sentimentality. I don’t do it very often.” She hugged Riva more tightly, and Riva squeezed back. “I had a cousin once. Ash. My only family. I lost her some years back.”

“I’m sorry.”

The sunlight gleamed on the antennas atop the buildings, turning them into unearthly rods of white flame. “She loved watching sunsets and sunrises. Forced me and Kade to watch them with her.” Lexi hesitated. “We grew up together, by the way. Me and Kade.”

“I know.” Riva caressed Lexi’s side, touching her neck, stroking her hip. “Last night, he came to my room to comfort me, and he told me that he loves you. That he misses you. And he said it with as much pain and grief as I felt when I confided in you just now.”

Lexi closed her eyes. She’d had enough sunrise for one day.

* * *

An hour later, Amity strolled up to the wall and glared at its cuddling occupants. “I see you two are quite comfortable.”

“Good morning,” said Riva, her feet swinging. “How’d you sleep?”

“Let me guess,” said Lexi. “With a knife in your teeth.”

Amity wrinkled her cute little nose. “Very amusing. Less amusing is finding you two sitting atop that wall like trophies on a pedestal. You’re supposed to be in hiding, remember?”

“And we are. From you boring people.” Lexi winked. “How are they?”

“Awake. Zeke complained to me for ten minutes about his sleeping arrangements.” Amity broke into a perfect Zeke impression, bugging her eyes and waving her hands. “Amity, I couldn’t sleep! That fucking junkie smells so bad! C’mon, give me another fucking room!” She grimaced. “Idiot. I offered him the toilet facility as an alternative sleeping quarters. Now he’s sulking in the galley.”

Lexi almost laughed herself off the wall. “I keep forgetting you have a sense of humor.”

“She hides it well,” said Riva. “When she’s drunk, she’s hilarious.”

“I have more sense than to get drunk around Lexi Vale.” Amity extended her hand to Riva. “Come down from there. I’ll help you with breakfast.”

“I’ll push her, and you catch,” said Lexi. “Ready?”

Chuckling, Riva let herself be assisted to the pavement.

“Me too,” said Lexi. “Please. I can’t do it alone.”

Amity sighed as she offered her hand. Lexi took it, touched its knuckles to her lips and gazed into Amity’s eyes. “You have the most enchanting nose, comrade. So petite.”

With a swift yank, Amity pulled Lexi off the wall and sent her stumbling to the pavement. “Be quiet,” Amity said to Riva, who had succumbed to a fit of giggles. “Some lowlifes may hear you.”

“And lowlifes hate the sound of laughter,” said Lexi. “It’s blood in the water to them. There’s a noseless monster in an alley right now, hunting around while growling, ‘Is that some punk laughing? In my hood?’”

“Enough nonsense. Come have breakfast.”

Upon descending into the galley, they found Zeke and Callie arguing around a table while Kade listened.

“He can’t help it,” said Callie. “The guy’s been living on the street.”

“But it was like sleeping inside an ass,” Zeke said. “The ass of a dead man.”

“Well, what did you expect from the guy? Spearmint?”

“Sure, be sarcastic. You didn’t have to sleep holding your fucking breath.” Zeke waved at the arrivals. “Lex, Riva. You guys been outside all this time?”

“I bet they were watching the sunrise,” said Callie. “They’re in love.”

Amity nodded. “Confirmed. It looked very romantic.”

“Guilty as charged,” said Lexi. “If you’d only come out a little later, you’d have caught us fucking.” She dropped into the chair beside Zeke, put her boots on the table, and yawned. “Where’s that breakfast?”

“I’m on it,” said Riva. “Amity, would you mind heating two pans for me?”

While Riva and Amity clattered in the kitchen, Lexi glanced at Kade. After years of avoiding him, it was still jarring to see him so close. He noticed her looking, and they stared at each other.

“Morning,” said Lexi.

“Good morning.” Kade gave a tentative smile. “You doing okay?”

