Page 69 of The Infinite Glade
She tightened the strap of her backpack. He didn’t have to point at her; she remembered all too well what she had promised back at the Alaskan Villa. “Impossible to forget.” Her life, even from before her birth, revolved around the small vial she carried. She’d stolen it to spite Professor Morgan, but also hoping to use it for leverage, somehow, somewhere, before destroying it. She was still convinced it should be.
“I have a plan,” Cian said to his brother with a smile.
“Plan for what? I thought bringing them the Curewasthe plan?” Ximena hated it when adults lied to her.Maybe she shouldn’t give it to them, after all.
“It’s not that easy,” Cian said as he walked farther into the cave, where the light from outside was dwindling fast.
“A Cure never is.” Erros scooped Ximena’s backpack off her shoulder before she could react. He put it on to his own, picked up his box, then continued following Cian.
“Well, that’s how you made it sound!” Ximena’s body went rigid, head to toe, and she stopped walking into the tunnel. Not one more step into the darkness until she heard more.
Frypan stuck his walking stick’s point into the soft earth of the cave. “What aren’t you telling us? What exactly are we walking into?”
Cian turned around and rolled his eyes at Ximena. “Look, I didn’t want to make it seem impossible, but the Sequencers . . .” he looked at his brother, but Erros wasn’t any more forthcoming with explanations. “They don’t exactly like visitors.”
Everyone had stopped walking, now. They were spread out beneath the overhang of the mountain above them.
Even Isaac, who had a death wish and almost caused the Berg to drop out of the sky, set his box of supplies down. “This is why you said you needed a plan?”
“All those weapons back in the Berg and you handed us these boxes filled with crap?” Jackie let her box fall to the ground and something inside broke into pieces.
“Watch it!” Cian motioned to the noise from the box. “Don’t be stupid! Weapons would have gotten us nowhere. The Sequencersneedthese supplies. Now, let’s get in there!” Cian and Erros trudged ahead, deeper into the ever-growing darkness of the cave, but the islanders didn’t budge. Ximena pulled the flare from her back pocket and struck it against the wall of rock in front of her.
“You want the truth?” She held the sparkling stick of light out to her side, away from her clothes so they wouldn’t catch fire. It was a symbol, a slight show of power, if nothing else. She’d shown initiative, taken something that wasn’t hers. “We’re not going to find it standing here in the dark.”
She moved forward, walking ahead of the islanders, lighting the way.
“Come on. Like he said, let’s get in there.”
Remnant soldiers aimed their guns and pushed her back to the others. How quickly they brought her back down to earth.
“Okay. Okay.” She returned to Roxy, Dominic, and Sadina as more soldiers hovered over their group. If they hadn’t been surrounded in such a tight circle with weapons pointed directly at her, Alexandra might have felt protected by such an army presence. Mikhail had always refused Evolutionary Guards, and she’d never understood why, until now. All this time, he’d had an entire army at his disposal. If only the Orphan soldiers knew how manipulated they’d been, that they’d been led by a half-Crank. The pain in the back of her skull pulsed electrically. The Flaring Discipline be damned, the Godhead would not be defeated.
“We have to do something,” she said to the others.
“And what exactly would that be?” Sadina whispered.
“Minho said to stay quiet,” Roxy spoke through her teeth.
Alexandra needed a plan. Some sort of distraction to escape and get help from her faithful Pilgrims. Once the Pilgrims recognized her, they would protect her at all costs. Shecouldfind a way out of this mess. An idea popped into her mind.
“The Godhead,” she said aloud, but the soldiers around them didn’t hear her. She cleared her throat and lifted her head to the trio of soldiers who surrounded her, then spoke louder, directly to them. “You have in your presence the one and only Godhead.” Her heart beat in sync with the digits, 2, 3, 5, 8. She now had the soldier’s attention, all of them. It was a word they’d heard from the day of their birth.
“Huh?”
“The Godhead. She’s here among you.” She watched as Sadina’s eyes widened.
Dominic shook his head. “What are you doing . . . ?” he whispered.
Alexandra stood up, stood tall, and pointed a finger. “The Godhead is the one they call Roxy.” The one true Goddess exhaled as she looked at Roxy, who’d frozen still, completely.
“I won’t protect your lies, not anymore!” Alexandra slapped the woman across the face. “She’s here. The Godhead! This one! Right here!” She stepped back as soldiers swarmed in to grab Roxy. “That’s her and I can prove it. Kill her. Kill the Godhead!” She pointed again to leave no doubt.
The soldiers yanked Roxy up, began dragging her away. She said nothing, didn’t fight back. But her eyes glared, fiery with betrayal.
“No!” Sadina pulled at Alexandra’s cloak, pleading. “Why would you do that?”
Sadina.Dear Sadina. She would forgive her in time.
