Ash

by Shani Petroff

  He turned his gaze to me. “Tell me, are you really concerned about the cause? Or are you just trying to save this Purple?”

  I knew what he wanted to hear. “The cause.”

  “And you had nothing to do with this?” He waved his gun around, toward Madden, toward the car, toward me. “This ridiculous rescue plan?”

  “Rescue plan?” I repeated, doing my best to sound confused as I walked closer to them.

  He shook his head. “I’ve been tracking your whereabouts. And I know who you talk to. You’ve spent quite a bit of time with the Ash. The one I took care of today.”

  “Sol’s dead?” Madden started to stand, but Zane flicked the gun back in her direction.

  “Don’t worry,” he answered. “You’ll be joining him soon enough.”

  The color drained from Madden’s face. I wanted to tell her that Sol was okay, but at the moment, the only thing that mattered was keeping her and Aya alive.

  I forced myself to meet his eyes and smile. “Zane, think about it. Sol and Madden are the only people who actually know the truth about my status. Or who I can talk to about Link.” I gestured to Madden. “But she’s too high and mighty to have a normal conversation with, which just leaves Sol. So, yeah, I’ve spent time with him. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  Zane considered this. “You realize between the two of them, they’d almost ruined everything we’ve been working toward?”

  I pretended to hang on his words. “What do you mean?” I asked.

  He glanced down at Madden, his expression darkening. “If they’d had their way, that little girl would have been the death of us all.”

  I didn’t like the way he was looking at Madden. I stalled. “How did you figure out their plan?”

  “Once she responded to my first ping, I gained access to her tracker. It was easy enough to put the pieces together from there.” He reached out, grabbing Madden’s hair to yank her head back. “I would advise considerably more caution in your future, short as it may be.”

  “Please,” I said. “Let her go. My future, my destiny depends on it.”

  “Then she needs to stay out of my way. Aya is going to bring down the Revenants. I need to stop her. One for the many.” He waited for me to object. When I didn’t, he continued, “You want to save this pretender, fine.” He pulled Madden back again. “But you keep her still, while I do what needs to be done. Deal?”

  “Deal,” I said. I tugged Madden up from the ground and made a show of shoving her arms behind her back.

  “No,” she screamed as Zane headed to the car.

  As soon as his back was to us, I let her go and grabbed a rock the size of my fist from my bag. I slammed it into the back of Zane’s head. Probably just like he did to Sol.

  “I should have known,” he seethed. He had one hand pressed to his head, the other swinging the gun wildly in my direction. “I should have gotten rid of you like I did your brother.”

  “Link?” Madden said, her voice a whisper.

  I recoiled, and Zane just laughed. “The other one. The racer.”

  “Aldan?” I asked, confused. “His death was an accident. We all saw it.”

  “You saw what I wanted you to see.” He glared at both of us, his hand squeezing the handle of the gun. I’d hurt him with the rock, but it just slowed him down. “He planned to make it a joke. Stop at the top of the track for a little longer than he should, then win the race. Thought it would make a statement.”

  Zane continued to ramble on, and my chest was suddenly too tight to breath.

  “He was always coming down to the underground. He didn’t belong. But my sister insisted. Said he could help. Could be the future face of the Revenants. Well, I helped that along. Rigged his board to lock after he was stationary for more than two minutes. When he tried to go down the last drop, he’d be stuck and ultimately lose the race. Missing his destiny by choice. Now that’s a statement! Had the PAE not caught me and my stolen toys, there would have been an even bigger finale. The whole loop track set to explode. Now that would have been something, though I’d say the ending was still memorable, all things considered.”

  I tried to say something, but I was at a loss. I opened my mouth, then closed it again, unable to find the words.

  When someone finally did speak, it wasn’t me. It was Oena, who was crawling out of the tunnels that were just behind Zane. “I don’t believe you,” she said, disbelief catching at her voice. “Aldan was helping us.” Her voice escalated as she stalked toward him. “He was helping the cause. Helping because you asked him to!”

