Chapter 26 #2
“I think his heart’s giving out. He denied it, but I’m pretty sure part of his body made contact with a force field. Luisa,” I call toward the cockpit. “Can you make sure Fiona’s ready for Declan the moment we land?”
“Already did. She’s standing by.”
When I link with Cross to tell him I’m in the air, his relief is palpable. “Stay away from the wards for a while,” he warns. “Travis will be out for blood over this.”
I feel a pang of worry but try to mask the response because I sense Tana’s gaze on me. “He’s not going to blame you for this, is he?”
“He already does,” is his terse response. “I requested this assignment after I heard about the relocation, offered to facilitate the transfer and make sure it went smoothly, and only hours later an Uprising unit breaks them all out? Travis doesn’t believe in coincidences.”
Fuck. Fuck. It didn’t even occur to me that I might be putting Cross in danger by passing the intel along to the Authority.
“How can I help?”
“You can’t, Dove. Just get to safety.”
The flight is the longest thirty minutes of my life.
I’m on edge the whole time, expecting the Command air fleet to blow us out of the sky, but we make it over the Blacklands without a hitch.
Tana remains silent for most of the flight.
It isn’t until we near the mountain that I feel her trying to link with me.
“Who were you talking to?”
Her suspicious tone makes my stomach drop. I open my mouth to lie, but I can’t bring myself to deceive her. I’ve lied to Tana by omission before, but never to her face with a direct question.
I notice her sensing my inner turmoil, and her eyes take on a hint of contempt. “Someone helped you.” Her gaze remains fixed on me. “You knew how to open that cell door because you were given the code. By one of them.”
Finally, I find the courage to answer. “If that’s what happened, does it really matter? You’re free.”
She shifts her head and stares straight ahead, going silent again.
As the mountain opens for us and we descend toward the runway, I reach for her hand. She stiffens.
“I know you hate me,” I say silently. “But I’m glad you’re safe.”
Tana’s expression softens, her voice sliding through my mind. “I don’t hate you.” She pauses, and I watch in dismay as her brown eyes become disapproving again. “But if you’re working with one of them…if you trust one of them…I could never hate you, Wren, but I don’t know if I can trust you.”
A welcome team waits for us in the hangar when we land, only not all of them are welcoming. As Fiona and Teriq swiftly carry Declan off to the medical bay, I glimpse a blur of motion from the corner of my eye, turning just as Evlynne pounces on me.
It’s like getting hit by a truck, the force of it rattling my teeth and throwing me onto my ass. Her fist nearly connects with my face before I roll out from under her, scrambling away in time.
“What did you do to Neema?” Evlynne screams, lunging again.
Someone grabs her and hauls her away from me. It’s Saint. He locks his arm around her torso, but she’s not struggling anymore, just heaving for breath. Her gray eyes have a wild glint to them, but I also see pain. Grief.
She peers up at Saint, her face collapsing. “I told you not to take her. Fucking quat got Neema killed.”
“Neema drove into a force field.” I meet the mission lead’s eyes, hoping he can hear my sincerity. “Your intel was wrong. The force field was fully operational.”
“I know,” he says grimly. “Declan reported.”
Anger rises inside me as I turn back to Evlynne. “See? How the hell is that my fault?”
“Maybe they started the force field because they knew you were going to be there.”
She’s grasping at straws, and if it weren’t for the anguish lining her face, I might feel more indignant.
Instead, I keep my voice calm and even. “Neema was ahead of us. She didn’t have time to stop when we realized the field was on. Declan would’ve died, too, if he hadn’t managed to swerve at the last second. It wasn’t anybody’s fault.”
I don’t know whether she believes me, but she doesn’t try to attack again. She shrugs Saint’s arm off her and stomps toward the air lock.
Beside me, Tana glances around the hangar, uncertain. The other prisoners we rescued tonight were transported to the valley, but Tana was a last-minute addition. I doubt anyone will be making another flight out of the Dagger tonight.
