Page 46

VALE

AFTER THE FIGHT

I was feeling pretty optimistic until the moment I looked up, halfway up the wall, and saw the head sticking out over the edge at the top, staring down silently.

It wasn’t Ami. My stomach sunk. Did they catch her? What’s going on up there? I couldn’t climb back down and abandon her. Besides, I bet that guy called for reinforcements at the bottom.

I got to the top and pulled myself over.

It was like that scene in The Princess Bride , but this guy didn’t go easy and start with playful sparring.

He’s currently got a gun trained on me. They’re going to take me to a back room and beat me until I tell them what I’m doing here. That’s the best-case scenario.

And it assumes Ami didn’t get caught. From what the Forge saw with drones, there’s not much up here besides the security office and the entrance to the stairs, and Ami said that’s locked. I believe her. She wouldn’t have a reason to lie about it that I can think of.

It certainly would have been easier to use the stairs than do that ridiculous boxing match. I didn’t think they would appreciate me whipping one of their men, so I had to go back and forth with him.

Now my vision is compromised and I have to figure out what to do about this guard. Disarming him is the priority. Is he alone or what? He has me covered with his gun and I know the drill. I gently remove my weapon and put it on the ground between us.

Now it’s his move and I wait for him to speak, running through different ways to disarm him in my head. I have the device my father gave me in my pocket. I could jam it into his neck and the meds would hit him immediately.

I scan him, the way he’s holding the gun, searching for clues that this guy is scared or doesn’t know what he’s doing, a hesitation or tension. I don’t see any. He’s well trained.

“Vale Adamson,” the guy says. I nod.

“And you are…”

He shakes his head, keeping the gun steady.

“Are we, uh, going to talk?” I ask as I subtly glance behind him, scanning for Ami.

He stares.

“Is that the plan? Rest of the solstice, just standing here on the roof?”

“They’re coming,” he finally cracks and speaks up.

I shake my head with fake sorrow. “You need backup? Yeah, I’m pretty dangerous. ”

He rolls his eyes, doesn’t take the bait.

I see it then, the flash of someone moving into the guard office. If that’s Ami, my job is to keep this guy distracted, but still disarm him so we can both get away before backup arrives, through the stairs.

They have the key after all, they’ll come through there. That doesn’t mean there won’t also be guards at the bottom of the ladder, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Maybe I can call for backup from the Forge to help us get out on the ground level.

“So, enjoying your solstice?” I ask, trying to get the guy to engage with me.

He sighs.

I watch Ami creep across the roof. In the twilight she looks like a beautiful ghost drifting against the faint pink of the sunrise to come, her shadow barely visible.

I let myself stare too long and the guy turns around, but Ami’s already at the stairwell, and she has keys.

His attention on Ami, I rush him, knocking the gun from his hands. It clatters off the roof and he swears. I head to the stairwell, running flat out.

I see her hands shaking. She’s trying different keys until suddenly the door swings open forcefully, knocking her back.

“Ami!” The guard is right behind me. Before I can reach her, Jeremy is stepping out of the stairwell surrounded by Brotherhood guards, dragging her to her feet.

“Get your hands off her.” My vision blurs further and I’m suddenly a lot less concerned about what happens to me. I need to get them away from Ami and get her out of here safely .

I try to remind myself that I’m here on a mission for the Forge, but my world narrows to Ami, me, and these guards.

Without thinking I sink, infinitesimally, into a fight stance, making note of all the weapons.

I can at least disarm a couple of these guys and maybe cause a big enough disturbance that she can get away while they deal with me.

The stairs are right here, the door is open.

I argue with Jeremy, telling him that Ami’s just my girlfriend, that they don’t need her, while I decide on the order. First the jerk who cornered me by the edge of the roof, then the big guy looming over Jeremy like a bodyguard.

I’m not worried about Jeremy. He’s not like me. He never has to work for anything, never has to fight and train with the others. I’m not saying my father’s way was the right way, but here we are, and only one of us needs a bodyguard.

They keep talking. I’m sure he’s so excited for his whole evil plan, and I’m arguing without thinking, just to keep him talking.

Then I hear the sound of footsteps on the stairs and I can tell right away they’re not Brotherhood guards. They don’t run like that. I would know this sound anywhere, because I went through a whole training camp when I infiltrated the PS the first time.

They’re a different breed, the PS guards and soldiers.

It’s the conditioning they do, mentally and physically.

I’ll say it. It’s way beyond the training at the Forge, maybe because their weapons are so limited.

At least the weapons we’re aware of. There’s intelligence that suggests they’re developing biological and chemical weapons to use against men.

My brain feels like it breaks apart as a troop of white-clad soldiers exits the door in single file, stun guns in hand, and surrounds the entire group: Ami, me, Jeremy, and his goons.

“Quite a party you all throw around here,” I say dryly to Jeremy. “I assume these guests are here at your invitation?”

One of the women, pale with a long blond braid, clears her throat. “Vale Adamson, you are under arrest.”

I scoff. “We’re in Alaska, not Pennsylvania, in case you didn’t notice. You can’t arrest me here.”

She looks around politely, at the number of weapons aimed at me and holds out her hand to Jeremy, gesturing for the backpack.

Ami stiffens beside me. Her face is closed up tight, the hard mask she wears when she’s trying not to flinch or show any reaction. Jeremy hands over the backpack, trying to look relaxed.

There goes any chance of getting that laptop back to my father. He’s going to kill me if I get out of here alive.

The blond PS soldier zips open the top of the backpack and pulls out the laptop. We were so close. She holds it up, showing me a tag from the PS.

“This is Peaceful Society equipment you were trying to steal.”

I stay silent. I want to ask how she can prove I was “trying to steal” it, if Ami had it in her backpack, but they’ll twist anything I say. Ami’s breathing speeds up beside me .

“Amity, who does this bag belong to?” the woman asks pointedly.

Ami’s voice sounds hoarse, unpracticed. “Vale,” she croaks.

The soldier turns to me. “Vale Adamson. You are charged with stealing Peaceful Society equipment and confidential information.”

I aim a glare at Jeremy. “You knew!” I accuse, the accusation ripping out of me before I can stop it.

He grins widely and shrugs his shoulders. “Bummer, man, after everything you and your girlfriend went through, it turned out to be PS equipment.”

“Does the Brotherhood agree to extradition?” the woman asks him.

“Yes, Tessa, we certainly do,” Jeremy says immediately.

“What?” Ami’s finally speaking up now. She coughs a little, clearing her throat. “What? You’re taking him? Just—you have the laptop back—he’s….”

Tessa stares at Ami and doesn’t answer right away.

“Amity, it’s okay,” she says to Ami gently. “You did well. Your mission is complete.”

Jeremy laughs outright at this. Ami reddens and takes a step toward me.

“Some girlfriend you got there,” he crows, and his stupid bodyguards laugh.

“Vale,” Ami says, reaching for my hand.

“This isn’t Ami’s fault. It’s yours, Jeremy,” I say, my eyes burning. “My father will hear about this. You want to go to war with the Forge?”

“With what? And why? Are you sticking around Anchorage? Did you all change your mind about moving?” I grit my teeth and Tessa is quiet, taking in our words.

“You sell-out.” I can’t help it, I lunge for him, but his stupid bodyguard pulls him back. Ami clings to me as one of the PS soldiers steps forward and holds a Taser to my neck. That’s the last thing I remember before the world spins and goes black.