Pawn

XVIII Password

My confession that I wasn’t Lila died on my lips.

The moment Augusta announced one of us wouldn’t be leaving the clearing alive, I understood why Lila had chosen to run rather than risk death. No matter how much I’d prepared myself for dying at the hands of this twisted family, the thought of it happening now made the world spin and the edge of my vision go dark.

With Augusta between us, I couldn’t see Lila’s reaction, but I did feel Augusta’s hand wrap tightly around my shoulder.

“Not a word, girls,” she said. “Else I promise you both a slow and painful death.”

Engulfed in mind-numbing fear, I could barely breathe, but that was nothing compared to the look on Celia’s face. Her mouth hung open, and she looked between us wildly.

“Grandmother, you can’t do this,” called Greyson. “Celia will let me go, and there’s no reason for anyone to die. Think about what you’re doing. She’s your daughter.”

“Celia is no longer any daughter of mine,” said Augusta, her voice rising. “She tried to kill my son, and she kidnapped my grandson.”

“Only because she thought you’d killed her entire family,” shouted Greyson. “If you do this, Grandmother, you won’t just lose her. You’ll lose me, too.”

Her grip tightened on my shoulder, and I winced. If I survived this, I’d have a nasty bruise. “You don’t understand now, but you will in time,” she said. “Now, Celia—you have ten seconds to make your choice, or I will make it for you.”

The guards drew their weapons. When the one beside me pressed the barrel of his gun against my neck, all I could think of was Benjy and how he’d stormed off before we’d had the chance to say goodbye. Would he hate himself for it, or would he eventually forgive himself? Would my death save his life? Or would he be sent Elsewhere so Augusta wouldn’t have to worry about him, either?

“Five,” said Augusta. “Four. Three. Two—”

“The one on the left,” cried Celia.

The crack of a gun echoed off the mountainsides around us, and I instinctively ducked, covering my ears with my trembling hands.

I was still standing.

My eyes flew open, and Augusta smiled cruelly down at me. She set her hand on the back of my neck and traced the three ridges underneath my VII. “Go, Lila,” she said. “Go to your mother.”

On the other side of her, crumpled in a heap, was Lila. My stomach twisted violently, and it took everything I had to put one foot in front of the other. But as I walked away, I noticed a tiny blue plume sticking out of her neck, and her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths.

She was still alive. Would that have been me if Celia had chosen Lila? Had Augusta known which of us was which?

As I crossed the clearing, Greyson knelt on the snowy ground and gathered up Celia, who had collapsed. She’d kidnapped him and threatened to kill him, and he was hugging her.

“Greyson,” said Augusta sharply. “Come.”

The look he gave her could have melted steel. He helped Celia to her feet, and without wasting any time, she reached for me. As she wrapped her arms around me, I looked at Greyson, and he touched the middle of his chest—right in the place where the silver necklace rested against mine.

As the guard led him away, I gave him a small smile, and he returned it. Even if I never saw him again, at least he was safe.

Celia held me so tightly that she nearly broke my ribs. “Lila?” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But she’s still alive. It was some kind of dart—”

Celia swore and pushed me away as if I’d burned her. She stumbled forward and desperately searched the group across the clearing, where Augusta ushered Greyson into the helicopter, but Lila was already gone.

“Come on,” said Celia, grabbing my wrist. “We have to get out of here.”

I didn’t question her. Just as the roar of the helicopter started again, another gunshot echoed off the side of the mountain, and a clump of dirt exploded in front of me. I ducked.

“What—”

“What do you think?” she growled.

I kept my head down as Celia pulled me into the forest. The earth around us took bullet after bullet, and I ran blindly, my lungs burning. Even after we reached the trees, we kept going.

Celia led me down a winding trail, and we didn’t stop until we reached a vehicle parked on the edge of another clearing. Without saying a word, Celia opened the door and pushed me inside, slamming it shut behind me.

She jumped into the driver’s seat and ran her thumb over a sensor. The engine purred to life, and she stomped on the accelerator. “You’re sure she’s still alive?” she said, steering the car expertly around curves I didn’t see coming.

“I saw her breathing,” I said as I wrestled with my seat belt. “I don’t think Augusta knew who was who until after you chose.”

