Unraveled (20 page)

“Who knows how long they’ve been there, though,” I say quietly to him.

Sebrina perks up. “I’ve only had one. I made it last until I fell asleep.”

The pride is evident in her voice, even though she has no idea how much she’s really
told me.

“He must have gone out in the last few days,” I say to Erik. “Maybe not long ago if
she’s only had one.”

“Then her parents could still be alive,” he says. To the right of us, Jost draws in
a long breath and I remember that Sebrina still has one living parent and immediately
feel guilty.

“We should bring her with us,” Dante says. “Even if they’re alive, they won’t be much
longer.”

I’m not sure what to expect Jost to say in this moment. He’s waited for years to get
his daughter back. He lost too much time trying to find her, yet he doesn’t sweep
in and scoop her up. Instead he shakes his head. “I want to talk to her … parents.”

“They’re infected,” Erik reminds him.

“I don’t expect you to understand. I barely do myself. But what the Guild did—these
people had no part of it,” he says slowly, as though he’s working through it himself.
“They took care of her when I couldn’t. I need them to know she’ll be cared for now.”

I can’t pretend to understand his feelings. It’s the barrier that’s always stood between
Jost and me. I’ve never felt anything as deeply as he does.

“Where are your parents?” Jost trips over the word as he asks.

Sebrina takes his hand and leads him into a short hallway. The house reminds me of
my home in Romen. Simple and efficient. Bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room,
and two bedrooms. Sebrina is the only child, so they wouldn’t need a bigger house.
The Guild gave her to them for being steady and responsible and to make up for something
the government couldn’t control. But this is how it will end for them: victims of
the government they obeyed.

Sebrina stops in front of a closed door and looks up to Jost with large eyes. He crouches
down next to her. “I’m going to talk to your parents now. I want you to wait out here.”

I move forward to take her back into the other room, but Erik beats me there. Before
I can react, Erik picks her up and takes her away from the bedroom door.

Jost’s eyes meet mine and I raise an eyebrow. Things between them have certainly changed
since I left.

“Come with me?” he asks.

“Always.”

He raps softly on the door but there’s no response. He knocks again, more loudly,
and the door shakes as something bumps against it.

“Jost…” I say in a low voice.

He raises a finger and we wait, our breath in our throats.

“I’m here to help,” Jost calls. “Your daughter says you’re sick.”

“Go away.” The voice coming through the door is rough and shallow.

“Please,” Jost says, more insistent. “I need to talk to you about your daughter.”

The door opens a fraction, but we can’t see the person behind the door. “Is she safe?”

“Yes. I can explain if you’ll open the door.”

“No!” the woman cries. “You mustn’t come in here. You have to take her away.”

“I will,” Jost promises. “But there’s something you should know. I’m Sebrina’s father.
Her biological father. I’ve been looking for her for a long time.”

There’s a long pause before the woman responds. “The Guild told us she was an orphan.”

“They told me she was dead,” Jost says. “I wanted to—”

“I didn’t know!” The woman’s voice is a shriek and I can hear how hard she clings
to control as illness ravages her body.

“I wanted to thank you,” Jost says, placing a hand on the door. “And I wanted you
to know she’ll be safe with me.”

“There’s no safety left in Arras.” A choking sound accompanies the words.

“I’m taking her away from Arras. She’ll be safe. I promise you.”

I think of Amie, rewoven as Riya, and wonder who Jost’s daughter has become. “What’s
her name now?”

Jost gives me a look that shows this never occurred to him before. But when the mother
answers, it’s not what I expect. “We call her Sebrina. We were told that was her name.”

“It is,” Jost says. “It always will be.”

“Look after her.” The mother sounds calmer now, as though knowing Sebrina will be
safe has given her enough peace to cope as she dies.

“Goodbye.” I leave the farewell lingering between us as Jost turns and takes his daughter
from Erik. She doesn’t fight him. It’s as though she somehow knows he will care for
her, even though she can’t remember him. Sometimes love survives everything, even
the darkest hours.