Even though he’d changed so much, Lexi still knew that smile, but she couldn’t yet bring herself to return it. Instead, she shrugged. “It was a good sunrise. She’d have loved it.”

That emotional wall of his wavered—only for a moment, but enough to get a sense of how much he was hurting. Lexi looked away. She couldn’t put herself through this. Not now. She needed to find that old resentment again, yet right now, it was hard to grasp…

A phone trilled. Amity plucked it from her trench coat. “Amity. Oh, it’s you. Did you—” Her eyes narrowed. “I see. Yes, we’re east of the University. Yes. Just the one, you said. No, it’s not your fault. I understand. Did you want to talk to—I see. Very well. Thank you. We’ll let you know.” She lowered the phone. “That was Blue.”

Callie jumped to her feet. “Is she in trouble?”

“We may be the ones in trouble. She’s spotted a Codist chopper headed east, and intelligent woman that she obviously is, she’s assumed that it’s headed our way. We’re certain they can’t know about this bunker, but last night, she made a radio call.”

“Damn it,” said Kade. “Lachlan. He knew about the phone and used her to get our location. If there’s a helicopter, that means there’ll be agents on the ground soon. We have to leave now.”

“What about Isaac?” Riva set down a half-opened plastic packet of food. “We can’t leave him.”

“He’s an innocent bystander, not to mention near-incoherent. Lachlan won’t trouble him.” Kade took a pistol from his coat and inspected its safety. “You have maybe thirty seconds to grab whatever you’ve left in your rooms.”

“We’re fucked, aren’t we?” Zeke wrung his hands. “A fucking shut-in helicopter, how do we get away from that?”

“By leaving as soon as possible,” said Amity. “Lexi, stop lounging. It’s time to move.”

“But I’m hungry.” Lexi held out her hand. “Riva, toss me one of those protein bars, will you?” Riva obliged, and Lexi caught the foil-wrapped bar with augmented ease. “What would breakfast have been if you’d had the chance to keep cooking?”

“Scrambled tofu,” said Riva. “With my own special chili sauce.”

“Motherfucker.” Lexi stared at the unappetizing bar in her hands. “Lachlan Reed, you are a dead man.”

* * *

Waite Street wasn’t pretty. On its left side ran a long row of collapsed storefronts, while on its right loomed the steel skeletons of buildings picked apart by time.

Among the dreary scenery, the garage was easy to spot. It boasted a bright blue facade, and a cartoon animal had been emblazoned on its door. Maybe a pig, judging by the pink tint, though peeling paint had given it a rotted appearance. A zombie pig, then.

Amity unlocked the garage as Lexi stared down the street. A pair of dots were accelerating closer. They clarified into menacing shut-in bikes, two nasty pieces of work: shining white chassis, complex black under-bellies, sleek insect-like frames.

“Two riders coming,” said Lexi.

Callie frowned. “I don’t see anything.”

“I have 20/5 vision. Trust me.” A hundred meters back, three vehicles closed the distance. Low, black, sinister. “There’re cars too. Three of them.”

The door rattled upward. The garage had been intended for larger vehicles, transport trucks maybe, and Callie’s van looked small and lonely parked at the back.

“I hear the helicopter,” said Amity. “Do you see it yet?”

Sure enough, a repetitive thumping sound was drawing closer. Turning her head toward the noise, Lexi spotted a speck moving across the sky. “Yep, it’s coming. Do you think that Lachlan guy is inside?”

“I hope so. I’m eager to put my fist through his face.” Amity spun on her heel. “Let’s get moving.”

The group piled into the van—Zeke, Kade, Amity, and Lexi in the back, Riva in the passenger seat, and Callie behind the wheel. Amity pulled one of the rear doors shut, leaving the other ajar.

“All aboard?” said Callie. “Then hold on!”

