Chapter 38
38
Once Kor is gone, I rush up to my room. I try a few internet searches and browse multiple social media sites, but it’s all useless. I don’t know how to locate a random person on the internet who doesn’t want to be found.
But Georgie can. I email her asking her to call me when she’s available.
As I wait for her response, I take out my pastels and add some shadows to a portrait of Grandfather that I’ve been working on. I try not to think about how many creative pursuits I took part in on a given day at Genesis compared to the past few weeks of almost nothing. But this picture is good. Grandfather has been sitting for me in the sunroom every morning when the lighting is just right.
I bawled my eyes out when I first saw him after I got back, knowing he was going to be okay after so many months of worrying. And he really does look okay. Much more energetic and vibrant than the last time I saw him. We did some gardening in the backyard together earlier today, and he had no problem with the more strenuous pulling and digging. And yesterday, both he and Sal came down to breakfast with wet hair. Like maybe they’d both been showering. At the same time. She has been living with him in this house for a long time, so anything’s possible….
I’d questioned Grandfather about his surgeries, and he’d only insisted that I have nothing to worry about.
“It may be the nature of bodies to degrade, but I’ve spent my life as a scientist learning that we can reverse nature, that we can improve upon it. I can honestly say that I’ve never been better. And I promise you, mi reinita, that I’ll be around for a long time yet.”
It’s not like Grandfather to make promises he can’t keep, but this is something that is out of his control. Certainly out of mine.
Right now everything feels out of my control.
I abandon my pastels to check if Georgie’s gotten back to me yet. I mean, I know there’s no way she has, but it’s hard for me to think about anything else. I refresh my screen just in case. Then again.
I pick up a pastel to keep working, but then change my mind and drop it. I can’t help but think that while I sit here enhancing smile lines, Kor is about to invade Arcadia, and I’m doing nothing about it.
Instead I pace. And then pace some more.
Eventually I flop onto my bed and pick up my father’s music box from the bedside table. Dad’s another person I haven’t had any luck reaching. I’ve been trying to call him every single day, but nothing so far. I twist the key, and it begins to play the familiar song. “Yosef HaLevi’s Nocturne.” The very same one Rafe had assured me I could never have heard in the provincial world. The notes immediately calm me. I take deep breaths and just try to clear my head. When the song ends, I twist the key to play it again and close my eyes.
A ping from my laptop wakes me. I blink a few times, then jump up when I see light streaming through my window. It’s past 7:00 a.m., and I have the horrible jabby feeling of having slept a whole night in a bra.
My laptop pings again.
Incoming call from PURPLEBOOTS.
I run over to click accept, and the moment I see Georgie’s wonky smile and hair—that’s now bubblegum pink—I want to cry and laugh at the same time.
“You!” she says with exuberant tenderness. “I miss your face!” I can see from the video that said face is quite blotchy and smeared with makeup, though my braid crown has held up surprisingly well. The ivy hasn’t even wilted yet.
“I miss you too, and I’m still so sorry—”
“Ada, we’re past that. Your email said you need help?”
“Right. I need you to put me in contact with Cicero,” I say.
“Okay…?”
“I think she has information I can use to stop something bad from happening.”
“Not a problem. I have a chat window open with her already.”
“You’ve been chatting with her? Georgie, that’s not safe. I told you who she’s connected to. I don’t know if she’s trustworthy!”
“Relax. She doesn’t know who I am. We mostly just talk about code and stuff. Plus, she’s… really cute.”
“So you can put us in touch?”
“Already done.”
A new window opens, and CICERO joins our call.
Izzy’s face is suddenly there, enlarged on my monitor. Thick geeky-chic glasses, spiky short hair. She does look really cute, and not the slightest bit surprised to see me.
“Hello, Ada Castle.”
“Hello, Izzy King.”
“Long time no see.”
“I wish it hadn’t been so long,” I say, words full of hurt I don’t have time to feel right now. I’m unsure where to begin. But nothing is worse than an empty page, so I splatter paint on it. “I need to know everything you know about Operation Genesis.”
She doesn’t look particularly surprised. “From what I hear, it’s only happening because of the information you provided.”
In the other window, Georgie’s eyes widen, and she sucks her cheeks into a ridiculous fish face, but she doesn’t say anything.
“Well, now I want to stop it.”
“And how do you know I want to stop it?”
“Well, don’t you?”
“Hell yeah.”
I smile. And Izzy smiles back.
Georgie’s face relaxes.
“So, Purple Boots,” Izzy says to Georgie, “you’re actually one of the Hidden?”
