“Shut up,” Cage rumbles.
Boaz takes advantage of Cage’s temporary distraction and bashes him in the face. Cage reels backward and Boaz lunges for the key.
Cage isn’t down yet. He grabs Boaz by the shoulder and hauls himself up. His fists are a blur. Thwack! Thwack! I can’t help but recoil from the sound of each impact. It’s as if he’s venting all of his rage at last.
“Cage!” Tristin screams.
But her brother doesn’t seem to hear her. Or doesn’t want to.
“They’re just playing it up for the higher-ups.” Leander nudges Corin in the shoulder and steps forward, shielding his view.
But the kid ignores him, pushing past Leander to get a better view. “Leave him alone, Cage!” Corin screams.
Boaz collapses, his face pulpy like potter’s clay.
Cage steps over him. He staggers over to us almost as if he’s on auto-pilot. His chest is heaving.
Tristin falls into his arms. “You shouldn’t have…”
“It’s… going… to… be… okay.” His hands leave bloody prints on her skin as he pulls her close.
Our eyes meet for a second over her shoulder, and he turns away. Ashamed of what he’s done? Or that I know how he feels about me? Does he know I can never feel anything for anyone ever again?
Cage unlocks Tristin’s bonds, then turns and unlocks mine. “Thanks for looking after my sister,” he says as my neck band falls away.
I nod. “Cage—”
He turns away and hustles Tristin to the safety zone.
Recruit Cage has released his Incentives. Only one key remains.
I grab for Dahlia’s hand but she shakes her head. “Don’t worry about me. It’s better this way.” Her eyes glisten and I see relief there.
Then I’m pulled away by Cage and thrust into the safety zone, helpless, as my foster mother’s daughter waits to be murdered.
A few feet from where Boaz lies, Crowley crawls across the sand, his pale body covered in grit and scrawling a bloody streak like the tail of a comet about to burn out. He slumps beside Boaz.
Boaz reaches out and touches Crowley’s head. “Aren’t we both a mess.” He tries to chuckle, but it turns into a cough and he spits out a mouthful of bloody saliva. His face turns serious. “Don’t worry. I’m going to get you some help.”
But Crowley’s barely stirring now.
Boaz raises himself on hands and knees. Suddenly, he digs into the ground. A high-pitched laugh echoes throughout the field.
He raises his hand.
In it rests the last key.
My whole body tenses. This is it. Now Dahlia dies.
But instead of staggering over to the Incentives, Boaz stoops, grabs Crowley in his arms, and half-carries, half-drags him over to them.
To Dahlia.
Her eyes open wide. There’s confusion there at first. And then, regret.
Boaz thrusts the key into Crowley’s hands. “You have to do this, brother.”
Crowley’s eyes flood. He mouths something to Boaz. Even though I can’t hear it, I know he’s expressing his gratitude. Boaz is giving him a chance to live.
A chance for Dahlia to live.
Crowley steps over the line and almost tumbles.
Leander catches him in his arms. “You’re almost there,” he says. His voice sounds different than I’ve ever heard it before. Compassionate. Tender. Gently, he guides Crowley’s hands toward Dahlia’s bonds, holding them steady while Crowley unlocks her hands, then moves to her collar.
Dahlia is shaking her head. Tears stream from her eyes. “What the hell are you doing?”
Leander smirks at her. “You’ve always been First Tier, D.” He shrugs. “Guess this is one time I get to be first.”
The collar drops to the floor.
Recruit Crowley has released his Incentive. Recruit Boaz, you have emerged last in this Trial and must now make your choice.
Dahlia drags Crowley over to the safety zone. They stand silently beside me.
Leaving only Boaz and Leander and Corin.
Corin takes Leander’s hand. “I’m not going to leave you.”
Leander swallows hard. “Thanks, kid.”
Recruit Boaz. Make your selection now.
Boaz turns to Leander with what appears to be genuine regret in his eyes. “Sorry.”
Leander looks in our direction and nods. “Not as sorry as these bastards are going to be when they find out what we’re made of. Flame Squad to the end.” He salutes us and Arrah, Drusilla, and I return it.
“I choose Incentive Leander.” Boaz’s voice breaks, losing its earlier bravado.
“I’ll be with you soon, Rod-Man.”
Then the smile on Leander’s face disappears, turning into a grimace. His body convulses and his hands fly up to his temples. Fountains of blood spring from his mouth, his nose, his ears. His eyes swell, then burst, spattering his chest with gobs of pulp. He collapses. Corin crouches down and cradles Leander’s head in his lap.
Dahlia stiffens beside me.
Around me, the others stare at the corpse.
The last thing Leander saw before he died was us.
That’s the same thing all the other Imposers at this installation are going to see.
TWENTY-THREE
We’ve been running on pure adrenaline for the last couple of hours since Leander’s death.
Down in the crematorium, my eyes water from the stinging heat of the furnace. Inside, resting on the metal rack, Leander’s body blackens as his crisping skin shrivels away to the bone. A recently virile and vibrant human being, reduced to nothing but a smoldering pile of ash in minutes. I’ve grown so used to the stench of roasting flesh that it barely registers anymore.
I feel like I’m the one that’s burning.
Tonight’s the night we either break out of this shithole, or go down taking as many of them with us as we can.
Either one works for me.
Since we’ve been under constant watch ever since the last trial, I have to dish out the details of the plan piecemeal—as we load more bodies onto the carts, mop out the grime from the cells, take our shower, and finally sit down in the mess hall, sharing what could be our last, meager meal.
Where once there were two tables, now there’s only one.
“So, you said you and Tristin are gonna come get us tonight?” Corin asks through a mouthful of gruel.
My eyes flick to Ensign Echoes, the lone Imposer, who’s standing by the doorway stifling a yawn.
“That’s right,” I reassure him. After everything Corin’s been through, I’m just glad he’s speaking again. The fire I saw in his eyes way back during our first encounter at the research facility is coming back. “After lights-out, Tristin and I will crawl through the ducts and set the timers on the charges I planted.”
Tristin gives him a hug and smiles. “Then we’ll come back and use the access card Lucian and Dahlia stole from Renquist, to unlock the cell blocks for you guys to slip out.”
Dahlia swallows, her eyes staring ahead into nothingness. “Like I said before, opening the cell doors will transmit a signal to the duty guard in the control room. They’ll be on us in seconds. We have to be ready to take them on.”
I glance again at Echoes, who’s scratching his nose. “Don’t worry. I told you, we’ll have some firepower on our side. You’ll get your chance.”
Arrah lifts her water cup to her lips, covering her mouth as if she’s going to sip. “And you’re sure you have enough weapons?”
I stir the slop in my bowl with a finger, not looking at her. “At least enough to take the skeleton crew by surprise before they send for reinforcements.” My eyes sweep across them. “The explosives will distract any guards long enough for us to slip through the ducts, into one of the aircraft hangars, commandeer a Vulture, and get the hell out of this place.”