The night stretches ahead, dark and infinite, but my course is clear: return Knox and Haven home, safe and sound.
chapter
seventeen
Haven
I’m eating a bowl of oats with Prue and Idris, who happens to be the hyena masked boy. I scrape my tarnished silver spoon into the dense mixture, taking a hearty bite. Idris raises a chipped porcelain cup with gold-breasted robins painted on the rim to his stubble-covered mouth. The bitter smell of coffee fills the tiny kitchenette.
It’s been around twenty-four hours since Knox and I were snatched off the road. And I’ve been getting along well with my kidnappers.
“Is it just you two?” I ask, pointing my spoon at them both.
Mold sprouts along the walls and trails the rusted pipes. Dust sits in a thin film above the carpet. The house is in a serious state of ill-repair.
“There are fifteen of us here, including General Prue,” Idris says. “The others are patrolling the grounds.”
I didn’t think they had any formal chain of command. Our sergeants like to make it seem like they are unorganized and sloppy, but it’s clear to see that they are far more structured than we were led to believe.
“Where is this place?”
“One of our safehouses,” Prue says. “We have a few scattered around the divisions, along with some functional settlements. Our numbers are increasing by the day. It’s been tricky finding ways to shelter everyone.”
“I didn’t know there were so many of you,” I confess.
“It wasn’t always this big,” she says. “At first, we resisted the Bind because we didn’t understand it. So, we ran away from our homes and society. Lived like wild beasts in the forests and great parks. When your mother discovered the truth, we finally had proof, and with it we could grow our numbers, build our networks, and infiltrate their systems.”
“I’m a soldier at the Forge. I’m training to join an elite unit overseen by the Commandant,” I say. “Maybe I can help.”
My mother died for this, and I plan to continue her legacy. This is greater than punishing my father and the Supreme Director. This is for the children who will grow up in a broken world, for both the Untamed and the Commons.
“We have a contact in the Forge,” Prue says. “We’ll advise him that you are with us, and he’ll reach out to you if we need any intel. Thank you, Haven, for your offer.”
“How do you know my name?” I ask, surprised.
I never told her my real name.
“When you stopped time, you called yourself Haven,” Prue says with a small smile.
“You can’t say my name out loud,” I say, glancing behind me, as if Knox will hear. Even though he is nowhere near us. “I switched places with Mercy. Knox doesn’t know. Nobody does.”
“Your secret is safe with us,” Prue promises.
“You’re pretty cool,” Idris says, chewing on a buttered bagel. “You know that?”
“Thanks,” I reply. “Did you guys feed Knox? I don’t want him to die.”
“The boy ate,” Prue says. “He keeps threatening to hurt us if we don’t bring you back.”
My mouth twitches. “He is all bark and no bite.”
“You should probably go back before he gets suspicious,” Idris says. “You’ve been out here for a bit.”
The last thing I want is to raise any alarm.
“Did Warrick respond?” I ask.
“We’ve been negotiating through his proxy, Sullivan,” she says.
