Chapter 69
Edward and I both spin around.
“Hands up where I can see them!” the Guard repeats, training his stun gun on me. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
I stagger on my feet as he aims his weapon at Edward, who slowly lifts his hands off the keyboard.
His gaze flicks to me.
He saw everything, too. He also knows what Raine was.
“Who are you?” the Guard asks again.
I don’t know how to answer his question. Who am I? An hour ago, I was Poet Graves. Storm Guard cadet who thought she was figuring out her life.
And now? I have no fucking clue.
The Guard reaches for the comms pinned to his uniform to call for backup. The only way out of here is through the door he’s currently blocking.
“Attention, Circle Guard,” he says. “I have two break-in suspects on thirty-two in quadrant five.”
Edward is side-eyeing his monitor, where the video of Raine has looped back to the beginning. With a quick glance in my direction, he lunges for the keyboard, striking a key before the screen goes dark, wiping away the evidence of our investigation. I hope.
“I said don’t move!” the Guard shouts as he fires his stunner. A bolt of light strikes Edward in the chest. He goes flying, crashing into the bank of computers and slumping to the floor in a shower of glass and sparks.
I scream. At least I think I do. Someone is screaming, and my throat is raw. I dive for Edward, but the Guard shouts again, “Don’t move!”
I stop, raising my hands as I stare helplessly at Edward. At least he wasn’t blitzed. Blood trickles down his temple, but he’s still breathing.
The Guard approaches on careful steps, his weapon pointed at my chest.
“Who are you, girl? Why are you here?” he asks with a snarl.
I back up, hitting the window until he’s almost on me.
Then something knocks him from behind, and he trips forward. I manage to sidestep out of the way as he crashes into the window.
Rook tackles him to the ground, using his element of surprise.
The Guard grunts and kicks, while Rook throws several punches.
I think of the video I just saw and the way Rook fought the Breakers with such ease and skill.
It becomes obvious as they roll together across the floor that, despite his competence on the sparring mats, he was always holding himself back.
They continue tussling, and I can’t decide what I should do. Run? I don’t want to leave Edward, but I’m also not sure if I’m safe with Rook.
He cocks his arm and delivers a blow to the Guard’s cheek. The man cries out, and I hear the crack of bone before Rook snatches his stun gun and scrambles up, blasting the Guard in the chest.
He didn’t even blink.
I stare at Rook, surer than ever that I have absolutely no idea who he really is.
“Are you okay?” he asks, looking up. Despite the fight, he’s barely winded at all.
Am I okay?
“Did he hurt you?”
“No,” I say. “I’m fine.”
Physically, at least.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, because I haven’t moved. I’m just staring at him, trying to organize my thoughts.
“You were there that night,” I say. “When Raine was attacked.”
He blinks, something passing behind his eyes.
I want him to deny it. Tell me I was mistaken. That the video was fake, or he has an evil twin brother, or something.
“I was planning to tell you,” he says, knocking the breath from my chest. “I was going to tell you everything.”
“Everything?”
Obviously, there’s more to say. I think about Rook searching those hallways. This is about so much more than my brother and that night. He didn’t just come here to find out more about what he is.
“Poet, we have to get out of here before they come for us. They know what you are now. I promise that I’ll tell you everything, but not here.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know who you are.”
He approaches, the stunner still gripped in his hand and his palm flattened to his heart. “I’m still me—I swear to you. There are some things I couldn’t share, but I promise you have nothing to fear from me.”
I open my mouth and close it. “We can’t leave Edward.”
Rook glances at his unconscious form. “They aren’t after him. They’re after you.”
“Me?” My mind is having trouble catching up. It’s all clouded and foggy, swimming through mud.
“The Extinguishers are coming for you, and they won’t ask questions, Poet. They’ll shoot before they listen to a word you have to say. Please. I’m begging you,” Rook pleads. “Just come and I’ll tell you everything as soon as we’re safe.”
Slowly, I nod as he takes my hand. I’m numb. I barely feel it as he tugs me away, glass crunching under my feet as we cross Mr. Robins’s office and enter the hallway. I look back at Edward’s slumped form, praying he’ll be all right, but Rook is pulling me away.
“Stop!” someone shouts from the far end of the hall. Two more Guards materialize, and Rook spins, shoving me back. He fires the stunner, two blasts in quick succession, striking each Guard before they have a chance to react.
“Run!” he orders, pulling me by the hand in the opposite direction.
More Guards appear.
“This way!” Rook shouts as we barrel into a stairwell.
Footsteps pound from below, and the blast from a stun gun fires up.
“Climb!” Rook says. I’m too dazed to resist. I follow him up and up, spiraling higher and higher until we reach the top floor. The sounds of the chase are growing closer as we emerge onto the roof of the building, where the wind gusts and red clouds churn across the sky.
Rook is moving behind me, using something to barricade the door.
I see none of it. Feel nothing as I drift toward the edge to take in the city burning below.
Flames flicker in the dark, where hundreds of Patrols direct the people of New Manhattan toward safety while others attempt to control the blazes.
I look out across the scarlet sky and to the Wastes—a black blot in the distance.
“Poet!” Rook shouts. “We have to jump!”
He points to the far side of the roof where the top of Amery sways a few feet away. No, not a few. Several. Close enough to potentially clear the jump, but it isn’t guaranteed. I remember this. My initiation. I remember thinking it didn’t seem that far. Now I think I must have been delirious.
A flash of red light illuminates the net I landed on far below.
“They’re coming for us!” Rook shouts, taking me by the shoulders, trying to wake me up.
“They know what you are, Poet. Who I am! If they catch us, we’re dead.
Do you understand me?” He shakes me gently, rustling me like a dried-out husk.
“Poet, snap out of it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything, but I need you to snap out of it. ”
He cups my face in his hands, and then he kisses me.
That does the trick.
I shove him back and slap him across the face.
“You lied to me!” I scream.
“I did,” he says. “But I had to.”
I shake my head, taking a step away.
The wind tosses my hair and my dress, the fabric billowing around me in a cloud of creamy lilac.
“Please believe I never meant you any harm,” he says. “I swear to you, I never intended to hurt you, but we have to get out of here.”
The door to the roof is shuddering under the weight of the Guards.
It won’t hold much longer.
Rook reaches out his hand. “Please. Jump with me,” he says.
I don’t think I have a choice. They know what I am, and I’m already dead. I nod and reach for him, my limbs scooped dry.
“I’ll go first and catch you,” he says. “Okay?” He thrusts the stunner into my hands.
“Shoot if they break through. Don’t hesitate.”
Then he’s off. He races for the edge and leaps, suspended in the air, his arms and legs windmilling.
I hold my breath.
3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .
Until he lands safely in a crouch.
“Poet!” he screams. “Your turn!”
The door to the roof bursts open, half a dozen Guards spilling out.
I don’t think. I run. I toss the stunner to the side, and then I barrel at full tilt, my boots slapping concrete and my skirt twisting around my ankles.
I focus on Rook, who stands with his hands out, ready to catch me.
I’m here to protect you, no matter what.
He lied to me, but I still believe this.
So I run.
The edge of the building draws closer, and I will myself not to chicken out.
I’m dead if they catch me.
I think of the Guards carrying away Raine’s body.
What happened to him? What did the general do?
Maybe I’m worse than dead if I end up in their hands.
I pick up speed, my arms pumping, and then . . .
I leap.