Under My Skin (28 page)

We found a place to stay at one of the inns not far from the General’s estate. Most of the buildings around it appeared haggard. Hardly able to stand on their own.

The mountains in the distance offered freedom. All we had to do was cross them and find the Resistance.

Thanks to my new name, Elise Dagon could get any room she wanted. No one questioned my motives or why I had guests. The quiet clerk behind the desk handed me a passkey and then went back to staring at his comm-console.

Dark hallways with faded wallpaper greeted us along the way. I was tempted to trace my finger along the intricate repeated design, but the walls were dirty. Even the dust hadn’t been swept away. I expected to hear other guests behind the doors we passed. But I heard nothing. No talking or blaring comm-consoles, only silence. Did they have any other guests?

Our room was the last along the long hallway. I used the passkey and turned the ancient brass doorknob. Thank goodness the inside was in far better shape than the hallway.

Once in the room, Zoe settled on the small bed with a groan. She should be able to get some rest in here. The room didn’t have much, but at least she’d have a shower to freshen up later and a clean bed to sleep on.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her.

“Like garbage, but my head’s clearer.” She rubbed her forehead and curled into a comfortable position on the bed. Tyson stood guard near the door.

“I wish we could’ve done this sooner,” I said as I sat next to her. “Why did we have to make our move during the Victory Ball?”

“Justina got suspicious.” She wiped more blood away. “My head’s killing me. Have you driven him away yet?”

I offered her a sad smile. “He’s very strong.”

“But you’re stronger. Between the two of us, you’ve always been the stronger one. You may not see it, but you can fight back if you find something deep within that makes you invincible.”

I wanted to ask her how the words she recited in the car made her stronger, but her face reflected deep pain. I turned to Tyson. “I think it would be a good idea if I left you two and went back to the General’s estate.”

Zoe snatched my hand. “No. You’re staying with us.”

“Unlike you, I’m not ready yet to fight the Guild member in my head.”

She squeezed my hand tightly. Her sad eyes begged me to see things her way. “We’re family. I won’t let you walk away like this.”

“It doesn’t matter. I should’ve gotten us out of this mess a long time ago before the transfer.” I still often wondered what would’ve happened if I’d told her about Claire’s words. Would Zoe have believed me? Would she have tried to help us escape?

Zoe groaned. “I’m so hungry.”

“Yeah, me too,” Tyson said.

“I know the town pretty well.” I didn’t want to tell them about the pub I’d visited, but at least they’d have food to offer. “I could find something—some hot food and drinks to bring back.”

Tyson headed for the door. “I’ll go with you.”

Our trip out didn’t last long. We found a pub—a different one, thank goodness, and we snagged some hot sandwiches and drinks. Most folks didn’t want to look me in the eye, but they happily took Elise Dagon’s credits without a problem.

On the way back, Tyson blurted, “I have to check on something real quick. Can you carry everything inside?”

With a nod, I used my other free hand to take his bag.

I dreaded the walk down that hallway again. Silence didn’t imply safety anymore. Just like that room back at the Training Facility, I could sense watching eyes in the shadows. People pressing against their closed doors to listen to my footsteps. Maybe I was paranoid by this point, but I suspected this new sense would protect me.

The door loomed at the end of hall. Instead of silence, I heard a voice at the far end. It fluctuated in pitch. Enough that it felt like two instead of one. One was sharp—slicing into me. The other bit back with as much furor. Once I stood not more than inches from the door, my hand with the passkey hovered near the scanner. So close, yet I didn’t want to open it, not after I heard what they said.

Zoe laughed, low and menacing. “My pretty, pretty, new body doesn’t like it when I have company over, do you?”

“Shut up!”

“I don’t regret buying you, but I still wonder if picking Tate would’ve been a better choice. She represented infinite possibilities. A stronger mind for me to conquer—but, then again, you’re far prettier. Not too smart, though.”

“Shut up! You’re not real anymore.”

Zoe’s voice continued to bounce back and forth. Something dull crashed against the wall.

“Imagine me away all you want,” she whispered. “What we did last night with Carlton was very much real. He told you he’d do anything to become a member of the Guild. Said that he’d give you—or, I should say, me—everything I’d ever want.”

