by Alexia Purdy
I hurried to the first pod he’d opened and pressed the button to open the glass top. It lifted upward and away from me, exposing the man to the chamber’s cool air. Approaching him, I could see him breathing softly, as though he was just taking a nap. I hoped he didn’t regain movement just yet as I fumbled with the gauntlets. Opening them and holding them over him, I grabbed his left wrist. I snapped the gauntlet in place just loosely enough to not cause a problem with circulation and picked up the second restraint, when suddenly, his hand grabbed my wrist. I stifled the urge to yelp and stared at the stranger as he blinked with unfocused eyes, staring off toward the ceiling.
His lips moved, and his grip wasn’t as strong as it could be. Watching him try to speak was eerie, like watching an old person withering away in their bed. I unwrapped his fingers from my wrist, and he let his hand drop back down onto his stomach. I worked quickly to snap the other half of the gauntlet onto his right wrist, sighing in relief as the metal clicked together. Now he was at our mercy. I didn’t have my key fob anymore, but Clyde’s could control both pairs of gauntlets.
The man blinked several times, his gaze beginning to align. He wiggled his fingers as his breaths deepened, gasping as his voice failed him.
“It’s all right. Breath slowly,” I coached him. His eyes swung my way, widening as they narrowed in on my face. I had never bothered to ask Clyde or Gideon if waking up from cryo was traumatic. Would he thrash about violently, or would he remain in a stupor until he fully returned to himself? Something in between to ease back into reality would be nice.
“Who are you?” he whispered, his voice raspy as though it’d been decades since he’d used it.
“I’m Star. I’m here to escort you to the Glass Sky City.” I wondered if he understood me as he shut his eyes, dropping his head back and heaving in and out.
“I’m going to be sick,” he commented right before he sat up, rolled to his side to let his head hang over the edge of the pod, and began vomiting hard in my direction. I jumped away just in time as cryo fluid spewed from his mouth and nose, causing him to sputter and cough violently.
I could see the same thing was happening with Clyde’s prisoner.
“Clyde?” I called out as my prisoner began choking up more fluid.
“It’s okay, Star, this is normal. Here. Put one of these behind his ear. It should help him stop puking.” He tossed over a canister filled with small, wafer-thin discs. I groaned. Why did it always have to be a disc? My aversion to discs was getting to be problematic.
I snatch one up and peeled the backing away, exposing an adhesive. Reaching out to hold him down with my chest and shoulder as I tried to push his head away from me, I pressed the disc to the skin behind his right ear. The smell of vomit and cryo fluid assaulted my nostrils, and I held my breath, making sure the patch stayed in place. He continued to buck in the pod. His legs were still strapped down, but his arms jerked up. I nearly flew off him as he lifted me up and then shoved me away. I stumbled backward as I watched the medicine take an immediate effect.
His eyes glazed over as he visibly calmed, staring off into space once more as he laid his head back down, and his arms went slack.
“What was in that patch?” I asked Clyde, who was now releasing the restraints on the legs of his prisoner.
“It’s a sedative. It allows them to be moved and given direction without resistance.”
I stared in horror at the man who looked medicated to the nines. Swallowing my horror, I cleared my throat. “I thought it was for the vomiting.”
“It’s for that too,” Clyde answered, helping the prisoner into a sitting position and moving his legs to dangle off the side of the pod’s edge.
“Clyde?”
“Yes?” He glanced my way, trying to hide his irritation but failing miserably. He was sweating from the effort of moving the dead weight of the prisoner around. Even if the guy let him direct his movements, I didn’t think they truly helped carry their weight much. Just great. How was a tiny girl like me expected to wrestle this guy around?
That’s because they didn’t expect me to do it. That was what Gideon was for. I should have known. I was just there to help keep the peace between them. Now I felt even more useless.
“Star?” Clyde’s voice broke through my self-loathing, and I flicked my gaze in his direction. “You were asking me something?”