Celia breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

Once I managed to slide the buckle together, I squeezed my eyes shut and willed my stomach to settle. The twisting path did nothing to help. The heat was on full blast, and soon a trickle of sweat ran down my forehead. My heart raced from the adrenaline rush, and I knew taking off my jacket wouldn’t cool me off much. Besides, I’d have to put it back on later, and if we really were being chased, it would waste precious seconds.

“Why did you kidnap Greyson?” I said as she sped down the side of the mountain. “You must have known this kind of thing was going to happen.”

“How could I?” she said. “I had no idea she was still alive. It’s really Lila? How did you find her?”

“It’s her,” I said, and I launched into everything that had happened since she’d taken Greyson. She demanded details, especially about where Lila had been hiding. I made a point not to mention Knox’s role.

“Christ.” She turned the wheel sharply again, and the car emerged from the trees onto an open road. Celia sped up, and the forest became a blur. “None of them told me. She was with them the whole time, and not a single one of them said a word.”

“They love her. You said so yourself.”

“I can’t believe she let me think she was dead.” Celia shook her head in disbelief. “Where did I go wrong?”

It wasn’t my place to tell her, so I didn’t answer. Instead I stared out the window and kept my eyes peeled for any signs of a helicopter in the morning sky.

Suddenly a great boom rattled the car, and I twisted around to look out the back window. Several miles away, a cloud of black smoke rose into the clouds, and orange flames flickered up from the trees.

“What was that?” I said, panicked, but Celia was silent. Her grip on the wheel tightened, and when it became obvious she wasn’t going to answer me, I added, “Where are we going?”

“To the city,” she said. “I’m getting my daughter back.”

By the time we passed through the outskirts of D.C., it was nearly noon. I tried to nap, but I couldn’t find a comfortable position, and I was too worried about Benjy to fall asleep anyway. I’d fulfilled my side of the bargain, but I knew better than to think Augusta would do the same.

We ditched the car a few miles from Somerset and started out on foot. Avoiding the crowded main roads, we took back streets and alleyways, which muted the buzz of the city. The sky rumbled above us, threatening a storm, and on the side of a building I noticed a screen with a picture of Celia’s face on it. Words scrolled underneath it, but I had no idea what they said.

“Celia,” I said, pointing to the picture. The blood drained from her face. “What is it?”

She stared wordlessly at the screen for a good half a minute. When she spoke, her voice was rough. “They’re saying—they’re saying I’m dead. And that Lila and Greyson are safe, but in the middle of the rescue attempt, you—Lila’s double—valiantly gave your life to protect her.” Celia swore. “I can’t believe she’d do this to me.”

I could. It was exactly like I’d predicted, except the part where Celia had died, too. “It’s not a bad thing.” Before she could snap at me, I added, “If everyone thinks you’re dead, you’ll have an easier time of disappearing.”

“I’ve never had a problem before,” she muttered, and we continued forward in silence.

I didn’t recognize where we were until we reached the metal door. Now that I knew it was the Blackcoats’ bunker, a shiver ran down my spine as we stepped into the dark hallway.

“Why are we here?” I said.

“Because we need weapons,” said Celia. “Now stop asking questions.”

Before we could take another step, however, light flooded the corridor, and I could clearly see dozens of guards pointing their rifles directly at us. My heart pounded. Celia froze, her hand flying to her holstered gun, but even I knew it was suicide to pull it out.

“What’s going on?” said Celia in a loud and authoritative voice. “I know the media’s reporting I’m dead, but surely you all know better than to believe what they tell you by now.”

No one spoke. Seconds ticked by, and I shook as badly as I had on the side of the mountain. None of the guards lowered their weapons. One step and I would be dead. We both would be.

“Stay calm,” said Celia softly. “They won’t shoot us unless we make the first move.”

“How do you know?” I whispered, struggling to keep the rising hysteria from my voice.

“Because I trained them.”

At last, when I was so dizzy with fear that I thought I’d pass out, the door on the far side of the corridor opened. “Let them through.”

The guards relaxed, and my knees buckled with relief. I stumbled down the rest of the hallway, so dazed that I didn’t see Knox standing in the doorway until I was nearly on top of him.

