“I’ll come back for you,” I say.
Even though my words don’t carry in the chaos, I know he reads my lips. At least, this way, he knows that I will fix whatever they broke in him. I owe him that much.
Ender freezes for a split second before he joins the foray.
“Haven,” he calls. “Don’t leave!”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. Even though he can’t hear me.
I grab Mercy and Gray’s hands and pause time. It buys us a head start to escape our captors.
Gray opens an exit door, and we tumble into the garage. There are a few vehicles parked. Gray runs to a metallic truck and dashes into the driver’s seat. Mercy and I slide into the back. Tires screech as we race out of the Forge.
Gray swipes the badge he stole to raise the gates.
Time resumes, and the echo of shouting voices reaches us, but we are long gone when they spill into the garage.
Ender stands near the gate. His face is a mask of fury.
I press my hand to the glass, as if I can reach for him, but Ender,myEnder, is gone.
He is nothing more than a weapon.
One made to destroy me.
chapter
forty-eight
Haven
We don’t stop until the city dissolves behind us, its towers cloaked by night and fog. The facilities’ alarms fade into distant static, replaced by the soft hum of the engine and my own ragged breathing. Gray makes us throw out our Smart Cards. My stomach sinks as it hits the pavement, clinking as we drive away. Without it, we won’t be able to purchase anything. Warrick keeps the balance at a healthy amount for my sister and me.
We’re on our own now.
We swapped cars. Gray had another one stashed in the woods, covered by branches and leaves. The one we escaped in was military issue and likely had a built-in tracker. I switched to the front seat to question Gray. He seems overly prepared for our escape. His appearance––while perfectly timed––is rather odd.
His hands grip the wheel, and every few minutes, his eyes dart to the rearview mirror to see if we’re being trailed.
“How did you find us, Gray?” I ask.
Mercy was in her own cell. He must have gotten to her before he came for me. That means he knows in some capacity why we were arrested. He might even know that I’m an Untamed.
“It’s a long story,” Gray says. “My father can explain it, but we work with Prue.”
Shock knocks the air out of me.
“You’re with us?” I ask, surprised.
The last person I would expect to join the Resistance would be the straight-laced Sullivans. His father, while kind, is also rigid about rules and structure.
“Yes,” he says, staring at me, for one long moment. “I always have been.”
“I don’t understand,” I say.
“My father and your mother were close,” he says. “They fell in love an?—”
“Wait, are you our brother?” Mercy asks, staring at Gray and then me, as if she’ll find a resemblance.
