Ash (42 page)

“No,” Madden said, lighting up. “It’s brilliant. Aya has major security around her.

Because of my clearance they’ll let me alone with her.” She paused ever so slightly, probably feeling guilty because she knew it was really my clearance she was talking about. “But they’ll still track both of our whereabouts the whole time. She’s not allowed to leave Purple without several PAE officers present. If she crosses over, we’ll be surrounded in seconds. So if Zane picks a place outside the Purple Zone, we’re set. Even if he doesn’t, I can still get Aya across the border before the scheduled meet time. I’ll tell her I need to make a quick stop. Once I break the border rule, the guards will never let me alone with her again, and Zane can’t fault me for not trying.”

I nodded. “It’s a good plan,” I said. “But the Revenants were able to control my tracker. If Zane wanted to, he could just reprogram yours to make it look like you and Aya are still in the Purple ring.”

Madden thought about that for a minute, then broke into a smile. “Aya is considered an asset. An extremely important one. The ministry is very careful with her, not only do they hide her destiny and have PAE watching her whereabouts, they gave her an implant in addition to her tracker. That’s never done. Zane wouldn’t know to look for it. If he tampers with our trackers, then they’ll show one location, and Aya’s implant will show another. Alerts will go off all over the place.”

“It could work,” I said, mulling it over. The plan sounded surprisingly simple, but maybe that was the key to it.

“It will,” she said. “It has to.”

The clock tower bells began to toll in the distance, interrupting our conversation. Class was about to begin.

“Go,” she said. “I’ll use my injury as an excuse, but you better get there on time.”

“Let me know when it’s going to happen,” I said.

She nodded, and I darted across the lawn toward Spectrum, trailing a mishmash of conflicting emotions. I wanted to be a Revenant, but Link was right. It was time to keep my own council—do what I thought was right. I’d been wrong to trust Zane so easily. It was a lesson I didn’t plan to repeat.

T
hree days after meeting with Dax, I’d been given the coordinates of where to drop Aya. It was in the Purple zone, not far from the Crimson border. The meet was for today. Even though I felt slightly guilty about it, I asked Sol to get involved. I needed a driver who would cross out of Purple with the young girl and not make a big deal about it. Bastin’s friend, Brine, had originally been assigned to the job, but I knew he’d never go along with the plan. Instead I had him taken off of my detail, saying I was too uncomfortable working with an ex’s confidant. I then recommended Sol for the job. After his “heroic” actions at the UV building, I was able to convince the PAE and my father to give him clearance to be my chauffer. Sol was more than happy to take part; I just hated pulling him into another plan that could land him in trouble. But I needed Zane to think I was escorting Aya to him, then trigger an alarm en route so we’d never show up. Without a cooperative driver the plan failed, and I couldn’t afford that. Did I think this would solve the bigger issue, or keep Zane from blackmailing me again? No. But it did what I needed it to do for the time being. It bought me time and kept Aya safe.

The doorbell rang at exactly noon and despite the tension, I found myself nodding in approval. Timeliness was something I always appreciated. I walked down the stairs right as Nora was opening the door. Aya stood there in a violet knee length dress, her dark ringlets framing a huge grin. She was a tiny thing, barely reaching Nora’s chest, and brimming with enthusiasm.

“Hi Madden!” she hollered up at me, hopping up and down as she waved.

“Hi Aya,” I replied, smiling at her excitement. I held my own dress up as I walked down the stairs.

Nora invited Aya’s two escorts in. One followed, the other waited outside our door. I’d gone to great pains to detail how I’d ensure Aya’s safety at all times before her team agreed to the outing. I told them it was important for young Purple leaders to stick together, and that after a nice lunch at Perse Manor, I’d take Aya on a private tour of the UV. Once we left my house, we’d be on our own. The guards weren’t too pleased with the idea of me being alone with Aya, but my clearance made it hard to refuse. It also helped that her parents were happy for her to get out. Aya’s high security made her somewhat of a social pariah among her classmates, so they were pleased to see their daughter get an invitation. I hated that I was going to break the rules and appear untrustworthy, but it couldn’t be helped, I reminded myself.

“May I take anything for you, Aya?” Nora asked.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Aya chirped back.

“Well in that case, your lunch is all ready. I’ll bring it to you both in the sunroom.” Nora gave me a quick smile before heading back toward the kitchen, taking the guard with her.

I turned back to Aya. “Welcome to Perse Manor. I’m glad you could come over. And I can’t wait to show you the UV building later.”