My hand with the passkey trembled. My stomach soured. Oh, no, it was true.

Then Zoe’s voice broke up. Half of her words include vicious taunts from Justina, the other half was a set of words I didn’t expect to hear:

Bristly twigs will break their backs.

For any who come, we will attack.

What once was man is now a mite.

Be gone from me; go into the night.

Each time Zoe said the word
attack,
she spat it from her mouth like a bitter curse. I’d heard that rhyme before. Its history came from when the plagues were at their worst, when the infected went door to door for food and shelter. Children in my village still sang it while dancing in a circle with sticks. One child, who played the infected man—sat in the center and waited to be beaten.

It took everything I had to swipe the passkey against the scanner. To open the door and witness what occurred inside.

Zoe sat on the edge of the bed, her face covered in sweat. More blood caked on her lips and chin. A broken lamp lay on the floor in pieces.

“Zoe?” I whispered.

She continued to chant. I took a step inside, hoping and praying Justina wouldn’t lash out at me.

I placed the food off to the side.

A hand touched my shoulder. I jumped.

“It’s me,” Tyson hissed.

Zoe continued to recite her words while I crept toward her. The whole time, I couldn’t help but wonder: was this how I appeared to others? A ticking bomb? A body of contradictions where no one could ever know who was in control?

I reached her side and sat down next to her. When I touched her shoulder, it was Zoe who collapsed into my arms. My heart clenched. Her body shook with heavy sobs, and I held onto her as if such a thing would protect her from Justina.

Tyson stood to the side, unable to help.

Alone. For once, I realized how much I took that word for granted. While I cradled Zoe close, I thought about all the times I’d escaped from Danny and my parents to read alone out on the pier. The sea’s summer breeze felt so warm against my face.

Here I was, sitting in a room, fighting for the life of my cousin and my own. I’d give almost anything for Zoe and me to be alone again.

My fingertips went numb. Not now. Not now. Please not right now.

I turned away from Zoe and whispered a prayer. A prayer for more time and more strength to hold General Dagon at bay. I got off the bed and took a step away from them. With each step, my fear intensified. Like dark storm clouds gathering on the horizon, he wanted to rain down on my consciousness and wash me away. He wanted control again. Even though I tried to bury him, he clawed at me like a festering wound. I couldn’t bury him deep enough.

Sadly, it wasn’t me who made my mouth speak.

“What do we have here?” I whispered. “A little hummingbird has escaped her cage.”

Tyson stepped in front of Zoe. “Fight him, Tate.”

I’d stood against the General only a few hours ago, but now attempts to keep him out crumbled. I tried to visualize reinforcements. Bricks climbing on bricks to keep him out. Keep him contained. Buried.

“Now, now. Do you think I wouldn’t figure out your little plans?”
he purred, “
that I wouldn’t see the pretty little pink disk you left for me?”

My blood turned cold, and the fists I clenched released themselves.

“You really should remember who you’re dealing with,” the General said to me out loud.

In a fast blur, Tyson tried to grab me in a bear hug. The General dodged him and swung around him to viciously kick him in the gut.

In the space of the hotel room, Tyson tried to subdue me gently. The General, on the other hand, was less discriminating. For every hesitation, the General made him pay the price.

“What’s wrong, boy? You afraid to hit a female?” He pointed at my face. “C’mon, I’ll let you have one hit. Are you man enough to take me down?”

“Shut up! Before I shut your mouth for you.”

My hand snapped forward, quick as a copperhead snake’s strike, to smack Tyson in the face. Tyson hesitated again—for the final time. Up close, the General directed my foot into Tyson’s crotch. With a groan, he dropped to the ground, cradling himself.

“Another example of poor training.” The General snatched the las-gun from Tyson’s belt.

My mouth kept moving. The General never missed an opportunity to gloat. “Did anyone ever tell you how to brace for a hit?” He aimed the las-gun toward Tyson. “I guess not.”

“Stop it!” The protest didn’t come from Tyson. My gaze fixed on Zoe.