“Steady,” he said, taking my arm. While his tone was friendly enough, when he looked at Celia, his expression was anything but. “It’s about time you showed up. What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” she snapped. “Exactly how long have you known my daughter was still alive?”

Knox scowled, and instead of answering, he led us through the maze of hallways, his arm wrapped around my shoulders. When we reached the common area, he jerked his head, and everyone cleared out. He led me to the nearest chair, and at last I shook myself from his grip.

“I can seat myself,” I said. Now that I’d calmed down, I could feel pain in the side of my cheek from where I must have bit it. When I probed the ragged flesh with my tongue, I tasted blood.

Knox backed away, and behind him, Celia paced, her hand still on her holster.

“I’m sorry for not telling you about Lila,” he said. “We tried to include you when I heard about the threats, and when you dismissed them, Lila got scared. I tried to get her to tell you after she was safe, but she was afraid you would make her come back.”

Celia looked away, but not before I noticed a shadow of guilt cast across her face. Knox must have seen it, too, because when he spoke again, his voice was gentler. “Tell me what happened.”

“I didn’t take Greyson to hurt him,” said Celia tightly. “You know that. I love him, but I knew it would scare the hell out of Augusta, and—”

“And what?” he said. “You really thought she would hand the country over to you?”

Celia was silent for a long moment, and when she spoke, her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Dammit, Knox, I thought they’d killed my daughter. I wanted them to hurt, but that didn’t mean I was going to hurt Greyson. All I did was drive him out to the cabin. He agreed to come with me, and he was never in any danger.”

He’d gone with her willingly? I looked at Knox for any sign he’d suspected Greyson might’ve done that, but all he did was grimace.

“We had no way of knowing that,” he said. “And with the way you’ve been acting lately—”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I was acting that way because I thought Lila was gone, but she’s not. Is she?” She glanced at me. “They shot her, but Kitty said it was a tranquilizer—”

“Kitty was right.” Knox looked at me, and for a split second I saw the ghost of a smile. “Augusta has her locked in her suite now, and she’s fine. She and Greyson both are. He’s seen the reports that you and Kitty are dead, and he’s so angry that if I didn’t know him any better, I would guess he’d take care of Augusta himself.”

The thought of Greyson killing his own grandmother made my stomach roll. “What about Benjy? Did Augusta let him go?”

Knox shook his head. “He’s locked in the safe room. I tried to get her to release him, but she refuses until your body shows up.”

I bit my lip. Of course she hadn’t kept her word. I’d been stupid to hope she would.

“Does she really think we’re dead?” said Celia. “The spray of bullets—”

“They blew up the cabin,” said Knox. “She was sure you were in it.”

Celia let out a string of curses that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “So now what? I have no way of getting back into Somerset, and the best we can do with Kitty is hope the guards think she’s Lila—”

“Actually, there is a way,” said Knox. “Kitty, you’re staying here.”

I snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“It’s too dangerous, and you have no idea how to handle a weapon.”

“Then teach me. You said you would anyway.”

He scowled. “If you get yourself killed—”

“Then I promise not to blame you.” I stood. “Let’s go.”

I’d never held a gun before, and the cold metal felt foreign in my hand. Knox ran through the basics, and my quick lesson boiled down to the number of bullets I had, the safety, and the trigger.

“Don’t be afraid to use it if you have to,” said Knox as he strapped the holster onto me. I slid the gun inside and pulled the hem of my sweater over it, hoping it wouldn’t come to that. I’d chickened out injecting Daxton with poison; I had no idea how I would ever work up the courage to shoot someone, but there was no way in hell I was letting them leave me behind.

Celia and Knox took so many different weapons and bullets that it was a miracle they could carry them all. Knox assured me he didn’t plan on using his, but Celia made no such promises.

The plan was simple: we would find Lila and Benjy and get out of Somerset. Knox was determined to find Greyson as well and offer him the chance to leave, but his life wasn’t at risk if he stayed. I wanted him to come with us as badly as Knox did, but my priority was finding Benjy.

It was freezing in the underground tunnel, and I shivered as I followed the glow from Knox’s flashlight. Celia was fuming, and she had been ever since Knox opened the door to show her the entrance into the passageway.

