Closed Hearts (32 page)

I stared at Vellus. It was almost like he was warning me. Or perhaps toying with me. I couldn’t quite keep the words in. “It doesn’t have to be that way!”

He smiled indulgently. “Spoken like a true believer,” he said. “It’s a shame those ideals will only result in your friends getting hurt.” He stepped a little closer and my dad’s hand clutched the back of my shirt, like he would yank me out of harm’s way if Vellus got too close.

Vellus peered down at me. “From everything I hear about you, Kira, you’re not the kind of girl that likes to see people get hurt.”

I leaned back into my dad’s hand and shook my head.

“Good!” Vellus exclaimed. He stepped back and clasped his hands together. “I will make sure that Mr. Molloy is released to you as soon as you arrive at the Detention Center. I sincerely hope that you quickly find your mindreading friend safe and sound.” He tipped his head in a genteel way. “This has been a most interesting discussion, Kira. I look forward to seeing more of you in the future.” He turned to Mr. Muscle. “Please see our guests safely out of the building.” Vellus pivoted on the heel of his expensive shoes and returned to his office.

My mouth hung open, watching him go. Had I really just agreed to Vellus’s demand that I do a tru-cast for his anti-jacker campaign? My dad gently tugged on the back of my shirt, and I shuffled after him, following closely behind the bulky back of Mr. Muscle. It didn’t matter what I said or what Vellus thought—as soon as we got Molloy and found Raf, I would just refuse to do it.

Once we were out of jacking range of Vellus’s office, the mental blanket Mr. Muscle had wrapped around my head eased up. I quickly linked to my dad.
Will Vellus really release Molloy?

Yes.
My dad kept his eyes trained on the guard.
Molloy will be ready for release into my custody by the time we can get back to Vellus’s Detention Center.

Relief washed through me.
I hope you know I’m not going to do Vellus’s tru-cast. I only agreed so that I could get us out of there.

I know,
my dad thought.
I know you can’t. It’s far too dangerous.

I hadn’t thought about how dangerous it would be, just how horribly
wrong
it was. But he was right—not only would Julian and his mages hate me, and rightly so, every jacker in the country would want me dead. Which wouldn’t bother Vellus in the slightest. That might even be the whole point of it.

So, after we find Raf, I’ll just tell Vellus I won’t do it,
I linked to my dad
. No matter how many muscle-bound mindguards Vellus has, he can’t force me to do the tru-cast, right?

He knows about you, Kira.
My dad flicked a look to me. His thoughts were an anxious pit that pulled me in.
He knows about you breaking into Kestrel’s facility.
My dad guided me into the elevator after our escort.
He’s got a tape of you at Kestrel’s facility, shooting a guard, and not just once. If you don’t do what Vellus wants, he wouldn’t need any more reason than that to lock you away. Did you see the new law? We don’t have any rights anymore. The only thing keeping you free is that Vellus wants something from you.

Suddenly the elevator felt like a cage, plummeting down and carrying me into a trap. Vellus meant it. He would force me to do the tru-cast or go to prison. And I knew what that meant: a one-way ticket back into Kestrel’s cells.

Panic clamped on my throat, and I gripped my dad’s arm.
What are we going to do?

We get Molloy
.
We find Raf. Then we find a way to protect you from Vellus. He still wants me to work for him. Maybe I can convince him that the tru-cast is a bad idea. Or maybe Mr. Trullite can help. Worst case, we’ll move again. Disappear and pray that Vellus can’t find you.

My stomach looped in a knot that was strangling me. The guard walked us to the edge of the shield and the weapons detector. Julian stood on the other side, his hair messier than usual on one side, like he had spent the last ten minutes torturing it with his hands. I sprinted through the barrier, barely noticing the electric tingle of the shield, and grabbed hold of Julian’s arm. I ignored his concerned look and towed him across the lobby with my dad close behind. There was no way I could explain what had happened, at least not yet. Right now we needed to leave the capitol before Vellus changed his mind about releasing Molloy. That was our only real chance of finding Raf.

I would explain later that one of the world’s most powerful men expected me to join his anti-jacker campaign in return.