“Get your hands off him,” she demanded. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Her smile melded into a choppy laugh. Her wide eyes frightened me. “You lose. She’s gone. Finally.”

The exuberance on my face collapsed. Dagon advanced at her and grabbed her shoulders. He made me search her eyes. But it wasn’t necessary. All we needed was the touch. A single point of contact to detect her receptiveness. Zoe was now an open book. A vast wilderness waiting to be conquered. Justina Helmquest was no more.

He released Zoe for a second, and then grasped her hands again. Release. Grab. Release. Grab. His estranged lover was gone.

“Where is she?” the General screamed. My fingers bit into her arms.

Zoe cowered under his wrath, eyes shut tightly.

“Bring her back!” The General made me aim the las-gun at Tyson again.

“You can hurt as many people as you like,” Zoe said. “But it won’t make any difference. That evil woman is finally burning in hell.”

The General tried to hide the hurt, but I detected the pain under the surface, the boiling rage ready to strike out. We’d all pay for this.

He pointed to Zoe. “I’ll deal with you later. But first I need to deal with this traitor to the Myrian army.” The General paced a bit before he addressed Tyson. The young soldier’s face reflected indifference. He’d accomplished his goal: Zoe was free.

“I don’t need a tribunal to kill an enemy of the state.” My voice broke a few times as he spoke. “You die at dawn…”

He clenched my fists tighter. “By my hand.”

After a call on Tyson’s wrist-comm, the General’s personal guard arrived not long after. They took Tyson and Zoe away yet he forced my body to stand in that room for the longest time. My gaze focused on the far wall. From the amount of time we stared at it, I could’ve counted every crack, every seam.

But then as my shoulders shook and a tear fell down my cheek, I sensed his mind weakening. I tried to regain control, but he viciously shoved me back.

“Don’t try it!”
he said icily.
“When I get the strength to bury you, and it will be soon, I’ll do to you what was done to Justina. I don’t care if it breaks me. You are done.”

Once we reached the mansion, news spread quickly of what had happened. Rebecca and Cecelia arrived an hour later. Rebecca took control to help the General subdue me. I could hear the music from Cecelia’s wrist-comm as she played her games, oblivious to my treatment.

“Come for me at dawn,” he instructed her. “I must rest before I execute the prisoner.” Rebecca helped him use a passcode-protected set of handcuffs. I wish I could see what numbers and digits she pressed, but I wasn’t at the right angle. The General looked away while Rebecca attached the cuffs. They were not your standard regulation pair either. I could only hear the sounds corresponding to each button. By the time she was done, the General relinquished control and she left me chained on the bed. Quite clever, I thought, although, not clever enough. One thing the General had taught me was to be resourceful.

I had to reach Des and get some help. Luckily, they’d still left the call light button to Des’s nurse station, so I angled myself to push the button. A few minutes later, I heard the click of the lock in the door. Des entered and peered at me nervously.

“Master?” she asked.

“Des, it’s me, Tate.”

“Is this another test, Master?”

Oh, no. So he’d gotten to her too.

I bit my lower lip and tried to focus on the task at hand. She’d only recognize me if I gave her information only we’d know. “Only someone who loved green apples and was dumb enough to return after you helped her escape once would ask for help,” I said.

“Why did you return, Tate?”

A smile snuck on my face. “If I could’ve escaped without someone hitching a ride in my head, I would’ve left a long time ago. Could you help me out?”

She examined the cuffs. “They’re military-issue. My medical emergency code won’t work on them.”

Which meant Rebecca was my only way out of these things. I glanced at Des. Would I dare ask her to free Zoe and Tyson?

“Des, I’ve depended you for many things lately, but there’s been a good reason. I have a chance to purge him for good to set things right for this house…” I took a deep breath as I continued, “for Zoe and Tyson, for anyone else I can help through the Resistance. But even if I make this gamble to win back my body, I have to make sure Zoe and Tyson are safe first.”

I thought briefly about Danny and my parents. Maybe they’d hide him away so he never took the test, but I still had to make a stand. The General didn’t make empty threats. After he took out Tyson, he’d make me pay for what I did to him.

Des helped ease me up. A dark head of hair popped up behind her.