Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(81)

In the waking world, he and Santi were back in Livia’s penthouse, recovering from their respective punishments. They spent their days training and their nights in the dreamworld.

And now he’d pulled James into his dreamscape too.

“You knew it was coming eventually.” James shrugged. “It’s not like there’s anything I can do about it. Lennox has a few weeks left at Soma, at most. And hopefully her new owners will treat her well, considering what she is.”

“She’s a little girl, not a damaged product!” Santi balled her fists at her sides.

“Lennox knew it was only a matter of time before someone found out about her early Awakening. She’s grown up here, guys. And when you grow up at Soma, you get used to the idea that you don’t have a say in your own future. She’ll be okay. There’s a chance she might even earn her freedom one day.”

Quinn glared at his friend. James could be a good guy when he wanted. He had decency buried somewhere beneath the depravity this place had ingrained in him. But sometimes you had to dig deep to find the man he was supposed to be before Soma ruined him.

“We’re not letting them sell her. It’s not up for discussion,” Quinn said.

“She was sold at Amrita, guys. It’s a done deal,” James said.

“We have to get her out of here.” Santi shook her head stubbornly. “Like right now. We can’t risk waiting any longer.”

“What, you’re going to walk out the front door tomorrow?” James folded his arms across his chest.

“Yeah. Exactly,” Santi said after a long pause.

“What?” Quinn looked at her like she’d lost her mind.

“I have an idea,” Santi said. “But we need James.” Except James wasn’t listening. His eyes held a faraway look, like he wasn’t quite there with them.

“Give him a minute. He’s seeing something,” Quinn said.

“Nope. Didn’t see nothing.” James shook his head, backing away. “Just … if you find a way to get Len out of here, don’t ever look back. That kid deserves a good life.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and took off along the path.

“Not so fast.” Quinn followed him. With a brush of his hand against James’s arm, he brought him back to the fallen log, shoving him down to sit. “What did you see?”

“I saw you walk out the front door with Livia. Just like Santi said. I don’t know what it means.”

“Santi, what are you thinking?” Quinn asked.

“Can I go now?” James tried to get up again. “I don’t want to be involved.”

“Stay right where you are.” Quinn shoved him back down. “You’re part of this friendship whether you want to be or not. If we get out, you’re coming with us. If Santi has a plan, I want to hear it.” But James gave him a look that said hoping was pointless. He was broken in a whole different kind of way.

“How much time do we have?” Santi asked. “Before her owners show up?”

“A few weeks. Maybe.”

“Then we don’t have much time to figure out our next move. So talk fast, Santi. What’s your plan?” Quinn asked.

Santi paced back and forth in front of them, chewing on her thumbnail. “If we escape, Livia will just reel us back in. But what if we escaped with her?”

“What? Like trick her?” James scoffed. “She’s not easily fooled, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“So we have to be convincing.”

“What could we possibly say to get her to go along with us?” Quinn asked, ignoring James.

“It’s risky. I’ve been thinking about it since Quinn dragged himself out of that tunnel in Cleveland. I was hoping we’d have more time to work out a better plan, but with Lennox’s situation, we have to act now. Can we trust you, James?”

“If you really think you can get Lennox out of here, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“It’s going to fall to you to get her out of here.”

“No dice.” James shook his head. “You’ve experienced how Livia pulls you back. You’ve met me, right? I am not strong enough to resist that. Hell, even you two couldn’t do it, and you’re way more motivated than me.”

“She doesn’t control your gift, so how can she pull you back?” Quinn asked.

“She owns me. She can pull me back by my Soma leash.” He pointed to the brand on his arm. “She owns us all and for those of us who live here, she controls our brands. If we try to escape she can use the brand to pull us back. If she has control of one of your gifts, her pull is even stronger.”

“I thought Ryan controlled the brands? It’s his gift that makes them.”

“And he passes his control to the owners. For us, that’s Livia. If we’re sold, she would pass ownership to the highest bidder, giving them that same kind of control. It’s how some of us are able to go out into the world to do Soma’s bidding. We come back because we are well-trained dogs who don’t like the tug of the master’s leash.”

“So let’s say we got her to take us out on another mission and we exhausted her ability?” Santi asked. “Theoretically, you could walk out the front door with Lennox and not look back, right?”