Spark Rising (5 page)

Thomas was still now, utterly focused on his friend. Alex recognized the excitement bubbling beneath the surface. But that surface? Calm.

“One of the disappeared girls,” Thomas said. “How old?”

“Twenty-four. Young enough, and old enough. Tiny thing. Big green eyes. Coated in freckles. Not pretty, exactly, not that it matters, but stunning in her own way.” He frowned. What did that have to do with anything? He barked a laugh as he focused on what mattered—the personality they’d have to work around to get her to join them. Just because he admired her ballsiness didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize that her strength would make things harder. “She’s a tough little pain in the ass.”

Thomas took a deep breath. “Please tell me you’ve brought her here?”

He shook his head. “She got away—”

“Dammit, Alex! This is important!” His gloved hands shot up to frame his head in anger and disbelief.

“I damn well know how important it is! She took us out. Took. Us. Out.” Alex made sure he had Thomas’s attention. “She can do shit nobody else can do. Not me. Not you.” He took a deep breath and released it in a noisy gust of frustration. “She had some kind of early warning system. Probably Dust. One minute, we were in the middle of a conversation, our guys scheduled to start moving in, and the next, she
knew.
Who we were, why we were there.” He shook his head.

What came next had been terrifying. Once he’d recovered, he’d felt such a euphoric rush at having found her that he’d had to tamp it down and twist it into rage. “I didn’t even have enough time to react. She just—our lungs stopped working. Our muscles contracted. It was agony. And she had enough control to put us on a fucking timer.”

They had hoped to find a Spark evolved to a dangerous, exquisite extreme. They’d found her, and that presented a danger all its own.

Alex ran his hands through his hair. “She took us out long enough to get out through her escape tunnel. Dust-made. Dust-protected. I found the exit in the side of an arroyo before we cleared out. The damn thing was a good three hundred feet long.” He shook his head again. “She made it to the tribe. I couldn’t do anything at that point.”

“You know where she is?”

Alex nodded.

“Then we’ll go get her. Tonight.”

Alex closed his eyes for a moment.
Shit
. He’d figured Thomas’s reaction would be strong. But this was on the extreme end.

“No, Thom.”

“Yes! She cannot get away. She belongs with us.”

“We’re not ready to go to war. And that’s what it would be. We have to do this the way we do things. We have to be smart.” Alex stared down into Thomas’s pale eyes, holding onto his calm. One of them had to.

Thomas took two quick steps to stand inches from Alex. “We cannot allow her to disappear. She is—she’s our Eve.”

“I know. And I’m working on it.” Alex grimaced. “My partner knows he’s onto something big. And as soon as the Council gets wind of this girl, they will scramble everything to ensure she is taken into custody.”

“Then you get to her first, Alex. Because if they get to her first and they can’t figure out how to harness her, they will kill her. And either way, they win. You get to her first. You bring her home to us. I don’t care what you have to do.”

Alex took a long breath. “Decades of work,” he reminded his friend. “Decades. Of
my
work. And we are so close. Zone Three is primed. I’m not willing to undo that for a girl you didn’t know existed five minutes ago.”

He wasn’t. Was he?

“I knew she should exist. And now that I know she’s real, we will do whatever we have to do to bring her home.”

Arguing would be pointless. Thomas had anticipated this moment for too long. Alex nodded, his mind working angles.

Like this reaction wasn’t exactly what you wanted: an excuse to do whatever it takes to bring in the perfect Spark. The perfect weapon.

“We can have both. I can make it happen.”

“Then do it.” Thomas stepped away, raised his arms to resume his workout. “But remember, she’s our priority now. Once we have her, we have the future.”

Chapter 5

Lena sat cross-legged on the hard-packed earth floor of the medicine woman’s home. Soft, bright wool pooled before her knees as she worked the yarn and knitting needles above her lap. For the first hours after the agents had driven her away, she’d paced restlessly between the small bluff rising above the arroyos and Santo Domingo to the east, watching agents move in and out of her home.

Finally Gloria, the Kewa woman closest to Lena, had tired of Lena’s temper and sharply told Lena to wait at Gloria’s adobe house. As the afternoon melted into evening, a trio of young women appeared at Gloria’s door. They had gone to Lena’s home to retrieve clothing for her, as well as her knitting and needles.

Her mind worked as her fingers threw the yarn and moved the needles at a furious pace, everything soothing and meditative about the activity gone. She had turned her focus down to her hands, but instead of yarn and needles she saw Reyes and Lucas standing in her doorway and agents darting in and out like wasps. Could she reclaim her home?

It’s done. It’s done. No going back.

The rage built. It beat in tandem with the violence of her feedback headache. She needed to ground, but she couldn’t trust the agents were truly gone. Instead, she knitted.

What about Danny? If they’d made the appointment through him, would they arrest him now? Had another Gracey man been put in danger because of her? The memory of the night the men had come to tell her mother that her father’s body had been found, and the devastated, blaming eyes of her sister, rose up like dark water. She fled from it, as she always did, blinking away from her thoughts before the memory could suck her back down into the drowning depths of grief.

