Renegade (32 page)

I tamp down my irritation. “Yes, it’s unpleasant, but we have to keep moving. Sitting here and crying isn’t going to help us.”

He looks up, surprise widening his eyes. “Excuse me?”

No matter how much I want to, I can’t swallow my reply. It’s like someone is speaking through me. “Get up, Surface Dweller. Keep moving. We don’t have time for theatrics.”

“Theatrics?” He starts to speak, but cuts himself off.

The look on his face makes my hand go to my plasma pistol. I draw it out and point it at him, my finger itching to squeeze the trigger even as I wish I could take back everything I said. My voice won’t cooperate, so I just glare down at him.

He lifts an eyebrow, and I see so many emotions whirling in his eyes that it finally breaks the hold my training has over me. I drop my hand to my side and shove the pistol into the belt. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m trying … I just … can’t. Okay? I can’t control this. You should just leave. Now. Without me, before I really can’t control myself.”

There’s a scratching sound as he stands and I squeeze my eyes closed even tighter. My heart breaks at the sound of his footsteps.

He’s leaving. I finally pushed him away.

Instead, he pulls me against him. I struggle to pull away, but he holds on tightly. “No, I’m sorry, Evie. I know that’s not you talking. And I’m not leaving you. We’re in this together. Remember? I’m not leaving you and you’re not leaving me. Got it?”

“This is so bad. Horrible,” I say, my voice cracking. The Conditioning is pulling at me again. “I can’t do this without my training. I have to let it take over.”

“I know. We need to keep going. There’s nothing we can do about those people. They’re dead. We’re not, and we have to remember that and keep going. The sooner we get out, the sooner we’re safe.” He squeezes me again, before letting me go. “You can do this. I trust you.”

His words chill my blood, but I nod and open my eyes. Even in the dark I can tell he’s pale, but I have to give him credit. There’s not even a tremor in his legs. He palms the plasma pistol again and says, “Ready?”

I straighten my shoulders and let the Conditioning in again. “More than ready. Let’s get going.”

There are more bodies along the way, but no one is ever alive. The farther we go and the more bodies we run into, the harder it is to keep my emotional side in check. To keep the Enforcer part of me going without giving in to my programmed distrust of Gavin.

We finally reach the dead end that should be where the subs are. There’s a small double sliding door with a sign that says,
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
.

Since “prosecuted” is Mother speak for executed, I’m not surprised no one has tried to get in here.

There’s a flat glass panel on the side for handprint access. I don’t want Mother to know where we are, so I open the back of the panel.

Less than thirty seconds later I’m replacing the panel and there’s a soft snick as the bolt unlocks. I nearly smile in relief when the doors slide open. I want to be safe—to go slow—but a sudden scream behind us propels me through the door. Whatever’s on the inside can’t be worse than what is outside.

I’m wrong. The door shuts behind us with an ominous clang and we look out over the submarines’ bay … which is filled with Enforcers.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY-SIX

Way down yonder, down in the meadow,

There’s a poor wee little lamby.

The bees and the butterflies pickin’ at its eyes,

The poor wee thing cried for her mammy.

—CHILDREN’S SONG, PART OF PRE-SCHOOL CURRICULUM

So, this is where they’ve all been. No wonder they haven’t stopped us.

Gavin groans. “I don’t suppose
any
part of this escape could be easy.”

I have to laugh. “What’s the fun in that?”

Veronica, the apparent leader of the Enforcers, steps out of the group.

“We have been waiting for you,” she says.

Time to bluster. I spread my hands out to encompass the room. “Obviously. I can’t imagine why you would stay in here otherwise. Though the view is lovely.” I gesture to the clear glass door that leads to one of the submersibles.

Gavin snickers, but the Enforcer only bares her teeth. “This is not a joking matter. You’ve caused enough trouble and Mother has had quite enough of the both of you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I exchange another grin with Gavin. “We didn’t mean to keep you waiting. We didn’t know you’d be here. If we had, we’d have gotten here sooner.”