The autopath back to the city was even quieter than the ride down to Springfield.

I ignored Julian’s stares and stayed out of my dad’s head. The lines drawn tight across my dad’s face told me he regretted going to the capitol. He wanted to save Raf, but if he had known what Vellus would ask, he wouldn’t have gone. Not that it really mattered. Vellus said he was planning on “paying me a visit” sooner or later—I had only sped up the process by going to him first.

It didn’t seem likely that Mr. Trullite could protect me, given his rescue attempt in Jackertown had only landed my dad in prison. No, I could already see how this would go. If there was any justice in the world, we would find Raf alive and unharmed. But however that worked out, I would have to run again. Just me this time. My dad wanted to take my family on the run, but I was done putting the people who loved me in danger. This time I would hide better, run farther, go somewhere that Vellus’s influence wouldn’t reach. It was either that or I would have to do what Vellus wanted: go on the tru-casts to spew hatred like Vellus’s secretary. I wasn’t sure if I could physically force myself to say the words. If I somehow managed it, I’d have every jacker in three states wanting my head. Only they wouldn’t haul me into jail, like Vellus. They would kill my family too. No, that absolutely wouldn’t work.

When this was all done, I would run and leave behind everyone that I loved. Including Raf.

I swallowed down that thought, and it sat like a lump of cold metal in my stomach. A haze threatened to descend on my mind like when I was locked in Kestrel’s stark, white cell. If only I had killed Kestrel when I had the chance, maybe that tape wouldn’t have landed in Vellus’s hands. Or did Vellus already have it by then? It didn’t matter now. I fought back the haze clouding my thoughts. I couldn’t afford to sink into that dark place yet.

It was a relief when we finally arrived at Vellus’s Detention Center. My dad eased the hydro car to a stop, and Sasha pushed off the brick alleyway wall to join us. He gave me a slow nod of acknowledgement. I nodded in return, grateful he was willing to help. I wished Julian had sent for Myrtle too—I didn’t want to take any chances with Molloy getting away, but Julian seemed to think that the four of us would be sufficient.

My dad hopped out and hurried to the gate, his badge already out. I unfolded my body and slowly climbed out of the car, stretching out the kinks. Even my hands ached. I must have been clenching them the whole way. Julian was already out of the car, mindtalking to Sasha. My dad slipped from sight through the gate, making my heart lurch.

Julian left Sasha to stand next to me. He eyed the guard shack. “What’s wrong, keeper?”

“Nothing. I’m just… worried. What if Molloy doesn’t know where Raf is?” I paused. “Or what if he does and…” I couldn’t say it. What if all this was for nothing? What if Raf was already dead?

Julian seemed to be struggling with what to say. I looked away, so he wouldn’t have to answer. Less than a minute later, my dad came out with Molloy in mag-cuffs, holding a dart gun to his side and frog-marching Molloy across the street. When Molloy caught sight of us, or more accurately when he saw Julian, he stopped in the middle of the street. His face lost color. My dad shoved him from behind to get him moving again. Molloy took two steps but then whirled around, swinging one massive leg to catch my dad at the knees and knock him to the ground.

“Dad!”

I quickly jacked into Molloy’s mind and wrestled with him as he lumbered down the street away from us. I couldn’t slow him down, but a split second later, my dad was in his mind as well. Molloy put up quite a struggle for a second or two and then he stumbled to a stop.

He turned around, and in his mind, he saw us in a new light. We were his fellow jackers, his brothers-in-arms, who he owed a debt of loyalty beyond measure. We meant everything to him; his very life he owed to us.

Julian had reached him.

I shuddered a sigh of relief.

A picture of Raf, sprawled on a brown-carpeted floor, sprung up in Molloy’s mind.

Oh no.
My thoughts and Molloy’s echoed each other, with the same expression of horror.

Julian focused on Molloy, his concentration intense. Molloy’s thoughts kept tangling with mine.
Is Raf okay? We need to find him!

The coupling of our thoughts was giving me vertigo, so I pulled out of Molloy’s mind. He rushed past my dad who scrambled to scoop up his dropped dart gun from the pavement.

