Simon shrugged. “No, it would appear not.” He chugged the last of his drink before he stood to leave.

  “Why’d you do it?” I blurted. I had to know. What was his stake in the explosion, in the information they stole?

  Simon paused. His back tightened, then relaxed before he turned back around and took a step closer to me. “Not everything is as it seems, darling. Not everyone does a job to get something else from it. Sometimes, decisions are made to keep information from those who would use it for the wrong reason. And some things are better left alone, if you know what’s good for you.” Simon placed a hand on my cheek and gripped his thumb under my chin. The silver cuff on his wrist poked out of his sleeve. He held my face tight as he tilted my gaze to meet his. “One day, you will find I’m not your enemy, and that we have the same end goal, even if our reasons don’t quite match up.”

  I didn’t get a chance to respond before Simon was ripped away from me and thrown to the ground. I was instantly on my feet and found myself standing beside Caspian, who was hovering over Simon, with balled-up fists.

  “Get the hell away from her.” His voice was low and lethal.

  Simon smiled. “Not your boyfriend? Right.” He pushed himself to his feet and disappeared in the crowd.

  Cas turned his eyes on me, scanning for any injuries or whatever Simon might have done to me.

  “I’m fine.” I shook my head.

  The small crowd that had gathered was dispersing, but I caught the cold glare of Leanna as she watched the way Cas looked me over. I couldn’t help the smirk spreading across my face. She stormed off just as Cas turned around to find her, and he swore under his breath.

  “Are you happy now?” He seethed as he grabbed my arm and began dragging me out of the ballroom.

  “I fail to see how this was my fault.” I ripped my arm out of his grasp, as we entered the empty foyer.

  “What the hell was he doing here? And why were you talking to him?” Cas asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “I’m surprised you even noticed with Leanna’s tongue down your throat,” I spat back, as I walked towards the exit, only to be cut off by Cas again.

  “That’s what this is about? You’re jealous, so you thought you’d sit with our enemy and wait for me to come rescue you?”

  “I didn’t need rescuing.”

  “He was two inches away from ripping your head off with a flick of his wrist. Did you forget who he was? What he was?” Cas was shaking he was so furious.

  “I’m not your enemy…” That’s what Simon had said. “He wouldn’t have hurt me.”

  “You have no idea what that man was about to do to you. He’s likely killed others for even less of a reason, or did you forget about the bullet you put in his side the last time you met?”

  I stepped around Cas and shoved the doors open. A warm breeze and the crisp smell of summer hit me as I stepped onto the streets and began walking home. My feet were a little unsteady from the multiple drinks I downed tonight. Cas followed close behind.

  “Jayla, I’m not letting this go until you give me a goddamn answer.”

  I stopped and spun on my heels. Cas stopped just as quick, but we were still only inches apart. He’d cleaned up nicely tonight. Put on a black suit and a creamy white shirt under his jacket. At some point, he’d removed the tie, and the top few buttons had been undone so his dark chest was exposed. Maybe he hadn’t undone it himself; maybe Leanna had.

  I tore my gaze away from his chest and looked into his eyes. “He was giving me information.”

  Cas’s brows creased. “What, you guys were just bonding over a drink or something?”

  I shrugged. “He came here for information, just like us, and was clearly eager to spill a bit of his own.” I’m not your enemy.

  “And…what’d he say?”

  Again, I shrugged. “Bullshit I’m not sure I believe. Claiming he didn’t know anyone was in the Genetics Lab when it blew, and the information they stole wasn’t for them, but to keep from someone else’s grasp.”

  Cas seemed to settle as he took in the information. He nodded, as if he agreed. “What Leanna told me tonight would corroborate that.”

  “Oh, she was able to get words in between sucking face and rubbing your thigh?”

  Caspian draped a hand over his face and through his short, dark hair. “You think I liked doing that?”

  I huffed a laugh. “Yup.”

  “I didn’t!”