Georgie smiles sheepishly. “Kind of? And you can call me Georgie.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Izzy looks as if she would like to call her many things, but I’ve got a crisis on my hands.
“So, what’s with the radio silence?” I ask. “And the big middle finger to everything our families believe in?”
“Yeah, right. None of this extremist stuff the Oculus is up to has anything to do with our families’ beliefs.”
I’m so relieved to hear her say this. It’s been hard to rely on my gut that all of this is wrong when the people I trust the most think it’s okay. Knowing Izzy feels the same confirms that I’m not overreacting. And it means that the Oculus is diverging from the Families’ values, as opposed to the other explanation that I was starting to dread might be true, that this is who they have been all along, and everything I grew up knowing was a lie.
Now that she’ll finally speak to me about it, I’ve been squeezing Mom for as much information about the Families as I can. It seems the Oculus has always had grander plans than the mere stewardship of the rest of the Families. Kor’s father, Aragon, had dedicated his life to finding the exiles so their innovations could be shared and had passed this passion on to Kor. But now, as more of the Inner Chamber are being brought into the new operation, there are many who don’t agree with the radical changes.
Izzy is surprised that I’m choosing to act against Kor.
“I tried to warn you, but you were never going to listen to me over him.”
“You didn’t warn me. You just told me not to go to Italy without any explanation. I thought it was a drunk text!”
“I’m sorry for how I handled things. I didn’t know who I could trust.”
I want to be hurt that Izzy didn’t have faith in me, but considering how many people I’ve mistakenly trusted recently, I can’t blame her for taking the wiser approach.
Izzy explains that as soon as I told her about my abilities and she’d begun to research Sires, it uncovered a lot that concerned her about the Oculus and their methods. Once she found out about the abductions, she knew she couldn’t be a part of it, but she wasn’t sure if the Families would let her walk away. Luckily, Georgie wasn’t the only one to identify her from the Hidden forum. Nora Montaigne had as well, and she’d used her influence to keep Izzy safely away from the Families’ demands.
But Izzy is still in touch with her brother, Roman, who keeps her updated. “And I still have access to all their databases,” she adds slyly. So she has a lot of useful information.
She can’t answer all my questions, but she shares enough that I can put the pieces together to get a sense of what Kor has in mind.
And it ain’t good.
“I have to talk to Kor and try to stop him.”
Izzy crinkles her brow. “How? They’ve already left.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean they’re already headed to Arcadia. Roman called to say goodbye around dawn.”
I freeze in panic. How is all of this happening so fast? I close my eyes and breathe deeply. I need to think. “Do you know how many others are with him?”
“Kor, Roman, and Alfie are the only Inner Circle members. Roman mentioned a few others, but they’re not Inner Circle, so my guess is they could be medics or engineers for tech or transportation?”
“We need to warn Genesis,” I say to Georgie, who flicks her eyes to Izzy nervously.
“I get it,” Izzy says. “Time to talk about the big secrets. I’ll bounce. I miss you, Ada. Catch you soon, Boots!”
As soon as Izzy’s window closes, Georgie asks, “Should I get Master Loew?”
“Um, no, he doesn’t know about… my connections.”
“Ugh, fine. I’ll get the blond jerk. Hang on.” She scrawls a pigeon.
A few minutes later, Rafe’s too-pretty face appears on my screen.
“How’s New York?” he asks, not looking remotely excited to see me. Guess he got over whatever we had pretty quick. I shouldn’t be surprised.
“It’s not great, but we have bigger problems.”
“I assume so if you’ve bothered to reach out to me after so long without a word.”
Georgie raises her brows to the heavens.
“Be pissy all you want later, but at this moment Kor is on his way to Arcadia.”
“Impossible.”
I tell him everything Izzy just told us. “They’ve disabled the Atlas, and I think they’re coming through the tunnels.”
“And how do they even know about the Atlas?”
I bite my lip and avoid answering that particular question. I told the Families so much before I understood the danger. “The point is that the vacuums and doors have been opened and disabled, and they’re on their way with an aerosolized version of antimatter.” Or so says Izzy, and she sounded pretty confident about it all.
Rafe pinches the bridge of his nose and, after a few breaths, says, “How many of them are coming? And do you know their intentions?”
“Probably around five or six. And I think they’re after the Testament scrolls.”
“Well, if it’s the scrolls, I can take care of having them better protected. There aren’t that many Guard on Arcadia, but there should be enough to handle a small group,” Rafe says.