TWENTY

O
N
D
ANTE’S ORDER, THE
A
GENDA MEMBERS LEFT
at the Guild offices place the facility on lockdown as soon as we enter. As it’s
a former Ministry complex, there are plenty of controls in place to ensure no one
can get in or out without permission. But I can’t help feeling as though we’ve locked
ourselves in a cage.

“Where’s Valery?” Jax asks as we enter the room.

Jost shoots him a warning look. Sebrina is in his arms, nearing sleep, but trying
to keep her eyes open. I don’t blame her for wanting to see where she’s being taken.

“Do we have anything for her to eat?” Jost asks.

Jost refused to take the rations Sebrina’s adoptive father managed to bring home.
He claimed they were unsafe. He might have been right, but I knew that he wanted to
make sure Sebrina’s adoptive parents had food as well. Not one of us dared to tell
him it was a pointless waste.

Jax manages to find some rations and the remains of a chocolate stash hidden in one
of the ministers’ offices. Sebrina bites off the candy in huge chunks, sighing contentedly
while the rest of us watch.

“I’m going to find her somewhere to sleep,” Jost tells us, gathering his daughter
in his arms.

As I run my fingers along the glossy wood of the tabletop, I can’t help wondering
about the important decisions officials made here. In Arras there are three more tables
like this, all full of officials meeting to discuss the problems Arras faces. I wonder
if I’m on the list today or if Cormac has managed to cover up my escape.

“Valery?” Jax prompts as soon as Jost leaves.

I shake my head. “We were attacked. She didn’t make it.”

“Attacked?”

“There’s something out there,” Erik whispers. “A disease or a virus.”

“A swarm,” I say, thinking of how it descended upon Valery, disappearing into her
skin. “Valery sacrificed herself so we could escape. It works quickly. She was already
infected before we could reach her.” Thinking back on the attack, I’m more certain
than ever that we aren’t dealing with a natural phenomenon. The Guild is up to something.

“You’re sure you’re clean?” Jax asks. He doesn’t take a step back from us, but I sense
that he wants to.

“Trust me,” Erik says. “You can see it. Plus, it infects quickly. By the time we saw
the first victim, the woman’s skin was rotting off. She hardly looked human.”

“She reminded me of a Remnant,” I admit. I can’t get my last image of Valery out of
my head, nor the words she whispered as we passed.

Valery and I had a trying relationship on Earth, but we had been friends once, in
the way I had been friends with Enora, my mentor and her lover. We were kind to each
other, helpful even, but neither of us truly shared who we were until it was too late.
Standing here now, I realize we weren’t so very different. We both lost loved ones.
Neither of us ran until it was too late. The only thing that separated us was my skill.
It bought me time and chances I deserved no more than Valery.

“You say their skin was rotting off?” Jax asks as we find our places at a long conference
table.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Erik tells him.

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Jax tells me in a soft voice. “She wanted to make things
right with you. We talked about Enora and what she could remember. I tried to help
her reverse more of the alterations they’d done to her.”

“Were you successful?” I ask. Perhaps Valery’s legacy would live on in helping us
save the Remnants or the people affected by this disease outside.

“A little. Altering in reverse is tricky.”

I think of Amie and how eager she is to remember our mutual past, despite having gone
through multiple alterations.

“Whatever these things are,” Dante says, “they aren’t natural. They infect quickly.
We encountered several infested people on our mission, all at varying stages, even
the girl’s adoptive mother.”

“But the mother didn’t hurt you?” Jax asks.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” I say.

“The Guild considers it genetic warfare,” Albert says, settling into a seat across
from me. “Why waste valuable material if it can be used to fight your enemy? A common
pest becomes an ally in warfare, even something as simple as
Tineola bisselliella.
”

“What?” Erik asks.

“
Tineola bisselliella
—a common fabric moth,” Albert explains. “I’m afraid this is my fault. When we considered
initial concerns regarding the Cypress Project—theoretical issues and such—we discussed
whether certain species on Earth might negatively impact the artificial weave. I made
a joke about fabric moths.”

“Do I want to know what a fabric moth is?” My stomach churns as the conversation recalls
the memory of Valery’s final moments.

