He pulled off his jacket and threw it to me. “Put it over your face,” he said, then picked Elodie up and pushed me along in front of him, shoving me into a set of arms it took me a second to realize were Luc’s. Luc grabbed Stellan around the waist, too, and the three of us burst through the door.
The air was so cold and fresh, it burned my throat. Jack set Elodie down and rested his hands on his knees, breathing deep gulps of air. Elodie blinked her eyes open, choking, dazed. Stellan dropped to his knees, coughing.
I looked at Jack, my eyes burning so much, it was hard to see. “How did you know what was going on?”
Jack shook his head. “I didn’t. I was bringing you something. I’ve been working on it since we first found out about the Saxons. I told her to wait in the car. It’s too dangerous—”
A flash of blond hair flew through the crowd, and I really had to be hallucinating this time, because there was no way I was seeing this face here, now.
And then my mother swept me into her arms.
CHAPTER 32
Sirens descended on the theater from all directions. Elodie, her whole body covered in a layer of dark soot, hauled herself up and gestured to the rest of us to follow her.
I barely noticed. My mom and I had sunk to the steps, where the red carpet was now ashy gray. I couldn’t stop staring at her, like if I did, she might disappear. She was so thin and pale. She had a healing cut over one eye, and her hair was tangled and flat.
I was torn between wanting to kill Lydia and Cole for what they’d done, and wanting to throw myself into her arms and cry.
Like she’d read my mind, she pulled me to her. The stiff sleeves of my gown poked into her chest, but she just hugged me tighter. “We have to go,” she whispered. “While they’re distracted.”
I could see it. Me and my mom, jumping in a cab, crossing a border or two before we slowed down. Doing our best to leave the Circle behind forever without a word of good-bye. Despite everything I’d said earlier—even though it had all been true—having my mom here in front of me and knowing I could get her to safety for good nearly changed my mind.
But then I saw Stellan, draping a handkerchief over an ugly, blistering burn that covered the back of his hand.
Jack, sweaty and smeared with ash, his jacket still around my shoulders.
Elodie, clutching a small black purse across her body like it contained a treasure. I had a feeling it did.
And Lydia and Cole, nowhere to be seen. They must have gotten away before anyone could link them to the bombing.
“I can’t go yet,” I said to my mom.
She took my face in her hands. She looked resigned. “I had a feeling you might say that. Let’s go do what needs to be done.”
I gestured to everyone else, and we slipped away through the crowd.
? ? ?
We looked for our car, but the driver must have taken off after the bomb exploded. Since we’d arrived late, he was probably one of the only ones to get out before gridlock shut down the street. Unfortunately, he’d taken all our weapons with him, and we had nowhere to go.
So now, we holed up in a tiny cafe on the beach a couple blocks away. Luc had shoved handfuls of euros at the girls at the counter and told them to get out.
I made my way to Jack, who was dead-bolting the cafe door. “Thank you,” I said to his back. “My mom. I—” There weren’t enough words to say what I wanted to say. I’d broken up with him, stormed out, and spent the rest of the evening in the arms of his ex–best friend. And he—the guy who could never break the rules—had spent that time breaking ties with the only family he’d ever had, all to save the person who mattered most to me.
He jiggled the doorknob—locked—and turned to me.
“Thank you so much,” I said again.
He nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m really so sorry.”
I pulled at the sooty hem of my gown. “I know.” I couldn’t say I forgave him, because I didn’t. I plucked my locket off my chest and squeezed it.
Jack’s gaze dropped to my feet, and I could see him deflate, but he hid it quickly. “You should thank Rocco—Scarface—next time you see him. He’s the one who actually broke her out and sent her here with Luc. I just told him what to do.”
I never, in a million years, would have thought I’d have the urge to hug Scarface. And he was more loyal than I’d expected. I’d have to remember that.
I turned back to my mom. Colette had wrapped a shawl around her shoulders, being just as much a mom to my mother as she was to the rest of us. I squeezed beside my mom in a large armchair, and she took my hand and didn’t let go.
Jack glanced out the front window, then sat next to Colette on the couch beside us, their sooty clothes staining the worn taupe upholstery gray. Stellan and Elodie sat on our other side, and Luc was at a rickety cafe table across the circle.
“So?” I said.
Elodie held up the bracelet she’d found inside the theater. It was a twin, almost exactly. I took the original off my arm, and handed it to her, too.