Backs Against the Wall

“He gave it to me.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not. I was in the Colony with him. I was in the van with him when he, Nats and Brea

Marlow watches me closely, debating. The fact that I know the girls’ names might give me some credibility. Or I might just be a pro with good listening skills on market day.

“You were in a Colony with him.”

It’s not a question. It’s a dubious statement. Like saying ‘So, you’re the tooth fairy’.

“Yes.”

“But you’re standing here now.”

“Yes.”

“Try again. How’d you get that ring?”

“He gave it to me,” I insist firmly, sticking to my story. “He told me to bring it to you. That you’d recognize it because he said it was his old man’s and it’s the only thing that’s ever meant anything to him.”

I’m spi

“Why would he give it to you to bring to me?”

I breathe deeply.

Here we go.

“Because the people in the Colony, they want to make a deal. They want your help. Vin was supposed to be the one standing here telling you all of this. The Colonists were going to break him out with the promise that he’d come back with help.”

“What do Colonists need help with?” he snarls.

“Getting out. Not all of them are happy. They’re trapped just like I was. Just like Vin is. Slaves in their own home. They want to overthrow the leaders, take control of the building and get their freedoms back.”

“And Vin promised to help with this?”

“He said he’d try,” I reply weakly.

Marlow chuckles, shaking his head. “Now I know you’re lying. You never knew Vin. You may have met him, you certainly robbed him, which is impressive in and of itself, but if you knew him you’d know you’re talking crazy. That man wouldn’t lift a finger to save his own mother even if it wouldn’t cost him anything. He’s not what you call altruistic.”

I shake my head, feeling foolish.

“It means selfless,” Trent says quietly behind me.

My face burns with embarrassment, my temper flaring.

“He wasn’t going to come back to help us,” I say sharply to Marlow. “He was going to betray us all. He knew it, Nats knew it, I knew it. You seem to know it. But he messed up. He started sleeping with a crazy bitch who stabbed him, maybe killed him.”

Marlow blinks. “See, now that I believe.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” the bouncer who brought us in mutters.

“I was there when it happened. I was with him. She came at me and… and I killed her. Vin was injured, he couldn’t go and I had just killed one of their leaders so I couldn’t stay. We traded places. He gave me this ring, told me to come to you, told me that it would never work and then I left him there on the ground, bleeding.” My throat is closing again but it’s not from anxiety or fear. It’s from wondering. Worrying. Caring. “I didn’t leave him alone. One of the rebels from inside took the keys from the dead woman and got me out. He stayed with Vin. But I don’t know if he survived. I—I hope he did.”

“What do the Colonists want?” Marlow asks. He sounds genuinely curious but something else too. Distant somehow. Like he’s asking about things that have no bearing on his life in any way. Like I’m telling him an entertaining story. “What deal was Vin bringing?”

“They want you to storm the Colony in the north.”

“There is no Colony in the north.”

“Yes, there is. It’s in the old MOHAI building. The museum.”

“That Colony went down mo—“ someone begins.

“Shut up!” Marlow calls out at them, his eyes never leaving me. I struggle not to jump. He tells me softly, “Continue.”

I take a calming breath. It doesn’t help.

“The people will overthrow it from inside. It’ll be easy for you to take it down from the outside. They’ll give it to you in return. They don’t want it. All of them were brought there from other Colonies. From the stadiums and the south. They want to go home, they just need you to get them out. Then they’ll let you have the MOHAI.”

“Oh, they’ll let me have it? And they’ll just go home. Everyone will get what they want, no problem?” Marlow asks sarcastically.

“Yes,” I say, but I know it’s a lie.

“Here’s how that plays out in the real world. I send men to help overthrow the MOHAI. It goes down easy, just as you said. We take it over, the Colonists leave. Brilliant. Perfect. But here’s where it goes wrong. The people who leave, they go back to their homes. To the other Colonies. They show up, wanting to come in and suddenly the people ru

“David won,” Trent says, seemingly oblivious to the rage written all over Marlow’s face. To the wrath dripping from his tone.

I try not to flinch, but I fail.

Blood in the water.

“I tried,” I say, trying to sound strong. To make up for my small mistake. “That’s all I told them I’d do. I understand why you won’t do it, but you have to understand why I had to try. We’ll find the help we need somewhere else.”

“Where do you think you’ll find it? With the Hyperions?” Marlow asks bitingly. “They don’t even know these two traitors are here. They don’t know he’s been fighting. I can have him kicked out tomorrow with what’s happened here tonight. Where will you find help then?”

My heart aches in my chest. I hadn’t thought of that. How had I not considered that? Ryan has betrayed his gang, Trent too. They’ll be banished if they’re found out. The gangs are insane about loyalty and the things they’ve been doing, the lying and fighting and the sneaking around, it’s all been for nothing. For me. And it will cost them everything.

I want to turn to them, to apologize, but I can’t. I can’t leak more blood in this shark tank. I might not make it out alive as it is.

“The Vashons,” I say, grasping at straws. “We’re going to the island.”

Marlow doesn’t blink. He doesn’t breathe. He only stares at me with his burning eyes and a frown etched on his face. It’s been there since I brought up Vin and I recognize that symptom. Marlow has the same disease I do. He cares. He cares about Vin, about where he is and if he’s alive. That’s why he’s so angry at me. He had written him off, buried his body in the Sound, then I walked in and resurrected him before his eyes.

I’ll pay for that. For the hope. For that dirtiest of dirty words.

“The island, huh? That’s… something. What is that, Rex?” Marlow asks over his shoulder. “What would you call that?”

“Stupid.”

“Suicidal,” someone else agrees.

“I think it’s perfect,” Marlow says happily. His happy is freakier than his pissed off. I fight another flinch when he smiles at me. “I’ll tell you what. If you get the Vashons to come up here and help you with your war, we’ll back your play.”

This feels dangerous. Everything in this place feels dangerous. Especially that smile.

“And if they won’t help?”

He shrugs carelessly. “Then nothing. Then you’re on your own. You don’t bring this to me again.”

“What’s the catch?”

He chuckles. “Why do you assume there’s a catch?”

I don’t answer.

He grins knowingly. Appreciatively. “Let’s just say I’ll be impressed if you get the elitists off their island. So impressed that I’ll be willing to help you in any way I can.”

“Deal.”

“Joss,” Ryan murmurs. I can feel him move close beside me.

“We need a boat to reach the island,” Trent tells Marlow.

I hear Ryan sigh. We’ve run away from him, sprinting down a hill full steam with no chance of stopping. Not until we’re forced to. Or until we fall.