Cipher (13 page)

I pulled her out of the driver’s seat and pushed her toward the back of the car.

“What? What are you doing?” She tried to wiggle away, but I kept my grip on her arm.

“We’re going in the trunk.”

“No!” She punched me in the stomach, but it wasn’t hard enough to do any damage. “No! I’m not going in a trunk. And definitely not with you.”

Was she going to argue with me about everything? God, I hoped not. “Yes, you are. The Seligo will probably get surveillance of every girl who entered that club and you can bet they’ll find the blue-haired one who got away. They’ll have checkpoints set up to search every car for us. Once we get outside the blackout zone, the cameras will be looking, too. I know it’s not ideal, but we’re riding in the trunk.”

“By that logic, we should all be riding in the trunk. They’re going to know about all of us.”

“That’s why we’ll be splitting up soon. The helixes will follow the three of them on a wild goose chase in this car, thinking we’re hidden in the backseat or trunk, and we’ll go our own way once we get to a safe house in a dead zone. Eventually they’ll ditch this car and make sure they’re on tape so it’s clear only three of them were together. We’ll be off safe, and by the time Parson’s people realize it, they’ll be too busy backtracking trying to find us to go after the others.”

“What if they get caught? Mona’s my best friend.”

“That’s on Dex and Oliver. They’ll keep her safe. But I’m here to make sure
you
don’t get caught.”

The war she was waging with herself played across her face. She might think she hid her emotions, but she didn’t. She was scared and didn’t trust me. Not yet.

The trunk popped open, and I climbed in and held out my hand. “Please. Trust me this little bit. I promise I won’t let you down.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she muttered.

Her hand touched mine, and a little wave of electricity ran up my arm. Good thing I’d spent all that time maxing out how much voltage I could take. When I’d first gotten the modifications that paired me to her, I couldn’t take much, but it was like a muscle. The more I worked at it, the stronger I got. Now, I figured that I could take about as much as she could give without it stopping my heart or frying my insides.

She stepped awkwardly into the trunk, settling on her side with her back to me. I held her against me, and then reached to shut the hatch. We were instantly in the dark. Her hair fell in my face and I couldn’t help taking a whiff—it smelled like coconut.

“Did you just smell me?”

Busted. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

“Why?”

“You smell like coconut. It’s nice.”

She wiggled and her butt rubbed against my crotch.

Keep it together. One hundred thirty-seven divided by three. Four carry the one…five with two remaining.

I gripped Emma’s hip to steady her as the car started moving. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but I was a guy and even long division wasn’t going to stop my body from reacting if she didn’t stop wiggling.

The muffled sounds of people shouting grew louder. Someone slammed hands on the trunk as the car jerked forward.

Emma’s elbow hit my stomach and I grunted.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I relaxed, and pulled her into me. I brushed her hair away from her neck and ran my finger along her skin. She was so soft.

“What are you doing?”

Goose bumps ran down her arms, and I wanted to cheer with satisfaction. My touch was affecting her. “Nothing.”

“That’s not nothing.” Her voice was a little more raspy than usual.

I couldn’t really argue with that.

“How do I know you?”

“Do you remember me at all?” I was hoping she would just know, but that was probably unrealistic.

“No.”

“You haven’t asked me my first name.”

Emma rolled to face me and I grinned.

She was holding her breath for too long. “You okay?”

“You can’t be him.”

“Yes, I can.”

“How?”

I breathed deeply. “That’s a long story. What you did, it got me out. Free. I can never repay it, but I’m going to do my best to make it up to you.”

“You don’t need to repay me. I did the same thing that anyone else would do…or maybe not exactly the same thing. I didn’t mean to…you know…zap him.” She said those last few words really softly. “Sometimes I get upset, and I hurt people, but I don’t let myself get close to anyone. Not anymore. I’m too dangerous.”

“Not to me.”

“Yes. To
everyone
.”

“Not to me.” I sighed. “And I do have to make it up to you. What you did cost you a lot.”

