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The workers’ quarters turned out to be a modern, efficient, and nearly spotless residence on the interior. A pretty, Haitian girl named Lita showed us to our rooms. Garnet, Neri, and I took one room, the Slates another, and Baxter and Will shared a third. Dalton and Maia opted to bed down in the barn. I tossed my bag onto one of the three cots that lined the walls of the tidy little room. A crucifix hung on one wall, a mirror on the other, and a dresser huddled in the corner with a lamp in the center.
Garnet pulled the shade down on the window and closed the curtains, cutting off the heat and light from the sun streaming in and delving us into deep shadow. She dropped back onto a cot and threw her arm up over her eyes. “After all the craziness and lack of sleep from the past few days, I’m so tired, I could sleep for the next week and a half. Nobody wake me until after sunset.”
Neri and I exchanged a grin. I had so many questions for her, I didn’t know where to begin. She yawned and propped two pillows behind her on the narrow bunk, squelching my urge to ask her to take a walk with me.
“I suppose you want to know if we’re from the same batch,” she said out of the blue.
“Yes...for starters.” I’d only recently come to understand that the genetic material used in my mother’s early experiments was rare and very specialized. Being from the same “batch” meant that we shared specific DNA markers that connected us like siblings—twins who could sense each other on a deep level. Josh Johnson, as it turned out, had also been genetically enhanced from the same gene pool, giving us an odd connection that had led to major misunderstandings between us.
“Based on how easily I can access your mind, I believe we are.”
Neri’s boldness and clarity startled me. “You can access my mind without laying hands on me?”
“Sometimes...when your guard is down.”
“Does that mean I can do the same with you?”
“Probably. If I let you.” I sensed her smile in the shadows.
“So, I can learn to block you out,” I reasoned. If I could shut her out, maybe Tyler wouldn’t have such easy access either.
“I’m sure I can teach you.” She yawned again and shifted her pillows. “Can we talk later? I’m exhausted.”
“Sure. Get some rest.” I laid my head back onto a soft down pillow, and stared at the ceiling. Fatigue settled in, but my mind raced with questions. I reached inside and calmed my thundering pulse. Granted, rest was what we all needed but sleep was a double-edged sword for me. I wanted desperately to sink into an unconscious state and rest my weary mind. Let go of the questions, scrub my brain clean of all the horrors of the past weeks and months, and erase the flame-filled nightmares showing me exactly what my home town had suffered in my absence.
My safe, happy life back in Stanton was over. If Sam was gone, I might even be completely alone in the world for the first time. Without him and Zeph, I had no family. The thought sent new waves of panic through me. Whether Sam had survived and what came next was anyone’s guess. I tossed and turned on the hard cot, afraid to close my eyes and follow where my dreams would lead.
After what felt like a lifetime, with Garnet and Neri both snoozing away nearby, I shifted my focus to Will, reaching out to find his energy a few doors down the hall. Picking up the pulsing beat of his heart, I wrapped myself in the warm sense of safety his proximity offered. I smiled as his heart rate jumped at the connection. His pulse steadied and settled into a rhythm alongside mine. I stopped fighting my fatigue and gave myself over to the idea that maybe I wasn’t as alone in the world as I thought. I had Garnet...and now Neri and the Slates. If anyone could help me get back to Sam, it was Dalton. The cool air blowing in from a vent and the shadows dancing on the walls lulled me. Finally, I closed my eyes as a spark of hope seeped in. Maybe everything would be okay.
∞∞∞
I woke sometime later, only slightly rested but ravenous. My sleep had been filled with dark dreams again, this time of me standing in an open field, my ears stuffed with cotton and blood raining from the sky. I peered around the room. Garnet’s and Neri’s cots were empty, their belongings tucked beneath. Lifting the shade, I scanned the darkening sky. It was way past dinner time. Why hadn’t anyone woken me? I shook off the unsettling dream and found a nearby common bathroom that provided warm water to splash on my face and wash off the dust of the road. I stared in the mirror, my green eyes glaringly obvious against my pale complexion.
I dug for the brown iris covers that sat at the bottom of my backpack next to my mother’s Gray’s Anatomy—both useless attachments to a past I could never go back to. I found the iris covers and took them out of their case. If old Mr. Cooper wanted us to keep a low profile, covering my iridescent green eyes was probably a good start. As I went to rinse them under the warm water before applying them to my eyes, one slipped and washed down the drain.
