I followed Kit inside, and Deacon shut the door behind us. Past that door was a smaller room, one with couches and cabinets along the outside wall. There was a door on the far wall, and from inside, I could pick up the soft steps of a single person approaching.
It didn’t seem like a setup or an ambush.
Sure enough, the steps came toward the door a moment before it opened.
And standing there, the savior Bowen had promised, the one who was supposed to offer us a path to freedom, was someone I recognized instantly.
Moa stood there, her eyes widening when she spotted me.
The past never stayed put, did it?
Chapter Eight
Hera
Sitting with Knox, Brax, Wade, Deacon and Kit reminded me that while I wasn’t alone as I faced my past, boy, was my old life over.
Moa sat in a chair, having said little after we’d stared at each other for a long, silent minute.
I’d grown up with Moa as my best friend, a connection to my past. We had spent countless nights staying up late, talking about boys and gossiping until the sun came up. There had been a time I'd have considered her the closest person to me, yet now we sat across from each other with a year of pain and uncertainty between us.
No matter how strange things were between us, I didn’t think she’d trick shades into danger. Even before I’d changed, most of our fights had been about her wanting to help shades and my distrust of them. I couldn’t bring myself to think that could have changed. For that reason, I had called in the others who had waited outside, and it left us all sitting on the couches along the wall, pressed together and quiet.
Even if I was wrong, even if Moa wasn’t as trustworthy as I wanted to believe, she was still just a human against six shades.
“I can’t believe you’re really here,” Moa said, her eyes catching the light from unshed tears.
I swallowed hard, unsure how to respond. How had it been so long since I’d seen her face or heard her voice? It took me back to the night everything had changed, to when we’d walked around the mall and gotten those charms together.
What happened to mine? I hadn’t had it when I’d woken in Larkwood, figuring it had been thrown away at some point, people thinking it worthless. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but faced with Moa, her own charm on a chain at her chest, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I pictured it in the trash somewhere, nothing more than a testament to everything else I’d lost.
“It’s been a while.”As soon as I signed, Moa’s frown told me she didn’t understand ASL. A quick look in Kit’s direction had him nodding and repeating me.
Moa glanced between Kit and me, then swallowed hard. Was it fear of Kit, of me, or just pity?
Were any of those better than the rest?
Probably not…
“Bowen didn’t tell me who was coming, but I never expected you.” She peered at Knox, Brax and Wade. “I knew those three escaped—it’s been all over the news—but I didn’t know you did.”
“Bowen just said I’d meet someone to help us. I had no idea you were doing work like this.”
Moa shrugged. “You knew I’d worked with some groups to help shades in high school, but after you were taken away, I couldn’t sit around and do nothing. I couldn’t do anything for you, but I thought about how many others there were, so I got involved with a group who helps smuggle shades out of the country.” She dropped her gaze, as if ashamed. “I wanted to help you, I really did, but there were roadblocks everywhere. Every time I tried to do anything, I couldn’t find any information. Your parents said you’d gone abroad, and it was like every trace of you was gone. Even when I tried to contact Larkwood after you called me, they claimed you weren’t there. I’m so sorry, Hera. I didn’t know what else to do.”
I shook my head.“It’s not your fault. I know you did everything you could.”
Even as I told her that, the words stuck. Here Moa was risking herself to help shade and she wasn’t even one. Me?
I was running away from everything, ready to put it all behind me and act as if it weren’t my problem. It took me back to the selfish girl I’d been before everything had changed, the one who hadn’t cared about anything but myself.
Maybe I hadn’t really changed at all…
“I never thought I’d see you again,” she whispered, a tremble to her shoulders, the actions making her seem so young.
Wade pushed my arm, his touch insistent, and I offered him a glare before realizing what he wanted from me.