I squeeze her shoulder. “You can spend the night in my quarters and tomorrow we’ll—”
“No,” Gray interrupts. It’s the first word he’s said to me since I stepped off the plane. “She’ll spend the night in the medical bay. She needs a wellness check.” He nods at Saint.
I open my mouth to argue, but Saint is already ushering Tana away. She glances over her shoulder toward me, but I say, “It’s okay. I’ll find you in the morning.”
If she even wants me to. After our exchange on the plane, I don’t know where we stand. The notion that my oldest friend is questioning whether she trusts me is eating away at me like a slow-burning acid.
Once they’re gone, Gray pins me with a harsh look I don’t expect. “Let’s go.”
His cold demeanor makes me uneasy. “Go where?”
“Debriefing with the Authority.”
“Right now? It’s the middle of the night. Can’t it wait?”
“No, it can’t.”
“Why just me?”
“Because you are the only one who risked the entire mission and the lives of your teammates to rescue your best friend.”
I nod tightly, despite the fact that I have zero regrets about my actions. I already let Tana get captured by the Command once. I wasn’t going to let something happen to her again. If none of the leads want to work with me again because of this, so be it.
In the war room, I find everyone waiting for us except Fiona.
Adrienne glances at Gray. “I’m Fiona’s proxy if we need to vote.”
“Vote about what?” I ask, wrinkling my forehead.
“Whether you’ll face consequences for your actions,” Teriq retorts.
From his seat, Kallister gives me a sympathetic look as if he knows I’m about to get chewed out. Teriq wears a cold expression. And for the first time since I’ve met him, every muscle on Gray’s face is taut with anger.
Yeah.
I’m in trouble.
“You were part of the diversion team,” Adrienne says. Her arms are tight to her chest, and her red hair is pulled back in a severe bun, lending her a more intimidating air than usual.
“Yes,” I say nervously.
“Your objective was to plant decoy charges in the eastern supply tunnel and then retreat, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then how is it you ended up leading a godfucking side mission on the west quadrant of the mine?”
Her condescending tone triggers a burst of annoyance. “You already know the answer to that. I’m sure you’ve already listened to any recordings from tonight’s feed. But if you want me to reiterate everything that went down—”
“We don’t need the details,” she cuts in, her eyes blazing. “We’d simply like to know why you thought you could risk other Modified lives for your own agenda.”
“It was a shared agenda,” I shoot back. “We went there to rescue prisoners, did we not? Well, Tana was a prisoner. An actual one in a cell.”
“How did you get the cell override?”
Adrienne’s question is meant to throw me off, but thanks to Tana’s accusation during the flight, I already considered this, so I don’t even hesitate. “We were given all the security codes in Silver Elite. They rotate every week, but I tried a bunch of them and got lucky.”
“Yes, you got very fucking lucky, Darlington.” She shakes her head in disapproval. “You will never disobey orders again. Do you understand?”
“Technically, I asked for permission, and I was perfectly willing to be left behind.”
Teriq grudgingly speaks. “Saint told her the plane would leave without her if she wasn’t there in time.”
“And I didn’t risk anybody else’s life,” I point out.
“You risked Declan,” Kallister says.
“I told him to go. You can ask him yourself. But he refused,” I say through gritted teeth. “Like me, he didn’t feel right leaving a Mod behind.”
Adrienne’s jaw tenses for a second. Then she says, “Dismissed.”
I expect that to be the end of it as I ride the elevator up to the Personnel floor and make my way to my quarters, but a stone-faced Gray stays hot on my heels. At my door, he doesn’t let me scan in. He jerks his head toward his own quarters, and I reluctantly follow him inside.
“How did you get the override?”
I blink in surprise. I didn’t think that’s what he was going to push back on.
“I already told you. I guessed.” The excuse sounds a lot flimsier the second time around.
