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

What was worse, there wasn’t a way to lash our way through it, as the stairs in the shell lacked a ceiling (unless we were passing a farming department). And we couldn’t exactly use the walls, which prevented us from swinging. So that meant climbing each agonizing step.

My legs were mush when we finally reached the last door, and I took a moment to wipe away the sweat that had accumulated on my face and neck, knowing the air outside would be frigid.

“I’ll come out with you to make sure there’s no one else up here,” Maddox said as she turned the massive wheel on the door. A moment later there was a hiss of air pressure, which turned into a blast, the air of the Tower racing past us to try to escape. I helped Maddox pull the door back against the breeze that formed, and then followed her through the door and up the stairs.

The night was darker than the one before, the moon hidden behind gray clouds blanketing the sky in the distance. Our skies were free from clouds overhead—they always were because of the arid nature of the Wastes surrounding us—but the moon was still low enough that it hadn’t broken through the faraway cloud cover. We stepped onto the roof and spun around, looking for a sign of anyone else being up here.

It took us a few minutes to clear the roof—we wound up walking a small perimeter around the immediate area just to make sure no one was eavesdropping—and then Maddox disappeared back inside. As soon as the door was closed, I took a deep breath and pulled out the black device Thomas had shoved into my hands before we left the ship.

It took me a second of studying it to spot the “on” button at the top, and I pressed my thumb over it. The button didn’t move, and on closer examination, I realized that it slid to one side. Feeling stupid, I quickly clicked over, and then squeezed the large button that read “to talk” on the side.

“This is Liana Castell, calling for Alex Castell.” I said into the device. I stared at it for several seconds, wondering if it was supposed to light up or have some sort of digital interface that would indicate the message had been sent. Instead, all it did was make a static sound.

I stared at it for a few more seconds, and then tried again. “I repeat, this is Liana Castell, calling for Alex Castell. Alex, are you receiving me?”

More static. Maybe I was using it wrong? Or maybe he wasn’t next to his? Or what if the Tower was still interfering with the signal? We’d never tested it, so how could I tell?

I knew there was another possibility, but I wasn’t ready to jump to it yet. I didn’t want to believe that Melissa and Thomas had hurt him. Instead, I tried again. “This is Liana Castell, trying to reach Alex Castell or any representative of Patrus. Please respond.”

Nothing. I waited for a long time, much longer than I had before, staring at the black box while a wave of helpless frustration came over me. “I knew letting you go was a bad idea,” I muttered, letting go of the talk button in irritation.

There was a pop of louder static, followed by “…Your damn finger off the button so you can hear me!” in my brother’s voice.

It took me a second to decipher his statement, but once I did, I flushed with embarrassment. The rudimentary machine required me to press the button when I wanted to talk and let go of it when I was done, so I could hear the reply. How was I supposed to know that? They had just shoved it into my hands with almost no explanation.

Unless they had explained it, and I had been so preoccupied by the fact that my brother was leaving me that I had missed it. “Sorry,” I said, pressing the button again. “This technology is new to me.” I let go of the button.

“I know. There’s a lot of stuff here that’s new for me. I’m hiding out in my room, actually. I… um… got a little sick.”

“Are you okay?” I asked, instantly concerned. “What happened?”

“Motion sickness,” he replied, his voice colored with embarrassment. “Both in their airship and in these things they call cars. I really did not enjoy that experience at all.”

I laughed in delight, imagining what it must’ve felt like to ride in a car. I couldn’t believe they were still being used! It was just so far-fetched, and I couldn’t help but to ask the myriad of questions that came bubbling out of me. “They have cars? What are they like? What about where they live? What is it like?”

He laughed through the speaker, and I realized he had pressed the button so I could hear his response. The sound made me wish he was here, if only so I could wrap my arms around him and reassure myself that he was okay. “They’re cramped and small,” he replied. “Mine came complete with some older woman named Magdelena, who was a little scary. Apparently, she’s a general in the Patrian army. She had a lot of questions for me about the Tower.”

“About our defenses?” I asked, alarmed. I didn’t like the idea of someone from the Patrian military asking anything about the Tower. Who knew what they were planning? They talked about trying to imitate our technology, but what if they decided it was easier to steal it?

“Um, no, about our lives there. She was writing up a report for Prime Chancellor Croft, and wanted a description of our society and how we did things—whether we had a justice system, how the people were treated, our system of government… I told her about the ranking structure, the council, the expulsion chambers. But I left out a lot.”

“Good,” I said, relieved that none of the questions had been about our technology. I wasn’t comfortable giving them information on that front. I wanted their help, not to give them information that they could possibly use to attack us, on the off chance they had been lying to us. “It’s a petition for refugee status, not an invitation for war.”

“I don’t think they’re like that, Lily,” he said a second later. “They didn’t press for me to tell them anything more than I was willing to share, but then again, I was brought to the capitol building in a covered truck with armed guards. Even my room is nice, but I’m not allowed to go anywhere without an escort. Both sides are keeping secrets, and it seems to me that they expect it. I get the sense that they won’t press too hard either way; it’ll be how forthcoming I am about our situation that will be the deciding factor for them, not what technology I can procure for them.”

“Does it feel… unsafe?” I asked him. I didn’t like the idea of my brother being monitored at all times, but at the same time, if I had an outsider in the Tower, I wouldn’t allow them to go anywhere unsupervised, either.

“No, no, no. I can come and go as I please, even in the middle of the night. I just have to have a little company. And the guards aren’t bad. They’re pretty curious about me and are willing to talk. I don’t sense anything like what I sensed in the Tower. Even Magdelena was sweet, in her own terrifying way.”

“Can you give me an example?” I asked, not able to imagine anything like what he was talking about.

“Well, um… after I told her about how I shot Baldy and my rank dropped, she said something along the lines of, ‘That’s too bad, seems to me that you were defending your sister and that stupid net thing of yours just didn’t get it. Still, try that crap here, and I’ll kick your ass all the way back there and leave you and your friends to rot.’”

I laughed, remembering to press the button down before I was done. “Wow—at least they are honest?”