Numbers Ignite (30 page)

One of them reached for my arm, but I jerked away. “Don’t touch me.”

“This scrawny thing?” a woman said. “I didn’t recognize her under all the dirt.”

“Trying to seek asylum with the people you tried to kill, girl?” the first man asked. The others grabbed my arms and fastened them behind my back. I felt metal against my wrists and heard a click.

“I didn’t try to kill anyone,” I said, although the empress flashed in my mind. “We’re on the same side. You don’t have to treat me like this. I don’t want to stay with the settlers anyway. I have to get back.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” the woman said. “You’re coming with us. You can rot in jail with your traitor friend until they put a bullet in your chest.” She started forward, and I found myself being half pushed, half carried toward the chopper.

“I’m not a traitor!” I said, knowing it wouldn’t do any good. “I really do have to get back. There’s a war coming, and NORA doesn’t even know it!”

“You better believe it,” the woman said. “Declaring war on outlanders. That new emperor is really full of himself. They deserve everything they get, if you ask me. Now, climb up, or I’ll throw you in. I can’t wait to show Mills who we found.”

I was four, maybe five years old, when I went to my first funeral. Even now I could remember nearly everything about it except for who it was that died.

We stood in a straight line, waiting to pay our respects to the dead body. The settlers moved somberly, slowly. Alfred Tornough played the trumpet, his tune depressing but very, very loud. I remembered thinking that the sound would wake the dead person up and wondering if that was the point.

It was cold and windy, and I wore a coat that was too small. My mother had hoped it would last through the rest of winter, but the sleeves were so tight I couldn’t even fold my arms. She’d buttoned it all the way up today. All I could think about was what she’d do if I unbuttoned it. Maybe just the top button or two, the ones tightest against my throat. Surely that wouldn’t be so bad. I looked up at her. She was gazing off into the distance, her eyes rimmed red. I immediately went to work on the top button.

When we reached the body, my father nodded respectfully to the woman standing beside the casket. The brave smile she’d worn until now faltered a little as my mother reached for her and they embraced. Quiet sobs burst out of the woman, and her shoulders shook as my mom stroked her hair.

I’d gotten the entire coat undone, yet it remained tight against my body. My father leaned down and picked me up. The dead man wore none of the winter clothing we did, but a traditional brown, collared shirt and trousers to match the earth he was about to enter. His hair was uncovered, thin on top and long in back, and tied neatly with a red ribbon. He’d never worn his hair like that before. If he were alive, he’d tear it out and throw it on the ground. In fact, he looked as if he’d wake up at any moment and perhaps do just that.

I wrapped my arms around my father’s neck. “He’s creepy,” I said.

He chuckled quietly. “No need to be afraid. Someday all of us will look like that.”

“Even you?”

“Even me. We take the bad with the good, the end with the beginning. But don’t worry. Your end won’t come for a very long time.”

“How can you know for sure?”

He hesitated, then a sure smile spread across his face. “Well, I suppose I don’t. But that’s what every parent hopes for. You have a long, full, exciting life ahead of you.”

I gazed down at the body. “Did it hurt?”

“I don’t know. I’d guess death only hurts for a moment, and then all the pain is gone forever. No, not gone. I think that pain—the hurt we feel as we go—I think it gets left behind and spread around to those we love.”

“So if nobody dies, there’s no hurting. Right?”

He gave a wry smile. “I think life can hurt as much as death, Vance. It’s just a different kind.” He reached down and squeezed the dead man’s arm, muttering a good-bye under his breath. Despite my expectations, the dead man didn’t open his eyes and swipe my father’s hand away.

He didn’t move at all.

My mother came to the jail that night. She didn’t bring the twins. A gray wool blanket was wrapped tightly around her shoulders, and she hugged it to her as if it were holding her together.

Her face was pinched and drawn like a pair of pants she could never quite get to release its wrinkles. When her gaze fell on me, I felt my throat tighten. Now she came. Now of all times.

“I’m not ashamed of you,” she said immediately. “I know what Rutner said, but he was wrong. I’ve never, ever been ashamed of you. You did what your father would have done.”

The pain in my throat intensified, and I found it hard to speak. “Why did you stay away?”

