44
A video surfaces about Edward. People have noticed his absence, but the most common theory is that he was infected and quietly apprehended. It’s a common enough occurrence that it’s easy to shrug off.
The video shows him on the night of the Blood Storm, threatening a group of citizens, before several Extinguishers chase him down. They claim he was about to kill a group of children, and they’re being lauded as heroes for subduing and transporting him to the Tempestade for “rehabilitation.”
I want to punch through a wall.
This is the work of The Shield.
Where did they get that phony footage?
Why are they lying about him?
We got him out, and technically, he’s safe—but for how much longer?
And if that video isn’t real, then what else have they been faking?
Finally, during training, Henry whispers to me that we can come and see Edward.
Just Rook and me. We don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention.
We share the news with Domino and Journey, then head to the city’s north end and the factory district as Henry instructed.
Though he gave us directions to discreetly disable location tracking on our phones and other devices, he still warns us to leave everything behind whenever possible and never to use them to pass messages to the Fog.
We hop on the train and ride to the end of the line before we pull up our hoods and make our way through the towering factories, where everything is tinged with the gray haze of dust hanging in the air.
I’ve never spent much time in this area, only passing through on my way to the outskirts, and it feels a bit like I’m being closed in by the blocky concrete structures, small windows, and narrow sidewalks.
It’s a place designed for function over form.
We pass numerous Hollows making their way home or just starting their shifts. I think about the Fog and their goals. About how they want to break down this system, offering equality to all. I have no idea if any of their aspirations are even possible, but change has to start with a single spark.
We reach a building situated at the end of a quiet street. It’s nondescript, blending into its surroundings. We enter through a back alley, checking for cameras, but they’re all pointing away, facing the wall, revealing nothing but looped footage the Fog has replaced their feeds with.
We knock on the door, using the secret code Henry gave us, and wait.
It’s a cool afternoon, and the wind kicks through the narrow alley, snaking down my back. The sky is starting to tumble with lavender clouds.
“We’re almost at our rock wall,” I say. “Maybe we should head to the outskirts when we’re finished here.”
Rook nods, pulling his collar up as the breeze tosses his hair.
That’s when the door pops open, revealing Danica.
“Hi,” she says, gesturing for us to come in, then closing and locking the door. “This way.”
We follow her up a metal staircase, winding several floors up, until we reach a landing and another door. At the end of a plain white hallway, we enter what looks like an apartment.
It isn’t luxurious, but it is comfortable, with plenty of furniture, a stocked kitchen, windows overlooking the city, and amenities such as a television and a stereo.
“What is this?” Rook asks, clearly impressed.
“Our headquarters,” Danica says. “Come on. They’re waiting for you.”
She takes us through the apartment, and we enter what must serve as a rec room, with numerous plush chairs, a pool table, a pinball machine, and even a bar stocked with bottles of alcohol. I see a few people I recognize from the Fog, including Ada, Henry, and Brooklyn.
Seated on a chair at the far end of the room is Edward.
“Poet!” he says when he sees me, standing up and rushing over. We hug tightly before we pull apart. He looks much better than the last time I saw him, with his skin back to its usual healthy hue and his hair shiny and brushed. Someone has found him a fresh black shirt and pants.
“I’m so happy to see you,” I say before he hugs Rook, too. “We both are.”
“So relieved,” Rook agrees. “How are you?”
Edward shakes his head as we all take our seats. “I’m not really sure I know how to answer that.”
“Edward has had a difficult week,” Ada says. “We’ve had to move him several times over the last few days to avoid discovery, but he should be safe enough here for now.”
“And then what?” I ask.
“That will be up to him.”
We all turn to Edward, who’s sitting forward with his elbows on his knees.
“You all want to know what I found out, right?” Edward asks. “That’s what they wanted to know, too.”
“If you’re ready to talk about it,” Henry says. “We understand this must be traumatic.”
Edward huffs out a wry snort and leans back in his seat. He seems different. There’s a darker light in his eyes. Something harder in his expression. Like something was taken, or maybe he found a new purpose trapped in that cell. Maybe he was forced to grow up a little. I think we all have.
“They tried to get it out of me,” he says. “I could tell they didn’t know for sure if I’d seen anything because I covered my tracks perfectly that night.”
He says it with a touch of pride and a hint of defiance.
“What did they do to you?” Rook asks.
“Knocked me around a bit,” he says, gesturing to the bruises on his face. I try not to react, but the thought makes me sick. “Threatened to do much worse if I didn’t cooperate. I think they were trying to scare me, and I have to admit, at first, it was working.”