“Oh, no...not now...” I cursed the stupid contacts. Another passage from one of Mother’s journal entries slipped past my defenses. Find the strength to be who you are. Resolve set in and I tossed the other small, brown disk into the trash.
Flashes of Sam and Zeph came to mind, abruptly followed by my mom and dad, and the entire town of Stanton. I bit the inside of my cheek, rapidly blinking away tears. I allowed the rage to build again. Even if staring Malevich down one more time meant my death, I was not hiding from him any longer. Besides, I acknowledged to the pitiful reflection before me, what else did I have to lose? Sighing, I peered in the mirror, ran my hands through my hair, and straightened my clothes. For better or worse, this was who I was. The green in my eyes darkened to the color of a pine forest and strength surged within me. Whatever it took, I would make him pay.
My feet, as anxious to find Will as the rest of me, had me hurrying toward the kitchen and dining hall, following the call of biscuits and the savory scent of roasted meat. When I finally found the source of the inviting aroma, I also found my true beacon. Will looked up immediately, a smile curving his lips and his eyes lighting.
“I thought you’d sleep straight through until morning.” He slid over on a bench, one of two that flanked a table eight feet long. Garnet and Tyler sat to his left and Dalton, Maia, Neri, and Baxter lined the other side. They’d all moved on to dessert already, a fruit cobbler of some sort, if the smear of red and the crumbs on everyone’s plates were any indication.
Garnet chimed in. “We tried to wake you, but you were sleeping like the dead.”
“I suggested that you might need the extra rest,” Neri added kindly, her bright blue eyes meeting mine.
“We have a lot to talk about,” said Dalton, getting down to business. “Grab yourself a plate and have a seat.”
I heaped a scoop of mashed potatoes and a small hunk of some kind of braised meat onto a plate. The pots and pans on the stove, obviously left warming for me, had plenty left over and I wondered where the rest of the workers were and if they’d all had enough. Self-conscious, I scooped some of the potatoes back into the pot, added a spoonful of gravy to my plate, and settled in beside Will, flashing him a quick smile. He leaned in and kissed my cheek.
“Have I mentioned how happy I am to see you?”
The unexpected public display made my face flame hot. I dug into the potatoes and gravy on my plate. Before I could formulate a response, Dalton cut in.
“You two want to get your heads in the game?” Sharp gray eyes stopped me. Will and I exchanged a glance and then nodded, the connection between us broken.
“Mrs. Slate opted to take her children elsewhere while we discuss our plans.” Dalton directed his attention to me. “Will and Tyler filled me in on the details of Malevich’s project and his plans to dismantle the solar barriers and vacate the planet. It seems a bit extreme to me, but whatever—there’s no explaining crazy.” Dalton’s hands slid through his shoulder-length blond hair, hanging loose from its usual ponytail wrapped in a bandana at the base of his neck. “I think the best thing we can do is head for Pennsylvania.” I stopped chewing and swallowed.
“What about...?”
Dalton raised his hand. “Let me finish. Mrs. Slate’s only concern is returning home to her husband and getting her children back to their father. Their safety is our first priority before we make our next move.”
I sat up straighter and set my fork down. “I’m going to Stanton. You can do whatever you want.” Met with a stern expression, I narrowed my eyes, clenched my jaw tight and prepared for an argument. The food in my stomach churned like molten lava about to rise up.
“I understand how you feel, Lily, but Sam specifically told me that if anything happened in Stanton, I was to take you to the Pennsylvania outpost. The Network has been preparing a place in Gettysburg where survivors can meet up.”
I wanted to argue, but I knew he was right and that it was exactly what Sam would have wanted me to do. The idea of leaving behind the people of Stanton, unable to help those who may have survived the drone attack, sat in my heart like a cold stone. I needed to make sure Nora and Maggie, Mr. and Mrs. Higgins, and Rudy Sinclair and his family weren’t left behind, in need of healing. Not to mention Garnet’s father and the Johnsons. I peered around Will and connected my gaze to Garnet, who had a hollow look of despair on her face.
“I need to go back,” I insisted. My throat closed with tears. Will wrapped a warm hand around mine under the table and gave a gentle squeeze.