“Right,” I muttered, closing my eyes and feeling a wave of delirium hit me from the exhaustion. The room swayed beneath my feet, but I fought against it, taking a deep breath. “What are their names? The prisoners?”
Clyde watched me, unconvinced that I was okay. I immediately wiped any expression off my face, hoping he would let it go.
“These two?”
“Yes.”
“This one is Jacob Randy.”
“And this one?” I pointed to the man lying quietly in the pod in front of me. He turned to look my way with a blank expression and empty eyes. That medicine was some strong stuff.
“His name is Baron Houston. Come on, get him up onto his feet. We need to get moving. The medicine lasts a while but not forever. Another dose could make them too weak to walk.”
I nodded, focusing on Baron. He lay watching me, even though he looked like a zombie.
“Okay, Baron. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Chapter Forty-two
Star
I hate when people say I told you so, but at that moment, I felt like someone was saying it to me. We had the prisoners lined up behind us as we found the part of the wall behind the power generator which would lead us to the right tunnel. We were so close to getting home, but it meant the other ten people in the chamber would be sacrificed.
I didn’t like that. Not one bit. When the plan had been devised, I’d thought I would be okay with it, but now I had seen the faces of the people we were going to kill.
Clyde held out his hand for my cuff, which still held the explosive devices. I looked down at his palm, apprehension filling me like a flood. “I can’t do this, Clyde.”
He looked up, sweeping his eyes back and forth at me. “What are you talking about? We have to do this. Don’t you want to go home?”
I nodded. “Yes, but—”
“Then let’s go home, Star. I’m sick of this place, and I know you are too. Let’s go home.” He reached out, pulled me to his chest, and kissed the top of my head.
“I want to, but… I can’t kill them. They won’t even know what happened! What if they have families? Children? There has to be another way. I won’t be able to live with myself knowing I killed them.”
“Hey, Star.” He pulled back to look into my eyes. “You won’t be killing them. We’re collapsing the entrance to our tunnels so the Others can’t get any closer to the city.”
“But that means we’ll cut off the power. Same as killing them. It’s barbaric. When the pods stop functioning, they’ll die.”
Clyde sighed, glancing at Jacob and Baron, who remained in place, staring off into nothingness. I wondered if they had any thoughts inside those heads, or had the medicine suppressed more than their free will?
“I know, Star. But we have to do this. You came on this mission knowing we’d have to do this.”
I stepped away from him, nearly bumping into Baron. He wobbled a bit but stayed in one place. “I can’t believe this. You’ll do anything for the rebellion, won’t you? Even kill innocent people.”
“These people are far from innocent, that’s why they’re here.” Clyde groaned in frustration, running his hand through his hair, his complexion reddening. “Don’t jeopardize this for those who don’t deserve your sympathy, Star. It’s not worth wasting a thought on these people.”
“When did you get to be so heartless?” I asked.
His face darkened as he ripped his eyes away from me. “When did you ever care about people you don’t know?” He turned back to me, his blue eyes now like a stormy ocean. My heart stung at his words.
“I’m no
t that girl anymore,” I whispered.
“I don’t know who you are anymore, Star. We need to finish this. Now give me the cuff.” He held out his hand one more time, his patience waning.
I took a good, long look at his outstretched hand, a myriad of thoughts spinning in my mind. After what felt like forever, I shook my head.
“I—I don’t know you anymore either, but I won’t give you the cuff.”
“Dammit, Star! Don’t make me regret this.” Clyde closed the gap between us, grabbed my arm, and yanked the cuff off of it. I cried out as it scraped against my skin and left behind several angry, red scratches. I cradled it against my chest as tears sprung from my eyes. I was about to jump onto Clyde’s back as he fumbled with the cuff, unaccustomed to using its mechanisms, when someone stepped between us.
