Cridex

Chapter Thirty Two

"You know what this means?" Jonas hissed in a low voice, glancing over to Camden and Imogen, who was perched on the duvet of the bed as if she were a small bird of prey, "Do you know what this means?"

"How could we not," Camden stood from the bed, rubbing his bandaged arm, and then scrubbing his face with his palm. When he uncovered his expression a wide grin split his features, "For one, we'll get to go home."

"Home?" Imogen whispered reverently, "Really?"

"This information that Ellery brought back," Jonas waved frantically over to me, still dressed in my evening gown, "it won't just get us a ticket home, it will make us heroes!"

"Heroes?" I questioned, uncrossing my arms and unwinding my hair from its elaborate style with a sigh. My stomach turned at the thought of going back to the base camp- churning waves of panic that flooded over my body and wearied me even more than the action packed night had.

"We can bring them down with this information," Camden continued, "We can expose the city while the others search for this society!"

"Camden-" I tried to interject, to curb his enthusiasm a bit, but he never wavered, as if he never told me.

"This is it!" He threw his arms up in the arm, his face jubilant. "We did it!"

"Don't you think we are jumping to conclusions?" I asked, the unnamed panic I was feeling seeping into my voice, "We need to remain cautious."

"Ellery is right," Jonas nodded, "We need our aim to be perfect on this deathblow. Check, and double check."

Camden swallowed visibly, and grinned down at the carpet lining the floor, "You are right," He sat back down on the bed and sent a glance over Imogen. "It's late. You girls need to get some rest. You only came in here to check on my arm in the first place."

Imogen placed her hand over his gingerly and smiled gently, "We are all just as excited as you. The city will get what's theirs. You can be sure of it, Camden."

He shook his head, but his smile stretched further.

"How is your arm?" I sent him a concerned glance, "Healing?"

"Healing." He grimaced a bit as he unwrapped a portion to show me the circuitry exposed underneath, "I'll never be the same after this, I knew that going in to this mission. Now I just have physical proof." He chuckled and shook his head, then jutted his chin to the door, "Go. We need you to rest. Check on Gaige. Tomorrow, we'll expose the city and its councillors for what it truly is."

"Yeah," I strode to the door, and gave them a glance back as Imogen walked out in front of me. "We will."

Imogen had already gone into our room and through the open door I could see she was tending to Gaige on the bed. His face was flushed, but he physically looked much healthier than when I had left him.

"How is he?" A voice spoke out, and I wasn't surprised to see Dane standing to my right.

"Better," I nodded, "He doesn't bite, you know. You could go visit him."

"No, I trust your care of him is sufficient." He shook his head and eyed me straight on, eyes softening before he glanced away, "We need to talk about the ways we can expose the city."

"Ways? Plural?"

"One is a televised public service announcement." he trailed off, indicating that that was not his preferred method.

"And?"

"I have a meeting, tomorrow." He clasped his hands behind his back. "Public, in front of the many delegates of the city. We present the facts in front of them and then leave it to them to try to refute. My guess is that they won't be able to if we catch them off guard."

"Sounds..." I looked up at him and saw the anticipation in his eyes, similar to what Camden was showing. "Dangerous. For both sides."

"You'll have to contact the rebel base camp. Get them to contact the society- send them the coordinates that you remember, and tell them to prepare for a fight." He lowered his voice fiercely.

I nodded, "Alright. I'll tell Jonas tonight, have him make contact and they can get a head start."

"That's the spirit," He inhaled sharply, opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something important, "Ellery, I think that-" A short alarm went off, resonating through the dark corridors of the mansion. Dane tensed, straightening his spine as he hurried down the hall.

"Dane?" I called after him and picked up my own pace, "Dane, what is it?"

"Someone has come to call on you, sir," Etienne said, appearing around the corner, and gave a reverent bow at the end of the hall, but despite his formal appearance you could tell that he was startled by the late night visit.

"Thank you, Etienne, show them in immediately." Dane worked his jaw, refusing to glance me in the eye.

"You know what this is, don't you?" I asked him, "But you are refusing to share. Why?"

"Ellery, I am saying this for your own good- back off. If you hear so much as a struggle, I want you to gather the others- Gaige included- and leave. Get as far away as pos-"

"Councillor Archer," A familiar voice spoke out, cutting him off, "So glad that you deemed it fit to see me at such a late hour."

"Trevor, when the clock reads past midnight I believe we can be on a first name basis." Dane bit out the welcoming words as if they were poison. "We are, after all, not going to be talking politics and business tonight."

Trevor chuckled, catching my gaze and holding it for a minute. "No," He shook his head, "I don't believe we will be. I had suspected that you and Isabella were not being truthful tonight. Now I have proof. Won't you join us, Miss Ellery?"

I swallowed and stepped warily forward, glancing over to an apprehensive Dane. "What is this?"

"He knows," Dane grit out, "about everything."

"How?" I breathed out, and glanced back to Trevor, my teeth chattering once with the sharp motion.

"I saw you. I heard you in the hallway, too. When you were caught? It doesn't take a genius to fill in the blanks. You were going to expose us."

"We still are," I grit out, glancing pointedly at the empty space behind him "Or do you have an army hidden in your pocket?"

"Better," Trevor grinned, eyes narrowing in a cold glance as he tapped his forefinger to his temple. "I have information." He glared over to Dane, "And what my wired friend hasn't told you, is that out on the street I have to beat cops waiting to arrest Councillor Dane Archer for treason. Along with the other members of his household, of course."

I took a step back in fear as I saw Dane's head sink in regret, "Dane? What is he talking about?"

"He knows," he repeated, "about everything. Even me, Ellery."

"That's correct. Imagine the citizens surprise when the most outspoken supporter of the council is none other than one of the slaves and rebels we work so hard to keep down?" He mocked a gasp, quirking an eyebrow to the side, "Imagine how any information he- or anyone of his association- carries would be completely discredited."

"You monster!" I cried out, shouting as loud as I could in warning to the others in the rooms just around the corner, "You are arresting him? You are exposing him as a cyborg to make sure we don't succeed in liberating our people?"

"Indeed." Trevor sniffed and brushed off his lapel, "You'll be taken away," he waved his hand and the beat cops stormed into the entryway.

He grinned as they stormed through, and we heard the shrieks of Imogen and the shouts of Jonas and Camden make their way towards us as they were arrested. Another set of cops came towards us and grasped my arms behind me.

Trevor moved forward, leaning over my much smaller frame with a dirty smile, "Trust me when I say," he pinched a lock of my hair between his two fingers, and lifted it up for examination, his infernal smile still burning. "We have plans for you."