Ash (27 page)

I strained to hear. There was definitely someone out there. I made out a voice; it was Worthington, which meant I had to act quickly. “Cover everything back up,” I whispered to Sol. “Don’t leave any digital tracks. No one can know what you found. This is our secret.”

“Madden—” Sol started.

“You swore on your family.” I looked him square in the eyes until he nodded, then I headed for the door. I opened it just enough for me to slip out.

“Minister Worthington,” I said, shutting the door behind me. “I thought I heard you.”

The minister turned to me, his face stern. He’d obviously just come from the Delegation. He was wearing his formal speaker’s attire—a floor-length purple robe with multicolored tassels hanging from each shoulder, representing the seven rings. “What were you doing in my office?”

“I was just about to leave you a note about your legislation when I realized you’d returned. I naturally thought it would be better for us to discuss the matter in person.”

Elba stood up at her desk. “I didn’t see you go in there.”

“You may need another cup of coffee,” I told her, mustering my best fake smile—the one I always used at meet and greets for the lower rings. “I walked right past you. We said hello, and I asked about your husband. You joked you’re the one in pain, having to deal with his broken foot.” I had heard her say that line above fifty times the past week.

Her face scrunched up, confused, “Oh, right, right. So silly of me.”

She was a Crimson and wouldn’t dare contradict a Purple. Not that I qualified anymore. No, I told myself. Now was not the time to feel panicked or sorry for myself. I had the rest of my life for that. Right now, I had Sol—and my secret—to protect.

“Anyway, Minister,” I said. “The reason I stopped by was that I watched the stream of your talk to the Delegation. I could not agree more wholeheartedly with what you said. It’s about time someone tried to get this legislation passed, and I want to be a part of it. I want to help you however I can.” The truth was I had no idea what he was talking about today, but it didn’t matter. Worthington ate it up when people agreed with him, and if that’s what it took to make him not care that I was in his office and get him into another part of the building, then I’d work on whatever law he was trying to pass.

He put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m glad to hear you say that. I’ve been getting some opposition on this one. It’s nice to know someone feels as strongly about it as I do. And now is the perfect time to strike. With what happened with the Harris brothers, we just may get this passed. It’s clear that Blank sister of theirs must have been the influence. If she had just been committed at birth we could have avoided all this trouble. Compulsory Warding is going to make for a safer New City, both for its citizens, and for the Blanks who need more assistance than their families can give. And we’ll make the Ward safer too. We can’t have these uprisings. Any Blank caught in the act will be taken care of. Permanently.”

His hand felt like an eight-hundred pound weight. A weight that would crush me if the truth came out. Of all the legislation he had in the works, why did
this
have to be the one he spoke about today?

“Tell you what,” he said. “Why don’t you get me some notes in the next couple of weeks? And don’t forget to highlight the current situation.” He lowered his voice, like he was letting me in on a secret. “I wish we could find a more
permanent
solution to the Blank troubles. Nip the problem right in the bud.” He gave a hearty laugh. “But one step at a time, right?”

I laughed right along with him. “Right.”

What had I gotten myself into? And what did he mean by permanent?

Worthington looked down at his wrist tracker. “Will you excuse me, Madden? Minister Sealy needs me in the South Wing. Hmm,” he said, studying the message. “That’s strange. It doesn’t say who the ping came from. I didn’t know you could do that.”

You couldn’t—unless you knew how to hack the building’s messaging system.

“They’re always coming up with new technology,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. There was no time for nerves. I could do this. After giving hundreds of speeches I was a pro at hiding my emotions.

“That they are,” he said, fixing his attention back on me. “Glad to have you on board, Madden.”

“Glad to help,” I said.

As Worthington walked off, Elba got up to bring some hologram files into his office. I might have been able to convince her and Worthington that I had reason to be in there, but there was no way I’d be able to pull that off for Sol. I couldn’t let her go inside.

“Oh no!” I exclaimed holding my wrist up and tapping a few buttons on my tracker. “I hope it’s not another fight,” I said as Elba continued toward the door.

“What?” she asked, her interest piqued.

“I don’t know if I should say anything. It’s probably nothing.”

“You can tell me, I won’t tell anyone, cross my heart and swear to destiny.” But we both knew that was a lie. Elba was the biggest gossip in the building.

“Okay,” I said. “I heard something was going down in the break room. Last time that happened there was food and dishes flying everywhere.”

“That’s right,” she said. “Everyone was talking about it for weeks. Maybe I should go check it out. You know, to help rein everything in.”

“Of course,” I said, as she scurried off.

After checking that there were no hover cams nearby, I opened the door to Worthington’s office. “You done?” I asked Sol.

He nodded.

“Then come on.”

He looked around and then leaned toward me. “Everything—”

“Not here,” I said. “Go to your office, I’ll follow.”

I stayed a few paces behind Sol so no one would think we were together. Purples and Ashes didn’t walk the halls together. I closed my eyes tightly. The memory of what we found in Worthington’s office punched me in the gut. I
was
an Ash. Not just an Ash, but a Blank. The lowest of the Ashes.
Get a grip, Madden.
I opened my eyes and forged ahead. Now was not the time to break down. Now was the time to keep up appearances. If anyone asked why I was with Sol, I’d just say he was helping me gather data for Worthington’s legislation. We arrived at what looked like a closet at the end of the hall. Sol opened the door and waited for me to enter. It was a tiny room with a several computer monitors squeezed onto a desk in the corner.

