Page 53 of Silver Elite

He leaves me again, returning in the wee hours of the morning with a jammer clipped to his belt and armed to the teeth. We don’t say much as we creep out of the stockade, navigating the maze of halls until finally we emerge outside. I’m grateful to breathe fresh air, but when I inhale, I find it’s not so fresh. The smell of smoke fills my nostrils, along with the leftover sweetness from the sugar bomb that took out a Command hangar.

“Where are we going?” I whisper as he leads me toward a waiting truck.

He gets in the driver’s seat while I crouch in the passenger side. “Stay down,” he orders.

Even at this hour, the base is alive with activity. I suppose that’s what happens when a chunk of it gets blown up by an enemy bomb. I don’t know how long we have before someone starts noticing Cross entering rooms and then disappearing from cameras.

He drives to a vehicle pool—not the one where I met Adrienne, but a different site near South Plaza. Another vehicle waits in the tunnel.

We slide into the back seat, and I frown when I spot Xavier behind the wheel. “Darlington,” he greets me.

“What are you doing here?”

“It’s okay,” Cross assures me. “You can trust him.”

No, but I can trust Cross. So I nod.

None of us speak as Xavier drives away from base. Or rather, Xavier doesn’t speak. I take advantage of the silence by sharing with Cross the thought that’s been haunting me all night.

“I think the Uprising corrupted your mother’s mind.”

“What?”

“I don’t believe she’s a Mod. But I have no evidence of anything I’m saying right now. We can demand answers from Adrienne when we get to their base.”

He goes silent for a moment, his jaw tightening. “So much for not harming civilians.”

I understand his anger. I can’t stomach the idea that they’re destroying civilian minds in their war against the Company. The only saving grace, after what I gleaned from Adrienne, is there aren’t too many corrupters on the Continent.

“I think it’s a rare ability. The fact that nearly all the Primes in society still have their minds intact tells me it’s not something they can readily do.”

I take his hand, lacing our fingers.

“Thank you,” I tell him.

“For what?”

“Not letting them kill me. Coming with me. Being my best friend since I was six years old.”

Our eyes lock.

“I love you.” His voice is gruff in my head.

“I love you, too.”

—

Halfway there, we ditch the truck. Silver Elite has vehicles stashed in nearly every ward, and we roll two motorcycles out of a cellar in WardC. They’re bullet bikes, too. They’ll cut the rest of our travel time in half. Cross checks the solar batteries, then straddles the bike while I get behind him. Xavier takes the other one, and we speed off in the direction of Ward K.

When we finally reach the edge of the Blacklands, both guys are on guard. Their gazes drift toward the ominous black mist rising from the earth and hovering far above the top canopy of the trees, blending into the already black sky.

“It’s really not that bad,” I assure them.

They both stare at me in disbelief. I can’t help but grin.

“I lasted in there for three years, and you two babies are scared to walk inside for three hours?”

To be fair, it’ll be a longer trek than that, but I don’t share that tidbit. They’re rattled enough as it is. From what I recall Jim telling me, it’s at least a seven-hour walk from here to the clearing. And then who knows how long it’ll take to traverse from the clearing to the Blacklands’ end.

Brow creased, Xavier crouches on the ground to run a quick inventory of his heavy pack, checking the supplies.

I frown at him. “Are you coming with us?”

“Us?” His gaze shifts to Cross. “You haven’t told her?”

All the breath leaves my body.

As my heart flies to my throat, I spin around to Cross.

“No.”

“I have to.” His voice is rough. Defeated.

I stalk toward him and grab the front of his shirt in my fist. “You are not staying behind. You said you were coming with me.”

“Coming with you here. Making sure you made it in one piece. But I can’t go with you to the Uprising.”

“Cross, please. No.”

“Hey.” He strokes my face. “I can’t. You know I can’t. I won’t leave the entire Continent in my brother’s clutches. Either of them. If you thought my father was ruthless, Travis is even worse. And Roe? He’ll kill Mods indiscriminately. You realize that, right?”

I bite my lip so hard I taste blood in my mouth.

“Wren.”

