She gives me one last, mighty shove and I lose my balance. I crawl forward to grasp Dyl’s hand so hard, I can’t feel my own fingers.
“I won’t let you go this time,” I say, trying to calm us both.
Around the bend, three figures in shadow walk toward us. I see the guy with the lizard skin from the Alucinari Rooms. A girl with white hair and dark clothes walks next to him. She was the one who came to our room at New Horizons, who numbed me up in the club. Caliga. She spins a foot-long, narrow black stick in her hand. Micah hangs back behind them, casually holding a titanium gun. There is no kindness on his face.
“You came early,” he says, and points the gun at me.
“No—”
It’s all I can say before a neat click sounds, and instantly something sharp hits my right shoulder. My hand goes there and yanks out a piece of metal. It looks like a tiny thumbtack, but even now the image of it blurs. It only takes seconds before the sedative enters my flesh, washing over me with an icy sensation that spreads quickly to my chest, neck, and legs. I sink to the ground.
The boy with the scabbed armor kicks the dirt. “Idiot. You’re not supposed to shoot her until later. Now I have to carry her.”
“Shut up, Tegg. Make loverboy carry her,” Caliga says. She fiddles with the end of her stick, and a long, sharp point emerges from the blunted end. “Why’d you make me bring this stupid thing?”
Tegg cuts in. “Who’s going to take care of the bait, then?”
“Leave her. She’s fulfilled her purpose. Worth her weight in dirt now.”
I try to get up, but my legs won’t move. Three pairs of feet in front of me kick dust into my eyes and I squint painfully, blinded by the grit. New shouts and yells come from far away. I keep my hand squeezed as tight as I can manage around Dyl’s, but her fingers go slack. She’s fainted.
“Goddammit, Kw. The whole loser army is here!”
Hex’s thunderous roar enters my ears and pounding feet crash close by. My heart expands despite the drug. That’s my loser army they’re talking about. Hex goes straight for Tegg, tackling him to the ground in a cloud of dust and brown arms and huge shoulders. Micah’s darts go whizzing through the air, and then abruptly, they stop firing.
“Step away, bitch.” I look up and see Vera standing by me, holding a rusted metal pole like a baseball bat. Her lean muscles are green and taut, ready to spring. Caliga’s confidence has rapidly shrunken. She still holds the short black stick in her hand, hesitating. She feigns a run to the left, and Vera swings her pole. Tegg lunges for it while Hex is staggering a few feet away. The pole is wrenched out of Vera’s hand.
Hex slams Tegg’s scabby body from behind, four huge bulging arms like a vise, clamping Tegg’s arms down. The pole drops, but before Vera can get it again, Caliga rushes to me and jams the black stick into my hip.
I scream, but no sound comes from my mouth. The pain in my hip is sharp and cracking, as if a bar of pure steel is being thrust into my bones and shaking me from the inside out.
I can’t do anything to resist. I don’t have enough air in my lungs to utter a single word of protest. Suddenly, the bar is yanked out, accompanied by a thud, a scream, and Caliga’s body flying several feet and skidding on the gravel.
“Home fucking run,” Vera growls, readying the pole again for another swing.
“Go, let’s go!” Caliga yells, clenching her hurt arm. More footsteps are approaching. I see the junkyard guards with syncope guns. Only now do I see Micah and Cy. Cy’s lying down, his arms red, the skin falling off them. Micah’s staggering a few feet away, his mouth a bloody mess. His broken gun lies on the ground.
“Zel!” Micah lunges toward me, and Vera blocks him with her pole. He grabs it, and instantly she lets go with a shriek, holding her shocked hands. He comes to grab my wrist, and a violent charge of electricity shoots up my arm. The agony is too much, and blackness starts to creep into my vision. I can’t reach my necklace because my hands won’t move. My mouth won’t open and there is no lungful of breath to push out my wail of pain.
“No!” someone yells. I hear Micah get pummeled, either by Vera or Hex or Cy, I have no idea anymore. Dyl’s limp hand is pulled from mine, and I scream. But I don’t. It’s my heart screaming, because I can’t breathe anymore. Shadows infect my vision completely now. My head hits the gravel.
“Shit, she’s turning purple. Cy! Get over here!”
I’m sinking fast, under warm waves of water, but there’s no water here. There’s no ocean in Neia, if you don’t count the gold fields on the agriplane. I laugh in my head, but it’s a distant sound. Someone gently moves my body, and my eyelids flutter as Cy’s wide-eyed face dips closer. His lips press against mine.
And then, darkness.
CHAPTER 19
THREE THINGS.
A sharpness at the side of my head.
Pain burrowing into my left hip.
And the relentless push and pull of air forcing its way into my body and out, without my consent.
It’s all without my consent.
I don’t want it. Any of it.
A groan lumbers out of my mouth. It’s the only vocalization I can manage.
“Take it easy, Zelia. The drug is wearing off. You’ll be okay in a little while.” A cool, soft hand touches my head, and my pain lessens a tiny fraction. Marka. In her voice, there is concern and sadness. And yes, I’m sure of it—disappointment.
“Off,” I mumble, and one of my hundred-pound arms lifts to yank away the necklace. Someone stops my hand, settles it back into place.
“Not yet. You’re not ready.”
“What happened?” My tongue is thick and clumsy, and speaking hurts my throat. The cool hand is replaced by a warmer one that touches my neck, then my left palm. It finally rests on my forearm. It feels nice. I wish I had a blanket like this hand, so I could wrap myself within it to hide from what I’m starting to remember.
“We followed you. Cy said he couldn’t find you, and Wilbert can’t keep a secret for crap, so we took the other char.” It’s Hex, but his voice comes from where my feet are, so his hand isn’t the warm one touching me.
“Dyl . . . ?” I ask. I can’t manage the rest—how is she? Is she safe?
Cy answers this time. “They took her back. We—weren’t fast enough.”
I finally open my eyes. Vera and Hex sit near my feet. Hex has a black eye and a fat purple lip, and Vera is clutching Hex’s two right arms. Cy is at my side. It’s his hand on my arm. He doesn’t move an inch, as if he has no plans to take it away.
“I tried to take Dyl with me, but she wouldn’t go. Then Caliga said to leave her, so why did they take her back? I don’t understand.” My voice is all squeaky, and my throat burns with fire. Tears squeeze out and slip down my temples. “I didn’t want you guys involved.” I see Hex’s bruised face and start crying full force, covering my face in shame. “I’m sorry . . . I’m so sorry.”
It’s quiet for a long time. The sorrys don’t even begin to describe how awful I feel. I’m an utter failure.
“Zelia, the other Aureus members were there for one reason. They wanted you.” Marka speaks carefully, afraid I’ll miss a syllable. “Do you know why?”
I shake my head, but the movement hurts me. “No. Dyl’s DNA is the one with all these extra sequences. I’ve tested almost all of them, but they’re all coming back as trash DNA.” I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, but it’s Cy’s that bother me the most.
“We need to do a comparison with a sample from you,” he says. “Something’s not right.”
And that’s when I get it. My entire reality shifts so abruptly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Earth stopped rotating and I flew off into space. Because everything I know about my life is wrong.