by Alexia Purdy
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
She frowned. “You promise?”
“If it makes you feel better, yeah, sure. I promise.”
“The lack of sincerity concerns me,” she muttered. “You sure inspire confidence in all things.”
“I’m here to serve.” I grinned sheepishly but grimaced in pain from the movement.
“You’re hurting,” she blurted out, reaching out to touch my forehead. It sent zings of energy through me. I was feeling worse with each minute that went by. I pulled away, taking a wobbly step backward.
“The key, Star. We need to get out of here.”
She dropped her arm to her side before focusing on the keyhole once more. I hoped I had enough in me to make it back to the city. If I couldn’t make it, she wouldn’t have a clue about what to do. Going for help through the tunnels by herself? She’d get lost in the caverns for sure. She didn’t appear to have any sense of direction.
She blew out a breath, gripped the key, and pushed it counterclockwise. It resisted at first, but when she placed both hands on it, the key turned. With a screech of metal, it set off a domino effect of gears clicking and metal shifting as though it were rusted from years of unuse, even though it was fairly new.
The floor shook, and small rocks and dust sprayed down on us from above. Star nearly fell and grabbed on to me. We clung to each other as the room filled with the loud roar of shifting rock, filling us with terror.
It was a trap, just as she’d said. Now we were going to die, buried alive.
Chapter Five
Star
The bright lights above me shined down with an intensity that caused my pupils to contract painfully. I reached up to block it, wincing when my arm ached, sore over every inch of skin and bone. I gasped, blinking furiously. Once my eyes had adjusted, I looked around the room, which was filled with the soft murmurs of voices from people in beds just like mine. There were attendants standing beside some of them. The place was immaculately white and smelled of cleaner and alcohol, which burned my nose and stung my throat. I coughed after taking in a deep breath of disinfected air.
“Star, you’re awake.” A woman with a kind face and crows’ feet along her crinkled eyes smiled at me. She wore all white, like a nurse or a medic. Her outfit was neatly pressed, and not a hair was out of place.
I’m in an infirmary, I thought.
“Where am I?”
She didn’t miss a beat as she peered at the IV bag of clear fluids dangling from a pole next to the bed. The tubing fed into a device on my hand.
“You’re in the Glass Sky City Hospital. You’re safe here.” She smiled again as she assessed my emotions. “Are you in any significant pain?”
I shook my head. “Just sore and tired.” I tried to sit up but felt dizzy. I groaned and sat back on my elbows as the spinning ceased. The memories of the previous events slammed into my mind and I sat up once again, holding my head as it throbbed. I swung my eyes to the nurse, who held me up as I shook.
“How did I get here? Where’s Commander Everlee?” I asked.
“He was discharged yesterday. He checked on you often but had to leave and report to the council. You unfortunately had a concussion and a broken arm. The cave-in took several hours to clear, but we recovered you both safely.” She waved at my left arm, which was now bound tightly in a wrap. It didn’t feel broken. I moved it back and forth but except for some soreness, it felt fine.
“We set it and repaired the break. I’m Nurse Ingrid, by the way. If you need anything, just let me know by touching this button.” She waved at a button installed on the rail of the bed. “I’ll get you a meal. I’m sure you’re famished.” Excusing herself, she turned and headed down the row of beds, where there were a few other patients. The room was massive, and I imagined it could hold hundreds. I could understand why the underground would need such a large infirmary. It was comforting knowing they had such resources.
Sitting up and crossing my legs, I slouched as I peered around. Checking my arms and legs, I found several healing scabs and a mess of bruises, but nothing major. I raked my hands through my long auburn hair. Its color was darker than usual from lack of care. It was clean but dull and tangled. I sighed, rubbing the sleep from my bleary eyes. Now what? I was finally free of Farlan’s demented prison and back at the Glass Sky City, but what now? I flexed my fingers, which ached, and I studied my fingernails. Several were bruised, reddened, and sore from the rocks I’d attempted to move off of me after the collapse. The memory of the wall with runes etched into them troubled me. How had they even found us in that rubble? We must have been closer to the city than I thought. Maybe some guards on duty had found us.