“Are you sure?” I ask. “They have this new airborne antimatter.”
“What can you tell me about it?”
I’d grilled one of the Families’ scientists all about antimatter. As a concept, it’s something that modern scientists have a basic understanding of, but only on a theoretical level. The knowledge of how to cultivate and use antimatter was stolen from the Makers during the original Inquisition and was passed down only among the Oculus. Until recently.
Roman is apparently on the team that synthesized the gas, so Izzy had a lot of details.
“It’s a gas that, when inhaled, temporarily suspends Sire abilities without doing any permanent harm.”
“That sounds like it would do a tremendous amount of damage to Sires,” Rafe says in his I-am-being-very-stern voice.
“There’s only a small trace of antimatter in it. Supposedly it’s been tested extensively and hasn’t done any long-term damage to Sires. It’s just meant to—of course!” I slap my forehead.
They both stare at me expectantly. “Do explain,” Rafe prompts.
“Would it be possible,” I ask, “to spread an aerosol through whatever pumps the mists around the island?”
“It’s not a pump. It’s a forced temperature contrast created between the hot springs and the—” He stops and goes as still and as white as marble.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think it’s possible. Do you know for certain that they have a way to contaminate the mist?”
“I… I don’t know. They asked me a lot of questions about it.” I had thought they were just asking because of their interest in sustainable geothermal energy. “I didn’t tell them much, but they have multiple informants.”
Georgie has started typing intensely.
Rafe pulls both hands through his hair, sending his hair tie flying across the room. “If they can do it, it would be truly devastating.”
“I mean, I know it’s not great,” I say, “but it should only temporarily suspend Sire abilities.”
“No. You don’t understand. For a regular Sire, it may only prevent their ability to conduct, but that’s not the only conductive Ha’i that would be affected. Do you know how many people might be in the medical wing at this very moment, being kept alive by Sire healing until their conditions stabilize? Or people who are now well but rely on conductive technologies due to injuries or illness? Anyone with enhanced biology, like Valkyries, rely on conductive Ha’i. Who knows how breathing in antimatter might affect them? Not to mention that antimatter is extremely volatile. If there’s any chance it hasn’t been stabilized properly, it will explode as soon as it interacts with regular matter. If this plan succeeds, many could die.”
My stomach sinks, and my blood feels as if it is pumping twice as fast as usual. Kor may be lost on the path of his ideals, but he would never want what Rafe is describing. I’m sure of it.
“I’ve reached out to Cicero,” Georgie interjects. “No full confirmation on the mists as the vector, but she says the team seemed confident that they have a way to temporarily pollute the air of the island.”
“Who in perdition is Cicero?” Rafe looks as if he wants to tantrum all over the room.
“Irrelevant right now,” I say.
Georgie asks him, “Is there any way you can… turn off the mist?”
He shakes his head. “It doesn’t work like that, and we don’t even know if they’ll be using the mist. What we have to do is be prepared for their arrival and stop them immediately.”
“Don’t forget, Kor is a Sire now. And they’ll have provincial weapons—guns.”
“The Avant Guard have been preparing for a provincial threat since their inception.”
I don’t like the sounds of that. “If the Guard succeed in overpowering Kor and whoever is with him, what will they do?” I ask.
“Muddling won’t work for anything beyond a matter of hours. These intruders know where we live and plan to poison our air and steal our holiest and most important texts? I don’t think the Guard will have much of a choice.”
“There’s always a choice.”
“Answer me this, Ada. What will your family do if they’re not stopped?”
“They’re not coming to harm you, just to take information. They have good intentions.”
“No matter their intentions, we need to defend ourselves. Is that not why you felt the need to warn me about all of this?”
Yes. But was warning him a mistake? Is he even right about the gas? Would letting Kor go in and out with possible minor casualties be better than causing a face-off with the Guard where there is guaranteed to be losses on both sides?
Horrible visions of the beautiful island smoking from the destruction of battle flash in my mind. Valkyries falling from the sky as they breathe in antimatter.
I don’t want any harm to come to Genesis. Or to Kor or Izzy’s brother.
Alfie can burn; I don’t care about him.
“We need to warn the Guard, but we can’t let them kill anyone,” I say.
“I can’t promise you that.”
“Rafe, I helped you save your cousin. Now help me save mine.” He doesn’t respond. “I can reason with Kor. I’m sure of it,” I plead. “I just need to stop them before they get there. He wants the scrolls, but he doesn’t want to cause unnecessary deaths.”