She reversed while turning the wheel, and the van whirled to face the road. With a roar, it shot forward and took a sharp left, bringing it onto the street in the opposite direction of their pursuers.

“I see them!” said Zeke, pointing out the open door. “I see the fuckers!”

“Perceptive of you,” said Amity.

The road became a blur beneath their wheels, yet the bikes continued to gain, as did the black vehicles cruising behind them.

“Not looking good,” said Callie. “My baby here is quick for a van, but she’ll top out a lot sooner than those shut-in cars will.”

“What do you have back here?” said Amity. “Sniper rifle? RPG?”

“Um, no. Shotgun’s under the seat, and that’s it. If you wanted an arsenal, you picked the wrong smuggler.”

“That’s a pity.” Amity took a pistol from her coat and offered it to Lexi. “You keep this. I’ll use the shotgun.”

She snatched the shotgun from beneath the seat, snapped back the handle, peered into the barrel, and slammed the handle shut, becoming ten times more frightening in the process. “We have a strategic advantage. They want Lexi alive, whereas I don’t care if every single one of them dies.”

Lexi brandished her unexpected pistol. “I’ve never fired a gun before.”

“With your augmented vision, you should have learned.” Amity glanced at Zeke. “I don’t suppose you’re secretly a crack shot.”

“Nah,” said Zeke. “Closest I ever get to crack is… Well, I can tell this ain’t the time for jokes, so I’ll just shut the fuck up, huh?”

Kade stood before the open door, his pistol drawn. The wind fluttered the hem of his trench coat and blew through his shaggy hair. All he needed was a pair of sunglasses to complete the image of a stern, gun-toting pain in the ass.

“Shoot the gas tanks on the cars,” said Zeke. “Blow the fuckers up.”

“Only in the movies,” said Callie. “Sorry.”

With a sudden burst of speed, the bikes tore up the remaining distance and drifted behind the van, separated by a distance of perhaps five meters. One of the riders held up a dark sphere.

“What’s that?” Lexi said.

“Trouble,” said Amity. “Kade.”

Kade aimed. A gunshot erupted, and the rider slumped against their handlebars. The bike toppled, throwing the tumbling body to the road.

The other rider hunched, and their bike screamed as it veered to the right and shot past the van.

“He’s in front of me,” said Callie. The van swerved hard enough to send everyone in the back scrabbling for support. “He’s putting down caltrops!”

Amity sighed. “So avoid them, Callie.”

“I know that, you grumpy bitch!”

The slicing sound of rotors built to an immense volume, and a shadow rippled over the asphalt. The helicopter—black, of course—descended to hover above the road.

A dark figure hung out of its door and raised a megaphone. “Good morning, everyone. I regret to inform you that you’re all on a Codist wanted list. Oh, and one of you is now charged with murder. Pull over and put down your guns, and some of you may enjoy lenience.”

“That’s Lachlan,” said Kade. “Lachlan Reed.”

“The guy that’s been messing with Min?” said Callie. “Lexi, shoot the prick.”

Lexi aimed, held her breath and pulled the trigger. The shot was loud enough, but the result was disappointing: no deaths, no explosions, not even one of those wacky zing sounds. “Sorry. Missed.”

“I’m grateful for your appalling aim,” said Lachlan. “As you prefer to do this violently, I suppose I must oblige you.”

The helicopter hovered in retreat while the trio of cars glided forth beneath it. Lexi fired a series of shots, but despite her hitting the black windshields and tires several times, the cars didn’t so much as swerve.

“They’re too heavily armored,” said Amity. “And the tires are airless, so save your bullets. Callie, we need to get off this road.”

The van took a left, jolting Zeke and Lexi off their feet, and its engine thundered. Recovering her balance, Lexi turned to look ahead. Callie had swung them into a narrow side street littered with debris and shadowed by high buildings. As the van gathered speed, Callie worked the wheel, dodging craters in the asphalt.

