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I woke, cotton-mouthed and aching, my kidneys about to burst. Clearly, I wasn’t dead, because the first thing I saw was Maia, staring down at me, her eyes serious and her dark brows furrowed into a sharp V.
“Where am I?” I tried to sit up but she pinned me to the mattress—a wonderfully soft mattress. When I tried to stretch, the ache revved into a sharp pain that shot through my side. I reached for the wound, but Maia grabbed my hand and shook her head, a frown taking over her face. I sucked in a breath and forced myself to relax. The bullet had torn through the oblique muscle on my left side, and ripped through my lower back. No vital organs or nerves had been hit, but there was no argument that bullet wounds made you feel both lucky to be alive and damned sorry you were. I groaned.
Nora’s voice came from somewhere in the periphery and I grabbed onto it. Her face came into view and a relieved grin spread across her lips. She motioned to Maia. “Why don’t you run and check on the broth I made?” Maia bobbed her head in response, put up a finger to promise she would return in a minute and disappeared. Nora caught my attention. I hadn’t realized she’d been talking.
“Did you hear me? We’re in the old Trump Towers. Lucky for us, it’s where the Vice President and the Assembly members liked to entertain, so since the Network has run them all off, we’re living it up while we regroup.”
True to her promise, Maia returned a minute later and handed a cup of aromatic chicken broth to Nora, who tested it and nodded as if confirming the proper taste and temperature. I’ve added a bit of ginger root, comfrey, cayenne, and a few drops of arnica. It might have a bit of a bite, but you’ll be good as new in no time. Do you know how lucky you are, young lady?”
My mouth watered as the first spoonful reached my lips. I nodded acknowledgement, far more concerned with getting some food into me as soon as possible. I would heal, and faster than any normal human, but I needed fuel. I took another spoonful, a sweat breaking out on my forehead. Nora lifted me higher and propped another pillow behind me. A twinge in my lower back made me suck in a breath despite Nora’s gentle touch. As she continued to feed me the spicy, slightly bitter chicken broth, warmth spread through me and my vital force rose.
“Where’s Will? Is Sam all right? What about Neri and everyone else?”
She put up a hand to stop my questions. “Will is fine and so is your uncle. Neri, Baxter, and the Slates were also rescued. The mission went surprisingly well considering the odds. Unfortunately for Malevich, once the people realized he was holding the President against her will and that he had plans to remove the solar barriers from the cities, they turned on him. We had a lot of help. People took up arms from everywhere and joined us in the fight. Sam has developed some kind of gadget that targets specific energy fields. He was able to knock out the drones and disable the Guardians.”
I laughed for the first time in days. “I bet Malevich didn’t see that coming.” I finished the soup and drank a glass full of water. After Nora helped me to the bathroom for what was about to become an embarrassing emergency, she set me up in the spacious, elegantly decorated sitting room. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the Old Clock Tower and high-rise buildings reflected the late afternoon sun through the solar barrier, turning the buildings a pretty rose gold. Details of the battle began to come back to me. Rudy’s death, Will’s dad and aunt being airlifted away, and me stopping Will from bashing in the skull of Agent Graves. I closed my eyes and took in another breath.
“Tell me. Is Will really all right?”
“Neri was able to heal him when we got her back here and got some food into her. She recovered surprisingly well. Her pregnancy seems to have had an incredible effect on her resilience.” Nora flashed a smile. “I’ll bet that takes quite a burden off of you. Your mother’s hypothesis was correct. By introducing an immuno-accelerant to your DNA, which promotes your rapid healing ability and makes you resistant to viral and bacterial infections, you have the added benefit of being able to survive a pregnancy.”
“We won’t know for sure until Neri has her baby,” I countered, unwilling to accept the idea as fact.
Maia came back in with a plate of cheese, crackers, and a can of sardines in oil. I sniffed it and grimaced.
“You need the protein and the omegas. Eat up.” Nora grinned in sympathy and poured me another glass of water.
“So, not to change the subject, but what are we going to do about getting the President and Will’s father back?” I bit into the cracker, which Nora had layered with cheese and a hunk of the oily fish. I made a face and choked it down, grinding the bones to a manageable paste before swallowing and gulping down the water.