“No. I was a ticking bomb. My mom hung onto her relationship with Jack, which was probably the reason everything happened. If I hadn’t gotten caught that day, it would’ve been a different day. It was inevitable. But what happened—”

Shouting came from outside. Dex or Oliver—I wasn’t sure who was driving—laid on the horn. Something slammed against the trunk and Emma jerked into my arms.

“Sorry,” she said.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

“Are you really Hunter?” Her voice was even softer as she asked, like maybe she was afraid of the answer.

“Yes. A year after you took off, I went through the Trials. Earned a spot at the Academy and got my helixes a few years later.”

“Why’d you do it?”

I blew out a breath. How much should I tell her? I wanted her to trust me, but there were things about being a helix that I wasn’t too proud of. And for a while there, I nearly drank the water. Almost believed the crap they were selling. It wasn’t until I was on a mission and did something I didn’t think I could live with that I remembered why I joined the helixes.

“You.”

“That was a long pause for a one-word answer.”

I shrugged. “It’s the truth. I heard your uncle ranting about Red Helixes. Before then, they were monsters that would come get you in the night.” She laughed, and I took that as a good sign. “But after that, I wanted—
needed
—to pay you back. You lost a lot to save my life, and I knew you were in danger. I figured that by joining the helixes, I could find a way to help.”

“And did you?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I’m here in a trunk with you, but I’m not sure if I can trust you.”

She would. I’d make sure of it. “The thing about trust is that it takes time. Remember when we first met?”

“Yeah,” her voice was so quiet, I almost didn’t hear her.

“It took me a while to trust you. To care about you. But you kept coming back. I’m willing to wait you out. I’ll show you that I can be trusted by my actions, not my words. Eventually, you’ll know that I’m here for you.”

We were quiet for a bit. It would be good to give her some space to think about what I’d said, but there wasn’t a ton of that in the trunk of a moving vehicle.

The sounds of rioting quieted as the car rolled on and we passed the thick of the chaos. Emma’s forehead rested against my sternum, and I itched to pull her closer yet didn’t dare. It was probably my pride, but I’d spent all this time chasing her…now I wanted her to come that last little bit on her own. Patience was something I’d struggled with, but I’d gotten good at it.

I couldn’t rush and I didn’t need to. With Emma, I was in it for the long haul.

The car stopped, and I pressed my fingers to her lips.

“Identification,” a stern voice said.

Checkpoints already? They’d moved faster than expected. “I’m on leave. We’re taking a little trip,” Oliver answered.

The light flickered in the trunk, and I gripped Emma’s hand. Her gaze shot to mine.

“No,” I mouthed.

Her eyes were wide as her hand squeezed mine. I could feel her heart pumping, and I couldn’t keep the distance anymore. I pulled her flush against me, rubbing my hand up and down her back. “It’s going to be okay,” I whispered. “Oliver is good at this. Trained for this. Just stay calm.”

Her breath hitched.

“You’re a Black? What are you doing out here? Everyone was either called into the Voids to search or sent out to blockades.” The man outside paused. “Your chip isn’t coming up.”

“That’s not right. Wait, the green light’s off on your unit. You sure you charged that?”

“Yeah. It was working a second ago.” He banged something. “Damn it. It’s broken. How the hell did that happen?”

Dex. The guy was handy.

“Wow. That sucks,” Dex said so earnestly that I nearly laughed.

“We have our coms off, so I don’t know what’s going on in the Voids,” Oliver said. “I requested this leave months ago and I’m not going to let anything get in the way of me, my six-pack, and this girl here. She’s freaking hot and has the tiniest pink bikini.”

The guy laughed. “I hear you. Well, you better get out while you can. I’m not supposed to let anyone go, but a couple of fellow helixes and their chick should be fine.”

The car started moving again.

I focused back on Emma. Her breath came in pants, and electricity licked along my skin—it jolted me like I’d had a few too many cups of coffee.

I pounded on the back of the trunk. “Get us to the safe house. Now.”

“What’s going on?” Mona said.

“She’s having a panic attack.” I took Emma’s face in my hands. “Breathe with me.”

“I should’ve left. I should’ve left. Why did I stay when I should’ve left? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”

She kept chanting the word and I wrapped my arms around her. “Where’re we going, guys?”

