Part 9 (1/2)
Monarch's grey eyes are cold and his white coat is blemished with various colors. His gaze darts to the flower in my hand and he quickly confiscates it. ”Where did you get this?”
”Ia I found it in the gra.s.s,” I lie with a shrug. ”It looked pretty so I picked it up.”
He shakes his head and his eyes pierce Sylas. ”You did this.”
Sylas doesn't protest, already giving up, and Monarch grabs his shoulder roughly. I open my mouth, but Sylas shakes his head at me. Monarch shoves him for the canopy.
”I'm very disappointed in you, Kayla,” he says sharply. ”You should have come straight to me when he gave this to you.”
I stare at the flower in his hand. ”It was a present.”
Monarch shakes his head disappointedly. Then he smashes the flower in his hand, breaking it into pieces. He opens his hand and tiny red flakes float to the gra.s.s.
”No matter what I do, I just can't get that right with you.” He turns to Sylas. ”And you're a lost cause... always breaking the rules. How many are we up to now? Fivea”six injections. By the time they get done with you, you're going to be as doped up as the lab rats. If you'd just quit breaking the rules, then I wouldn't have a problem.”
He pulls Sylas by the arm and heads for the building, leaving me alone with my ruined present. I stare at the pieces of the flower for a long time. Even when the sky shades and the screams fill the air.
When I wake up, the cave is soundless, the flashlight is flickering, and my hair is stuck to my sweaty forehead. I wipe the sweat off and drape my arm over my head. Why do I keep seeing things that happen in the outside world? And why is there sunlight?
”You're awake.” Sylas' voice fills up my thoughts.
I roll to my side. He's lying within arm's reach, staring up at the ceiling with his arms behind his head. ”How long was I out?” I ask.
”Not very longa What were you dreaming about?”
”I wasn't dreaming,” I say. ”I was remembering things.”
”Oh yeah,” he remarks. ”Did you remember anything good?”
”No, not really.” I pause, my loud breathing stuffing up the cave. ”Well, except for maybe a red flower.”
The muscles in his arms tense, but he pretends to be unbothered. ”Hmma it doesn't sound like a very good memory to me.”
I have this sudden urge to touch him, but the intense emotions emanating from him stop me.
”What did he do to you?” I push up on my elbows. ”You say we were experiments, but what I see is just plain torture. Why did he make you suffer so much?”
Sylas turns his head. ”Who are you talking about?”
I trace my finger in the dirt. ”Monarch.”
He doesn't blink. ”Why did he make you suffer so much?”
”I can't remember that much yet,” I say.
”Neither can I.” But he can. He can remember pain. Pain that he'll always carry with him.
”Perhaps it's time I remembered for the both of us then.” I stand up and head for Ryder, who's lying next to Aiden, snoring. ”You want to help me with this?”
”Nah.” He rolls over facing the entrance of the cave. ”I think I've done my good deeds for the day.”
I shake my head and soundlessly step over Aiden. I pull my hair back, take out the pocket watch, and aspire for a plan where no one will get hurt.
”Hey, you're awake” Aiden strokes my leg. He sits up, rubbing his eyes. ”What are you doing?” He sees the watch in my hand. ”Kayla, don't. Just let her sleep.”
I tuck the watch behind my back. ”Aiden, it's time. I know what I have to doa”what we have to do.”
He crosses his arms. ”I'm not doing anything. I already told you I'm not one of Monarch's soldiers anymore. I made that choice a long time ago.”
”Even if it means you'll die,” I finally say.
But he already knows. ”Even if it means I die, yes, I'm not becoming a Day Taker.”
I enclose my fingers around the watch. ”Aiden, it's not just about being Monarch's soldier. It's about the truth. It's about a world full of suns.h.i.+ne and green gra.s.s. It's about life.”
”What have you seen?” He picks up the flashlight and s.h.i.+nes it in my face. ”A lot, I'm guessing.”
”But not enough.” I sigh, blocking the light with my hand. ”I have to fix this, Aiden.”
”You think you have to fix the world because that's what Monarch programmed you to think. If you could just see past him, you'd realize that living your life is what's important.”
”That's what I'm trying to figure out. Where my lifea”where everyone's lives went. Things used to be so different. And we were alive to see it, even though we were always told we weren't.”
He sets the flashlight on the ground and guides me down by my hips. He pulls me onto his lap, so I'm straddling him. ”Just because things were different, doesn't mean they were better.”
”I don't agree with you.” I set my hands on his shoulders. ”They killed everyone on the hillside, Aiden. The Highers' death and control isn't just limited to The Colony.”
”That's because Dominic is a traitor,” he breathes bitterly. ”He turned over our location to the Highers.”
”What?” My jaw drops. ”How did you find this out?”
Ryder rolls over and her hand searches for Aiden as she mutters in her sleep.
”Maci,” Aiden whispers. ”She said she sawa”well in her head she saw Dominic make a bargain with them. He'd tell them where wea”where you werea”and in return they'd take him back to The Colony.”
I remember my brief visit with the old man vaguely. ”But he hated Highers. He kept talking about them being against nature and needing to die.”
”Well, he must have had a change of heart.” He swallows hard and hugs me closer. ”Kayla, I'm so sorry.”
I press my lips together. ”For what?”
”For telling Dominic what I saw you do that nighta”when you scared off dozens of vampires. If I never told him, then he never would have become interested in you. He knew there was something about you that the Highers wanted.”
”But why would he want to go back to The Colony,” I wonder. ”It's horrible there. And he was so against the Highers.”
”Could you two keep it down over there,” Sylas mutters, irritated. ”Some of us are trying to sleep.”
”You're not,” I retort over my shoulder. ”You never sleep. You're just pretending you are.”