What Lies Above by Caitlin Lambert

Author:Caitlin Lambert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: teen and young adult science fiction, Teen & Young Adult Science Fiction Action & Adventure, young adult sci fi fantasy, ice planet, underground city, science fiction and fantasy, space fantasy
Publisher: Caitlin Lambert
Published: 2021-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

EVA

I cry until I am certain something inside of me has broken beyond repair. I feel like pieces of me are shattering moment by moment, falling into a void of anger and pain so deep that I can never claw my way back out. Finally, a cold, frightening kind of silence fills me, turning my pain to numb nothingness. I sit against the wall with my legs stretched out, the harsh light of my cell stinging my eyes.

The room is small, one wall paneled by a long mirror that stretches from floor to ceiling, reflecting the white that engulfs me. My small, hunched figure is the only thing breaking up the colorless room.

The man in the suit said I had two hours until my execution. I pull back my sleeve to see the little face of my Timepiece, but all I find is a bare wrist. Slamming my head hard against the wall, I sigh. I shiver so hard that the cold feels like it will never go away. It sinks deep into my bones, as if the frigid water from the river courses through my veins. Am I an hour away from my death? Five minutes?

I stay crumpled against the wall. There is so much more I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a Cultivator. I wanted to serve this city. Before Silas Peters died, I wanted so much. And now, all of that is over. I’ll never see the Grid again, or Amara, or Mother. So many people I loved have been taken in such a short period of time. And now, it’s my turn to be taken.

I am Mother’s only, and now I’ll be gone. The hurt is unbearable.

My instinct says I should climb to my feet, run my hands along the door and try to pry it open. Try to find a way out. But I have seen that no one can cheat death. I couldn’t save Silas, or Aaden, and I can’t save myself. This city is a prison like no other. The Surface is the only place to run, and it is too far. Too unreachable.

Instead, I pull myself to my feet and face myself in the mirrored wall. I have never seen my whole reflection before – only pieces – and I find myself gazing at it with a sort of fascination. It is like seeing another person through a window. I reach out and touch the cool glass, feeling it hum quietly beneath my fingers.

As I stare at it, the reflective sheen dissolves and someone is there watching me. It’s Kane.

I take a step back and scan the powder-gray room around him. He’s alone.

“Why didn’t you shoot me?” he says quietly. The softness of his voice throws me off. I am used to cruelty and deception coming from the lips of a Government officer, not quiet whispers and – I pause – pain?

Before I can process what to say, he continues. “Sergeant said that you lowered your weapon because Wilson had you cornered, but you and I both know that isn’t what happened.

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