“For once, why don’t you let someone else worry? You’re not even close to being up for a rescue mission.” She placed a second fishy smelling cracker in front of me. A grumble rolled up from my stomach, but I had to admit I was growing stronger by the minute. A burning sensation deep in my side and an urge to scratch voraciously told me the muscles were healing, the bullet wound mending. I stuffed the cracker in my mouth and chugged more water, draining the second glass. My hand went up to signal I’d had enough before Nora scooped a third sardine out of the can.
Another thought came as my focus cleared. “What about the people from Gettysburg? Is Maggie okay? What about Mr. and Mrs. Higgins?”
A serious expression took over her face. “We don’t know for certain. Sam’s team arrived just after Agent Graves took you. Tyler and Luke were with their dad. They all searched for the others, but came up empty. Since there were no signs of the RV, we’re hoping Maggie escaped with Mr. and Mrs. Higgins and the Chengs, and that they’re on their way to safety. The Johnsons were a big help,” she added, her expression wary.
“Sam can’t possibly trust Joe Johnson!” My sudden movement grabbed like a cramp in my side and I winced. “He’s the traitor who wrote that note to lure me to the encampment and then handed me over to Graves.” I gritted my teeth, furious at the memory of him saying to Graves, “I told you I would get her for you.”
Nora shook her head. “Joe had a plan to bring Graves to Little Round Top so Sam and the Network could take him out. Unfortunately, Graves arrived ahead of schedule and there was nothing Joe could do to stop him from taking you without risking his boys. As much as Sam didn’t approve of his using you as bait, he believes Joe had the greater good in mind with his plan. They all fought hard to get you back.”
This news had me reeling. “I thought Joe was the inside man—the one giving information to Malevich and keeping him one step ahead of us.”
“I’m afraid that was Mr. Perkins. He’s been feeding Graves information about Stanton and its residents for quite some time. Apparently, he was being well paid for his services and he was promised government protection if he cooperated.”
My stomach twisted with an odd sense of irony. All Garnet wanted was to help the rebellion, hoping that her father would be proud of her, show her some respect, and honor her wishes not to move back to Albany. All the while he’d been working with the enemy. She had to be devastated by the news.
“How did you find out?”
A solemn expression covered Nora’s face and she folded her hands in her lap. “Garnet caught him on a com-unit back at the base outside of Gettysburg, letting Graves know that Sam and the others were coming. Garnet reported him.” Nora cast her eyes downward, evidently as aware as I was of what the betrayal must have cost my friend and the sacrifice it took. A lump formed in my throat.
“So, Mr. Perkins is responsible for Graves showing up early and capturing me?” My words were more a statement than a question. Nora barely nodded.
“Where’s Garnet now?”
“She’s on her way to Harmony with the Slates. They all just wanted to go home, and I think she didn’t want to face you.” She added with a sad smile. “Neri and Baxter went with them. Sam agreed they needed to be protected and that the battlefield was no place for them.”
“How did Sam convince Bax?” I snorted, thinking of the stubborn boy’s tenacity. But knowing his loyalty to Neri, it wasn’t hard to imagine why he’d finally agreed to go into hiding. With the drones no longer a threat, the idea of a safe haven for any of us brought a tingle of hope rising up. At least they—and Garnet—would be protected from whatever came next. As soon as this was all over, I would make things right with my friend. She had to know that I would never hold her responsible for her father’s actions.
I scrubbed my hands over my face and ran them through my tangled hair, which had grown out considerably over the past few days. Nora had kindly changed me out of my bloody clothes, but I needed the retreat of a hot shower to renew me to full strength. I pushed myself up, and pressed a hand to my side, wincing at the tenderness of the healing tissue.
“First, I’m going to put what I imagine is an amazing shower to good use, and then I want you to take me to Will and Sam.” I grabbed another cracker and scooped a hunk of sardine onto it, shoved it into my mouth and headed for the bathroom. “And then I’m going to help Will get his father back, once and for all.”
