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  “Vesuvians aren’t barbaric. I’m sure it was an oversight.”

  Of course it was. I didn’t say that aloud, but she read the sarcasm in my expression. And I could immediately see I’d exasperated her.

  She had no clue. And there was no point in popping her little bubble more than I already had. Vivian still didn’t know what to think of my little outburst and revelation from that morning.

  “Did you check my medical files?”

  “I apologize, but it seems that I don’t have access to your entire file. I’ve only been granted access to my own notes from previous visits.”

  Red flag, lady. “Isn’t that unusual? Shouldn’t you have all the information, my history, or something?”

  “It is strange, but I’m sure that all is well.”

  I faked a smile. “It’s sad that you don’t trust me. Is it because I’m a Lesser?”

  “Certainly not.” Her golden eyes met my own. “Your mother and father are my friends. I can think of no reason that anyone would want to bring harm to you. I base my decisions on that alone.”

  “Well, there’s a part of you, however small, that does believe what I’m telling you, or you wouldn’t be here now.”

  She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again. What could she say? It was true.

  Vivian left with a promise to check on me in the morning, and an instruction that I get plenty of sleep. She wouldn’t leave until I promised to rest. At least she could keep her promise. If I couldn’t sleep, her faith in Lessers would grow even smaller.

  After the locks engaged, I glanced at the red glowing numbers. It was late, after ten o’clock, and pitch black outside. The only light came from a few street lamps scattered around the city. What amazed me was what one could imagine lurking in the shadows in a place like that. I wondered how those who lived there ever slept soundly; it was the stuff nightmares were made of.

  IT WAS AFTER TEN O’CLOCK when I finally closed the door to my room. I leaned against the wood and banged my head on the smooth surface once for good measure. I’d been in charge of parading fake Abby around the city—as I’d started calling Marian when it was just the two of us. She was playing her part well. Lillith seemed sated. Though I didn’t think that woman’s eyes missed much.

  Smile.

  Wave.

  Reassure.

  Repeat.

  I wondered how it felt for Marian. She’d lived in Abby’s shadow from the beginning. Marian told me how her father capitalized upon their physical similarities, offering her up to King Harrison Cole as an alternative, an easy replacement, a means to an end. She’d heal Crew’s broken heart by pretending to be Abby.

  And then, Queen Lillith expected the same. Heal the Vesuvian’s faith in their monarch’s ability to take care of them. Make them believe that Marian and the other Lesser women were offering to help, were willing to sacrifice their own reproductive abilities just to help Greaters avoid barrenness.

  She was a savior—a way to right the wrong of the evil King of Olympus.

  Greaters, male and female, old and young, were infatuated with her. They watched her every movement. But there was still a sense of superiority in the air. She was like a puzzle they couldn’t figure out; and while they understood her, part of them questioned her words.

  Those contact lenses said she wasn’t one of them, and they trusted their own eyes, refusing to see the deception that lay beneath.

  They were sheep. They had no clue they were being herded by wolves. Nor did they know their own monarchy had ordered the slaughter of every other Greater on the continent.

  The Vesuvians were ostriches, their heads embedded so deep in the sand they couldn’t see or hear anything. I’d been an ostrich once.

  It was disgusting. But most of all, it was disturbing.

  And was Marian’s stomach ever swelling. She was enormous. The baby would be born any time. I just hoped it wasn’t on my watch. No way was I delivering a baby. I’d heard how fast childbirth could happen for Greaters. Lessers were different. Labor for them could take hours. For Greaters, the child was generally born in a matter of minutes, less than fifteen, from what I gathered.

  So, the responsibility I bore doubled when I had to babysit Marian Cole.

  Pushing myself off the door, I made my way to the bedroom to grab a change of clothes. A hot shower was the only thing I needed before sleep. Food could wait.

  The thoughts of Marian’s ever-blossoming bump made me think of Abby. I was in the guard barracks in the center of town, and she was in the palace hidden behind a secure door. Her bump was bigger, too, but not as big as Marian’s.

