Ash (31 page)

I
asked Dax to meet me at the Kurtz Memorial Bench on the lawn of Spectrum after classes ended. I knew the area would be empty. Lavendar, Portia, and just about everyone was at the wishing tree. There was an honorary pinning ceremony for three of our Purple classmates who had completed their destinies over the last year. I couldn’t bring myself to go and told my friends to send my regards, but that I had too much on my plate.

I sat on a bench as I waited. It wasn’t often that the grounds at Spectrum were deserted. The emptiness fit my mood. In a moment I was going to have to tell Dax that I had failed. I’d gotten final word last night that my bid for a stay of execution was denied. Afterward I’d done the only other thing I could think of. I’d gone to my father. If anyone could influence Link’s sentence, he could. It was a short conversation.

“Please, Dad. It’s Link we’re talking about. He’s a good person. You know that. He just needs a little more time to get his priorities straight.”

“He’s a traitor, Madden. There’s not a separate rulebook for ex-boyfriends.”

“I’m begging you. He doesn’t deserve—”

“He deserves exactly what he’s getting. Consider this a lesson. Emotions have no place in leadership, and the sooner you realize it, the sooner you’ll be ready to take your place on the ministry. End of conversation.”

I was out of options. In two days Link would be put to death. Part of me wanted to let Theron be the bearer of the news, but I felt I owed it to Dax. To let her know I tried, that she wouldn’t be alone in grieving Link.

Not that I could truly talk to Dax. She wouldn’t want to hear how thinking about Link’s fate gutted me. She saw me as a privileged Purple who never deserved her brother. At least she had her family for support. There was no one I could share my thoughts with. I couldn’t talk to my friends—they thought of Link as a traitor now and would expect the same from me. Theron would listen, but then he’d try to make me laugh. It was the opposite of what I needed. And forget about Bas. He’d probably celebrate Link’s death. The thought made me cringe. I hadn’t seen or talked to Bas since our last fight. I hadn’t had the heart, but I’d have to face him soon enough. He’d been pinging me for days at this point. I’d just gotten another one asking why I wasn’t at the ceremony. “Buried in work,” I sent back, hoping he’d leave me alone. I could only use schoolwork and ministry duties as an excuse for so long. For now I had no choice but to put my problems behind me, and live like a Purple. At least until I figured things out. I didn’t want to think about what Bas would do if he knew he was really dating someone who belonged in the Ash ring. I twirled my zone bracelets, knowing that soon I would have to give up all but one. The one that lacked any color. Any power.

My whole body stiffened as Dax finally arrived and sat on the other end of the bench from me. “Did it work? Were you able to get a postponement?”

I shuddered at the hope in her voice, shaking my head slowly. “I’m sorry, Dax. I did everything I could. I tried to convince the ministry that prolonging the execution would give Link the time to change his mind and fulfill his destiny. But they’re set on making an example of him. I even suggesting killing him could cause another Event, but they see it as preventing one.”

Her face fell, and I continued on softly, as if my tone could somehow cushion my words. “Since Link didn’t have a time stamp, they said he might have already completed his destiny, but having him disgrace the system could cause others to follow suit. They said executing him was the best way to stop others from jeopardizing the system—and our lives.”

She let out a small breath. “So that’s it?”

“I’m afraid so. I wish there was something else I could do.” Right then I would have done just about anything to help Link. I looked away, unable to handle the feelings that were rushing through me.

“Madden?” she asked. “What if I told you I may have a way to get Link out?”

I gripped the arm of the bench. “What? How?” If I couldn’t pull any strings, there was no way she could.

“Okay, I’m going to tell you something,” she continued, “but you have to promise you won’t get looped out. Alright?”

It wasn’t like I had much of a choice. “Alright.”

“I have a group of friends. They’re, well, they’re hard to explain.” She paused, thinking through her next words. “They live off of the grid. They’re people who don’t function in the system.”

“You know people off the grid?” I asked, shocked. I’d heard rumors, of course. People who’d gone into the woods after the Event. It was even possible my aunt was one of them. But those people were the exception and it happened ages ago. The government kept a list of who they were—there weren’t many as far as I knew. How would Dax know any of them? Of course there were other stories. Mole people living underground. That kind of thing. But the Ministry made it clear that it was fiction. “Who are they?”

“They’re just people who escaped the system. People who had a bad lot, a horrible destiny, or like Aldan, who felt there needed to be a change.”

I was about to tell her that there was no such thing as a bad destiny. That every human being was a piece of fabric that wove together into a collective tapestry. That Ashes served a purpose, just as Purples did, and what could be more important than that? Only the theories, the quotes that had been ingrained in my head weren’t cutting it as I thought about giving my future up to preserve destiny. “How do you know them?” I asked instead.

“They were actually friends of Aldan’s. I met them… you know. After.”

She didn’t have to say after what. “Okay,” I said. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this conversation. “So what do they have to do with this?”

“We came up with a plan. The thing is that we need your help to pull it off.”

Curiosity conquered my worry for the moment. “What kind of help?”

She fiddled with the end of her ponytail, coiling it backwards, then forwards around her fingers. “I know you’ve gone out of your way to help Link already.”

She met my eyes with an intensity that made me want to scoot away from her. I didn’t move a muscle though.

“I don’t know if we should even be having this conversation, Madden. You’re a future minister and the plan isn’t exactly legal. Can I trust you to keep this to yourself?”

“I can keep a secret,” I said, cringing inside. I’d never been one to hide something from the ministry, yet here I was getting ready to do it again.

