Ash (29 page)

“Nah, Dax won’t have you killed. Though she might throw you in the Ward. High probability, now that I think about it.”

He winked. Even though the idea of being in the Ward sounded like a fate worse than death, I couldn’t help but laugh. Somehow Sol always managed to make me feel better.

“In that case,” I said, “I better get moving. Wouldn’t want to anger the future minister.” The laugher left my voice as I said those last few words. She was going to steal my life. But I guess it was fair. I had stolen hers.

When I arrived at the UV building Dax was surrounded by a group of reporters. She was trying to get away but they weren’t letting her through.

I walked straight up to them; if they wanted a quote I’d give them one. That way Dax could get inside, I could say words of comfort to the nation, and everyone would be happy. Only the reporters ignored my presence. They were more concerned with Dax. If this was a glimpse of my future, I didn’t like it one bit.

“Enough,” I yelled out to the crowd. “This is a government building. People have work to do and business to conduct. If you continue to harass
any
citizen, you’ll find yourself with a steep fine. Now clear the walkway.”

They parted, and I stormed through, Dax quick on my heels. I pretended not to notice her. Not until we reached the first stop point. My tracker allowed me to get straight through, but Dax would have to wade through a lot of security before making it to Link. “I’ll sign for her,” I told the guard. “I’m bringing her to the cells. I’m hoping she’ll be able to convince the prisoner to do the right thing,” I explained.

He scanned her tracker and allowed her through the Purple halls. A few minutes later we were at the cells. At the desk was the same guard as the last time I’d been there.

“Officer McCarrick,” I said, nodding my head at her. “I trust we will not have the same problems we had before. I’m here to see Link Harris. And I’m authorizing Dax Harris to go inside as well.”

“Ms. Sumner,” the guard said, “No Blanks are allowed inside.”

“We’ve already been through this, Officer. I have override approval, and I am using it. I’m hoping to get that man in there to fulfill his destiny. Are you trying to hamper that?”

“No, Ms. Sumner, It’s just—”

“There’s no just. We all know what can happen when someone doesn’t complete a destiny. Do you want to be responsible for another Event?”

She shook her head no.

“Good, neither do I.” I felt my pulse quicken as I spoke those words. Wasn’t that exactly what I was doing by keeping silent? “Now let us in.”

Officer McCarrick raced to the security access panel. She wasn’t going to risk causing another catastrophe. The question, I kept struggling with though, was I?

T
heron had come through. Madden Sumner, New City royalty and general pain in the you-know-what, was doing me a favor. Sure, she had an angle. Madden always had an angle. Link was an ex-boyfriend of hers, and in some ways I knew this was political housekeeping. But there were lots of ways to clean house, and the easiest would have been to detach herself from my brother completely. She hadn’t. Instead she’d done something I never would have guessed in a million years. She’d agreed to help me. Of course, she’d done it in a typical Madden fashion, but still. She’d gotten me through the crowd of reporters outside the UV before I could shoot off any choice one-liners. No one ever crossed Madden Sumner. I wondered fleetingly if that ever got old. Doubtful.

She then somehow bedazzled Officer McCarrick into letting me into the cells. Say what you wanted about the girl—I certainly had over the years—but when it came down to it, it turned out she wasn’t quite the monster I’d taken her for.

“I guess we won’t be seeing you down here again,” the officer was telling Madden.

“Why is that?” Madden replied.

Officer McCarrick pushed her glasses up on her nose before pressing her hand over the palm pad. “The news just hit. If Mr. Harris doesn’t come to his senses, he’ll be removed in three days in a public execution.”

Madden and I sucked in our breath at the same time.

“What do you mean?” I said. “They can’t do that. He’s… he’s just confused. He’s a Purple.” This couldn’t be happening. Somehow this had gotten blown all out of proportion. They couldn’t just remove Link.

The officer nodded her head briskly. “That’s exactly it,” she said, talking to Madden even though I was the one who had spoken to her. “There’ve been a few too many ripples happening of late. Mr. Harris’s execution will get major coverage. A bit of a reminder to respect their places in our system.” She shook her head and glared at me. “I’m not sure what your brother is trying to prove, young lady, but I hope for destiny’s sake you can talk more sense into him than the rest of your family.” When she opened the door, a blast of cool, stale air whooshed out.

I felt sick, like I might throw up or pass out or both. I couldn’t seem to move as the woman’s words settled over me. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. I startled as I felt Madden’s hand brush against my arm.

“Are you ready?” she asked. She met my eyes for a beat before busying herself with digging around in her bag. Her face was unreadable, but two red blotches now covered her usually flawless skin. She pulled a shawl out of her bag and draped it over her shoulders. “Let’s talk some sense into your idiot brother, shall we?” she asked, then marched away from me. Her heels clicked over the polished floors, echoing in the hallway. I gave one last look at Officer McCarrick, then hurried after Madden.

It was a long, gray hallway. Fluorescent lights glared down from above. The cells were more like individual glass cubes. The first couple were empty, but when I passed the third on the right, my steps faltered. A rush of relief filled me as I realized the woman sitting on the bed was Raze. We locked eyes and I caught myself as a smile split over my face, immediately covering it with a fake cough. Raze was alive. One of her eyes was swollen and there were several bruises on her arms, but she was right there in front of me.

