22

W e made it to Daniel’s new build in Parklands with only one scare, a vehicle approaching head-on. Daniel and I ducked down. There wasn’t time to do anything with the comatose guard so he stayed propped up.

My breath caught and didn’t release until Lisa gave us the all-clear. The car passed without slowing down. Daniel had loaded another dart into the gun, prepared for all eventualities, but seriously, we didn’t have space in the car to collect any more bodies.

Once we were off the main road, we all breathed a little easier. As with most estates in Parklands, trees lined the back road and surrounded the ornate house up ahead with its white cornices and pillars. From the approach, it didn’t look incomplete, it looked grand and imposing. As we neared, I could just make out the jagged shapes of exposed steel beams on one side.

“Go around to the left,” Daniel instructed. “We’ll use the courtyard entrance.”

Although winter had thinned the camouflage, it still felt pretty secluded as we pulled up around the side of the building. The closest residence was his parents’ old home across the field, and that sat empty now.

Daniel poked the guard to make sure he wasn’t on the brink of coming around. “Give me a minute. I have to open the door to the basement from inside, but we can take him straight through.”

Either he’d stashed a key somewhere—like his mother—or maybe they hadn’t bothered locking doors, what with the roof missing. Or maybe he smashed a window. No one asked when he returned a short while later. We were too busy huffing and puffing as we maneuvered the dead weight of the guard out of the car and carried him down the outside steps to the basement.

Inside, the walls were unpainted, the only window was a narrow strip of glass above eye level and I swear it was ten degrees colder than outside. Some empty paint tins, a folded tarp, and cardboard boxes littered one shadowy corner.

There was a large storage closet that also housed the electrics board and Daniel insisted we put the guard in there. The door was sturdy and locked, and there were no windows.

“We should bind his ankles and wrists,” Daniel said. “And gag his mouth.”

Jessie offered her scarf and Lisa and I returned to the car in search of more cloth bindings. By this point, it was safe to say Lisa could be trusted. I just wasn’t sure why.

She popped the trunk and gathered a quilt into her arms. “We should unload everything so I can take the car home before it’s spotted here.”

I slung my overnight bag over my shoulder, and scooped up as much as I could carry and we headed back.

“Why are you helping us?”

“I liked what you said in that letter of yours.”

I looked at her in surprise. “You agree that the people should have a voice?”

“I was referring to the part where you busted Daniel out of rehab.” Her bottom lip curled in disgust. “I’ve been begging my mom to talk to Geneva about releasing the heirs, but she just keeps saying that I’m too young to understand the consequences. I’m not an idiot. I understand. That doesn’t make it fair, though.”

“It doesn’t.”

“I don’t care how much trouble this gets me into.” She looked at me, her eyes glacier and fierce. “I’m glad I helped you and Daniel. I’d do it again. Honestly, I don’t care.”

I stepped in front of her, stopping us at the edge of the steps. “Your mother is basically second-in-command. I mean, she’ll stand up to Geneva for you, right?”

Lisa gave a dry laugh. “Like she stood up for my father? She hasn’t even visited him in hospital.”

“But you’re her daughter.”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Can you talk to her tonight, feel her out?” I said. “We can’t keep that guard tied up in the basement forever and when we set him free, we need a plan in place. Daniel and I will go to The Smoke. Jessie’s okay, he never saw her face. But is it safe for you to stay in Capra?”

“Are you asking me to join you in The Smoke?”

“You’re welcome to,” I said. “Of course you are, but that might not be what you want.”

“Hmm.” She sighed heavily. “I do agree with everything else you said, you know. The Sisters of Capra promised to give us all a voice, but from what I can see, Geneva and a few select women at the very top have kept that for themselves.”

I laughed. “We’ll make a whisperer out of you yet.”

“Is that what you call yourselves?” She moved around me to continue down the steps. “Whisperers?”

“We don’t really call ourselves anything. This all happened a lot faster, a lot bigger, than I ever expected when I wrote that first letter.”

She glanced at me over her shoulder. “What were you expecting?”

“I guess I just wanted to put the seeds out there and hoped the ideas would grow over the years to come.”

Back inside, I found a pair of long woolen socks in my bag, one for the guard’s wrists and the other for his mouth. We propped him against the wall and I tucked one of the quilts around him.

“Really?” Jessie said. “You’re such a softie.”

“I already feel wretched about what we’ve done to the poor man.” I winced, watching as Daniel locked the door on him. “And this basement is freezing. He’s going to be stuck here all night.”

“Just the one night?”

I eyed her. “Why do you sound so disappointed?”

“Because when he goes free, I lose you.”

“Oh, Jessie.” I pulled her into a hug. “I’m going to sneak back to visit so often, you’ll be sick of me.”

“It’s not the same, is it?”

“No, it isn’t.”

Once we’d transferred the rest of our stuff from the car to the basement, I turned to Lisa. “Before you go, do you have an iComm? I need to get a message to Roman and if I use mine, then Geneva will know I’m still here in Capra.”

“Yeah, I don’t have it with me, though.”

