Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)(81)

Remembering Nick’s reaction, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened.

Gavin starts gagging behind me, but surprisingly my stomach is like steel. I feel nothing. Not even sadness.

Enforcer training, I think. I guess I should be grateful for it this time.

“Just close your eyes and hang on to me,” I say.

Gavin grabs the back of my dress and lets me lead him to the other side of the pile.

When we do, he collapses to the floor and rests his head on his knees. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

I tamp down my irritation. “Yes, it’s unpleasant, but we have to keep moving. Sitting here and crying isn’t going to help us.”

He looks up, surprise widening his eyes. “Excuse me?”

No matter how much I want to, I can’t swallow my reply. It’s like someone is speaking through me. “Get up, Surface Dweller. Keep moving. We don’t have time for theatrics.”

“Theatrics?” He starts to speak, but cuts himself off.

The look on his face makes my hand go to my plasma pistol. I draw it out and point it at him, my finger itching to squeeze the trigger even as I wish I could take back everything I said. My voice won’t cooperate, so I just glare down at him.

He lifts an eyebrow, and I see so many emotions whirling in his eyes that it finally breaks the hold my training has over me. I drop my hand to my side and shove the pistol into the belt. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m trying … I just … can’t. Okay? I can’t control this. You should just leave. Now. Without me, before I really can’t control myself.”

There’s a scratching sound as he stands and I squeeze my eyes closed even tighter. My heart breaks at the sound of his footsteps.

He’s leaving. I finally pushed him away.

Instead, he pulls me against him. I struggle to pull away, but he holds on tightly. “No, I’m sorry, Evie. I know that’s not you talking. And I’m not leaving you. We’re in this together. Remember? I’m not leaving you and you’re not leaving me. Got it?”

“This is so bad. Horrible,” I say, my voice cracking. The Conditioning is pulling at me again. “I can’t do this without my training. I have to let it take over.”

“I know. We need to keep going. There’s nothing we can do about those people. They’re dead. We’re not, and we have to remember that and keep going. The sooner we get out, the sooner we’re safe.” He squeezes me again, before letting me go. “You can do this. I trust you.”

His words chill my blood, but I nod and open my eyes. Even in the dark I can tell he’s pale, but I have to give him credit. There’s not even a tremor in his legs. He palms the plasma pistol again and says, “Ready?”

I straighten my shoulders and let the Conditioning in again. “More than ready. Let’s get going.”

There are more bodies along the way, but no one is ever alive. The farther we go and the more bodies we run into, the harder it is to keep my emotional side in check. To keep the Enforcer part of me going without giving in to my programmed distrust of Gavin.

We finally reach the dead end that should be where the subs are. There’s a small double sliding door with a sign that says, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.

Since “prosecuted” is Mother speak for executed, I’m not surprised no one has tried to get in here.

There’s a flat glass panel on the side for handprint access. I don’t want Mother to know where we are, so I open the back of the panel.

Less than thirty seconds later I’m replacing the panel and there’s a soft snick as the bolt unlocks. I nearly smile in relief when the doors slide open. I want to be safe—to go slow—but a sudden scream behind us propels me through the door. Whatever’s on the inside can’t be worse than what is outside.

I’m wrong. The door shuts behind us with an ominous clang and we look out over the submarines’ bay … which is filled with Enforcers.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX



Way down yonder, down in the meadow,

There’s a poor wee little lamby.

The bees and the butterflies pickin’ at its eyes,

The poor wee thing cried for her mammy.



—CHILDREN’S SONG, PART OF PRE-SCHOOL CURRICULUM





So, this is where they’ve all been. No wonder they haven’t stopped us.

Gavin groans. “I don’t suppose any part of this escape could be easy.”

I have to laugh. “What’s the fun in that?”

Veronica, the apparent leader of the Enforcers, steps out of the group.

“We have been waiting for you,” she says.

Time to bluster. I spread my hands out to encompass the room. “Obviously. I can’t imagine why you would stay in here otherwise. Though the view is lovely.” I gesture to the clear glass door that leads to one of the submersibles.

Gavin snickers, but the Enforcer only bares her teeth. “This is not a joking matter. You’ve caused enough trouble and Mother has had quite enough of the both of you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I exchange another grin with Gavin. “We didn’t mean to keep you waiting. We didn’t know you’d be here. If we had, we’d have gotten here sooner.”