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

“Zoe seems to think you killed Liana,” he said slowly, calmly. “Did you?”

“He didn’t,” I said, seizing the opportunity. “So get your fat foot off of him.”

Eric’s and Zoe’s heads snapped toward me as I spoke, and froze as their eyes widened in surprise. Eric was the first to move, taking a step back, removing his foot from Grey’s chest. For several heartbeats, no one said or did anything.

Then Zoe moved. She pulled free of Eric’s hands, the mix of emotions on her face making it nigh unreadable, and then began to cross over to me, her gait steady and sure. She came toward me so fast that I couldn’t help but flinch away, afraid of receiving the same treatment Grey had just gotten.

Then her arms were around me, and she was holding me tightly. I almost broke down crying right there. I was so happy to see her, had been so afraid of her rejecting me after I’d treated her so horribly, and was so mortified that my supposed death had affected her so much, that where we were escaped me for a moment.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, wrapping my arms around her. “I’m so, so sorry, Zo. I didn’t mean to—”

“Shut up, Liana,” Zoe sniffled, her shoulders shaking slightly. “All of that stuff can wait. I’m just so happy you’re not dead.”

God, as messed up as it sounded, those words meant the world to me. Even after our fight, there was hope. She was going to forgive me for what I had done in leaving her alone like that.

Just as soon as we got out of here.

My eyes snapped open, the moment shattered into a thousand pieces. “Zoe, we can’t stay here. You can’t stay here. You need to come with us.” I withdrew a pill from my pocket. “This will mask your rank enough to get you out of here, but it won’t last long. You need to come with me if you want to live.”

As I spoke, Zoe stepped away, her brows drawing together in a thoughtful expression. “You came to break me out?”

“Yes,” I said hurriedly, looking around. Well, I had now. Originally the plan had been to get her the pill, but now all I could think of was getting her to come back with me. “And we have to go now.”

“Indicators are back on,” Grey announced, and I looked over Zoe’s head to see him nodding toward the lights on the ground. “We have to go, Liana. The longer we stay here, the sooner they’ll catch us.”

Zoe exhaled and looked at Eric. “Looks like you picked a good day to visit,” she said dryly.

“Shut up and take the pill, Zoe,” Eric said, and I blinked at the harshness in his voice. He met my gaze, his eyes heavy, and I had a sneaking suspicion that Zoe had told Eric what was happening to the ones.

“Do you know?” I asked him.

He hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then nodded. “She told me right before she went into the Medica.”

From the look on his face, he had been having a rough time. I empathized, but there wasn’t any time to hash it out.

The decision came impulsively, but I didn’t care. “Eric, you’re coming with us as well.”

Eric blinked, a slow smile coming to his lips. “You mean I wasn’t invited before? You wound me.”

“Not as much as I am going to wound you if you try to keep from going with us,” Zoe said, and I felt her fingers grab the pill out of my hand. She took it quickly, dry swallowing it, and then nodded. “We’ll catch up later, but you’re right—we need to go.”

As she spoke, she turned and began moving toward Grey. I kept pace, and unsurprisingly, Eric fell in behind us.

“You know I was always going to come with you,” he whispered to Zoe. I was sure he meant it to be private, but his voice was too deep for it not to carry, and I couldn’t help but admire the sweetness of it.

I looked over to see Zoe’s reaction, and to my surprise, saw her thread her fingers through his for a moment, before letting them go. I looked away and pressed forward, suddenly feeling awkward. Their behavior was different, as if something had changed between them, and I had no idea what that was. But I would be asking as soon as we were all safe.

Jasper’s lights led us down the twisting halls, which were seemingly devoid of any personnel. It seemed clear from his delivery of Zoe that he intended to get us out of here just as safely—but I wasn’t take any chances. I was on the lookout for trouble the entire time.

Sure enough, as we rounded a corner, I saw the wide-open arch that was the exit from Medica come into view, and I could’ve burst out into a cheer—had Devon Alexander, Champion of the Knights, not rounded the corner.

His dual-colored eyes met mine, stared for a second, and—to my absolute horror—widened in recognition.

Then he began to advance.





34





“Run!” I cried, my hand automatically shooting to my baton.

Devon was some distance away, but as soon as everyone around me started to turn, he broke into a run, charging right toward us.

Whirling, I launched into a sprint, following my friends as they headed back down the hall. Grey led the way, followed by Zoe and Eric, with me at the rear, and we flew down the halls, turning this way and that, the halls rushing by and changing faster than I could possibly keep track of.

I looked over my shoulder to see flashes of the Champion as he followed in pursuit, and just as I realized he would’ve called this in, a chime sounded, followed by Jasper’s voice.

“Intruders on level four, near the junction of Corridors B and E,” he announced into the hall, and I looked over to see that we were actually in Corridor C. He was still helping us.

“Grey!” I shouted over the message as it repeated. “Are the indicator lights on up there?”

“Wha— Hey, yeah, they are! Follow me!”

He hooked a left and pushed open a door, running into the stairwell without missing a beat. Instead of down, we climbed up, and were almost out the door on the next level when I heard the door slam open behind us, Devon still in hot pursuit. I hesitated for a second, trying to decide whether I should take the time to shut the door quietly, then heard his footsteps coming up the stairwell.

I turned and ran, hurrying to catch up with my friends. Grey led us down the curved hall and then took an immediate left, and now I could see the green lights leading us directly down the hall, in a straight shot, toward the opening that led out of the Medica.

“Go left!” I shouted, just as the Champion bellowed, “Halt! Don’t let them escape!”

My breathing was coming in sharp pants, but I ignored it as I craned my neck to peer down the hall. A Knight was waiting, his baton at the ready. It took me a second to recognize him, because I was still unfamiliar with the changes to his face, but as Grey raced toward him, I saw that it was Theo who drew back the baton.