“I’ll write down the number for you.” I knelt to delve into my bag for a pen and paper, and quickly scribbled down my citizenship number. “Here you go.”

Lisa took the paper, and stood there, studying my hastily scrawled penmanship.

“What’s wrong? Can’t you read my writing?”

She folded the paper and looked at me, her eyes bright. “What happens when you free the guard and disappear into The Smoke?”

“It’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Roman has an apartment there. It’s not that bad. We’ll get Daniel sorted out and if you need to get out of Capra, we’ll have a place for you.”

She shook her head. “What happens with your whispers?”

“Oh.” Everyone looked at me, waiting, but I didn’t have anything profound to say. “I hope the whispers continue. I hope one day they’ll bring about proper change here.”

“What if that day could be tomorrow?” she said. “What if you could get your words out to everyone, every citizen in Capra, in one big, final splash?”

“What are talking about?” Daniel scoffed.

“Geneva has a newsletter scheduled to go out tomorrow,” Lisa told him. “I’m the one who gets them printed and stacked, and I usually do the hand-off for delivery in the morning.”

She looked at me. “I could fit something in there, hide it between her paragraphs. Only a couple of lines, so it’s not too noticeable. It’s worth a try?”

My skin tingled with a feverish thrill, with the enormity of what she was suggesting, with the fantastical notion that we could actually pull off something like that. “It’s too risky for you. They’ll know you’re responsible.”

“I won’t be here to take the blame.” Lisa folded her arms, feet apart, standing her ground. “I can’t stay in Capra once you let that guard go. I don’t trust my mother to protect me. She’ll fight for me, but will she fight hard enough, harder than Geneva? I wish I believed she would, but I don’t have that kind of faith in her.”

“You’re sure?”

She bobbed her head. “Absolutely positive. And if I’m leaving, I intend to go out on a bang.”

I grinned at Daniel. “What do you say?”

He groaned. “Roman is going to kill me again, isn’t he?”

“How many lines do I have?” I asked Lisa.

“Six?” She fluttered her hand. “Maybe seven? I’d give you half a page if I thought we’d get away with it.”

I sat cross-legged on the ground and grabbed a fresh piece of paper. The words I most wanted whispered had already been written for my small audience. Now they’d go out to Capra…with a call to action.

We had the council. Now we have the Sisters of Capra. The old world leaders were elected by the people and held accountable to the people. WHAT DO YOU WANT?

The Eastern Coalition was founded to preserve the human race. Capra, in particular, was established to preserve civilization, the customs and traditions of the old world, the parts lost in the chaos. You lost your voice in that chaos, too, and Capra should be charged with preserving it. This is my belief. If you believe with me, gather in the town square today at 9 am and let our voices join into a roar that cannot be silenced. And once you have your voice back, it is yours to use as you will ~ The Flame (Georga West)

“You guys are crazy, you know that?” Jessie exclaimed when she saw the note.

She wasn’t wrong. I had to say, though, her cheeks were flushed with the same fever running through my blood. She wasn’t in a hurry to leave, but I convinced her to ride back into town with Lisa.

Daniel and I made our way up the short flight of basement stairs into the house, looking for livable space to spend the night. The entrance hall was marble floors and pillars, with a wide stairway winding gracefully up to the top floor. The space was light and airy with tall ceilings and walls of stained glass windows.

“The library will probably be most comfortable,” Daniel said, taking me through to a carpeted room with wood-paneled walls.

I noted the large window with no drapes. “We won’t be able to turn any lights on when it gets dark.”

“You’re funny.” Daniel smirked. “The electrics haven’t been connected yet. There is piped water, but it won’t be heated.”

I didn’t care about electrics and hot showers. Neither did Daniel. Today and tonight were irrelevant. Tomorrow was all-consuming, drowning out everything else in white noise.

We ended up sitting on the floor, backs pressed to opposite walls, batting worst case scenarios between us.

Eventually Daniel bored of that and flipped it around, and we pummeled potential outcomes and theories into some vague shape of political reform until Roman arrived, out of breath, calling my name.

I jumped up to meet him, Daniel hot on my heels.

Dread swarmed me as I took in Roman’s sweat-drenched hairline and hard breathing. “What is it? You look like you’ve been running for your life.”

“I thought you were running for your life.” He pushed a slow breath out, pulling his hands through his hair, his eyes glinting with something dangerous and furious. “I came as quickly as possible, but I didn’t want to risk driving. I parked my truck at home and cut across the field. Lisa left some cryptic message about you having to get out of the nature reserve in a hurry.”

“The Guard is searching the nature reserve,” I said. “They didn’t find us.”

“Except for the one shoved into the closet below,” Daniel supplied unhelpfully.

Roman blinked, long and hard, his jaw hardening to cut glass.

I went to him, fell into his arms, alarmed at how fast and loud his heart was beating. “We’re fine. I’ll explain everything.”

As I did, the more Roman heard, the less thrilled he looked. He didn’t try to talk me out of tomorrow, though. That was his way, the way he loved me, and one of the many reasons I loved him. He wanted me safe, of course he did, but he kept me safe by supporting me, protecting me, rather than trying to bludgeon me into someone that I wasn’t.