  Thom, Raze, and finally Link climbed up after her. There was a part of me that was desperately relieved to see them. But that part was muffled by Zane’s confession. He was a monster.

  Zane turned, his gun aimed toward the new arrivals. He shrugged. “No one is above the cause, sis. Especially not some celebrity Purple.”

  “I loved him,” Oena said, her voice cracking.

  “We’ve all had to make sacrifices. This is war. And right now, our survival is in the hands of an eight-year-old. Since none of you have the guts to do what needs to be done, I’ll take care of it myself. You can thank me later.” He started to move toward Aya.

  “Stop,” Oena said, pulling out her own gun to point toward her brother.

  He turned back, aiming his gun at her. “I don’t want to hurt you, Oena.”

  “You should have thought of that before you executed the best chance we had for acceptance,” she said. “Aldan was going to help us come out. We had plans, Zane. Good ones. That didn’t involve killing anyone, let alone innocents.”

  “Grow up, Oena. This isn’t a Purple fairy tale. This is life, and if you want something, you have to take it. It’s time for the Revenants to come to power. This girl is a threat. She can expose us. I’m not going to let that happen, not even for you. Now stand down.”

  “No,” she said. Both of Oena’s hands were on her gun, trying to keep herself from shaking.

  Hesitation flickered over her face. Shoot him, I silently screamed.

  Zane’s gun was still trained on her. “You know I’m a much better shot than you.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  He studied her. “I suppose you’re right about that. We all have a weakness.”

  Zane moved quicker than I could have imagined. One minute his gun was trained on Oena, the next he lunged toward Madden, twisting her body in front of his. She struggled against him, but she was pinned too tightly to get away.

  “Maybe I can’t shoot you, Oena,” Zane said, “but I have no problem getting rid of this one.” He held the gun to Madden’s temple, dragging her backward, toward Aya. “Let me finish this so we can be on our way.”

  “Zane stop, I’m warning you,” she said.

  He shook his head. “You won’t shoot me either. Besides, you wouldn’t risk hitting the Purple. You’re good Oena, but you’re not that good.”

  “Luckily I am.” It was Thom. He took the gun from Oena and fired.

  I felt Zane’s body jerk away from mine. His hands released their grip on my arms, and I stumbled away from him in terror.

  He howled as he dropped to the ground, one hand pressed over the hole blasted through his shoulder. Blood seeped from the wound, dripping from his fingers. It splattered over the fallen leaves. His gun lay beside him.

  “Leave it,” Thom ordered. He took a step toward Zane.

  “Why stop now?” Zane spat at him through clenched teeth. “Complete your destiny. Or get out of my way.”

  It happened in a flash.

  Oena yelled for her brother to stop. Zane lunged toward the gun. Thom bridged the distance between them in three giant steps, kicking Zane square in the face. Bones crunched as his foot made contact. Zane’s head snapped back, the momentum knocking him down with a heavy thump.

  My whole body heaved as I scrambled further away from the fight. I couldn’t rip my eyes from Zane’s motionless body. Was he still alive? I wondered, and then immediately
felt sick. Had the bullet hit two inches to the left earlier, it might have been me lying there.

  “Hey,” Link said, rushing over. “It’s okay, you’re okay.” He put his arms around me, and I fell into him. He squeezed tighter, and I took in his familiar scent. I just wanted to get lost in it, get lost in him, but I knew I had to pull it together. Aya was still in the car, there was an unconscious, possibly dead man at my feet, and a bunch of Revenants out in the open. Now was not the time to break down.

  “I’m fine,” I told him. I let myself soak in the warmth of his body for a few more seconds before I pulled away. “Is Zane alive?” Raze was hunched over his body, wrapping a jacket around his shoulder.

  Thom shook his head. “Yes,” he said, his voice emotionless. “I’m not a killer.” He might not have been one, but he certainly looked the part, his expression grim with a gun in each hand. The one he fired and the one Zane discarded. But it didn’t matter how he appeared, the reality was, he saved my life.

