Rebellion (26 page)

She gives me a look that says, “Yikes,” then rushes out into the rain, which immediately plasters her hair and clothes to her head and body. The wind pushes her back a few steps before she plods forward and I lose her in the curtain of rain falling from the eaves. Lenore follows and is quickly swallowed up by the storm.

Bracing myself, I take one last quick breath and push into the rain. Instantly water sluices over me. The wet mud-sand sucks me in, but I trudge forward, trying to find my mom and my way.

Of course, the rain does what I'd failed to do and wakes Tristan.

He starts thrashing around like a maniac, until I shout, “Relax! I've got you. We're going to the shelter.”

“I can walk,” he yells into my ear so I can hear him.

“No,” I yell back. “
I
can barely walk. You're so small the wind will blow you away. It'll be faster if I only have to watch out for Mom and Lenore.”

“Fine.”

The rain comes down so hard it's almost impossible to see where I'm going, but I know the general direction of where the shelter is and I just keep going in that direction, my feet plunging and pulling from the muddy sand. I feel almost like I'm going backward. My hair is in my eyes and face and, of course, I don't have any hands to brush it away. I don't see Lenore has stopped until I run directly into her.

She stumbles forward onto her hands and knees. I put Tristan down to help her up.

“What's wrong?”

“The shelter. It's blocked.”

I take the extra hand I now have free and push the hair from my eyes, squinting through the rain. She's right. It is blocked. By a branch I'm sure is the size of a tree. Mom's tugging at it, but she can't get any traction on the slippery ground and isn't even budging it. I push my mom aside and tug on the branches, but my feet just slip in the wet sand as my mom's had and I fall onto my ass. I try a few more times, and finally manage to budge it enough to push the doors open.

I usher Tristan and my mom into the little concrete building. Mom lights a small lantern so we can see long enough to say good-bye. I hug her and she holds me so tightly and for so long that I wonder if I'll have to find a crowbar to pry us apart, but then she lets go. I can't tell if the water on her face is tears or just the rain, but still.

I kneel down in front of Tristan. “Take care of Mom until I'm back. Okay?”

He nods, and for a second just stares at me. Then he wraps his arms around my neck and hugs me, too.

“We need to go before the storm gets worse!” Lenore yells from where she's huddled by the door.

“Go! Be careful,” my mom says.

I give her a grin. “I always am.” Then, before I can second-guess my decision, I step into the pelting rain again. Lenore follows, gripping my hand this time. In a lightning flash, I can see there's fear in her eyes, so I give her hand a squeeze. “We'll be fine,” I yell.

I hope it's true.

We rush as fast as we can to the trees on the other side of the cove. It still takes longer than I want, and I'm out of breath within just a few minutes, but when we hit the trees, most of the rain is caught by the branches and only a bit hits us. We race toward where the inconspicuous little rowboat is hiding.

When we reach it, I push the boat into the water. There's an immediate tug that almost rips it from my hands, but I manage to hang on and yell to Lenore, “Come on! Get in!”

She scrambles into the water and carefully crawls into the boat. It rocks precariously, but I ignore it as I scoot into it, too. My only worry is that with this rain, the boat's going to take on too much water. With the surges and waves this big in the cove, when we get into the open water, I'm going to have a hell of a time keeping it from being submerged.

It takes only a few minutes with how fast the current is dragging us to the island, but it's the most terrifying ride of my life. And that includes running for my life in Sector Three with Evie, unsure if she wanted to kill me or save me.

Waves almost capsize us countless times. They swamp the boat. Saltwater splashes into my eyes, blinding me with searing pain and sending us off course until I can see again.

Lightning flashes across the sky, followed almost immediately by the crash of thunder. I worry that one of those lightning strikes will hit us, but they don't and finally we crash onto the beach. Even though we brace for the impact, it still throws Lenore and me off. I roll across the rocky ground, scraping my already raw skin.

