Betrayals in Spring (12 page)

Griffin grins, and there’s something sneaky about it. “There’s usually music. I don’t suppose you know what that is?”

It pleases me that there’s at least one thing I’m aware of that he thought I wasn’t. “I do, in fact.”

“Well, usually you dance while music plays. And I suppose the point, aside from having fun, is to be able to press up against that special someone.” He waggles his obnoxious eyebrows at me. “Or someones.”

Heat rises into my face. I restrain from telling him to stuff it. “Whatever.”

“And now that I’ve swept you off your feet with my charm and answered all of your impertinent questions, you will tell me what you’re doing here.”

“I wanted to find out if Lucas is okay.”

“Ah, yes. Young Lucas.” Griffin heaves a huge, longing sigh, but soon grows serious. “You shouldn’t be here, Althea. The more time you spend in the hive while you’re conscious, the bigger trace you’ll leave. They can’t get into your sinum, or at least they haven’t figured out how to accomplish it
yet
, but if you go wandering around you’re vulnerable. The Spritans went through too much to keep you safe for you to just piss it away now.”

Shame twists in my stomach, but then I remember who I’m talking to. He doesn’t have any right to lecture me after he spent half of last season watching us struggle from one place to another and laughing at all of our near misses. “I’m not leaving until I know he’s okay.”

“He’s fine. For now.”

Tears fill my eyes no matter how hard I blink, and throbbing infests my throat. I hadn’t even been able to admit how worried I’ve been until now, even though the Others need Lucas. I know that, but knowing it and trusting them with one of the most important people in my life are two different things. “What do you mean, for now?”

“I mean that Apa will be well enough to resume his indentured servitude soon. What will happen to your Lucas then, I wonder?”

Does he know Greer gave Lucas a possible way out? I can’t tell and don’t want to get her into trouble with him if he wouldn’t agree that helping us is the right thing.

All through our conversation, especially when he thinks I’m not paying attention, Griffin steals looks at the barrier blocking my inlet. At first it raises my hackles, making me wonder if he’s studying it and reporting back to the Others on how they might take it down. But the more I watch, the more the flash in his purple eyes and the hard set of his jaw betrays his jealousy.

Envy is not an emotion I would have expected from the arrogant Sidhe, who has taken every single opportunity since I met him to expound on how wonderfully genius his race of beings has been since the beginning of time. Instead of letting him see that I’ve deduced his interest, I turn and start down the tunnel to my left. I have no idea where I’m going, but don’t slow down when his light, sure-footed step prances up behind me.

“Where are you going?”

“To see your sister.” I’m not sure why that came out; it was not my intention in coming here to try to find Greer.

It’s not a bad idea, though. If I knew where her sinum is, I would have someone besides Pax to talk to.

“You don’t even know where to find her, and you— Stop.” His quick hand darts out and wraps around my wrist, dragging me to a halt.

It feels like water, soothing and cool, but that fact doesn’t stop me from jerking away. “You don’t have to babysit me.”

“Obviously someone does.” He frowns, making it clear he’s sorry the duty has fallen to him. “If I take you to Greer, will you promise to leave?”

I nod, my lips pressed into a line. I didn’t actually say I wouldn’t come back, so it’s not a real lie, plus I don’t owe Griffin anything.

Except your life
.

The reminder softens the rigid set of my shoulders as he leads me through a complicated series of twists and turns. I memorize them as well as I can.

The floor slopes downward, gently at first but then steeper, and, if possible, the tunnels grow darker. The scents of rot and mold heighten, clogging my nose until no amount of sneezing will clean it out. Griffin turns and gives me an exasperated look after the fourth one, but there’s nothing that can be done.

I glare back. “What do you want me to do, not sneeze? Do you know how impossible that is?”

“It’s easy. You are far too human for my taste, Althea.”

I bite back the retort on the end of my tongue, and a moment later he stops walking. Griffin jerks his head toward a deep recess on our right. No sound emanates from it and when I peer inside, the sinum is empty. When I turn around to question the Sidhe, he’s disappeared.

