Hunter doesn’t reply. His arms are still around me, his body against mine in case Nico’s watching, but the hand pressed against my back has curled into a fist.
And though he doesn’t say it, I know what he’s asking. Slowly, realization is creeping through me.
If we’re going to do anything about this, it will take both of us. And we have to know what we’re sacrificing – we have to look it in the eye, or we’ll falter when it matters.
He’ll be giving up any hope of finding a place in his family. Of leading this company that changed the world, that he’s been so proud of. He’ll be giving up his sister, after he only just found her again.
I’ll be giving up my last chance to live a quiet life. I’ll be giving up the chance to stop running for the first time.
Though probably neither of us will make it out of this alive, so none of that will matter.
And for both of us, it will mean trusting someone again. It will mean leaning into the kind of bond that’s hurt us over and over, as everyone we’ve ever loved has let us down.
But though it might be too late – too late to help, too late to trust – I have to try. With Hunter, and for Hunter, and for every innocent out there who doesn’t deserve to have Graves do what they did to me – destroy their lives.
‘I don’t suppose you have a plan,’ I say slowly.
Hunter shakes his head, eyes still closed. ‘Not even the start of one. Just trying to go up against them is incredibly stupid. But I know who I want to be in this corner with, Cleo. I wouldn’t leave it – I wouldn’t leave you – even if I could.’
I reach up to cup his cheek and I wait until his lashes lift and his steady green gaze meets mine. It’s full of pain, but unflinching.
‘This might be who GravesUP is,’ I say softly. ‘But it’s not who you are, Hunter. I know that.’ And I do, I’m realizing. I know it in my bones. He’s shown me who he is at every turn, with every choice he’s made.
‘I was so wrong,’ he murmurs. ‘I believed …’
I lift up on my toes and brush his lips with mine, and sparks explode inside me. He falls silent, save for a soft sound in the back of his throat that’s pretty gratifying, if I’m honest. ‘You already said you were wrong about Graves,’ I whisper. ‘You’re here now, that’s what matters.’
‘No,’ he replies. ‘I was wrong aboutyou. My sister’s broken the rules for the worst kinds of reasons. If you’ve done anything wrong at all, it was out of desperation. I’m sorry I didn’t understand that.’
I use my grip on the front of his shirt to pull him into me, and then his mouth’s on mine, and I let the kiss speak for me as his hand curls through my hair, and the warmth of his body sets mine alight.
When I finally draw back, I let out a slow breath. ‘You know how you said going up against them would be incredibly stupid? Well, we have maybe an hour and a half left. That’s more than enough time to do something stupid.’
28.
HUNTER
1 HOUR, 40 MINUTES REMAINING
IWANT TO STAYhere in this moment forever, hidden from the rest of the greenhouse by vines, Cleo’s arms twined around my neck, her body curved to fit mine. I want to hide from everything except the girl in my arms – press pause on the outside world so we can linger here.
But instead, I make myself focus as she speaks softly in my ear, her breath setting off fireworks underneath my skin.
‘We have to get a message out somehow. Can you get access to the system, if your sister trusts you?’
I swallow hard and let myself run my hand down her back as I think. ‘If I had her cuff, I could do it. I got a look at the displays it was throwing up – I think it’ll have a master override. If I had that, I could send a distress signal. I could send out a warning telling the other colonies to cut themselves off from the UN’s outside command channels, turn offtheir emergency protocols, so nobody could trigger anything remotely.’
Cleo’s whispering again, and I have to close my eyes to focus on what she’s saying. ‘The best option would be to swap your cuff for hers, instead of stealing hers and leaving her wrist bare. She might not notice right away if we replace it with something, give us some time to send the messages.’
‘Okay,’ I murmur, my brain starting to spin back up to full speed. ‘So how do we get her to take it off voluntarily?’
‘And ideally somewhere there won’t be a heap of witnesses,’ Cleo adds. ‘None of them trust us. Sabrina will do the right thing by me if she can – she’s not a killer – but she’ll save herself first.’
I can’t help myself. I drop my head to find the soft skin of her neck, kissing my way down to the place it meets her shoulder. She shivers in my arms, and my breath catches.
‘Concentrate,’ she whispers fiercely, though the hand she lifts to push my head away is half-hearted at best.
‘I am,’ I reply, running one fingertip slowly up her spine.
