James, Vic - Dark Gifts 01 - Gilded Cage by James Vic

Author:James, Vic
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2017-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

Ever since Oz’s capture two days before, Luke had been waiting for the tap on his shoulder, the grip round his arm. Or, just possibly, the baton to his skull.

But even when you were expecting it, your heart still half fell out of your chest when it came.

He’d just finished his shift, and had exchanged the searing heat of the components shed for the freezing streets. It was already dark, and dense flurries of sleet reduced visibility to almost nothing. He was only a few blocks from the Zone D gates when a hand tugged his sleeve. Luke’s pulse exploded and he bolted.

But not so fast that he didn’t hear a hissed “It’s me!” behind him.

He skidded on the wet pavement and turned.

“We’re getting ’im out tonight,” Renie said. She was standing in the alleyway, the sleet curdling around her in the yellow lamplight. “Oz. We need a ride. One of them shuttles to the outside. I’ve found us one. It’s in the depot for repairs. You’ve gotta make sure it’s okay and kill its GPS tracker.”

Luke boggled at her. Helping your dad fix up a vintage car didn’t exactly give you the skills for that sort of thing.

“We’ve gotta do it,” Renie said. “For ’im.”

So they did.

The van was exactly like the one that had carted Luke off to Millmoor. It triggered awful memories, of both that first day and Kessler in the storeroom. He was momentarily paralyzed with fear that they’d be caught in here.

He screwed his eyes shut and willed his hands to stop trembling. Told himself he could trust Renie to keep lookout, just as she’d trusted him to anchor the rope on the MADhouse roof.

With that realization, something inside him sparked. A small but crucial connection that sent the engine of his courage sputtering into life. Then revving and roaring.

Trust was what made everything possible. Trust lent you someone else’s eyes, someone else’s strong arms or quick brain. Made you bigger than just yourself. Trust was how the club worked. How this whole reckless dream of abolition could work, if people could just come together and hold their nerve. Not even the Equals—not even their Skill—would be more powerful than that.

Fixing the van itself was almost easy. Details of the repairs needed were on a clipboard hung on the wall. The vehicle’s key dangled from a row of hooks. The security seemed pretty lax—just a few CCTV cameras, which Renie had either navigated them past or disabled.

“Ha,” she said, when he pointed this out. “It’s not getting these wheels out of the depot that’s the difficult bit. It’s going to be getting ’em out of Millmoor. Three rings of Security and two chip-checks like what you have in Zone D.”

Which made it sound impossible.

“That’s where Angel comes in. She runs the Riverhead railroad. Smugglin’ people outta places is her specialty. She don’t normally do it like this, though. It’s usually lorries, hidden compartments, trusted drivers, that sort of thing. But our pal Oz is special delivery, so Angel’s comin’ here herself.

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