“This has been here the whole time, and no one ever bothered to tell me?” she’d said. She was carrying too many weapons for me to have any desire to answer her, and Knox also stayed quiet.

None of us spoke again until we stood in the empty space directly above Knox’s suite. He and Celia started to sort through the arsenal they’d brought, silently exchanging clips and holsters and guns. Without an explanation, Knox handed me a plastic thing that felt like a toy, and he unlatched the hole in the ceiling once they both looked satisfied with their choices.

“We meet back here as soon as we can,” he said. “No detours. Celia, you grab Lila. Kitty, you know where the safe room is?”

I nodded. I remembered how to get there from my first night at Somerset.

“Good. You have the password?”

“Yeah.” I touched my hip, where the piece of paper Knox had given me was safely tucked in my pocket. I couldn’t read it, but if I had time, I could find the right letters.

“All right,” said Knox. “I’ll find Greyson. Don’t hurt anyone unless you absolutely have to. Kitty, the plastic pistol—it’s loaded with extremely strong tranquilizer darts. Your other one has bullets. Don’t mix the two up, and only use the real one if it’s a choice between you and the other guy. Got it?”

I nodded again, and we slipped down the ladder into his empty suite. While Celia immediately headed for the door, Knox watched me climb into the vent.

“I’m sorry for misleading you,” he said as I hauled myself up. “Before, when I said I hadn’t seen Lila give her speeches—I handle information for the Blackcoats. That’s my job. Not public relations. But I knew she was giving them, and there’s no excuse for me not trusting you with that.”

Right, because now was the perfect time to have this conversation. I wiggled onto my stomach and scooted around until I could see him through the opening in the ceiling. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” he said firmly. “I should have told you, but we barely knew each other. No one can touch Celia and Lila, but I’m a VI. If anyone found out—”

“I get it,” I said. “You don’t have to explain it to me.”

“Yes, I do, because I want you to know that I’m on your side. I want you to trust me.”

I hesitated. “I do,” I finally said. “And we can talk about it when this is over, but right now I need to go.”

“Be safe,” he said, and as I pulled the grate back into place, he held his hand up in a silent goodbye. This time I returned it.

I couldn’t move from floor to floor in the vents, which made things tricky. By the time I reached the opening closest to a rarely used set of stairs, I was panting from the effort of slithering through the tight enclosure. I dropped out of the vent and ducked into the luxurious stairwell. So far, so good. The corridors were patrolled, but with all that had happened, I held out hope that Augusta had the security team clustered and guarding the family. Knox and Celia were much more likely to run into trouble than I was.

I crept down the stairs, careful not to make a sound. The basement was four floors down, and I slipped through the door, searching the ceiling for an air vent. There had to be one around here somewhere.

But there wasn’t. With sinking horror, I even ducked around the nearest corner to see if one was hidden there. Nothing. I backed up toward the stairwell. The only way to get to the safe room was the hallway, where anyone could see me.

My mind was made up before I even considered it. I took a shaky breath and checked my reflection in the shine of the doorknob. After I wiped a smudge of dirt from my cheek, I still looked exactly like Lila. It was a gamble, banking on Augusta not telling the servants that Lila was on lockdown, but I wouldn’t leave Benjy behind.

With my head held high, I strode down the hallway. I had Lila’s face, and with her attitude, no one would be any wiser. The reports that I was dead helped boost my confidence, but I still held my breath as I passed a group of servants.

Some stared, but I’d grown used to that by now. Visiting Daxton was my only excuse if someone stopped me, even though the infirmary was in another wing and I was heading in the wrong direction. Luck must have been on my side for once, however, because no one said a word.

When I turned the corner and spotted the entrance to the safe room, I froze. A guard stood straight and unmoving in front of the metal door. His gun was bigger than mine, and he likely had some experience using it, which put me at a distinct disadvantage. Had Augusta warned him? And even if she had, would he really threaten to shoot Lila?

It was a risk I had to take. I hid my holster with my long sweater and walked up to him, oozing fake confidence. He didn’t step aside when he saw me coming, and for one horrible second I thought I saw the hand next to his gun twitch.

“I want to see him,” I said, slipping easily into Lila’s prim accent.