Lenore fares no better, and even though she stands, she limps as we race as quickly as we dare to where I moored the submarine. I hope and pray the entire way that it's still there. And worry as we slip down the cliff that nearly killed me the last time. But when I get there and see the submarine, exactly where I left it, I almost whoop in happiness.

I slide open the top hatch, and carefully help Lenore in, before I push the thing into the water and grab onto the side, hitching myself up and over into the passenger compartment. I hit the button for the hatch, waiting for it to close over our heads.

Immediately the sounds of the storm cut off. The silence is deafening in contrast to the cracks of thunder and the shrieking of wind. And even though we're soaked and gasping for breath, it's almost heaven not getting pelted by the freezing rain. It was like being sliced by tiny little knives.

Eli said something to me about there being a button that would take me back. After searching for a few minutes, I find it in the instrument cluster. I hit it and the submarine moves around in a hundred and eighty degree turn until we're faced away from the island, then it speeds us away.

Hopefully it's taking me back to a place that still exists.

 

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-
TWO

Myra is mine now. I am responsible for the death of her parents and so I will take on all the duties as her caregiver. It is the least I can do, for those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for the new Elysium.

—
E
VIE'S JOURNAL

Evie

I sit in the darkened War Room. It's the middle of the night, but I don't care. It's the only time that I can be alone. With my thoughts. My memories. My mistakes.

I thought I'd had everything figured out. I thought we'd been
winning
. I was wrong. I'm as lost as I was in the beginning. I
don't
know what I'm doing. How could everything be so wrong even after so much time?

How could something as horrible as that
still
happen? And for what? Why? To send a message to me?

If that was the case, why not just send me the message? Why pin a note to a little girl's pajamas and hope she found me?

My mind flashes over that note.

I'm not a fool. I know what they want.

I
don't
know what I need to do. What I
should
do. If I do abdicate, I'd be giving in to a terrorist and that's not something I'm willing to do. If I don't, more innocent people will lose their lives. Am I willing to pay that cost?

I think of Myra, asleep in my bed because she's terrified the monsters will come for her.

Tears slide over my cheeks and I pull my knees up to my chin and sob into my thighs.

After who knows how long, I feel a hand on my back, and look up to see Asher frowning down at me.

“Evie,” he says. The sadness in his eyes melts in his voice.

I quickly wipe my face with the backs of my hands. They're still bandaged, but they're bloody. I don't know if it's my blood or Tate's and Kara's. I blink as if I haven't just been bawling my eyes out.

Tears are a weakness.

He grabs my hands. “Stop that,” he says. “You can't keep your tears from me. Even if I hadn't seen it, I'd have known.” He pulls me up and into his arms, but I pull away.

“I don't need you to do this. I'm fine.” I hiccup. “I'll be fine.” It comes out as barely a whisper.

“You're not fine, Evie. You've been here for half an hour. And I'm sure you've been crying the whole time.” He lifts my chin with his finger. “It's not your fault.”

Even more tears slide down my cheek. “I know,” I finally choke out. “But it's so hard to know that when I'm the one who's putting this whole thing together. I'm the one who's supposed to be leading these people to their freedom. Supposed to be keeping them
safe
! But I'm also the one who pushed Mother over the edge. I knew she was close. I wanted her to fall off that ledge, but they wouldn't have died if I hadn't done what I've been doing. Undermining Mother all the time.”

“Mother went over the edge a long time ago. Way before you were born. You're just showing the people who she really is.” He hugs me. “What you're doing
is
the right thing.”

I lean my cheek on his stomach, soaking up his never-ending support. My tears come again, and this time, I let them. Drowning me and soaking Asher's shirt. But he doesn't say anything. He just sits and pulls me tightly into him, letting me cry without saying a word. A strong rock in the storm of my emotions.

And as I'm sitting there, letting him comfort me, I realize something. I can't lose him. He's all I have of a real family. My brother. Whether that's true in the genetic sense or not. He is mine. And I can't lose him.

