goes out, leaving a gap.
Rueful darts forward, taking point. Marina goes next, and I follow her as the heat from the rest of the bulbs burns through my clothes. If it’s this intense for a human, I can’t imagine how it feels to a Fade, but Schuyler comes through behind me.
Making it through is a hollow victory. Even with my knowledge of the Arc, getting in was too easy. How do I know we’re the only ones who’ve made it across the line? The shadow crawlers are smart.
“Maybe you two should be less visible,” Marina tells them.
As much as I hate the idea of these two skulking around unseen, we’re already tempting fate and Dad’s temper—not to mention Honoria’s. The last thing we need is to get caught breaking protocol on a high alert.
The Fade’s features blend away, leaving us momentarily with a pair of robes, and I shiver again, scrubbing my arms, in case I missed something. Then the expanding nanite webs overtake the robes, too.
“If our luck holds, Dad won’t have checked his parental trace, but we still can’t go through the main doors. They’ll be locked down.”
“Then how do we get inside?” Marina asks.
“Trust me.” I can’t believe I’m about to show this to a pair of Fade. “This way.”
I head for the side of the building nearest the outside garden and enter the equipment shed.
“Dad showed me this once I chose the security team as my focus,” I say, feeling my way along the back wall.
My shadow casts long on the side in the light from the Arc, where it shines through the windows. I put my hand to a shelf bolted to the wall.
“Get on the other side and push on my count,” I say. Marina leans against the far side of the shelf.
Dad’s going to kill me for this.
“One, two, three—go.”
We push together, shoving the shelf into what should be a solid wall. The back of the shed gives way, rolling into the main building, and exposing another entrance to the tunnel system below.
“Careful,” I warn, stepping inside. “There’re stairs, but they’re steep. If you don’t look for them, you’ll go straight down. Don’t ask me how I know that.”
Marina trips over a ground-level track every time we use the hidden door in my apartment; unlit stairs could kill her.
“You two still there?” I ask in the direction I think the Fade are standing. “I’ll have to take the lead for a while.”
Marina snorts out loud, then coughs out: “Sorry. Rue says lead the way.”
Sure he did. Not killing that guy on sight should seriously count as payback for my life debt.
CHAPTER 13
MARINA
T OBIN’S tunnel leads us under the Arclight, into the maze of concrete walls and pipes that served as emergency entrances and exits in the first days. This looks like the path to the Well.
We don’t have enough light to give me much of an idea what’s ahead; just the glow from our alarms and a pale track of rope lights set into the ceiling. I hope we don’t run into another patrol down here. With the Arclight at Red-Wall, and Trey possibly turning Fade, we do not want to get caught sneaking Rue and Bolt in through a secret tunnel.
“Where does this go?” I ask.
“Same as the one in my apartment. This tunnel’s on the opposite side of the compound, but the design’s the same. Once we hit the junction, we can get to the hospital.”
We reach the junction as he mentions it, but the directions are reversed on this side. When he turns toward the hospital, it feels like we’re moving backward.
“What the—”
Tobin stops suddenly; I stumble into his back. Rue or Bolt, whoever’s directly behind me, can’t stop quick enough to prevent a pileup. Tobin reaches out to poke the empty air, as though he’s hit something solid.
“Is something in here with us?” I ask.
“Your boyfriend doesn’t follow directions well.” Tobin seizes a handful of air, yanking it toward us.
Rue pulls out of his grasp. Fully visible, not at all where he’s supposed to be, Rue.
“I told you to
Rueful darts forward, taking point. Marina goes next, and I follow her as the heat from the rest of the bulbs burns through my clothes. If it’s this intense for a human, I can’t imagine how it feels to a Fade, but Schuyler comes through behind me.
Making it through is a hollow victory. Even with my knowledge of the Arc, getting in was too easy. How do I know we’re the only ones who’ve made it across the line? The shadow crawlers are smart.
“Maybe you two should be less visible,” Marina tells them.
As much as I hate the idea of these two skulking around unseen, we’re already tempting fate and Dad’s temper—not to mention Honoria’s. The last thing we need is to get caught breaking protocol on a high alert.
The Fade’s features blend away, leaving us momentarily with a pair of robes, and I shiver again, scrubbing my arms, in case I missed something. Then the expanding nanite webs overtake the robes, too.
“If our luck holds, Dad won’t have checked his parental trace, but we still can’t go through the main doors. They’ll be locked down.”
“Then how do we get inside?” Marina asks.
“Trust me.” I can’t believe I’m about to show this to a pair of Fade. “This way.”
I head for the side of the building nearest the outside garden and enter the equipment shed.
“Dad showed me this once I chose the security team as my focus,” I say, feeling my way along the back wall.
My shadow casts long on the side in the light from the Arc, where it shines through the windows. I put my hand to a shelf bolted to the wall.
“Get on the other side and push on my count,” I say. Marina leans against the far side of the shelf.
Dad’s going to kill me for this.
“One, two, three—go.”
We push together, shoving the shelf into what should be a solid wall. The back of the shed gives way, rolling into the main building, and exposing another entrance to the tunnel system below.
“Careful,” I warn, stepping inside. “There’re stairs, but they’re steep. If you don’t look for them, you’ll go straight down. Don’t ask me how I know that.”
Marina trips over a ground-level track every time we use the hidden door in my apartment; unlit stairs could kill her.
“You two still there?” I ask in the direction I think the Fade are standing. “I’ll have to take the lead for a while.”
Marina snorts out loud, then coughs out: “Sorry. Rue says lead the way.”
Sure he did. Not killing that guy on sight should seriously count as payback for my life debt.
CHAPTER 13
MARINA
T OBIN’S tunnel leads us under the Arclight, into the maze of concrete walls and pipes that served as emergency entrances and exits in the first days. This looks like the path to the Well.
We don’t have enough light to give me much of an idea what’s ahead; just the glow from our alarms and a pale track of rope lights set into the ceiling. I hope we don’t run into another patrol down here. With the Arclight at Red-Wall, and Trey possibly turning Fade, we do not want to get caught sneaking Rue and Bolt in through a secret tunnel.
“Where does this go?” I ask.
“Same as the one in my apartment. This tunnel’s on the opposite side of the compound, but the design’s the same. Once we hit the junction, we can get to the hospital.”
We reach the junction as he mentions it, but the directions are reversed on this side. When he turns toward the hospital, it feels like we’re moving backward.
“What the—”
Tobin stops suddenly; I stumble into his back. Rue or Bolt, whoever’s directly behind me, can’t stop quick enough to prevent a pileup. Tobin reaches out to poke the empty air, as though he’s hit something solid.
“Is something in here with us?” I ask.
“Your boyfriend doesn’t follow directions well.” Tobin seizes a handful of air, yanking it toward us.
Rue pulls out of his grasp. Fully visible, not at all where he’s supposed to be, Rue.
“I told you to
Similar Books
