Elites of Eden (Children of Eden #2)(59)

“What?” I ask, coming closer.

“It’s your brother, Rowan. They’ve got him.”

My heart seems to sink in my chest with a sick thud. “Who?” I ask, knowing only too well.

“The Greenshirts came for him when you were missing. They dragged him out of his classroom.”

I can’t believe it. Not Ash. Not poor, weak, innocent, loving Ash.

“His trial was already held, quickly and in secret. He’s going to be executed in three days.”

My hand covers my mouth. He’s done nothing wrong! Holding back sobs, I force myself to ask, “And my father? Has he been arrested, too?”

“Oh, Rowan,” Lark says with such sorrow you’d think I was the one bound in a torture chamber, my death looming. “Your father is the one who condemned him.”





“UNTIE HER,” I say, and when no one makes a move, I scream, “Let her go now!” I feel like I’m losing it. Not Ash. Not sweet, gentle Ash . . .

“Rowan, I think you should . . . ,” Flint begins.

“No,” I shout, and I’m surprised at my own strength, standing up to these two men. Where Ash is concerned I can do anything. “She’s going free, and she’s going to help me rescue Ash.” I stare evenly at Lachlan. “And you’re going to help us.”

“Out of the question,” Flint answers for him. “Even if we let her live—and that’s still very doubtful—she can never leave the Underground. We can’t take the risk. And I’m very sorry about your brother, but we simply can’t help him. Neither can you.”

“You can’t stop me from trying to save my brother!” My voice comes out in a snarl, fury rising in my throat.

“We most certainly can. It won’t be pleasant, but we can lock you up, drug you . . . whatever it takes to protect the Underground from exposure.”

“You mean I’m a prisoner? I thought this was supposed to be a free society, where second children could lead normal lives.”

“There’s no such thing as normal on this Earth anymore,” Lachlan interjects.

I ignore him. “You’re all about protecting second children, right? Well, my mother and brother have been protecting one for sixteen years. My mom gave her life protecting one! My brother has been arrested because he kept me safe for so long. You have to help him.”

“Rowan,” Lachlan says very gently, “your brother must be in the Center prison. I’m so sorry for him, and for you. To lose everyone important to you all at once . . .” He breaks off, and I see his eyes glisten with tears that don’t fall. He blinks them quickly away. “But there’s nothing we can do. There’s no way any of us can get inside the Center prison.”

“I can get you in,” Lark says.



* * *



WE LISTEN TO her idea. It sounds feasible, but . . .

“No, it wouldn’t work,” Lachlan says. “That would get us in, but once inside we’d have to maneuver within the building. We’d need IDs, clearance. None of our contacts have that kind of power. We’d have to have someone very high up on the inside to give us security codes, access passes.”

I think for a moment. “Someone like the next vice chancellor?” I ask.

They look at me in surprise as I let them know my father has been handpicked by the chancellor to be his second in command.

“But he would never help you,” Lachlan protests. “Not if what Lark says is true.” He asks Lark, “Did he really turn in his own son?”

She nods. “My father overheard some Center officials talking about it, though I don’t think anyone outside the government knows yet. I don’t know how he managed to protect himself, but your father’s job—and his life—are secure. And he’s the one who signed his own son’s death warrant.”

I hear Lachlan suck in his breath, feel his hand on my arm. I shake him off.

“I don’t need your pity—I need your help. I know my father is a wicked man who would do anything to save himself.” No, that’s not quite true. I never, ever imagined he would do this to Ash, his beloved son. I always knew he would have turned on me, turned me in, if it wasn’t that Mom and Ash would have suffered, too. But Ash? I wouldn’t have thought it possible, even from him.

“We can’t help you,” Lachlan says again, so gently. “It’s an impossible mission. Suicide. We can’t put what we have here, and our future plans, at risk.” I can see the strain in him, the tension of believing that two opposing things are absolutely right. He wants to save Ash, for my sake, and because Ash helped a second child, and, I think, because Lachlan simply believes that it is his duty to help people in need. But he also has an unshakable commitment to the Underground, to keep it safe no matter what the price. He would give his own life for the Underground. He will give Ash’s life, too.

Would he give my life? I wonder.

“Not can’t,” I correct him. “Won’t.” I stare at him without flinching so he will understand how deadly serious I am. “If you won’t help me, I won’t help you.”

For a moment Lachlan’s mouth works without uttering a sound as he tries to process, to come up with an argument. But I think I see something in his eyes that tells me he approves. He can’t go along with it, but if I give him no other choice . . .