Frustrating. At least he didn’t make waste on me this time, the way he did in the form of a bird in Iowa, or that creepy mouse in Portland.

Taking a deep breath and immediately regretting it when the smell of rotting soil coats my throat, I step into the alcove. “Greer?”

“Althea?” Surprise lights her voice, along with a bit of annoyance.

It startles me, as does the fact that although I pace the entirety of her alcove, she’s nowhere to be found. Except she can hear me. After a second it dawns on me that this is how Fire used to talk to me before I knew about the tunnels—she simply found the space in my mind that connected with hers and spoke. It didn’t matter whether or not I was here, my brain heard her when I wasn’t aware what was happening.

Which means I caught Greer at some kind of vulnerable moment, a fact that causes me an immediate wash of embarrassment. “Oh, sorry. Griffin brought me; I thought you’d be here.”

“Griffin.” She spits out her brother’s name as though it tastes bad, but there’s no anger behind it. More acceptance than anything. “Hold on.”

A few muffled words and thumps sound in the empty space, and a moment later Greer materializes, flickering a little before becoming solid. She tugs down the hem of an emerald green dress with one hand and smoothes her golden hair with the other. Her cheeks are pinker than usual, her lips reddened and puffy.

She’s obviously been kissed—and recently—and I’m sorrier than ever to have interrupted. My own face grows hot while she waits for me to explain what I’m doing here. “I, well, I—”

My fumbled explanation breaks off with nervous giggles that turn into real ones as the irritation melts from Greer’s face and she joins me.

“You look positively mortified, Althea. It’s okay. Nat needed to get back to his post, anyway, and we always have trouble letting go.” She closes her eyes for a moment, until a huge, fluffy red chair appears that takes up half her alcove, then she flops onto it. “As Winston Churchill said, why stand when you can sit?”

Even though I’ve imagined things into being in the hive before, it’s only been out of necessity. I see now that it was an oversight, not using the powers of my mind for comfort as well. “Who’s Winston Churchill?”

She pats the vast empty space at her side, a silent invitation to sit, then rolls her eyes at me. “No one who matters anymore.”

Envy over her knowledge crawls through me, itching my skin like Griffin’s little mouse feet as I settle next to her. The chair is the softest thing I’ve ever sat on, I think, and press back into the cushions with a sigh.

“What are you doing here, Althea?”

“I wanted to find out what’s going on with Lucas.”

“Ah. Rock’s doing fine, from what Nat’s heard. He’s not stationed at the Harvest Site, but things seem to be going well. They’ve had the Wardens guarding the Underground Core stop the preparations to leave Earth.” She slides a quick gaze my way. “Maybe Lucas is doing a little too well.”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugs. “He seemed a little too eager to go to them, don’t you think? A mite too concerned about his father?”

Her concerns strike a nerve, bang on it until it vibrates denial through me at a low hum. “Apa’s his father. He almost died, and if Lucas hadn’t gone to the Harvest Site to help, Earth would be abandoned and withering away right now. He didn’t have a choice. He’ll come back.”

She doesn’t answer, tapping her feet together in a slow rhythm and avoiding my eyes.

“He’ll come back,” I whisper again for my own benefit.

Greer reaches out and slides her arm through mine until our elbows lie next to each other. The silent act of camaraderie springs tears to my eyes. I wipe them away, not caring if she sees.

It’s a while before she talks, though her mouth opens and closes a few times as though she can’t decide exactly the best thing to say. “He will, Althea. Rock will come back.”

In order to keep myself from disintegrating further, I turn the focus of the conversation back to Greer. “How’s Nat? Any changes there?”

“No. Nothing will change, as long as we’re so intricately connected to the rest of the Others. I mean, we can’t fight genetics.”

“Or how you feel about each other.”

“That’s my problem more than his, I’m afraid.” She gives me a small smile, her purple eyes soft around the edges. “But you’re learning. Except you’re still pretty stupid, since you’re wandering around the lion’s den outside your protection.”

“It’s nice talking to you.” I mean it, even though she just called me stupid.

