“It’s okay, El.”Astrid tossed a wink over her shoulder.“They can’t do anything to us in here except turn off the lights.Right,boyo?”
The soldier’s gear creaked as he stiffened.“You should listen to your friend.”
Astrid crossed her arms over her chest.“Do you know who my fatheris?”
A smirk licked the corners of his lips.“Who do you think designed the hack?”He tilted his head and tapped the black visor that shielded his eyes.“And don’t forget to smile big when I bring you in.I’m recording it all, and I’m sure Mr.Fujimoto would love to see those pearly whites.”
Astrid hid her trembling hands behind her back, and with a dramatic flourish she stepped closer to the soldier.“Guess I should put on a show.Wouldn’t want to disappoint dear old dad.”Astrid reached for one of the silver boxes attached to her toolbelt.“See you on the other side, El.”
With the swipe of her thumb, Astrid triggered the silver box’s code.It morphed into a grappling gun.The hook gleamed as Astrid aimed it toward the soldier.
“Astrid—” Elodie’s words were swallowed by the bang of gunfire.Warm liquid sprayed her face and copper flashed against her tongue as hands grabbed her biceps and pulled her back toward the shadows.
Astrid lay on the ground.Not a fading mass of pixels, but a heap of bone and muscle and skin.Astrid was still there.Still human.A pool of red spilled from her middle and glinted in the sharp light as she blankly stared at the grappling gun still in herhand.
“Get up!”Elodie felt herself screaming, fighting against the hands pulling her away from her friend.“Astrid!Get up!”
But there was no answer.Not from Astrid.Only soldiers scrambling, and blood pooling.
The grappling gun flickered in and out of focus before folding in on itself and turning back into a metal box.
The realization roared to life within Elodie and all she could do was surrender.
XXXIX
ten years ago
Blair wove her fingers through the high grass, silky seed tufts tickling her palms.This was her favorite time of day, when night pressed against the sky and the evergreens stood like shadowed guardians along the streets of suburban Westfall.The trees reminded her of their father.They reminded her ofhome.
“What are we doing out here?”Her little brother was only a head taller than the gently dancing grass.His beautiful dark skin glowed charcoal in the moonlight.“Cath will be worried if she goes into our rooms and we’regone.”
Blair rolled her eyes.“Oh, Cath, smath,” she mocked, with a flourish of her hand.The same kind of flourish, albeit a smidge exaggerated, that Cath did every time she lost her train of thought, which, as far as Blair could tell, was at least thirty times perday.
Denny laughed.A sound like bells chiming.And it was the best sound in the entireworld.
“But for real, Blair,” he said between giggles.“I don’t want to get in trouble.”
She slipped on a sly smile and cocked her head.“Don’t tell me Big Denny Man is scared of a little tall grass and thedark.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin defiantly.“I’m not scared of anything.”
Oh, but little Denny had so much to fear.The Key could only protect its citizens so much.She and her brother had learned that the hard way.Denny was lucky he didn’t have to rely on the corporation for safety.He had Blair.And she would spend her life keeping himsafe.
Blair bent down, level with the young boy’s sweet expression.“You know I’ll always protect you, right?”
Denny’s gaze dropped and he nodded slightly before looking back up at her, his eyes big and round and sparkling just as they had the day he wasborn.
The best day of Blair’slife.
His eyes fell from hers.“I wish Momma and Daddy were still here.”He was retreating, curling in on himself in that way he did when he thought about their parents and that monster that had eviscerated their mother and left their father in a lifeless pile on the kitchen floor.
Blair plucked a long blade of grass and brushed the soft tip against his cheek.“It’s a lunar eclipse.I was going to tell you when we got to the clearingbut—”
Denny stole the blade and lifted himself onto his toes.“Total?Partial?Penumbral?”The questions raced from him, each one punctuated by a swish of the grass.“What kind?What kind?”He saved her from guessing and took off toward the clearing before she had a chance to answer.Astronomy didn’t interest her, but Denny loved it.Denny loved their father and their father loved—had loved—astronomy.
“You’re gonna miss it!”Denny shouted.
Blair sped up, her boots sinking into the soggy ground as she reached the last row of trees framing the open space.Pine needles tugged at her tight curls and snared her shirt as she shuffled and twisted through the line of trees, their branches woven together like cloth.She’d read somewhere that Aspens were all connected underground.One living thing spanning acres and acres, sprouting up through the earth like hair.There was something to be learned from the power in that.The power of a single thing that made a forest.
