Invaded (36 page)

She’d almost reached the exit when the sound of the door opening and closing made
her jump. She whirled around and came face-to-face with a furious Aisly. The girl
tore her gaze to Jaxen,
and after a moment of Silent Speech between the two, Jaxen turned toward Cara with
a look of utter betrayal in his eyes. In two quick steps, he reached her and plucked
the iPhone from her tunic
pocket.

“I wiped her brother’s mind,” Aisly said. “He won’t remember a thing. But her?” She
nodded toward Cara. “She’s learned to block her thoughts. We
can’t risk it. You know what has to happen.”

Troy must have made eye contact and unwittingly told Aisly everything. He was probably
out there staring at the wall in a drool coma.

“Kill her quietly,” Aisly added. “I won’t do it for you.” She glared at Jaxen as if
to say,
I told you so
. “Your fascination with them is absurd. Let
this be a lesson to you—that they should
all
die fighting the Aribol. Even the finest among humans is unworthy of the new order.”

It was then that Cara understood who had framed her at the Aegis. Her instincts had
been right when she’d suspected that her death wasn’t the only goal. “Is that why
you tried
to have me discredited?” she asked. “To convince everyone that humans aren’t worth
saving? That you should only keep us alive so we can fight for you on the front
lines?”

The girl’s sick smile confirmed it. “At least your kind is useful for something.”

Cara remembered Jaxen’s words from moments ago.
I may still find a use for the remainder of your kind.
He would force humans to fight the Aribol, and after the war, when the
survivors had outlasted their usefulness, he’d let them die out slowly. He had no
intention of fixing Earth’s water crisis.

Jaxen peered at her with such hurt in his eyes that she almost felt sorry for him.
But not quite. She darted to the nearest capital guard and ripped the
iphal
from his holster, then
aimed it at Jaxen’s chest.

“Stay back,” Cara ordered, eyeing Aisly, too. “Both of you.”

“She can’t fire it,” Aisly said. “I watched her at the Aegis.”

Testing her, Jaxen took a step toward another guard, clearly meaning to arm himself.
“Stop,” Cara yelled, raising her weapon. When Jaxen chanced another step, she focused
on his
chest and thought,
Fire!

But nothing happened.

“Stop,” she repeated and fired again.

Nothing.

In a panic, she tried two more times without success.

Aisly laughed while Jaxen’s face broke into an arrogant smile. “When we use humans
in battle, clearly we’ll need to equip them with simpler tools, like clubs and
blades.”

Cara closed her eyes to focus, and when she opened them, Jaxen was lifting an
iphal
from the guard at his side.

“I hate to do this,” he said with a faint sigh. “I have the genetic material to replicate
you, but it won’t be the same. Your clone—she won’t have the unique
spark and fury I’ve grown to adore.”

That explained why he’d taken her blood on the transport: so he could make a new version
of her to bend to his will. Over her dead body. Cara aimed at him with the fury he
loved so much,
and thought,
Fire!

Nothing. Her pulse raced and her breaths came in gasps. Why couldn’t she do this?

Jaxen admired the chrome weapon in his hand, slowly trailing a fingertip along the
curve of its spine. “You have to mean it,” he said. “Clearly, you’re
conflicted.”

The door flew open from behind, and a large body nudged Cara aside, snatching the
iphal
from her grasp. It was Aelyx, who aimed the weapon at Jaxen. “That won’t be a problem
for me.”

No sound escaped the chrome device and Cara never saw the air distort, but in the
span of a single breath, Jaxen clutched his chest and collapsed to the floor in an
ungraceful heap of limbs, his
heartbeat stunned by a burst of energy.

Aisly released a scream loud enough to awaken the soldiers from their trances. They
jerked upright and blinked at one another in confusion before they noticed their dead
leader crumpled on the
carpet…and the
iphal
in Aelyx’s fist.

“Hurry,” Aelyx said, tugging Cara’s hand and towing her out the door.

As they tore down the hall, Cara darted a glance over her shoulder and discovered
Aisly right behind them while Troy stood in place looking confused. Cara pumped her
legs faster, but instead of
giving chase, Aisly turned and sprinted down a side hallway with a mingled look of
terror and determination on her face. It seemed she had a plan, maybe to head them
off around the corner.