  “Could have fooled me.” I turned away, but he grabbed my wrist and spun me back to him. My hand pressed against his chest, so I didn’t fall into him as my feet stumbled again.

  “As soon as I started speaking to her, I knew she was the one with the information. She was the one who knew all of Daddy’s little secrets, so I fed her every single line I could. I filled her glass until the words just came spilling out, and the suspicion of why I was asking these questions was silenced with my lips and my hands.” His body tensed under my own hand as he inched closer still. “And the entire time—the entire time—I had to picture it was you I was kissing just to keep the bile from rising in my throat.”

  I was silenced.

  “So, if you think for one second I did that willingly, if you think I wasn’t relieved each time you said no to any guy asking to dance, then you’re a goddamn idiot. And I’m a fool for being in love with one.” He let go of my arm, and I stumbled back a step, but I couldn’t take my eyes off his.

  This wasn’t the first time he’d said he cared about me. I wasn’t surprised by that. But it was the first time he’d said he was in love with me, and I could see what hurt him the most as the words came spilling out of him before he could stop them. He knew I wouldn’t say it back.

  My mouth gaped open, but nothing came out.

  Caspian sighed. “Whatever, Jayla. It’s fine.”

  Pain pulled at his brow and his eyes dropped. I wanted to erase it. But instead, I said quietly, “We should go. Em’s probably waiting for us.” I let out a shaky breath as I began walking back down the street. A tension I couldn’t fix hung in the air between us as the sun began to rise in the distance.

  Chapter 17

  Sienna

  “She’s out of her mind,” I said for the third time. “There’s no way I’m doing it. It’s impossible.”

  Vic shrugged as we walked down the hall to our next class. Theo was a few steps ahead of us, behaving like he was our bodyguard or something, but surprisingly I didn’t mind. It’d been three days since I was attacked. My side still stung if I moved too quickly or took a deep breath.

  The strike on Theo’s wrist, black and bold against his smooth skin, hurt the most. We’d both gotten one and reprimanded for leaving the DEZ. I knew it could have been so much worse. We’d lied and said we went out dancing, a location Em had given us that would check out, claiming the blood the guards thought they saw on me was paint for some rave we’d headed to.

  I knew Instructor Yarik saw through every lie. She always did. But for some reason, she only said, “Don’t let it happen again.” That was it.

  “She didn’t seem like the type that would put you in harm’s way for no reason,” Vic responded, referring to Emery and the task she’d left with Vic for me the other night.

  Task was the wrong word; it was more like a suicide mission. She wanted me to somehow access Instructor Yarik’s computer and put a device in it, giving them access to everything she had in there. But getting into our stern instructor’s office was proving to be an impossible mission.

  “Clearly, you’re a bad judge of character.” I nudged Vic, and she rolled her eyes.

  “Em seems nice. I like her,” Vic chimed, and even Theo shook his head, listening to our conversation while he led the way.

  Vic had already said this a few times, and how she could possibly see Em as anything but a terrifying killer, I couldn’t say, but she did. I believe “sweet” was the word she’d used.

  I sighed. We were running out of time, and I had to get this done if I wanted them to watch out for Vic. She would be leaving in a week and a half, and I didn’t want to know what would happen if we got on Jayla’s bad side, even though she had been helpful so far.

  We rounded the corner and stepped into the classroom just as Camilla and Blane walked up; Blane boldly aimed an icy stare at Theo before sliding past. Camilla kept her gaze firmly on me for only a moment before she flinched at the glare Theo gave her. He hadn’t gone easy on her, and I didn’t feel sorry for her in the least. Theo’s words, “I could have killed them. I wanted to,” were still fresh in my mind, along with the feel of his lips on my palm

  Her nose still had a bump on it, despite what the MediBots did to put it back into place after Theo’s fist broke it. Both eyes still had a rim of black around them, and she couldn’t hide the subtle limp with each step she took.

