you know?” I ask. Xenith’s words from that night echo in my head. I shouldn’t tell Thorne anything, but now he’s here and maybe the rules have changed.
Thorne’s eyes search my face. “I only know what Xenith told me, which was pretty much that you were alive and you were out here.”
“Why did Xenith send you?”
“He said I was a liability and that I felt you because you were alive, just out here. He said, ‘You’re annoying the hell out me anyway,’ and I got out the next morning.” He pauses and looks at me. “I couldn’t handle living without you, in case you’re wondering. That was the story Xenith thought up before he helped me kill myself. I don’t remember much after. We were beyond the barrier, and he pushed me in a car and told me I’d find you alive when the car stopped. Here I am.”
Xenith betrayed me. He sent Thorne after promising to keep him safe. He let him travel above. Why did he get to take a car while I had to travel through the darkness of the Burrows for days? I had to fight to live while he was here. I watched all those people- innocent people-die. If he can break the rules, then I can tell Thorne something real.
“Xenith planned out a route of Remnant camps near some of the old cities,” I say. The map that rests now in my pack flashes in my head, with each location and each bend and twist of Xenith’s handwriting. “We’re going through Texas and then over. The camps are all linked to Cecily and the Mavericks. When did you get here?”
“I slept in the casino for two nights,” he says, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Why did Xenith help you?” Does Xenith trust him more than me? Does he think I’m not strong enough to make it?
“First tell me some things,” Thorne says. Determination laces his tense expression, and that’s such a rare thing for him that I nod swiftly and shut my mouth. “Why the Mavericks? Who are they?”
I examine the curve of Thorne’s face, the spark in his eye, and the way his hair swishes away from his cheeks. He really doesn’t know anything. He doesn’t know why he’s here. Why would Xenith send him?
“They’re a group in San Francisco that has existed since the Compounds were created. Xenith knows about them. I went to him after I found some information in my father’s office, and he sent me to find them.”
Thorne’s hand runs aimlessly through his hair. He stands to his feet and tosses the apple core across the green landscape. “And you just blindly volunteered to come out here and-what? Join them?”
“After what happened with my father and what he did to you, it was the only thing I could do,” I say, jumping to my feet too.
“How is that logical at all?”
I can’t believe I need to explain it. He should understand. “My father knows we’re connected, and if he knows, it’s only a matter of time before the Elders find out. They probably found out in the same instant.”
“I know you think they did something to your father.”
“I don’t think it. I know. They’re evil,” I say. I’ve felt it since the beginning, but I never told him I found proof. “You heard what Cecily said they did to twins. They would’ve done it to us. I had to leave to stop them.”
“And you couldn’t take me?”
I don’t miss the betrayal in his voice, but Xenith’s words are in my head. I’d asked the same thing once. “Killing us both at once would’ve raised too much suspicion. They monitor everything, and since we were on their radar, they would’ve never let us go. You were safer there where Xenith could keep an eye on you.”
Thorne groans. “I don’t need Xenith to keep an eye on me. You’re supposed to trust me.”
“I do!” He should know that.
“Then why are we here? You trusted Xenith enough to fake your death, but you don’t trust me enough to tell me why.”
I pause and inhale. “That’s not fair. I trust you. I trust you with everything.”
“You don’t.”
Thorne’s jaw is tense, and
Thorne’s eyes search my face. “I only know what Xenith told me, which was pretty much that you were alive and you were out here.”
“Why did Xenith send you?”
“He said I was a liability and that I felt you because you were alive, just out here. He said, ‘You’re annoying the hell out me anyway,’ and I got out the next morning.” He pauses and looks at me. “I couldn’t handle living without you, in case you’re wondering. That was the story Xenith thought up before he helped me kill myself. I don’t remember much after. We were beyond the barrier, and he pushed me in a car and told me I’d find you alive when the car stopped. Here I am.”
Xenith betrayed me. He sent Thorne after promising to keep him safe. He let him travel above. Why did he get to take a car while I had to travel through the darkness of the Burrows for days? I had to fight to live while he was here. I watched all those people- innocent people-die. If he can break the rules, then I can tell Thorne something real.
“Xenith planned out a route of Remnant camps near some of the old cities,” I say. The map that rests now in my pack flashes in my head, with each location and each bend and twist of Xenith’s handwriting. “We’re going through Texas and then over. The camps are all linked to Cecily and the Mavericks. When did you get here?”
“I slept in the casino for two nights,” he says, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Why did Xenith help you?” Does Xenith trust him more than me? Does he think I’m not strong enough to make it?
“First tell me some things,” Thorne says. Determination laces his tense expression, and that’s such a rare thing for him that I nod swiftly and shut my mouth. “Why the Mavericks? Who are they?”
I examine the curve of Thorne’s face, the spark in his eye, and the way his hair swishes away from his cheeks. He really doesn’t know anything. He doesn’t know why he’s here. Why would Xenith send him?
“They’re a group in San Francisco that has existed since the Compounds were created. Xenith knows about them. I went to him after I found some information in my father’s office, and he sent me to find them.”
Thorne’s hand runs aimlessly through his hair. He stands to his feet and tosses the apple core across the green landscape. “And you just blindly volunteered to come out here and-what? Join them?”
“After what happened with my father and what he did to you, it was the only thing I could do,” I say, jumping to my feet too.
“How is that logical at all?”
I can’t believe I need to explain it. He should understand. “My father knows we’re connected, and if he knows, it’s only a matter of time before the Elders find out. They probably found out in the same instant.”
“I know you think they did something to your father.”
“I don’t think it. I know. They’re evil,” I say. I’ve felt it since the beginning, but I never told him I found proof. “You heard what Cecily said they did to twins. They would’ve done it to us. I had to leave to stop them.”
“And you couldn’t take me?”
I don’t miss the betrayal in his voice, but Xenith’s words are in my head. I’d asked the same thing once. “Killing us both at once would’ve raised too much suspicion. They monitor everything, and since we were on their radar, they would’ve never let us go. You were safer there where Xenith could keep an eye on you.”
Thorne groans. “I don’t need Xenith to keep an eye on me. You’re supposed to trust me.”
“I do!” He should know that.
“Then why are we here? You trusted Xenith enough to fake your death, but you don’t trust me enough to tell me why.”
I pause and inhale. “That’s not fair. I trust you. I trust you with everything.”
“You don’t.”
Thorne’s jaw is tense, and
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