The detonator!
Rena’s focus shot to the locket as debris fell around them. What if the rubble had smashed the black box and triggered the green button? She should’ve thought of that sooner.
Beep!
“I can’t get it off!” Blaze screamed as she yanked the choker. Her eyes were frantic and wide.
Rena lunged, hands out-stretched and prepared to help rip the death sentence away.
Beep!
They yanked as hard as they could at the choker. Blaze shrieked at yet another burn. “It won’t break!”
“Turn!” She whipped Blaze around. As soon as Rena’s shaky hands neared the silver cylinder covering the clasp, a jolt flew from her fingers and zapped it.
Blaze let out a strangled cry.
Beep!
The cylinder opened. Dust, that felt like shards of glass, fell in Rena’s eyes. They watered, but no matter how much she blinked, her vision remained blurry. Panting, she raked her thumbnail over the clasp desperate to find the hook.
Beep!
“Hurry,” Blaze’s voice cracked with need.
The clasp released and fell to the ground. Rena swooped down, snatched it up, and flung it as far from them as she could.
It exploded mid-air. The thunderous noise echoed off the mountains. Rena and Blaze stumbled to the nearest shade, slumped to the ground and gawked at the cave in. They sat stunned for a few minutes, unable to speak until the chirping birds broke the unnatural stillness.
Blaze rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but whatever you did to make that choker come off was the worst pain I’ve ever felt. Worse than what happened on the train.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. Now or then.” Rena’s hands raked over her hair. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. You saved my life. Again. We have to stop getting into these situations,” Blaze said, in a forced light tone.
Both times were Rena’s fault. When she touched her collarbone, her fingertips brushed against the necklace. Nevan once told her it symbolized new beginnings and cleansing of the past. Blaze had been kidnapped and tortured twice, in as many days.
“You’re free now.” Rena removed her necklace and handed it to her best friend. “To your new beginning.”
Blaze hesitated before accepting the gift. “Thank you.” Sunlight glinted off the birch leaf as she examined it. She smoothed her thumb over the clasp. “How did you open the choker?”
Rena studied her palms. “It’s a new part of my gift. Can’t quite control it, yet.”
“New part?” Blaze asked as she put on the necklace. “So, when you said the cave was coming down, it wasn’t because you sensed an earthquake coming. You caused it.”
Rena nodded, even though it didn’t sound like a question.
“How?”
“Happens when I get too emotional.”
“Sweet Mother Earth, Rena! I thought you sensing vibrations through the ground was a big deal. But causing earthquakes?”
“I’m afraid. What will happen to me if people find out about this?” She locked eyes with Blaze. “Swear you won’t tell anyone.”
“I’m insulted that you feel like you have to ask, but I promise.” Her gaze drifted over Rena’s shoulder. “The earthquake that squashed the droid?
She raised her hand, “Me.”
Blaze paled and whispered, “Nevan?”
Guilt wasn’t a strong enough word. She pressed a hand to an achy spot over her heart. Tears flooded her eyes, washing out whatever dust particles lingered. “An accident. I lost control,” she said in a thickened voice.
The knots in her stomach tightened as cold shivers raised goose bumps along her arms. Now Rena had to swallow an ugly truth and accept responsibility. She’d forever have to live with the knowledge of what she’d done, even if it was an accident.
She’d become that girl, a killer, and Nevan her first victim. A slow tremble worked its way from her stomach to her limbs, weighing them down. Her lips felt swollen and tight and her tongue too big for her mouth. She swayed, on the verged of a breakdown, but refused herself the luxury. Blaze’s soft touch swept across her back, most likely an act of comfort. Comfort, Rena didn’t deserve.
“I did a t-terrible thing to N-nevan.” Her voice sounded low, hoarse, like it belonged to someone else. She wiped her eyes with her wrist. “We have to go back. I need to s-say goodbye. I have to tell him…” She choked on the lump in her throat. “I need to say I’m sorry.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Under the late afternoon sun, Rena and Blaze cut across the flat lands, instead of going back up through the foothills. They were able to move faster on the relatively even terrain, which shortened the trek down by two and a half miles, saving them about an hour.
Rena’s body ached, but it paled in comparison to the agony in her heart. She blew out a long breath, and watched the vultures in the distance. Most of them flew clockwise. Rena felt like the ones on the outside going the other way.
“I think we’re here,” Blaze whispered, pointing to a crater about sixty feet away.
How had she not noticed the changing terrain? The ground here had larger rocks scattered across cracked earth on account of the bombing and the debris it created.
“Should we look?” Blaze asked.
“Not here. Closer to the middle.”
They walked by more than a dozen holes, careful to avoid the loose rocks. Rena tried to pull a cloak of numbness over herself as she approached the area where…where they needed to search. The first crater she peered into wasn’t deep enough, the next not round enough, the one after that empty. She wondered how she’d ever find Nevan again. She’d checked at least a dozen more craters, her heart sinking each time she peered over the edge.
There were hundreds more, but little time remained as darkness chased the daylight. She wouldn’t stop, not until she found him. Walking in silence, she began to plan a way to climb to the bottom once she did. The rope from her backpack would have worked, but that was lost somewhere on the mountain. That left one option, asking his family for help.