“But they’re already on their way. It’s too late,” Georgie says.
An idea, born of desperation, is forming in my mind. “Why does it have to be too late? We know they’re probably traveling through the Atlas tunnel, and we know where they’re headed.”
Her brows furrow. “And they have a significant head start.”
“But no maglev technology.”
“Neither do y— oh . Uh-uh. No way.” She shakes her head emphatically. “It’s way too far. And too dangerous.”
Rafe grits his teeth, and I know he’s caught on. “Ada, stop and think for a moment. What you’re considering is impossible. Do you know how long the journey is? How fast you would have to go to catch up to them?”
Fast, I can handle.
“It is the same technology, isn’t it?” I press.
He rakes a hand through his hair. “I mean, technically the hoverjoust pit uses the same form of maglev as the Atlas tunnels, but—”
“Great! Then I’ve made up my mind.”
“We can’t rely on your success. I’ll need to alert the Guard to be ready. The risk to our home is too great if you fail.”
“I agree. You should have a backup plan, but it’s not so simple. Kor is working directly with someone on the inside, and I don’t know who it is.” I’d asked Izzy if she knew anything about the new informant, but she didn’t. “I don’t know who we can trust.”
Rafe’s face is a storm. “How is that even possible? How are we hemorrhaging—” He looks skeptically at Georgie sitting next to him.
But I’m done with ever letting him doubt or speak ill of her.
“I trust her with my life,” I say.
Georgie sits a little straighter, and Rafe nods. Then, to my surprise, he sticks out his hand to her. When she tentatively shakes it, he says earnestly, “I don’t doubt your loyalty. I know we could never have rescued Hypatia without your assistance, and I am forever in your debt.”
Georgie’s cheeks flush pink, and I swallow as something inside me turns to mush.
Once I’m sure my guts are again fully solid, I say to Rafe, “We need help. Who do you trust absolutely?”
“My brothers. I’ll contact Alex, but he’s in Avant. We need people at Genesis.”
“I trust Master Loew,” I say.
“Well, I do not,” Rafe responds decisively.
“What about Kaylie?” I try.
“Yes,” he says. “And Hypatia, Simon, and Mbali.”
The three of us talk through the details of the plan. In addition to somehow warning the Guard without tipping off the spy, Rafe will figure out how to best protect the mists. Georgie is going to get the Artisans to make and distribute protective masks, just in case. Look at them collaborating so nicely. And Rafe hasn’t sneered even once.
Sheesh, my bar is set so low. When did I start congratulating boys for basic human decency? But he does deserve a pat on the back. Perhaps on the butt.
Soon we say our goodbyes, and this time there’s no need for tears. I’ll be seeing my friends again soon.
“Be careful, Ada!” Georgie begs.
Rafe says nothing.
They don’t think I can do it. But I don’t have a choice. They’re preparing for an invasion. One that’s all my fault. But I’m going to stop it. And I’m going to help the Families see a better way.
My slept-in birthday outfit won’t do. I need to dress for speed and cold. I change into a sports bra and turtleneck, and I layer a pair of leggings under the jeans I wore for farm work on the island. I’m thankful I have Rafe’s leather jacket, which is sturdy enough to protect from the wind of what is looking to be a treacherous ride. There’s a leftover bag of homemade trail mix (thoughtfully prepared by Sal) in the pocket. Perfect. Who knows the next time I’ll have a chance to eat. I don’t have the time to redo my hair, so I leave the slightly mussed braided crown with the pretty ivy running through it. I sling the hoverboard—camouflaged in my snowboarding bag—over my shoulder and take a deep breath.
What am I even doing? This is a terrible idea. I am the last person to be able to pull this off. Even Georgie and Rafe don’t think I can do it.
I push aside all my fears and inadequacies. If fixing my mistakes means being irresponsible and dumb, then that’s what it takes.
I don’t want to have to explain where I’m going, so I decide to sneak out through the kitchen.
“Ada?”
My plan to avoid my family has apparently failed as my mom is leaning against the counter eating leftover birthday cake. It’s odd that she’s not in her work clothes yet, and it’s even more odd that she’s voluntarily eating something that contains both butter and sugar.
“Where are you going?”
Well, I can’t just tell her, can I? But I’m all out of lies today.
“I’m going back. To Genesis.”
“You weren’t going to say goodbye?”
I had wanted to say goodbye, but I’d been worried that facing my family would make me change my mind. I’m still not sure I won’t change my mind, considering my conviction is about as stable as a soap bubble.
