“We’ve struck a deal,” Crispin insisted.
“A bargain that isn’t his to pay,” Mina pointed out. “A debt must be paid when the marker is called. You know this. My claim supersedes yours.”
Dade didn’t care for the way they spoke about him like he wasn’t there. He wanted to say something, but he was indebted to both of them. His options were a bit limited. He wasn’t sure whom he should pick.
Arden didn’t speak up either. She watched them spar, her gaze intent. The warmth of her hand in his was something solid he could focus on.
“He’s in my custody now,” Crispin said.
“Is that really the case?” Mina asked. “He comes and goes. You allow him the freedom of an employee rather than treating him as if he’s in service to you. I could have taken him anytime this week or last.”
Crispin grunted.
“You had me followed?” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. It wasn’t shocking that Mina’s spies had kept tabs on him. What he couldn’t get past was that he hadn’t seen them or had any indication they were there. Dade knew the tricks to keep his dealings secret. It was how he’d managed to get away with his activities for so long. The fact that he’d had not one clue he’d been watched served to underline just how much he’d let slip in the last few weeks.
He should have at least expected it. Mina had implanted a tracker in him. He knew she could find him whenever she wanted. Yet at the time, it hadn’t seemed all that important when he had things like his daily survival and keeping Arden alive to focus on.
“Of course she did,” Arden said under her breath.
“But I didn’t take him,” Mina continued as if they hadn’t interrupted, “because I knew you’d follow the code. Right, Crispin?” She raised an eyebrow.
Crispin’s mouth pressed together. The silence was as good as assent.
“I’m not leaving without Saben.” Dade couldn’t leave Saben to rot. But he had no cards to play. Mina didn’t have to help him, though he hoped there was some compassion inside her, even if her help would put him more in her debt.
“How much to buy out Saben’s contract?” Mina asked Crispin.
Crispin was already shaking his head. “It’s not for sale.”
“Everything is for sale for the right price.”
“There’s nothing I want from you.” Crispin’s amused expression was back in place.
“We both know that’s not true.” Mina leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I know what you want—or should I say, I know who you want. I can get her.”
Crispin blinked once, but that was all the reaction he showed. “I don’t believe you.”
Mina smirked.
There was an intensity to their stare. Dade couldn’t help but feel he was the only one who didn’t understand the deeper implication of what was being said. Even Arden had gone still, the hand not holding his clenched.
Finally, Crispin broke their stalemate by asking, “A favor for a favor?”
“Agreed,” Mina said with a dip of her head. She glanced over at Arden and Dade. “It looks like you’re coming with me, Dade, and we’ll take Saben.”
“First we need to make the terms of the repayment clear.” Arden lifted her chin as she spoke to Mina. “What favor is required of Dade?”
“I’m not going to discuss my plans in present company, but I assure you, he’ll only be needed for a single job.”
“And the implanted tracker?” Arden pressed. “If he does this job for you, you take it out and the debt is paid.”
“You tagged him?” Crispin interrupted, clearly impressed.
Arden sent him a scathing glare before turning back to Mina, pressing, “He does this for you, and then you have no further claim on him, agreed?”
“What about you?” Mina asked.
“What about me? I don’t owe you anything.”
“No . . .” She let her agreement hang between them for a moment. “You’re going to let me take Dade? That doesn’t sound like you. You gave up your family for him.”
Arden flared her nostrils.
Dade’s heart squeezed. Sun, he couldn’t breathe. He’d known this would happen. But knowing and watching it unfold were two different things. Arden wouldn’t leave him, just like he wouldn’t leave her. He’d gotten her trapped. This was his fault.
“I will let Dade go after this job and remove his tag if you agree to join us,” Mina promised.
Crispin whistled. “Nicely done.”
Mina didn’t acknowledge the compliment. She didn’t gloat or crow. Yet she knew Arden didn’t have any other choice, and it showed in how casually she offered the trade.
“I owe you nothing,” Arden finally said. “I come and go as I want.”
Mina nodded once. “Of course. However, you will wear a tag as long as you have access to our facility.”
Arden’s eyes narrowed. She let go of Dade’s hand, sliding to the front of her seat, and leaned forward. “No.”
Mina shrugged a shoulder. “It’s nonnegotiable. You won’t be able to set foot inside the facility without one.”
Arden sat in silence for a long moment. “When we’re finished, I want all of the tracers removed: Dade’s, Saben’s, and mine.”
“If you want them out at that time, then yes, I’ll remove them.”
“Okay,” Arden agreed.
Dade knew there was no going back. Whatever happened from this point forward, they only had each other.
CHAPTER SIX
Arden resisted the urge to look over her shoulder as they left the boxing club. Tension had been her constant friend for weeks, but now it seized her muscles. It was because of things like this—making a deal for their lives and not knowing if Mina or Crispin would keep their word—that kept her body from relaxing enough to heal.
“There’s a hovervan waiting,” Mina said. Telling them to hurry was implied. They were too far down inside the Levels for the hovervan to park directly outside the club. Hovertraffic was restricted to Level Three. As they were currently on Level One, this meant they would need to trek through the city and take a public quadralift to get there.