“I’m not a fucking idiot, Darlington. I trained in Silver Block, too, and I served on Elite. Those codes never repeat. There’s a new one each week. It’s statistically impossible for you to have guessed that code in a few minutes, so don’t insult my goddamn intelligence.”
I falter, guilt tickling my insides. “Why didn’t you say anything to the others?”
“Because I’m not going to throw out an accusation of collusion unless—”
“Collusion?” I exclaim. “What do you think happened tonight, Grayson?”
“I don’t know. You tell me. Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re colluding with the people who are seeking our downfall.”
“For fuck’s sake—”
“He was there, wasn’t he?”
I play dumb. “Who?”
His green eyes grow molten. “The captain. Cross Redden. You know exactly who I’m talking about, Wren.”
He rarely calls me Wren, and I don’t know why, but it feels wrong. Impersonal.
“You already knew Cross was in Ice Canyon,” I remind him, hoping he’ll let it go at that.
“I meant in the prison, and you know that. Stop playing games.” He shakes his head angrily. “Why would he help you? I flew you to the Point because you said you had unfinished business. I assumed that meant ending whatever fucking business was there in the first place.”
“Okay. Look, if he did help me, and I’m not saying he did, can’t we just take the win? Not everybody has to be our enemy. We rescued all forty-two Mods on the premises. Isn’t that good enough?”
“Are you fucking kidding me? He’s the old General’s son and the new General’s brother. Cross Redden is the enemy.”
“You know things are never that simple.”
Gray stalks toward me. His gaze is intense, unwavering, as it locks with mine. I gulp at the rising tension between us.
“You’re making excuses for him, and he doesn’t deserve them. It is that simple. He didn’t fight for you when it mattered.”
My breath hitches. “You…don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Where was he when you were sentenced to die? His friend stepped up. But where the hell was he?”
I don’t answer because I can’t.
I can’t reveal that Cross is a Mod.
I can’t reveal that he asked Xavier to protect me.
I can’t reveal that he stayed behind for his mother.
“He had his reasons.” My tone lacks conviction, and I hate that.
Gray’s jaw is hard, twitching with frustration that he can’t mask. He takes another step. “You’re standing here fighting for a man who didn’t care enough to return the favor.”
I stare at him in defiance. “Stop it.”
“Stop what? Speaking the truth?”
He closes the remaining space between us.
Before I can blink, he backs me up against the wall, and my shoulders hit it with a jolt.
Suddenly there’s a forceful hand gripping my chin.
Warm breath tickling my cheek. He’s close enough that I can feel the heat radiating off his body, that I’m inhaling his clean citrus scent.
“You’re better than this,” he says in my ear, and I’m shocked to feel a tiny twinge between my legs. I’m discovering that I like men like this. Bossy and dominant. Strong. The ones who challenge me.
But just because I can recognize how attractive Grayson Blake is to me right now doesn’t mean I’m going to act on it. Both my body and heart are tethered to someone else.
And yet…something raw and unfiltered continues to pass between us, locking our gazes together.
“Gray,” I warn. “Stop talking about shit you don’t know anything about. And in case you forgot, you have a girlfriend.” I shove at his chest and stalk past him. “So maybe concentrate on your own relationship and stop making judgments about my love life.”
“Go back to your quarters,” he mutters.
I stare at him in disbelief. “I don’t get why you’re so angry with me. I’m on your side. I’m at the Dagger. I’m not working with the Command—”
“I said go back to your quarters.”
A standoff ensues.
I don’t want to obey and leave, because that feels like letting him win. But I also don’t want to be here anymore, getting reprimanded in the middle of the night.
I’m the first to break eye contact. Surrendering.
I stalk away, but not before lobbing some cold parting words at him.
“You can lecture me as much as you fucking want, Gray. But I do not regret saving Tana tonight, and I’d do the same thing all over again, no matter what it takes to get it done.”
I give him one last look, hard and resolute, then march out the door, slamming it behind me.