by Leigh Walker
“Apparently, her carbon copies aren’t.” He eyed the Rachels as they predatorily circled us. Each of them took a defensive stance. The real Rachel was a teleporter, and she was also able to clone herself. She often used her copies in combat.
“They can’t hurt us, right?” Her replicas were deployed to confuse and obfuscate. They couldn’t actually fight.
One of the Rachels grabbed Morgan. The clone flipped her upside down then threw her against a tree.
“Um, these ones look like they can.” Finn closed his eyes briefly, trying to listen in. “And all they’re thinking about is destroying us.”
One of the Rachels stalked up to me.
I swallowed hard. “Great. Just great.”
She swung at me, and in a rare moment of physical coordination, I ducked in time. But the Rachel was opportunistic; she grabbed my hair and yanked it hard.
“Ow, Rachel!” I swatted at her. “Don’t pull my hair!”
Finn cursed as he fought a Rachel of his own. “It’s not her, and even if it was, reasoning wouldn’t get you far. You need to beat her up.”
The Rachel yanked my hair back and forth, causing me to lose my balance.
“Enough with the hair!”
But she didn’t stop. She shoved me to the ground and climbed on my back then raised my head again as though she were preparing to smash my head into the ground. Pushing my panic to the side, I concentrated long enough to get my power together. I telekinetically lifted her off my back—but she fought me, gripping my hair until I mentally unhinged each of her ridiculously strong fingers.
Then I whipped her into the air, away from me, and left her hanging. She spun in idle circles, hissing and glaring.
“Are you sure I won’t actually hurt her if I…hurt her?” I asked Finn.
Finn’s Rachel punched him in the gut, and he doubled over. “Who even cares? Get her! Take mine, too!”
I hurled his Rachel into the air next to mine. It’s not really her. This isn’t real.
I took a deep breath and smashed the Rachels’ heads together. We heard the sickening crunch of their skulls imploding, then they collapsed in a heap on the ground.
“Nice.” Finn stood up, wincing. “But there’s more of them.”
I turned to find the twins, Micah, and Kyan all engaged in battle with Rachel replicas. They were getting their butts kicked.
I closed my eyes and gathered my power until I could feel my third eye open. Then I lifted every Rachel into the air, all at once. They hung, the portrait of perfect hair and pissed-off expressions, above us.
Finn whistled. “You’re getting pretty good at the whole multitasking thing.”
“Thank you.” I opened my eyes slowly, careful not to disturb my work in progress. I nodded at the copies as they hung in the air. “What do you want?”
They pouted prettily then spoke eerily in unison. “To see what you’re made of.”
“I’m about to destroy all of you. Could you please be more specific?”
There’s only one loyalty that’s allowed. Rachel’s voice echoed inside my head. There is only one fight.
I looked at the others. “Did you guys hear that?”
They nodded. “Loud and clear,” Finn said.
We grimly eyed the Rachels.
Kyan cursed. “I told you. They’re up to something.”
“Looks like it.” I left the Rachels hanging there, suspended and seriously pissed off. I refused to feel bad about it. I had other things on my mind.
6
Just Too Close
Just as we were about to take off looking again, Josh and Nicole caught up to us.
Josh looked up at the spinning Rachels. His face puckered at the sight of the two dead replicas. “What happened?”
I squeezed his shoulder. “None of these are Rachel. I promise.”
“I know.” But his voice was hoarse.
“These weren’t her projections, either. These ones could fight.”
Morgan rubbed the back of her head. “They were nasty.”
Josh looked up. “What did she—they—say?”
I hesitated before I answered in front of Nicole. But she’d shown me that she was better than Cranston. And really, what choice did I have? I could only keep track of so many secrets. “They said they were here to see what we were made of. They attacked us.” I swallowed hard. “And then they thought-spoke into our heads.”
Josh blinked at me. “Say what?”
Emma came closer. “They spoke into our heads. All of us.”
Nicole frowned at Josh. “I didn’t hear anything. Did you?”