I have to take the next step. This stupid cat-and-mouse game of Mother's needs to stop. Mother needs to go and I need to be the one to make it happen. I've been afraid to; my instincts were telling me not to. To wait until Gavin came back with Lenore. But Asher's right. It's time to really show Elysium what Mother is. It's time to take back the city. Mother isn't going to change. It's time to stop chipping at her base and just take her down.

“I think you're right,” I finally say. “Gavin isn't coming. And I can't continue to keep the people here. It's not safe, here or there. It's time to finish this.” I know he'll know exactly what I'm talking about. That's the great thing about Asher. He always seems like he's one step ahead of me. Watching out for me. The best big brother a girl could have.

He pushes me away, but grips my shoulders, staring me directly in the eyes. “Are you sure? Maybe you should wait until you're not so…”

“Emotional?” I say with a laugh.

He nods, but sighs. “You know I'll stand with you no matter what you choose.”

I smile. A real one this time. “You've always stood with me. There's no one I trust here more than you. You're my best friend. My brother.” I kiss his nose. “I don't know what I'd do without you.”

He pulls me back into his chest for another tight hug. “I don't know what I'd do without you either.”

A throat clears behind me and I turn to see Nadia standing in the doorway. I palm my tears away and stand, straightening my dress. Asher stands slowly as well.

“Yes, Nadia. How may we help you?”

“I'm sorry to bother you after … everything.” She looks as lost for words as I feel.

I wave my hand. “Nonsense. You're not bothering me.” But the catch in my voice gives me away.

She steps farther into the room. “We have another issue.”

My legs wobble as my knees weaken. “Not another…” I can't finish the sentence. I have the horrible thought that if I say it, it'll make it true. Asher's arm snakes around my waist, taking on my extra weight.

Nadia shakes her head. “No, ma'am.”

“Then what?”

In answer, Nadia steps aside, and my breath catches in my throat. Asher's whole body tenses beside me. Behind her is Gavin.

He looks awful. His hair is a rats' nest of snarls and sopping wet. Water drips over his entire face and onto his clothes. Those are soaked as well, and his arms and face are covered in mud and scratches.

He reminds me of the first time I saw him.

My first instinct is to run to him. To hug him. To pull him to me and tell him I'm so glad he came back, but just seeing him has me in a chaotic mess of emotions. I'm so completely relieved he's here I'm light-headed, but I'm also filled with pure irrational anger that he's okay and it took him so long to come back. I don't care that he probably has a good reason. He scared the hell out of me.

I do walk to him, but when I reach him, it isn't to hug him or kiss him or any of my initial instincts. I glare at him. Then I punch him in the face.

“Oh my God! That was awesome!” Asher says, laughing, from behind me.

“Oh!” Lenore says next to him.

Immediately, shock and embarrassment replace the anger. I can't believe I just did that! What in the world is wrong with me? But I can't control the whirlpool of emotions in me.

“You were just supposed to be gone a little while,” I yell at Gavin, who holds a hand to his nose. His eyes are wide with surprise. “Like going into the next room. It's easy. Here, I'll show you.”

I storm past him and a shocked Nadia to walk through the door they came in. Am I being completely irrational? Absolutely, but I don't care. I slam the door behind me, wait to the count of three, then swing the door open again and walk through again, completely focused on his amused eyes. “See! That's how you do that.”

Then I burst into tears and barrel toward him. His cold arms immediately wrap around me and pull me closer. I don't even care that he's soaking wet. Or dirty. Or freezing. I only care that he's here.

“Good-bye,” I whisper into his chest.

He chuckles and presses his lips to the top of my head. “I think you have that backward.”

“No. I have that in just the right order.”

I knew I missed him, but I had no idea how much until just this moment, and I can't bear to let him go. So I don't. I stand there, holding him, letting him hold me—the only good news this day has given me.