  Theo grabbed my hand and led us to the back of the room. We sat down at our usual table, but Theo didn’t let go of my hand, and I didn’t pull it away.

  That night had changed things. Changed us. Almost dying did that to a person. And for once, I was willing to let someone take care of me and admit I needed him beside me.

  We hadn’t talked any more about it—what had happened between us. Theo had always been one of my best friends, and this new relationship felt easy. Now, he was admittedly something more than a friend, but the details weren’t as important to me. Maybe the fact our graduation was coming sooner than planned allowed me to see a future past these cement walls, and every bit of that future included the man whose hand was wrapped around mine.

  “What if you snuck in after dark? Theo and I could keep watch,” Vic whispered, as Instructor Yarik began her lesson on histories.

  “Today, we will be going over the events following the Peace-Making.” Instructor Yarik stood at the front of the room.

  Keeping my focus ahead, I gave a slight shake of my head. “Too many camera bots around her office; it’d be impossible to get in without being seen.”

  “I want one thousand words on what happened after the Peace-Making, along with the reason we now have the wall separating us from the Void. What was its purpose? What remains in the Void? And why?” Instructor Yarik kept her eyes on me as she spoke, silently warning me to stop talking.

  I gently pulled my hand away from Theo’s grasp as I began typing today’s assignment into my tablet. Theo’s hand rested on my leg instead. The warmth of it quieted something inside of me.

  “Maybe you need to just set up a meeting?” Theo said, his voice low.

  “Right, I’m just going to ask if we can have a chat and then what? Shout ‘look over there’ while I put the device in?” I shook my head.

  “Well, that’s one way to do it.” Theo rolled his eyes. “But you might be more successful if you just come up with some reason you’d need to speak to her in private, then work your Sienna charm and get her out of the room.”

  I thought for a moment, scanning the room, as I tried to come up with a good reason to meet with our instructor. It couldn’t be just anything. If I wanted to talk about an assignment or graduation, I wouldn’t need to request a private meeting.

  The sound of fingers hitting tablets filled the room as everyone began working on today’s task. I did the same, though my attention was elsewhere. We’d done enough of these in our years at the DEZ I could practically write the story without even looking at my screen.

  The Peace-Making was the end of a war. And with a war, destruction and damage always followed. That was what we left in the Void. An area east of Cytos nestled into the forest and mountains, separating us and Kuros, was where a portion of the Space Station that had been blown up still remained. Debris from the station was scattered everywhere, and our ancestors left it there as a reminder of what we faced, and what we would face again should we ever let that kind of evil seep into our souls.

  They called it the Void because it was filled with dark, painful memories. These were things we didn’t talk about anymore as we tried to focus on the positive, the good things that came out of such destruction. The wall had been put up a few decades ago to preserve our history forever and protect us from our own dark past.

  As my fingers typed out the words, my attention continued to move through the room, looking for a reason to speak with Instructor Yarik. Something good enough to avoid any suspicion, if that was even possible.

  My eyes settled on the perfect excuse.

  I smirked as I leaned back in my chair. Theo glanced at me from his assignment; he was already half finished.

  “I think I have an idea.”

  “And to what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting, Miss Sienna?” Instructor Yarik sat behind a large metal desk in her office at the DEZ. The office was impeccably clean. No papers scattered about, and no books or tablets were out of place. Just the desk, her computer, and a small side table stacked neatly with tablets.

  “Well, I figured seeing as we are leaving soon, I owed it to you, and myself, to come clean,” I said. My back pressed against the stiff metal chair, and I tried not to squirm or fidget with the small device in my hand.

  “If you think I don’t know all the comings and goings inside the DEZ, Sienna, then you are gravely mistaken and wasting both of our time.” Yarik turned back to her computer with a nod of dismissal. I wondered if she knew of all the times I left, or that someone else had snuck into this place only three days ago. “I am well aware you and Theo didn’t go to a rave that night. And if I haven’t punished you for leaving and lying about it then, you’d do best to just take my kindness for what it is and leave.”