“You really know how to drive,” said Riva, and Callie grinned and took the van up another gear.

The steady chopping noise of the helicopter pursued them, and two of the black cars turned smoothly into the side street and continued their chase. The third car zipped past the intersection, its drivers presumably intent on cutting the van off elsewhere.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” Lachlan said, his voice echoing from above. “I can see the road ahead, and it’s not exactly in mint condition.”

Zeke glared at the ceiling. “What an asshole.”

Another sharp turn sent Lexi reeling, and she lunged for a handhold—Zeke, as it turned out. Callie had directed the van into an even narrower street, this one little more than an accidental bypass. Graffitied bricks flashed past, looking close enough to reach out and touch.

“Slow down,” said Amity. “Let them get near.”

Callie pulled a face in the rearview mirror. “If you say so.”

The van slowed. As the first shut-in car neared the van’s rear bumper, Amity leaned out of the door and fired. The tremendous shotgun blast consumed every other sound, and a compact pattern of cracks appeared on the car’s windshield.

Amity cracked open the shotgun and ejected the spent casing. “Shell.”

“Near the door,” said Callie. “At Kade’s feet.”

Kade rummaged through a cardboard box and stood holding a shell, which Amity snatched from his hand. She pushed it into the barrel, flipped the handle shut, and fired again.

This time, the windshield became a crazed mess of glass, unbroken but certainly impossible to see through, and the car braked to a sudden halt. The second car behind it swerved and scraped the wall.

“Now speed up again,” Amity said, and the van hurtled toward the next intersection. “That should slow them.”

“You’ve added vandalism to the list of your offenses,” said the obnoxious amplified voice pursuing them. “Do let me know when you feel you’ve sinned enough, won’t you?”

The van shot onto a wider street, and Callie spun the wheel, reorienting them westward. The jagged teeth of the inner city dominated the skyline.

“This road leads home,” she said. “I think we have a decent chance now, but I’d like to know where that other car is.”

“Don’t say that,” said Zeke. “It’ll burst out of the nearest street if you say that. Don’t you know how car chases work?”

The van flew by several blocks, one ruined neighborhood vanishing after another. Lexi stood behind the mesh partition and surveyed the road.

“Burned out car coming up in the left lane,” she said, and Callie nodded and shunted the van to the right. Maybe ten seconds later, the wreck passed them by.

“It must be incredible to have your eyesight,” said Riva.

“It’s wasted on me. I’m mostly indoors.”

The helicopter’s whir panned overhead. “Where exactly do you plan on going?” said Lachlan. “I can see everything from up here, you know.”

Amity grimaced. “The bastard has a point. While we remain visible to him by air, there’s no chance of us escaping. He’ll already have agents setting up road blocks.”

“Callie,” said Kade. “Do you have a megaphone, by any chance?”

“Of course she don’t have a megaphone,” said Zeke. “Man, you might as well ask if she keeps a fighter jet or some dumb shit like that.”

“Actually, I might.” Callie spoke without taking her eyes from the road. “Try the crate next to Amity.”

After scrounging through the box beside her, Amity held up a battered megaphone. “Holy fuck, keep searching,” said Zeke. “With luck like that, maybe there really is a jet back here.”

Gripping a door handle for support, Kade leaned out of the van while holding the megaphone. “Lachlan.”

A chuckle boomed above them. “Hello, Kade. You really do go to extreme lengths to get a story. Tell me, is my target with you?”

“You know damn well she is.”

“Would she like to surrender? In exchange, I’ll spare the rest of you from detainment. You can all traipse home to plot her rescue.”

“Of course she won’t surrender. And it seems to me you’ve lost your touch. One of your people is dead, and this pursuit is out of control. The man I knew was significantly more competent.”

There was a second of silence. When Lachlan’s voice returned, it betrayed a trace of irritation. “I think you’re judging my performance a little prematurely.”

“It’s hard to judge it at all, given your preference for hiding in the clouds.”