“Thanks for having me,” Aya said. “I was so excited when my parents said it was okay.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “It’s good to shake up your routine, right?” I felt my heart thud. I wondered if her parents would ever let her out again after I took her on an unauthorized trip to Crimson. “So tell me,” I continued. “How have you been?”

She gestured to her tracker excitedly. “Good! I have new game I’m playing. I can show you if you want?”

I laughed. “I’d love to see it. How about we have lunch first?”

“Sure,” she said, and followed as I led her from the foyer. Our footsteps echoed off of the marble floor as we walked down the hallway to my favorite part of the house, the sunroom. It was a circular room located in the far south quarter. The walls and ceiling were made almost completely out of glass. Center Lake lapped ten feet from the edge of the windows and sunlight streamed through the crystal chandeliers overhead, sending rainbow prisms bouncing over the floors.

“Wow,” Aya said. “That’s an ultra view.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I think so too.”

Nora brought us sandwiches, and Aya told me about how hard it was to have guards following her all the time. “I can’t wait for my Destiny Day. My parents never let me do anything without either one of them there, or my security detail.”

Now that I knew Aya’s destiny, I wondered how she’d managed to keep it to herself for so long. It must have been hard for someone her age. It was a secret that would have rocked our entire society if it got out. No use dwelling on it now, though. Instead I offered her a bright smile. “Well, parents know best, right?”

She laughed while inside I cringed. After today, my father would be very disappointed in me. I knew better than to bring Aya outside of Purple, but I had to keep her from getting hurt. She was such a tiny thing. I couldn’t let Zane get anywhere close to her, and if that meant looking untrustworthy to my dad and the PAE, then it was worth it.

As Aya and I finished our lunch, I got a ping from Sol.

“Outside now,” he wrote.

“Be out soon,” I replied.

I looked at Aya, trying to cover my worry with a smile. “Ready for your tour of the UV building?” I asked. I felt my stomach twist. The plan was in place. Nothing would go wrong, I reminded myself.

“Yep!” Aya said. She sprung up from her seat at the table, her dress flouncing around her knees.

“Great,” I said, standing to join her. I forced myself to relax. My shoulders were practically bunched up to my ears I was so tense. Everything would be okay. It was just a drive. One that would end with PAE officers swarming our vehicle.

Nora met us at the front door again, fussing over my dress and making sure we’d gotten enough to eat. I think she could tell I was upset about something. She always could.

“We’re fine, Nora,” I said.

“Alright then,” she said easily. “You girls enjoy the rest of your day.”

She waved as Aya’s security guard followed us out to the waiting black car. He opened the back passenger side door. Aya’s other officer was standing by the driver’s window, apparently giving Sol the third degree.

“We’re fine, I’ve got it from here,” I said to the officers. I tapped my tracker. “You’ll know where we are at all times.”

Aya hopped into the car.

“Take care of her,” the one closest to me said.

“I promise,” I said, following her inside.

I couldn’t see Sol through the screen separating the passengers and driver, but I knew he would be nodding in agreement. I wished he’d left the divider down, but keeping up appearances in front of Purples—even a young Purple—was important.

I considered telling Aya that we were making a stop in Crimson, but I thought better of it. She knew very well that she wasn’t supposed to go there, and if she voiced her concerns, the PAE would come down harder on Sol and me later for breaking the rules. Instead, I had her show me her game to keep her distracted from our route.

She lit up at the chance to show it. After a few touches to her tracker a small 3D city sprang to life. Seven buildings, each at various heights, stood in a perfectly rendered circle. Each one flashed a color of the ring, all in seizure-inducing patterns. “It’s called New Ville,” she said. “It lets you build a city and then you get to run it. Right now I’m playing Ministry Mode. See, first you have to develop the land. And then you make a settlement, which is really hard. At first I couldn’t figure out how to fit the Ash zone in and all of the settlers kept dying. If you don’t have all the rings your city fails.”

I nodded. “That’s a good metaphor. The more the rings can work together, the stronger the city will become,” I said, keeping one eye on Aya, the other out the window. We were just about to the border, which meant we were about to cause a huge spectacle with officers speeding to our car.

“Right,” she said. “This is the longest I’ve been able to keep it going. I just got my first Destiny badge today. You have to have…”

I tuned her out as Sol took a sharp right, avoiding Crimson. I leaned forward, rapping on the glass. “You missed the turn,” I said, my voice shrill.

I heard a whining sound and then the separator slid down. I didn’t know what Sol was playing at. He knew how serious this was. As the panel came to a rest I stiffened, clutching the leather seat under me.

“Yes, ma’am,” Zane said from the front seat. His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and he touched the brim of his chauffer’s hat. “I know a shortcut, don’t you worry.”