Unplugged: The Hidden World (#2, Unplugged Trilogy)

Chapter Nineteen

"You left him," I mutter, massaging my temples.

"Excuse me?"

"You left him. Your son. You left him!" In a fit of rage, Victoria steps forward and raises her hand, poised to slap me.

"What makes you say this? How dare you find the nerve to--"

"I know your son. He's unplugged now. Matthew Elliot, twenty years old, birthday in December--" She holds her hands to her ears and screws up her face.

"Stop it! Stop! You know nothing!" I force myself to quit speaking: not for Victoria's sake, but for my own. Every word I utter about Matthew feels like the twist of a dagger in my chest.

"What's going on?" Gale, horrified, whispers from the corner.

"I'll tell you exactly what's going on," Victoria growls, pointing an accusatory finger at me. She had regained herself, but her face is still red with emotion. "This little pest is accusing me of abandoning my son!"

"You did!" I hiss. "He told me himself!" For a brief moment, pain and surprise flicker across Victoria's face.

"He... He said that?" I nod, breathing hard.

"Among other things."

"I didn't leave him," she retorts, though she doesn't sound too sure. "I worked with my husband and he sent me away here." My stomach drops a little.

"Matthew told me that his mother died when he was six," I mutter. Victoria's face pales and her eyes fill with tears. She turns away to leave, but the door handle doesn't budge under her hand. She begins twisting the handle furiously, but it still doesn't give. She sighs and slowly slides down the wall in defeat.

"Locked in?" Gale suggests.

"Shut up."

"Now that you're here," I start carefully, "why don't you tell us what the heck this place is?" Personally I want to know more about Victoria's history with Matthew, but the matter of our imprisonment by giant draconian humanoid hybrids seems like a slightly more pressing matter.

"You heard the Master. He won't tell you anything."

"He won't. But you can." Victoria narrows her eyes at me.

"Why would I risk my head for you two?" Gale mutters a word under her breath that I would rather not repeat.

"Because... Well... Because your son cared about me, and he cared about all of those people John kidnapped from the Depot. And if that means anything to you, then I'd hope you want to save the world he's fighting to uphold."

"Fighting? What do you mean, he's fighting? Is he not still in New York?" Her urgency compels me to remain silent. What should I reveal? What should I keep secret? I can't reveal his hiding spot: who knows to whom Victoria would leak it to?

"He's been fighting against the elite with me. By now, he must have gone back to New York. He probably thinks I'm--" I can't say the word dead. Because then that makes my predicament too real. Gale places a consoling hand on my shoulder.

"And you should probably help us because you are locked in a jail cell with two angry enemies," she suggests. Victoria's face pales and I have to squeeze back a laugh.

"Fine," she spits, as though the word has a sour taste. "But if you breathe one word of this to anyone I'll--"

"Yeah, we get it," Gale says boredly. "Enough with the threats." Victoria glares at us both then settles against the wall with a sigh.

"John stationed me here at the base for fifteen years. He probably told Matt I'd died to avoid weird questions."

"Wait... It's already been fifteen years since you left New York! Why are you still here?" For a moment, Victoria's eyes glow with joy.