Regardless, I was alive. So was Everlee. I looked up and darted my eyes around the large room. Nurse Ingrid had said he’d been discharged already. Had he truly left without saying goodbye? Hugging my arms around me, I didn’t know how to feel about that. We’d spent a lot of time together, and I wasn’t sure what I felt about the former Insurgent commander. He was handsome yet had treated me poorly when he’d first taken me to Farlan’s mansion. He’d explained his reasons for his harsh behavior, but I wanted to ask him some more questions. His personality when we were travelling alone was drastically different from before. He was strong, resourceful, intelligent, and dedicated beyond belief to the rebellion’s cause. I couldn’t believe he was the same person I’d met before.
Nurse Ingrid returned with a food tray, placed it on a bedside table, and rolled the table over to my bed. She smiled kindly again and retreated to let me eat. I glanced down at the plate of steamy vegetables, turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy. There was even a side of pudding and a cup of juice. I sipped the juice slowly, savoring the cold drink before I picked up a fork and stared at the plate of food.
I had always been a girl who enjoyed eating. My mother had marveled at my ability to stuff myself and remain as skinny as a twig. Sadness filled my heart as though a dark cloud sat over me, heavy and overbearing. I couldn’t stop thinking about Clyde’s betrayal. He’d sedated me, and I would have been in Farlan’s clutches indefinitely if Everlee had not snatched me from the mansion.
Why had Clyde done it? Was it because he was now engaged to Gigi? Did he have to prove his loyalty to the other Insurgents somehow and had thought that I had given him the perfect opportunity? Trading me for his way into Farlan’s inner circle seemed a steep price to pay. Had he thought it worth the misery it would cause me? He obviously had. If he’d been so adamant about gaining favor, I realized it was unlikely he’d snuck the rings into the book with the gadgetry made by my father. Who, then, had placed the rings and book in my room in the globe for me to find? He had written a message to me under my father’s instructions on how to use the rings, but there was no way he would have gotten close to my prison to place the book there himself.
I scooped some potatoes into my mouth absentmindedly as I ran the possibilities through my head. Maybe my father had some contacts inside of Farlan’s mansion who’d smuggled them to me. But the only one I was aware of who could have passed on such trinkets without suspicion was the one person I’d never thought would help me. But he had. More than once. Without my knowledge.
I closed my eyes, shoving the tray away. Everlee. Who knew how long he’d been watching me and guarding the globe? Even though I never saw anything, I had surmised that soldiers always checked my tray as well as the servants before they were allowed to clean my quarters. He must have walked in and placed the book there himself. No one would’ve thought anything of it.
I’d severely underestimated Everlee in so many ways. I was grateful for his help but also disturbed. If I could be tricked so easily, I was far less prepared to handle this entire situation. I had to learn to be stronger and less apt to trust anyone. After everything that had happened, I was alone once again. Everyone I cared for had slipped further and further away with every step I took.
Warm tears bloomed behind my eyelids, and I sniffed and grabbed
the napkin sitting on my table. Dabbing my eyes and nose, I laid back onto the pillow, feeling the isolation of my soul far more than ever before. I had nowhere to go. No one to see. No friends to confide in. The depths of the loneliness no one seemed to notice made my heart heavy. I turned away when I saw Nurse Ingrid walking my way. She thankfully didn’t comment as she removed the tray of food and rolled the table to the side. She retreated without a word, to my utmost relief.
As the hours passed, I tried to sleep to no avail. I concluded that no matter what, I wouldn’t let anyone else get close. There was too much to lose to let another person close again. I wasn’t going to let anyone else take advantage of or use me for their own ends. I was going to move on and keep to myself. At least I could return to my mechanical work in the underground. It was solitary work, but I enjoyed it, and it would be my solace and safe haven.