When Molloy reached me, he took my shoulders in his massive hands. “Kira!” he said, breathless. “We’ve got to get to Raf quickly, lass. He’s probably dehydrated by now, or worse.”

My hopes surged—Molloy thought Raf was alive! I nodded, overwhelmed by Molloy’s fervent need to save my boyfriend, the one he was responsible for holding hostage in the first place. I shouldn’t have been surprised—I’d had a taste of the intensity of what Julian could do. I had been completely convinced that I loved him: not simply believing it, or even feeling it in a swoony way, but urgently compelled to love him as if my existence depended on it.

And that had only been through a mind-link. Molloy was getting the full dose of Julian’s ability.

He released me and turned to my dad. “We don’t have any time to waste. Would this be your car, mate?”

My dad blinked. I couldn’t imagine what he was thinking.

“I think we should take Mr. Molloy where he wants to go,” said Julian. His voice was low and breathy. His eyes never left Molloy’s face, even though Molloy seemed oblivious to anything other than hustling us into the hydro car and babbling directions to the autopath. He finally jacked into the mindware interface, cursing at it to hurry.

The ragged streets of downtown Chicago slipped by, and we veered past the south edge of Jackertown, still in the city, but getting closer to the suburbs. Julian sat next to Molloy in front, with my dad, Sasha, and me filling up the back seat. The stony expression on Julian’s face never wavered. When he’d handled Molloy before, back at the mages’ headquarters, he wasn’t so intense about it. Maybe Molloy was more resistant now? Or was his self-preservation instinct harder to handle than the protective instinct for his brother?

Whatever it was, I vowed never to link into Julian’s mind again.

Molloy babbled a nonstop stream of thoughts, like there was no longer a filter between his mind and his mouth. “There’s not any food there, lass, and I’m not too keen on the water either.” The rest of us sat in tense silence while he rambled. “Not that we needed as much. At least Raf didn’t, not while I kept him there. It was my home, Liam’s and mine actually, before Ma and Da were taken away and we were left on our own. We kept it though, even when the neighborhood was taken over by the demens. We were Molloy boys, and we could take care of ourselves. Proud of it, too! But then we realized there wasn’t much in the way of pickings in the city. The suburbs on the other hand, aye, there’s a fortune to be made there!”

Molloy paused to take a breath. I hoped I wouldn’t have to hear his entire life story before we reached the house he had programmed into the autopath.

“Liam, though, he didn’t last long in the greater New Metro,” Molloy said. “He was barely out of shorts, still working his changeling abilities, when the Feds took him. He’s been in that right monster’s clutches ever since. Kestrel!” He spat out his name like it was something foul. “If I get the chance, I’ll twist that demon’s neck with my bare hands.”

I wished Molloy had done exactly that. I wasn’t sure if that made me a monster or not.

“Aye, but Liam!” Molloy shouted as if he had suddenly remembered his brother. “He’s still in that cursed prison of Vellus’s! Who will look out for the boy when I’m not there?”

That made me cringe. Liam would be defenseless in the Detention Center, but I couldn’t let myself care about that. Julian edged closer to Molloy, resting his arm on the back of Molloy’s seat.

“Of course, he’s not going anywhere.” Molloy’s voice had lost its concern. “They’ll lock him up in their medical facility, given he’s not right of mind anymore. But Raf, the poor lad. He’s been wasting away in some dank basement without proper nourishment for the better part of a week! We’d best be getting there first, before the boy passes on. That would be a terrible shame, such a weak creature, not able to defend himself from jackers at all.”

Julian must be working him pretty hard to conjure those thoughts from the depths of Molloy’s mind. He had turned Molloy’s instinct to protect his helpless brother Liam to a strong, artificial imperative to protect Raf, who he now saw as one of “his own.” Protecting
his own
had always been a powerful impulse in Molloy, which was probably why Julian chose it. Had it only been a week since Molloy left Raf? Was he really alive when Molloy left him? I couldn’t imagine Molloy lying about that, not while Julian was handling him.