  “If you knew we were lying, then surely you know what really happened,” I said smoothly.

  Yarik looked up from her computer. “You mean the blood?”

  I nodded.

  She pursed her lips. “Do I even want to know?”

  I shrugged. “I’d just hate for one of your pupils to go out into the world not… enlightened enough for the rest of society. Could look bad on your records, don’t you think?” Her eyes narrowed, so I continued, “Blood doesn’t just appear without a wound. And a wound with that much blood doesn’t happen by your own doing, usually.”

  “That’s a heavy accusation, Sienna, if you’re implying someone attacked you.”

  The words I chose next had to be carefully crafted. The repercussions could be graver than they already were.

  “You know as well as I do that I was attacked. Only I don’t know who it was, although I’m sure you could find a way to figure it out.” I wouldn’t spell it out for her. I didn’t have to. She knew camera bots roamed every hallway, and it’d take little time to track down what happened that night.

  But I also knew if Camilla had planned that attack, she wouldn’t have left any loose ends. If there ever had been any footage, she would have erased it by now. So, my accusation would go unharmed…for me and Camilla. No use fuelling the fire between us even more at this point and I couldn’t risk my own graduation.

  “I’ll have the guards look over the film,” Yarik finally decided. But that wasn’t good enough.

  “I’d like to see it, too. I know which hallway I was in. And the time,” I said, not moving from my seat.

  Yarik glared at me, waiting for me to give up, to concede. But I didn’t. Finally, she huffed, “Fine, stay here.”

  I nodded and crossed my arms, as if impatient. Yarik stepped through her door and turned to the guard stationed outside her office. Her foot held the door open a crack, and I swore silently to myself.

  Quietly, I leaned forward, my eyes on the door the entire time. I pulled the device out and quickly scanned the back of Yarik’s computer to see where it would fit. There were so many slots and buttons. I had no idea which one it’d fit in. This was a much more advanced computer than we were given access to.

  “Right away, please,” I heard Yarik say and felt the door open a little wider as she moved to come back into the office.

  I shoved it into the first slot I found and luckily it fit. I slid back into my chair as Yarik returned. Her eyes glanced from me to the computer, then back to me.

  “Well?” I said with impatience, praying my heart didn’t sound as loud to her Carbon ears as it felt pounding in my chest.

  “The guards are sending over the film now.” She kept her eyes on me as she slid into her chair, pausing before she turned back to her computer. If she suspected anything, she didn’t say a word.

  An hour later, I was walking back to my quad when I sensed someone was following me.

  “Planning to stab me in the back this time?” I said over my shoulder.

  A huff sounded, before footsteps quickened and Camilla grabbed my arm, spinning me around to face her.

  “What did you tell her?” she demanded. Her eyes filled with worry like I’d never seen.

  I shrugged. “Everything.”

  She dropped my arm, and her hands balled into a fist.

  “Relax.” I rolled my eyes. “If I had given her your name, don’t you think they’d have already come and grabbed you by now?”

  “Why didn’t you rat on me?” Camilla asked.

  “Because I care more about her than getting vengeance. Because outside of this place, you’re nothing…just like me. And to get you another strike wouldn’t ever be enough. You’ll find out soon that your time here was as good as it will ever get for you. That knowledge alone is enough for me to keep my mouth shut.”

  I didn’t wait for her reply.

  Chapter 18

  Sienna

  “What exactly are you looking for?” I asked Emery, who had arrived an hour ago and was still transferring all the information from Instructor Yarik’s computer onto her tablet.

  Vic, Em, and I were tucked into our small quad. If the space didn’t already feel cramped, it now felt like it was closing in on us. Vic and I huddled together on one end, and Em had the entire other side, not caring that we were squished. The scent emitting from her was flowery and sweet—perfume.