Fade (13 page)

“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he whispers, “but you have to know this. I can’t afford to get involved. When we get to the Underground, they may give you a new cover. If they do, I’ll be reassigned. You’ll get a new Fader. One who can keep you safe.”

“But what happened today wasn’t your fault!” I protest. After all, that’s why they’d have to change things, isn’t it?

Jack shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter,” He says. “I’m responsible for you, and you almost got killed on my watch. Grayson almost got killed.”

Despite everything Jack has said, I feel terrible. “I’m so sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean…”

“I know,” Jack says. He’s silent for several seconds. When he does speak, there’s something else in his voice. “Celes, I asked you to trust me, I told you that I would protect you with my life.”

“Jack, I…”

Jack kisses me then, giving the lie to everything he has said about not caring. It’s a brief kiss, but there’s real passion in it. It isn’t pretend. It can’t be.

“I made you that promise,” Jack says as he pulls back, “and I’ll keep it. I’ll protect you, no matter what happens. I’ll protect you even if I’m reassigned. Even if I’m ordered not to.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, stunned by this sudden change of tack.

Jack grins an almost boyish grin. “I mean that you aren’t going to get rid of me that easily, Celes.”

FIFTEEN

W
hen the jet finally lands, on an airfield so similar to the first it’s hard to tell if we’ve gone anywhere at all, there’s a car waiting for us. It’s a big, battered looking thing, but that just means it matches its driver, who’s huge. He’s built like a football player, and looks like the suit he wears is uncomfortably small. When Jack sees him, he raises an eyebrow.

“Louis? You’re here to drive us?”

“That’s right.” The man’s voice is almost unnaturally deep.

“There’s no need,” Jack says. “I can do it.”

“Instructions,” the big guy replies.

Jack looks uncomfortable, and takes out a phone. “I’ll call Sebastian. Get this sorted out.” He jabs a number into his phone. “Sebastian, it’s Jack. Yes, we’re here. Yes, hes ris met us. There’s really no need… yes, I understand, but… yes, sir.”

Jack hangs up, and it’s clear that the big man is driving us after all. We get into the car, with Grayson and me in the back, while Jack takes the passenger seat. The driver, Louis, doesn’t say much as he rolls out of the airfield. Now it’s clear that we’re close to the Underground. There’s desert around us, and the roads are very empty. We drive for a little way before Louis brings the car to a halt for no apparent reason.

“Need to take a leak,” the big man grunts, and gets out of the car, striding off a little way. To my surprise, Grayson decides that he needs the same, and heads off after him.

That leaves me with Jack. We haven’t spoken much after the kiss on the plane, and I’m not sure I know what to say. Things are obviously going to change now. If we’re going to the Underground, anything could happen. I might not see Jack again. If their memory device works this time, I might not even remember that he exists.

Jack seems to sense that this might be our last chance too, because he moves around from the passenger seat to join me in the back. He pulls me to him for a quick kiss.

“I’ve always enjoyed this part, Celes,” he says. “I wasn’t supposed to, but I have. And that could be a problem. I’ve come to care for you more than I should. It’s as though we’ve always belong together. It sounds stupid, but I feel as though I’ve known you before, that we’ve spent centuries together, always together.”

It doesn’t sound stupid. In fact, it sounds perfect. I lay my head on his chest. “I know. Me too, Jack.” I smile up at him. “Maybe it will work out. Maybe you’ll still be a part of my life somehow.”

“I know, I…”

“Help!” I recognize Grayson’s voice instantly, and I’m out of the car before I even realize it. Jack’s out there too, probably from the urge to follow me more than from one to help Grayson. I sprint over in the direction Grayson and Louis have gone, and quickly find them. What I see makes me recoil.

They’re struggling, with both of Grayson’s hands locked on the big man’s wrist. In that hand, Louis holds a knife. He isn’t striking Grayson, just pushing that knife inexorably forward.

Even Jack seems shocked by that. “Louis? What are you doing?”

The driver looks disgustedly at Jack. “That’s exactly what I want to know with you.”

Grayson takes advantage of the momentary distraction, kicking out at the driver. “Don’t listen to him. We have to get him before he takes us to that place. You know what they’re going to do there? They’re going to erase my memories of you, Celes!”

That possibility hadn’t occurred to me. I had thought about what might happen to my memories, but not about what the Underground might do to Grayson. For now though, there’s the more immediate question of a man who’s trying to kill him.

“Jack, you have to stop this,” I say, but Jack is already moving. For all that he doesn’t seem to like Grayson much, he doesn’t seem willing to stand by and let him be stabbed. He pulls his pistol out from the inside of his jacket, and presses the muzzle of it to the big man’s skull.

“Drop it, Louis, or I drop you.”

“You should be putting a bullet in
him
,” the driver says.

“Oh, for-” Jack brings the butt of the gun down sharply on the back of the man’s head. Despite his size, he collapses into unconsciousness without a sound. When Grayson starts to reach down for the fallen knife, Jack kicks it away, giving him a hard look. “Don’t even think about it. If you want to come along with Celes, you behave yourself, or you’re getting off right here.”