“I think he’s right, Lily. We should go on to Pennsylvania. We can deliver the Slates home and it’s much closer to Chicago than going all the way up to the Northeast Sector.” His gaze locked on mine. I knew he had his own agenda—finding his dad and saving his aunt Kathleen—but I also believed he wanted what was best for me. He’d proven himself loyal once again by coming after me instead of chasing after Malevich on his own. I let out a slow breath and nodded.
Dalton looked relieved. “Good. That’s settled then. We’ll stay here tonight and get an early start tomorrow—unless we hear from Colonel Harris.”
A chill ran along my skin. If Colonel Harris—the leader here at the estate—and his men reached Stanton and sent word that all had been lost, I wasn’t sure I could take the news. Everything I’d known was wrapped up in that small town in the Northeast hills. Now, it might all be gone.
Dalton continued to talk about plans and strategies while I ate. An hour later when Tyler yawned and Baxter excused himself to go back to the room, Neri begged Garnet to show her how to apply eye makeup. Garnet, happy to leave the table and the depressing subject of being shuttled off to a new town without knowing what had happened to her father, seemed grateful for the distraction. When everyone but Maia had gone their separate ways, Will tugged me aside.
“I need to talk to you—alone.” We stepped outside into the steamy night air and into the pale light of a full moon. Will led me into the shadows behind the building. As soon as we were alone, he dragged me into his arms and kissed me, his lips melting into mine with renewed desperation. My heels rose off the ground. A moment later, he pulled away, leaving me breathless. “Girl, I missed you,” he whispered as his forehead rested on mine.
“I can tell,” I sighed. My heart thundered in my chest and the heat of his body so close had my head spinning.
Will lifted his eyes to meet mine and a sly grin swept across his face. “Do you finally trust me?” I hesitated and his smile faltered. “Let me rephrase that,” he said. “I want you to trust me. I need you...to trust me.”
“I do trust you, Will.” I tightened my grip around his waist and pushed him up against the wall of the building, covering his mouth with mine and letting him have a kiss I hoped would reassure him. In that moment, I knew it was true. I did trust him. With my life—and my heart. He’d come back for me. The depth of his affection shone in his eyes and I sensed his love radiating into me. When I slowly pulled my lips away, his eyes opened, heavy lidded.
“That was incredibly convincing,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. His hands came to my face and his gaze swept my mouth. “I’m going to do everything in my power to be a person you can believe in, Lily.” The Will who kept his feelings close, the one who hid himself behind lies and schemes, disappeared before me and the man he had become—through sacrifice and loyalty—appeared in my arms. A scruff of golden beard on his chin and upper lip had formed in the past few weeks, and his hair had grown longer, now resting at his collar.
“I wouldn’t have thought it possible,” I said, my voice unsure, “but the real question is do you trust me?” I’d let him down in a big way back in Vegas, and I didn’t expect he would easily forgive and forget.
His eyes darkened for a moment and then a weak smile appeared. “You had an impossible shot at saving my dad. Given the chaos and the circumstances, I don’t know if I would have taken the risk either.”
A breath of relief passed through me and then my shoulders tightened again. “You realize it was more than the fact I didn’t have a clean shot, don’t you?”
“I know what Malevich said, Lily, but even if the preservation of life is somehow hardwired into your DNA, if it came down to you saving my life, I trust you would do whatever needed to be done. I also think you made the only choice you could about taking the shot at Malevich on that rooftop.” He rubbed his thumb across my bottom lip, his gaze falling again to my mouth. “I’m not willing to lose you over a difference in principle.”
I wanted to believe we could get past our “differences in principle” as he called it. His ability to fight, kill, steal, cheat and lie to survive had saved my butt more than once. But if it came to another life and death situation, could I depend on him to lean toward his humanity? Could he trust me to do whatever was necessary to save the people I loved? The questions were far too big to consider when he was here...so close...so alive and real. I ran a finger along his cheek, which brought a shiver from Will and had a grin spreading across my face.
“C’mon. I have an idea how we can put that trust to its first test.” I grabbed Will’s hand and tugged him out of the shadows and across the moonlit grounds toward a dark stand of trees at the back of the property. As much as I knew my idea was on the top ten list of bad ideas I’d had recently, I needed to show Will just how much I did trust him.