She prayed the vultures circling overhead hadn’t desecrated his body. That she’d have a chance to cover him with rocks for protection until she brought help.
That’s when it hit her: follow the vultures.
“That one way over there,” she said.
“Where?”
“The one the birds are circling over.”
She stood frozen in place for a few seconds before she forced her feet to move. Keeping her eyes focused on the birds, she lurched forward. This seemed like a good idea, giving him the best burial she had to offer, safeguarding his body from scavengers. However, the closer she got to the crater, the heavier her legs felt. A few feet away, she stopped. Her breaths came in short, rasping pants, and her vision blurred as she clutched his brown shoe, pressing the sole against her chest.
“Want me to look first?” Blaze offered.
“No.” She sipped air between her teeth. “Give me a minute.”
As they stared at the lip of the crater, Blaze rubbed her back, a silent understanding between them. First her mom, now Nevan.
Her pounding heart whooshed in her ears. Letting the shoe dangle by her side, she cleared her throat. “It’s almost as if…almost like I can still feel him.”
Blaze leaned her head on Rena’s shoulder. “He’ll always have a place in your heart.”
“I know.” She looked at the sky, thinking of that first night on the purring building where they hid from the Syns. “But I’m not talking about those kinds of ‘feelings’. I feel his footsteps. He has a…had a musical rhythm in his walk.” She glanced behind her hoping, needing to see him. Her shoulders rounded with disappointment. She kneeled to the ground, one hand resting on the tip of the shoe, trying to muster the courage to look over the ledge.
Blaze waited patiently.
Rena slouched, holding fast to the sensation of his ghost-like footfalls. She resisted
looking back again. Her heart had no room for more misery.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears. “Once I look down there and see him...” She couldn’t finish the thought.
“Anything I can do?” Blaze asked.
“Bring Nevan back.”
“You got it, Lil’ Mama.” The deep, smooth voice caressed her ears.
She squeezed the brown shoe to her, and closed her eyes before bowing her head. “Now, I’m hearing him, too.”
Blaze tapped Rena’s shoulder. “Uh, Rena. It’s not your imagination.”
Her eyes flashed open and she spun. Nevan staggered toward her. Within a split second, she jumped up and sprinted toward him, quickly closing the short space between them. He no longer had blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, only a busted lip and a black eye. His knuckles were scuffed up from the fight, but other than the slight limp, he looked whole. He had that familiar sparkle in his gorgeously contrasting eyes once again, and that dimple.
She threw herself into his outstretched arms and squeezed him hard enough to force the air out of his lungs. He wrapped her in the shelter of his embrace and squeezed.
“Is it really you?” she whispered.
“Yeah, it’s me.” He made a low, pained sound, as he held onto her.
“Your walk feels different.”
“Probably will be for a while. How’d you escape?”
“There was another quake.” She couldn’t look at him when she said it. “The cave crushed them.”
“Relieved and happy you’re safe.” He lifted his shoe from her hand. “Now I know where this went.”
“I thought you were d-dead. I’m sorry for knocking you over the edge.” She gazed up into his eyes. “I didn’t mean to.”
“They call this the badlands for a reason. Wasn’t your fault.”
“It kinda was.” She glanced at the crater. “I didn’t tell you the whole truth about my abilities.”
He didn’t say anything. Didn’t blink.
“I’m sorry.” Sudden heat burned her ears. She picked at non-existent lint on his shirt. Biting her lip, she struggled to find the right words. Fear over how he might respond slicked her palms. She pressed her forehead to his chest, her breath warmed her hands as she spoke. “The quakes happen when I get worked up.”
Silence.
She wanted to look at him, but feared what she’d see in his eyes. “You must be furious.”
“Stunned.” He angled her face to his. “Bewildered. Amazed. Not mad.”
“But I almost killed you.”
“Not on purpose.” He slid his hand to the back of her neck. His fingers intertwined with her braids as he kissed her freckles. His stubble grazed her cheeks. Then he pulled her into a soft, sweet kiss, but stopped just as quickly and touched his lip. “Still a little sore.”
She caressed his dimple, then touched her forehead to his.
“I don’t understand how you survived.”
“Cyrus and I used to jump out of trees. Crouch, tuck, and roll.” He mocked the motion as best he could with his injuries. “Must’ve passed out. The pain in my leg brought me back around before the Burning. I hollered for you, but you didn’t answer.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Stop apologizing.” He released his hold and strolled over to look down into the crater. “It was hard to get out, but I had to make sure you were okay.” He pivoted to face her, and she was still shocked not to see anger in his eyes. “I didn’t know which direction to go, so I found a safe place to wait for you.”
“You knew I’d come back?” Rena threaded her arm through Nevan’s as they turned and slowly strolled toward Blaze.
He covered her hand with his. “We had a deal, didn’t we? Speaking of which, I found something for you.”
Her gaze roved over the dirt and rock surrounding them. “What could you possibly find for me out here?”
“I gave you a promise, for helping me find the way home.”