“And then what?” Rook asks.
Edward shrugs, his posture loose and casual as he hooks an ankle over his knee.
“I realized I didn’t care. They could try to beat it out of me, but I wouldn’t break.
They’re scared. They’re hiding something, and I don’t know how to explain it, but it offered me a sort of power to make them sweat. If I died for it, then so be it.”
“Who questioned you?” Henry asks. “Who was in the room?”
“I don’t know. They were either masked or shone a light in my face. They wanted to stay hidden.”
I notice that everyone around the room shares a look.
“Did you tell them anything?” Henry asks. “How did you explain what you were doing that night?”
“I told them about the video I showed to Poet. I claimed we were just looking for more information about Raine’s death. I said she was having trouble coming to terms with it and she hoped there was some evidence of the people who took his body.” He scoffs. “I’m sure they knew it was all bullshit.”
“It was kind of true,” I say.
“I think they believed me because of that. It might be why I’m still alive.”
“What made them think you’d found something else?” I ask.
“I covered most of my tracks, but I was working quickly and left behind a few digital artifacts. Not enough to suggest anything specific, though. Plus, I knew there were cameras positioned on the screens,” he says.
“Mr. Robins told me about them when I went to visit him at work. So, I’d moved the monitors just enough that they couldn’t catch what I was doing. Obviously, that made them suspicious.”
“Smart,” Henry says, and Edward shrugs again, like none of this is bothering him. I’m trying to make sense of this boy I once knew. It feels like he became a man overnight.
“So . . . what did you find?” Danica asks from where she stands, her muscular arms crossed and her feet spread.
The room falls silent as Edward gathers himself. I feel myself leaning forward in my seat as he opens his mouth.
“Poet wanted me to look for more information about Keepers,” he says, his voice dropping.
“I understood the danger of such a request, but I could tell she was desperate. I suspected what she was in that moment, but then Trinity outed her in front of everyone.” He peers at me, blinking. “I’m sorry she did that.”
I shake my head. “I know you are.”
He runs a hand through his dark hair. It’s grown a bit, hanging in his eyes, making him look a little dangerous.
“The Shield has a facility,” he says. “I couldn’t quite figure out its entire purpose, but what I read suggests they’re working on a cure for the infection.
But there was more. Several things I didn’t really understand. ”
“What do you mean?” Ada asks.
“Something about a network,” he says. “There were a bunch of terms I’d never heard before, but it sounded like some kind of power source.”
“What kind of network?” Henry asks as Edward shakes his head.
“I’m not sure. I ran out of time.”
“Where is this facility?” Ada asks, gripping the armrests of her seat so tightly that I hear the wood creak. I can tell she’s eager to press him further. A hopeful light shines in her eyes, but she’s giving Edward space to reveal everything in his own time.
“I don’t know. I didn’t get that far.”
Everyone falls silent, not sure what to do with this information.
“There was someone mentioned, though,” Edward says. “It sounded like a scientist or a doctor or something. I think. Someone named . . .” He scrunches his eyes, trying to dig through his memory. “Mari? Morrie?” A moment later, he snaps his fingers. “Dr. Mowry!”
More looks circle around the room.
“Do you know who that is?” Henry asks Ada.
“I have no idea,” she answers.
I chew the inside of my cheek. I’ve heard that name before, but where?
“General Sol,” Rook says a moment later. “That was her partner, right? The one she stole the research from?”
I’m nodding. “Yes, I think that was his name.”
Ada turns to face us. “You’re sure?”
“Yes,” Rook says. “That’s definitely what she called him. Philip Mowry.”
“But what would he be doing here?” Henry wonders.
Ada stands up and starts muttering to herself.
“Who’s Dr. Mowry?” Edward asks. “What’s going on?”
While Ada paces and the others all confer, we quickly fill Edward in on what we learned about General Sol’s past.
“Do you think he’s helping the chancellors?” Edward asks.
“That’s what we might need to figure out,” Ada says, overhearing his question. “If this facility is where they’re keeping the research for a cure, then we have to find it.”
“What about this network?” Rook asks, but Ada waves him off.
“All in due time. The cure is our priority, and finding this doctor.”
“How?” Henry asks. “Even if we knew where the facility was, they’d kill everyone in this room simply for knowing it exists at all.”
“I know,” Ada says. “That’s why we’ll need a plan smarter than The Shield and more devious than all of their lies.”