  It had been too long since I’d seen Abby, held her. Even a touch was too much to risk. I knew she understood that, but it was still hard for both of us. We had to come up with something, had to get her out of there. The longer she was in the palace, the more dangerous it became for her.

  I lumbered to the shower. When I emptied my pockets, something was there that wasn’t mine.

  A small note, written on bright yellow paper. “Abby’s baby will be surgically removed in less than two days. Plan in place. Be ready to help.”

  I recognized Marian’s handwriting right away.

  The paper crumpled easily in my fist. How had she gotten that information?

  No one could see the note or we’d both be killed. Marian was expendable as soon as the Greaters had their hands on Abby’s baby.

  Who am I kidding? She’s expendable now. Her presence was a perk. The population loved her, but if she disappeared, they’d simply go on about their lives as if they’d never known about her. Within weeks, she’d be forgotten.

  I stuck the paper in my mouth and chewed, swallowing the information down like a bitter pill. I didn’t care who the biological father of her child was.

  No one was taking Abby, and no one would lay a hand on her child—my child.

  THE SKY THAT HAD BEEN so black lightened to a deep blue, then violet, and was streaked with sharp, golden slices and feathered pink clouds. A flock of geese traveled overhead in a V formation. But we soon outran them, and they disappeared.

  Julia was asleep on my shoulder, my arm tucked around her. I hoped she was warm enough. Small clouds of breath fell from her slightly opened mouth.

  Kaia’s comm buzzed an alert. “It’s Adam,” she whispered.

  She held the device to her ear. “Adam?”

  Silently, she listened to his instruction, nodding once... twice.

  “I understand. We’ll be ready.” She paused. “Yes.”

  The train began to slow.

  Kaia said, “Very well. Thank you. And, please, thank Phoenix for his assistance.”

  His name alone made me sit straighter. The movement must have jostled Julia because she stirred, sat up straight, and gasped before asking, “What happened?” With wide, frightened eyes, she looked around, only settling when she realized that we were still in the train car.

  Kaia handed her comm to me. “Wipe it.”

  Within seconds, every tracer was gone. Hopefully. I’d learned how to wipe the tracers from the comms after I’d accidentally let our last hacker from Olympus, Senn, be discovered and beheaded. What a mess that was.

  “What’s the plan?” I asked.

  “The train will cross the Vesuvian line in approximately fifteen minutes. It’s been directed to pull into a Lesser yard. Adam and Phoenix will meet us there. They’ll have changes of clothes and will inform us of the intelligence they’ve collected and the plan they’ve formulated.”

  Julia swallowed.

  “They’re not gonna make me wear one of those tight get-ups, right?” I laughed.

  Julia smiled, looking over my body appreciatively. She leaned in close and whispered provocatively, “I really do hope so, Kyan.”

  My hand found her waist like a moth to a flame.

  Dang. Maybe I would wear one for her.

  Kaia grinned at us. “It’s what men are expected to wear. Besides, they really ar
e comfortable.”

  Great. Red, tight, embarrassing and... comfy. Sounded like a party. We just needed apple wine.

  The train slowed even more. Over the edges of the car, I could see an enormous vertical wire fence.

  I shot to my feet, using the rusted holes in the side of the car as footholds, hoisting myself up to get a better look.

  The gates buzzed loudly. I knew the ancients had electric fences for livestock. They even had electricity in their homes and buildings. But I never knew the wires would crackle like harnessed lightning ran through them. Horizontal concrete columns were crowned with red flashing lights. Signs that read “Danger: Electrocution Hazard” hung on either side of the gate. The entire thing was opposing and ominous. I tried to swallow the lump that had built up in my throat, but the thing wouldn’t budge.

  As we traveled farther into the Vesuvian land, the gates disappeared from view.

  I turned back to the girls, who were looking at each other. “Did you see that?”

  Kaia nodded and Julia just stared at me. Of course, they’d seen it.

  Julia shifted her feet. “We’re in Vesuvius, Kyan.”

