Invaded (Alienated, #2)(90)

“I don’t know if I can go to the colony,” she said in a helpless voice. “It’s not just memories of Aelyx; it’s the government. The Elders are set in their old ways.” If that didn’t hook him, nothing would. “I can’t live like that.”

“Cah-ra, listen to me.” He took her by the shoulders, peering down at her with raised brows. “Change is coming. A new order will rise up and restore the glory of Mother L’eihr. The Elders have made us weak, but we—”

“Wait,” she interrupted, rotating her torso to ensure her phone caught every word. “Are you talking about overthrowing The Way?” Her tone was hopeful, as if nothing would please her more.

He grinned. “Look around,” he said, glancing at his drone army. “These men will set it in motion.”

Will set it in motion—that implied Alona and the others were still alive. Cara released a shaky breath. She had enough proof. Now she needed to make her exit and track down The Way. “This is overwhelming,” she said, backing away as she brought a wrist to her forehead. “I need a minute to think.”

She’d almost reached the exit when the sound of the door opening and closing made her jump. She whirled around and came face-to-face with a furious Aisly. The girl tore her gaze to Jaxen, and after a moment of Silent Speech between the two, Jaxen turned toward Cara with a look of utter betrayal in his eyes. In two quick steps, he reached her and plucked the iPhone from her tunic pocket.

“I wiped her brother’s mind,” Aisly said. “He won’t remember a thing. But her?” She nodded toward Cara. “She’s learned to block her thoughts. We can’t risk it. You know what has to happen.”

Troy must have made eye contact and unwittingly told Aisly everything. He was probably out there staring at the wall in a drool coma.

“Kill her quietly,” Aisly added. “I won’t do it for you.” She glared at Jaxen as if to say, I told you so. “Your fascination with them is absurd. Let this be a lesson to you—that they should all die fighting the Aribol. Even the finest among humans is unworthy of the new order.”

It was then that Cara understood who had framed her at the Aegis. Her instincts had been right when she’d suspected that her death wasn’t the only goal. “Is that why you tried to have me discredited?” she asked. “To convince everyone that humans aren’t worth saving? That you should only keep us alive so we can fight for you on the front lines?”

The girl’s sick smile confirmed it. “At least your kind is useful for something.”

Cara remembered Jaxen’s words from moments ago. I may still find a use for the remainder of your kind. He would force humans to fight the Aribol, and after the war, when the survivors had outlasted their usefulness, he’d let them die out slowly. He had no intention of fixing Earth’s water crisis.

Jaxen peered at her with such hurt in his eyes that she almost felt sorry for him. But not quite. She darted to the nearest capital guard and ripped the iphal from his holster, then aimed it at Jaxen’s chest.

“Stay back,” Cara ordered, eyeing Aisly, too. “Both of you.”

“She can’t fire it,” Aisly said. “I watched her at the Aegis.”

Testing her, Jaxen took a step toward another guard, clearly meaning to arm himself. “Stop,” Cara yelled, raising her weapon. When Jaxen chanced another step, she focused on his chest and thought, Fire!

But nothing happened.

“Stop,” she repeated and fired again.

Nothing.

In a panic, she tried two more times without success.

Aisly laughed while Jaxen’s face broke into an arrogant smile. “When we use humans in battle, clearly we’ll need to equip them with simpler tools, like clubs and blades.”

Cara closed her eyes to focus, and when she opened them, Jaxen was lifting an iphal from the guard at his side.

“I hate to do this,” he said with a faint sigh. “I have the genetic material to replicate you, but it won’t be the same. Your clone—she won’t have the unique spark and fury I’ve grown to adore.”

That explained why he’d taken her blood on the transport: so he could make a new version of her to bend to his will. Over her dead body. Cara aimed at him with the fury he loved so much, and thought, Fire!

Nothing. Her pulse raced and her breaths came in gasps. Why couldn’t she do this?

Jaxen admired the chrome weapon in his hand, slowly trailing a fingertip along the curve of its spine. “You have to mean it,” he said. “Clearly, you’re conflicted.”

The door flew open from behind, and a large body nudged Cara aside, snatching the iphal from her grasp. It was Aelyx, who aimed the weapon at Jaxen. “That won’t be a problem for me.”

No sound escaped the chrome device and Cara never saw the air distort, but in the span of a single breath, Jaxen clutched his chest and collapsed to the floor in an ungraceful heap of limbs, his heartbeat stunned by a burst of energy.

Aisly released a scream loud enough to awaken the soldiers from their trances. They jerked upright and blinked at one another in confusion before they noticed their dead leader crumpled on the carpet…and the iphal in Aelyx’s fist.

“Hurry,” Aelyx said, tugging Cara’s hand and towing her out the door.

As they tore down the hall, Cara darted a glance over her shoulder and discovered Aisly right behind them while Troy stood in place looking confused. Cara pumped her legs faster, but instead of giving chase, Aisly turned and sprinted down a side hallway with a mingled look of terror and determination on her face. It seemed she had a plan, maybe to head them off around the corner.