With a plan in place, I closed my eyes, feeling far more at peace with my life. Having a direction did wonders for my depression, and I was glad for the skills I’d acquired while with my family. Nothing would get in my way again. Not even love.
Chapter Six
Star
Blood oozed down my hand as I gazed at it with blatant disinterest, barely feeling the sting of pain. Working on machines was dangerous; I’d just stabbed myself with a screwdriver after trying in vain to loosen a joint in the machine. The massive purifier filtered water for the entire Glass Sky City. I should have been concerned about the injury, but it felt as numb as my soul.
I groaned. No bandages in sight to stem the bleeding and my mood in the dumps.
“You need to be more careful.”
A familiar voice sounded behind me, and I threw a glare at Georgina Farlan, the president’s daughter, as she handed me a tissue. Gigi, a nickname she insisted on using, had severe allergies to the dust in the underground. She carried them with her all the time. I hoped she’d given me a fresh one as I pressed it against my wound.
“I know,” I grumbled, wincing at the pain. “Thanks,” I added. I wasn’t exactly the chirpiest person around. Most of the other engineers avoided me if they could. Somehow, Gigi was immune to my broody moods, no matter how many insults or negativity I threw her way.
I should have been nicer to her, but she was a reminder of everything wrong with my life, especially since she was President Farlan’s daughter. How she’d escaped her father’s mansion right after I’d disappeared was a mystery. Maybe Everlee had helped her sneak out as well. The idea made my cheeks burn, but I’d eventually shoved it aside. She was hiding from her father like a spoiled girl running away in defiance. She couldn’t possibly understand what the war between the rebellion and the Insurgents was really about.
Too bad she always managed to find me in the massive underground no matter where I was. She’d asked around if anyone knew me and had the audacity to seek me out during my working hours. She still wanted me to teach her how to dance. When I refused, she asked if I could teach her about the machines I worked on. I hid from her as much as I could, but she had some sort of Star-radar built into her. She always managed to escape the guards assigned to keep her safe and find me, except when I was in my hidden cavern, and that was only because she couldn’t climb a cliff if her life depended on it.
It was a running joke that the guards didn’t look to hard for her because they didn’t want to be around her either. Even though this technically made her a security risk, no one really thought she was capable of any harm. If she tried to leave, there was no way she’d survive the tunnels. On top of that, I had once or twice seen people watching her from a distance. Even when her immediate guards were not around, someone was always keeping her under surveillance.
My fingers tightened around the screwdriver, my knuckles turning a sickly white. Trying to avoid thoughts of that awful dictator Farlan and his brutal invasion of my home city was all I could focus on, especially with his annoying daughter lurking about. I was stuck there for now, in the Glass Sky City, until the rebellion came up with more strategies to infiltrate and destroy Farlan and his Insurgents. I hoped it would happen soon.
“What’s this behemoth of a machine for? It looks in dire need of cleaning.” Gigi flicked a scrutinizing look all over the metalwork.
“Don’t you need to be doing something else besides hovering and micromanaging my work?” I snapped without looking at Gigi. I could practically feel her breath on the back of my neck, watching and lurking. I was one of the few female engineers in the pits, where all the machinery hummed and kept the city fueled with electricity, water, and more. Gigi, a pampered princess, didn’t know a bolt from a nail, and I wasn’t going to be the one who trained her. I’d made that perfectly clear to her, but she still hung around like a fly buzzing in my ears. Even if I put in my earplugs, I would still be able to hear her. I cringed as she answered.
“I was just trying to see what you were doing, Star. It’s hard when no one takes me seriously around here. I want to learn from you. Besides, there’s nothing else to do.”
“I already told you no. There’s tons of stuff to do. Go help the kitchen out; I’m sure they need someone to wash dishes or clean the floor.” Before I could continue to scold her, Jess came around the corner and grinned. “Oh, great. Look, you’re attracting the flies again.”
“What?” Gigi turned red as she noticed Jess. He was the supervisor in this section of the gear works and had made obvious his interest in me. Unlike Gigi, I wasn’t interested at all.