  The gravity of the situation hit me. We might not make it out of Vesuvius.

  The car veered to the right, the wheels beneath us screaming against the abrupt change. I held tight to the car’s metal, and when it steadied, dropped to the bottom with a thud.

  “The train’s heading toward the Lesser yard,” Kaia stated.

  “You sure about that?” I asked.

  “I’m positive,” she answered.

  Julia nodded.

  “How many hours do we have?”

  Julia mentally calculated before answering, “Twenty-seven.”

  “We need to get her out before that. We need to be halfway back to Orchard in twenty-seven hours.”

  Both ladies agreed. We’d have to strike fast and move stealthily to pull off our mission.

  The train was barely crawling. Soon, the tops of nearby buildings could be seen. Brick was everywhere. It was like the Earth had fired it and vomited it all up into jagged buildings. Everything was red. It was just... weird.

  Even the buildings had their own tight red jumpsuits in the form of brick façades.

  Julia looked at Kaia. “It’s so strange. I never imagined that my home would feel so threatening.”

  Kaia replied, “That’s because we didn’t know that our Queen was capable of such evil. And because the people we loved had never been threatened before.”

  I felt bad for both of them. The rose-colored glasses had been ripped off their faces in the cruelest of ways. But, in that case, there was freedom in the cruelest of truths. The two had something worth living and fighting for.

  Looking at Julia, I knew I had something worth dying for.

  The train screeched to an abrupt stop.

  A message popped up on Kaia’s comm. EXIT THE TRAIN CAR NOW AND HEAD EAST. IT IS CLEAR.

  I wrenched the rusted door open and a squeal echoed across the yard. Most hoppers had no door, but that one had been modified. The car could be used for other purposes. Function over form.

  There were other tracks nearby and a building fifty yards to the right, up the wooden walkway in front of me. That was it. No guards. No Greaters. No nothing and nobody.

  And then someone appeared. No. Two silhouettes materialized in the steam near the building.

  I hadn’t noticed Kaia behind me until she shoved me out of the way. “Adam?” She said on an exhale. Before I knew it, the pair was rushing toward one another. When they collided, he lifted her in a hug, swinging her around.

  Julia threaded her hand through mine. “The other man is Phoenix. He’s no threat to you. I’m yours.”

  “Hell yes you are.” I kissed her quickly and scooped her out of the car feeling ten feet tall and bulletproof. She said she was mine. And it might make me greedy, but I loved it.

  Phoenix was a strange-looking guy. He wasn’t ugly, but his hair was green and knotted into long strands that just looked fuzzy. I’d never seen anything like it before. It looked like the twisted threads of a green mop on his head.

  Julia let go of my hand and gave him a brotherly hug. I finally relaxed. She was mine. She said she was mine. And I was hers.

  “Follow us.” Adam pinned me with a stern look.

  He led us down concrete walkways, across a metal bridge, and onto a larger concreted area of ground where a small black vehicle sat alone. I climbed in the back next to Julia. Kaia sat on Julia’s left. Adam sat in the right front and Phoenix was seated behind the steering wheel. I’d driven the trucks in Orchard a few times, but that vehicle was completely different. The thing looked like it could fly. There were buttons and knobs everywhere.

  The cool leather felt strange on my palms. And, believe me, I gripped the seat for dear life.

  “Are we going home?” Kaia asked, still savoring the view of Adam’s face.

  “Too risky,” Adam replied. “We’re going somewhere they’d never expect.”

  “Are they tracing you?”

  “Not yet. But that doesn’t mean they won’t catch on. I don’t want us to be anywhere they’d know to look for us.”

  Phoenix steered the sleek, black vehicle out of the gravel parking area and down the side streets.

  These tiny little pods on tracks hovered at stations set up every few streets. I nudged Jules. “Are those the things Abby said she rode in?”

  She giggled. “Yes. Those are PerTs.”

  Glad I didn’t have to ride in those things.

  Small streets connected to larger ones, where PerTs waited for someone to hop aboard on tracks that ran overhead and alongside. It was a complex, intertwining maze of transportation. Roads above, tracks below, intersections, and tunnels.

