Queen (The Blackcoat Rebellion #3)(69)

“You don’t know that.” His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his grip on my hand tightened. “I’m sorry, Kitty. I can’t let you do this. Even if there is a plan, no one bothered to tell us what it is.”

Suddenly my cuff crackled, and out of nowhere, a familiar voice sounded in my ear. “Tell him Daxton isn’t armed, and the vest he’s wearing isn’t nearly as bulletproof as he thinks it is.”

The ground seemed to move underneath my feet, and it was all I could do to stay upright. “Kn-Knox?” I whispered, touching my cuff.

“Knox?” said Greyson, his eyes widening, and I nodded, stunned. He fumbled through his pockets, presumably for his own transmitter.

“Sorry for the radio silence,” said Knox. “Couldn’t let you in on anything while you were under Daxton’s thumb.”

“But—you’re not— Elsewhere is gone—”

“As soon as you were captured, Rivers insisted we use the tunnels to move everyone out of the sections,” he said. “We figured Daxton would try to torture information out of you, and with the supply lines choked off, there was nopoint staying anyway. By the time the bombs hit, we’d been gone for days.”

I had no idea what to say to that. Everyone was okay. No one had died in that pile of ash that was now Elsewhere. And Knox was alive.

“I’m going to kill you,” I said in a choked voice. “All this time, and you were really okay.” I paused as realization hit me. “Wait—that means—you heard everything—”

“I did. I’m touched, truly.”

I let out several curses. Greyson leaned in closer, apparently unable to find his transmitter. “What’s he saying?”

“I’m saying you need to get in that safe room, Kitty,” said Knox. “Just you. We need Greyson alive, and if things don’t go as planned...”

I swallowed. “Right. I’m the pawn.”

“You haven’t been a pawn for a very long time.” I heard the smirk in his voice, and for a split second, I couldn’t help but grin. He was alive. He was actually alive.

I quickly relayed Knox’s message to Greyson, whose frown only deepened. “No. I won’t let her go in there, Knox. He’ll kill her.”

“He’s unarmed,” I said. “And I have a knife.”

Greyson shook his head, his grip on my hand almost bruising. “No. No. You’re it. You’re the only family I have left. I’m not letting you go.”

“Greyson—”

“Kick him in the shin, and then run like hell toward the safe room,” said Knox. “There’s no time. I’ll explain while you run.”

I winced. “I’m so sorry,” I said, and before Greyson could move, I did exactly as Knox had instructed and kicked him. Hard.

Greyson cried out, and his grip loosened enough for me to yank my hand back and make a break for it. I raced down the hallway toward the safe room, gripping the handle of the knife in my sleeve. This time, I wouldn’t fail.

“Kitty, listen to me,” said Knox in a low voice. “We’ve planted cameras in the safe room. Before you do anything else, you need to get Daxton to confess. Preferably not under duress. As much as you can get out of him—make it happen. But most important, make sure he admits to being Victor Mercer. Can you do that?”

“Don’t have much of a choice, do I?” But even if I did—even if Greyson could have done it, or Knox, or anyone else, I would have still been running at breakneck speed toward that room. Because Lila was the one with the real power. She was the one the people loved. And that was worth more than control through fear ever would be.

“The connection will probably break up as soon as the door’s closed,” said Knox. “I’m on my way, and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just remember—no matter what else happens, make him confess. The entire country will be watching.”

“Got it.” I turned a corner and saw a burly guard standing in front of the doors to the safe room. I expected a fight—no doubt Daxton had given him the order not to open the door for anyone—but he immediately punched a code intothe keypad and tipped me an enormous wink. Another Blackcoat, then. Suddenly my world seemed to be full of them. “The Prime Minister is waiting for you, Miss Hart.”

I brushed my wild hair from my eyes. “Thank you,” I said. Taking a deep breath, I threw out a silent, wild hope into the universe that I would make it out of this alive, and finally I stepped inside.





XVII

Death by a Thousand Cuts

The safe room wasn’t very big—the size of a generous living room, maybe, with the walls covered in cabinets and drawers that held enough supplies to keep the entire Hart family alive for months. Several couches stretched across the room, and there was a small private bathroom in the corner. Claustrophobia aside, it wasn’t a terrible place to spend the night, as I’d done during the Blackcoat bombings my first evening in Somerset.

I searched the walls for any sign of a camera, but I didn’t see so much as a red light. It didn’t matter. I had to trust Knox. I had to believe he was right, and this was the chance we’d been waiting for.

Daxton stood pacing a circle in the center of the room, his hands clasped behind his back. When I slipped into the room, he stopped, his face twisting into a snarl. “Who said you could join me?”