Wildcard (Warcross #2)(24)

“Well done,” Zero says.

Then the ship fades away, and abruptly I find myself back in the real world, sitting exhausted in my hotel suite before Zero. He’s back in his black outfit and his real body, his cool eyes still studying me like I’m some sort of sculpture.

Our Duel is done.

I can barely remember the dragons and our brief fight. All I can think about is that Zero had dragged one of my worst moments back up to the surface. Forced me to relive every awful second. He’d used my greatest weakness—my past—against me. Suddenly a wild anger sears me to the bone. I feel careless. All I want to do is hurt him back.

I lunge across the room at him.

Zero sidesteps me like a shadow. I stumble past him, clawing at the air, and fall to my knees. Again, I push myself up and go for him, but he dodges again, as smoothly as if he were toying with me.

“I wouldn’t,” he warns, his eyes flashing.

I lean against the room’s writing desk and meet his eyes warily. “Your Memory,” I mutter as I try to steady my breathing. “What was going on in there? Was that when you first disappeared? The symbol on your sleeve—”

“—is a Memory I didn’t intend you to access,” he answers, his voice still eerily detached. He puts his hands in his pockets. “What matters is that you were able to get in through the vulnerability exposed by our Link, in the same way I used the cube to get into your mind.” He gives me a serious look. “That’s your ticket in. But be careful in how you use it. Being inside a mind that’s not your own means the other’s defense will constantly be on the lookout for you. When I seized your wrist, that was my mind realizing you weren’t supposed to be in there and pushing you out. It means you won’t be able to get back in again.”

“But what was that room? Where were you?” I press.

“And where were you trying to run away to?” he interjects, a sharpness suddenly entering his voice. He gives me a small smile. “You ran from me like you could see nothing through the terror in your Memory. Like you didn’t want to spend another second in that house.”

I close my eyes and fight the massive tide of resistance rising in my chest. “Fine, fine,” I snap, crossing my arms over my chest. “Point taken. You don’t ask me, and I won’t ask you.”

He studies me with a curious gaze but decides to let his own questions drop. He brings up the glowing cube between us, the key to this hack. “For you,” he says.

I take it and store it away in my files. My palms feel clammy.

“You’ll have every freedom you had before you met us,” Zero continues. “If you need any equipment, let me know. Jax mentioned you lost your board during your escape. I’ll have a new one sent for you. Keep me updated on how things are going between you and Hideo.”

I nod without saying a word. The thought of me invading Hideo’s memories the way Zero just did mine makes me feel sick. It’s nothing that he isn’t doing with the NeuroLink, I remind myself, and in much worse ways than that.

Zero pauses at my door for a moment. When he glances at me over his shoulder, there’s something else in his gaze—something stiff, as if I’d struck a nerve. “I didn’t know which Memory of yours would appear,” he says.

It’s almost an apology. I don’t know what to make of it. All I can do is stand here quietly, fishing for the right words, trying not to let my mind linger on the night of my escape and the terror of crouching alone in that doorway.

It’s strange, this moment. It’s almost as if he’d let down his guard to reveal a hint of his opaque interior. But it lasts only for a second. Then he steps out of my room, leaving me alone with my endless questions.

I think of Sasuke’s small figure, huddled in a corner. His blue scarf, given to him by the brother he doesn’t seem to remember loving, wrapped desperately around his neck, the way he clung to it as if it were all he had in the world. Most of all, I linger on the glimpse of the mystery symbol embroidered on his sweater. I pull the image up again now and let it hover before me.

Why did he let me see such a personal Memory? Why was it so easy for me to access? It could be that it was just a random mistake, just like I never meant for him to see mine. But Zero is one of the most powerful hackers I’ve ever met. How could he be careless enough to expose this sensitive moment from his past to me? I stand there quietly, struggling to figure him out.

Why does Hideo’s name mean nothing to you? Who took you? What does that symbol mean?

What happened to you?





9



True to his word, Zero has a new board sent up for me within hours. This one is all black, from surface to wheels to bolts. I test it out tentatively, letting myself adjust to its weight and traction. It should be good for traveling at night.

I stay in the hotel room until it’s fully dark outside, inspecting the corners of the walls, searching for signs of hidden cameras or some other surveillance. Then I run a careful check on my account, in case Zero had indeed installed some kind of tracker on my system in addition to my black cuff.

To my surprise, I find nothing. Maybe Zero and Taylor are serious about giving me my privacy.

From the balcony, I can see the silver and blue overlays on the streets below, showcasing the area’s loyalty to Team Winter Dragons. The hotel is somewhere in the middle of Omotesando, a glittering, upscale district full of luxury shops housed inside grand architecture. Silver and blue lights wrap around every tree. Purses and shoes on display in store windows sport bejeweled crests from the Phoenix Riders and Team Andromeda, celebrating the Final. Since I first arrived, another two top players have been announced for the closing ceremony, and now their images are being broadcast against the windows of Prada and Dior.