Cassius.
thirty-eight
I spring to my feet.
He’s the cause of all of this. All the pain, the suffering.
I’m so overwhelmed by rage, I’m paralyzed. I can only watch as Cassius slinks into the light. Behind him, I can see the outlines of two Imps holding weapons. Styles and Renquist. Of course the coward wouldn’t come to see me alone.
He looks at me with shock and pity, holding out his arms. “Oh, Lucky … look at you … I … I never wanted things to be like this … ” He takes a step forward.
I shrink from his disgusting hands. “What do you want, Cassius, huh? Killing Mrs. Bledsoe wasn’t enough for you? You need to make sure you destroy everyone I care about?” My fingernails pierce my palms.
It doesn’t matter about the Imps protecting him. I’m going to kill him right now.
He shakes his head, dislodging tears from those hateful eyes. “You have to listen to me, Lucky. I feel terrible about what’s happened. I’ve come to set things right between us.”
A hollow laugh bursts from my lips. “Set things right?”
His eyes pierce mine. “I can make sure you get Cole back.”
The words stop me cold. “What’re you talking about?”
He steps aside. A side door in the tunnel opens, letting in a stream of harsh artificial light that knifes through the dimness, causing me to squint against it. Beyond the door I can see a gangway leading to a Squawker.
“That’s my private transport,” Cassius says in hushed tones. “Right now, Recruit Juniper is traversing the sea to get to the final Trial. I can fly you instead. You’ll get there ahead of her and be reunited with Cole before she even arrives.”
His words are like hypnosis. I walk past him to the threshold, staring at the Squawker that could mean Cole’s salvation.
“You want me to cheat,” I mutter. I search the ceiling for cameras. “Aren’t you afraid your fellow officials will find out about this?”
He shakes his head. “I’ve risked making sure all the surveillance in this sector has been disabled, just so I could give you this chance.”
After everything the five of us went through-all our hard work training at Infiernos, the horrors we endured. That’s what it all comes down to. Rigging the final Trial.
He sidles up to me, but I’m too deep in thought to move. “It could all be over in a few minutes. Your brother will be safe. And all this will be over and behind us.” He rests his forehead against my shoulder. “Aren’t you tired, Lucky? Don’t you want to rest at last?”
Everything I’ve dreamed since this whole ordeal began is right at my fingertips. How many times have I thought to myself that I’d do anything to rescue Cole from this nightmare?
And now here’s my chance.
If I kill Cassius now …
I press my fingers into my throbbing temple. “Yes,” I mutter. “So tired … I can’t do this anymore … ”
But what about-
I run over to Digory. “I can’t leave you.”
He’s sitting up, his eyes barely open and coated in a gray film. “There’s nothing you can do for me now,” he says, patting my hand. “Besides … I’ve gotten out of worse scrapes.” He tries to laugh but it devolves into a choking fit that takes a minute to subside. “Listen to him, Lucian. Do what he says. Your brother needs you.”
Cassius wraps his hand around my arm and gently tugs. “For once, Tycho’s right. If you’re to beat Juniper, we have to go now.”
As much as I’ve hated Cassius up to this point, I hate him even more now.
Hate him for being right.
Digory’s hand grips my shoulder and squeezes. “I’ll … be … okay. Don’t … worry.” We hold each other’s gaze for what seems like forever.
I feel shell-shocked. I can only nod as Cassius pulls me away.
The next few minutes are a haze. Cassius leads me through the doorway and across the gangway, leaving Digory further and further behind us with every step.
When we reach the entrance to the Squawker, Styles and Renquist position themselves to flank the hatchway as Cassius takes a step inside.
I freeze, gripping the handrails.
Cassius turns to me. He smiles again and holds out his hand. “It’ll all be over soon, Lucky, you’ll see. You’ll have Cole back and we can be a family, just like we used to be.”
The gangplank whirs to life.
I turn to watch it slide away from the tunnel, leaving Digory cut off from everyone … awaiting death …
Alone.
Our eyes meet.
Once I step into this Squawker and the hatch seals, I’ll never see him again.
Cassius takes my hand. “I was just so angry before, Lucky, but it’s all over now. In time, you’ll forgive me, just like I’ve already forgiven you. And now that Tycho’s no longer between us, things will be different. I promise.”
He pulls me through the Squawker’s hatch-
Digory saved Cole’s life at a terrible cost. And here I am, wallowing in the empty promises of a liar and a murderer, leaving Digory to die all alone.
I never even told him that I-
The hatch starts to slide shut-
“I can’t.” I wrench myself free of Cassius and his treachery and squeeze out what’s left of the opening, tumbling onto the rapidly shrinking gangplank.
“What are you doing? ” Cassius yells after me.
Then I’m dashing across the dwindling walkway, my heart thundering, away from Cassius and his toxic life of endless lies and enslavement to the depravities of the Establishment.
I leap off the edge of the gangway, across the subterranean depths of the Skein, and crash against the tunnel door, dangling from its threshold by my fingers. I squirm upward and through the doorway-
Into Digory’s waiting arms.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him so utterly vulnerable. He sobs against my cheek, his massive shoulders heaving. He teeters from weakness, and I slide down to the floor with him, cradling him in my arms.
“I couldn’t leave you, Digory. And after what you did for Cole … what it cost you … your husband … ”
He shakes his head. “Husband in name only. Rafe was a friend and fellow resistance fighter. We married as part of our cover, should either of us ever get recruited. We knew what we were getting into, what the risks were … but Cole’s just an innocent child with his whole life ahead of him.”
My heart thunders against my chest, and fresh tears stream down Digory’s face. His eyes are opaque from the virus, almost every hint of blue gone. I can tell he can’t see me anymore, and I’m dying inside.
He clutches my hand to his lips. “I couldn’t bear your heartbreak if you lost him. It was killing me more than this virus could.”
“Shh. Don’t think about any of that. You’re gonna be fine … ” My voice chokes.
His words are tumbling out now. “Back at school … all those times I ignored you, was never your friend … I couldn’t risk getting close to you because I was afraid one day you’d be my Incentive and I never wanted you to go through this hell.” He reaches up and caresses my cheek. “I love you, Lucky.”
“I love you too.”
And then we’re kissing each other, and it’s like I’ve never lived before. Warm fire feeds my entire body, growing until it’s a blaze of emotion that empowers me, gives me the strength that I need to do what I have to do.
When we finally break free, I can barely breathe. But this time, I welcome the feeling more than anything in the world.
Warning. The tunnel leading to the final Trial will seal in approximately one minute.
Sirens blare.
I look back down the passageway.