Please let them be okay. Please let them be okay, I repeated to myself.
The cellar door creaked open, then the lights were flipped on. The sheets above and around me glowed like the last rays of sunset. I stayed stock still, breathing as shallowly as I could—at times completely holding my breath. I was afraid my pounding heart would lead whoever was coming down the stairs straight to me.
Footsteps now clicked against the concrete floor of the cellar. As I pushed out the thrumming of my heart, I distinguished several distinct sets of footsteps.
“This was her room?” The tone of voice definitely belonged to one of my sisters.
“Yes.” I believed that was Constance.
No!
A door opened.
“Such a shame.”
“Do you think she’s down here?” This came from a man.
“I do.” Not Constance.
Then I heard the whoosh of pulled linens and the irritable scratching of wood against the concrete floor. I was about to move when I heard similar sounds coming from another direction, then another. They had started clearing the furniture from three separate locations, working toward the middle of the pile.
I was trapped like a rat in a maze that was collapsing all around me. I could crawl deeper until I reached the far wall, but the effort would only buy me seconds. There was no escape.
When the first soldier found me, I could see the parted sea of party furniture in his wake. I had no gun. I didn’t even have anything to throw at him—like that would have done any good.
“Found her,” the soldier said, angling his machine gun down to meet me.
I gazed up at the appearance of Eleanor, in another business suit, a smile growing on her smug face.
“Here we are again,” she said. “Third time’s a charm.”
“Get up,” the soldier commanded.
The other two soldiers had stopped their searches and joined the area where we were situated. One of them gripped Constance’s upper arm, deterring any impetuous actions from her—or me.
“Do you really have any idea what you’re doing, or are you under just as much control as Bethany?” I asked as I slowly got to my feet.
“I’m totally fine,” Eleanor said. “Not to worry, you’ll understand for yourself soon enough.”
“Can’t you at least let the others go?” I pleaded.
The soldier who’d found me grabbed my arm and forced me out of the wrecked furniture.
“Constance said you haven’t seen or heard from Piper yet. Is this true? I’ve checked Duke Hendrix’s estate, but it was empty.”
“You don’t believe me?” Constance argued.
Eleanor didn’t answer, but stared intently at me.
“No,” I said, corroborating Constance’s story. “I have no idea where she is.”
“No matter; we’ll find her,” Eleanor said and led the group of us up the stairs and out of the house.
As we were walked down the driveway, Constance gestured to me with her free hand. “Look.”
I followed her finger and saw another one of us approaching from the shadows of the estate grounds; it had to be Jane.
“Nice work,” Jane said when she reached us and continued alongside Eleanor toward the end of the long driveway, where a dark limousine sat off to the side of the road. “Who’s left?”
“Piper,” Eleanor replied.
“Where’s Danielle?” Constance asked. “I haven’t heard her name mentioned in a while.”
“She had a separate task, but she’ll be home soon,” Eleanor said as the soldier holding Constance’s arm opened the back door of the limo. “And now it’s time for us to go home.”
“Which is where?” I asked.
“The palace, of course. We will all be secretly sharing in the Queendom,” Jane said. “No winner. No losers.”
A large hand pushed down on my head, forcing me into the limo once Constance was seated. She scooted over as I climbed in. Eleanor and Jane followed suit and sat across from us.
Before the car started moving, Eleanor produced two syringes and handed one to Jane.
“We’d like a peaceful drive,” Eleanor said.
Constance struggled more than I did, but somehow they were noticeably stronger than both of us and injected us without too much difficulty. The lights in the car dimmed. Then the faces before me faded. The car began moving—or it was just me falling. Then the entire inside of the car disappeared.
38
Byron
The scream of a man convinced me to open my eyes. The soldier who had been standing before me was now writhing in pain from a shot to the leg. Mackenzie stood behind him, the barrel of his gun still smoking.
Lady Ramsey stood beside him, her hand over her mouth in shock or disgust. Her girls shrieked and ran to her side.
Mackenzie stalked up to the downed soldier, placed the barrel of his pistol under his chin, and finished him off point blank.
“This obviously isn’t a good place to stay,” Mackenzie said. He sounded strangely sober and rested—not a hint of the gallons of scotch he’d drunk in his voice or movement.
Maybe I was still too hung over or in too much pain to notice.
“Can you walk?” he asked me, offering a hand to help me up.
“I can barely move,” I said, not even able to get myself to a seated position. How the hell did he look so capable?
“I figured you’d need some help. Here, take this.” Mackenzie reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small silver vial.
“Is this what I think it is?” I asked, taking it from him and uncorking the top.
“Just drink it so we can get moving,” Mackenzie said, exasperated. “I didn’t know you’d be such a girl about it.”
“His leg’s broken,” Johanna snapped.
Mackenzie scowled at her. “Do you know how to use that thing?” he asked, gesturing to my gun in her hand.
“Not exactly.” Her fight was gone.
He held his hand out, urging her to hand it over, which she did without further argument.
