Lifeblood (Everlife #2)(52)

Light Brings Sight!

Conduit-in-training, Tenley Lockwood

PS: thanks for letting me take the lead with Dior PPS: Did you notice the complete lack of typos????

PPPS: I am so rocking thes





    TROIKA



* * *



    From: T_L_2/23.43.2

    To: L_N_3/19.1.1

    Subject: Argh!

    I meant this.

    I am rocking this.

    This, this, this





TROIKA



* * *



From: L_N_3/19.1.1

To: T_L_2/23.43.2

Subject: Good thing I speak Teen Girl.

You can think or know something in your mind but until you know it deep in your heart, you don’t really know anything. Also, making a decision based on fear is the fastest way to arrive at the wrong place at the wrong time. Where there’s peace, there’s your answer.

I know there’s a spy among us, but I appreciate the heads-up. (And I never thought it was you.) I can predict what your next message will say. How did you know about the spy, oh, magnificent General? Let me save us both a little time. The answer is: I’m very good at my job.

General Levi Nanne Light Brings Sight!

PS: I’m half impressed with your cojones and half disappointed. We’ll discuss my reasons at your debriefing.

PPS: before you freak out, debriefings are standard operating procedure…and yours is scheduled to take place five minutes before now. Hustle!





chapter twelve



* * *



“Mercy forever walks hand in hand with your doom.”

—Myriad

Five minutes before now? A fancy way of saying I’m late. Great!

I return to Troika, my heart pounding. There’s no one waiting for me on the other side of the Veil, but I receive a message from Kayla with directions to the Tribunal, located inside the Temple of Temples. I do as Levi commanded and hustle my bustle, even though I would prefer to avoid any kind of debriefing.

I’ve never attended one, but I can guess how this one will go down. I’ll explain what I did and why I did it, and Levi will tell me what I did wrong...which will be...oh, absolutely everything.

I rush through Gates and Stairwells, my mind whirling. Levi knows about the spy. That’s good. It’s a burden I don’t have to carry alone. I just have to keep my head on a swivel, note anything out of the ordinary—not that I know what’s ordinary in Troika—and sleep with one eye open.

I smack into Raanan, Nico and Hoshi. The trio catches me, though it’s Raanan who prevents me from falling. His eyes glint with amusement.

“Cool your jets, little girl,” Nico says with a laugh. “We’re about to—”

“Sorry, no time to talk. But thank you.” I keep going, staggered by the difference our training has made in our attitudes.

The trio exuded relaxation; they were probably out having fun between classes. I’m constantly on the go, constantly working to save Troika and stop a war. I both envy and pity them. Action today prevents regret tomorrow.

I throw a glance over my shoulder. Nico and Hoshi have moved on, but Raanan is exactly where I left him, his gaze glued to me. Intense, curious. I wonder... Is he envious of me?

By the time I reach my destination, I’m sweating buckets. The Tribunal is a chrome-and-glass building with, I’m guessing, ten bazillion stories. At the reception desk, I’m told a courier will take my Shell to my apartment, and I’m given a visitor pass. The debriefing is taking place in room 1010.

The number gives me pause. Double tens.

If ten means complete, does 1010 mean doubly complete? If complete means one door has closed, does doubly complete mean a new door will open?

Is this a coincidence?

Trick question. I don’t believe in coincidences.

There are Laborers in the lobby and elevators, though no one speaks or looks anywhere but at the floor. Got it. This is a somber, nerve-racking affair.

Ding.

The doors open on my floor, and I step into a spacious room where Levi, Kayla, Reed, Elizabeth and Victor are lined up in front of seven desks. They are wearing white robes while I’m in my catsuit armor.

Double zero! Someone should have sent me a dress-code memo.

Behind each desk is a fellow Troikan. People I’ve never met.

I take my place at the end of the line, and search for clues about the men and women—and boys and girls—before me. Only the desks hint at individual personalities. One looks like the wing of a plane. Another is made entirely of hand-carved wooden roses while another looks like a simple stack of logs. The youngest boy, who can be no more than ten, has a desk shaped like a car and the youngest girl, who can be no more than eight, has a desk shaped like a glass slipper. The final two are absolute opposites of each other. One offers clean lines and sharp edges while the other is a mash-up of different metals that have been bowed.

“Children?” I whisper to Levi.

“Haven’t you heard?” he whispers back. “Lo, that we all had the innocence of a child.”

Innocence—great. But I’m supposed to tell these kids everything I did and why I did it, and they’re going to understand?