“What are you looking at, kid,” she snapped. “Mind your own business.”

“Sorry,” I said, catching on that she didn’t want anyone to know that I recognized her.

Madden had paused ahead of me. Her arms were crossed as she glowered at the man inside. He was chuckling to himself—deep-throated belts of laughter. He must have said something to her. She seemed on the verge of telling him off before buttoning up her irritation and turning on one heel, once again marching down the hallway.

As I moved toward Link’s cell, I stopped in front of the other prisoner and glanced in. Was it someone Madden knew? It wasn’t just anyone who could get past the future minister’s game face. He looked vaguely familiar. He was older than me, though not by too many years. He had dark hair and the beginning of a beard. Then it hit me. It was the man captured outside of Spectrum. Oena’s brother. The Blank.

“An Ash with a Purple,” he called to me. His voice was deep. “Careful of the company you keep, love. The upper rings don’t treat their toys very well.”

“Come on, Dax,” Madden yelled back. “Let’s go.”

I picked up the pace, but risked another look back at him. I had never seen another Blank before, not in person. He grinned at me, and tipped his head. I was dying to talk to him, to find out what growing up as a Blank had been like. And more importantly, how he’d become a Revenant. But I had something more important to do. I had to stop my brother from becoming the ministry’s next target. I quickly rushed over to Madden who was standing in front of Link’s cell. He sat on an unmade bed. His scowl turned into a smile when he saw me and he jumped up, rushing toward the glass barrier separating us.

“Dax,” he said, looking from me to Madden, and back to me, obviously surprised. “What are you doing here? How’d you get in?”

“Madden helped me.”

His eyebrows shot up even further. “It’s really good to see you.”

I hoped that meant he’d listen me to. I looked my big brother over, anxious to make sure he was okay. He appeared exhausted and his usual groomed head of hair stood on end, but otherwise he seemed no worse for wear. All I wanted was to fling my arms around him. Since there must have been a foot of glass between us I settled on a smile.

“Good to see you too,” I said. “Are you okay?”

“Sure,” he said. “I’m fine.”

“You know you’ve got Mom in hysterics.”

“Mom is always in hysterics.”

“Everybody else is pretty upset too.”

“I know. I’m sorry, but I have to do what I think is right.”

Anger flashed through me. “No, you don’t. Link. This is insane, you being here. The woman who let us in here, she just said they were going to execute you in three days.”

Link closed his eyes for a minute and hung his head. When he looked up his expression was resolute. “I expected something like that would happen sooner or later.”

“I just told you the government is planning to remove you, and you’re going to accept it? What’s wrong with you?” I felt like punching the glass between us. “Just tell them what they want to hear and let’s go home. There are other ways to make a point.” I had to somehow explain the Revenants to Link. I turned to Madden. “Could you give us a minute?”

She nodded before moving down the hall.

I wasn’t sure what to say to him. I didn’t know if Madden could hear or if anyone else was monitoring our conversation.

“Dax,” Link began, “I know it seems crazy to you. To everyone. But I have to stand by my beliefs.”

“There’s another way,” I said, my voice low. “I’ve met people, Link. Others who want to change the system. Aldan’s mystery girl, she’s one of them.”

That stopped him in his tracks. “Then it’s happening already. That means it’s even more important to see this through. Aldan and I talked a lot before the race, Dax. He hated how the rings segregated people just as much as I do. He started something. People are talking. As long as I’m in here, the conversation is continuing. It’s getting louder. If I recant, it’s going to fade back to a whisper. Sometimes people need to be pushed too far.” He swallowed and his eyes got a far away look. “Aldan’s death started a backlash. If I need to give my life too, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“Would you just wait a minute? You aren’t listening. I’m telling you there’s another option.”

“Not for me. Not if something is going to actually happen.”

“But—”

“I’m sorry, Dax, this is too important to let it go. People need to know that others are willing to fight, no matter the cost. Anything less than that won’t make an impact.”

My face flushed with anger, and I slapped my palm against the glass wall separating us. It hit hard and the sound slammed through the hallway. “Link, knock off the martyr act, okay?” I realized I was shouting. I didn’t care. “Just stop. Come home.”

He held his palm up against the glass, a reflection of my own.

“I can’t, Dax.” I stared at him. My handsome, quiet, serious big brother. I could see how much our conversation was hurting him in the tightness of his eyes, the clench of his jaw.

“No,” I said. I pressed harder on the glass, willing it to crash down. “Please, Link.”

“Dax, I’d do almost anything I could not to hurt you. But I can’t give on this. You have to understand, okay?”

“It’s not okay,” I shot back, my voice frantic. “There is nothing about this that is okay. Link, I am begging you—”

“I love you, Dax. I’m sorry.” He turned and walked back to his bed, stretched out and closed his eyes.

After that there was nothing else to really say. I’d said my piece. He hadn’t listened. He didn’t want to listen. Rage and terror boiled through me, but I kept my anger in check as I stalked back down the hallway. I still had three days. This wasn’t over yet.