Emerge (19 page)

Cricket and I traded hard looks. That was much faster than Caine Quinton could test for the virus.
 

We immediately began stuffing food in our mouths while trying not to look like animals. When both of our plates had been cleared, I drank a little more water and stood. As I rounded the table and gave my mother a kiss on the cheek, Justin’s cold stare followed my every step. Then I held out a hand to help Cricket to her feet.
 

Just when I thought Cricket and I were free to go, Justin pushed his chair back and stood, blocking my exit. “Cricket, you may wait just outside the door. I need to speak with West for a moment.”

Cricket nodded, and two guards led her to the greeting area outside our suite.

Justin’s expression was unreadable. The entire evening had been one cryptic moment after another. He moved in close to me. “Here’s the deal, West. You have a week to convince Cricket to remain with us.”

“Or what?”

“Or the council will force her to stay.”

“She’ll never agree to stay inside New Caelum.”

“Why not? This is a wonderful home. It’s safe and disease-free.”

“Why is this so important to you?”

“Because I know Cricket is actually Christina Black, and we need her here.”

I glanced toward Mother. She appeared oblivious to our conversation. Justin had her on some sort of massive muscle relaxant or something. I was sure of it.

“Why do you want Christina Black?” I didn’t even bother wasting time denying Cricket’s true identity.

“Because she’s the sole survivor of a disease that took down our entire country. She’s the key to making sure we have a permanent cure, maybe even a vaccine. And once we have that, there will never be any question who should run New Caelum.” He threw back the rest of his wine. “I don’t need to remind you that you’re next in the line of succession, do I?”

“So?”

“Your mother and I won’t be able to run New Caelum forever. Nor does the council wish it.”

“The council loves my mother.”

“The council is made up of people who want only the best for New Caelum. And they’re noticing changes in the attitudes of our citizens.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You will be next to take over.”

This was not news, nor did it answer my question. “What if I don’t want to govern this city? Besides, that’s not going to happen for a while.” I wasn’t even close to ready.

“You don’t have a choice. And it will happen sooner than you think.” Justin smiled. “The council has asked that you begin your formal training for your role immediately. Will Ryder rejoin the city? You’ll need him.”

I cocked my head and studied Justin’s face. Did he know that four of the scouts that had been sent out were now infected with Bad Sam? In case he didn’t, I decided to hold on to that piece of information for now. “I hope so. I assume he’s doing whatever it is you asked him to do.”

Justin laughed. “Yes, I was aware of the scouts leaving the city.”

“You gave orders against the president’s knowledge.”

“The council gave those orders. And your mother knew about the scouting mission before they left the city. Didn’t you, darling?” He smiled down at my mother, who was still calmly eating her dinner.

“Yes, and I think it was a good idea to see what was going on outside our walls,” she said. It sounded like a very rehearsed statement, and certainly not one she agreed with.

My mother was definitely not herself. On the day Willow became sick, she’d insisted that Willow had been purposely infected with Bad Sam as some ploy to get her out of the way.
 

I remembered thinking there had to be more to it.

As I glanced toward the door, I wondered about the council’s plan to send scouts out to the settlements. How much of that had actually been about finding Christina?

“What do you want from me right now, Justin?” I asked.

“You will wine and dine Christina Black. You will entice her to stay inside the city with you. And when the people of this city discover that you have found your long lost childhood love—the person who will save us from Bad Sam forever… well, they will have no choice but to treat us—your mother, me, you, and Christina—as royalty.”

“You’ve lost your mind.”

Without warning, Justin grabbed the lapels of my jacket and held me forcefully in front of him. “Your sister is on her deathbed, West. You do want to cure her, don’t you?”

I clenched my hands into fists at my side and breathed hard into Justin’s face. “Is that some sort of threat?”

“I can see to it that the cure is not found in time…” He released me, patting my jacket back into place. “Or I can make sure that you and Christina have uninterrupted time to help Dr. Hempel find a treatment.”

I glanced over at the guards—Justin’s guards. “And all I have to do is—”

“Walk a straight line, do as you’re told, and convince Christina to stay with us inside New Caelum.”

West led me along another sleek hallway that was accented with colored lights. It reminded me of a children’s hospital my parents had once taken me to. “I remember a hallway like this,” I said.

“Maybe you remember being here.”

“No, I remember my parents driving me to a place like this. They either worked there, or volunteered… or, no, I was a patient there.” I gave my head a shake. “The memory is very fuzzy.”

It didn’t matter. That was a long time ago.
 

My mind reeled at how I’d been treated since I arrived inside New Caelum. On the one hand, I was like a princess to be pampered; yet it was also abundantly clear that I was a prisoner of this extravagant city.
 

I wasn’t concerned about being held prisoner. The people of New Caelum had no clue just how resourceful those of us who’d lived outside the city truly were. When Justin, West, and President Layne figured out what the timing mechanism in my backpack really meant, they’d make sure I made it out of here safely. With the cure.

What did concern me was finding a cure for Bad Sam as quickly as possible. With every passing minute, my heart ached for those now suffering with the virus. I could only hope they remained mostly unconscious while their fever fought the infection. But I knew that every time they woke, they would be forced to endure a level of pain that would make them wish they were dead.

West wasn’t saying much, but he seemed to be trying to walk as closely as he could to me without touching me. Maybe he was subconsciously trying to protect me.

We continued around a curve in the hallway. I had no idea where we were or where we were headed. We passed several men and women, all dressed in either white or powder blue, very different from the jeweled shade of blue I wore, and each one gave me a quick once-over before nodding at West.

I opened my mouth to ask West if there was any significance to the colors people wore in New Caelum, but suddenly he grabbed my upper arm and jerked me around a corner, down an adjoining hallway. Before I could object, he opened a door and shoved me inside, into the dark, and followed me in. Once the door was closed behind us, he flipped a switch. A dim light shone overhead. We were in some sort of supply closet.

