59
Within thirty minutes, we’re ready to depart from the Fog’s headquarters with Mowry in tow. I feel a little bad for threatening him, but I shrug it off. Rook needs me, and that’s all that matters.
It takes a bit of arguing to decide who will join the rescue mission.
Edward and Ada are staying behind to monitor things from the computers. They’re both wearing headsets so they can communicate with us and keep an eye on our group using the city’s network of security cameras.
Edward hands Henry a small device. “This is a data drive,” he says. “Once you reach the computers with the cure research, insert this into the matching port. It will download everything.”
“Even if it’s locked?” Henry accepts the drive and conceals it in a pocket of his vest.
“As long as I’ve coded it correctly,” Edward says.
In the end, our crew consists of a dozen people, including me, Henry, Navy, Justin, Fisher, Calliope, and much to my annoyance, my father.
I have no idea why he insisted on tagging along, but he wouldn’t be deterred. So now he’s walking alongside us in his dress shoes and his white shirt, looking decidedly out of place.
“Do you have any idea how to use that?” I ask, gesturing to the stunner strapped across his back.
“I went through Patrol training at Amery,” he says stiffly. “I wasn’t always a suit in an office.”
I offer him a skeptical look as he adjusts the weapon, seeking a more comfortable position for the strap. Skies, I feel like tying him up and leaving him attached to a lamppost.
The rest of our motley crew consists of other Fog members, including Brooklyn and Danica.
“Which way?” Fisher asks a trembling Mowry.
“The tunnels,” Mowry says. “Under the Central Park Tree Farm.”
“You had better be telling us the truth,” Justin says, brandishing his phone. “Like I said. A few calls . . .” He mimics a knife slicing his throat, and Mowry blanches.
“Of course,” he says. “I swear to you. You’ll find your friend and the cure.”
The streets of New Manhattan are empty, but I can hear clashes of the Veil’s attack along the distant perimeter.
The rain is falling harder, obscuring our surroundings, a greenish mist fogging the air.
I open my mouth, letting a few drops soothe my dry tongue as I close my eyes and imagine a future where everyone is safe and happy and this moment is a distant memory.
It feels like we’re balancing on a knife-thin edge, waiting for everything to collapse like a row of paper warriors facing down an army.
I stay close to Mowry, while Fisher walks on his other side, gripping his arm. Calliope stalks behind us with her rifle in hand, just daring Mowry to attempt an escape. As much as I don’t really care for either of them, I must admit they’re the right people for this job.
“Explain what you meant when you said that Sol is using Rook,” I say.
Mowry shuffles several steps as he offers me a tentative glance.
Rain coats his hair, soaking through his shirt.
“Nyxia was telling you the truth about many things. She did steal our research. She did run. The chancellors did take it from her, but that was only because she was no longer making progress. They’ve also known about the potential for her madness for a long time. ”
“Have they?”
“They don’t like how much they must rely on her, but they also built this city around what she was capable of. Without her, they understand New Manhattan will be left without its most valuable resource. She’s spent the last year hiding how bad things have gotten, hence covering up the murders.”
Mowry gestures toward my father, who’s walking on my other side, listening to every word.
“She knew the cure I was developing wouldn’t help, so she begged me to look for another answer.
I could never say no to her, and so I began trying to develop a different sort of antidote.
However, I suspected all along that we’d need another Caller.
So, she kept an eye on you, biding her time until the day came that we would need you.
“When you fled New Manhattan, she panicked and followed you into the Tiera Frais,” Mowry continues. “She couldn’t let you go. It was her plan all along to use you, but she didn’t know how to get around the problem of your father until the Solitude boy showed up.”
My gaze meets my father’s as Mowry falls silent.
“Why did she need us to get information from Trinity if she already had access to the cure?” I ask.
“A distraction.”
“What do you mean?”
“She wanted to keep you busy while we figured out how to make use of you both. She thought an assignment would ensure you’d remain in New Manhattan. And it seems like it worked.”
I stare at him in horror.
She tricked me into befriending Trinity?
I think I’m going to be sick.
