Rebel (Legend, #4)(56)

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that my brother used to be the master of avoiding the Republic’s soldiers. I’m dizzy with the speed at which he did it. How would he even know the route to get back up to the surface? But it doesn’t seem to matter. He keeps moving, even though he stumbles occasionally. I watch him go, my throat so dry that I gag.

He almost makes it on his own, even without Hann’s generosity. But then he stumbles. That’s when the guards approach him, and I think for a single, terrifying moment, that I’m going to witness them kill Daniel right there on the spot.

It will be what had happened to John, all over again.

But instead, I hear one of the guards say, “Let him go.”

He shakes his head and orders the others to pull Daniel to his feet. To my disbelief, they throw a bag over my brother’s head and start leading him away. They take him up an elevator, then leave him in the streets of the Undercity. The last thing the feed shows is the AIS finding him and swarming to him. Among them, I think I see June Iparis.

I don’t know what to make of the entire scene. I don’t know why Hann would agree to do such a thing.

Daniel’s free now. He’s going to come back for me, that I know with a dead certainty and a wild hope. He’s going to find where they’ve taken me and pull me back to the surface.

But if Hann succeeds in what he wants to do, I don’t know if any of that matters. I’ve now witnessed what his machine can do when powered with my engine. It’s one of the most spectacular and terrifying inventions I’ve ever seen.

Ross City is about to crumble.





DANIEL



I must have blacked out between the time June and the AIS found me and when I arrive at a hospital, because I don’t remember getting out of the ambulance. I don’t recall going up in an elevator or traveling down a hospital’s corridors.

All I know is that when I wake up next, I’m in my own bed, my window overlooking a blanket of clouds shrouding the glittering city. It’s nighttime now. The dizzy weakness I’d felt before is now gone, and I feel awake and alert, rehydrated, and as good as new.

When I look to my side, I see a girl asleep against the side of my bed, her head buried in her arms. Her dark hair spills behind her in a shining blanket.

It’s June.

She suddenly stirs, sensing that I’m awake. Her eyes dart first around the room, doing a quick sweep, probably sizing everything up in the way she always does to make sure we’re okay. Then her gaze settles on my face.

She lets out a long breath. “Hey,” she whispers, getting to her feet.

I give her a small smile. “Hey,” I reply.

She puts a cool hand against my forehead. “I don’t know how much longer we would have taken to get to you if you hadn’t sent that message. You looked pretty bad when we first found you.”

“They still have Eden,” I say. “Did you and AIS find anything about him?”

She shakes her head, her lips pressed tight. It’s the expression she gets when her mind is spinning, and I find myself remembering snippets of other memories, of when we were escaping the Republic. “No,” she says. “But AIS is trying to track him based on the general area where you were.”

“They were underground,” I reply.

“Is that where Hann was stationed in a hideout?” June asks.

“A hideout is an understatement. It looked like an estate buried under the city. I don’t know how many other spaces he might have like that. But he has a construction site there. A machine.”

“Do you remember anything about the route they took you through?”

I shake my head. “They had me blindfolded the entire time. The area beneath the Undercity is a maze of old tunnels and abandoned elevator shafts. It’ll take weeks to get down there and do a proper sweep. We need to find a different way.”

Had Eden heard that I’d gotten out? Does he know that Hann had intentionally let me go? Did he have anything to do with that—had he made a bargain with the man?

Immediately, I start trying to get out of bed. That’s when all the soreness of my captivity hits me. I wince, looking down at my bandaged wrists.

June gets up in the darkness and pushes me down. “You’re not going anywhere,” she says sternly. “Strict orders from the doctor. Everything you need to do, you can do from the comfort of your bed, okay? Your director said she’d contact you in the morning, and we can go from there.”

“What about you?” I ask. “The Elector? He—”

“—is well aware of the situation,” she says. “Anden sends his regards and concerns.” June leans closer to me. In the night, her eyes shine like dark marbles. “This is big news in your inner circles, apparently. The President wants to be kept updated on what happens with Hann.”

I slump back on my pillows and clench my teeth in frustration. I made a promise to myself to keep Eden from harm, but I’ve failed to do it again. Nightmares from the Republic come rushing back now to haunt me—Eden, being taken away for experimentation; Eden, blinded and weak; Eden, left to die during the war with the Colonies.

Now he is in Hann’s grasp, and I have no goddy clue what the man wants with him.

June puts a hand on my shoulder. Her warmth is the only thing that breaks through my whirlwind of thoughts. “We’re going to find him,” she tells me. “He’s a smart boy, and he’s going to take care of himself. Your job is to be sure you’re strong enough by morning to tackle all this. There’s nothing you can do before that. Understand?”