“The baby tree?”
“Two. Birch trees, like the leaf from your necklace. We can pick them up on the way.”
It was Blaze’s necklace now, but she didn’t correct him.
“You owe me something else.” She slowed the pace more.
“What’s that?”
“Back in the cave, you wanted to talk. About us.”
“Yeah.” He blushed.
“Don’t make me punch you in the arm again.”
He stopped and shifted their hands so that his fingers laced through hers. He studied his thumb as it caressed her knuckles. “When I saw you dancing at the Maiden Walk last year, I knew that you were special. I felt this kind of pull toward you, like my Dad always told me I would when the right woman came along.” He met her eyes. “I know how crazy that sounds, but you gotta admit, you and I been through some crazy things lately. I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you’re interested, I’d like to give us a chance.”
His gaze was too intense to hold. She bit her lip and looked at his chin.
“Nevan, I—”
“I know you have another year of internship, and it’ll be hard ‘cause we come from different backgrounds, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to be a part of your life. I’ll even help you make payments on your future debt.”
Until she brought her debt down, she had a number of restrictions: travel outside the boundary (not that it stopped her), housing allowances, work assignments, marriage. They were too young for the last one, but in a few years. Her eyes widened.
“I came on too strong, didn’t I?” He let out a heavy sigh and started to let go of her hand. “Now you think I’m—”
“Perfect.” She looked him in the eyes. “Me, too. Whatever it takes.”
He nodded once, his smile so big that his dimple showed. Rena’s heart leapt.
Not even attempting to resist, she stood on her toes and planted a kiss right over it. “Man, I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.”
Nevan chuckled. “Let’s go get your tree.”
Hand in hand, they started toward Blaze.
“I know right where I want to plant them,” Rena said.
“Plant what?” Blaze asked. “Are you still talking about bringing back a tree?”
“Two.”
“Rena!” Blaze shook her head, but smiled anyway.
“They’ll take a few years to produce saplings,” Nevan said.
“I have time.”
Blaze looked at her. “If you do this and people find out the whole truth, it could change things.”
“I know. I’m counting on it.”
Epilogue
Rena tightened her grip on Nevan’s hand as they crept through the darkness toward Transit Plaza. A surge of excitement sparked through her, but flowed into Nevan instead of the ground. He gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze and smiled. She couldn’t believe what they’d done.
Planting unregulated vegetation in the city was illegal. It’d land her hefty fines if anyone found out. Nevan said Ugly Forest would take good care of its newest additions, the two birch trees, plus a handful of greenery he’d gathered on the way. Even Blaze had gotten her hands a little dirty then gazed at the hidden garden with awe.
Rena still didn’t know what to tell her dad once she got home. She shuddered thinking about what she did to save Blaze.
Nevan rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “You okay?”
Not sure. Not ready to talk about it. “Never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad we made it back to Hollowcrest.”
“You and me both,” Blaze said. “Miss my bed.”
Transit sat dimly lit and empty. Somewhere out there, Synbots patrolled. For now, her group was safe, or so she thought, until she sensed a steady tap tap tap tap, like someone bouncing their foot.
Rena lifted her hand. “Hold up.”
The strategically planted trees and intentional placement of tables made it easy to spot what didn’t b
elong.
“Over there.” Rena pointed at a person sitting on a bench.
Blaze shook her head. “I knew we’d get busted eventually.”
“It’s not a Syn. Never seen one sitting before.” Nevan’s hand tightened around Rena’s.
The person started toward them, a silhouette in the darkness. “Rena? That you?”
She didn’t recognize the voice, but she knew that walk. “It’s Trace.”
“Who’s Trace?” Nevan asked. “Can he be trusted?”
“He saved our lives on the CityRail,” Blaze answered.
Rena thought back to Trace’s sketch of her necklace, the drawing of her, and the way he reacted before the CityRail catastrophe. Plus, they knew each other’s secrets. “We should listen to what he has to say.”
Trace’s gaze flicked to Rena and Nevan’s entwined hands. “Saw something major.”
He looked too serious for it to be good news. “What is it?”
“You need to see it.” He set his backpack on the ground and pulled out his GreenPad.
“Should we be doing this here?” Blaze glanced over her shoulder. “What if the Syns show?”
Rena sensed for them, but didn’t feel their march. “We’re good for now.”
The GreenPad sparked to life. Trace dimmed the light, and the four of them hovered around it like a barrel fire. Blaze chewed her lower lip, gaze constantly roving across Transit.
“I saw this days ago, but I couldn’t find you, couldn’t warn you in time.”
“In time?” Rena asked.
Trace nodded. “Needed to get to you before it happened, but—”
“Wait, you saw the future and knew it?”
“Yes.” He tilted his head so his hair hid his face.
“You said you couldn’t tell what time the things you see are from.”
“I know what I told you.” He peeked at her. “It’s easier if people think that. Otherwise, they bombard me with questions, desperate to know their future.”
Rena folded her arms. “Do you always know what timeline your visions come from?”
He nodded again.
“When you drew that picture of me bawling my eyes out, you knew it was from the future?”
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