Chapter 60
At midnight?
I whip the blanket off and stumble to my feet, stunned by Kallister’s message.
“Is he allowed to do this?” I turn to Gray in shock. “He can’t just execute someone because he fucking feels like it? Can he?”
“He’s the sole leader of the Uprising now,” Gray says flatly. “He can do whatever he wants.”
I’m already hurrying to my closet, yanking out items of clothing. I feel Gray watching me as I pull on a pair of dark jeans. I button them and reach for a long-sleeved shirt to put on over my white tank.
“We still have some time,” he says. “She’ll need to choose her method of execution, and then she’s allowed to pick one witness to be there. Kal won’t just walk into the cell and blow her brains out. We have protocols for this.”
“Do you really trust Kallister to follow protocol after everything he’s done? Because I don’t. We need to go find him.” My jaw is so tight I can barely get the words out. “We can’t let him kill her.”
“He won’t,” Gray assures me.
We stride toward the door, but I grab his arm before he can open it.
“Wait. I need to finish what I was trying to tell you before the alert came in. I found out tonight that Kallister has been using Hawkins to corrupt minds in the wards.”
Gray freezes in place. “What? How is that even possible? Hawkins is an inciter.”
“He’s both. Trust me, I was as shocked as you are. But I suspect this is why Kallister isn’t concerned about executing Adrienne. He doesn’t need her to corrupt. She’s of no use to him anymore.”
“Fuck.”
“I don’t think we should tell him we know, though. There’s still time before Hawkins gets out of regen. Once he’s awake, I’m sure it’s the first thing he’ll tell Kallister, but right now we can still use it to our advantage. Pretend we don’t know he’s a sick, power-hungry tyrant and—”
I halt when I feel Adrienne nudging my mind.
“Adrienne’s linking,” I blurt out.
“Wren,” she says telepathically. “Can you come to the cells? Kallister approved my visitor request.”
“I’m with Gray. We can both be there in—”
“Just you.”
Biting my lip, I glance at Gray. “I’m allowed to visit her. Just me.”
He thinks for a moment, then gives a brisk nod. “Fine. Divide and conquer. You go make sure Ade’s all right. I’ll find Kallister and talk some fucking sense into him.”
We part ways in the hallway, heading in opposite directions. I’m tempted to stop at the armory and log out a weapon, but I assume the cells are guarded, and there’s no way Kallister is letting me bring a gun inside anyway. He’d be too afraid I’d try to break Adrienne out.
On my way down to the Operations floor, I reach out to Kallister via telepathy, but he ignores me. Too busy sentencing innocent Mods to death, I suppose.
When I march inside, I’m startled to find an unguarded holding area.
Although my instincts are humming, I carefully enter the cellblock, where I spot Adrienne sitting alone in the first cell.
She’s wearing black leathers, a formfitting shirt, and combat boots, and if it weren’t for her pale, drawn features, I’d think she was the captor and not the prisoner.
“Why isn’t there a guard posted outside?” I warily approach the cell.
She offers a tired laugh. “Kal’s worried I’ll corrupt them.”
I curl my fingers over the bars, eyeing her in concern. “Are you all right? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“I’m fine.” She walks toward me. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course.” I wrinkle my forehead, unnerved by her calm demeanor. “He sentenced you to die. You know this, right?”
She nods.
“Okay, well, Gray is on his way to find Kallister to talk some sense into him.” My anger surges again. “We’re not letting him kill you—”
“Yes,” she interrupts, “you are.”
I falter. “What?”
“You’re going to let him kill me.”
Shrugging, Adrienne edges away from the bars and walks toward the small metal table that’s screwed into the ground. I watch, agape, as she picks up a tin pitcher of water and pours some into a cup.
“Are you serious?” I burst out. “Why would we do that?”
“Because it’s what I want,” she says simply.
I can’t find the words. I stare at her, trying to comprehend what I’m seeing on her face. It’s not defeat, which is what I’d expect from someone who has clearly given up. It’s…
I think it’s peace.
“What…what is this? Is this some kind of martyr bullshit? You’re going to die for your ideals so people will rise up and take over the cause?”
That makes her laugh. “Hardly. Do I look like martyr material?”
Confusion mingles with the helplessness in my throat. “Then why are you saying this?”