Her head jerked up. The light inside the little house had dimmed with evening, and Gloria entered through the front, a basket of eggs in one hand and an earthen jug in the other. She caught Lena’s attention.

“Light the lamp,” she said. “My hands are full of your dinner. Then we’ll talk.”

At home, Lena would simply spark it, but she couldn’t spark anything until she’d grounded. She rose to use tongs to pull an ember from the little round-bellied stove and lit the wick of the fat lamp on the table in the middle of the room. When she was done, she returned the ember to the stove.

“Put water on to boil. And heat the comal,” Gloria told her, referring to the large flat frying pan. She dipped out blue cornmeal and mesquite flour and mixed it in a chipped bowl. While she dropped spoonfuls of batter onto the hot comal and used her strong fingers to break apart pinon nuts and scatter them over the cakes, Lena set the table.

In moments, Gloria had flipped the pancakes onto the waiting plates and they were sitting together, a covered bowl of honey on the table between them. The crunch of the bits of toasted pine nuts and the distinctive tangy sweet flavor of the mesquite flour improved Lena’s mood.

Of course, her bliss might be related to her terrible sweet tooth. She pinched the last bite of the delicious cakes between her fingers, swirled it in honey, and shoved it into her mouth. She licked her fingers.

Plenty of mesquite flour and honey in storage up at the house. I should barter for more baking powder and cornmeal.

The realization that she didn’t have plenty of anything anymore hit like a slap in the face. How could she plan her cooking? It wasn’t even safe to return home. The delicious dinner settled like a hard ball in her stomach.

Gloria spoke to her in English now, the words coming in the odd, jerking cadence of a native speaker of Keresan. “It is hard to think of making a choice now, but you have to decide whether you are staying or going.”

Lena swallowed. “Am I allowed to stay here?”

Gloria made a small shrug. “It’s not for me to decide. Before you ask, you should think about what you ask of us.”

Lena stared at her. “I’m a hard worker. I would never be a burden, and I can help—”

Gloria shook her head. “It isn’t food and shelter that will cost us. It will be defending our friend from those who return for her.”

Lena’s shoulders slumped again, and her gaze returned to her empty plate with the bits of cake and nuts sticking in honey.

“They will return for you, Lena. You shine as bright as the Sun, and they want your light. They would do anything to possess it. They will come.”

Lena jumped at the faint knock at Gloria’s door. At a Keresan word from Gloria, a boy of about twelve entered from the deep of night. Lena recognized the Keresan words for
one man
, “ishk hachtzeh.” Reyes? Back again already? Was she already bringing unwanted guests to the Kewa? Gloria and the boy spoke for a moment before she turned to Lena.

“There is a man who says he is a friend come to warn you of danger. He says it’s important that he speak with you.”

Lena waited. One didn’t just get up and go when Gloria was speaking. Gloria held her gaze for a moment. When the woman spoke again, she spoke quietly, like always.

“You have to make a decision soon.”

“I know,” she said. “And I know I should go away somewhere. But this is my home. It’s all I know.”

“Fear of the unknown is a reason to go, not stay.” Gloria’s voice had taken on a chiding tone. “If you stay, it should be because you love a place, not because you’re afraid to move on.” She slid her hand along the tabletop. “If you’re going to stay because you’re afraid, then you might as well go live with them in their city. Everyone there stays because they are afraid.”

“I won’t go back to the city. Life isn’t worth living under their rules. I’d rather die.”

“So. You would die for freedom. What would you live for?”

Lena stared at Gloria. She could feel her brow furrowing. “I don’t—for the same thing?”

“No. You said you would die to be free. If you are given a choice, if you must choose between freedom in death and the life they offer, what would make you choose to live? Figure that out, and you will know what is really at stake. You will know why you must return.”

Lena’s brows rose almost to her hairline. She wouldn’t return to the city. She opened her mouth to say so, but it was too late. Gloria pursed her lips in the direction of the door.

She rose to her feet as Gloria nodded at the boy. Lena followed him out, giving herself a moment to allow her eyes to adjust to the dark. The boy waited for her in the middle of the narrow road. When she moved forward, he trotted off into the night. She quickened her steps to keep up, arms going around her own body to ward against the cold. When they turned onto the Pueblo’s main road, she could see the twin beams of a car’s lights, the silhouettes of armed Kewa warriors to either side. She shook her head at the waste of energy.

It wasn’t the Volt. Not Reyes. She hissed silently at the quick flit of disappointment through her belly before the man behind the wheel leaned out.

“Ace!” She sped up, jogging the final distance to the car. He unfolded himself from the front seat, relief spreading across his face with his smile.

“Lena!” He bent down to pull her up into his arms and shake her like a rag doll. “Damn, girlie, you’re going to be the death of me.”

She laughed as she pulled away. The laughter faded at the worry on his face. “What are you doing all the way out here? And at this hour? Do you want agents knocking on your door?”

He cocked a brow at her and rubbed a hand across his bald head. “I’ve already got agents dropping my name. Yours, too.”

