The Girl Who Dared to Think (The Girl Who Dared #1)

I heard her sigh, and in that sigh, I imagined her crumbling. Breaking down and telling Eric everything about what we had done. Putting him at risk. Panic gave speed to my limbs, and I tore out from under the bridge like a woman possessed, scrambling on my hands and knees.

I climbed to my feet immediately, taking a moment to find my footing on the steep embankment, and looked to where Zoe was now staring down at me, her mouth opened in a wide “O” of surprise, her eyes bulging. Beside her, Erik looked just as dumbfounded by my abrupt appearance, and I suddenly recalled that I had been eavesdropping on a very personal conversation. And now they knew that, too.

Well. Best way out was always forward. I hoped.

“Hey?” I asked, raising one dirt-stained arm and forcing a bright smile on my lips. Inside, my heart was quivering in terror, and I had to fight to keep it from punching out of my back and making a run for it. “How’s it going?”

Zoe was not amused, and as her eyes narrowed to slits, I realized that, at the very least, I had prevented her from spilling her guts to Eric. For now.

“Where the hell have you been?” Zoe began, her voice snapping. Before I even had a chance to draw breath, she held up her finger, silencing me. “Oh no, scratch that. What the hell were you doing down there?”

I blinked several times, trying to think of an excuse. “I... was... inspecting the underside of the bridge.”

Zoe’s eyes narrowed even more, until they were just slits ablaze with fire, raging in fury. I wondered if she thought that squinting her eyes together tight enough would enable her to channel that anger into a laser beam.

“You were inspecting the underside of the bridge.” Her voice was flat and emotionless, but those eyes told me to think carefully.

“Yes?”

“Just... the underside of the bridge?”

“Yes?”

“Really.”

“Yes.”

Her face scrunched into a tight knot, and then she tried to lunge for me, over the railing, her arms outstretched. I took a step back in alarm, and almost fell as my foot slipped on the steep slope. Luckily, Eric caught my best friend around the waist with his large arms, and held her pinned against his side. She kicked and screamed as she continued to try to get to me, but Eric didn’t let go.

I used the time to climb out of the ditch and start to dust myself off. Zoe’s yells and hollers were dying down some, enough for Eric to look over at me and say, “She thinks that lie is insulting our intelligence. And I happen to agree.”

My lips curled up in a smile, and I offered him a mock salute as I beat the mud off my boots. After a moment, Zoe went completely quiet, and I looked up to see Eric setting her gently on the ground. Her eyes met mine, and I saw a hardening in them before she whipped around and began marching away. My eyes caught her wrist, and I felt my heart stop short as I took in the four, winking mockingly and reminding me that that was my fault. I thought of what Grey had said—that after four it was almost impossible to get up without Medica assistance—and cringed.

Eric watched her go, turned back to me, shrugged, and then moved to follow her. I watched them both go, torn between following and running away.

Then I thought of the anger in Zoe’s eyes, and how it was unable to mask the pain there.

I turned away from her, intent on telling Roark why he was going to recruit Zoe. Then, I was coming back up here and leveling with my friend.





24





I buzzed the door and waited, teetering on the precipice of banging on the door or really getting mad, when it slid open to reveal Grey, his eyes sluggish, as if I had woken him up. He stared dumbly at me, and I seized the advantage and pushed by him, heading deeper into Roark’s home.

“Liana?” he said from behind me, but I ignored him and moved into the common space. Roark was sitting behind his workbench and looked up in surprise from his work screen, his fingers still on the controls.

“What are you doing back here, girl? You just left a few hours ago.” His bushy eyebrows fairly bristled as he glowered at me, his blue eyes suddenly suspicious. “Don’t tell me you saw someone following you again.”

I ignored the question completely. “Zoe is a four, but she’ll be a three soon. She’s twenty, almost twenty-one, and with Water Treatment, but the girl is a Cog in her heart. She’s untrained and built her own data pad, and not like the ones we use—like the ones IT uses. There isn’t anyone more qualified to get us out of here or put together a transportation device. You don’t just want her, Roark; you need her.”

Roark stared at me during my entire speech. I’d spent the trip back deciding what to say and stripping it down to its most important and briefest points. Now I stood here, meeting his gaze unwaveringly—until I heard glass clinking so violently it set my teeth on edge.

I immediately turned to see Grey leaning heavily on one of the small UV fridges, his eyelashes fluttering. My feet moved of their own accord, and I crossed over to him to thread his arm over my shoulder and stand him upright. A few more steps with his sluggish and heavy body next to me, and I sat him in an overstuffed chair nearby. A book hit the floor with a thunk as he dislodged it from the seat, and I picked it up and set it to one side.

“What’s wrong with him?” I asked, watching his head loll to one side as he immediately drifted off.

“Oh, him? He was scratching at the salve on his burn, so I sedated him.”

I swiveled around to see Roark bent back over his work, his eyes focused on the glowing screen.

“Is he going to be all right?”

“He’ll be fine. Just a little in and out for a while.”

I made sure Grey was settled, and then marched back over to Roark. “Can you help me?” I asked, meeting his startled gaze.

“You mean, will I help your friend?” Roark said, turning back to his screen. “And the answer is no, I will not.”

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming at him. “Look, she’s the reason I was able to get Grey out. I cut her off after that day, completely abandoned her after giving her a glimpse of what was really going on. She is my best friend in the world, and there is no way I am ever leaving this Tower without her—okay? If not just because of what I asked, then because of what she did for Grey.”

Roark leaned back in his chair and said nothing for what felt like an eternity. Then he sat up, rubbing at his forehead. He stroked the hair back from his brow, letting out a long breath before speaking.

“I knew a man, once,” he said. “Name of Caduceus. We were as close as any two people in this damned Tower can be. We collaborated on research, lifted each other up when things were hard. I loved him as a brother, and was godfather to his child.”