  We traveled deep into the heart of Vesuvius. The city was still asleep. No one was on the streets. There were no signs of life. The buildings were huge. They shot into the sky. Hell, it looked like the sky was bleeding red, and it was all flowing into and onto the Greater city below. Is this how all the cities look?

  “They certainly won’t expect us here.” Kaia mumbled distractedly.

  “No. If they do figure it out, and they fan out to apprehend us at our homes, we’ll already be here. Or, perhaps we’ll already be gone. It’s the best chance we have,” Phoenix replied.

  He was right. It was brilliant. I had to give it to the guy. Maybe he was as smart as Julia and Kaia said.

  Kaia spoke up. “They could activate our trackers.” She tilted her forearm so the flat part was showing. A tiny square of skin protruded unnaturally.

  Adam shook his head. “They’d search residences first. Tracker activation takes time and manpower. It’s a last resort.”

  Phoenix steered the vehicle quickly down a side street. I thought he was going to steer us into a brick building, but a large, square, mechanical door slid upward at the last second. We sped under it, and I turned around to watch the door closing automatically behind us. We’d been swallowed by the architecture.

  That wasn’t a comforting thought.

  My knuckles were white. But one of my hands relaxed the second Julia took it in hers.

  The vehicle had headlights like the village trucks. But instead of warm amber, they illuminated everything in a purple-blue.

  No other vehicles were in that place, but it was huge. And empty. Very empty. And dark. Hell, it was downright creepy. Phoenix maneuvered into a painted yellow rectangle on the ground.

  Everyone exited the vehicle.

  Julia slid her hand into mine and pulled me along behind her through the darkness.

  Adam led the way to a nearby door, slid some sort of plastic square into it, and it unlocked. A few bright hallways lined with door after door later, and he slid the square into another door’s slot. When that lock opened, we disappeared into a large room.

  “What is this place?”

  There was weird, clear, hard plastic furniture all around. There was a small kit
chen to the right, seating area straight ahead, and bedroom to the left. All in one room.

  Adam put his keys down on the countertop, and Julia led me to the couch. At least there were cushions on the plastic frame. I eased down, careful not to break it.

  Julia giggled. “It’s strong, Kyan. You can’t harm it.”

  I raised my eyebrow at her. No way was it sturdy.

  “I promise.” She laughed, nudging my side.

  Phoenix flopped onto a matching and equally flimsy-looking chair in front of us, his hair draped over the back like a mess of green snakes.

  Kaia settled next to Julia.

  Adam walked into the room, giving me another stern look.

  What had I done? So, I gave him one back.

  His upper lip twitched in response. He didn’t approve of me for some reason. I mean, yeah, I’d sort of yelled at him on the phone, but it had been no time for small talk.

  “Adam, what’s your plan?” Kaia asked, hopefully.

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “I honestly don’t know how we can extract her from the palace. But, didn’t you say you already had a plan, Kyan?”

  Oh, so that’s how he wants to play this.

  “Yeah, I do.”

  He nodded as if to tell me to spit it out.

  “Can you get her out of the palace? Maybe to a doctor or something?”

  Looking at me thoughtfully, he glanced at Phoenix who nodded back.

  “We think so. Of course, you never know what Lillith will allow at this point.”

  “You’re not gonna like the rest of the plan.” It was true. And their reaction to the words that were about to spew out of my mouth would tell me exactly how much they wanted to save Abby, and where their loyalties were.

  “Try me.” Adam ordered.

  “You asked for it.”

  I explained, in as much detail as I was able, what I wanted to do. Gaping mouths and wide eyes looked back at me.

  Adam surprised me by speaking first, and by actually agreeing. “This will work.”

  “But, Adam...” Kaia argued.

  “No!” He roared. “He’s right. This has gone far enough. It stops here.” He sat down in a nearby chair. With sunken shoulders, he admitted, “It’s the only way to save Abby, to save her child. It’s the only way to save any of us.”