There was only one boy I’d been interested in, and he’d crushed my heart. The memory made me hitch my breath and I swallowed hard, looking away as my eyes stung with unshed tears. There was another reason I detested Gigi’s company—she was still engaged to Clyde. I sucked in a breath, gathering my things to push away my dark thoughts.
“Jess! Um… hi! How are you?” Gigi stumbled on her words, which pulled my attention back to them. I rose from my crouched position, dropping the screwdriver and ripped work gloves into my tool bag.
“Hello, um, Gigi, right?” Jess asked. She nodded, but his eyes were already back on me again. “Hi, Star. I was just coming by to see how you were doing. Need any help?”
“I just finished up. Thanks for offering, though.” I wiped my hands on my coveralls then scooped up my messy tool bag. I wasn’t a neat person, but organized chaos suited me.
“Oh, all right. You headed to lunch?”
“Yup.” I nodded, swiping back some stray strands of hair. I turned to leave, but Gigi reached out and grabbed my arm.
“Can I come?” she begged. “I’m starving too.” I groaned but threw her a small nod. I wasn’t sure if she wanted an escort out of the maze of machines or if she just wanted to see if Jess would be joining us. Either way, it didn’t matter to me.
“I could eat,” Jess said. “I was just doing my last rounds for the day. If you got this behemoth working, well, you can take the rest of the day off.” He tapped at the machine I’d just fixed. I reached out to press the green button to turn it on. It roared to life, causing Gigi to gasp as the large cogs spun, and the oiled hydraulics purred to life. I admired the ingenuity of the massive, life-giving machines, but my stomach gurgled, demanding food.
“It’s as good as new now,” I proudly stated, turning on one foot and heading off the work floor. Jess and Gigi followed quickly behind me, though I didn’t look back. I could hear them chit-chatting as Gigi tried her best to keep Jess talking. I preferred the silence. Maybe that was why I liked working alone with my earplugs. Only my tools, the machines, and me. It was pure heaven.
That is, it was heaven until I’d been interrupted. Luckily, I was tired enough to tolerate their presence.
“Hey, Star,” Jess called out as he jogged to catch up with me. “Tonight is the Celebration Ball. Are you going?”
I almost dropped my bag but managed to catch it in time, turning his words over in my mind.
“That’s tonight?” I’d totally forgotten. It was a holiday even aboveground, but I hadn
’t made any plans to attend.
“Yeah. It’s tonight. So, I was wondering… are you going to it?”
I shook my head. “Nah. I’ll probably just read some books and go to bed early. I’m not really into parties.”
Gigi and Jess glanced at each other as we walked side by side. I hated feeling their judgy eyes on me and was relieved when we reached the cafeteria.
The place still needed repairing from when the Insurgents had invaded the underground city. Bullet holes riddled the metal doors, and the windows that lined the walls of the cafeteria were still missing since they’d been shattered during the attack. The glass, blood, and bodies had been cleaned up and cleared away, of course, but I thought I could still smell the slight tinge of blood in the air. Maybe it was the meatloaf they had heating on the chafing dishes, but it was all the same to me.
“You—you’re not going?” Jess cleared his throat, not waiting for my answer. “Because I was wondering if you’d go with me tonight. You know, hang out and stuff. We can go as friends if you like, but I was hoping you’d go as my date.” He paused, almost running into me as I joined the chow line.
I grabbed a tray and glanced back at him. “That’s sweet of you, Jess, but I’d rather not go. This is my first holiday without my family, and I’m not really into celebrating. I hope you understand.”
He nodded, pressing his mouth closed as his shoulders hunched. Disappointment dripped off his face along with sweat from the heat. In my coveralls, it was scorching hot in the cafeteria, even with the windows missing. I bet the air conditioning had been hit when we’d been attacked and hadn’t been repaired since. One more thing I quietly added to my list of things to repair. I was sure no one else put it as a priority to eat in comfort, but I did. Plus, I loved keeping busy. It kept my brain quiet.
