Chapter Twenty-One #2
He sent Gemma a message, and for a second, relief washed over him when he received a reply. But then he projected the response over his eyepiece.
USER UNAVAILABLE. SIGNAL CANNOT BE ESTABLISHED. TRY AGAIN LATER.
The world fell out from under him.
He stared at the screen until the words blurred, until his legs weakened and he sank to the floor.
Nadine’s words sang like a curse in his ears. It burns, doesn’t it? Knowing you can’t get to her? Knowing that even if you did, you might be too late?
He couldn’t be here anymore. He had to get to her. Fuck the repercussions.
Christian jumped to his feet, tapping his comm with fury. “Call Hawk Gallowood.”
A beat later, Hawk’s voice crackled through. “You good?”
“No. I need you to take over watch on Nadine.”
“You got an hour and a half left.”
“Can’t wait that long.” Christian couldn’t keep the urgency from his voice. “She said some things. About Gemma.”
“Who, Nadine?”
“She knows too much. About me and Gemma, about Gemma’s transformation. I thought she was just trying to screw with my head, but”—he ran a hand through his hair—“I can’t reach her, Hawk. She’s not answering any of my calls.”
The squeak of a bed. Hawk had gotten to his feet.
“What are you gonna do?” he asked.
“Find her. Get her out of there.”
“You think she’s still at the temple?”
Christian’s stomach twisted. “No. If something happened, they’d take her somewhere more secure.”
“Zion,” Hawk said grimly.
“Exactly.”
“I’ll cover Nadine,” Hawk said without hesitation. “Go.”
Christian didn’t bother saying thanks. He was already moving, boots echoing up the stairs to the second floor. He’d grab his gear and move as fast as he could across Reva. Zion was only eleven kilometers from Perileos. He was going to break Gemma out, consequences be damned.
He nearly collided with Lysa as she rounded the corner. She stumbled back, eyes wide. “Are you okay? What happened?” she asked.
He didn’t answer—couldn’t answer. The only sound in his head was Gemma’s voice whispering “I love you” through the comm.
And the silence that followed when she stopped responding.
His hands trembled at his sides, fists clenched so tight that his fingernails bit half-moons into his palms.
He didn’t care. Let them bleed. He needed to move.
A hand caught his arm, strong and familiar. Imara dragged him to his room. “Get inside. Now.”
Christian gritted his teeth but did as she asked. He’d been heading there anyway.
Once he, Imara, and Lysa were inside his room, Imara spoke. “You really are dumber than you look sometimes.”
He huffed and moved for his gear.
Imara stepped in the way.
“Move.” He glared at her, funneling all his rage into his stare.
“No.”
“Imara,” he warned, low and sharp.
She didn’t flinch. “What’s your plan, exactly? Break into Zion and assume you won’t get caught?”
“I’ll improvise.” He went to grab her arms and shift her out of the way, but she snatched his middle finger and twisted, an old-school move he should’ve seen coming. He hissed in pain.
“Wake up, bozo,” Imara scolded. “Going in there all gunslinging and balls out is going to get you killed. And then who’s gonna be around to help Gemma, hmm?” She twisted harder.
“Fuck—all right, you made your point,” Christian snapped. “Let go.”
When she did, he stepped back and shook out his hand.
“Now,” Imara continued, “shut up and listen to me. If you want to help Gemma, you need to be smart about it.”
“Hawk told you.”
“Of course he did. I also may have been in his bed when you called.”
Lysa’s eyes widened, but somehow, the fact Imara and Hawk were sleeping together didn’t surprise Christian at all. Two people didn’t bicker the way they did if they weren’t intimately close.
Imara’s voice softened a fraction. “Look, they’re expecting our team to escort Nadine to Zion. You break protocol now, they’ll know. They’ll execute you before you even get past the gate.”
Christian’s jaw flexed. His hands trembled with restrained fury. “She’s not safe. You didn’t hear Nadine.”
“I don’t need to. You and I both know what the Systems are capable of.”
Lysa stepped forward, her eyes wide with fear. “Please, Christian, just think. Imara’s right.”
He turned away, raking his hands through his hair. “Then what’s your plan?” he asked Imara.
She stepped closer. “We do this the smart way. Together. We get Nadine to Zion and keep our heads down. You earn their trust. You stay close to Gemma. Then we rescue her from the inside.”
We?
Christian shook his head. “Not happening. I’m fine with putting my own life at risk, but don’t you dare do the same.”
Imara raised an eyebrow. “You seriously think that speech is gonna work on me? She’s my best friend.”
He sighed. She had a point. Imara wasn’t exactly the type of person who did what others told her to.