As they left the club, Mina positioned herself right in the middle of the group in a clear show of power. Her shoulders were straight, and she walked at a measured but brisk pace. Confident, as if this afternoon were merely another deal in a long line she had yet to accomplish before dinner.
Several times in the past, Mina had asked Arden to join her crew. Arden had repeatedly said no, of course. At the time, she’d thought Mina had no idea who she was, because Arden was always careful to wear a synth-mask and voice modulator. When she tried to avoid doing the exchanges with Mina altogether, somehow Niall always came up with a reason why Arden should be put on the task.
And now, here Arden was, trailing after Mina. This was what made her most suspicious. Mina’s motives couldn’t be trusted, at least not until Arden could see the full scope of her plan. Arden got a sense that Mina’s calculation was too precise, too long-term, and Arden hated being included in other people’s plans without her explicit agreement. It set her on edge.
When Arden and Dade had left their families, intending to create a new life, she’d known it wasn’t going to be easy. And so far, between the two of them, they’d mucked up everything. If Arden had pieced together this con, or whatever it was, before Mina had set it into motion, maybe she could have altered its course. Now that she’d been outmaneuvered, she was in the worst possible position to defend herself.
Once they were clear of the club, Mina directed them through the streets of Level One in Zero District. It was the base Level directly over the dome on top of Undercity, so the street connected from one side to the other. Above them, the skyway was open to the static cloud. They crossed a walkway heading toward the center of the city and the quadralift.
They moved as quickly as possible through the crowd. Someone was keeping tabs on them. Arden could feel it in her gut, though she didn’t see a
ny evidence of it.
The air was still dusted with debris from the explosion weeks earlier. Damp from the static cloud, the wet ash stuck to the side of the buildings. The flecks that had made it to the ground had been trampled into a gray slush that swirled and kicked up under booted feet.
Arden maneuvered herself closer to Mina. “Where are the big dudes you’re normally with?” Every time she’d seen her, Mina had been surrounded by goons. She’d expected them to converge on the group as soon as they stepped out of the club. That they hadn’t was a decided change from the norm.
Mina shrugged. “They’re back at the ship. It makes sense to use them when I deliver my goods. The muscles serve to deter most double crosses before they start.” She wasn’t from this city and kept a permanent dock at the skyport where she would park her jumper, the ship they used for planet-side travel. It made sense that she’d keep the muscle there to protect it.
“And now?”
“I’m running light with a smaller, less conspicuous crew in the city. It’s easier to stay under the radar.”
Excitement zinged through Arden when she realized she’d finally see Mina’s real crew members, the ones she pulled jobs with. It was something she’d always been curious about. Yet sharing the knowledge of her inner circle also displayed a vulnerability to Mina’s operation that made Arden ask, “You’re going to let me meet them?”
“I am, and here’s the first one now.”
The girl stood at the edge of the crowd. Most people wouldn’t have noticed her. She certainly had a way of blending in. But Arden recognized the small tells: a hand that kept straying to the girl’s side where presumably she had a phaser tucked under her cloak, the way she watched the crowd without actually catching anyone’s gaze.
Her hair was cropped, the ends spiked and dyed in a vivid shade of green. She was short and thick, with a strong face. Her combat boots were softly worn and dirty, and given the way she stood with her hip cocked, ready to strike, Arden knew she was a fighter.
When the girl saw them, her hand pushed away the cloak at her hip, resting her palm on the butt of a phaser. Yet her attention moved past them, tracking the street in the direction from which they’d come. The girl’s eyes narrowed. “You have a tail of three, maybe four.”
“Let’s move swiftly, then,” Mina said. “We can lose them in the riots to the south.”
The girl pulled cloaks from a sack slung over her shoulder. She threw one at each of them. There was even one for Saben. Confirming Arden’s suspicion that Mina meant to break him out the entire time.
Misgivings flared bright inside Arden. But she didn’t say anything, just swept on the cloak and pulled the hood low over her head.
The girl seemed indifferent, not making a point to be friendly, but not acting overtly hostile either. She spoke into her comm before saying to the group, “The hovervan should be landing in ten.” Then turned and melted into the crowd waiting for the quadralift.
When the disk docked in the station, Mina signaled with a slight tilt of her head that they should enter into the round tube first. She took up the rear position, stepping in last and making sure that no one got separated. The light door engaged, and the edges of the disk glowed blue before it began its ascent.
Arden found the jaunt through the city at this pace difficult. She leaned against the graffiti-scarred inside of the tubing and steadied her breathing. Normally she’d be able to traverse the city without any problem. She’d been too long on her feet, the excitement of the day too much past her new endurance. Her exhausted body did not follow directions, and her limbs felt shaky.
Dade looked over at her, his face pinched. But she shook her head, causing him to frown and look away.
The others began to look too, the new girl and Mina. She couldn’t have that. Arden forced herself to straighten, having no choice but to press forward to reach wherever Mina deemed it safe. Yet as the minutes ticked by, she wasn’t sure she’d make it. If Mina wanted to use Arden as a puppet, she might have to wait awhile until her strength returned. The thought of Mina getting damaged goods after all her machinations made a smile tug at Arden’s lips. Served her right.