She laughs, and it has this hollow sound to it that sends chills racing up and down my spine. “You don’t
really
remember me, do you?” she asks, but gives me no time to answer as she continues without pause. “I was recruited after you.” Her fist clenches and then unclenches. “Every training exercise I had to hear how I should look up to you. How
all
the girls should look up to you. That you were the best. The Governess’s little
pet,
and everyone else had to follow in your shadow.”

“What are you
talking
about?” I ask.

“Oh, stop playing stupid. I know you’re not as dumb as you want everyone to think. I should know. You were constantly upstaging me. The child prodigy. You aced all your language classes. Broke all the training records. Had your first kill at the age of six. You were Little Miss Perfect.”

Gavin looks back and forth between the two of us. He doesn’t say anything, but I have to wonder what he’s thinking. If he’s questioning how much I know. How much I remember. And, if I do remember, why I haven’t said anything to him.

I give a small shake of my head to tell him I don’t remember any of what she’s saying.

“But you weren’t perfect, were you? You were a
failure
.” She gives me a smug grin. “Which left me to take your place. And I did.
I
became Mother’s new prodigy. And I’m better than you ever were.”

I don’t say anything. I don’t know what she wants from me.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she snarls.

“Say what? That I’m scared? Or surprised? Angry? What?”

“I’ve waited years for this moment.” She presses her fists to her eyes. “And it isn’t going at all how I wanted it to. You don’t care. Just like always.
You’ve never cared about anyone but yourself
.”

Her words remind me of what Macie said.
“Mother and Father adore you. You can do no wrong in their eyes.… You’ve never cared about anyone but yourself.… But now this Surface Dweller comes and you show what you really are. A selfish, flighty, and foolish little girl.”

Are they both right? Am I really so selfish I never noticed this girl?

Then I remember what happened to Nick. What Mother did to him. What she’s done to the men we killed. What she did to
me
. It’s all because of the Conditioning.

“You’re still not
listening
!” she yells, pulling me back from my thoughts.

“You’re right,” I say. “I am selfish.”

Gavin gives me a quizzical look with his brows knit together. The girl, however, tilts her head as if not understanding what I said.

“But so are you,” I continue. “And it’s because of Mother that we’re this way. It’s the Conditioning. You think you’re her new prodigy? Her pet? Think again! She’s using you. Just like she used me.”

Veronica laughs. “Nice try. Is that what
he
wants you to think?” She jerks her head toward Gavin. “It’s more like he’s using you. And you expect me to fall for it, too?” She laughs. “Mother explained everything to me. How your training failed and your true self is coming out. That without the Conditioning
you’re just a stupid, flighty, foolish girl
.”

“… But now this Surface Dweller comes and you show what you really are. A selfish, flighty, and foolish little girl.”

My eyes widen as I begin to understand. Why the two sound the same. Macie was Conditioned. Just like Veronica. Like Nick. Like me.

“… And you can’t even see that Mother isn’t using you. She’s had only the best intentions for you. It’s the Surface Dweller who is.”

I glance over at Gavin, who is glaring at the girl. He shoots me a worried look, but I turn my attention back to her.

“No,” I say. “He isn’t. But Mother is using you. And me. She’s destroying the city. She’s experimenting with Conditioning, and it’s failing!”

She shakes her head. “That’s what Mother said you’d say. It’s not destroying anything.”

“We’ve seen it,” Gavin blurts out. “Everyone in this Sector is either dead or some kind of experiment gone bad. People are
killing
one another.”

Veronica raises her brow. “Then you must feel right at home, Surface Dweller. Your people are nothing but savages and murderers.” She dismisses him and turns back to me. “No one here was killed by anyone other than us. They were traitors, just like you.”

It’s no use arguing with her, and we’re wasting time. Gavin nudges me and then tilts his head toward the left. I follow his gaze to see he’s gesturing to the control panel for the submersibles.

Obviously, he wants to get over there so we can open the doors to one of the tiny little ships. I give a slight incline of my head, gesturing to him that I understand and agree.

“They were innocents,” I shout, startling everyone but Gavin, who creeps toward the panel.

Veronica glares at me. “They were not. They were helping you escape. Once they found out you’d murdered your best friend. They were coming to your aid.”

