Luke placed his left hand over her arm, and with his right, started to move another lever toward her. To her horror, she saw that it was emitting a thin Sttient thered line of light that pulsed with dangerous energy.
She started to shake, but Luke gripped her arm tighter. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “Just stay still.”
The light was getting closer. Glass could feel the heat on her skin. Luke’s face tensed with concentration, his eyes fixed on Glass’s wrist as he moved the laser steadily along.
Glass closed her eyes, bracing herself for the searing pain, the screaming of her nerves as they lost contact with her hand.
“Perfect.” Luke’s voice cut through her terror. Glass looked down and saw the bracelet had been split into two neat pieces, freeing her wrist.
She sighed, her breath ragged. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled at her, his hand still clutching her arm.
Neither of them spoke as they slipped out of the workshop and began to wind their way back up toward the skybridge.
“What’s wrong?” Luke whispered as he guided Glass around a corner and up another flight of stairs, narrower and darker than anything on Phoenix.
“Nothing.”
In the past, Luke would’ve reached over, taken her chin in his hand, and looked her in the eye until she giggled. You’re a terrible liar, Rapunzel, he’d say, a reference to the fairytale about the girl whose hair grew a foot anytime she fibbed. But this time, Glass’s lie evaporated into the air.
“So how have you been?” she asked finally, when she couldn’t bear the weight of the silence any longer.
Luke glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you know, apart from being dumped by the girl I loved and then having my best friend executed for a bullshit infraction, I’d say not too bad.”
Glass cringed as his words landed in her chest. She’d never heard that kind of bitterness in Luke’s voice before.
“But at least I had Camille.…”
Glass nodded, but as she stole a glance at Luke’s familiar profile, shards of indignation gathered, sharp and dangerous, in her mind. What did he think she had done to be Confined? Why wasn’t he more curious or surprised? Did he think she was such a terrible person that she would have committed an infraction?
Luke stopped abruptly, causing Glass to stumble into him. “Sorry,” she muttered, scrambling to regain her balance.
“Does your mother know what happened?” Luke asked, turning to face her.
“No,” Glass said. “I mean, she knew I was Confined, but she can’t have known about the Earth mission.” The Chancellor had made it clear that the operation was top secret. Their parents wouldn’t be informed until it was certain their children had survived the journey—or until the Council was sure they’d never return.
“It’s good that you’re going to see her.”
Glass said nothing. She knew he was thinking of his own mother, who’d died when he was only twelve, which was why he’d ended up living with his then-eighteen-year-old neighbor Carter.
“Yeah,” Glass said in a shaky voice. She’d been desperate to see her mother, but even without the bracelet, it wouldn’t take the guards long to find her. What was more important? Saying good-bye? Or sparing her mother the pain of seeing her daughter being dragged away toward certain death? “We should keep Se s
They crossed the bridge in silence as Glass drank in the sight of the twinkling stars. She hadn’t realized how much she loved the view from the skybridge until she’d been locked in a tiny, windowless cell. She stole a glance at Luke, not sure whether to be hurt or relieved that he didn’t turn to look at her.
“You should go back,” Glass said as they reached the Phoenix checkpoint, which was, as Luke had promised, free of guards. “I’ll be okay.”
Luke’s jaw tightened and he gave her a bitter smile. “You’re an escaped convict, and I’m still not good enough to meet your mother.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she said, thinking of the scan trail he’d already left behind. “It’s not safe for you to help me. I can’t let you risk your life. You’ve already done so much.”
Luke took a breath as if to say something, then nodded. “Okay, then.”
She forced what she hoped was a smile, holding back tears. “Thank you for everything.”
Luke’s face softened slightly. “Good luck, Glass.” He started to lean in, and Glass couldn’t help tipping her head up, out of habit—but then he stepped back, wrenching his eyes from her with an almost physical force. Without a word, Luke turned and moved soundlessly back the way they’d come. Glass watched him go, her lips aching for the good-bye kiss they’d never feel again.
When she reached the entrance to her flat, Glass raised her fist and tapped lightly. The door opened and Glass’s mother, Sonja, peered around it. A symphony of emotions played across her face in an instant—surprise, joy, confusion, and fear.
“Glass?” she gasped, reaching for her daughter, as if she wasn’t sure she was really there. Glass leaned gratefully into her mother’s hug, drinking in the smell of her perfume. “I thought I’d never see you again.” She gave Glass one more squeeze before pulling her inside and closing the door. Sonja stepped back and stared at her daughter. “I was just counting down the days.” Her voice faded into a whisper. “You turn eighteen in three weeks.”
Glass grabbed her mother’s clammy hand and led her to the couch. “They were going to send us to Earth,” Glass told her. “A hundred of us.” She took a deep breath. “I was supposed to be one of them.”
“Earth?” Sonja repeated slowly, holding the word almost at a distance, as if trying to get a better look. “Oh my god.”