  Everyone went quiet as Oena joined Raze by her brother. She wiped his hair from his forehead before closing her eyes.

  “The bleeding’s stopped,” Raze broke the silence. “He’s still out cold and his shoulder’s pretty torn up, but he’ll survive. Knowing him, he’ll probably even brag about it. Just another battle scar.”

  “Wait,” I said, horrified. “You’re just going to act like he did nothing wrong? Go back to normal? Like he didn’t try to kill me? Kill Aya?”

  “What would you have us do?” Raze replied. “Send him back to the holding cells? Your secret would be out the minute Zane came to. Or maybe you’d rather we get it over with and kill him right here?”

  I held up my hands as if I could somehow fend off her words. “I didn’t say I wanted him dead. But you can’t just let him go. What if he comes after Aya again, or—”

  Oena cut me off. “Zane will be dealt with.” There was a kind of bitter finality to her words “He’s going to the crypts.”

  Raze looked taken aback, but a moment later she nodded her agreement.

  “The crypts?” I asked.

  “Our prison system. Makes the holding cells look like a Purple dream,” Oena said. “Don’t worry. None of you will see my brother again.”

  I wanted to believe her, but I didn’t know if I could. Zane was smart. He’d fooled all of us. More times than I could count. “He got out of one secure prison,” I told her. “What’s to stop him from pulling another escape?”

  “Me,” she said. “This time, I’ll be watching. He won’t hurt another soul. I promise you that.” She paused to take a deep breath. “And I’m sorry for what happened today, Madden. For all of it.” Her expression was guarded, but I recognized the look. I wore my own version when things were falling apart and I needed to appear in control. “You’ve been a help to us. Zane shouldn’t have used you like that.”

  I felt a sudden wave of sympathy for her. It had to be hard to come to grips with the fact that her brother was responsible for Aldan’s death. I tried to remember that as I spoke. “It’s not your fault. I’m just glad Thom is a skilled shot.”

  “I’ve had a lot of practice,” he replied in his stony voice. “I started training at five years old.”

  I let out a gasp. Five? That was impossible. Only the PAE and authorized officials had access to firearms. A child would never be allowed to use one.

  He saw the confusion on my face. “My destiny is to kill,” he continued. “No time stamp. No expiration. It’s why I defected. The PAE thought I’d make a good weapon. They gave me a gun when most kids were still learning their alphabet. But I never wanted to fight, let alone murder anyone.”

  My father was in charge of national security. Did he know about this? Was he responsible for putting a gun in a child’s hand? I didn’t know what to say.

  Dax chimed in softly. “Well, what you did today saved lives. Thank you.” Her eyes panned over the Revenants and Link. “All of you. I didn’t know what to do when I saw Sol…”

  I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat.

  Dax looked over at me. “He’s fine,” she said quickly. “He’s alive. I found him in the garage. It’s how I knew where you’d be. Zane hit him over the head. He was still groggy when I left him there.”

  I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. Sol was okay. I instantly felt lighter. Another question struck me. I looked down at my tracker, realizing it still showed my location at the UV. “How did he find us?” I asked.

  “His bag’s in the trunk. He used it to track you. On my way here, I pinged Link.”

  I nodded, piecing it together. We’d been lucky. But we’d made it. “Thank you,” I said to Dax. “For everything.”

  She gave me a smile. A genuine one. “Well, the way you fought for Aya… that was pretty ultra.”

  Before either of us had a chance to say anything else, Link stepped in. “You two need to get out of here. We don’t want anyone to notice you’re not where you’re supposed to be.” He walked toward Zane’s still body. “And we should get him underground before he wakes up.”

  I looked back at the car. “What about Aya?” I asked. “Are we sure she’s safe?”

  Oena answered. “She should be. If Zane didn’t share his plans with us, he wouldn’t have shared them with anyone. No one else knows about her destiny.” Her eyes narrowed. “Though you should still watch out for her. There are others who are just as good as Zane at finding hidden information.”

