Phoenix (10 page)

As Sigur greets us in the Assembly, I notice with relief that Stuart and Elijah have
already made it back. Day and her parents are also there, anxiously waiting for us,
and they run over to me, all three of them crying.

“We heard what happened . . . ,” Day sobs.

The others arrive in dribs and drabs over the next thirty minutes, some with a few
scrapes and bruises. Juno helps Beetle patch up the wounded while Sumrina finds rooms
for all the children we rescued. Nick shoots me a grateful look as he’s led upstairs
to the living quarters.

When everyone is back, the Darkling ministers arrive for the debriefing. It doesn’t
take long for the meeting to erupt into chaos as the Darkling ministers and rebels
discuss our next steps now that Polly’s rescue mission has failed.

“Surrendering is not an option,” Sigur says. “Our only solution is to escape.”

“How will we get past the roadblocks?” Garrick says. “They’re heavily guarded.”

Day raises her hand, like she’s at school. “What about the humans? We can’t just leave
them here to die.”

“We need a diversion,” Elijah says. “Something to keep the Sentry guards distracted
while everyone makes a break for it.”

“It’ll have to be one hell of a diversion, mate!” Beetle says.

I can’t listen anymore. Nothing matters. Polly is dead. On the digital screen to my
right, the countdown clock ticks away, letting everyone know we’ve got only thirty-two
hours left before Black City is razed to the ground.

An idea suddenly hits me.

“I know how we can evacuate everyone,” I say.

“How?” Sigur asks.

“We do what Elijah suggests; we create a diversion.” I eye them all steadily. “Tonight
we burn down Black City.”

ESCAPE

ASH

NATALIE STARES OUT
the window while the rest of us try to catch up with what she’s just said.
Burn down the city?
Can we really do that?

A deep, throaty chuckle comes from Sigur.

“I think it is a marvelous idea,” he says.

“Where would we go?” Logan says.

“North,” I reply. “We’ll try and cross the border into the Northern Territories.”

“But what about the rebellion, bro?” Beetle says. “Even if we get everyone out of
Black City, that still doesn’t solve the problem of Purian Rose. We can’t just leave
the country. People need us. We have to keep fighting.”

I glance at Natalie and imagine what our lives could be like in the north. We could
get married, move to the country and live a quiet, peaceful existence. But I know
these are just dreams. There’s only ever been one path for me to follow.

“I won’t be going,” I say. “I intend to stay to search for the Ora and take down Purian
Rose. Anyone who wants to fight with me can do so.”

Natalie briefly squeezes my hand, letting me know I have her support, before getting
up and leaving the room. I think she wants to be alone to grieve.

“Won’t we risk killing innocent people if we set fire to the city?” Day asks.

“Not if we’re careful.” Roach stands up and presses a few buttons on the com-desk,
projecting a map of Black City on the digital screen on the far wall. “We could strategically
plant bombs here, here and here.” She highlights Chantilly Lane Market, Union Street
and the Park. “It will cause a lot of damage, but because those areas aren’t residential,
the risk to human life will be minimal.”

“Won’t the fires spread to the inhabited areas?” Garrick asks.

“Yeah, eventually, but it should give people enough time to make a run for it,” Roach
says.

“We should target the Cinderstone factories first,” I say. “That should keep the guards
busy.”

It’s a long shot, but during the air raids last year, Purian Rose didn’t bomb the
factories because he needed the Cinderstone to fuel his munitions operations, so I’m
hoping he gave the same orders this time round and will want to protect them.

There are excited murmurs as people start putting a plan together. I glance at Sigur,
and he nods, understanding I need to be with Natalie.

I find her in our bedroom, curled up on our bed, her arms wrapped around herself.
I lie down beside her so we’re nestled together like spoons. We stay like this for
an hour, saying nothing. Only the thrum of her aching heart sounds in my ears. Eventually
she turns around and cries against my chest.

“He raped her,” Natalie whispers. “Sebastian, he . . .”

I tighten my arms around her as the horror of her words sinks in. They didn’t just
kill Polly; they made her suffer in every way possible first. My fangs flood with
venom. I want to rip Sebastian’s head off, tear him to shreds. I’m going to make him
pay for what he did.

After Natalie’s cried all her tears, she looks up at me. “Ash, will you promise me
one thing?”

I nod. “Anything.”

“Promise me that when we face Purian Rose, I’ll be the one who gets to kill him.”