They exited the quadralift on Level Three and turned into an open storefront market. People were crowded into the space. They held signs raised high, while voices decried both the Solizen and the city government with chanting lyrics. They wanted fair wages and access to the sun, spurred on by the knowledge that the VitD refinery was no longer producing. Their deaths were inevitable, and they knew it.
There was a palpable feeling of anger in the air. It pulsed like a physical presence. Rioting hadn’t begun yet, though Arden figured it might break out at any time. The crowd pushed forward toward cordoned-off areas. And several small fires had been set at their outer edges.
Govies lined themselves between the protesters and the shops, trying to curb the tension. There were too many people to clear the skywalk, their goal to redirect the crowd. Their presence only made the protesters angrier. The chanting swelled.
The people had always been oppressed by circumstances of their birth, but there had never been a reason for them to fight back. It was frightening and awe-inspiring. Maybe for the first time Arden realized that they were on the cusp of a revolution. It would take only one or two more incidents of corruption to push the citizens into an all-out war.
Niall had been right all those months ago that attacking the VitD supply had been the way to instigate change. The powerful drug was the only way people were able to stave off Violet Death, the horrifying illness that came from lack of sunlight. He’d managed this. In an indirect way, his actions had caused this chaos.
The truth was that VitD had always only been available in limited quantities, with profits and the majority of the manufactured drugs going to the Solizen. The govies distributed the rest with a strict priority system as a way to control the people. Everyone was ranked according to age and social standing, and how much they contributed to the city’s economy. A manipulation that now couldn’t stand up in the face of panicked citizens.
They were still in the early days of the crisis. The effects from the lack of VitD wouldn’t be seen for at least a year, maybe two. Plenty of time for someone to seize control of the city. The question was, who would that person be?
She’d never felt unsafe in Undercity or the Levels. A lot of that sense of safety came from the knowledge that she could take care of herself. This was different. Arden wasn’t sure she could put up a good fight as exhausted as she was. And the animosity was higher than she’d ever seen. It set her heart to beating. She wanted out of this crowd right now. And she didn’t much care at that point where they headed.
Tucking her face down, Arden tried to keep in the wake of Saben as he parted the protesters in front of her. Halfway through, the crowd began to roil. The anger ramped up, promising a bloody mess. Her body stiffened, reacting to the knowledge that she was stuck.
“Quicker,” Mina said from behind her, and put a prodding hand at Arden’s back. “They’re going to block off the street.”
Arden looked past the crowd to see that more govies had arrived. They flanked the skywalk in front of the far exit, spreading out to stop the crowd from moving forward. The crowd surged anyway, trying to make it through before being cut off.
She pushed herself faster. Each step was agony. Her body had taxed itself beyond her capability. Exhaustion threatened to black out her mind. And through that, the cold slice of panic carved at her chest, squeezing out the air she managed to pull through her lungs. She could not pass out here. The crowd would trample her without a second thought.
They finally made it to the line of govies. Mina pushed Arden through the ranks while using her shoulder to shove into the gut of a govie moving to stop her. They ran while the govies closed in behind them, facing the crowd.
Down the next section of skyway, the girl who led them there waited. Dade and Saben had just reached her when the girl pulled her phaser and loo
ked back. She relaxed when she saw Mina.
“We pissed off those govies. Between them and the crowd, it should keep our tail busy for a few minutes. We need to get to the hovervan,” Mina said. She’d kept her hand on Arden’s back. Now it acted as both a brace to keep Arden from falling and a tether to keep her mind in the present.
Arden didn’t tell her to drop it. She couldn’t. Her entire focus had narrowed, concentrating only on putting one foot in front of the other. The panic attack had even helped to block out the fact that her body hurt.
Even then, she didn’t want to ask for help. Mina seemed to know this. Her hand felt warm and reassuring against her back, and she shooed off Dade when he began to walk back to Arden, telling him that they didn’t have time.
Three blocks later, they found the hovervan illegally parked against the skywalk, its side door open. A boy, dressed in a running suit so tight it showed every dip of muscle, stood beside it with his arms crossed over his chest. His dark hair had been slicked up into a pompadour, and his cloak blew in the wind. When he saw them, he grinned with blindingly white, perfectly even teeth.
Arden tried to decide if this was yet another meathead in Mina’s seemingly unending supply. He seemed younger and quite a bit more lithe than the usual suspect, though perhaps not much smarter.
The boy saw her looking and flexed his bicep.
Arden instantly wrote him off. No, definitely not smarter.
“About time,” the boy said. “What’d you do, go sightseeing?”
The girl who’d met them shoved him in the gut as she made her way into the hovervan. “Shut it.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Dade slid into the backseat of the hovervan next to Saben.
The girl in the driver’s seat turned away from the wheel and gave them a little wave. “I’m Annem.”
She was young, of average height, and extremely thin. Her dark skin looked like it barely covered her bones, as if she hadn’t grown into her body yet. Her long, glossy black hair was braided in two rows secured with bright red ribbon. She bounced in her seat as if the excitement of the rescue were too much to contain.
The Stolen Sky (Split City Book 2) Page 5