“I—I’ve been spying on Mills.” Her words ran over each other in their haste to escape. “The men who enforce Mills’s laws are Chinese. There are more of them than we initially thought, and they’re increasing as our food supply diminishes. They’re coming in from somewhere, Vance. They aren’t refugees. I thought if I pretended to date Mills, he would take me into his confidence.” She hung her head. “But then you arrived, and things got complicated, and I just—I felt I’d better stay away until things were resolved, putting in a word for you here and there. I’ve been so proud of how you’ve handled yourself, Vance.”

“Well, you got your wish. Things are definitely resolved.”

Her composure broke, and she sucked in a sob. “I’ve spoken to so many people. I thought we had it.”

“Do you live near the rim, Mom?”

She lifted her head to meet my gaze, then looked away.

“Our people are suffering, and you’re sucking up to Mills. It’s good to know you aren’t ashamed, but, frankly, I’m not sure I can return the favor.”

“You’re not listening.” Her voice was hard as she approached the bars. “There’s a reason the upper class lives up near the rim, Vance, and it’s not because they’re farther from the lake. It’s because there’s a huge network of tunnels in the mountain walls of this valley. Mills got authorization to dig more, using some machine he called the excavator, but the location of the entrance is a closely guarded secret. I figured out only yesterday where it was—in his quarters. I followed it to a series of apartments, a cafeteria, and a tunnel that led all the way through the mountain to the other side. He’s been communicating with people out there, Vance. Maybe even letting them in and out. I know you have reason to be mad at me, but this is bigger than us. We are
all
in danger.”

I processed that for a moment. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Voices outside told me someone had arrived. The door opened, and four guards walked in. “Pardon us, Mrs. Hawking, but we have to cut your good-bye short. Another prisoner is being brought in.”

My mother flinched as if someone had stabbed her. “Can I embrace my son one last time?”

The guard hesitated, then nodded. The others leaped in as he unlocked the cage and opened the door. They were rough as they grabbed my arms, slapping the metal quickly on as if they expected me to fight. When everything was secure, they led me to my mother.

I hadn’t touched her in over two years. I’d been taller than her by age thirteen, but now there was a good six-inch difference. She was about the same size as Treena, and they had the same color eyes—brown with golden flecks sprinkled in.

Why did that blasted girl keep slipping into my thoughts? I was being executed soon, and this was my last chance to say good-bye to my mother. Treena had no place in my mind right now or ever.

Mom dropped the blanket and threw herself at me, sobbing and wailing and acting more emotional than I’d ever seen her. She held me so tightly my sore rib ached, and her tears instantly wet my shirt. The guards turned away slightly, uncomfortable at the display.

It was then that I felt something cool and smooth slide into my pocket.

They hadn’t needed to rush our good-bye because it was nearly an hour before the new prisoner arrived. Finally the door swung open and two guards practically carried a skinny figure in. They guided the prisoner into the cell next to mine, then removed the blindfold.

If they’d brought in my father’s ghost, I wouldn’t have been more surprised. I stared at the prisoner in shock. “Treena?”

A grin spread across her face as her eyes focused on me. “Vance!” She tore away from the guards and made her way to the bars that separated us. One of the men grabbed her arms again and unlocked them, then backed slowly away. She seemed too focused on me to notice. Her skin pulled tightly against her cheekbones and dirt smudged her delicate nose. But life danced in those large eyes, life and excitement and something far deeper stirring within their depths.

My careful composure slipped as that
something
pulled at my insides, removing all the layers I’d placed there and exposing a long-ignored ache. With a single smile, Treena had left me completely undone.

Right then, this girl was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” I said. “No offense, but I think you need a decorator.”

“You’re here,” Vance said dumbly. His hair was messy and his chin full of stubble. It made my heart leap. “How are you here?” he asked.

“I got your message,” I said with a chuckle. “I mean, I know it wasn’t exactly a message. But I knew what it meant when you gave my stone back. And when Dresden took the throne, I had no reason to stay, so I escaped. And then the underground settlers and I found the soldiers in the city, and everything blew up, and the settlers kicked me out, so I headed for the mountains to meet you, but I guess you guys decided to come here instead.” I stopped for a breath.