“Are you okay?” I ask.
She nods. “Yeah. Perfect.”
Asher shoots me an uneasy glance. He knows as well as I do how far from perfect we are right now.
“Do you want me to carry you?” I ask. I don’t know if it’ll help, but at least we’d be able to keep going.
She looks up at me with the look of “Are you insane?” She shakes her head. “No. I’ve got it.”
For the next several minutes we continue up the constantly sloping floor until even I’m winded. The last week of running all over the Outlands has taken its toll. At least for the trip from Rushlake, I had a horse. Even if I did have to steal it. My whole body aches and I just want to collapse right here and sleep for a month. But I don’t trust Eli enough to close my eyes even for a second. Looks like sleep is off the menu until we leave.
And then we come to the open doorway that leads into the main part of Elysium. Up ahead, I can see the pools of light in the center of the Square, though the shops and businesses around it appear dark. Closed up for the night. It looks peaceful, like my own village after dark, but I know it’s nothing like that. Everything in this place is manufactured. False peace. Fake plants, a fake moon overhead, and a weird smell like baked goods. But even that isn’t quite right. It’s more candy-like—a sickly sweet—instead of real spices and sugar.
I have to fight not to turn and run in the other direction as every cell in my body warns me of the danger. Eli gestures for us to get into the shadows made by the lights just outside of the tunnel, so we slip around the corner and press ourselves against the walls as he goes on ahead. My mind screams that we can’t trust him, that he works for her. He’s not bringing us to help, he’s bringing us to Mother.
With a small shudder, I push the thoughts away. I don’t have a choice. Evie is determined Eli can help and Asher’s the classic case of curiosity killing the cat. Even as I think it, he steps into the light to look closer at something. I bark at him to get back into the shadows. Which he does with an “oops” expression, but doesn’t look all that concerned. I have to remind myself, he doesn’t know what could be watching him. Literally. And he doesn’t realize that his silver tongue isn’t going to be able to talk him out of any trouble he’s gotten into.
We wait and I look around, trying to find the turrets, but I can’t see any from my angle. I take slow, deep breaths to calm my own unease. What if Eli’s going to get an Enforcer? Or Mother? What if he doesn’t come back at all?
It’s so quiet around here. Last time we were here, this street—the whole Sector—was filled with people. So much so we couldn’t walk from one end of it to the other without having to weave between them. Where are all the Citizens? The Enforcers? Guards, even?
Something’s wrong. I can feel it.
A few minutes later, Eli reappears, alone, and gestures for us to follow him. “Keep quiet. The city is under curfew.”
“Curfew?” Asher asks with raised eyebrows and Evie knits her brow together as if that doesn’t quite make sense.
Glancing at her, Eli says, “Mother instituted it shortly after you … left. In fact, she started a lot of new, more restrictive laws using you as an excuse.”
“Wonderful,” Evie murmurs. Guilt drips from every syllable and I can’t help but feel for her. She shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t know what happened after we left. This isn’t at all what should have happened. I clench my fists, then force myself to relax them.
Just then Eli curses under his breath and yanks Evie deeper into the shadows. I immediately do the same, knowing better than to take longer than a second. When I turn, my back pressed as tightly as possible against the wall, I see someone that makes the blood in my veins turn to ice. An Enforcer stepping out of the shadows. I thought—wanted, hoped—I’d never see one again, but she’s unmistakable with her all-black clothing. The short dress that falls to just above her knees. The long boots, the tops hiding under the skirt, and the gloves and cape that cover the rest of her exposed skin. She’s looking right at us. Right at Evie.
Her eyes flick to Asher, who was the slowest of us getting to the wall, and I want to hit him when he whispers, quite loudly, “What’s going on?”
“Enforcers.” I barely breathe the word. It’s probably still too loud, but if I don’t answer him, he’ll just keep questioning. Next to me, Evie shifts from one foot to the other, and grasps my arm tightly. She’s shaking. Or maybe that’s me. The last time I saw an Enforcer up close, she was trying to put a bullet in me.
But then she—the Enforcer—steps backward into the dark. It’s almost as if she’s melting into them, becoming part of just one large Enforcer shadow. My muscles spasm at the thought.
Eli narrows his eyes, but doesn’t say anything. After a minute, he continues forward. Cautiously, I follow, sticking like glue to the walls. Last time, the shadows meant for the Enforcers kept us safe from the turrets. Not that running into more Enforcers is on my list of priorities—that last one is still causing my nerves to spit sparks throughout my body—but maybe with Eli here, they’ll ignore us.
I won’t get my hopes up.
I think he’s going to lead us to the maintenance tunnels Evie and I used the last time we were here, but instead he walks right past them.
“We aren’t going to use the tunnels?” I ask, tense.
He doesn’t even spare me a glance. “She’s too weak to crawl up the ladders on her own. Now hush and keep up.”
I glance nervously at a section of the ceiling that has a black pole protruding from it. “What about the turrets?”
This time he stops, but only long enough to give me a look. “Do you think I didn’t already think of that, Surface Dweller? I would not let harm come to my daughter, even if that means protecting someone like you. Now hurry, before another Enforcer sees us and all my precautions were for naught.”
I bite back a nasty comment, because he’s right. While the Square appears to be deserted, it doesn’t mean we can drop our guard. Enforcers could be anywhere. Didn’t Evie teach me that?
We move quickly through the spookily quiet city. Every once in a while an Enforcer steps out of the shadows, and every time they look in our direction, I think we’re busted. That it’s all over. But they just slide back into the shadows.
“What the hell,” I whisper.
Eli turns to me with an equally confused look, but his eyes are filled with worry and not a little fear. He mutters, “That’s not good.” Then he speeds up, but it still feels way too slow for me.
If Eli is worried, “that’s not good” is an understatement. My heart gallops in my chest and I feel cold, like I’ve just drunk an entire gallon of ice water in one shot. The only thing not stopping me from running straight back to the sub is Evie. Even though it’s obvious she’s terrified with her wide eyes and colorless face, she also looks resolute. There’s no way I’d get her out of here without a fight. Which would only draw more attention to us.
“This is insane,” I say as quietly as I can. “We’re going to get caught. The Enforcers know we’re here. I know they do.”
Eli only nods. “We must hurry. It’s safe where I’m taking you. I assure you.”
I’m not “assured,” but Evie follows, leaving me no choice unless I hit her over the head and drag her back with me. I have to admit, that’s looking more and more like a good option.
Suddenly, there’s a giggle and shout.
“Meredith! No. Stop!”