“No.”
Nicole turned to me. Her jacket was dirty and torn, and her typically immaculate ponytail was crooked and disheveled. “What did they say?”
I crossed my arms against my chest. “They told us there was only one loyalty.”
“That sounds like what we just went through.” She inhaled deeply and blew out a breath. “It appears today’s testing has a theme.”
Emma peered at her. “What happened?”
Nicole motioned for us to follow her. “C’mon. I’ll show you.”
Josh gave the Rachels one last look then followed Nicole with the rest of us.
“You okay?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “I’m not going on this mission without Rachel. I’m not leaving her with Nora. I don’t think it’s safe.”
“But did Dr. Rharr say she’s okay to travel yet?” When I visited Rachel a few days ago, she’d still been on IVs and had seemed weak.
“Not yet. But I’m not leaving her.”
I patted his arm. “We’ll figure it out.”
He nodded, looking as though he wanted to believe me but didn’t.
“What happened with you and Nicole? She seems rattled.”
He grimaced as he held back a tree branch and let me pass. “It’s—he’s—right up here. See for yourself.”
Nicole stalked ahead of us, her shoulders squared and head held high. I hurried after her. We came to another clearing, and I heard muffled cursing and yelling. I hustled to come even with Nicole.
A young man was tied to a tree, his mouth gagged with rope. His handsome face contorted with rage as we got closer. He glared at Nicole, issuing a muffled litany of what sounded like creatively strung-together curse words.
Nicole leaned against a nearby tree, eyeing him. “I told you, you’re not real. So you might as well shut up.”
The man kept cursing.
“Who’s that?” I asked her.
She looked grim. “My ex.”
“Wow. Your mom’s mean.”
Nicole nodded. “You got that right. She even put him in a suit I’d bought him for our engagement pictures.”
“Yikes.” I looked at the man. He had smooth, dark skin, wide-set blue eyes, and was indeed wearing what looked like an expensive pinstriped suit.
Kyan scowled at the handsome prisoner then at Nicole. “You’re engaged?”
“I was until I broke it off.” She sighed. “I didn’t even think Nora knew about Trey. But when he showed up in here, he was tripping all over himself, begging me to take him back.”
Trey barked something from beneath his gag.
Nicole only arched an eyebrow in response. “And when I said no—”
I nodded toward Trey. “Let me guess: he attacked, and you had to fight him.”
“Yep. I almost killed him, but Josh calmed me down enough so that I could stop.” She shuddered. “Why would my mother do something like this?”
“The same reason she had Micah channel my mother and had us fighting Rachel copies back there: she’s testing our loyalties.” I looked around, waiting for the next skeleton to burst forth from the closet. “She wants to measure how strong our connection is to others in relation to our commitment to the team.”
“I broke up with Trey two years ago,” Nicole mused. “He’s hardly a threat to my service. I havent spoken to him in forever.”
I stared at Trey, who still struggled against his restraints. “Sometimes they just want to know how you feel.”
Nicole turned to me. “We should get going. I don’t think we have much time left in here.”
I nodded. “I should warn you—they usually end with a corker.”
Her gaze flicked to Trey, and for a moment, she looked sad. “Can’t wait to see what’s next.”
I heard shots in the distance and sighed. “Looks like we don’t have to wait long to find out.”
We ran toward the sound of gunfire, leaving Nicole’s dashing ex-fiancé to his tree and garbled swear words.
Crashing through the forest as we ran down the hill, I wasn’t the only one who had a hard time keeping my balance. We were all tripping and sliding. But then I realized it wasn’t us—the earth was shaking.
“Earthquake?” I looked around wildly as the ground shook. “Earthquake!”
We ran further, trying to stay on our feet as we battled gravity and the seismic shocks rattling the ground.
“Just keep going!” Nicole ordered. “I heard the gunfire up here!”