He didn’t answer right away. Instead he studied my face, apparently looking for any sign that I wasn’t Lila. No one could tell the difference, though, not even her own mother, and the guard didn’t stand a chance. I forced myself to stare back.

“Did you hear me?” I said in Lila’s snooty voice. “Open the door and let me see him.”

“I am sorry, Miss Hart,” he said stiffly. “I am under direct orders not to open the door for anyone but your grandmother.”

I fixed him with the most sinister look I could manage. “Don’t make this difficult. I’ve given you a direct order now, you know.”

The guard looked pained, and he glanced down the hallway. “I am sorry, Miss Hart, but there is nothing I can do—”

Pop.

The tranquilizer dart hit his thigh, and he collapsed. I tucked the gun back in the waistband of my jeans, and using every bit of strength I could muster, I dragged him away from the door. We were alone, but I knew that wouldn’t last long, especially if someone had overheard us.

Pulling out the password Knox had given me, I held it in one trembling hand, and with the other I searched for the right letters on the screen. They weren’t in alphabetical order, and it took me twice as long to find each letter. By the time I hit the last one, a bead of sweat trickled down my spine.

The screen turned red with words I couldn’t read, and after a moment, it switched back to the keyboard. Confused, I turned the door handle, but it was still locked. Was there something else? A card I had to swipe, a sensor I had to touch for it to read my thumbprint? I looked around the door, but nothing else stuck out. There wasn’t even a keyhole. Just the screen with its out-of-order letters.

My hands shook as I tried again. Had I skipped a letter? Had I mistaken one for the other?

Another red screen, and I growled in frustration. Time was running out. It wouldn’t be long before someone noticed what was going on, or worse, spotted Celia or Knox trying to escape. I had to do this.

I moved my hand over the letters to try again, but I stopped before I hit the first one. What was it Knox had said when we’d been down there the night of the bombings? Three wrong tries would set off the alarm. I’d already used up two. If I tried again and didn’t get it right...

What choice did I have, though? I studied the password again, tracing each letter with my finger and finding the corresponding one on the screen, but I didn’t press them. Not yet. I had to be sure.

But I’d been sure the other two times as well, and no matter how I turned the paper, I couldn’t make sense of why it wasn’t working.

I chewed on my lower lip nervously, and just as I was about to throw caution to the wind and try a third time, it hit me.

Greyson’s lock pick.

My hand flew to my neck, and I fumbled with the clasp. Even if it did set the alarm off, it was worth a shot, and it was a better option than using Knox’s password again.

Unsure of how it worked, I placed the silver disk on the screen and crossed my fingers. A heart-wrenching moment later, the monitor flashed green and the metal door opened. I swallowed a cry of relief. Finally.

I stuck my head inside the room. Benjy sat on one of the couches, his eyes closed and his arms folded over his chest. The room was ransacked, with every cabinet ajar and every drawer overturned. Apparently he’d tried to find a way out. “Benjy?”

His eyes flew open, and he stared at me in disbelief. “Kitty?”

At least someone still recognized me. “Yeah, it’s me. Come on, we don’t have any time.”

He dashed to my side and hugged me, and his strong arms felt like home. I gave him a brief kiss and took his hand, and together we hurried down the hallway.

“What happened?” he said. “The guards put me in that room—I don’t know how many hours it’s been—”

“Twelve, give or take.” As we made our way through the maze of corridors, I recounted everything that had happened since the press conference the night before. How Augusta had threatened to send him Elsewhere if I didn’t cooperate, everything that had happened with Celia and Greyson, sneaking back into Somerset—

“Wait.” Benjy pulled me back as we were about to turn a corner, and we flattened ourselves against the wall. I heard the shuffle of footsteps approaching and held my breath. Beside me, Benjy tensed.

Another servant with a load of laundry. I exhaled. It wasn’t them I was worried about.

We reached the stairwell without any trouble. Once again it was abandoned, and a sense of unease overtook me. This was almost too easy. Together we dashed up the stairs, and when we reached the fourth floor, I glanced around the corner. Benjy was too big to fit in the air vent, but it didn’t matter. The hallway was empty. Seizing the opportunity, I led him down the corridor toward Knox’s suite, listening for any sign we were being followed. All I heard was our own footsteps.