“But if I hadn’t been trying to get friendly with her, we wouldn’t have figured out where they were keeping Edward,” I say.
Mowry’s lips flatten. “Yes. I don’t imagine she anticipated that.”
At least some good came out of it, I suppose.
“Why did she claim the chancellors will kill us if they discovered Rook and I are Storm Callers, if they already know about her?”
Mowry glances over. “In her own way, she was protecting you. They wouldn’t have killed you. Instead, you would have become theirs as well. Perhaps that would be a far more terrible fate.”
“Theirs?” I ask, a wash of cold dread seeping down the back of my neck.
“Even if she’s cured, she won’t live forever,” he says.
“Not even Nyxia is immortal. And though she might offer an illusion of power, she is truly just their prisoner in golden cuffs. Part of her was also afraid they’d try to replace her before her time was up.
You’d be the perfect candidate. You’re young. You’re Society. You aren’t broken yet.”
“Yet?” I croak.
He offers me a sad look, the lines in his face deepening with regret. “Eventually, the infection will come for you, too.”
I rub the center of my forehead, trying to quell the rush of my spinning thoughts.
I guess I always knew it. That day in the park when I was hit by Spark for the first time, it felt like I was in mourning. Even as a child, I understood I was watching an old version of me die.
Then Sol told me I was something else. She offered me another chance.
I thought I’d escaped that inevitable fate.
Now it almost feels like I’m dying all over again.
“Why did she ignore us when we arrived back in the city? If she saw me as a replacement, I needed more training.”
“Things took a sharp turn for the worse shortly after your return,” Mowry says. “She was worried that if you spent too much time around her, you would notice her . . . struggles and grow suspicious.”
“The night of that big storm, she fainted.”
“You saw that?” he asks.
“Very briefly. I convinced myself I imagined it.”
“A video loop,” Mowry said. “Implemented just in case. The infection affects her ability to gather Spark, and yes, she’s growing weaker.”
I chew the inside of my lip, contemplating everything he’s just revealed. Emerald clouds still swirl overhead, a steady drizzle of rain matting our hair and peppering our clothing.
“She did want to keep you safe,” he says softly.
“Only to protect herself,” I retort.
His expression cracks, something devastating passing over his face. “My dear, she’s trying to protect everyone.”
After that, I’m not sure what else to say. I have so many questions, but they’re all crowding for space in my head. For now, I need to focus on finding Rook, getting that cure, and figuring out what’s next.
We reach a subway entrance and march down the stairs to find a platform crammed with people huddled together, seeking shelter from both the rain and the Veil. Children. Their mothers. The elderly. Hollows. Cogs.
We’re met with wary looks, but no one objects to Calliope’s gun pointed at Dr. Mowry’s back. Understandably, they don’t want to get involved.
It’s obvious from the fear in their eyes that they all recognize what Navy, Justin, Calliope, and Fisher are. I hear the word “Solitude” whispered through the crowd while they all shuffle out of our way, as if they might be contagious.
I sigh, hating how convincing The Shield was when they spun their lies.
We pick our way along the platform and turn a few corners, heading into a network of dark, abandoned corridors. A few flashlights click on, their beams bouncing around the narrow space.
“This way,” Dr. Mowry says wearily, dragging his feet. I can sense his reluctance, but maybe he understands that he has no choice. Every time I think he’s about to refuse to take us any farther, Justin gives him a look that reminds him of what’s at stake.
Mowry isn’t particularly spry, so we adjust our pace to match, but I’m desperate to move faster. I need to get to Rook.
My father remains close on my heels, and I still don’t understand why he insisted on coming, nor why he followed me at all.
What does he want from me? Absolution? Why now?
Also, I can’t imagine that my forgiveness would matter to him.
“You okay?” he asks as we walk, and I nod.
I have no idea what to say. He keeps surprising me in the most confusing ways.
He kept Sol’s secrets to protect me. He covered up murders to keep his children safe.
This man, who once lived and died by the order of New Manhattan.
Who went to great, often inhuman lengths to punish anyone who broke The Shield’s laws.