My mom abandons her cake and strides over to me, wraps me in a hug. “Good,” she says. “It’s better for you there.”
Her hug is warm, but it doesn’t feel nice that she’s so eager to be rid of me again.
“I wish it didn’t have to be this way,” she continues. “I would much rather have you close. I missed you so much while you were gone.”
Oh. I squeeze her tighter.
“I kept you out of everything for as long as I could, but if you have to be involved, it’s safer for you there than here.”
“Wait. What do you mean you kept me out of it?” I mumble into her shoulder.
“I didn’t let the Families initiate you when you came of age. I didn’t want them to know about your abilities and make you their constant test subject.”
What?
I pull away from the hug and play her words over again in my head.
I didn’t let the Families initiate you.
“I thought I wasn’t initiated because I wasn’t good enough?” Even thinking about it has familiar shame resurfacing.
My mother takes my face in her hands, looks me in the eyes, and says, “Ada, you have always been good enough.”
I can barely breathe.
My mother keeps speaking, softly stroking my cheek. “The reason I finally allowed them to initiate you is so that you would be recruited to the institute. I wanted you there for your own safety. The moment the Families learned about your gift, I knew I needed to keep you away from them.”
My gift . Is that what she thinks of my abilities? Then how could she have made me think of them as a curse?
My pulse echoes in my ears, and my voice quavers when I say, “I thought you were scared of me.”
“I was never scared of you. I was only ever scared for you. Terrified. Of what the Families might do if they understood what you are.”
There’s a stinging behind my eyes and in the back of my throat as my mind rearranges my view of reality once again.
Mom leans back against the counter with a sigh. “Ada, your abilities, they’re genetic; they run in our family. Your grandmother didn’t have them, but she thought I might. When I was young, they were constantly testing me. I spent half of my middle school years being analyzed in a lab until they finally determined I wasn’t what they were hoping for. I didn’t want that for you.”
I don’t even know what to say. This is the last thing I expected to hear. I mean, I knew being a Sire was genetic. It probably should have occurred to me that it might run in the family.
“All my life,” my mother continues, “I’ve felt like I needed to work harder than everyone else to make up for the fact that I had failed to be born exceptional. It became a challenge. If I could perfect everything within my control, then maybe what was out of my control would matter less. But I never wanted you to feel that way. I couldn’t bear for you to have the weight of the Families’ scrutiny on you the way I did. And you didn’t need them pushing you. You have always managed to be exceptional based on your own standards, not anyone else’s.” She takes both of my hands in hers. “And I’m so proud of you for it.”
I pull my hand away, but just so I can wipe my wet cheeks. And my nose.
“Why couldn’t you have told me all of this sooner? I thought I was such a failure.”
“I’m so sorry. Your grandmother… She would try to motivate me by telling me about her difficulties growing up. But it always felt like she was trying to manipulate my emotions to bend me into what she wanted me to be. I didn’t want to do that to you, but clearly I overcorrected.” She hands me her napkin to help deal with my snot fountain. “But even though I’ve been distant and busy and not as forthcoming as you needed me to be, it’s because I was working to keep you safe. Everything I have done has been to protect you.”
Were all those years of feeling inadequate worth that protection?
The anger over the possible answer to that question is overshadowed by a bone-deep sense of relief. And an extra boost of confidence that the ridiculous thing I’m about to do is the right thing. If my own mother, who has been deeply involved with the Families her whole life, thinks they’re so dangerous she had to keep her daughter away from them, what does that say about what they’re capable of? But now that my mother is being up front with me, maybe she can help.
“Mom, Kor started the next stage of Operation Genesis early, and I need to stop him. Do you know anything about it?”
“I wish I did, but the Oculus gave Kor free rein to act without the Inner Chamber’s approval, and he hasn’t shared his plans with any of us. And the Inner Chamber members are annoyed with me because I accidentally”—she puts the word in air quotes—“deleted footage of you from North Brother Island, so they’re stonewalling me on everything.”
Wow, she really has been working for me behind the scenes, and I had no idea.
“I don’t know how to make Kor listen to me, if I can even get to him in time.”
She strokes my hair. “Ada, I have no doubt that you can do this.” There’s a pride in her voice that seeps through me and fills in the cracks of so many old wounds. “You are so brave and so resourceful, and if that boy listens to anyone besides the Grand Master, it’s you.”
She pulls me into a last hug and kisses the top of my head.
It’s time to do this.
And I can . Because I’m a Sire and a Maker, and I’m gravdamn fast on a hoverboard.
And I will do what has to be done.