That’s enough to get Grayson to calm down. Jack sends him to wait in the car, not taking his eyes off him until he’s there. Then he searches the driver’s pockets, digging out the keys to the vehicle before putting away his gun and hooking his hands under the man’s arms.

“Could you give me a hand here, Celes? I’m not leaving Louis out in the desert. Not when I don’t know what’s going on.”

Together, we just about succeed in dragging the man back to the car, putting him in the trunk. It seems like the safest place, when we have no easy way to tie him up. Jack drives. It’s almost another hour before the familiar bulk of the Underground’s building comes into view. We pull up outside it, and I look over to Jack.

“So, what now?”

The answer to that comes in a matter of seconds, as men and women armed with a variety of automatic weapons move to surround the car. Jack looks shocked, but raises his hands instantly. Grayson and I follow suit. They pull us from the car, and quickly disarm Jack before helping the now conscious Louis from the trunk.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked. I notice that the guns are still trained on us.

The big driver clutches his head. “Maybe if you’d listened instead of knocking me out, you’d know.”

At that point, one of the people with the guns radios back to say that everything is under control, and the door to the Underground’s base opens, letting Sebastian Cook out into the sunlight. He blinks in it, as though he’s been inside for a while, before looking over at Jack.

“Mr. Simple, I would have thought you might have handled this better.”

“Handled what better, sir?” Jack asks. “Is there something I’m missing here?”

The Underground leader nods. “Oh, I think we could say that. There’s a problem, Jack.”

“What kind of problem?”

“That kind of problem,” Sebastian Cook says, pointing at Grayson. “Ms. Caine’s ex-boyfriend.”

“Current boyfriend,” Grayson says.

“Ex-boyfriend.” Sebastian Cook gives him a look that says quite clearly that Grayson shouldn’t speak, and gestures to a couple of the gunmen. They take hold of Grayson, and Mr Cook returns his attention to Jack. “What were you thinking of, bringing
him
here? You should have left him.”

“That’s my fault,” I say, not wanting Jack to get into trouble. “I brought Grayson into this. And we couldn’t just leave him behind. The Others would have killed him.”

Sebastian Cook laughs. Actually laughs. “Killed him? Hardly. He’s one of theirs, after all.”

“One of…”

“He’s the son of one of the Others,” the Underground leader explains.

“No.” I shake my head. “He can’t be.”

“Why didn’t I know this?” Jack asks. “Why wasn’t I told about the possible connection before fading Celes and her family?”

“It was very well masked. Grayson here may not even know it himself, but he has always been kept close to Celes. His family moved in near her family, they attended the same schools, went to the same functions. Of course, it was all designed to get close to Celes, and find out what she is.”

Grayson struggles then, bucking against the men holding onto him. “That’s not true.”

“Then who does your father work for?” Sebastian Cook demands.

“He’s just a chemist at the lab.”

“A lab that is run by the Others, young man.”

Grayson looks over at me, his face imploring. “Celes, I had no idea.”

I find myself looking at Sebastian Cook, hating myself for not just trusting Grayson’s word.

“It’s plausible,” he says. “Even likely. There would be no reason for them to tell their son.”

Grayson pulls at the grip of the men holding him again. “You don’t understand. I would never do anything to hurt Celes. I ran off with her just now, on my own, my parents don’t even know. It’s my choice to be here with her.”

“I’m sorry,” Sebastian says, nodding to the Faders next to him. “They’re probably tracing you now. It’s simply a matter of time before they make their way here, too. As such, the only way you’re leaving here alive is if we Fade you, the way we did with Celestra’s family. That will of course mean that you retain no memories of her.”

“No!” The word is out before I can stop it. “Please don’t fade his memories. They’re the only thing connecting me to my own life.”

I expect Mr. Cook to tell me that’s the point, but instead, he looks almost sympathetic. “It’s for both your good and his. If we don’t do this, he and his family will harm you. And until we can understand how to control your abilities, you may end up harming them, not intentionally, but in self-defense.”

He gestures again to the Faders holding Grayson. They start to move him away, but this time he breaks free of their grip, running over to me.

“I won’t ever forget you, Celes. My heart will know you even if I don’t have the memories.”

I try to hold onto him, but it’s not enough. The Faders pull him away.

“Please don’t hurt him,” I beg.

Sebastian pats my arm. “He will be the same as always, but he will only remember you as someone he’s seen once or twice before. Maybe at the store, in the park…” He shrugs. “He’s one of the Others, whether he knows it or not. Understand that the fact that he’s being  allowed to walk out of here alive and unharmed is a major concession on our part. We normally kill the Others whenever we can. Only the fact that you care for him has changed that, and with everything you can do, you’re interesting enough to be worth that concession. Just be grateful that we can at least wipe his memories. If we couldn’t, even that wouldn’t have saved him.”