“Because it’s how I feel. I’m tired, Darlington.” She lifts the cup to her lips and takes a small sip. “I’m sick and fucking tired of myself.”
“Adrienne—”
“No,” she interrupts. “I know you think this is just me feeling sorry for myself, but it’s not. The reason I’m not fighting this death sentence is because I don’t want to fight anymore.”
“So you’re giving up on the Uprising? On the entire Continent?”
She drinks her water, watching me from across the cell. Her body language is impossible to decode.
“The moment I rewired my mentor’s mind and destroyed his life, I destroyed myself as well.” A faraway note enters her voice, her gaze fixed on mine but not quite in focus. She’s seeing something that happened a long time ago.
“You were twelve,” I remind her gently. “You couldn’t have known what would happen to—what was his name? Khem?”
She gives an absent nod, setting her cup back on the table. “I broke him, and since that day I’ve tried to atone for it. I understood that other minds would need to be broken in the process, on the path to peace, but I told myself I could live with those casualties. I’m not sure I can anymore.”
Adrienne returns to the cell door, where my fingers remain curled over the bars. She covers my hands with hers. She’s cold to the touch.
“I’ve been fighting for decades, Wren. It’s time to stop. Time for someone else to take over.”
I shake my head. “You mean me? Nobody is ever going to listen to me. They listen to you.”
She laughs, the sound weak, more of a wheeze. “If you choose to step up and offer a solution that doesn’t require killing half the Continent, I think you’d do a keen job. But nobody is asking you to lead the cause.”
I lean closer, imploring her with my eyes. “You can’t just let him kill you.”
“It’s already been done.”
She wheezes again, and that’s when I smell it on her breath.
That sickly sweet stench.
Heartroot.
My gaze flies to the water pitcher on the table. The half-empty cup. It wasn’t water.
It wasn’t fucking water.
“What did you do?” I say in horror.
Adrienne’s breathing grows ragged. “It’s all right. I chose this way. I chose you to be here. It would’ve been too hard on Gray.”
Bile rushes up my throat and triggers my gag reflex. Oh my God. I’m her witness.
I squeeze both her hands, trying to warm them up as my mind desperately reaches out to Tana, who’s quick to link.
“Where’s Brion?” I ask, trying not to choke on my panic. “Send him to the cells! Adrienne needs healing!”
“I think he’s in the valley doing wellness checks—”
I sever the link. Fuck! With Fiona gone, Brion’s the only healer we have.
In front of me, Adrienne begins swaying on her feet.
“Please,” I beg. “Try to vomit.”
But we both know that won’t do anything. The merest trace of heartroot wreaks havoc on the system.
“It’s all right,” she says again, slowly making her way toward the narrow bed.
When she stumbles, I cry out, desperate to break into the cell and help her, but she regains her balance and gingerly lowers herself onto the bed.
I’ve never felt more helpless in my life as I watch her struggle for breath, but despite the panting and the wheezing and the distress to her body, her eyes remain closed and I hear her voice over telepathy.
“Take care, Darlington.”
A second later, her energy signature dissolves, and her body grows still.
My composure splinters to pieces. I stare at Adrienne’s body, shocked. We were supposed to have until midnight to figure this out. To save her. Kallister didn’t even give us a chance, damn it.
Hand trembling, I fumble in my pocket for my comm and contact Gray.
“Have you found him yet?” I choke out when I hear his voice.
“No. Are you still with Adrienne?”
“She’s dead.”
“What do you mean, she’s dead?”
“She’s dead,” I repeat, my voice breaking. “She chose heartroot as her method and made me witness it.” I keel over for a second, fighting a wave of nausea. “She’s fucking dead, Gray.”
Silence fills my ear, followed by a soft, anguished groan.
“I’m coming up to find you,” I say. “I think we need to leave the Dagger.”
I end the call, turning away from the sight of Adrienne’s lifeless shape at the same time I catch a flicker of motion from the end of the hall.
I hear the hiss in the air a split second before the needle pierces the side of my neck. Liquid rushes into my veins, triggering a surge of adrenaline.
“What—” My question dies as black dots flash in front of my eyes, my tongue instantly feeling too thick for my mouth.
The cellblock sways and spins, the walls undulating all around me.
Footsteps echo from the end of the corridor, the sound muffled like I’m underwater. Whoever shot that tranq gun is coming toward me.
And then everything fades away.