I release my lip and sweep my tongue over the puncture I created. Liquid copper coats my taste buds. “Please don’t make me do this alone.”

“You won’t be alone.” He nods toward Xavier.

I don’t even turn my head. “He’s not you,” I say stubbornly.

“Someone needs to keep Travis and Roe in line. I don’t know what the wards will look like with them calling the shots.”

“What do you mean ‘them’? Travis isn’t going to put Roe in charge.”

“Not officially. But he’s never even tried to rein Roe in. He’s going to let him run loose and do whatever the hell he wants. I need to be here.” His expression grows pained. “My mother is here. I can’t leave her, either.”

I feel my heart splintering in my chest, the sharp slivers scrapingover my ribs. It didn’t even occur to me that he might not come withme.

“Fine.” I lift my chin. “Then I’m staying.”

“No. If you stay, you’ll die. I can’t protect you here. I’m already on shaky ground with them because I selected you for Elite. Travis thinks you fooled me. He seemed to get great pleasure out of that.”

“You’ll be punished for it?”

“No. He needs me too much. But he suspects we were romantically involved.” Cross curses under his breath. “Someone reported seeing me leave your quarters.”

“Ivy,” I growl.

That makes him chuckle. “Actually…It was Sutler. Guess we weren’t careful one night.”

Kaine?

Even as my heart squeezes for my fallen friend, my jaw drops in outrage. Kaine snitched on me? He’s lucky I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, that hellfucker.

“I told Travis I was dropping off some paper maps for an off-the-source op. I think I convinced him. Regardless, he and I have never been on the same page about how to run the Command. It might take a while to earn his trust back, but he won’t kill me. And you…You’ll be safer with the Uprising.”

“Will I?” I counter. “Because I have no idea what kind of people are working for the network. These corrupters. For all I know, I’m walking into even more dangerous territory.”

Xavier pipes up. “Don’t worry, Darlington, you’ll be safe. I got you.”

I growl at him. “I don’t want you to ‘got’ me. I want him. ”

“Damn, you’re bad for a man’s ego.” He lowers his gaze and continues arranging his pack.

I move closer to Cross. Tears well in my eyes as I lean into him, seeking his embrace. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I don’t want you to go,” he says roughly. “But you have to.”

He brushes a stray lock of hair from my face, blown free of my ponytail during our hyper-speed ride.

“Please don’t leave me,” I whisper, embarrassed that Xavier might hear the crack in my voice.

“I’m not leaving you. I’m just staying behind.”

“For how long?”

“Until I figure out what the hell is going on here.” He grips my chin with his big, capable hand. “I promise I will see you again.” He bends his head as if to whisper in my ear, but really, he’s opening a path, his husky voice surrounding my senses.

“I’m still in your head, Daisy. You can talk to me whenever you want, you know that. I love you. I will never leave you. Ever.”

I cling to him, the tears flowing as I bury my face in his chest. “I don’t want to do this without you.”

“You’re never truly alone. You know that. I’ll be right here, every step of the way.”

Behind me, I hear Xavier stashing one of the bikes in the brush. As the sun peeks over the horizon, casting hues of orange and pink across the sky, Cross tips his head toward the faint light.

“The sun will be up soon,” he says. “You have to go.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” I repeat.

“We spent our whole lives loving each other from a distance. We can do it for a little while longer.”

Gulping, I wipe at my wet eyes.

“You can do it, Dove. You’re the strongest person I know.”

My heart throbs as he presses a final kiss to my lips. Every ounce of emotion he feels for me ripples through my body. I cling to him, my mouth locked with his. I don’t care that Xavier is watching. This man is everything. I don’t want to say goodbye, but I have no choice.

“Keep her safe,” Cross says to Xavier when we break apart.

“I will.”

He touches my face one last time. “Be safe, Daisy.”

“You too, Wolf.”

With a lump in my throat, I watch as he straddles the bike. As he starts the engine and then takes off like a bullet on the landscape.

He’s the only person I’ve ever been completely, truly, unequivocally myself with, and now he’s gone.

I twist my gaze away only when I can no longer see him. I glance at the black mist, then at Xavier. “Are you ready?”