The Girl Who Dared to Endure (The Girl Who Dared #6)

“I’m fine,” Eric said. “But I could do with something to eat.”

“What if you’re not allowed to eat yet?” Zoe huffed, crossing her arms. “Quess is our doctor, and there’s been a change in your condition. You and I have taken enough inter-departmental classes with the Medics to know that a doctor gets called before the patient gets to do anything!”

I smiled in spite of my embarrassment. “I’ll go get him,” I offered.

“Thank you,” she replied, before giving me her back and bending over to adjust Eric’s blankets. I was just walking out when she squealed in surprise, and I turned around in time to see Eric wrap his arms around her and pull her into bed with him. The fire in my cheeks started anew, and I quickly and wisely turned away and left, intent on getting Quess.

After I gave them a few minutes alone.





27





I had every intention of giving Zoe and Eric some time alone before I sent Quess back to check on them, but still made my way quickly to the war room, eager to see if they had discovered anything in the files that Jasper was decrypting.

Everyone else was there, sitting around the conference table where the items from Sadie’s office were scattered about. Maddox was currently sifting through the papers I had found in Sadie’s desk, while Quess and Leo practically had their noses pressed against their pads, scanning through things. Another pile of objects taken from Sadie’s desk sat in front of another chair, including all of the nets I had recovered, as well as the hard drives. One hard drive was connected to a pad, and I realized that Zoe must’ve been using her pad to go through the information on it when she was called away. I wasn’t sure why, but I was guessing it was to make sure that none of Sadie’s files contained viruses that would harm our systems. Everyone was so focused on the work in front of them that they didn’t even register my entry.

I felt a wave of appreciation toward them as I realized they were attacking this with everything they had. True, I had convinced them that working on this was in our continued best interest, but I hadn’t expected them to be quite so enthusiastic about it, what with the promise of escape dangling so tantalizingly close.

That thought was immediately followed by pleasure and relief. I knew they still wanted to leave, but they were also invested in helping until rescue came, and that meant something to me.

“How’s it going?” I asked as I started to descend the steps. “Any progress?”

“Are you kidding? Jasper here is a godsend! We would’ve been at this for days without him!” Zoe’s voice, coming from behind me, was so unexpected that I about leapt out of my skin before I turned around to look at her. She gave me a knowing smirk. “You didn’t think I was going to let him manhandle me and reinjure himself, did you?” she asked in a low voice, and I laughed. Yes, I had thought that, but I could also see her point.

Zoe smiled and slipped her arm around mine. “Besides, I know you, and I knew you weren’t going to send Quess back to us because you didn’t want anyone intruding on our private moment. Well, Eric doesn’t get any private moments until he’s fully healed, do you get me?” I snorted, trying not to blush at the innuendo coloring her words. “And,” Zoe continued, slowly pulling me down the stairs, “I wanted to tell you about what we found. Jasper has been scouring the files, pulling everything he can in relation to the legacies, their plans, the things they’ve affected… everything.”

I paused on the step and looked at the screens on the wall behind my desk. Most of them were filled with camera images from around the Citadel, which were sent to me from central command, but two in particular caught my eye. One was glowing with orange coding that seemed to flex and move in anything but a straight line; the other was different only in that it was pink, and its motions seemed to loop and swirl more than those of the orange.

“Jasper?” I asked, taking a few steps toward the two screens to get a better view. “Rose?”

“Hello, Liana,” Jasper said, and a moment later his face filled the orange screen. I smiled as his features began to form, the most prominent one being the heavy white mustache on his lip, straight and bristly like a broom. His eyes were a deep orange color that seemed only a few shades darker than my own amber ones, and sparkled with a mischievous light. I’d never seen him in the flesh before, but all of his features seemed to suit him to a T. Still, that didn’t stop me from suddenly wishing he had a human body, just so I could throw my arms around him in a hug. “How was your meeting with the boy?”

“It was… something,” I told him. “It’ll take him a while to come around, but I understand him a little better now. I think it’ll be good for all of us to interact with him and show him that he’s not in any danger from us. And don’t mention Mathias to him. He thinks that if his people find out he’s been taken, they might throw him off the Tower.”

“Do you think we can trust him not to try to attack us and run away?” Maddox asked. I considered it and then shook my head, uncertain. Liam had seemed nervous, angry, and adamant about not talking, but he hadn’t tried to attack me. Still, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t if he thought escaping was his only option for gaining some leniency from his people. I wasn’t sure if he was there logically yet, or if he would ever get there, but if I were in his shoes, I’d be looking for any way out.

I had presented him with one earlier, and I was hoping he took it. But until he did, I couldn’t be 100 percent certain what he would do.

“I don’t know. Quess? Can you do a check to make sure he doesn’t have any tracking devices on him, please? He seemed pretty confident his people could find him.”

Quess set down his pad and stood up. “Sure,” he replied. “But I already checked him out last night. He wasn’t emitting any frequencies, and we took his net out.”

I nodded. It was probably fine, but better to be paranoid and overcautious then to slip up now. “I really appreciate it,” I told him, and he gave me a tight smile as he grabbed his medic bag and started up the stairs.

“And don’t forget Eric,” Zoe reminded him as he passed us.

“And risk pissing you off? I wouldn’t dream of it.” He grinned as he spoke and offered her a wink before slipping through the door.

I rolled my eyes and then turned back to the others. “So what has Jasper dug up for us?”

“Well, the first thing you should know is that it seems like Sadie inherited not only her position from CEO Sparks, but also his legacy duties. Apparently, Sparks was another in a long line of CEOs who doubled as legacies, using their position and unrestricted access to Scipio to steal the fragments. I’m not sure how, but Sparks and Sadie are related. Several of the CEOs in the past have been, in some way or another.”

“Does that mean she’s the head of this entire thing?” I asked, suddenly very interested. The legacy responsibility was passed down through family members, along with the nets that gave them the information on what their predecessors’ accomplishments were, and how to continue where they left off. If Sadie was related to Sparks and then assumed his position in the council, it made sense that she was now bringing his plans to completion.

Which made it reasonable to assume that we didn’t have to look much further than her. Or at least I hoped it did.

Zoe, Maddox, and Quess exchanged looks. “Actually…” Zoe said, trailing off.