“A skin graft!” Mona says, confused. “For what?”
She doesn’t know about the sixth brand.
I look at Carrick, worried.
“Don’t worry. There’s a plan in action. Your mom is going to charge in there, with a solicitor and a police officer, as soon as we give her the word, and she’s going to accuse them of taking the wrong daughter.”
My mouth falls open. “Do you think it will work?”
“It will work,” Whistleblower Kate says confidently, and I wonder at what point she changed sides and why, or if she was always against the Guild and just found a better way of fighting them, from within. I’d love to talk to her more, but now isn’t the time.
“Maybe my mom should charge in there with Bob Tinder, too,” I add.
“Bob Tinder?” Carrick’s brow furrows, looking up at me as he slides a boot off my foot. “He’s the new editor of The Voice.”
“He used to be head of Crevan Media’s newspaper,” I explain. “He’s my neighbor. His wife, Angelina, was branded. Before us. Something to do with a disagreement between Crevan and Bob, it was Crevan’s way of punishing Bob. His daughter, Colleen, is in there. She’s one of the missing students.”
“Are all the students in there?” Kate asks suddenly, leaning forward.
I nod.
“Logan Trilby?” she asks, and I cringe at the sound of his name. Just thinking of what he put me through still hurts, and he was the worst, the most malicious of them all.
“Then perhaps the famous married Trilby priests should storm in there and find their son, too,” Kate says thoughtfully.
I shake my head. “His parents would go straight to the Guild with that kind of information. They’re the Guild’s biggest supporters; they blame me for everything. They’d never believe you.” I recall their interview on Flawed TV when they blamed me for Logan’s disappearance.
“They’d listen to anything if it meant finding their precious son,” Kate says, sharing a knowing look with Marcus, an unspoken plan brewing between them.
“An idolized model, a respected religious duo, an angry newspaper editor. They’ve annoyed the wrong parents.” Mona smiles, almost gleefully. “What about the other kids’ parents?”
“Natasha and Gavin,” I say quietly, remembering how they stripped me in the shed and examined my body’s scars. Then I picture them from only moments ago, eyes glazed, practically drooling on their red hospital gowns. I’m so conflicted. I hate them and I pity them. I’m relieved they’ve been punished, and feel guilty at the same time.
“I say leave them in there,” Carrick says angrily. I can’t meet his eyes. He must know what happened to me; Pia Wang as Lisa Life documented the entire event in its awful detail.
While Marcus and Kate excitedly discuss their plans, inside I tremor, because I know exactly the place my mother will be entering and the kinds of people she will be accusing.
It won’t be easy. When it comes to the Guild, nobody is untouchable.
FORTY-SIX
MARCUS DRIVES KATE, Mona, and Lennox back to Professor Lambert and Alpha’s mansion, where they are all hiding. I have visions of Evelyn in a pink bedroom of her own, brushing a doll’s hair, and even if it’s not true, I want her to be somewhere where she feels free. I know Alpha will give her the best life she can. But Carrick and I aren’t safe yet. The van stops in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, at a row of shops. It’s late and they’re all shut, apart from a Chinese takeout.
“Just me and you,” Carrick says, sliding the van door open, checking left and right before hopping out.
I would quite happily go back to Alpha’s house, have a bath, eat, sleep, and pretend none of this has happened, but it’s gone too far for that. Juniper has taken my place. The clock is ticking. I have to do as much as I can before they realize she’s not me.
“Good luck,” Kate says, before sliding the door shut.
And as quickly as that, Carrick and I are on our own again. Creed Barracks was out of the city; Marcus and Kate brought us to the outskirts, the suburbs. Carrick is holding me up again. I look around for someplace to hide, not that it matters much at the moment, as we’re on a relatively quiet backstreet and the sun is down. It is easier to hide under the cover of darkness, but harder after curfew, when checkpoints are raised, and curfew is not far off.
“What now?” I ask.
He looks at the palm of his hand as if he’s reading something. “Rescue Celestine North, the most beautiful woman in the world. Tick.”
I laugh in surprise, not expecting this from him.
“Next. Say sorry.” He looks at me, swallows his pride. “Sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about Enya Sleepwell, but please know that my intentions were good. Everything that I’ve done has been for the good of the Flawed cause, for you and for me. I never wanted to hurt you. None of this has been a trick. I’m just doing all that I can.”
His heart is true. I know this and I don’t want to fight with him anymore. Still, no harm in letting him stew in it for a while. I wait for more from him.
“I thought that saving your life would show you how sorry I am, you know, so we wouldn’t have to do the talking thing,” he says, biting his lip to hide his cheeky smile.
“Um, you actually didn’t save my life. They were going to do a skin graft, not kill me. But I appreciate being rescued all the same.”
“Nothing’s good enough for you,” he says, amused.
I hold my hand out to his chest, palm against his brand. “You are. I wanted to blame somebody for all this. Someone other than my stupid self. I love my family, I never wanted to leave them. I’m not used to being by myself; it’s easier when it’s somebody else’s fault.”
I think of Juniper alone in the hospital and I shudder. Have they discovered that she’s not me yet? I hope the plan holds firm and that Tina can help to make it work. I know I won’t be able to relax until I know that both my mom and Juniper are safe.
“And I’m only ever used to being by myself,” he says. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, holding me tighter, “for what happened at the supermarket, for leaving you in the mountains. But if it’s any consolation, I followed you the whole way. And you were driving way too fast down the mountain in that Mini, by the way.”
“I was on a mission.”
“I saw you with Art,” he says, studying me.
I don’t say anything.
“I heard you with Crevan.”
I look down, embarrassed that my rogue plan didn’t work. “Crevan knows about you. I’m sure he’s guessed that you’re helping me. I’m sorry. I tried to bargain with him for our freedom, which he was willing to give us, but I couldn’t leave everybody else behind. I couldn’t do it.”
I wait for him to yell at me What a stupid thing to do, Celestine, but he doesn’t.
“Go on, tell me I’m an idiot.”
“You’re brave to have tried.”