“Veer left,” Cara shouted ahead.

Aelyx did as she said, and they ran down an isolated stretch of hallway. The clamor
of stomping boots thundered from behind, and Cara spotted at least a half dozen armed
guards closing in on
them. Two of the men raised their weapons at Aelyx, so Cara positioned herself behind
him as they ran, blocking their shot. But that strategy would only work in the short
term. Eventually,
they’d consider her collateral damage and simply fire their
iphals
.

Aelyx turned down yet another hallway and increased his speed. Cara pushed her body
to the limit and kept pace with him.

“Where are we going?” she yelled.

“The stairs,” he hollered. “We’re almost there.”

Aelyx reached the stairwell door and threw it open, then grabbed her arm and pulled
her inside. After slamming the door, he grasped the handle with both hands. “While
you were with Jaxen,
I found Alona. Two floors up, room six thirty. Hurry, show her what you know.” He
nodded at the door, which had begun to buck from the outside. “I’ll hold them here.”
When
she hesitated to leave him, he shouted, “Go!”

With the echo of his voice reverberating against the narrow walls, Cara turned and
scaled the stairs two at a time until she reached the sixth floor. She barreled down
the hall, easily
identifying the correct room by the dozens of guards stationed between her and its
entrance. It seemed Colonel Rutter had taken the whole “extra security” thing seriously.
She
couldn’t even move near the door.

“How’d you get to this floor?” demanded a national guardsman. “It’s restricted.”

Cara thumbed behind her and panted, “The emergency stairs. I’m Cara Sweeney. I need
to see—”

“Not without clearance.” He pointed back the way she’d come. “I need you to wait downstairs.”

Standing on tiptoe, Cara peered over his shoulder to gauge her odds of sprinting past
him and into room 630. There was no chance. Even if she slipped by this one, the next
ten would snag her
easily. The soldier had just started to repeat his command when Cara spotted a familiar
face chatting with the guard at the door—her sadistic PE teacher. It didn’t surprise
her that he
pulled double duty as a bodyguard. The guy was built like a tank.

“Satan!”

But he didn’t take notice…because that wasn’t his name. Damn it, Cara couldn’t remember
what he was really called. She shouted, “Satan!” a few more times,
but all that did was alarm the American guards, who exchanged wary glances. Trying
another tactic, she yelled, “It’s me! Sw
eeeee
ney!”

That got his attention.

She waved wildly at him. “I need you. It’s an emergency!”

He jogged to meet her and widened his eyes expectantly.

“I’m here for an audience with The Way,” she said. “They’re in—”

Satan cut her off. “No to visit, Sw
eeeee
ney. It much dangerous. The Way seal themselves inside until ceremony begin.”

He started backing away, and Cara made a quick decision to stop hiding her abilities.
There was only one way to prove her honesty. She locked eyes with him and said,
They’re in
danger—I have proof. You need to take me to them now.

She felt his shock, followed by a sense of urgency. “Come.” He told the guardsmen
to allow her to pass, then escorted her through the labyrinth of security to room
630.

“Aelyx needs help two floors down,” Cara said over her shoulder.

Satan nodded. “I go.”

Without wasting another moment, she opened the door, and eight pairs of rheumy chrome
eyes fastened on her.

“This is urgent,” she said to Alona, closing the door behind her. “Jaxen’s trying
to overthrow The Way. I mean,
was
. He’s dead now, but his followers might
carry out his plan. I have proof”—she tapped an index finger to her temple—“if you’ll
let me show you.”

Alona’s mouth dropped open as she swept a hand toward the head of the table. “Come
and be heard.”

There were no spare seats, so Cara strode to Alona’s side and knelt at her feet. She
lifted her face to the old woman and opened her mind, much as she’d done with Syrine,
freeing her
memories and emotions without holding back. Now wasn’t the time for secrets.

Unlike Syrine’s warmth, Alona’s presence felt cool and businesslike, a reflection
of the woman herself. She probed Cara’s thoughts and then shared one of her own—more
like a swirling stream of consciousness. Their connection broke, and Cara sat back
on her heels, reflecting on what Alona had shown her.