She tugged on the end of her ponytail before releasing it. “Okay then. We’re going to break Link out of the cells,” she said.

I almost laughed until I realized how serious she was. “Dax, that’s crazy. There’s surveillance throughout the UV building. There are multiple alarms and clearance points getting into the cells. And assuming you’re able to get in, how do you get Link out undetected? You may as well sign your own removal sentence.”

“I know all of that. But my friends are good with technology. They have a way to circumvent the cameras. We know how to avoid the security guards once we get into the building. We even know how to get into the cells. All we need is for you to let us in the building. That’s it. There are the special government entrances I know you have clearance to use. They use eye scanners; we can’t hack those.”

I held up a hand. “No way, Dax.”

“We need you to open a door, Madden. Open a door, save Link’s life. It’s a minute of your time. No one will know you were part of it.”

“Do you know what you’re asking? My life for Link’s if they realize I’m involved. It won’t just be me, my father will be punished too.”

“If anyone sees anything, we’ll make it look like we grabbed you on your way out and forced you to use your clearance to let us in. No one will ever know that you were in on it. I swear to you. I’ll even tie you up at the door to make it look real. You can sound the alarm after you give us a head start. This can work, Madden.”

Only I knew it wasn’t that simple. She couldn’t guarantee the outcome. Even if Dax and her friends could pull off their escape mission and save Link, it could just as easily make me a prisoner for life. I didn’t know what to do.

We’d talked our way in circles by the time I noticed someone walking toward us. I looked up as the figure approached, realizing too late it was Bas. His entire body screamed annoyance as he loomed over us. “What is going on here?” he demanded, grabbing my wrist and pulling me off of the bench. “I haven’t heard from you in days, and when I come to rescue you from work, I find you here, passing the time with an Ash?”

I yanked my arm away from him. “Stop it, Bas,” I said. I made a production of smoothing down my skirt as I thought of what to say next.

“I’ll stop when you tell me why you are associating with
that
.”

“I don’t owe you any explanations,” I told him. “But if you must know we were discussing ways to convince Link to continue on his destiny path.”

The vein on Bas’s forehead started to pulse. “That Ash sympathizer deserves death. A brutal one.”

“What he needs,” I said, my own anger flaring, “is to complete his destiny. If he doesn’t, our whole world is in danger, isn’t it?”

“He already served as a Specialist. Destiny complete. He needs to be put down. He’s probably been unstable his whole life. It stands to reason,” he snarled at Dax, “that Blank insanity would be genetic.”

“Stop it,” I yelled at him. “How dare you talk about the people,
any
of the people of New City like that?”

“I’m not having this conversation in front of a Blank.” He grabbed me again. “Maybe her craziness has rubbed off on you.”

“You’re hurting me,” I said, as he pulled me toward him. “Let me go.”

That only made him yank harder. “Not until you learn some respect. I may not be a future minister, but I am a Worthington. You’d be smart to remember that. Now let’s go, Madden.” He dragged me after him.

“You heard her,” Dax said, standing. “Let her go.”

But I didn’t need Dax’s help. Before I knew it my left foot stomped down on Bas’s, my right arm curled into a fist, and I punched him right in the Adam’s apple. He sputtered back, grasping his throat. My hands flew to my face. What had I done? Yes, he deserved it, yes I needed to get away, but I wasn’t a fighter. Or was I? Was it true? Were all Blanks violent?

Bas looked from me to Dax in disbelief, then back to me. “We are over,” he sputtered, contempt dripping from his words. “You should mind the company you keep, Madden. It’s obviously tainting you.” With that he stalked off.

“Not as much as hanging around with the likes of you,” I called after him.

As Bas retreated I stayed standing, rigid with anger. How had I put up with his moods for this long? Maybe Theron was right. Maybe the system was rigged. If Bas had been born to an Ash family instead of a Purple, his destiny “to build” would have had him doing menial chores. But then again wasn’t it destiny that he was born to a Purple?

“Madden?” Dax said. She still stood next to the bench. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I said, trying to quell my temper. “I’m fine.”

Sol raced toward us from across the lawn. “What’s going on?” he asked. “I was up in the computer lab, I saw him grab you. I got down here as fast as I could.”

I could see Dax watching the interaction between me and Sol with interest, so I made sure to keep my distance. “It’s not a big deal,” I said, trying to downplay the situation.

Sol’s face twisted in concern. For a split second I imagined going to him, letting him wrap me in his arms. “Seriously, I’m fine,” I said, pushing the thought from my mind.

Only I wasn’t. This was too much. The entire situation was surreal. I’d just punched my boyfriend. I was daydreaming about embracing an Ash. My ex was going to be removed in two days. I could stop it if I helped his sister, whose identity I’d stolen, break him out of prison. And I’d been living a lie my whole life. Rage and confusion and disbelief whirled inside of me. I’d never felt this out of control. As if to prove it, I looked over at Dax and heard myself say, “Count me in.”

I couldn’t quite read her expression as she nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “I’ll be in touch.” She left then. I guess she wasn’t going to stick around to have me change my mind.

As soon as she was gone, I sat back down on the bench.

“May I?” Sol asked, gesturing to the seat next to me.

I nodded. It was sweet that he was still thinking about my reputation. I certainly wasn’t doing a good job with it at the moment. I needed to get a grip, but having Sol there wouldn’t hurt anything. If anyone showed up, I’d just tell them he was helping me on the new Blank legislation. The legislation to do away with people like me.