“How about if I promise to find a way to come and visit, at least every couple of days? It’s too dangerous for you in here.”

Hope blossoms in my blood, fresh and flowing. It’s too much to bear, too foreign, and I squash it. “No. It’s too dangerous for you to manifest outside the prison with the Others watching.”

Greer’s expression darkens. “It will be safe enough while the Others are distracted. The bulk of their mental strength is at the Harvest Site, and the Wardens are all at the Underground Core—they’ve moved our holding cell there, too, the first time we’ve relocated in more than ten years. You’re definitely making them nervous, and coupled with this whole thing with Apa, now’s the time to make a move.”

“Wait. Are Zakej and Kendaja at this Underground Core, too?”

For the first time since the night I met her, Greer’s face completely closes down, swapping open friendliness and curiosity for a practiced arrogance that reminds me of her brother. “Yes. I mean, I haven’t seen her, but him.
Him
I’ve seen.”

The way she says it tightens cold tentacles around my heart. Self-loathing slides through me like sticky poison, but I can’t ask her to explain the change in demeanor. I just don’t want to know.

“So, the Underground Core is in Rapid City, then? And Deshi’s there?”

“Yeah. I haven’t seen him or anything, but that’s the rumor. You know that Deshi’s…” She gives me a funny look, her eyes bulging a little bit as she swallows hard, then again.

“Deshi’s what?” The memory of Cadi trying to tell me something about Deshi, about why it’s getting more impossible to rescue him with each passing day, brushes cold against my brain.

Greer merely shakes her head, then makes a motion like hands strangling her throat. Her violet eyes hold mine, communicating her meaning without the words that have clearly been stolen from her.

In that instant, it hits me. She can’t tell me—and Cadi couldn’t, either. Some bit of knowledge surrounding Deshi and what’s happened—or happening—to him in Rapid City has been stored behind those walls in the common Other mind that are impossible to breach, even by the half-Sidhe sitting beside me.

Questions build up in my mind, begging to be asked. Is Deshi alive? Is he completely useless because of all that he’s endured these past months?

I swallow them back, not wanting Greer to feel any more worthless than her face says she already does.

Anger replaces the sorrow in a split second, darkening her lilac eyes until they flash almost midnight blue. “You can’t. It won’t be easy. To get him.”

“I know, Cadi said the same thing. That seems obvious, though, since he’s inside this Underground Core.” I stop and think, wondering if there’s a way to let her tell me something useful while avoiding the protected answer. “Where’s the cabin, Greer? You said you and Griffin played there are children when you snuck out—is it near Rapid City?”

“It’s close, yes. Rapid City is in South Dakota. The cabin is in a town that used to be called Deadwood.” Her voice comes out relatively normal, and relief crosses her pretty face, even as frustration wrinkles her brow. “I can’t tell you any more about the Underground Core.”

“It’s okay. We found some maps. This is helpful.”

“You need to get going. I’ll come and see you in the next couple of days, okay?”

“Okay.” Before I can say good-bye, she disappears.

I close my eyes, pull heat from my middle and through the rest of me, and open them in the cabin. The worn mustard color of the sofa greets me, familiar but also chafing. We need to find Deshi. Maybe now that we know where he is, and we know he’s close, Pax and I could scout it out while we’re waiting for Lucas.

From what Griffin said, it sounds like Lucas will be finished with his duties soon. There’s still a chance that means he’ll be back in a couple of days. Wolf leaps onto the couch, settling on my feet as though he thinks he’ll keep me from leaving. The baleful look in his doggie eyes says he knows I left him for a while, and that he doesn’t approve of all the risk taking.

The chat with Greer improved my mood, though, as did finding out Lucas is okay, if only for today. In spite of myself, a smile lifts the corners of my lips at the memory of Griffin twirling me around the darkened corridor. I learned the meaning of a new word, and that we’re close to Rapid City. It doesn’t seem as though I’ll be able to sleep, but the sound of Pax’s deep breathing and the weight of Wolf’s body on my feet soon lull me into the darkness.

CHAPTER 10.