“That was awesome!” Rand said, pumping a fist in the air. “You could’ve let me fall faster though. Where’s your sense of fun?”
One by one the rest of them went through. Adrien felt bulkier in the air than I expected, but I was glad because it meant he was still putting on weight. Finally no one was left but Xona. She gritted her teeth and walked over to Cole. She looked up at the ex-Reg who towered a good foot over her and took several quick breaths. I could see her arm trembling slightly as he reached toward her, but she managed to stand still. Cole hesitated before gently placing his metal-reinforced hand on her waist. She jerked away. “I can’t.”
“Xona,” Tyryn started. Cole dropped his hand.
“I can’t.” She spun on her heel and ran out of the room.
For a second no one said anything, then Ginni grabbed my hand and we headed out the door. We caught up to Xona halfway down the hall. She’d slumped to her knees, her hands covering her face.
Ginni dropped down and smoothed her hair out of her face, rubbing Xona’s back with her other hand. I crouched down too. “Talk to us,” Ginni said. “Tell us what’s wrong.”
When Xona finally looked up, her face was tear-stained. I was stunned. The only emotions I’d ever seen from her were annoyance or anger.
“My mom and I were sleeping when they came.” Xona’s voice was a low guttural whisper. “Out of nowhere, there’s this huge boom and the wall was blown in on us. A beam landed on Mom and me. I was able to crawl out from underneath it, but she was trapped. That’s when the Regulators burst into the room.
“They were animals. Dad fired off a couple of rounds, but they all bounced off the Regs’ chests. Then one Reg grabbed my dad by the neck. The snap of his spine was so loud.” She winced. “I’ll never forget that sound.” Another tear escaped from one eye and ran down her cheek before she swiped it angrily away.
“Oh, hon.” I reached out to put an arm on her shoulder, but she just shrugged me off and kept talking, staring at the wall like she was watching the memory play out.
“I should have made Tyryn stop and get the beam off of Mom. I should have made him save her instead of me. But I didn’t.” Another errant tear escaped. “Tyryn grabbed me up in his arms and took off. I watched over his shoulder as a Regulator crushed her chest like she was nothing.” She looked up at Ginni and me. “I know everyone thinks I’m a jerk for not being able to stand the ex-Regs and saying they aren’t human. But what human being could do that? And how could I ever see them as anything other than the monsters they are?”
Xona turned her face away and wept. This time she let Ginni and I get close to hug her, our arms around her like a shield.
Over her shoulder, I could see Cole standing in the doorway with a pained look on his face as he watched Xona’s back shake with sobs. I didn’t know how much he had overheard, but it was obviously enough. He looked over at me, raising his eyebrows and gesturing a question. I shook my head. No, I didn’t think he should come talk to her.
Cole sighed, his shoulders limp as he turned to walk the opposite direction down the hallway. His reinforced legs made a rhythmic hydraulic hiss as he disappeared from view.
Chapter 20
I STARED AT ADRIEN over my steaming bowl of protein goo. Yesterday I’d finally tracked him down and asked him what was wrong.
“Nothing,” he’d said with averted eyes. When I reached out and touched his arm, he flinched away from me. At first I thought he was still angry and hurt that I had accused him of foreseeing the sabotaged mission and not stopping it. And could I blame him? He already felt so guilty about his visions causing horrible things, and I’d just reinforced it with my accusations.
Still, it had been over a month since we’d been back. I couldn’t help wondering if it was about more than him just being hurt at what I’d said. All kinds of doubts nagged at the edges of my mind. What if he simply didn’t want to be with me anymore? Our romance had been a whirlwind from the start, but what if now that I was actually here, living in close proximity to him, he realized I wasn’t the girl he’d built me up in his mind to be? He’d been walking around with these visions of this amazing leader in his head, but in person I didn’t match up.
Today Adrien was sitting at the other end of the Caf with a guy I didn’t know. He clearly wasn’t a Rez fighter. I squinted.
“Who is that?” I nudged Ginni and pointed over to him.
“Oh,” Ginni smiled. “That’s…” She paused, eyebrows coming together. “It’s … give me a second. I swear I know his name.” She frowned. “But I can’t seem to remember it now that I try to think of it.”
Adrien suddenly looked up and caught me staring. I quickly glanced away. In case he was trying to avoid me, I didn’t want to embarrass myself. I was glad when Saminsa walked past, and I shifted my gaze to pretend I’d been watching her as she dropped the rest of her food in the trash and left the Caf.
Adrien quickly stood up and headed towards us, the other boy with him following suit.
“Hey everyone,” he said, his voice light and easy. “This is Simin.”
“Hi,” Ginni said, standing up. She grabbed his hand and pumped it. “It’s so lovely to meet you, Simin!”
The boy pulled his hand away, pointing to the book open on Ginni’s tablet by her plate. “You’re reading that again? Doesn’t it always make you cry?”
“How did you know that?” Ginni gasped. “Is your power telepathy?”
Simin sighed. “We’ve met like ten times already.” He looked over at Adrien. “I told you this was a dumb idea.”
“Nah,” Adrien said, putting a hand on Simin’s back and pushing him lightly into a chair at our table. “The more days in a row they see you, the better chance they’ll have at remembering you.”
“Remembering him?” I asked.
“Simin is the glitcher who keeps the Foundation’s location safe. Anyone who meets him immediately forgets that they saw him. Taylor has anyone who visits talk to Simin before they leave, and they forget where they’ve been.”
“So why can’t I remember him?” Ginni asked. “I haven’t left the Foundation.”
“It doesn’t just work on people leaving,” the boy said, staring down at the ground uncomfortably. “Everyone forgets me.”
“Whoa,” Rand said. He stared at the boy, frowning. “You don’t like, live in the dorms with us do ya?”
“I stay in the security hub,” Simin mumbled. His eyes darted back to Ginni before quickly looking away.
I remembered going to the security hub once with Adrien, but when I tried to think about anyone else there, the details became indistinct.
“The hub’s below the Foundation,” Adrien continued. “Simin’s a techer too. He handles all the communications for the Foundation.”
“So how do you remember him?” I asked. Adrien looked at me, our eyes holding each other’s gaze for a moment before he answered.
“I wrote it down and put a note on the side of my bed to look at each morning. Figured he could use some company.”
My heart swelled. Despite everything weighing on his shoulders, Adrien still thought so much about other people.
“Can I sit here?” Adrien pointed at the empty chair beside me. He leaned over. “I’m sorry for how busy I’ve been lately,” he whispered in my ear. “I’ve been researching with Simin on a task for the General. But I miss you.”
His breath was warm on my neck and I felt the chills race up my arms. It was the closest we’d come to touching in so long. I felt a rush of relief. I’d been making a big deal out of nothing. He did still want to be with me, he’d just been busy.
“I missed you too,” I said, and grabbed his hand. The second my skin connected with his I felt a wave of warmth and security wash down my body. I tugged him down and he sat. A shy smile warmed his face. I interwove my fingers with his, my hand a perfect fit.