Baron’s brown eyes twinkled as he looked over his shoulder, bringing his restrained hands up to place a finger to his lips, hushing me. My eyes widened, confused. He was awake already? How long had we been fighting? Glancing at Jacob, I realized he was still lost in a stupor. Baron had somehow tugged the patch from his ear. There was no telling how long he’d been conscious, but by the very aware glimmer in his eyes, he’d seen and heard everything.
My mouth opened to warn Clyde, but I wasn’t fast enough. Baron used the gauntlets on his wrists to whack Clyde on the back of his head, sending him flying against the chamber wall and landing hard on the ground. I sucked in a deep breath, stunned at what had just happened.
Baron turned on the balls of his feet, just the standard-issue prison slippers on them. Facing me, his eyes dug into me like two daggers, flashing with something quite like madness. Now I wished I had read his file in more depth without assuming Gideon and Clyde knew everything about them and I wouldn’t need to. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
He took one step forward, enjoying my uncertain step back. “Who are you?” he asked, coming to a stop. His eyes narrowed as a spark of recognition flashed in his eyes. “Do I know you?”
I shook my head. “I—I’m… my name is Star.”
“I do know you. But… what happened to your hair? You said you hated the color red. Why’d you dye it back?”
My eyes widened. Was he insane? Studying him as we observed one another, I could tell he was as lucid as I was.
“I’m not… we’ve never met before,” I finally choked out.
He laughed, his smile broad, with a mouthful of white teeth. At least they weren’t pointed. He was tall and a bit lanky, but he looked friendly, like someone’s big brother, but I didn’t dare assume he was harmless. I may have been naïve, but I wasn’t that ignorant.
“Yeah, you don’t sound like the girl I know.”
“What was her name?” I asked, trying to keep him calm and answering questions as I took a tiny step back, hoping he didn’t notice. His eyes dropped to the ground at my feet. Oh, so he noticed everything. Not a good thing for me.
“Her name… she wanted to be called Alana. She said she wanted nothing to do with the name she was born with.”
“Oh, okay. Where is this… Alana?”
He shrugged, his smile diminishing as he thought about the girl. “I don’t know. I got caught robbing the treasury. I would’ve made it out if some crazy loon hadn’t walked in and hit the alarm before I killed him. I was so close, and then boom, it was over. I was put into that pod right over there, and that’s the last I know of anything.”
He looked around the room, as though finding it interesting. I felt my legs shake. I was stuck in the same room as a killer. Jacob remained out of it, and as Baron surveyed the room, he noticed the other man.
“Whoa, so why just two of us?” he flicked his eyes around the room once more, surely counting the pods before settling on me once more. I shrank under his stare, feeling a cold draft sweep across me as though he’d sent it my way.
I froze, unable to think of what to say.
“Oh, I know! You need me and this other guy for something special. Am I right? Some sort of a… mission? Right?” His charming smile returned, reaching his eyes and wrinkling the skin with crow’s feet. He must be older than he looks, I thought. That didn’t make him any less dangerous.
“Um, yes, but—” I began, but he stopped me.
“But… this isn’t going as you planned, is it, Star?” His face darkened again. With the smile still plastered on his face, it was frightening. He was an apex predator waiting for me to slip up and fall into his jaws. I had to keep it together if I was going to get out of this one alive. Clyde was badly hurt and probably hated me now. I didn’t even know what kind of monster Jacob was.
“We need to get back to the Glass Sky City. There were three of us tasked with retrieving you and the other guy. The rebellion needs your help. That’s all I know.”
He peeked over his shoulder then back to me. He loved to stare. It was unnerving.
“I guess things went askew, from what I see. Lover’s quarrel?” he questioned, an evil gleam on his face. I tried my best to not shudder.
“No. Clyde and I just had a disagreement about things, that’s all. I need to blast that wall to get out of here. Now let me do it, or we’ll be stuck here forever.”
He glanced past me. “What about using the front door, darling?”
I shook my head. “We can’t go that way.”