“An insect that eats away at fabric.”

“Let me guess. In this instance we’re the fabric?” I say.

“I’m afraid so.”

“But why? Why unleash something like that here? These people were already as good
as dead,” Dante points out.

“The Eastern Sector was rebelling. This ensures no one here can fight back,” Loricel
says.

“How was anyone in the Eastern Sector going to fight back?” I ask.

Loricel gives me a grim smile from across the table. “Cormac is a thorough man.”

That’s an understatement.

“And yet you escaped him,” I point out.

“Patton can’t stand to waste resources,” Dante says.

“You knew she was alive then?” I ask, gesturing to Loricel.

“I guessed.
Alive
is relative to a Tailor, anyway. Cormac’s like Kincaid in that way. When he thinks
people might be valuable to him, he keeps them around.” Dante shrugs as if to say
this isn’t a big deal.

“But how did you rescue her?” I ask.

“That’s an exciting story that makes me look really good. Unfortunately, I’ll have
to tell you another time,” he says.

“I’m not going anywhere until someone tells me what’s going on!”

“I see you’re going through the ungrateful-brat phase,” Dante says. “We saved you.
Show some gratitude.”

“I had plans,” I tell him. “I was going to alter Cormac, maybe take on his appearance.
But now I have no chance of ever getting close enough to him again. I’ll never save
the rest of the Remnants or slow the drilling on the surface. I’m sick and tired of
people trying to rescue me, of everyone thinking and acting like I can do nothing
right. I had enough of that from Cormac.”

“Valery did it,” Dante says, finally ready to answer my question. “We had enough information
to guess where Cormac was keeping Loricel. With a little alteration and a lot of luck,
we got in.”

“And why couldn’t you just tell me that?” I ask him.

“She didn’t want you to know.”

“Why?” I can’t think of a single reason for her to keep this from me. Valery had a
long way to go before she would be able to earn back my trust. Her participation in
rescuing Loricel could only help in that regard.

“We barely made it out of the storage facility…” His voice fades away and slowly I
begin to understand.

“Things got out of hand. I made a mistake.” Dante’s fingers tremble as he runs them
over his cropped hair. “It’s gone.”

“What’s gone?” I ask him in a hollow voice, afraid I already know the answer.

“The storage facility—and everything inside it.”

My body goes cold and numb with shock. There’s no chance to save the Remnants now.

Except my mother, Meria, whose thread is tucked safely away in my baggage. Baggage
that didn’t escape with me.

“I’m sorry,” he says in a soft voice. I know he is sorry, because to him it means
Meria is lost forever. I saw how he looked at her when he freed her from Kincaid’s
estate. Some things change with time, but others never do. Love like that leaves an
imprint. It might fade with time, but it’s always there, waiting for you to catch
it in the right light.

“Right now they have something to show us,” he reminds me. I become aware of the uncomfortable
glances of the others in the room. I can’t bring myself to tell Dante I have Meria’s
soul strand, not when he destroyed our chance at saving the others.

Jax looks for confirmation that he should begin, but my father can only manage a tight
nod. A beam of light catches my attention as it bursts across the far wall, illuminating
a screen with the image of Arras, and I’m grateful to think about something besides
dead friends and a lost mother. The image is a basic map I once saw in academy. A
rectangle with four points for the northern, southern, eastern, and western sides:
the coventries. It’s strange to see it now, knowing there’s more to Arras than a map.
This world isn’t flat. Arras isn’t limited by four corners. Now I see it as it is.
Arras wraps and engulfs the Earth like a beautiful but deadly parasite.

Jax stands up, holding a digifile and looking a bit nervous. “This is how Arras is
presented to the general population.”

“I’m not sure I got that far in school,” Erik says.

“Ignore everything he says,” I tell Jax, motioning for him to continue.

“Okay.” He swipes across the face of his digifile and the image begins to morph. “What
the map doesn’t show is the
dimensions
of Arras.”

The map shifts into a half sphere and then a model of the Earth appears below it.
Even though I’ve been to the other planet, I’m still in awe. It’s large and blue and
round. Arras hovers over about a fourth of it.