Blaise's sister is in the channels? I thought Blaise's sister was dead?
A troubled sensation washes over me as a few pieces of the puzzle connect.
This place isn't some weird place Blaise is trapped in. This is from his past. How did I get here? And from the present, because that's the only way the number on my wrist could exist.
Am I accessing Blaise's memories somehow?
"Are you or aren't you going to help us?" Blaise presses with urgency.
I don't know what to do, what the correct answer is, what exactly happened in this memory. So, I'm left making my own choice.
"I'm from the channels," I admit. "But I'm not quite sure where the location is."
Hope flashes in his eyes. "If I showed you a map, would you recognize it?"
"I'm not very good with maps," I say, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt. "But I can try if you want me to."
Blaise nods then turns to Zander. "Think you can sneak us into the library?"
Zander rolls his eyes. "Do you even have to ask?"
Blaise practically bounces with excitement. "Then let's go before the meeting gets out and Fredrick comes looking for us."
Zander walks to the back of the room, pushes open the swinging doors, and lifts his chin, signaling for me to follow.
I free an anxious breath before trailing behind him with Blaise at my heels. When I reach the door, Zander steps to the side and gestures for me to go in. I hesitantly cross the threshold and step into a slender hallway lined with rusted doors, all of which are shut and deadbolted from the outside.
I gulp, worried what could possibly be locked in there. Monsters? Something evil? Or is this place like the channels and locks up the innocent?
Feeble cries and pleas drift through the small, square windows of each door as I proceed down the hallway with Blaise and Zander by my sides. The dirt ground is chilled against my bare feet, and the arctic temperature sends me into a fit of shivers.
"They're Fredrick's prisoners," Zander announces when he notices me glancing at the doors. "For the most part, Blaise and I try to free the people he captures, but there are some people who deserve to be locked up."
"Like criminals?" Water drips from the ceiling and splatters across my forehead. I reach up to wipe them away, but Blaise beats me to the punch.
"You know, you do seem sort of familiar," he states as he drags his thumb up the center of my forehead, wiping the water away.
"That's because I wasn't lying about us knowing each other." I stare at him, mesmerized by how easily he touched me.
He seems to suddenly notice this, too, and hastily jerks back. "I'm sorry ... I usually don't do that kind of stuff."
"Touch people's foreheads?" I ask as water drips between my eyes.
Blaise faces forward with his jaw set tight. "Touch people in general."
"Oh." What I would give to tell him that eventually he'll get better with that, at least enough to kiss me. That declaration would probably freak him out.
"You still haven't told me where you met me," he says without making eye contact.
"We crossed paths in the fault once," I say since I know Blaise has been there before.
"Really?" He gives me a dubious look. "You've been in the fault?"
I tug at the bottom of my shirt, feeling self-conscious. "Why is that so hard to believe?"
"You just seem ... I don't know"--he runs his hand over the top of his head--"fragile."
"I'm not as fragile as I look," I admit softly.
He nods, as if understanding. "I fully believe it."
Shock courses through me. "You do?"
He nods. "If you escaped the channels, you have to be strong."
"Well, I had help."
"From who?"
"Um ..." I scratch the corner of my eye. "From these guys."
He stops in front of a red door at the end of the hallway, his forehead furrowing. "Where were these guys from?"
I don't know if I should tell him. According to what I was told by Ryder, Blaise has lived at Leviter Station since he was younger. So, if this is a memory, he'll know about the station and who Ryder and Reece are.
"I don't know," I lie, stopping beside Blaise. "Some guys just showed up at my cell one day and helped me escape."
"And then just left you?" Blaise asks as Zander unlocks the deadbolt of the red door.
The crying and screaming and pleas grow louder.
"Help me!"
"Don't leave me!"
"Free me!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Please, miss, I have a family!"
Memories of being locked up in my cell attack me at every angle. I want to throw my hands over my ears, block the voices out. No, what I want to do is help every single one of them. If only I knew why they were locked up.
What is this place?
"Um, sort of." I hate the untrue words that keep leaving my tongue, but I don't know what else to do. Explain to him what's going on. Hope he doesn't pull his gun out on me again. Or worse, lock me up behind one of these doors.
"Well, that's awful." The gadgets on Zander's wrist begin to rotate as he grabs the door handle. Then his wrist kinks as he drags the door open, the gadgets rotating every step of the way.
I start to question if perhaps, like Blaise, Zander is a Forbidden, too; if the metal on his wrist is actually his wrist, and the gadgets and springs allow him to move.
"Never seen a Forbidden before, have you?" Zander remarks when he notes the direction of my gaze.
"No, I have once." I chew on my thumbnail, looking between Blaise and Zander. "I've just never seen a wrist move that way before."
Grinning, Zander elevates his arm, drags his sleeve down, and begins bending his wrist back and forth. The gadgets spin and the springs squeak with every robotic movement.
"It's better than a real wrist." He grins proudly then glances at Blaise. "Although, this one over here will probably disagree with me. He thinks the metal structure is more of a flaw than a gift."
"That's because it is." Blaise steps toward the door, his expression hardening.
"That's a matter of opinion." Zander rolls his sleeve down, lowers his arm to his side, and turns toward me. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret about us Forbidden."
"Okay." I glance at Blaise, who's wandering away from us, then back at Zander. "What is it?"
"It's a lovely secret," he teases, as if purposefully being vague.
I fight back a smile, unsure whether the reaction is appropriate. "Are you going to tell me?"
"I don't know." He thrums his finger against his bottom lip. "It might be better to just let you guess."
"I'm not very good at guessing," I admit. "It could take forever, and then Blaise will probably get upset."
Zander smiles cleverly, pointing a finger at me. "You're observant."
No, I just know Blaise better than you think. "Yeah, I guess."
"No guessing," he jokingly scolds. "You are, and you should be proud of that."
I feel like the biggest liar ever. "Are you going to tell me your secret?"
His smile illuminates his face. "All right, but only because you begged."
"I did?"
"Well, technically you didn't, but I'm going to pretend you did."
A smile breaks through. I don't even know where it stems from, other than Zander's smile feels contagious. In a way, he kind of reminds me of Ryder.
Glancing from left to right, Zander leans in until his face is only inches from mine. "My secret is how to win the heart of a Forbidden."
I part my lips to ask him why I need to know that, but he raises his hand, shushing me.
"Now, I know what you're thinking. Why on earth would I ever want to win the heart of what some see as an abomination? But let me tell you, us Forbiddens aren't as awful as some like to believe."
"I don't think you're awful," I tell him. "Not at all."
"And that's why I'm telling you this secret," he says with a grin. "Because I have a feeling that one day you're going to own the heart of a Forbidden."