“Get in,” I whispered, shoving Benjy through the doorway. Just as I was about to step inside, a shout echoed down the hallway, and I stopped cold.

Bang.

A pair of hands pulled me inside the room, and another covered my mouth, muffling my protest. The door closed, and I fought against them until they dropped away.

“What the—” I stopped. Knox and Greyson stood in front of me, both pale and shaken. Benjy stood off to the side, and I looked around the suite nervously. We were alone.

“Did you hear that?” I said. “Where are Celia and Lila?”

“They haven’t come back yet,” said Knox as he paced across the room.

“But her suite’s right next door,” I said. “She should’ve been back first.”

“There’s a chance Lila wasn’t in there,” he said. “If Celia had to go looking for her, or if there were guards—”

I didn’t need to hear more. I scrambled onto his desk, knocked the grate out of place, and tried to climb into the air vent. After all the crawling I’d done earlier, however, my arms shook too badly for me to pull myself up. “Someone give me a boost.”

Greyson stared at me as if I had two heads, but at least Knox and Benjy seemed to understand. Benjy reached me first, and I tried to step on his shoulder, but he locked his arms around my legs. I couldn’t move.

“Benjy—” I began, and he lifted me off the desk. “Let me go.”

“No.” He set me down on the floor and grabbed my wrists so I couldn’t climb back on the desk. “There’s no reason to go after either of them. You’ve put yourself in enough danger.”

“We can’t leave them to die,” I said, turning to Knox and Greyson for support, but neither of them looked at me. Greyson dabbed the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, and Knox just stared at the door. “Come on—Greyson, Lila’s your best friend. Knox, she’s your fiancée.”

“She’s not going to die,” said Knox. “Augusta will make sure of it now that she’s the only one left. If we try to help, we’ll put all our lives at risk, including hers. None of this is your fault, but Lila—”

“You love her,” I said furiously. “Don’t tell me it’s all for show. You’re just going to leave her here?”

“This isn’t easy, all right?” he burst out. “If they’re able to make it out of here, they both know how. We’re no good to them dead, so let’s go.”

I stood my ground and turned toward Greyson instead. “Lila came back for you. She did this to help rescue you. And she did this because you, Knox, promised to help her escape again.”

“I promised Lila a lot of things,” said Knox. “Sometimes you make promises you can’t keep. I also promised you I’d watch your back and protect Benjy. That I can do. If we don’t leave now—”

“So leave,” I said. “Get out of here. Especially you, Benjy. But you can’t make me go with you.”

“I’m not going to let you march to your death again,” said Benjy fiercely, tightening his grip on me. “I won’t do it.”

“You have to.” I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a kiss. He refused to return it, but when I pulled away, I noticed some of the anger in his eyes had melted. “Knox, you said so yourself—Augusta won’t risk killing Lila, and she can’t tell the difference between us on sight.”

All three of them were silent. Frustrated, I wrenched my wrists away from Benjy. Caught off guard, he let go, and I raced toward the desk once more.

“Kitty!” protested Benjy, but I was already too far for him to catch me. My fingertips caught the edge of the opening, and using every ounce of strength I had left, I finally managed to lift myself into the vent. Benjy jumped on the desk and snatched my ankle, but I shook him off and crawled far enough inside that he couldn’t reach me.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “If we leave without her, I’ll never forgive myself, and neither will any of you.”

“Please don’t do this,” said Benjy desperately, groping inside the vent. I stayed out of his reach. “Give us some time, and we’ll figure something out.”

“We don’t have any more time. I’ll be back soon. And in case something happens...” I hesitated. I didn’t want to tell him, but I needed something to distract Benjy, even if it was only for a moment. “Knox kissed me. Twice.”

Benjy’s hand froze. “You kissed my girlfriend?”

I heard Knox clear his throat. “This isn’t the time to discuss it, Benjy—”

“Technically they’re engaged,” said Greyson timidly, and Benjy growled.

Satisfied they would all have something to focus on other than following me, I started the agonizing crawl through the vent, and this time I didn’t bother setting the grate back into place. Either I’d return or I wouldn’t, and the secret of how I traveled around Somerset undetected wouldn’t matter anymore.