“Believe it or not, there’s some strategic value to being up here. As you know, they don’t pay me to be an action hero.”

“More likely you’re scared of Lexi. She has Project Sky, after all. Is that why you’re chasing her? To get that implant for yourself, to use it to carry out your schemes and manipulations?”

Another pause. “Hardly. I already scheme and manipulate quite well without it.”

“We have a problem,” said Callie, pointing to the road ahead. A black vehicle was parked across it, and two uniformed figures waited behind a barricade of razor wire. “Left or right?”

“Left,” said Amity.

The van darted into a side street filled with refuse. Paper and cardboard scattered beneath the van’s wheels, and Callie swore as she swerved to avoid the angular edge of a steel bin. Everyone in the back was flung off-balance, save for Amity, who remained steady on her feet.

“Keep goading Reed,” she said. “Test his patience.”

“No need,” said Kade. “He’s already brooding. He doesn’t like his ability being called into question.”

“So what’s the plan?” said Zeke. “We can’t keep driving around in circles. C’mon, Callie, you eat trouble for breakfast and wash it down with a glass of danger, right? You must have some ideas. Some wild smuggler scheme.”

Callie shrugged. “We need to shake the chopper. Simple as that.”

“Or destroy it.” Amity patted the barrel of the shotgun. “If we can find a place to stand our ground, we’ll be able to strike back. I’ve overcome greater odds than this. We just need the right opportunity.”

“Fucking hell,” said Callie. Everyone turned to stare at her, as people were prone to do after such outbursts. “He’s forced us back to where we started.” A familiar abandoned hotel flashed by. “He’s going to box us in.”

“Or maybe we’re in luck,” said Riva. “Callie, slow down. Look over there.”

Lexi looked in the direction of Riva’s finger. Isaac was on the pavement, staring up and down the street like a lost boy looking for his parents.

“Now there’s a guy who must know his way around,” said Lexi. “Let’s offer him a lift.”

* * *

Isaac buckled himself into the back seat and sat huddled, his head down.

“Isaac, we need your help,” said Riva, and he gave her a meek look. “You must hear the helicopter chasing us.”

“Yeah, I hear it.” Isaac picked the skin around his fingernails. “Only the second time in my life I’ve heard that sound.”

“Was the first time about twenty minutes ago?” said Lexi.

Riva shot her a stern look. “We have to get out of sight. Any ideas?”

Isaac wrinkled his face into a thoughtful knot. “Big parking complex on the north side. It could give you cover, maybe.”

“How would Reed respond to that?” said Amity.

Kade shook his head. “You never know with him, but he’ll be uneasy having us out of sight. It could spur him into doing something reckless. But we have to avoid driving ourselves into a dead-end.”

“So how do we get there?” said Callie.

“Turn right here,” said Isaac. “Keep going five blocks, then right at the big lights. Then left, but skip the first street. Road there’s all fucked up.”

“My very own GPS.” Callie twirled the wheel and accelerated. “I wonder where that other biker went.”

Amity paused from stashing shotgun shells into her coat. “We’ll take care of that later. For now, drive.”

Callie stuck out her tongue, and Riva laughed. The van picked up yet more speed, its wheels rattling over the uneven asphalt.

“The power still on in this parking place?” said Callie.

“Power’s on,” said Isaac. “Gangs meet there. It’s neutral ground.”

Lexi studied the pistol in her hand. She’d never owned a gun—it seemed crude somehow, a concession her smarts weren’t always enough. Right now, the way she was being shaken about in the back of the van, it seemed all too plausible she might fire by accident.

“Kade, how do I put the safety back on?”

“Like this.” Kade demonstrated with his own pistol, and Lexi imitated him, pushing back the small metal switch with her thumb. “Good idea, by the way.”

“I don’t know how Amity does it. We’re all hanging on for life, yet she’s just standing there, effortlessly upright, as if falling over is something that happens to other people.”

