“What if my father got locked inside Elusion, like we are now?”
A crease of thoughtfulness appears across his brow. “Maybe. We know Patrick is capable of it. But why?”
I hesitate, trying to piece this hypothesis together.
“I don’t know. What if Patrick wanted Elusion all to himself? With my dad out of the picture, he became the face of the entire project. And he was able to change the programming in whatever way he wanted, without my dad to step in and say no.”
Josh nods. “Patrick has millions of dollars in his bank account. I’m sure he has the means to pay people off and make a plane accident look real.”
I know my anger toward Patrick should be festering like a fast-moving infection, but instead of being mad, I almost feel giddy. We finally seem to be closing in on the right answers to all our questions.
“If your dad has been in Elusion since the accident, then how could his body survive? Look at what happened to Anthony, and he wasn’t subjected to months of trypnosis,” Josh says.
I know Josh is right, but I can’t help but hope that my dad has found a way to survive. “We need to get past that firewall,” I say.
He hesitates and then gives me a quick nod. “Then we better get going; there’s no time to waste.” He bends down to examine his makeshift bandage. “How’s your leg?’
I look at my calf and notice that the bleeding has intensified. His shirtsleeves have almost soaked all the way through. When he touches it, I flinch, sensing a sharp yet throbbing pain through the muscle.
His eyes slide back up toward mine. “It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”
“I’m okay,” I say.
But that’s a lie, and Josh knows it. I may not be bleeding in the real world, but apparently my brain is still registering the pain.
Who knows what that could mean?
“I want you to promise me something,” I whisper to him. “If my leg gets worse and—”
“I’ll carry you.”
“No. I want you to promise me that you’ll leave me behind if you have to. That you’ll get to that firewall regardless of what happens.”
He looks startled and also a little angry. He glares at me in a way I’ve never seen before. Then he shakes his head.
“Don’t. You’re going to be fine.”
“Promise me,” I insist. “Promise me that you will leave me behind if you have to!”
He turns to me and brushes a strand of hair away from my eyes, the corners of his mouth turning up into an adoring smile. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
A crash of thunder sounds, and noisy, harrowing wind thrashes around us, causing us to stumble. It only lasts a moment, but it’s enough to make my lungs seize up, like they’re out of air.
“Looks like Elusion doesn’t like your answer,” I joke, clutching Josh’s hand and steadying myself.
“You’re right,” he says, the loving gaze I just witnessed gradually disappearing from his face. Now, he looks determined. Focused.
Like he’s plotting something.
“You’re so beautiful, Ree,” he says suddenly, as he cups my chin in his hands, running his thumb over my lips.
Next there’s an earsplitting sonic boom as a bolt of lightning cuts through the fog. Thunderclaps roar in the distance while my heart slams against my chest.
Ree? Josh has never called me that before. It’s always been Patrick’s pet nickname for me.
Another brutal gust of wind spirals all around us, covering our bodies in dust and clumps of thick mud. My hair is filthy, with bits of reed hanging from its strands. Josh grips me by my hips, holding me firmly in place so I don’t topple over.
Then he leans into me, nuzzling my ear as he whispers, “Notice how the thunder and lightning happened the moment I called you Ree? I think Patrick’s watching us somehow.”
I swallow hard, trying to move whatever has suddenly lodged itself in my throat. Can Patrick actually control what’s happening to us in this Escape? After all, he did design this one with me in mind, so perhaps this is all some kind of twisted game to him?
Josh’s fingers are caressing my cheek now, his nose nestled by my neck, and as good as this feels, I realize that he’s not doing it because he’s overcome by lust.
He’s trying to send me home.
“Patrick loves you, Regan,” he murmurs. “If you give him even a hint that he has a chance, he’ll forgive you. He’ll let you go and bring you home.”
“I’m not leav—”
Josh puts a finger to my lips, quieting me. “I’m going to kiss you. I want you to break away, push me, slap me . . . make it good. Tell me you don’t feel the same way. That you love Patrick.”
I’m barely able to refuse before he kisses me, but even though I know this is just for effect—that this is not like before, when he really wanted to kiss me—I respond in spite of myself, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting my lips press against his. As if on cue, the sky explodes with light as buckets of lime greentinted letters and numbers melt into liquid and begin to pour down on us.
Josh gives me a gentle shake, glaring at me, his face dripping with clover-colored water.
“Regan,” he whispers into my ear. “This is your chance!”
I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere without you,” I say, repeating what he told Avery when we were about to leave the carousel.
Josh exhales and his breath almost freezes in the air. The temperature is dropping by the second. Any colder and the emerald rain will turn into snow. I shiver as I look up at the lockout message, but it has totally disappeared.
“We’ve lost our North Star!” I shout over the next deafening clap of thunder.
“We don’t need it!” Josh yells, pointing.
The rain has done something unexpected—it’s lifted the fog and allowed us to see the dark, towering wall in the distance.
The stone fortress looms above us, looking like it has been standing in the same dismal patch of land for centuries. Soaked and muddy, we hold our ground in front of it, shielding our eyes from the rain as we scan upward toward the heavens, following the outline of the barrier against the sky, which is going berserk with lightning.
The wind continues to howl in protest as Josh takes a step forward, pressing his hand against the dirty, stained exterior. The wall appears to be made from roughly hewed stone bricks, each about six inches in diameter and length.
“Can we climb it?” I ask, my teeth chattering.
Josh runs his fingers around the edge of the rock, but can’t get a grip. “Looks like there’s some sort of ledge up there.” He takes a running leap and throws his body up at an indentation in the bricks above us. He ricochets off the wall, falling backward into the mud.