Page 92 of The Last Hope

Franny boils silently and mutters something. I feel her lips form the words:that’s not a bad thing.

He presses onward, “That means taking irresponsible drugs, smoking beyond limitations, and then there’s running around unclothed—”

Something snaps in Zimmer, and he shoves Kinden. He slips back, falling toward the pond, and he fists Zimmer’s shirt as they both splash into the deep waters.

Only Zimmer flails, struggling to keep his head above the surface. He gurgles water, and then Kinden easily scoops Zimmer beneath his arm and swims them both to the mossy edge.

Before they climb out, Stork quickly says, “Everyone has to jump in. That’s why you’re here. You all need to know how to swim.”

There are no hot springs or indoor pools in Grenpale or the Free Lands, and unless I wanted to be frostbitten and lose a foot or toe, I wouldn’t risk sticking a limb beneath a frozen lake.

Stork asks who can’t swim.

I raise my hand, and besides me, only two go up: Franny and Zimmer.

Influentials can afford to swim in warm pools, and eventhough Court was a Fast-Tracker, he was a Wonder. Raised more like an Influential.

If I panic in that water, I’ll be dragging Franny and Court down, and our link could be discovered. But I hang on to one thought:this isn’t about smarts.

I know my body well. I’m not gonna be frightened.

TWENTY-ONE

Franny

Before bed, I wring out my wet black hair. Twisting the long strands while I slouch on the edge of the mattress. I’m too sullen to care about creating wet puddles on Stork’s floor.

I can’t swim.

I can’t swim.

Why, gods, can’t I swim?

Not even after one month of practice. Day and night, I train in the garden pond, and my pulse spirals like a Purple Coach spinning out on slick city ice. I fear death.

No matter how hard I tell myself,I don’t want to fear death. I shouldn’t fear death.I still fear—and I’m mad at myself. Most of all. I thought I’d conquered this terror, and it reared its monstrous head again.

So easily our link could’ve been discovered as I coughed on water and panicked, but Court and Mykal always hid their distress by pulling me to land. In the splashing chaos, no one could really tell that they were coughing because of our bond.

“You have a ton of time. An entire month left to practice,” Stork says while skillfully riding a hoverboard from one side of his barracks to the other. I believe he’s doing it just to infuriate me. The constantswooshingsound as he rides past is enough to drive anyone mad.

Despite my irritations, his words ring in my ears.

One month has passed.

One month is left.

I can’t see how I’ll succeed. In the atrium’s shallow pool, I could easily float on my back. I’d done so before in Bartholo’s communal bathhouses, but I never tried to swim there. And those waters surely weren’t as dark or deep as the pond.

Mykal swam with magnificent, powerful strides the very first day he tried.The link will help me,I thought. If I channeled his movements, maybe I could keep my head above the water.

I tried.

Fear capsized me again and again and again.

Mykal’s optimism and Court’s pushiness haven’t helped either.

“That’s what Mykal keeps telling me,” I mutter. “I have a month left.” He’ll nudge my shoulder and then knock on my head like I’ve lost my senses.