“Welcome to my world,” he said.

He must have seen me wince, because his eyes widened in alarm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. I just meant my office. Not the Ash world.”

“It’s fine,” I said, plastering on my camera-made smile. “Good job making Worthington think he was needed somewhere.”

“Good job getting Elba out of there,” he countered.

But I knew it wasn’t Elba or even Worthington he wanted to talk about. We were dancing around the two-ton clock tower in the room.

“Madden, what are you going to do?” he finally asked.

I couldn’t answer him, because I had absolutely no idea.

T
he next few days blurred together. Moments of grieving. Moments of frustration. Even the odd moments of laughter. When my family wasn’t trying to talk some sense into Link at the cells, they spent most of their time at the house. We swapped stories of Aldan—the safe ones, the funny ones—no one mentioned the race or what he did or why he did it.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I tried to piece together the part of my brother I didn’t know—the part that was a Revenant—or at least aligned with them. There were still so many questions. Not just about Aldan, but the Revenants themselves. How did they find one another? How many were there? Where were they from? How did they plan to change the system? Could they really do it? I wanted to ping Oena, but I didn’t. I’d told her I would only contact her for emergencies, and I would keep my word.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t bursting to talk to someone about it. My brothers. My father. Theron. Even Laira. Only I kept my mouth shut. The information was probably more than they could handle, and it wasn’t like Laira could keep a secret. Besides I knew better than to bring my friends and loved ones into something dangerous.

After a few missed school days I returned to Spectrum. I did my best to ignore the whispers and stares as I walked up the front lawn. I could feel my classmates’ eyes on me. Some were hostile, I thought. Others pitying, which was almost worse. Before I could make it to the building I heard someone yelling my name.

I pretended not to hear anything, picking up my pace.

“Dax, hey Dax,” an out of breath voice hollered.

I stopped, realizing it was Theron. I gave him a hesitant wave. Act normal, I reminded myself. After what happened at the practice track, I wasn’t sure how to be around him. We had pinged a few times over the past days, but not about anything to do with us. Not that there was an us.

“Wait up,” he yelled, jogging across the lawn.

I collected even more stares as Theron reached me a moment later. No one expected us to be hanging out together without Aldan—not even me.

“Have a few minutes?” he asked.

“Sure.”

We walked until we found an empty bench, and in silent agreement sat down. “I’m glad you’re back,” he said.

“Thanks,” I answered. I wanted to say something clever or witty or even just conversational, but my brain wasn’t cooperating. So much for making him laugh.

“I was thinking about how you can get in to see Link,” he continued, not seeming to notice any awkwardness.

In one of my pings I told him I thought I could convince Link to retract his statements. It was sweet that he was trying to come up with solution for me, but it was a pretty hopeless cause. “They’d never let a Blank in,” I said.

“They might if a future minister put the request in.”

“Madden?” I couldn’t help the look of annoyance that immediately plastered my face. She was the last person who would do me any favors.

“No, seriously, Dax,” Theron said. “Think about it. I bet she can get you clearance.”

“There’s no way she would do that,” I scoffed.

“You might be surprised. I know you have your differences, but Madden cares about Link. She’ll help if she can. Anyway, it can’t hurt to ask. Let me talk to her.”

“Really?” I asked, buoyed by his confidence.

“Really,” he said, “I think you should start planning what you’re going to say to Link.”

“Oh, I know exactly what I’m going to tell him. It’s stupid to fight the system head on. There are other ways. It’s not like he’s alone.”

Theron’s eyes got wide. “What are you talking about?”

I’d said too much. “Nothing,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant. “He just doesn’t need to fight Aldan’s battles for him.”

Theron leaned back against the bench like he was trying to look casual, but I could see his muscles tense. “Dax,” he said, his voice low. “What exactly do you know about Aldan’s battles?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer. Did Theron know about the Revenants? Was it safe to talk to him about it? I decided to play it cool. “Probably as much as you.”

He was studying my face. “I know things he wouldn’t tell his sister.”

“Well, maybe his sister did some investigating on her own,” I said, hoping to push him into giving something away.

He looked worried. “What did you do, Dax?”

“I tracked his girlfriend down. We had a conversation is all.” I figured that was safe to say. If Theron didn’t know the truth, he would think I chatted up a Green. If he did, then maybe I’d finally have someone to talk too.

“You found Oena.” He shook his head. “Dax, you have to be careful.”

“You know who she is, don’t you?” I asked.

He looked around to make sure no one was in listening distance, then came clean. “Yes. She doesn’t know I know the truth, but Aldan told me about her. And about her people.”

“Well, I’m going to help her. Help all of them. I’m going to pick up where Aldan left off.”

“You can’t.”

“Of course I can.”

He shifted on the bench, turning to face me. “Please Dax. I didn’t stop Aldan and he wound up dead because of it. I can’t lose you too.” He reached out and put his hand on top of mine.