46.
I checked my pockets for the phone. My fingers closed around something hard—the teleporter ring I’d taken from Baldie. Along with the diminishing tech, the locator, and my food cube, the phone completed my arsenal.
I closed my eyes and connected to Ty. She was a few hundred yards away, on the opposite side of the wall behind me. I crossed to it and put my hand on the stone. She did the same; I felt her touch as if we were skin to skin.
“Left,” I whispered. Ty kept her hand on the wall to maintain our connection.
“Left again,” I directed. A few turns later, she entered the chamber.
“Thanks, Vi,” she said, grinning. “Well done.” She had changed into jeans and wore her phone clipped to a holster around her bicep. “You’re a natural.”
She checked the screen on a piece of tech. “Hmm. No directional readings. No Directors.” She pocketed the device and held out a purple pill.
“I don’t want that,” I said. “I jumped off a building last time I took one of those.”
“That wasn’t because of the pill.”
“I still don’t want it.”
“You’ll need them,” she argued. “Thane will try to confuse you with the tech.” Ty pressed the pill into my hand. “Take it. Trust me, you’ll need it.”
I studied her face. “All right.” I swallowed the pill, but nothing happened.
Unless you count the fact that I didn’t sense the tech buzz before the man appeared. I scrambled behind Ty as she took refuge in the shadows.
The man twitched. His silver hair fell in a ponytail down his back. One final shiver ran through his body before Pace Barque turned. His gray eyes didn’t sparkle the way I remembered, and his cheeks were sunken into his face. Ty squealed and ran toward him.
“We need to go,” he said as he hugged her.
“To White Cliffs?” I wouldn’t leave without Jag.
He ignored me and frowned. “Thane—uh, your dad—will be here soon.”
“Jake said he couldn’t find us here,” I said.
Pace reached into his pocket. “I know, but technically, Thane’s the only one who can’t enter. Zenn and his squad of agents can—and will—be here any minute. Here, take these. We’ll be in White Cliffs in a couple of minutes.” He passed a teleporter ring to Ty.
When he handed me a ring, I took it and slipped it into my pocket with the other one. “I’ll get Jag and meet you there.”
“You can’t go to Jag,” Ty said, her voice foreign. “He’s going to Freedom. It’s the only way to satisfy Thane.”
The darkness in the stone chamber settled around me. The air thickened, too cold to breathe. “Freedom?” No way that was happening.
“We really need to go,” Pace said, looking over his shoulder. “I promised Jag I’d get you to White Cliffs safely, Vi. Come on.” He reached for me, but I stepped back.
“I’m not leaving without Jag,” I said, turning.
Tyson clutched my elbow. “You can’t go. Jag isn’t going—”
“Did you see him getting caught?” I asked.
“Not exactly.” She glanced at Pace. “He goes willingly.”
“You knew?” I looked at Pace, who studied the ground. “You both knew and didn’t tell me?” Hot tears pricked my eyes. I fumbled for the rings in my pocket.
“Vi, Jag’s known his role since the beginning.” Pace stepped forward, his smoky eyes glassy with tears.
“No.” I shook my head. “No.” This could not be happening. I would not abandon Jag. He filled my empty places.
Pace put his arms around me and drew me into his chest. His strong heartbeat pounded in my ear, the same way Jag’s did. “He knew he’d be the one to go. He just didn’t know about you until you showed up in prison. He almost ran away yesterday. He didn’t know if he could give himself up. He did it to save you.”
“Did what?” If I hadn’t spoken the words, I wouldn’t have recognized my voice. My breath came in spurts. My heart flopped against my ribs.
“He has to go with Thane,” Ty said. “I saw it a long time ago. That’s why he accelerated his training.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m never wrong,” she murmured.
“But you didn’t see me.” Every breath fanned the flames erupting in my chest. Surely my heart would stop pumping, as though the thought of losing Jag meant it no longer had a reason to keep beating.
“I saw that Jag would find someone instrumental to the Resistance. He found you.” Ty closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she merely shook her head.
“Vi, he knew he’d have to go,” Pace said.
“Shut up!” I pushed him away. “You’re lying. He would’ve told me. Tell me you’re lying.” I controlled them, willing them to tell me it was all a lie.
They didn’t.
Instead, they shifted closer together, their faces grim.
I knew he’d lied when he’d said he wouldn’t leave me. He’d known all along that he would. My mind sharpened with the anger coursing through my veins.
Jake’s words came back to me as I gulped air. Remember the things he’s told you, no matter how small.
Oxygen spread through me, forcing the rage out. My mind was calm as I recalled something Jag had told me: We have to stay together. We have a better chance of survival if we stay together.
And his last words to me: I’ll find you. I love you.
He might have been willing to leave me, but I’d be damned before I’d leave him. I plunged my hand into my pocket and withdrew the rings. Fear spread across Ty’s face. Pace almost smiled.
“He needs me,” I said, placing one ring on my finger.
“No!” Ty lunged forward.
“Jag.” I disappeared as Ty’s fingers closed on nothing.