I downed the contents of the vial in one gulp, which had a familiar metallic taste, and threw the empty vial in the grass.
“It’s still going to hurt for a while, but we don’t have time to wait for those little suckers to kick in.”
Mackenzie was pulling me to my feet before he finished talking and it was incredibly difficult to bite back a scream. I balanced on his shoulder, hobbling on one leg. Johanna stepped up and convinced me to wrap my second arm around her neck.
“I can do this,” I said, more as an affirmation to myself than a statement for the group.
We began our labored trek to the woods, but before we got far, someone called for us to wait up. Mackenzie whirled his gun around—nearly causing me to fall in the process—to confront whomever was headed in our direction.
“Hey now, it’s just us.” I recognized the voice as Kale’s this time. I glanced back and saw Rod and Piper with him.
“Could you attract any more attention?” Mackenzie sniped.
“Could you guys move any faster?” Kale countered. He saw Johanna having difficulty holding me up and took her place. Then Rod replaced Mackenzie on the opposite side.
The estate grounds seemed eerily quiet now, and I was afraid for who wasn’t there.
“Where’s Victoria?” I asked. “And Constance?”
“They left first,” Rod said. “I thought they would have found you.”
“I should go back and look for her,” Kale said.
“Getting yourself killed or captured won’t do anyone any good,” Mackenzie said. “Let’s get to safety, then discuss going back.”
I prayed she was all right—both girls actually—and wished there was something I could do. My head already felt a little clearer, but my leg throbbed and dragged uselessly. The harsh movements wouldn’t allow for any of the pain to let up in the slightest. I clenched my jaw, trying desperately not to cry out. Sweat dripped down my brow an
d stung my eyes.
Once we reached the trees, Rod and Kale helped prop me against a large trunk.
Mackenzie stood at the treeline, his body mostly obscured by another oversized trunk, scanning the estate grounds. “No one seems to be coming after us,” he said. “It seems we’ve made it. Now we just need to get to a car.” Then he looked more closely at our group. “Several, I guess.”
“Where are we gonna go?” Johanna asked.
“My friend has a safe house. And I promised I’d take this sorry excuse for a prince there anyway.”
There was scowling from much of the group at his comment, but I saw the hint of a smile on his lips when he said it.
“What about Victoria?” Kale asked.
“If you want to stick around here, then be my guest,” Mackenzie said. “I’d stick to the trees for now, until you can confirm they’re gone—at least a majority of them.”
“Come with us,” Ariel said, her voice unsteady.
Kale saw the pleading in her eyes and I didn’t know how he could refuse her, but he did. “You’ll be safe with them. I’ll stay out of sight until I’m sure. I won’t do anything stupid.”
She ran in for a hug, and then the three other kids in the group joined in.
Once they let go, Johanna was standing before him. “Be safe, okay?” she said and left him with a truly anguished embrace—one neither of them seemed to want to end.
“How’s the leg?” Mackenzie asked.
I gazed up at him and gave a sardonic, “Five percent better.”
“Things are looking up then,” he chuckled. “Let’s get moving.”
39
Victoria
I awoke to a darkened room. It seemed to be a recurring nightmare. My first thought in an unfamiliar place was always that I was back in the cellar of the Ramsey estate—like I’d never escaped. Ramsey was still alive, and I was back to being what I was always meant to be—a toy for his sick amusement.
But then I quickly realized I was not in my old bed. I was lying on a small cot with metal rails on the sides. My head ached as I sat up, also making me a little woozy.
There were chirps and clicks coming from familiar medical equipment against the wall. A variety of lights blinked from the machinery. They didn’t provide much light, but enough to see as my eyes adjusted.
I was dressed in a hospital gown and luckily still had my underwear on underneath. The left side of my head itched, and when I went to scratch it, I found my head wrapped in bandages.
What happened to me?
I remembered being back at the Ramsey estate—but the Duke was dead, I had killed him—and I was running from soldiers. Constance was there, and Eleanor and Jane. What were they doing there? Weren’t they dead too? Contradictory thoughts swirled inside my head.
Taking in more of the room, I noticed a similar bed beside mine. A girl was asleep in it.
Constance?
Her head was also covered in bandages, most of her face obstructed by a bedsheet.
I slid off the side of the bed and tiptoed over to her, pulling the sheet slightly down, so I could confirm it was actually her.
“Constance, are you okay?” I whispered.
She didn’t stir.
I felt a buzzing in my head that seemed to be moving around like a bee trapped inside my skull. It changed pitch—up, then down. The buzzing began to sound more like static, making it hard to even hear myself think. It was somehow drowning out my own thoughts.
As quickly as the sound had appeared, it was gone again. My head was returned to silence. The room, too, was silent except for the chirping of the machines that sounded like they were having their own private conversation.
Victoria, do not be alarmed, a voice said.
Constance was still asleep and I’d had no idea someone else was in the room. I couldn’t even tell where the voice was coming from; it sounded like whoever was speaking was standing right in front of me, but in that space lay only a sleeping Constance.