“Another safe house,” Dex said. “It’s on the outskirts of town, twenty miles out. We can regroup there.”

I ran my fingers through her hair. “Not long now. We’re fine. You’re safe with me.” She was shaking, and it was killing me. I held on tight.

She was trusting me this much. All I had to do now was not screw it up. I hoped I could be good enough to save her.

Chapter Nine

CIPHER

I knew I was freaking out. It was embarrassing, but I couldn’t make myself stop. This was the closest I’d ever gotten to being caught. And it’d happened twice. In less than thirty minutes. How dumb could I be?

I knew what my future would be if I got captured—nonexistent. I’d be dead. Or on a lab table, which was probably worse. I had to focus in on a plan. I was here with people I really didn’t know or trust—except for Mona—but I couldn’t help her. I could barely help myself. If she ended up getting hurt, it’d be my fault.

I hadn’t been this screwed since the day my parents died. I’d been in a car then, too. The sound of the crash—that was horrible. The smells of burning rubber and spilled gas. My parents’ blood. Shaking them. Trying to get them to wake up. That split-second decision I’d made—stay with them and get caught or leave them and run—was the worst moment of my life.

I ran. I was pretty sure they were dead. I’d seen death before. I’d killed before. But not like that. Not with all that blood.

I’d scuttled between cars. Hiding behind them until I got to the edge of the freeway. Running from ditch to ditch. Until I got to a rest stop and met Sally. The nice old lady truck driver took pity on me. Looking back, maybe I shouldn’t have trusted her. She should’ve turned me in, but she didn’t. She hid me. Helped me. Saved me.

And here I was, back to that very same spot. In a car. Racing to freedom with an unknown destination. In another car with someone I loved.

What
?

No. I couldn’t. Those feelings for him were in the past.

How had this happened?

Somehow I’d forgotten how much was at stake. It was all happening again and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It was like these twelve years had never happened.

So, I was freaking out. Fully, thoroughly freaking the fuck out.

The only thing that was keeping me sane was Knight’s hand. His steady breathing. His heartbeat. He murmured things to me, but I couldn’t focus on his words enough to make sense of them. The only thing I could think of was getting away. Running as fast as I could until I was far away from anyone with a helix.

I needed out of the trunk.

When the car stopped, I slammed my hand against the roof of the trunk. “Out. Out. Out. I need to get out. Now. Please.”

“Guys!” he said.

“We heard her. Trying to find the—”

The latch popped and I stumbled out, hitting the ground hard. I climbed to my feet and started pacing in a circle, trying to figure out where to run. The only building within sight was a small, one-story house. The rest was dust and dirt and shrubs and cacti.

Where in the hell was I?

Knight grasped my shoulders and spun me to face him. “Hey! It’s fine. You’re fine.”

The electricity I’d been gathering rushed into him again. How did he do that? Why didn’t I hurt him? The ground under my feet was scorched, still smoking. Not even my shoes had been enough to dampen what I’d been channeling.

“You’re going to be fine.” His words were firm and clear, and they only made me more frantic.

I pushed him away. “You don’t know that. You don’t know how long, how hard I’ve been running. How dangerous it is. Last time they got this close I was in a car, too. Only everyone I loved died. I lost everything. And now I’m an idiot. I let someone get close. I put Mona in danger. And you three morons want in, too? That’s not only nuts, it’s monumentally stupid. Everyone needs to let me go. Let me run on my own. I’ve been fine so far. I’ll keep on being fine.”

“And when do you stop running?” Knight asked.

I couldn’t look him in the eyes. There wasn’t a good answer. At least not one that either of us wanted to hear. “I don’t know. Maybe never.”

“That’s how you want to live?”

I shoved him and he staggered back a step. “You think I want this?” I pulled down the waist of my pants just enough to show the top of the Red Helix tattooed on my hip. “You think I somehow asked for this?”

I heard Mona gasp, but didn’t dare look her way. I didn’t think I could stand the rejection.

“No,” he said quietly. “I don’t think you asked for it. But that doesn’t mean you have to run. I’m here to help you.
We—
” Knight motioned to the other two guys. “Are here to help you. You don’t have to run anymore.”