She led us through the forest, our bones rattling with the shocks that continued underneath us. We staggered up another small incline. I clung to tree branches as I passed, trying to stay on my feet as the ground rumbled.
Emma grabbed the branch next to mine. “Five bucks says our families are shooting at each other on the other side of this hill.”
I winced. “She wouldn’t.”
The ground rumbled again. Emma hung on to the branch for dear life as another quake erupted. “Of course she freaking would!”
We crested the hill, and beneath us, there was an open, green valley. Two people faced each other. On one side was Katie. On the other side was Finn.
My head spun. “Do you see what I see?”
“I doubt it. I think these are individualized.” Emma shook her head, blinking her eyes at the scene below. “My brother’s on one side of the crack and my parents are on the other.” She pointed to where I saw Katie and Finn.
“Wait—what crack?” But as I spoke, the earth in the center of the valley split in half. A dark, smoking gash filled the space, dividing the two sides.
Emma started to run down the hill, but I grabbed her sleeve. “Wait! Why are they making you choose between your parents and your brother?” I needed to know what the ‘right’ answer was. How was I supposed to choose between my sister and Finn? What did Nora want from me?
Anxious to reach her own family, Emma shook me off. “They want to see who I love the most.” She paused, her eyes wild. “And I have a feeling they’ll be able to tell if I’m faking.”
She sprinted down the hill to where her family was, although I couldn’t see them. Emma disappeared from sight, too, and I sighed. What the heck was I supposed to do now?
But in the valley below, Katie stood on one side of the steaming crack in the earth. She raised a gun and aimed it at Finn.
“Finn? Is that you?” As far as I knew, the real Finn was somewhere behind me.
Down in the valley, the Finn copy waved me off. “I got this!”
“Oh no, you don’t.” Katie raised the gun and aimed it at his face.
“Katie, no!” I ran down the hill, grateful that the earthquake seemed to have subsided and the aftershocks had faded. Still, I stumbled to a clumsy stop as I reached the bottom of the hill, right in front of the vast, dark crevice. Steam rushed up, heating my face.
“Katie,” I panted. “Put the gun down.”
My sister’s image tilted her chin at me. “I’m dealing with our mutual enemy, Ri, the agency that took you from us.”
She turned her focus back to Finn, her aim never wavering.
I threw myself across the crevice as Katie pulled the trigger.
“Riley, stop!” Finn hollered.
I looked back, just as the bullet collided with my shoulder, to see the real Finn running the hill, screaming.
“Riley!” my sister shrieked.
I plummeted into the steaming crevice, blood gushing down my chest. There. I’ve made my choice. And I hated myself for it, for choosing, for being their pawn.
I let the warm blackness swallow me.
7
Raison D’etre
I woke up, gasping for breath.
“Call the medics!” Finn hollered. He gently turned me over onto my back and checked my vitals. “Do it quick! She got hit!”
I wheezed again, shocked by the pain. But it wasn’t real—it was Levels.
Finn’s gaze burned into mine. “Levels can still kill you, babe.”
“You mean Barney the Octopus could’ve actually eaten you? Jesus Christ!” But as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I collapsed against the floor, pain searing through me. I was weak, so weak…
“Easy, Ri.” He pressed his hand to my shoulder, where I’d been hit. “I got you. Just stay with me.”
When I looked down, the floor tiles were covered in red. “I’m actually bleeding?” Blood was not my friend—it was right up there with needles. The world went wobbly for a second, and I closed my eyes.
Finn gripped my hand. “No way. Uh-uh. Don’t do that.”
My eyes fluttered open. I tried to squeeze his hand, but my body wasn’t cooperating.
Finn tried another tactic. He got in my face and flashed his dimple then raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. “I love you, Ri. I saw you out there, taking a bullet for me. You’re so brave.”
I tried to smile, but it seemed impossible, like too much work.
“Emma.” Finn turned away, but I couldn’t see Emma, and I was too tired to look. “Get the frickin’ paramedics, or I swear to God I’m going to kill someone with my bare hands!”