  I nodded, my entire body charged with emotions. Relief that Zane was no longer a threat, but anxious about the future. My life as I knew it was about to end. But that was for another time. Today I’d won. And Aya had too.

  We said our goodbyes. Link, Oena, and Raze stayed behind, standing over Zane, probably trying to figure out the best way to move him. Thom took over as my driver. Dax promised to check on Sol before continuing down the running trail. Which just left me.

  As I climbed back into the car, Aya looked up, her eyes glazed. She turned off her sound cloud, holding her game up for me to inspect. She had no clue what had gone on.

  “I’m back at the beginning,” she said, looking at the holograph. “I have to start building New City from scratch again.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “I didn’t have enough food in the lower rings, so I took some away from the upper rings, but that didn’t go over so well. The Purples revolted, and I lost my badges because of it.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “That’s okay,” she said. “This time I’ll make sure the lower rings have enough from the start. It will be better than before. I’ll do it right this time.”

  “Sounds good,” I said.

  Too bad the game wasn’t real life. A do-over sounded like exactly what New City needed. Like what I needed too. Instead, I was going to be stuck with the rest of the unwanteds in Ash. I needed to come up with a plan. Just like the game, I needed to make New City mine again.

  Nervous energy ran up my spine, and I grabbed Aldan’s purple cuff to calm myself down. I had worn it under my gray shirt. Partially for luck, partially to keep my brother with me, and partially to remind myself who I really I was.

  I turned to Madden. If she was as anxious as I was it didn’t show. “You really think our Destiny Specialist is here?” I asked. I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see beyond the hedges surrounding the property. I could just make out the gabled rooftop of Dr. Og’s home.

  “Yes,” she said. “K.C. Palcove lives with Og. Sol triple checked.”

  I couldn’t believe we were about to confront the woman who altered our whole lives. Especially in the home of the man who created the destiny system. Hopefully this meant the truth would finally come out. It meant a whole new beginning for me. But for Madden… I wondered if she regretted her decision to look into what happened the day we were born.

  After we were sure Aya was okay, Madden turned her focus to figuring out why our destinies were swapped. I expected it to be a lost cause,
but less than twenty-four hours later she’d tracked the woman at the center of the situation down. Now here we were at the front gate of a minister’s mansion.

  “You ready?” Madden asked.

  I wasn’t sure. But I knew I needed answers. I just hoped K.C. Palcove would provide them. I nodded to Madden, and she reached out a violet nail to tap the intercom beside the gate.

  I looked around uneasily as we waited. We were in the very center of the Purple zone, and the most exclusive residential neighborhood in the city. It was strangely quiet here. There were no voices, no people. Then again, there was probably less commotion when your nearest neighbor’s mansion was a five minute walk away. “I kinda expected guards,” I said, careful to keep my voice steady. “Or something.”

  “He knows we’re here,” Madden said. She nodded toward the hovercams hidden within the branches nearby. The gate swung open as if to prove the point.

  We stood there, waiting, but no instructions came. No voice telling us to come in or go away or anything. We exchanged a long look. Madden wore her usual haughty expression, but I could see the tightness in her face. I guessed she was probably just as freaked out as I was, but then she seemed to make a decision. She strode forward like she owned the place, tossing her hair over her shoulder. I walked beside her, trying to look confident. More like a future Minister. Although it was hard not to gape at my first uninterrupted view of the mansion.

  It stood at the end of a long, winding driveway, a lavender, three-story structure with dark purple shutters surrounding the windows on each level. A balcony wrapped around each floor and tens of thousands of purple flowers draped over the sides. A huge expanse of perfectly manicured lawn stretched out around it. I couldn’t believe people lived like this. That I would have lived like this, if destiny had gone as it should.

  As we got closer to the house I noticed that the flowers weren’t as uniform as they’d appeared from the distance. Peeking through the sea of purple were unruly bursts of red and yellow. There were even colors I rarely saw, like orange and pink. Stranger still, the purple flowers had light veins of gray running through their petals. Almost silver in hue. They were two colors that didn’t belong together.