“There was an altercation at the launch. The Chancellor…” Glass’s head swam as she recalled the scene from the launch deck. She sent up a silent prayer that Wells was okay down there on Earth, that he was with Clarke and didn’t have to grieve alone. “In the chaos, I was able to get away,” Glass continued. The details weren’t important right now. “I just came to say I love you.”
Her mother’s eyes widened. “So that’s how the Chancellor was shot. Oh, Glass,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around her daughter.
The thud of footsteps echoed out in the hallway, and Glass flinched. She looked warily at the door before turning back to face her mother. “I can’t stay long,” she said, rising shakily to her feet.
“Wait!” Sonja jumped up and clutched Glass’s arm, pulling her back to the couch. Her fingers tightened around her wrist. “The Chancellor is on life Sr ied up ansupport, which means that Vice Chancellor Rhodes is in charge. You shouldn’t go yet.” She paused. “He has a very different approach to… governing. There’s a chance that he’ll pardon you. He can be convinced.” Sonja stood and gave Glass a smile that did little to illuminate her glistening eyes. “Just wait here.”
“Do you have to go?” Glass asked, her voice small. She couldn’t bear to say another good-bye. Not when every good-bye could be forever.
Her mother bent down and kissed Glass’s forehead. “I won’t be long.”
She watched Sonja apply a hurried layer of lipstick and slip out into the still-empty corridor, then pulled her knees into her chest and hugged them tightly, as if trying to keep everything inside her from spilling out.
Glass wasn’t sure how long she slept, but curled up on the cushions that still remembered the shape of her body, it seemed possible that the past six months had been a nightmare. That she hadn’t actually been imprisoned in a cell that contained nothing besides two metal cots, a silent, seething Arcadian cell mate, and the ghosts of sobs that remained long after her tears dried up.
When she opened her eyes her mother was sitting next to her on the couch, stroking Glass’s matted hair. “It’s all taken care of,” she said softly. “You’ve been pardoned.”
Glass rolled over to look up at her mother’s face. “How?” she asked, the surprise shocking her out of her sleep, chasing away the images of Luke that lingered on her eyelids when she first woke up. “Why?”
“People are growing restless,” her mother explained. “None of the convicted juveniles have made it past their retrials in the last year, and it makes the justice system look anything but just. You’re going to be the exception—the proof that the system’s still working how it’s supposed to, that those who can contribute to society are given the chance to return to it. It took a little convincing, but eventually Vice Chancellor Rhodes saw my side of things,” her mother finished, sinking back into the couch, looking exhausted but relieved.
“Mom—I can’t—I don’t—thank you.” Glass didn’t know what else to say. She smiled as she pushed herself up into a seated position and rested her head against her mother’s shoulder. She was free? She almost couldn’t comprehend the meaning of the word.
“You don’t need to thank me, sweetheart. I’d do anything for you.” Sonja pushed a piece of Glass’s hair behind her ear and smiled. “Just remember, you’re not to tell anyone about the Earth mission—I mean it.”
“But what happened to the others? Is Wells okay? Can you find out?”
Sonja shook her head. “As far as you’re concerned, there was no mission. What’s important is that you’re safe now. You have a second chance,” her mother murmured. “Just promise me you won’t do anything foolish.”
“I promise,” Glass said finally, shaking her head in disbelief. “I promise.”
CHAPTER 9
Clarke
Clarke slipped through the flap of the designated infirmary tent and stepped into the clearing. Even without the luxury of wind Voked on—theows, she sensed that it was dawn. The sky erupted with color, and the pungent air stimulated sensors in her brain Clarke had never realized existed. She wished she could share the experience with the two people who had made her yearn to see Earth in the first place. But Clarke would never have that chance.
Her parents were gone.
“Good morning.”
Clarke stiffened. It was almost unfathomable that Wells’s voice had once been her favorite sound in the universe. He was the reason her parents were dead, their bodies floating through the depths of space, moving farther and farther from everything they’d known and loved. In a moment of weakness, Clarke had confided a secret that wasn’t hers to share. And even though he’d sworn not to tell a soul, Wells hadn’t even waited twenty-four hours before skipping off to his father, so desperate to be the perfect son, Phoenix’s golden child, that he betrayed the girl he’d pretended to love.
She turned to face Wells. There was nothing to keep her from lunging at him, but she wanted to avoid any confrontation that would prolong the exposure.
As she strode past him, Wells grabbed her arm. “Hold on a second, I just wanted to—”
Clarke spun around and wrenched herself free. “Don’t touch me,” she hissed.
Wells took a step back, his eyes wide. “I’m sorry,” he said. His voice was steady, but she could see the hurt on his face. Clarke had always been able to tell what Wells was feeling. He was a terrible liar, which was how she’d known, in that brief moment, that his promise to keep her secret had been sincere. But something had changed his mind, and it was Clarke’s parents who had paid the price.
Wells didn’t move. “I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay,” he said quietly. “We’re going to finish sorting through the wreckage today. Is there anything in particular you need for your patients?”