Laurel opened it not two seconds later, her face drawn. “Jag,” she said. “Thank the stars.” Laurel gathered Vi into a hug and drew her into the flat. Her relief at seeing her daughter alive was touching, but we didn’t have much time for that.
Raine and Gunner hovered in the corner near the kitchen, watching the flashes of fire outside. “Where’s Zenn?” I asked, noting his absence.
“You just missed him. He left to record another set of transmissions,” Laurel replied. Her voice held no tone, no emotion. “I came over after Starr went to Twelve to help with the volunteers.”
I frowned as Vi asked, “Another set of transmissions?”
“Irvine thinks he can isolate the feed to be heard only by Darke’s army,” Laurel said. “He needed Zenn to record the new transmissions.”
How did Irvine communicate with Zenn? How had he known to go? “Why Zenn?” I asked. Something didn’t sit right with me. My voice was four times what Zenn’s was. Gunner’s at least double. “Who asked for him?”
“Irvine,” Laurel repeated.
“Are you sure it was Irv?” I felt sick. “We were just at Twelve. Why couldn’t Thane have done the transmissions? I was there; I could’ve done it. We’ve been gone, what? Five minutes?” I started pacing. “Something isn’t right. When did Zenn leave?”
“I don’t know,” Laurel said. “Ten minutes ago?” She stepped next to Raine and Gunn and looked out the window.
“Who asked for Zenn?” I asked, knowing it hadn’t been Irvine. “Who brought the message?”
“Saffediene,” Laurel said. “She said the message came in while she flew past Twelve on her way here. She went with Zenn.”
Vi gasped. “No,” I said.
Could they abandon us now? Would they?
Should they? Could they? Would they?
Everyone looked at me. Gunner and Raine. Vi and Laurel.
“Let’s fly,” I said. “Gunner, you get to Twelve and report to Thane. Tell him to check on the transmissions there. Send anyone you can to help us look for Zenn and Saffediene.”
I was surprised my hoverboard achieved any lift what with the sinking feeling in my stomach.
Zenn
54.
I followed Saffediene until she turned away from Rise Twelve and flew toward the western wall. Something wasn’t right—had she lied to get me out of my flat so we could run away? Now?
I called after her, but she didn’t turn. Her blond hair streamed loosely behind her unwavering back. I stalled in midair, a war brewing inside me. I could fly away amid the confusion. Leave. Find a tiny apartment in a tiny city and live out my days with Saffediene by my side.
I could join the troops Ian Darke had brought back with him, though I knew there’d be no going back to the Resistance after that.
Or I could fly to Twelve and see where my talents were most needed.
Saffediene had said she believed in me. That I used to speak with conviction. I’d recorded the transmissions to urge people to make their own choices. All around me, people had done exactly that.
But Saffediene had made this decision for me. “Zenn?” She hovered in front of me now. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“Someplace safe,” she said.
“I can’t abandon the Resistance,” I said. “Not again.” I swung my hoverboard away from the wall and faced the fighting before me. “We can’t leave.”
I’d left before. I’d left Vi to face the hovercopter pilot alone, when I was thirteen.
I’d left Blaze standing in that alley to await his death.
I’d left Jag without a contact in the Goodgrounds.
I’d left Vi to attend training with the Special Forces.
I’d left my brother in Castledale, and now I didn’t know where he was, or if he was still alive.
I’d left my father’s memory in the recesses of my mind, never thinking about him, never doing anything to find him.
I’d left Saffediene in an electro-net, and all my friends to fend for themselves during the last battle.
I would not be remembered for those acts. I would not be the person who simply left when things got really hard.
“It’s not who I am,” I said.
Saffediene hovered next to me, silently crying.
“I will fight,” I said. “Because it’s the right thing to do. Because it’s what I believe in. Because I want to.”
“I love you,” she whispered. “Because you fight for what you believe in. I just thought you believed in us.”
“I do.” I didn’t tell her I loved her, because I wasn’t sure if I did. I knew I wanted to spend more time with her. I knew she could be as important to me as Vi once was.
“But some things are bigger than two people,” I said. “We leave now, and we’ll always regret it.” I reached for her hand, and she let me hold it. “Trust me, I know. I’ve turned my back on my friends many times. I’ve always regretted it.”
“Zenn, I just want you to be safe.”
“You don’t need to worry about me,” I said.
“I’m scared.” She drifted closer to me, and I threaded my fingers into hers.
“Me too, Saffediene.” I leaned in and kissed her. “Me too.”
I pulled away and took a deep breath. “But today, Saffediene, we have to face the future. Today, we fight.”
“Okay,” she said. “Okay.”
We flew toward the Rises, our tasers drawn and activated, as a scream pierced the sky.
A figure dropped in front of us, a streak of pale skin and dark hair.
“Vi!” I cried, even as the darkness swallowed her.
Jag
55.
I watched Laurel fall through the sky in slow motion, her scream stretching into thin ribbons. The sound of it would never leave me.
Someone screamed Vi’s name, and the timbre of it startled me from the shock of witnessing a Resistance member’s death.
“Zenn,” I said. Saffediene stood next to him on her own hoverboard. They both watched the disappearing form of Laurel Woods.
“Thane, it’s Zenn,” I said, mostly because he was the closest person to me. Vi hovered several feet away, her mouth open as she stared into the sky that had swallowed her mother.
I circled down and stalled in front of Zenn. “Zenn, look at me.”
He raised his shell-shocked eyes to mine, and a shudder rippled through his body.
“She knew the risks,” I said as the others joined me. “We all know the risks, right?”
A sob escaped from Saffediene. Vi nodded, along with Raine. Thane stood there, looking at me without moving. I’d never seen someone hold so still, especially while riding a hoverboard.
“We’re all needed,” I said, looking at my friends. Their talents were catalogued. Practiced. Coveted by the Association. “We all have something valuable to contribute.” I looked at the people flying around me. I thought of those who had volunteered to fight for freedom only a few hours after listening to Zenn’s messages.
“This is what we’ve been working for,” I said. “This is the night we win. The night we take back the control from those who have kept it from us for lifetimes.” My voice sounded with pure authority. “Tonight, this night, we instate a free government.”
I looked at each of them as I spoke. Vi nodded; Thane too. Raine looked worried, but pressed her mouth into a thin line of determination.
Saffediene was still crying, but Zenn said, “Tonight, we fight.”
“Two groups,” I commanded. “Thane, you’re with me. Raine, take Saffediene to Rise Twelve. Report to Irvine about Laurel”—my voice caught, but I quickly cleared it away—“Laurel’s fall. Zenn, Vi, I want you together.” The words meant so much. I knew Zenn understood what I really meant. He nodded. “Vi, tell Zenn about his dad.” I ignored the hope and worry coming from Zenn when I said that.