He turned his focus back to me, a strained smile on his face. “You were brave, but it was also well-played. Now Management thinks I’m your PMF.”
“Huh?”
“Your Prime Motivating Factor. That’s what The Division calls your raison d’être.”
“What does that mean? I took Spanish, not French.” My words came out thick and fuzzy.
His dimple dazzled me. Feeling lightheaded, I wondered exactly how much blood I’d lost. He squeezed my hand again. “Raison d’être—the purpose for your existence.”
“Oh.” I smiled at him. This time it hurt less because I was starting to get woozy.
I was more than a little out of it. “You are my raison d’whatever. I totally love you.”
Finn still smiled, but it looked funny, as if his skin was pulled too tight across his face. He checked my pulse again. “I totally love you too, babe.”
“Sweet. You can be so sweet…” The last words came out tangled, mumbled.
He turned toward the door and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Get the hell in here before she bleeds out!”
“Finn, I need to tell you.” I need to tell you in case the blackness swallows me up and I can’t ever tell anyone anything ever again.
“Jesus.” Finn cursed, looking as though he might cry. “Just think it. I’m listening, baby.”
My Dad said I need to find my biological parents.
“Okay…” His forehead furrowed. “I think all of our donors were at the capital.”
“How’re we going to get there?” My words were a blurry mumble, and my eyes fluttered closed again. “I’m so sleepy.”
I felt a sharp sting across my face. “Ow!”
Emma’s worried expression came into focus. “Sorry about that. But dying’s not on the agenda today. So stay awake!”
My eyelids drooped until she raised her hand again. “Okay. Okay.”
“They’re here.” Finn’s voice was soothing. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Two paramedics lifted me onto a stretcher then raced me toward the medical wing. Finn jogged alongside us until Dr. Rharr met us in the hall. She held up her hand to him. “You can’t come any farther.”
Finn started to argue, but she shot him a look. “I go
t her. Let me do my job.”
I caught one last glimpse of Finn as they wheeled me away.
He looked like I felt: close to the abyss.
In the OR, the anesthesiologist put a mask over my face and told me to count backward from ten. I got to nine, then the world went out of focus. But when I woke up what seemed like a minute later, I was in a different room and Dr. Rharr was nowhere in sight.
Instead, Dr. Zelig, the surgeon we’d rescued from Althea Remington, smiled at me kindly.
“Am I okay?”
“You will be,” Dr. Zelig said gently. He approached the bed. “Dr. Rharr finished patching you up a while ago, and I’m just here to do a postoperative assessment.”
I pushed the blankets off me and tried to sit up. The world tilted, and the ground rushed up to meet my face.
Dr. Zelig caught me. “Easy, young lady.”
“Whoa.” I slumped back against the bed and waited for the dizziness to pass. “I need to get out of here.”
“Not yet. You literally just finished surgery.” Dr. Zelig sighed. “There’s no good getting worked up right now. You got nicked pretty bad. We cleaned out the wound and stitched you up, but you need to rest.”
I shook my head. “Wait—am I cleared for my assignment? I have an assignment, and it’s important.”
He frowned. “I hope not, but that’s not my decision to make.” He checked my vitals and shined an annoying light in my eyes. “You need to rest, but you look good, and your stats are back up within normal limits. I’ll tell Dr. Rharr. She’ll be pleased.”
“Can you get her for me? Now? I need to speak with her.”
He nodded. “I will. I owe you one, remember?”
We’d rescued the doctor and his family from Althea. “I remember. So can you also tell her you think I look good to go?”
He frowned. “Even if I don’t think it’s in your best interest?”
I shamelessly forced myself to smile, even though my shoulder hurt. “Yes, please.”
He sighed then took his leave. I hoped that was a “yes.”
Dr. Rharr came in a minute later, wearing her typical teal scrubs, reviewing something on her tablet. She smiled. “Dr. Zelig said you look good. And your vitals are great. I do nice work, if I do say so myself.”
