I felt dizzy.
Lightheaded.
He used me to start the revolution. I would die for that a thousand times.
The fail-safe.
My father was going to kill the chosen ones. All of them.
I tried to yank my arm from Henry’s grasp but he wouldn’t let go. “You can stop fighting me. I’m not letting you leave this room. We came here for a reason. Now give me the code!”
I hated him. I hated my best friend. He had always been this person, and I was too blind to see it. Henry had been right when he said that I wanted to see the best in people.
“45981,” I mumbled.
“Good. Now, hold this,” Henry said, shoving his rifle into my hand. Once he turned his back to me to punch in the code, I knew what I had to do. Trust was a mighty powerful weapon in itself.
I whipped the rifle back and let it fly against the side of his head. With a grunt, he crumpled to the floor. I hadn’t killed him. He’d wake up. It was something.
“Don’t ever call me weak again,” I shouted over his body. I wouldn’t help him commit murder. I wasn’t like him.
The headquarters was under lockdown. The chosen ones were alert and ready to fight. I had George and my father trying to wipe every chosen one from existence.
But it didn’t matter.
I ran as fast as I could. Straight into the danger.
I had to save James.
…
Complete and utter chaos had erupted on the main floors of the council headquarters. I ducked my head as I ran through the mass of people that seemed to be everywhere doing everything. Like the roaches that scurried across the bathroom floor of the compound when the lights were turned on. There was a group of creators who worked together to pull free several paintings nailed to the wall. I wondered if they were trying to save the works of art for the sake of the art or steal them for themselves. Hidden amongst the clumps of men searching for a purpose were the natural girls forced into service. I watched as one girl pulled on another girl’s arm who lay curled in on herself in the corner, crying and wailing that the end had come. Several chosen ones ran past me in formation while creators huddled in corners arguing over strategies and best laid plans.
I had no idea where I was going. I didn’t know what the fail-safe entailed, so I didn’t know what to look for. I just ran as fast as I could through the halls, hoping to see my father or George, but mostly I searched for James. My father had taken him and Robert along.
That was the part I couldn’t wrap my brain around. Why would he have taken three chosen ones with him to activate the fail-safe that would kill them?
“Now, if you want the council gone, taking out that army is the first step.”
George wanted to die. He wanted to ruin the council so badly that he would sacrifice his own life for it. Like Henry, he was willing to die for his revolution. My father would certainly have no qualms about killing the entire chosen one species, including his son-in-law and the boy his daughter loved, but George must have lied about what the fail-safe did to get Robert and James onboard.
As I rounded the corner, I practically collided with three chosen ones who formed a barrier in front of the offices of the inner circle. If there was a place to start looking for a fail-safe, it would be here.
One of the chosen ones grabbed me by the shoulders. “This area is off limits,” he warned.
I swallowed back my fear. “I…I was just looking for Richard Harper. I was assigned to his family, and I can’t find him anywhere. I need to make sure he’s safe.”
“He’s not here. Now move along,” he commanded.
If the chosen ones were still guarding the main offices, it meant that either my father’s men hadn’t reached them yet, or the fail-safe was located there. Or both. I mumbled an apology and turned to walk away. I would have to find a way past those men.
Suddenly, standing in front of me was a man I recognized from my father’s army.
“How many times do I have to repeat myself? This area is off limits,” the chosen one screamed at my father’s man.
The chosen one didn’t know. How would he? My eyes darted to my father’s solider as he opened his jacket, revealing an intricate maze of wires. I bolted. As fast and as hard as I could. I wasn’t far enough away to miss what he yelled at the chosen ones who stood before him. “You’re done telling me about my limits!”
I pulled open the door closest to me, throwing myself in.
That was when the first explosion went off.
The bells were back. Ringing so loud inside my ears that each time the blasted noise rang, the sound clutched onto the vertebrates of my spine, separating and smashing them back together, paralyzing me with pain.
But I didn’t have time to waste.