I knew by “here” he meant “cities” in general. He managed to say it without that disgusted curl of his lip, though. “It’s generally frowned upon,” I replied.
Oren shrugged, depositing the gloves in a bin at the edge of the mats. “You ask me, if someone’s trying to kill you, you’d better try and kill them first, whether they’re a girl or not.”
I took a step back. “Well, I ought to—”
“Did you come looking for me?” Oren turned back from the bin again, watching me through the sandy-brown hair that fell across his eyes.
“What? No. No, I was just going for a walk.”
Oren made no move to leave. “You just had that look, that’s all.”
“What look?”
His lips twitched—it might’ve been a trick of the low light, but it looked almost like a tiny smile. “You scowl when you’re thinking. You get a little line, just here.” He lifted his hand to touch a fingertip to his own forehead, just between his eyebrows. “You weren’t scowling at Olivia, so I can only assume it’s me you’re after.”
There was no reply to that. I’d had no idea Oren could read me so well. He read the tracks of animals and the patterns of the weather, but where had he learned to understand people?
I sighed, shaking my head. “I was looking for you,” I admitted. “But I changed my mind. It’s something I have to figure out on my own.”
Oren flexed his fingers and rotated his wrists for a few moments, then put his hands in his pockets. “Something to do with your new teacher?”
His voice made me pause. His face was blank, even cool, his pale eyes lingering on mine. But there was a darker edge to his tone, so subtle I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t gotten so used to scanning him when we first started traveling together for the slightest hints of what was going on inside his head.
Could he be as thrown by our sudden separation as I was? Even if—and I refused to acknowledge the way my throat closed—even if he was happy working so closely with Olivia, it didn’t mean he’d completely forgotten I existed.
Suddenly I found myself saying, “I think I know a way of getting to the surface; it’s in Basil’s journal. I think if I can do that, the people here will trust me enough to let me lead a rescue mission, too. Because I had an idea about getting into CeePo—about finding Tansy, and Nix too if they’ve got it.”
Oren’s expression flickered as he gave a little grunt. “You’re sure you want to go after them? A girl who betrayed you and a machine built by the people who used you?”
I had to smile at that, albeit wearily. “Nix defied its programming to help me. And I believe Tansy genuinely wanted to do the right thing, even if she wasn’t being honest about it. I can’t let whatever happened to my brother happen to her.”
Oren lifted a shoulder in another shrug. “If you say so. Where do I come in?”
I hesitated. It wasn’t Oren’s fight. I’d already uprooted his life, made him the only self-aware monster in existence, made it so this underground prison was the only place he’d be safe. And now I was asking him to risk losing that too.
“Tell me.” He moved closer to me, his voice quiet and calm.
“I could find a way to do it without you,” I said slowly. “I think.” I kept trying to push down my uneasiness, to trust that Oren could say no if he wanted to. I’d follow you anywhere, he told me. I wasn’t sure it was fair to ask this of him.
But he nodded, urging me on, so I took a deep breath and said, “You’re Lethe’s most wanted criminal right now. Don’t you think Prometheus himself would want a look at you?”
Oren was silent, his eyes on mine. I could almost see him thinking, his gaze searching, his lips pressed together. Then, very slowly, he nodded. “We’re going to need Wesley.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. We. Relief was like a cool breeze stirring the still, humid air. I felt the muscles in my shoulders relaxing by degrees. No matter what was happening between him and Olivia, Oren was still my ally. Still my friend.
“We can go to him in the morning,” I suggested. “I’ll work out the details tonight.”
“I’ll help,” Oren said firmly. He started to move past me, leading the way out of the training cavern.
I had turned to follow when a thought struck me. “Oren— why do this? You could live here. You could be happy here.”
“Why do this?” Oren echoed. He paused, looking over his shoulder. “You’re asking me to.”
My throat closed, stomach lurching oddly.
“Besides,” he continued with a shrug. “I may not be your scout friend’s biggest fan, but I owe that little demon bug.”
I blinked. “Owe Nix? For what?”
Oren looked mildly surprised, his tone suggesting I should have guessed his answer. “It saved your life.”
CHAPTER 16
“This is absurd. She’s been here less than a week—why are we even listening to her?” Marco, the young man who had doubted me when I first arrived, slammed his hand down on the table in the War Room. “She’s going to get herself and her friend grabbed, and she’ll blow Wesley’s cover to boot. If she wants to throw her life away, that’s her business. But we need Wesley.”
I held my breath and hoped Oren would restrain himself. But I couldn’t spare him a glance, couldn’t afford to show signs of uncertainty or weakness. I was just a sixteen year-old girl facing down a room full of people older, smarter, and savvier than I was.
I expected Parker to defend me in his quiet way, remind Marco that I was the girl in the journal, the sister of the only boy who’d ever gotten close to Prometheus. But instead he was silent, expression troubled behind his beard. My heart started to sink even as my thoughts kicked into overdrive, trying to think of some new way to explain the idea, some way to convince them it was the right thing to do.
Instead, to my surprise, it was Wesley who spoke.
“I believe we ought to consider her proposal,” he said slowly. “She may not have been here long, but she and this young man survived alone in the wilderness for weeks. This one faced down a horde of Empty Ones with only a knife, and Lark turned away an entire army of machines.”
Parker spoke up, his expression still conflicted. “But the journal,” he protested. “We need her.”
“And this is what she’s gotten from it. That’s what you wanted, right? Some new information only she could decode? Parker, do you really think we can afford to ignore the strongest weapon we’ve found since the journal was discovered because we don’t have the guts to go through with anything?”
My mouth was dry, as though it had been stuffed with cotton. Being described as a weapon made me feel sick, lightheaded. But Wesley was the only one speaking out in favor of my plan, and I couldn’t afford to correct him. Besides, we needed him. I could hardly believe what I was hearing—if we failed, he stood the most to lose.
Wesley’s statement had silenced the room. The rest of them hadn’t heard more than the vaguest details about my escape from my city and what had happened at the Iron Wood. I’d only told Wesley because he demanded the full account to better understand my abilities. That I’d faced down an army and won was news to them. Even Marco went quiet, glancing at me and then dropping his gaze.
I cleared my throat, the sound harsh in the silence. “If it doesn’t work, you’re under no obligation to respond. If we can’t reach Prometheus, if Oren and I get caught, then we won’t expect you to come in after us. Wesley’s reputation will remain intact because he’ll have been the one who brought us in.”