“Why not?” he snapped.
“Because… on that side, the tunnel that leads back to the Glass Sky is blocked. And the fae are out there, and monsters. Creatures who can rip us to pieces live in the dark.”
“You came from out there, did you not?”
I nodded.
“How did you survive these monsters?”
“I was escorted by a faerie lord to the edge of their domain. If we go back that way, it’ll lead right back to them. We wouldn’t survive without help.”
“I see.” He held up his hands, studying the gauntlets as though he’d just noticed them. “Take these off.” He looked at me over the metal, his eyes daring me to refuse him.
“No,” I retorted. If he thought I was that stupid, he had another thing coming.
Suddenly, he came rushing toward me, shoving me into the door behind us and knocking the air from my lungs. I gasped for breath as he held his hands to my throat.
“Take these things off!” he snarled. The veins in his temples popped out as his face reddened, the anger making him look like a monster too. I sucked in air, not able to really take a good breath as I struggled to unwrap his hands from my throat. If he wanted me dead, he would just have to squeeze. What was up with men slamming me around? My back was already bruised, and now it would be even worse come the morning. If I made it to another morning.
“Stop,” I mouthed, unable to create enough air movement to say the word. “Please stop!”
His face went slack as he continued to stare at me, his eyes widening as though he just realized what he was doing. Coming back to himself, he let me go, and I crumbled to the floor.
“How do I take these off, Star?”
I coughed and sputtered, still gasping for air. He waited patiently as I caught my breath. Once my lungs relaxed enough to breath more normally, I looked up at Baron with disdain. “I’ll never tell you.”
He glared at me, his upper lip twitching. It seemed like there were two people fighting for control inside of him, and his head jerked to the side, his eyes closing as he sucked in a breath, more than likely trying to calm his rage. There was a monster within him, as dark and twisted as a Rogue. I wasn’t sure which one I’d rather face. They were equally terrifying.
He turned around and paced the room, walking calmly down each row and looking at the pods with interest. He paused at the one with the girl in it, his eyes widening. I wondered if he’d known her, since she’d sparked his interest. Staring at the pod for a long moment, he ran his hand over the glass before placing his palm onto it and closing his eyes, breathing in a deep breath.
A moment later, he snapped his eyes open and turned
my way, looking like he’d seen a ghost. Just as quickly, his shock morphed into rage.
“Open this pod. Now!”
Chapter Forty-three
Star
Baron shoved me through the tunnel, taking a different direction than the one which led to the river. After a while, I wondered if he’d been there before. He paused now and then, staring at the branches of tunnels and choosing one as though he were remembering the route. I began to wonder if he was just full of himself and was going to get us all killed.
By us, I meant me, him, and the unnamed girl in his arms. I wondered if this was the Alana he’d spoken about. I’d never had the chance to ask after he’d forced me to wake her up. Finally, too impatient to wait for her to regain consciousness, he’d scooped her out of the pod and demanded I open the huge metal door to the tunnels. I’d opened it, hoping he’d leave me behind, but he’d had other plans.
“You’re coming. Move.”
I’d pressed the code into the door panel, needing to try three times before it opened. I’d taken a long look at Clyde’s crumpled figure and Jacob’s stillness before he nudged me with his foot.
“Close the door behind you.” He’d waited as I shoved the heavy door, nearly falling on my knees, it was so heavy. Noting this wasn’t easy for me, he turned and shoved his back into the door, sending it slamming shut. I’d thrown him an incredulous look before tapping the locking code into the keypad.
The sound of the screeching pins and gears locking had given me hope that Clyde would be okay. I hoped he woke up before Jacob’s sedative wore off. I wouldn’t ever know if he would now that I was being shoved through the labyrinth of tunnels again.
Amazingly, after a couple hours of walking through the darkness with nothing but the flashlight I’d taken from Clyde’s fallen body, we reached a tunnel dimly lit by sunlight.
