Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)(53)

“Just keep going,” he says, his voice tense.

“Do you see someone?” I ask, and pick up the pace. I don’t think they’d have found us already. The wires weren’t snipped for long enough. The whole thing had taken less than fifteen seconds.

“No. Just keep going.”

I close my eyes briefly in relief, but keep moving. “Then what’s wrong?”

It’s quiet for so long I chance a peek down at him. He’s keeping his eyes fixed on the wall behind the ladder and reaching blindly for the next rung.

“Gavin?”

“I can see up your dress, okay? It’s … distracting.”

I blush and speed up my pace again. When I finally make it to the tunnel, I sit and call down to him that I’m up.

He glances up and I smile at him. He doesn’t smile back, but hurries up after me. The tunnel isn’t large enough for us to go side-by-side, so I have to follow behind him. The whole time I’m listening for sounds of other people in the tunnels. A few times, I have to pause and listen past the thudding of my heart in my ears, because it’s so loud and I don’t want to miss anything.

When we get to a split, Gavin gestures for me to go ahead and lead the way. I squeeze by him, but I have no idea where I am. However, some nice soul has marked the floor of the tunnels. Left is toward the Palace Wing. And to the right are the Residential, Medical, and Science Sectors.

I go right, hoping Macie didn’t go to Festival. I have no clue what is waiting for us at the other end or where exactly we’ll end up; I just hope it’s not anywhere near a turret.

“So, this friend of yours,” he says after we’ve been crawling for a few minutes, “you really think she’ll help us?”

Without pausing, I glance over my shoulder. “She did before.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s the one who put your DNA in the computer in the first place.”

“Really? Why did she do it?”

Without thinking, I say, “She thought I was falling for you.”

He grabs my ankle, stopping me. “Why did she think that?”

Realizing my mistake instantly I wince, but look at him over my shoulder. “She said, ‘like recognizes like.’” I turn back around. “We have to keep going. I’m not sure how long we’ll have before a maintenance worker comes through. These probably aren’t used very often, but…”

He doesn’t let go when I try to move forward. “What did she mean by that?”

I sigh and look back over my shoulder. “I don’t know. I assume she meant because she’s in love with her chosen mate that means she can see it in other people.”

“Was she right?” His eyes search my face, but it’s hard to tell exactly what he’s thinking. I don’t know exactly what I feel for him, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be risking my life for someone I only liked. I don’t have time to think about it, either. I need to focus on getting us out of here alive.

I turn back around so he can’t see my face when I say, “Come on. We need to hurry.”

There’s a moment of hesitation before he lets go and I continue through the way I was going.

There are more branches along the way—some tunnels that angle up, while others angle down—and more directions, getting more specific with each one. Finally we reach another ladder that is marked as between labs one and two. Since Macie’s lab is number two, I go down it and push open the little door.

Poking my head out, I scan quickly for turrets and cameras. I don’t see any and there’s no one in this particular hallway, so I squirm out the door and impatiently wait for Gavin to do the same. Then I’m pulling him to the lab, taking a quick peek through the door to make sure there aren’t turrets.

The camera is in the corner, but if we stay by the wall, it shouldn’t register us. I step into the room and put my back to the wall. Macie raises her eyebrows, but doesn’t move from her seat.

It’s not exactly the welcome I’m expecting. Little warning bells go off in my head.

“Where have you been?” She narrows her eyes when she sees the bandage on my arm. “What happened?”

I resist the urge to run over to her. “Mother. She set the turrets and cams on us. That’s why we’re here. Can you put us back into the computer again?”

She doesn’t move. “Us?”

I gesture for Gavin to come closer. “Gavin and me. We’re both running.”

There’s a shadow of surprise on her face, but then she finally slides off her stool. I take a step forward, relieved, but it’s short-lived.

“No,” she says, glaring in his direction and crossing her arms over her chest. “He’s a Surface Dweller. A lying, manipulative, and dangerous Surface Dweller. He means nothing to me. And neither do you.”

She spins on her heel and marches out the door before I can stop her.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN



Failure will not be tolerated.

The only result of failure is death.



—ENFORCER STATUTE 104A.3





It takes me a minute to realize what’s happening.

“Macie! Please, stop.” I chase after her, grabbing her shoulder.