The Ends of the World (The Conspiracy of Us #3)(68)

While we were in the air, Rocco had been communicating with the one member of Lydia's team he trusted. We couldn't be certain of his loyalty, but it was the best chance we had. Now he dropped his gun to his side and raised his folded hands to his forehead in the Circle's gesture of respect. "Omar?" I mouthed. He nodded. "Are there any more with you?" I whispered. He shook his head.

"Lydia!" I yelled. "All your guys are dead. Give us Anya and we'll let you live."

She didn't answer. I pushed on with the plan, still holding on to Stellan. He was barely holding back from charging up the stairs right now. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and flipped on the recorder. "What is this even about, Lydia?" I called. She didn't answer. We crept slowly up the stairs. "You kidnapped Stellan's sister to get us here for our blood. That I understand. But I still don't understand why you're doing any of it." Still nothing. I went on, "Why attack the Circle, first with all those assassinations, then with the virus? Why blame it on us? Is it all really just for power?"

"If you say it in that way-just power-you still don't get it," she finally called back. I could tell by her voice that she was still a couple of flights above us.

I gestured to Omar, pointing him to the end of the hall, where we'd seen another stairwell.

"Why, then? Why do you think you deserve to be the ones to rule the Circle?"

"God, Avery. You've never even tried to understand," she spat. "We're the only ones who aren't afraid to do what we have to to keep our family, our country, the Circle safe. We're going to make the Circle great again, like we used to be, with our family at its head. It's not about power at all. It's about family. Our family. Your family, too, if you'd actually ever cared about your family."

We were getting closer to her. I held up the phone, wanting to capture everything she said. "It turns out I don't believe in sacrificing other people's families for my own family's gain," I yelled.



       
         
       
        

"That's where you and I will always be different," she said.

Stellan growled like a feral animal. I knew that was the last straw, and we had what we needed. I let go of him, and he took off up the stairs.

When I caught up, he was on a circular landing. This floor was different. Here, too, one side of the building was gone, but the other led to what looked like a bathhouse, with sinks along one side and small rooms to the other.

Stellan ran to the first door on the left hallway. When he turned the knob and found it locked, he yelled something in Russian and slammed his gun into the window that took up most of the door, shattering the frosted glass. Nothing. He ran to the next, and the next, smashing it. "Stop," I called, running after him. "She's not here."

"There is no stop," he roared, and smashed not his gun but a bare fist through the last door. He turned, blood dripping from his hand. "Lydia!"

Where was she? We were at the top of the building. Through the collapsed wall, I could see out over the ghost town below.

Stellan ran down the only place still left to go-the hallway-and I had no choice but to follow. I held my gun ready, praying Omar had made it here to back us up.

The hall dropped us in a small wooden room. A sauna. It smelled like rot and something sickly sweet. Stellan coughed. "Lydia-" he said, and coughed again. And then I coughed.

"Get out of here," I said. "Mold. Or something-"

Suddenly, I felt the floor dip beneath me.

I stumbled.

She's knocking down the building, I thought. That was her final play. She'd trap us-but the walls were moving, too. Not falling, just bowing inward, rolling.

I swayed. Stellan's footsteps running across the floor, his face in mine. My legs collapsed, and he caught me.

"Avery," he called, from far away. His blind rage had blinked off, just like that. He was terrified. For me. My head spun.

"Kuklachka." His voice dragged my mind back. I tried to stand. I couldn't stand.

Another jolt. Stellan shaking his head, blinking. The floor coming up to meet us as he collapsed, too.

She's drugged us, said a small, confused voice in the back of my mind. The virus? No. Some other drug. That's why she brought so few people with her, because she knew she had this. One step ahead- And then, She'll only capture me. She'll kill Stellan. Everything in me shattered into panic. In my head, he had a bullet through his heart. In my head, blood was streaming down his face, just like my mom's. Get up, I shouted to him, but only inside my head. Run. Leave me here. If you're not okay, I don't know if I can-