Understanding clicked into place, and when the link was complete, Cara saw how everything
fit together. The Way had created ten hybrids as a test batch, but the embryonic survival
rate was so
low that scientists had abandoned the project. Of the ten hybrids, only Jaxen and
Aisly had proven gifted on their childhood assessments and were elevated to positions
of power. The other eight
teens attended Aegises in the outside precincts. But nobody had known about their
mental abilities. It seemed the hybrids had hidden their true potential.

“I imagine their genetic link to the Aribol is somehow related to our recent probe
invasion,” Alona said. “Perhaps the hybrids found a way to initiate contact. We will
have the
remaining eight collected and begin an investigation into whether or not they colluded
with Jaxen.”

“What about the Aribol?” Cara asked. “Jaxen made it sound like we’re already at war.”

“Nonsense. His preemptive attack would have guaranteed one, but for the time being,
the Aribol are not a threat.”

“And the alliance? It’s still on?”

“I’m stunned you have to ask.” Alona peered down her nose like a disapproving maiden
aunt. “You are not a born L’eihr, Miss Sweeney. You owe no allegiance to The
Way aside from an easily broken oath. And yet you risked your life to gather evidence
to present to me. In doing so, you’ve proven yourself brave and unfailingly loyal.”

Cara felt heat creeping into her cheeks. “Thank you, but—”

“And you doubt that I would reciprocate?”

“I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to leave anything to chance. The stakes are too high.”

Alona seemed to turn that over in her mind. “Yes, they are.” She swept a hand, indicating
her fellow Elders. “And as you see, we are now two members short of a governing body.
If you’re willing to serve, I would like to offer one of those seats to you.”

Cara cocked her head as her ears warred with her brain, because what she’d heard did
not compute. “You can’t mean that.”

Alona arched a brow. “Can’t I? What quality do you lack?”

“Experience, for starters.”

“Ah, well.” Alona smiled at her peers. “With the wisdom we’ve gathered over the years,
we easily compensate. I feel it prudent to include a representative from the colony
among us. Don’t you agree?”

Of course Cara did. A position of influence within the government would change not
only her life but the lives of every human who settled on L’eihr. The responsibility
would be great, but
so would the rewards. “Yes, I agree, but—”

“Do you accept?”

Cara gulped a breath. Ludicrous as the offer seemed, she would be even crazier to
turn it down. “I do.”

“Then yours will be among the signatures on the alliance pact.” Alona paused as if
remembering something. “But first I imagine you need to see to your
l’ihan
.”

“Yes, thank you.” Cara pushed to standing and backed away. “Jaxen’s guards are trying
to—”

She was interrupted by Satan throwing open the door. From behind him, murmurs and
shouts drifted inside the room, and a creeping chill raised goose bumps along the
back of Cara’s neck. She
darted into the hallway in time to spot Aelyx round the corner with a lone capital
guard on his heels. The overhead light glinted off the man’s
iphal
as he lifted it, slowing his
steps to take aim.

Cara gasped so hard it stung her lungs. “Get down!”

Aelyx’s eyes met hers and flickered with recognition just before they rolled back
in his head. He crashed to the floor, his body bouncing twice before it rested on
the shorn carpet.

Time froze while Cara’s own heart seized inside her chest.

Aelyx was dead.

As if outside her body, Cara heard herself screaming. She shoved aside anyone in her
path and ran to him. It was like a dream; she was so desperate to reach him, but invisible
hands weighed her
down. When she finally skidded to her knees by his side, she rolled him onto his back
and checked for a pulse.

Nothing. He was gone.

“No!” She repeated it again and again in denial. It couldn’t end like this. She refused
to let him go. Straddling his lifeless body, she began a set of clumsy chest
compressions. Aelyx’s head lolled to the side at an awkward angle, shaking with each
frenzied pump of her fists. He wouldn’t come back to her.

It wasn’t working.

Her vision blurred as sobs burned her throat. She heard herself pleading for him not
to leave, while Satan wrestled the capital guard to the floor. Then a new voice broke
through the haze.

“Keep doing that!” Troy shouted, pointing at her. “I’ll be right back!” He turned
on his heel and sprinted down the hallway, yelling, “Make a hole!” to
those in his way.

Cara leaned down and parted Aelyx’s lips to force breath into his lungs. Grunting
aloud, she resumed pumping his chest. Some deep, dark place inside warned that it
was over, but she
couldn’t make herself stop.