“What? No they weren’t.” Why would they do that?
After
I killed Macie? It doesn’t make sense.

“Yes. They were Timothy’s friends and family.” She tilts her head. “Remember him?”

I don’t say anything. I’m too shocked. That was his name. The boy with all the blood.

“Oh, of course, you don’t,” she snickers. “Why should you? He was nothing. Just a commoner. A Third that was never good enough. Just. Like. You.”

“He wasn’t a nothing. Not to me. I thought I loved him,” I say quietly, as the memories of all the times we’d snuck out together collide in my mind. Gavin stops and stares at me, his eyes a storm of emotions.

All those twisted memories make sense now. The dark recesses. The rough touches and gentle kisses.
The plan
. One night plays in front of my eyes. We’d decided we’d couple. I’d chosen him.

Then Mother had him killed.

Veronica laughs. “You loved him? Well, look where that got him. Two shots to the chest and a permanent resting place at the bottom of the sea.” She glances over at Gavin—who pales—with a grin. “Better hope she doesn’t love you, Surface Dweller. Or you’ll never make it out. Oh wait. That isn’t going to happen anyway.”

Anger bubbles up in me, then just as suddenly it’s gone. I grin at the girl, whose smile fades when I say, “I’m not
nothing
. I’m more than you’ll ever be.”

I lift the plasma pistol up and aim at her.

Nothing happens.

Veronica bursts out laughing. “Out of ammo? See? You
are
a failure.”

“First rule,” I say, swinging the Reising up to my shoulder. “Always come prepared.” I pull the trigger slightly so only a single bullet leaves the chamber.

It’s a perfect shot, and the sound echoes throughout the tiny room. But I’m not prepared for what happens next.

The bullet tears through her chest and hits the Enforcer behind her, but Veronica remains standing.

“Ow,” she says. “That hurts!” Then she sprints forward, coming straight at me.

I shoot again. This time a three-round burst. They rip through her and blood sprays everywhere, but it still doesn’t stop her. She tackles me to the ground and my head slaps the concrete. Stars dance in my eyes and compete with the wave of pain.

But I don’t have time to wallow in it. She’s trying to tear me apart. It takes everything I have to wrangle my legs between us. I set my feet on her chest and kick as hard as I can.

She flies backward into her group of Enforcers. I don’t understand why they aren’t attacking me. Why didn’t they kill us the minute we stepped in here?

I shove myself to my feet and glance around for Gavin. He’s over at the control panel, but he’s facing down two Enforcers. While he looks like he’s fighting with everything he has, they’re not even breaking a sweat.

What is going
on
here?

Hearing a shout, I twist my body just in time for Veronica to pass by. When she turns back around, she’s covered in blood, but the wounds on her body are closing. I don’t understand what I’m seeing.

She grins. “I asked for better healing. I was already perfect at everything else.”

Wonderful.

I glance over to where Gavin is still fighting with the girls. They’re just slapping away his advances like he’s an annoying fly.

Even Veronica is just standing there in front of me. Grinning.

“You’re wondering why you aren’t dead yet, aren’t you?”

I nod.

“We have orders to try and take you alive. Both of you.” She smiles wider. “But what Mother doesn’t know won’t hurt us and I’m done playing games.”

She pulls out her gun and aims it at me at the same time I slap in a canister and pull out the plasma pistol, taking aim at Veronica. “Last chance, Veronica. Stand down and let us by, or I shoot you and your girls.”

She laughs. “Haven’t you learned anything? Bullets have no long-term effects on me.”

“They don’t have to.” I sigh. “These aren’t bullets.”

I aim and fire. The surprise on her face quickly morphs into fear, then pain. But before the flames can engulf her face, the rest of the Enforcers are pulling out their own guns. Gavin yanks the plasma pistol out of his pocket and shoots the nearest one. My eyebrows lift when he manages to get not only the first girl, but also the one nearest to her with the single blast. They drop to the ground, fire encasing them, and even though they’re still trying to get to him, it isn’t long before they’re a pile of ash on the ground.