Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)(56)

I nod and wait, impatiently tapping my fingers on one of the lab benches. When we’re on the final terminal and after several attempts, the computer buzzes again. She drags a hand through her hair and turns to me.

“I’m sorry, but it seems that Mother’s got her computer locked up tighter than a clam with lockjaw. There’s no way I can access anything you want from here.”

Gavin turns to me. “What does that mean?”

I sigh, feeling a weight as heavy as bricks weigh down on me. “It means that I’m going to have to go back to the Palace Wing and hack into Mother’s computer manually in order to gain access to the files we need.”





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN



Greed has poisoned men’s souls. Surface Dwellers have destroyed what was once beautiful and turned it into a ghostly illusion of what they call peace. But down here, we have real peace. There will be no fear, or sickness, hunger, hate, or greed. We have created our Utopia. And it is magnificent.





—MOTHER, FROM FOUNDING SPEECH





Gavin gapes at me. “We have to go back to the Palace Wing?”

“No.” He sighs in relief, but I keep going. “I have to go back to the Palace Wing.”

“Not without me you’re not. We’re a team. You need me.”

“You don’t know the area. You’ll only be a hindrance.” He jerks like I’ve hit him and pain fills his eyes. I pause, thinking I know the reason he’s worried. “I’m not going to leave you. I’ll come back for you once I fix things.”

He shakes his head. “That’s not what I’m worried about. I know you’ll come back. If you’re alive. But it’s the alive part I’m worried about. You’re already wounded. It’s only going to get worse. You need my help.”

I open my mouth to argue, but Macie cuts me off. “We don’t have time for this. The Guards are going to come by any minute. If they catch us here, we’re going to be in trouble. We have to figure out a way to get by those turrets and cams, though.”

I shrug. “That’s the easy part. We’ll just go the way we came to get here. Through the maintenance tunnels.”

Her face lights up. “Yes. That’s perfect! Go on. I’ll meet you at my quarters.”

She guards us while we climb back into the maintenance tunnels and then shuts the grate behind us.

I really hate these tunnels. They’re worse than the Detainment Center.

Even though Gavin can see straight up my dress, I take point. He wants to be behind me in case I get dizzy and fall. I’m not sure how that would be much better, since I’d just end up causing us both to fall, but there’s no shaking him. He’s nothing if not persistent. And I can’t help but wonder if his refusal to let me go last has something to do with him not wanting me to go to the Palace Wing by myself. Is he worried that I’ll run while he’s climbing the ladder?

I have to admit it’s a good idea, but it’s too late now. I’m already halfway up and he’s close behind. I reach for another rung but my bad arm, which already feels like I’m ripping it apart, gives out on me. I slip and only catch myself from falling into Gavin by centimeters. When my body weight jerks my good arm out of socket, I bite back a scream.

A red wave of pain causes my head to spin and my stomach to roll. Fearing I’m not going to make it up into the tunnel before I get sick, I grit my teeth against the excruciating pain and pull myself up with my bad arm ladder rung by torturous rung.

Through the buzzing in my head I hear Gavin, but I can’t make out what he’s saying. It doesn’t matter, though, because I finally make it to the top. Belly crawling over the top of the ladder, I use my legs to propel me forward, then squirm on my hand and knees until I can’t move any farther. My stomach heaves and I gag, trying not to vomit. This isn’t the place. But pain is still bursting throughout my shoulders. I finally give up and lay facedown on the concrete of the tunnel. The surface is blissfully cool against my skin.

After a few seconds the buzzing in my ears stop, but the world hasn’t stopped spinning.

Gavin carefully wriggles over me and kneels next to my head. He brushes the hair away from my face. “Evie, what happened?”

I’m afraid to open my mouth. My stomach is still topsy-turvy. Squeezing my eyes shut, I gasp out, “Arm gave out. Slipped. Caught myself. Other arm out of socket.”

Gavin sucks in air through his teeth, then gently rolls me over onto my back. The movement causes both my arms to explode with fresh pain, and I bite back a scream.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry. I know it hurts,” Gavin says, “but I have to look at it.” When I signal for him to continue, he prods around one shoulder and then the other, while I continue to grit my teeth and try not to scream. I don’t know who’s in the tunnels and I really don’t want to draw attention to us.

“You’re bleeding again,” Gavin says, his tone sounding oddly flat. “And your other arm is out of joint. I can put it back in, but it’s going to hurt like hell.”

Oh, how the roles have changed, I think, remembering how only days ago I’d said almost the same to him.

I open my eyes and stare into his. “Do it.”

He swallows, then grabs my arm, and yanks as hard as he can, pushing with his legs on one wall and using the other wall against his back as leverage. There’s a white-hot flash of pain and my head swims again, before darkness leaks in.