* * *

That evening, Natalie and I sit on the roof of the Legion headquarters, hand in hand,
watching the sun set over the city. By the time the sun rises again, the city will
be destroyed. Natalie gazes up at one of the Destroyer Ships hovering over the city
and says a final good-bye to her sister, the first of many family members and friends
we’ll be parting ways with tonight.

The Sentry stopped playing the footage of Polly, knowing the jig is up, but so far
there’s been no other sign they’re intending to change their strategy, and they have
continued to run the countdown on all the screens across the city. Rose still thinks
he’s in control.

The inky blue of night slowly seeps into the bloodred sky, until a shroud of darkness
descends over Black City.

“It’s time,” I say to her.

We all meet in the Assembly and go over our plan again. Fifty teams, led by Dad and
Logan, Michael and Sumrina, Pullo and Angel, plus all the Legion guards, will escort
groups out of the ghetto and head toward the northern border. The rest of us will
lead the attack on the city.

“Okay, so does the rebel team know what they’re doing?” Roach asks. She’s wearing
a gray jumpsuit, and her long blue dreadlocks have been tied back. “Garrick?”

“I’ll hijack a Sentry truck and travel back to the Mountain Wolf State to gather support
from the Lupines,” Garrick says. “Then I’ll meet you at the rendezvous point in Centrum
in the Dominion State, to prepare for the final assault.”

“Good,” Roach says. “Sigur?”

“I’ll head to Fire Rapids and assist with the evacuation of the Darklings there,”
Sigur says. “Once that’s done, I’ll send word out to the other ghettos about our plans
to head north, then join you in Centrum.”

“Excellent,” she says. “And while you’re doing that, Humans for Unity will begin our
strikes against the Sentry government, to keep them distracted. We’ll focus on targets
like factories, farms, fuel supplies, roads—basically anything that will sabotage
their infrastructure and make life hell for them.”

Beetle grins at me, making the scar tissue on his cheek pucker. He’s looking forward
to this.

“Phoenix, you know what you’re doing?” Roach asks me.

“Yup. Natalie, Elijah and I will rescue Lucinda and Yolanda,” I say. “Once we’ve located
them, we’ll retrieve the Ora. Then we’ll go to Viridis to speak to the Bastet senate
about joining the rebellion, before heading to the rendezvous point.”

“You better return with that weapon, Ash,” Roach says. “We can only hold off the Sentry
for so long. We’re all counting on you.”

“I won’t let you down.” I just hope I can keep that promise.

“Right, everyone get ready. We leave in an hour,” she says.

Sigur exits the council chamber with Elijah, and I wonder where they’re going, but
I don’t have time to think about it, as Roach walks over to me and Natalie. Garrick’s
standing nearby, counting out the boxes of ammunition. We were able to gather a few
guns and supplies, after our stockpile was stolen, but it’s not much.

“You guys got everything you need for tomorrow?” she says in a low voice.

I nod. Getting out of Black City is going to be our first challenge, but we’ve got
a plan. It’s risky, but it might just work. Only our families, Roach and Amy know
the plan. After what happened with James and Hilary from Firebird, we can’t chance
telling too many people.

When Roach leaves, Garrick comes over to us.

“I want to come with you and help plant the bombs,” he says.

“That’s okay, we’ve got it worked out,” I say.

“I want to be useful,” Garrick replies. “Besides, if you meet a pack of Lupines on
the streets, you won’t stand a chance against them.”

He has a point. “Thanks.”

We can go our separate ways once the bombs have been planted and continue with our
original escape plan. Garrick isn’t in the loop about our plot to leave the city and
head to Thrace, and I want to keep it that way. I trust him, but if he gets captured
tonight, I don’t want him giving away our escape plan to the Sentry.

Nick laughs as Amy paints his face with Cinderstone powder, decorating his eyes just
like she did mine a few days ago so that he resembles Phoenix. He’s dressed in my
LLF jacket, black trousers and boots, his disheveled hair tinted black with Cinderstone.
Except for his green eyes, he looks startlingly like me, which is the whole point.
Nick is my decoy.

His counterpart is Amy, who is wearing one of Natalie’s tops, cropped leather pants
and knee-high boots; her usually auburn hair has been roughly bleached and curled.
Her disguise isn’t quite as convincing as Nick’s, but we’re not looking for perfection—just
likenesses close enough to draw the guards away from me and Natalie.