“Then at least keep Hawk out of it,” Christian said. “He’s a Gallowood. Practically his whole family is part of the Systems.”
“You think he cares?” Imara snapped. “They hid his daughter from him. Handed papers and citizenship to actual criminals but not her. And has he told you yet who his mother is?”
Christian shook his head. “It’s his story to tell.”
“Oh, he won’t care if I share it. He’s been wanting to tell you anyway. His mom’s the fucking Kaizen.”
The heat ran out of Christian’s face. The conversation he’d overheard between Hawk and Philip made much more sense now. The Kaizen’s brutality was infamous, and she’d tortured Gemma. If the Kaizen were Christian’s mother, he wouldn’t want to admit it either.
“So, we’re helping you, whether you want us to or not,” Imara finished. “We all want her safe. But if we’re going to free her, you can’t be reckless.”
Christian’s chest rose and fell, every breath ragged. Several moments of silence passed. His heartbeat thrashed in his ears, the loudest sound in the room.
Finally, he let out a breath and slumped against the wall, nodding once.
“I want to help too,” Lysa said.
He pointed a finger at her. “Absolutely not.”
Lysa paid no attention to him, speaking to Imara instead. “What can I do?”
Imara smirked. “I like you. Ignore your brother. He has his head up his ass most of the time anyway.”
Lysa grinned.
Christian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“There actually is something you can do,” Imara spoke to his sister.
Lysa straightened, her gaze full of light and adventure.
“We need eyes in Perileos. Someone the Systems won’t suspect. Someone who knows how to listen without being noticed.”
Christian shook his head, already sensing where this was headed. “No. She’s staying out of this.”
“I’m going to help whether you want me to or not,” Lysa snapped.
“You’re just a kid, L.”
“I’m seventeen. What were you doing when you were seventeen, huh? You are such a hypocrite. Do you know how many times I had to patch you up after a fight? Or after you’d come back from ‘training’ so bloodied and bruised that your eyes wouldn’t open?”
She’d put “training” in actual air quotes.
“You put your literal life on the line to protect me and Dad,” she continued, “and now you’re just going to make me stand by and keep my nose down when I finally have the chance to help you?
” Lysa’s cheeks were red with fury. Her eyes held unshed tears.
“Stop playing the hero and let people help you for a change.”
A lump sat heavy in his chest. By the time he was seventeen, he’d witnessed more horrors than anyone should have to in a lifetime.
Lysa was right. He was a hypocrite.
Christian sighed and pulled his sister into a fierce hug. “All right, fine. Just . . . don’t do anything reckless, okay?”
Lysa nodded. “I won’t. Promise.”
Imara’s voice was soft when she broke the silence that followed, addressing Lysa. “We need you to keep track of the Systems’ movements. Patrol schedules, gate security. Any chatter about Zion or the Dissent.”
Lysa nodded. “I can do that. And I can prep the access point from this side, so you can get back into the city.”
“Speaking of which,” Christian interrupted to ask Imara, “do you even have a contact here who would hide us after we free Gemma?”
“Not yet,” Imara replied. Her eyes flashed with mischief, setting Christian’s pulse racing. “But I know who we can ask.”
His nostrils flared. “You can’t be serious.”
Lysa looked between the two of them. “Who?”
“Nadine Proctor,” Christian and Imara answered simultaneously.
“You saw how hard it was to flush her out,” Imara said. “And the Systems still don’t know where the Dissent’s base of operations is. Or how many people the Dissent has in their ranks. The best place to hide is with them, and you know it.”
He punched the wall with the heel of his hand. “We can’t trust her, and you know that.”
“It doesn’t matter if we can trust her. What matters is that we can use her.”
Christian shook his head. “I’m not joining the Dissent.”
“I’m not saying you have to. But do you have a better idea?”
He frowned, rage boiling in him so hot that his face actually hurt.
He flexed his hands before clenching them again into fists.
Even though the thought of working with Nadine made him physically sick, Imara was right.
Nadine had resources. She had protection.
She probably even had a fucking army. There would be nowhere safer for Gemma.
“Fine,” he said at last. “But you talk to Nadine. If I go down there right now, it won’t be pretty.”
“Deal,” Imara answered. “Now calm the fuck down. You won’t be able to save Gemma if you’re a lit fuse away from exploding.”
Christian ran his hands down his face. “I know.” The grip on his temper had definitely been slipping. He needed to regain control. And he needed to do it fast.
When Imara left the room, Lysa drew him into a hug. He held his sister tight, and begged Illari to keep Gemma safe until he could get to her.