“Don’t worry about me,” I reply, giving him a grin. “Watch your own back. I’ll give your love to Opal and Gareth.”
With that I shift, twisting my body so I can watch Taliesin Bevan’s mouth drop open. As I soar upwards, I see his small figure staring up after me, and can almost taste his desperate desire for freedom.
When I return to the farm, the sun is midway up the sky but still filtered through a thick haze of Ashgrave smog.
I’m vibrating with exhaustion, and my ribs ache.
But I have the secret code going through my brain on repeat. I cannot forget this shit. Just one digit wrong and we’re instantly dead.
Alexis is waiting for me on the porch. “Success?”
“Yes.” I sway on my feet. “Please write down this fucking code before my brain gives out.” Once I’ve passed on the information, I have nothing left. Going to the front room, I reassure the Bevans their son is just fine, then collapse onto an armchair.
Closing my eyes, I think about all the bruises on Taliesin’s young face and the desperation in his eyes.
Thank fuck I’m not incarcerated in that hell hole.
???
The smell of frying bacon wakes me up, along with the sound of cartoons on the TV. Opening my eyes, I realize small children surround me.
One is even cozied up against my legs.
“You should see your face,” Theo laughs. “You’d probably look less freaked waking up in a viper nest.”
She’s not wrong.
But even I can see there has been a shift in the kids. They’re actively engaged with cartoons and sandwiches. “What time is it?”
“Six. Time for us to go.”
Within the hour, three of us—Alexis, Theo, and I—are standing outside the old Anther-glass factory. It’s a ruin of rusted girders and shattered panes.
Theo fought like a tigress to be on this trip. Naturally, all of us, me included, wanted to have her stay safe at the farm.
That didn’t happen.
She looked at us one at a time, chin jutted out in determination. “I’m the one Amirene tasked with this…undertaking. I want to talk to the rebels. I want to look their leader in the eye and be convinced they’ll do the right thing by these children.”
We hadn't argued after that.
Taking a piece of yellow chalk from my pocket, I start to mark the east wall. The string of numbers goes on for fourteen digits.
Fuck, I hope this works.
"Now we wait inside," I sigh.
Alexis nods to a heavy metal door hanging on one hinge. The interior is a vast, freezing cavern of dust and broken glass.
When we reach the middle of the space, Theo opens a mental link.
—Max? Dono—
—Here, Sparkles, and ready to hellhound—
—I’m notched and ready, Tee. I can see you all—
Having those two as back up is reassuring. We’re here unarmed, as instructed by Taliesin.