Yet he broke so many rules to keep me safe.
“Not really,” I answer.
“We’ll . . . find him,” he says, though I sense his hesitation. He’s not quite ready to accept Rook into my life—not that it’s his decision. “I understand he means a lot to you.”
“I love him,” I say firmly. “I already told you that.”
The tunnel is so quiet that our whole party can hear every word of our conversation, but I don’t really care.
“You’re too young to know what love is,” he says. “I know you think you can trust him, but he’s dangerous.”
“How dare—” I say just as Navy stops walking and spins around, narrowing her eyes.
“That’s our brother you’re talking about,” she snaps.
She plants her hands on her hips. She’s basically a kid who barely reaches the height of my father’s shoulder, yet she’s nearly as intimidating as her own dad.
Whatever her future holds, it’s obvious she’ll do great and powerful things.
“He’s brave and loyal and one of the best people I know.
Which is more than I can say for the present company. ”
My father’s eyes widen with surprise.
Very few people have ever spoken to him this way in his life, let alone a girl from the Wastes with everything to lose.
“I’m merely looking out for my daughter,” he says, and that answer works its uncomfortable way through my chest, like I’ve swallowed a handful of wooden blocks.
There are so many things I could say in this moment.
How he’s never looked out for me before.
That he tried to break me. Tried to force me into killing a man, and when that didn’t work, he disowned me.
He tried to force my hand in marriage. He’s hurt me on such a bone-deep level—physically and emotionally—that I’ll wear those scars for the rest of my life.
But he already knows this, and I don’t have the energy.
“Poet is a part of our family now,” Navy says. “So, excuse me if I’m looking out for her as well.”
Tears spring to my eyes at the protectiveness in her voice and the certainty that I belong with them. We only had a few weeks to get to know each other, but her words mean more to me than she could possibly understand.
My father tips his head, and Navy sniffs before she turns around and we resume our trek. We all fall silent as we wind deeper into the city’s underground. I wonder what’s happening outside. How are things going between the Veil and the armies of New Manhattan?
I try to put it out of my mind because I can’t worry about that right now.
I lose track of the time before Dr. Mowry says, “We’re almost there.” His voice is thin, strained. Like he can’t quite bear the sound of those words.
Another corner and then another, and we reach a steel door.
Throughout it all, Mowry grows increasingly agitated, sweat gathering under his collar and staining his armpits. He keeps tripping, stumbling over his feet. I’d think it was a ruse to get out of this, but I believe his anxiety is genuine.
“This is the entrance,” he says, his entire body trembling like dry leaves in a stiff breeze.
“To your lab?” Henry asks.
Mowry swallows, his throat bobbing, misery carved into the lines of his face.
“You’ll see,” he whispers. “You’ll . . . see.”
He takes a step toward the electronic key panel.
“What’s the code?” Fisher asks, looming over him from behind.
“It’ll do you no good,” Mowry says. “It also requires a scan of my face.”
“So, you planned to give us the location, but we couldn’t have accessed it without you?” Henry asks.
Mowry nods, his anguish transforming into guilt. “Not without someone who has clearance.”
“Who has clearance?” Justin asks.
“Only those who are strictly necessary.”
“Necessary for what?”
“As I said, you’ll see.”
We all share a look, wondering why he’s being so damn cagey.
He reaches out, his hand shaking so badly he has trouble punching in the correct numbers.
A few beeps, and then a green light scans his face.
A hiss, and the door opens.
He takes a deep breath, and I sense something shifting in that moment.
This isn’t just about a cure.
Something else is down here.
When they started kidnapping people and allowing anyone to join the Extinguishers, Rook was sure they were hiding something.
When they locked Edward up, it was because he’d discovered something they didn’t want him to see.
Dr. Mowry is about to change everything.
The secret they’ve all been keeping.
A window into the lies they were trying to protect.
We enter a massive room, the ceiling stretching overhead.
I blink a few times to make sense of what I’m seeing.
Cylindrical tanks. About seven feet tall. A few feet across.
Hundreds of them glowing with purple light.
And floating inside every single one is a human body.