Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)(55)

Macie gasps and stares over at the camera. I follow her gaze. The red light is off. Thank Mother.

Her hands clench at her side. “Bitch!” she proclaims, and I lift an eyebrow, but don’t say anything.

Gavin glances over, the shadow of a smile on his face. “I can only agree with that,” he says. He cleans the wound and redresses it, murmuring something softly under his breath. I can’t hear what he says because my head is spinning again, and there’s a buzzing in my ear, like hundreds of little bees are next to my head. The pain is horrendous. Worse than when I was initially shot. I wonder if that’s because the adrenaline and medication are wearing off and with it the numbness they provided. When are the nanos going to start working?

Whatever it is he’s saying, Macie is watching him with her eyes wide open in surprise. I move my gaze back to Gavin and try to focus on his mouth. I hope to be able to read his lips, but it’s no use. The harder I try to force the dizziness away, the worse it gets. So I just stare at him instead.

When he finishes, he leans forward, keeping his eyes on mine, and I wonder if he’s going to kiss me again, but he sighs and steps back instead.

The dizziness slowly ebbs and dies away. I smile at him and cup my hand along the side of his face, enjoying the roughness of the stubble on his jaw against my palm. “Thank you.”

He clears his throat and steps away. “We’d better get going.” He shoots another glare at Macie. “Before she turns us in.”

“I’m not going to turn you in,” she says softly. “But yes, you better get going. The Guards will be here any moment to make sure everyone is at Festival.”

I slide off the stool, but sway when a wave of dizziness washes over me. Gavin grabs my good arm to steady me, while Macie grabs the other. I cry out, the red flash of pain making me even dizzier.

Gavin pulls me away and steps between us. “Leave her alone! Are you trying to kill her?”

I gape at him. I’ve never heard him raise his voice before.

Macie’s eyes flash. “Of course not. I was trying to help her.”

“Yeah, right. You just said you wouldn’t help her. Because of me. And if that’s the kind of help you’re offering, we’re better without it. Now get out of the way.” He pushes past her, gently pulling me with him.

“It wasn’t because of you,” she says. “But she’s right. No matter what she’s done to me, she’s still my best friend and I can’t just watch her die.”

I stop, and even though Gavin tugs on my hand to keep going, I turn to face her. “What do you mean? What did I do to you?”

She frowns and her eyes harden again. “Mother revoked the coupling.”

“What? Why?” I ask, but I fear I already know the answer.

She tilts her head. “She knew I’d helped you before. I don’t know how, especially since I didn’t have to fudge the results. He does have the perfect genetics. But I had all my privileges revoked. That includes my Coupling License.”

“Oh, Macie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t think—” I take a step toward her to give her a hug and try to fix what I’ve done, but she backs away.

“No, you didn’t,” she says, her tone harsh. Gavin makes a sound in his throat, but she doesn’t let him speak. “But that doesn’t give me the excuse to just let you die. Come on. Both of you. You can stay with me until we come up with a better plan.”

She brushes past the both of us and stops just this side of the door, looking back when she notices we haven’t moved.

“No. We just need your computer access credentials. We need to put ourselves back into the computer. Find a real map of the facility. And—” I stop myself from talking, because I don’t know how much I should tell her. I still trust her, but I’ve gotten her into enough trouble. I really don’t want her to get into more. Finally, I say, “Then we’ll be on our way.” There’s no way I’m going to let her get in more trouble because of me.

She shakes her head. “I can’t help you.”

Gavin and I exchange a look. “Why not?” he asks. He crosses his arms over his chest. It’s not hard to see he doesn’t trust a word she says.

She glares at him. “Mother took my privileges away, Surface Dweller. Remember? That includes my computer access. I can’t even work.”

“Then what are you doing here?” I look over her workspace. For the first time I notice her desk is completely bare. Not even the microscope is there. Underneath the desk is a box filled to the brim with her possessions. I recognize the statuette of a cat I gave her for Christmas last year. Even though it’s on the top and protected by clear plastic bubble wrap, I can see the pink ears sticking out the top.

“Cleaning out my desk,” she says. “I’ve been fired. Once I return to my quarters, I’m on house arrest while I await my new designation.”

Gavin turns toward me. It’s clear he has no clue what she’s talking about. “What does that mean?”

I ignore him. “What about your coworkers? Can you get into their computer profiles? Surely you can’t be the only one with the same credentials.”

She lets out a loud sigh, but goes to another station. She plugs a series of numbers and letters into the terminal and a screen pops up. For the next few minutes, she swipes, taps, and types into different programs and screens. Finally, she turns around with a frown. “I can’t access Mother’s computer from this terminal. She’s implanted new security protocols. I’ll try another terminal that should be able to access her files no matter what.”