I rest my elbows on the table, making them wait several seconds before I say, “There are people on my island who want that. Why are you singling out Briar?”
“She has ... a unique connection that’s of interest to us.”
The plant thing. I’m not letting them use her as their weapon.
“My connections can be more valuable to you.”
Cress almost smiles, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “What connections are you referring to?”
“My aromium connects me to wolves and endoliths, which are tiny organisms in rocks. I can make the ground open up if you want. Assuming that ground has aromium in it. It’s the same with Briar’s plants. I don’t know if our connections will be there anywhere outside of our island.”
Cress’s brows are pinched together in confusion. “We only have limited recent information on the aromium experiments, so I do want to hear more. But I was talking about a different connection that Briar has.”
I’m immediately defensive, but I mask it. “What connection do you mean?”
“Her sister.”
I lean forward. Finding her sister means everything to Briar. I need to play this right and find out everything I can.
“Mae,” I say.
Something sparks in Cress’s eyes. “Yes.”
“This is where you stop giving me crumbs and tell me everything. That’s the only chance you have of me taking anything back to Briar.”
“Congrats on that waterfall reunion with her, by the way.”
Her words hit me like a blow. For a second, I’m too stunned to respond, but then fury floods through me. “How the fuck do you know about that?”
The man beside Cress glares at her. I stand, my chair scraping against the concrete floor as it flies back.
“Answer the fucking question!”
“You and your fucking mouth, Cress.” The man’s voice is the gravelly rumble of a longtime smoker. He looks up at me. “We have eyes in the sky. And weareall on the same side. The ILF is very interested in Briar because we hope she can influence her sister.”
A satellite. It blows my mind that the ILF has such a valuable asset. Good fucking thing I took Briar behind the waterfall so they didn’t see her naked.
I put my palms on the table, thinking about how much I need that boat. I grind out my next words. “Influence her how?”
“To turn on her husband and join the ILF.”
“You’re saying her husband is in the regime?”
“Mae’s husband is a high-level New America commander. Briar knows him well. It’s Lochlan Murphy.”
30
“It is my great pleasure to name you my new vice president. Together, we can grow our country to greatness. The strongest must protect the weakest, even when the weakest are resistant. Peace, order, and prosperity.” – Electronic message from New America President Soren Whitman to Aldous Thatcher
Briar
The air in the lab is stale and still. It’s also cool, though. I run a hand over my sweaty temple and sit down, my gaze landing on the stool McClain used to sit on.
It’s too empty in here, and not just because I’m alone. McClain was always thinking ahead to his next idea. If this doesn’t work, we’ll try that. My mom’s brain worked the same way. She was never out of options.
I’m out of options. Viable ones, at least. I want to believe I’m capable of making an aromium stabilizer. I’m Lucy Hollis’s daughter. But I was a nineteen-year-old with one year of general education classes when the virus came. Even though I learned alot from my mom over the years, it wasn’t the kind of knowledge I can use to make a stabilizer for a chemical compound I don’t even know the ingredients of.
McClain was the hope that filled this space. The vibrancy. He wore his guilt like a floor-length coat, but his brilliant mind was still trying to atone for his wrongs.
