Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)(66)

“Just … let me just go find Nick. I can’t leave without him.”

She tosses a few things into her bag, then saves the files on the data cubes to two more and hands one to me and one to Gavin. “In case we get separated,” she says. “At least someone will know of all this.”

She leads the way to the door and throws it open. Standing there is a tall man—taller than Gavin—with short, curly blond hair and light blue eyes.

“Nick!”

He grins back when he sees her. “Hey, there’s my girl.”

Before he can pull her in for a hug, she’s tugging on his hand. “Oh, wow, thank Mother you came—” I can only assume she’s trying to pull him into the hallway. “We’ve got to go, Nick. Now.”

“Go where?” Nick asks, laughing, tugging back on her hand.

“To the Surface. It isn’t safe here anymore.” She tugs on his hand again, but he doesn’t budge.

“Mace? What—” His voice trails off when he sees me, then Gavin standing protectively at my side. His eyes focus on the front of my dress … and that’s when I remember I’m still covered with my own blood.

His fists clench at his side and his eyes swirl with anger. Little warning bells go off in my head. It reminds me of something, but I can’t quite place it.

“What is he doing here?” he demands, staring right at Gavin. Then before anyone can answer him, he takes a step toward Gavin. “What are you doing here?” The veins in his neck bulge with each word and his face is turning red.

Gavin stands his ground, even moves slightly in front of me.

Macie seems puzzled by Nick’s reaction, but she steps in front of him. “Nick. We have to leave. Mother is insane. She murdered an entire Sector. It isn’t safe here.”

Nick doesn’t even spare Macie a look, he’s so focused on Gavin. “Escape where? To the Surface?”

“Yes,” she says slowly, and looks over to us, her eyes wide.

“You want to leave the safety of our home. To go to the Surface. A place filled with horrors we can only imagine. Because this Surface Dweller has made up some lie about Mother?”

“It’s not a lie, Nick. I saw it myself. You can see it, too, if you want,” she says, and starts to turn toward the screen.

He finally faces her. “Are you telling me I’m wrong?” he asks with his teeth clenched. “That I’m wrong and this Surface Dweller is right?”

Gavin looks at me, and I’m sure his face mirrors mine: eyes wide with shock and filled with a mix of terror and misery.

Macie turns back around. “Nick? What’s wrong? Why are you so angry?”

“Why am I angry?” he asks. “You have to ask why I’m angry?”

She shakes her head and steps back, seeking the safety of our trio.

“Could it have anything to do with the fact that the woman I’m supposed to couple with trusts a Surface Dweller over me?” Nick yells, startling all of us.

“That’s not it. We have proof, Nick,” I say, taking a step forward. Gavin yanks me back toward him.

Nick ignores me and continues to glare at Macie.

“Surface Dwellers are manipulative and dangerous.”

“Oh shit,” Gavin says under his breath and exchanges a look with me.

Macie, however, takes another step back. “She’s right. That’s not—” She’s cut off when he shoots an arm out and grabs her neck, his fingers wrapping around her throat.

In a flash, he’s got her pressed against the wall with her feet dangling about a meter from the ground. Her head almost touches the ceiling. And she’s clawing at his forearms. Blood oozes from the scratches.

“Nick!” I yell.

Nick growls at me and then squeezes harder on Macie’s throat.

“His kind is the reason for the fall of man and our exile to the ocean. Surface Dwellers are manipulative and dangerous and should be shot on sight.”

Macie’s kicking the wall now, and her eyes are bugging out of her face. There’s a blue tint to her lips, but Nick just keeps repeating the words I recognize from my own Conditioned responses.

Gavin stands next to me and I can practically hear the gears in his head as he frantically tries to come up with a solution. His eyes roam the room, but he doesn’t act. He’s probably just as afraid as I am to make the wrong move.

“Nick. Please listen to me. You need to put Macie down. You’re hurting her,” I say as if I’m talking to a toddler who’s having a tantrum. I don’t want to do anything that will set him off, but I can’t just let him kill my best friend.

I slide my eyes to the side. Gavin’s fists are clenching and unclenching again and that tick is back in his jaw.

Macie squeaks and I turn my attention back to them. Her whole face is a reddish purple and the blood on her fingers is not just Nick’s anymore. Her struggles to tear Nick’s fingers from her throat have caused her to break her nails back.

I walk slowly to Nick, still begging him to let Macie go, apologizing to him. Promising we won’t leave. That it was just a bad joke. I’d say anything to get him to let Macie go. At first he doesn’t listen, then his fingers loosen and Macie takes a large breath. Relieved, I stop walking.

When he turns around, the strange look is still in his eyes. It’s a look that will haunt me forever.