Her eyes closed. She shook her head. “Ace, I’m sorry. I never meant to bring trouble on anyone—”

“You didn’t bring any trouble on me. And even if you had—” he flicked the tip of her nose and then pulled her back in for another hug “—you know you’re worth every minute.”

She wrapped her arms tight around his waist and leaned her head into his lower chest. She regretted, not for the first time, that she and Ace could never be together. She wasn’t the correct gender. Other than her father’s, his were the only arms she’d ever felt safe in. Now the Council had found Ace, too.

“What happened? They didn’t bother you at work, did they?” She tipped her head back to look up at him. He worked for Wallace & Aceves Imports, also known as the Dragonfly House, one of the most powerful trade groups. They had their fingers in all nine Council Zones. They were powerful. They were also paranoid.

“No.” He shook his head and wrinkled his forehead. “He found me at the Piece of Asp.”

“He?” She knew who before Ace even answered.

“Uh huh. Beautiful, dangerous man. Likes expensive tequila. And pain-in-the-ass redheads. You know him?”

“Reyes.” Lena rolled her eyes. “He does not like me, I promise. He came out here to arrest me.”

Ace reached out to gently grasp her chin and pull her face up. He examined her with a familiar, searching look. “Oh, hell no. Lena. No. Not that man.”

She pulled her chin away and scoffed at him. “What? Whatever you think you’re seeing…no. I don’t want him.” She crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself against the dropping temperature. “He’s an
agent
. He works for the
Council
.”

“Screw being an agent. And screw the Council, too. The man is dangerous. You think you’re tough, playing with little boys. This is not the kind of man who plays games. He will eat your soul and make you like it.”

“Well, if I’ll like it, then what’s the problem?” She tossed the words back lightly.

“Lena.”

“He’s an asshole. Whatever you think you’re seeing, you’re not. I promise. And by the way, I
am
tough. I kicked his dangerous ass today, thank you very much! So don’t be underestimating me.” She scowled up at him. “And don’t go thinking he’s interested in anything but my kilowatt per hour output. The only thing I am to Reyes is a check on his monthly quota.”

“Yeah? Then why did he tell me to warn you that they’re not interested in hooking you up to a power plant? That you need to come in to him so he can get you someplace safe and keep you away from the Council?”

“I—what?” She stared at him.

“Yeah. He said you had their attention now. They’re going to ship you away and do Dust knows what to you. Don’t look at me like that!”

“Ace, he was playing you. It’s what they do. He’s just better at it than the rest of them.”

He leaned down and gripped her slight shoulders. “He wasn’t playing. He was pissed. And worried. He said he wasn’t sure he could get you someplace safe now, and the sooner you get back, the safer you’ll be.” He released her shoulders, but he kept his hands on her arms. “He knows you’re different. They do, too. The secret’s out. Agent or not, this guy wants to take you someplace safe. Maybe you can have a real life, one where you’re not hiding who you are. It’s hard, but it’s worth it.”

She stared up at him, fear beating inside her chest. No one was allowed to know what she could do. That was the rule. It had been the rule for as long as she could remember. “You don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand? You’re funny, little girl. I am the one person in this world who definitely understands.” He gestured at the car next to them. “I dropped everything and came out here to get you because I understand.” He smiled at her. “Jimmy’s pissed, too. He thinks I left to go meet up with your agent somewhere.”

A quick bark of laughter erupted from her. “What? He’s not even your type!”

Ace raised his brow again. “That man is everybody’s type.”

“Shut up.” She rubbed her arms and tilted her head back to stare up at the stars. Their brilliance took her breath away but gave her nothing in return. She had to find her own answers. “I don’t buy it, Ace.”

“You don’t think he’s everybody’s type? You going blind out here with the sun in your eyes?”

“No, and you know what I mean. I don’t buy this concern. There’s some magical safe place? I don’t buy it.” She tucked her hair back behind her ears, smoothing it down as she bit her lip. “I don’t buy it,” she repeated.

“Are you trying to convince me or you? Come back with me. I didn’t drive all the way out here for nothing. Guy like him gets worried, you pay attention.”

“I just—you didn’t see him when he came in today. He was totally convincing as a bored rich boy. And then as the good-citizen agent trying to talk me down. I don’t buy that he’s scared of the Council or something. I think it’s a trap.” It didn’t matter how beautiful the man was. She’d seen him be two different people already. How could she trust this new double agent role he’d sold to Ace?

Lies. He told them—became them—very well. He’s an
agent
, for Dust’s sake.

She gave voice to the fear simmering inside since she realized she’d somehow brought attention to Ace. “I go back with you, and then they take us both, me for the power plants and you to the work farms for helping me. I can’t be the reason you—” She swallowed the heat back and blinked away welling tears.

“I don’t think it’s a trap.” He lifted his hand to gently brush away from her face the hair the wind fluttered. “It’s hard to play a player. I looked into his eyes. He’s spooked for you. That’s not a lie. It was real.”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe it. I love that you came out here to get me. But I can’t come back with you. I won’t put you at risk.”