Amity gave a grim smile. “It is.”

The shadow of the helicopter flowed over the road, and the noise of its rotors intensified. “So you’re going north,” said Lachlan, his amused voice ringing from the heavens like some trickster god’s. “Are you escaping or just circling the block?”

Isaac muttered another instruction, and Callie took a turn so sharp that Lexi almost lost her grip. “Calandre, be careful!”

“Hey, I’m trying to make us harder to follow,” said Callie. “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

The road darkened as they sped between a series of high apartment towers. Strips of sunlight flickered across the asphalt, an eerie procession of light and dark, before the vehicle emerged onto a wide street.

“There it is,” Callie said. A massive parking tower was visible on the horizon several blocks away. “Nice work, Isaac.”

“Behind us,” said Kade. Two black vehicles were cruising in pursuit, and the lone biker rode at their head. “It seems they’re minus one car.”

“You see?” said Amity. “We’re making progress.”

The van rushed through an alley, took another improbable turn, and blazed down a wide street strung with electrical wire. A faded sign had been erected at the next intersection: Parking Next Left.

“We really going to do this?” said Callie. “We might be driving ourselves into a corner.”

“Do it,” said Amity. “Good driving, Callie.”

“Hey, a compliment! And here I was expecting you to snap at me again.”

An intersection marked with a faded left arrow came into sight, and Callie took the turn without slowing. The van tilted but remained upright, though the same couldn’t be said for Lexi’s stomach.

“Jesus, Callie,” said Zeke. “I’m gonna puke on Amity if you don’t cut that out. And if that happens, I’m as good as dead.”

The parking tower loomed ahead of them, layer upon layer of cement. At road level, a low entrance led into a dimly lit cavern. The boom gate had been dismantled, leaving just a sad yellow pole, and the toll booth was tagged with colorful gang signs.

Callie brought the van down a gear. “Anyone get the hourly rates?”

“Isaac,” said Amity. Isaac raised his haunted eyes. “Describe the layout.”

“It goes down three levels, goes up maybe ten. Four stairwells. Lift’s all fucked up, don’t use it.” Isaac scratched his chin. “Overpass on the third floor, goes to the old mall. No power over there.”

Amity tapped her fingers against the shotgun barrel, lost in some deep, murderous contemplation. The others in the back watched her, expectant, while Callie drove the van down a long ramp and into a gloomy corridor lined with empty parking spaces.

“Standard practice is three agents to a vehicle,” said Amity. “That makes seven in pursuit. Two in the helicopter, Reed and a pilot. That’s a mere nine, and we have the tactical and psychological advantage.”

“You’re planning to fight,” said Kade.

“A bloodbath would give Reed no choice but to intervene. And when he comes down here, I’ll finally pay out justice for his treachery. Callie, park us on the bottom floor near a stairwell. Isaac, I’m going to require one final favor. I assure you that you won’t be in any danger, and Open Hand will reward you for your assistance.”

Isaac blinked. “Reward? What kind of reward?”

“If you want to be clean, we’ll help you become clean. If you’d rather have your drugs of choice, I’ll arrange that instead. All I need is your cooperation.”

“Amity!” said Riva, and Amity flushed.

“Given the circumstances…” Amity cleared her throat. “I’m only trying to get us out of this alive.”

“I’m not denying that.” Riva touched her bandaged hand to the mesh, and a hint of emotion flickered in Isaac’s bloodshot eyes. “Isaac, please think carefully before you answer.”

“No more drugs,” he said, his voice thick. “I want to be clean.”

Kade patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll fight beside you, Amity, but I can’t condone bringing Riva and Zeke into this. They’re non-combatants.”

“There’s a reason Nikolas allows me to stay as his second-in-command. Have a little faith, and I’ll demonstrate it. However…” Amity averted her gaze. “I will need your help, Lexi.”

Lexi smirked. “Obviously.”