The Girl Who Dared to Think 7: The Girl Who Dared to Fight

Okay, can you stop being so maudlin, Tony said, clearly creeped out by my bleak attitude. Pay attention. They’re moving away.

Tony was right; I had been so lost in my dark thoughts that I hadn’t noticed Alice’s response, or the fact that they were leaving. I closed my eyes in relief, taking a moment to collect myself, and then pushed back from the machine, looking over at Eric. The young man had his eyes closed, and seemed to be concentrating only on his breathing, so I had to tap him to get his attention.

His eyes snapped open, going wide with alarm, but to his credit, he didn’t make a noise as his head swiveled toward me. I offered him a weak smile, and then gestured for him to begin moving in the direction Sadie and the sentinel were going, hoping to use the noise they were making as cover. Eric stared at me for a second, his face pale, but after a moment, he gave me a jerky nod and turned his head to the other side, heading in the direction I pointed out. I knew that it wasn’t just the sentinels slowing us down, but his claustrophobia as well, and hung back for a few seconds to let him move at his own pace. I used the short span of time to slowly unzip my pocket and pull out the gun, and then followed, trying to keep from brushing up against the machines.

I had no idea what Maddox was going to do at this point. If she was watching, and paying close enough attention, she might figure out which direction we were heading and shadow us, but I was hoping she realized it wasn’t wise to try to come down now. I wasn’t sure if she had been able to hear Sadie from where she was, so there was a chance she would try to go for it, but still, I hoped against it. If more sentinels were coming, having her up in a higher position with the lancer would give us an advantage. She could target their hard drives and maybe help us pick off one or two.

But I had no way to signal her to change the plan, so I just concentrated on moving forward, knowing she could take care of herself.

Our progress was slow but steady, and after half a minute, I picked up the rhythm of shuffling sideways. Sadie and the sentinel were far ahead of us—and not moving now, given the quiet of the room—and I focused on my hearing, trying to discern what was going on and where they were.

For a long time, there was no sound of talking or movement. It was eerie—downright eerie, enough for me to want to freeze a handful of times and just make sure that Sadie and the sentinel weren’t stalking us somehow. I checked over my shoulder constantly, certain that one of them had snuck up behind us, but there was nothing. Had they left to go fetch the other sentinels? That didn’t make sense. Alice had a hive mind now, meaning that if one of them knew something, the others did as well. As soon as Sadie said she wanted two more, two of them would’ve been dispatched immediately. If anything, I was surprised they weren’t here already. I would’ve assumed Sage had a small army of them nearby, but so far, they didn’t seem to have arrived.

Several heartbeats later, I realized I had been wrong—about the timing, at least. There was a soft hiss of a pneumatic door opening, followed by the heavy beat of not one, but two sentinels marching in unison. I froze as the sound grew closer and tucked every inch of my body behind the machine I was currently working my way past before their shadows cut by.

“We have come,” they announced in unison.

“Shush,” Sadie replied, and my skin tingled with anticipation when I realized how close we were to them. “Father is trying to concentrate. Split up and patrol the room.”

On impulse, I pulled myself over to the corner of the machine and leaned out past it, peering down the gap. The angle wasn’t the best, but I could see the two sentinels with their backs to me several feet down, Sadie’s form in between them. The third sentinel was missing, but I was guessing it was in front of the door again, making sure no unexpected guests entered or left.

As I watched, the two sentinels immediately split up, one of them heading farther around the dome, the other turning to double back. I ducked behind the machine again as it passed, then began to move away from it, following behind Eric.

“Bah!” Sage snorted a moment later, and I heard the sound of something hitting the ground. “After two and a half centuries, you’d think the backup would’ve gone insane in his terminal, but instead he continues to resist us! I need those protocols!”

“That’s too bad,” Grey replied, his voice now exhausted, as if he had run a marathon. I had no idea what Sage had been doing to him during those moments of silence, but based on what I had heard and seen, I was guessing he had been using the helmets to have Kurt attack Leo directly, through the net. “Guess you’re just going to have to give up.”

“Not likely. This is your last chance. Tell me what the protocol is, or I will give your host a very slow and painful death.”

I froze in place, hearing the hard undercurrent in Sage’s voice that told me he meant business. I knew Leo wasn’t going to give it up—and neither would Grey. They knew what was at stake, what could be lost if they failed, and would die before they told Sage.

“Well, as the host in this equation, I say go ahead and put your money where your mouth is. I’m not afraid of you. You’re just an old man who doesn’t know how to lie down and—”

The sound of gunfire cut him off, and my eyes widened in alarm and panic as I heard Grey make a strangled cry of pain, knowing that Sage had just shot him. A scream built up in my throat, the raw pain of losing somebody else I loved so overwhelming that I couldn’t help but open my mouth and unleash my anguish.





41





Eric’s hand slapped over my mouth before the scream could reach an audible note, and the large man dragged me closer to him and firmly gripped my arm. The instant his hand was on me, I knew what he was trying to do, and I hated him for it.

He was trying to keep me from Grey. My Grey. My sweet, reckless, brave Grey.

Who’d just been shot by Sage.

Rage burned at my very heart, a rage that had been slowly building since this morning’s bloodshed in the Council Room, and my fingers curled tightly around my gun, itching for me to break Eric’s hold and go after Sage with everything I had. Tony rose up to try to wrest control from me, his concern for me trying to cut through my internal tempest, but the rage inside me was too powerful for the AI, and I shoved him back into a dark place in my mind and closed the door on him, trapping him behind it. Then I started to pull away from Eric, intent on slipping out through a gap a few machines back to sneak up behind them, but the stronger man held me firm.

“Sentinel,” he whispered harshly.

A few seconds later I heard the sounds of its steps over the furious beating of my own heart. I exhaled a shuddering breath, common sense threading some rationality through my rage, and tried to focus on remaining still.

It didn’t help that I was quite literally shaking, my entire being vibrating in response to the gunshot and my fear that I’d lost Grey before I’d even had a chance to save him. I should’ve just gone in guns blazing, instead of sneaking around trying to get the drop on them. Because of me, I’d given Sage more time to grow impatient with him, resulting in him dying.

The shadow of the sentinel cut through the beams of light streaming into the small space as it passed, the looming presence of it growing closer and closer, and I closed my eyes, trying not to give in to the reckless urge that told me I should leap out and try to tear the sentinel apart with my bare hands. I knew it was my fury making me feel like I was indestructible, but I couldn’t help it. Sage was a monster, and I wanted to slay him once and for all.