Blacklisted by Gena Showalter

Author:Gena Showalter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books

9

There were no windows, no doors that I could see. Not even a visible seam in the wall, where the agents had come and gone so freely. Yet I knew the door was there. I just didn’t know how we were going to get it open.

Erik must have read the confusion on my face because he smiled and whispered, “Trust me.”

I did, I realized. I’d come to trust him. Everything he’d said about A.I.R. had been true. “I do.” He’d worked here. He knew the ins and outs, knew the players we were up against. Escape, though, wouldn’t prove easy. We were under intense scrutiny, our every move monitored.

“Thank you.” He kissed me again, a swift meshing of our lips that rocked me to the core. When he pulled back, he was grinning and I was breathless.

I watched as he straightened and paced in front of me, left, right, left, right. The cell was small with nothing that could be used as a weapon. The only piece of furniture was the chair I sat upon and it was made of steel and anchored to the floor.

We needed a miracle.

I recalled how Shanel had once wanted to be an alien—no, not once, I realized. Earlier today. Wow. Seemed like a full year had passed since we’d driven to the Ship and my entire life had changed. She’d wanted superpowers, mind-control powers, something, anything.

For once, I wished to be an Outer, too. Who cared if you were taunted? Who cared if you were considered ugly? As long as you could protect yourself, as well as those around you, nothing else mattered.

“You able to walk?” Erik asked me. He scratched his ear and flattened one hand against the wall.

“I—think so.” I hurt everywhere now and weakness beat through me with heavy fists. But I’d force myself to walk to the end of the Earth if needed. Erik trusted me to do my part, and it was time I proved I was strong.

“Good.” He paced to the other side of the cell, scratched his other ear, and once again flattened his palms against the wall. “What about running? Think you can run?”

If he’d given me time to respond, I would have asked why he was speaking so loudly since A.I.R. was listening. But he didn’t. He dove on top of me, knocking me out of the chair and onto the cold, hard ground. I lost my breath, struggling to suck in air as his weight pinned me.

Boom!

A loud, screaming explosion rocked the cramped space. Metal chips and chunks of debris rained all around us. Even on top of us. A large piece slammed into Erik’s back and he hissed through his teeth.

Seconds later, an alarm screeched to life.

The air grew thick and black with plumes of smoke. I coughed.

“Stay low to the ground,” Erik said. He rolled off me, grabbed the wrist of my injured arm, and jerked me into a crouch.

I winced, instinctively trying to pull away.

He eyed me in confusion, realized what he’d done, and gave me a quick smile.

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