He turned me and positioned me against the door. I breathed hard while taking in the severe look in his eyes. “West—”

He propped his hands against the door on both sides of my head, trapping me. “Why did you have to come here?”

“You know why I came here. You
knew
I was coming here.” I spoke softly. I was tempted to place a hand on his cheek, to calm him, but instead I eased my hand up to his chest to keep distance between us.

He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “But you left me.” When he looked at me again, his face had softened. He enclosed my hand in his and held it tightly against his chest. “Why did you shut me out of your plan? You were never going to be able to do this alone.”

“I was fully prepared to do this by myself,” I snapped. Then my voice softened. “Besides… I wanted you to have a chance at a life outside New Caelum. I thought since I was the one the doctors needed, I could—”

“What? You thought I would just let you enter New Caelum on your own? Risk your life?”

“I’ve survived far worse. I’ll survive this.”

“They know who you are. Justin knows you’re Christina Black. And he has no intention of letting you leave here.”

I stared back at West—through him, actually. Then I gave my head a shake. “It doesn’t matter.”
 

He pushed away from the door and walked a few steps away from me. The urge to follow him, to run my hands along his arms and back, to comfort him, was strong. The look on his face when he faced me again about did me in. I had to look away, ducking my face to the right.

He approached me again, slowly. Crooking a finger under my chin, he lifted it. Then he raised his other hand and reached behind my head. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was removing the pins from my hair, letting my hair fall to my shoulders. I immediately pulled several locks forward to cover my scarred cheek and neck.

“I’m sorry for the way Justin made you feel. But you never have to hide from me.”

I swallowed hard. My heart sped up, beating out of control.

“You are beautiful.”

I remembered the feelings I’d had when we were twelve and West kissed me. A lifetime ago. Those feelings had nothing on what was coursing through me now. Something had happened deep within my heart and in the pit of my stomach last night when we’d kissed in the sleeping bag. Our legs had rubbed together, and his hands had roamed my back while we were attempting to generate heat. And we had… generated heat. “West, we can’t…”

“We can’t what?” He leaned in closer, his lips hovering over mine. His breath feathered against my face and smelled faintly of red wine.

“We have to think about your sister and your friends.”

“I haven’t stopped thinking about them.” West ran his fingers along my forehead, tracing them along the hair that now hung against my face. “But you are back in my life. That is no accident. And dammit, I’m not waiting for some ‘other life,’ like you said in that stupid goodbye note.”

“West, we were kids,” I breathed. Anxiety built in my chest. “I don’t believe in fate or destiny or any of that crap.” The timing just wasn’t right for us. And never would be.

For the first time since I’d seen West inside New Caelum, his lips lifted slightly. “Well then, I guess it’s a good thing I believe enough for both of us. Because I think fate, destiny, or some such crap is exactly the reason we’re back together.”

I wanted more than anything to trust West, but we were not
together.
Not the way he believed. I probably should have told him about the virus bomb that was now inside his city, but something stopped me. The bomb was my only insurance policy. “What now?”

“I’m supposed to give you a tour of the executive wing where you’ll be staying, then take you to the labs where Dr. Hempel is already working on the stuff you brought with you.”

“Then let’s go. Skip the tour, though, and take me straight to the lab. The quicker we find a cure, the less your sister and your friends have to suffer.”

West stepped back, but not before I saw a flicker of uncertainty flash across his face. He was worried about something more than just the virus.
 

He was also keeping something from me.

When we arrived at the lab, Dr. Hempel was in a frantic state. He was dressed head-to-toe in a white hazmat suit, and his gloved hands shook as he squeezed a substance onto a glass slide, swapped it with another slide on a microscope, and peered into the eyepiece.
 

Cricket circled the tall lab table. She and I both wore matching charcoal hazmat suits. Her head was cocked as she studied the doctor’s movements. “Dr. Hempel.”

His body jerked backward so suddenly he fell against a metal stool, causing it to screech along the tile floor. His eyes narrowed as he took in Cricket, then me. “Mr. Layne, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Dr. Hempel, this is Cricket. She’s responsible for the new lead on a cure.”

When he looked at Cricket again, I thought his eyes might pop out of his head. “You’re…”

Cricket held out her gloved hand. “Dr. Caine Quinton said you’d know what to do with the samples he sent.” When Dr. Hempel refused to shake Cricket’s hand, she let it fall back to her side. Probably safer if they didn’t touch.
 

“Dr. Hempel, are you okay?” I asked.

The doctor turned and walked over to a table that held Cricket’s backpack. From beside it, he picked up a strange box I didn’t recognize. A digital number glowed red on the front of the box and seemed to be counting down. “Did Caine send this?” he asked.

Cricket fidgeted with her fingers. “No, he didn’t. I brought that.”

“What is it?” I asked.

Dr. Hempel sat the small machine back on the table. The number continued to get smaller.

I squeezed Cricket’s shoulder, guiding her to face me when she didn’t respond right away. “What is that?”

Something very close to fear swam in her eyes. She didn’t want to tell me what the box was.

“What does that number mean?” I insisted.

She didn’t dare look away from me. “It’s a countdown timer. Based on what you and your friends told Caine and me about the timing of your sister’s symptoms, that’s how long we have before your sister is at risk for death.”

I stared at the number.
 
51
hours,
 
34
minutes, and
 
13
seconds.

“When that timer expires, your sister could die if no successful treatment has yet been administered. Your friends who left New Caelum with you—who are now in the care of Caine—are likely to follow soon after. And Dylan closely behind them. Not to mention anyone else who was infected after we left the settlement.” Cricket’s face revealed fear, along with another emotion that was more unreadable. She was leaving something out.