I whirled around to inspect the rest of the room—
But I didn’t… I’d gone through the physical motions of whirling around, but my body remained still. I hadn’t moved a muscle. In fact, I couldn’t seem to move a single muscle, yet I was still standing.
Victoria, do not be alarmed, the voice repeated. You will not be harmed. We will be working together going forward. You will be granted certain permissions over time. They will start out in controlled situations. But for the time being, I will be driving.
What the hell are you talking about? I said, but I didn’t actually say anything at all. The sentence only came out as a thought.
The voice I was hearing was so crisp and clear, it felt like I could reach out and touch her, but now I was beginning to think she was also only in my head. And she didn’t sound like me. Her voice was deeper, even toned, with a mechanical cadence.
Before the mysterious voice in my head was able to reply, the door opened and I spun around. But I hadn’t done that—to me, I simply froze.
“Hello, Dr. Crane,” I said, but again, it seemed completely involuntary. The voice coming from my lips was mine, but I wasn’t the one saying the words. Perhaps I was dead and now separated from my body—no longer the driver, now simply a spectator.
The voice had used the word driver. Was that why I was thinking of that analogy? Were these thoughts not even mine anymore?
“Dear sweet, Victoria. It’s good to see you up,” Dr. Crane said, stepping into the room and closing the door. “How do you feel?”
“I feel fine,” I said.
I don’t feel fine whatsoever. In fact, I am so very not fine right now.
“I knew you would be. Your sisters have taken well to the upgrade. Any lingering side effects?”
“The calibration is complete,” I said. “I think I’m ready.”
What calibration? What the hell are you talking about?
“Is she giving you any trouble?”
“It will take her time to settle, but I don’t think she’ll be a problem long term.”
“Hello, Dr. Crane,” Constance said, now sitting with her legs dangling off the side of the cot. “Hi, Victoria.”
“And how are you feeling, honey?” Dr. Crane asked, his tone gentle and endearing.
“I’m getting some pushback, but that’s to be expected,” Constance said. “She is the fighter of the group.”
“That she is,” Dr. Crane chuckled. “And we love her for it.”
He brought up the computer tablet he’d been holding at his side and quickly punched the screen with his index finger. He stood before me, intently focused on the screen, and then moved on to Constance.
What’s he doing?
Monitoring the biochip against your current brain activity to confirm who he’s talking to, my intruder voice said.
That he’s talking to you…
Precisely.
Who are you? I asked, though I didn’t expect a forthcoming answer.
Now I’m you, was the cheerful reply.
Dr. Crane finished his work on the tablet and dropped it back to his side. “Well, ladies, are you ready to rejoin the others?”
Our bodies both agreed, seemingly deprived of any future choices.
“Very good,” Dr. Crane said. “There’s much work to be done. But first, we will all celebrate your homecoming.”
40
Byron
The sun was up by the time we reached Mackenzie’s safe house. We’d been driving for hours and I had no idea which ward we were in. My leg was already healing from the nanobots, but my mind was still plenty preoccupied, so I wasn’t too worried where we were going.
After our trek through the woods, Rod and Mackenzie worked together in confiscating three cars to accommodate the lot of us. Rod drove the car I was in, and we were accompanied by the brother and sister duo—Anabelle and Codie.
The house we stopped at was one of many in a neighborhood of carbon copies stretching around streets and cul-de-sacs. Noth
ing about it looked remarkable—just a box design, evenly-spaced windows, no front porch, and a minimal yard. The exterior paint color was even the same as the house directly to the left.
“This is his idea of a safe house?” I asked Rod while he helped me out of the back seat.
Even though I couldn’t comfortably put pressure on it yet, my leg felt a hundred times better and my hangover was completely gone. After sleeping for a few hours in the car as the little machines repaired my body from the inside out, I felt surprisingly well rested.
Were these nanobots different to those I’d had? They seemed more powerful, or more efficient or something—a better technology.
“It won’t be one for long with all these people arriving,” Rod said, placing an arm around my waist to keep me securely upright.
Mackenzie parked his car in the driveway and Lady Ramsey pulled up behind our car. It was still early enough in the morning that the streets were relatively quiet. All the kids looked exhausted as they stomped up to the front door. Kimera brought up the rear, ushering them forward.
“How’s the leg now?” Mackenzie asked as I hobbled up the sidewalk with Rod.
“Forty one percent better,” I said.
“Go grab a couch before the kids take them all,” he said, holding the door open. “We’ll need to get rid of the cars after I talk to Robert.”
Rod walked with me into the house and helped me claim a seat on one of two couches in the living room. Besides the couches, there were a few leather chairs and a television stand with a small flat screen TV atop it. There wasn’t much in the way of decorations, the cream-colored walls looking as bland as the exterior of the house.
Codie sat on the far side of the couch, and his sister took the closest chair. Lady Ramsey, her daughters, and Kale’s sister stayed close together. Kimera and Piper sat in two of the other chairs, keeping more to themselves.
“You promised me she’d be here,” I called to Mackenzie, who was talking with Robert in the hallway.
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