It was Roach’s idea, and I was dead set against it, as were Natalie and Juno, but
we were overruled by Amy and Nick. They want to help, and they’re old enough to make
their own decisions. Juno keeps glancing toward her sister, a mixture of worry and
pride in her blue eyes. The Jones sisters have never been afraid to stand up to the
Sentry, but it still can’t be easy for her. At least she’ll be going with them, so
they’ll be looked after.

Nick turns to me, beaming, clearly pleased with his transformation. “Hey, Ash, what
do you think?”

“You look hideous,” I tease.

“I didn’t have much to work with,” he zings back.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I say to him, ignoring the frosty look from Roach.

“Yeah, sure! Look, we’re all in this together, plus I owe you after Natalie rescued
me from that Destroyer Ship.” A shadow passes over his eyes, but he blinks it away.
“Besides, I’m digging the makeup.”

“Okay, five-minute countdown, everyone,” Roach says. “Say your good-byes now.”

Sigur stays outside in the ghetto with the Legion guards, splitting the Darklings
into their groups. We said our farewells earlier today, knowing he’d be busy. We kept
the conversation light, although we both knew it could be the last time we’d ever
see each other.

Elijah enters the room at that moment, and I can smell blood on him, sick,
diseased
blood. It quickly becomes apparent what Sigur asked him to do. I bet the hospital
ward where the Wraths were being cared for is now empty. It was the kindest thing.
We couldn’t take them with us, and since normal poisons don’t work on Darklings, a
dose of Bastet venom would’ve done the trick. At least it would’ve been fast—I doubt
they felt much pain, and Elijah’s not at any risk of getting infected; he has a natural
immunity to the Wrath since the C18-Virus is present in his venom.

“Sigur wanted you to know that Martha’s arrived,” Elijah says. “She’s outside with
him now. She’ll be going with Harold’s team.”

Natalie lets out a relieved sigh. I know she loves her old Darkling housemaid very
much. Martha’s been staying with some members of Humans for Unity the past two months.

We check our provisions, and then it’s time to say our good-byes. Beetle’s group is
the first to leave, as they’ll be planting the bombs in the Cinderstone factories.

“See you in Centrum, bro,” Beetle says.

“Try not to get blown up again,” I tease, referring to the time he bombed the Boundary
Wall.

He laughs. “I can’t promise anything.”

Roach just nods a curt good-bye at me, her mind already on the mission ahead. Day
hugs her family members, trying hard not to cry. MJ clings to her. His burns from
the house fire are healing nicely, and we gave him plenty of pain medication to take
along with him for his back, so he should be all right.

“Be a brave boy, okay?” Day says.

MJ nods, sniffing.

Sumrina gives a little squeak as she holds back her tears. “Take care, my precious
girl. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Mama, Papa,” Day replies, hugging them again.

Day wipes her eyes, then comes over to us. We awkwardly shake hands—Day and I have
never really managed to form a friendship—then she briefly hugs Natalie before picking
up her satchel and rushing out of the room.

Natalie takes a shaky breath. I lightly kiss her forehead.

“She’ll be okay,” I say. “Beetle will take care of her.”

Next out the door is Juno’s group; they are going to plant the bomb in the Park—the
neighborhood in the city where the rich used to live, like Natalie’s family, before
it was destroyed in last year’s air raids. Nick, Juno and Stuart say quick good-byes,
while Amy flings her arms around Natalie. It’s strange seeing the two of them side
by side, looking so alike.

“Good luck! Oh, heavens, is that bad luck? Do I mean ‘break a leg’?” Amy says in a
rush.

“I think that only applies in the theater,” Natalie says.

“Phew! Well . . . good luck! I’ll see you in Centrum.” She leans conspiratorially
toward us, keeping her voice low. “Do you remember how to apply your makeup?”

“I’ve got it,” Natalie says kindly. The makeup is part of our escape plan.

Amy hugs Elijah, then turns shyly to me. “Bye, Ash.”

I give her a quick peck on the cheek, and her face flushes bright red. She hurries
over to Juno, and they leave.

I check the gray satchel beside my blue duffel bag, by my feet. The satchel holds
the explosives we’ll set around Chantilly Lane Market. Roach gave us a crash course
in how to detonate the bombs. It sounds simple enough: in Roach’s words, “just flip
the switch and run like hell.”

Garrick strides over and picks up the satchel. “I’ll carry these.”

“No, it’s fine, I’ll—”

“No one’s going to care if my head gets blown off,” he interrupts, his metallic eyes
glinting.

I don’t argue. “Thanks.”

Natalie and Elijah deal with our final preparations while I find Dad. He’s standing
by the window at the far end of the room, away from everyone else.