“How do they know about the papers?” Sylas whispers. “And if they did, why didn’t they just pick them up to begin with and destroy them.”
“I have no idea.” I pause. “Unless someone told them.”
Gabrielle and Monarch grow silent but then a shuffling sound causes Sylas to lean forward, carefully peeking around the corner from our hiding spot, ready to bolt if we have to. However, they’re still standing in the same spot, in a circle, Monarch and Gabrielle in the center.
“How do we even know that Aiden is telling us the truth?” Gabrielle sneers. My eyes widen as I feel Sylas tense beside me, his fingers brushing mine. Aiden? He was talking to the Highers? Was he the one who told them about the papers? I hate to think it, but he has to be.
“Aiden’s been programed by me since he was a small boy,” Monarch replies, swishing his robe behind him as he moves over beside the fire, peering at it. “Just like all of the children, he can’t lie to me, even when he fights it. He can try all he wants, but in the end, he tells the truth against his own free will without even understanding what he’s doing. He was telling the truth about the town and the papers.” He pauses and tears his eyes away from the fire, looking around. “And we’ll know in a few days what will happen to Aiden.”
“As I said before, we need to send our armies in and have them take over the town,” Gabrielle says in a low voice as he walks up beside Monarch. “We need to bring all the people back to us before Kayla returns there. We’ll have Mathew as our prisoner and without him, Kayla won’t understand how to make the cure.”
“You know that we can’t execute that command on our own,” Monarch says, turning to face Gabrielle. The two stand tall, rising to each other’s height, like they’re both trying to be commander, and the rest of the Highers hover back and watch. They looks almost the same, hair like snow, eyes that match, and I wonder if the man that I once thought of as my father is even in there anymore or if he’s dead.
“We must present it to the rest of the Highers and it must meet their approval. Rules. Remember?” Monarch asks.
“That could take days,” Gabrielle growls. “Even weeks.”
“We go by rules and order for a reason,” Monarch reminds him. “Everyone agrees, or we don’t go through.”
Gabrielle considers this for a long time with the fires crackling as the only backdrop noise. “Fine.” Gabrielle sounds angry, yet he agrees. “But we need to do it quickly. I want the army sent out as soon as possible, so that the humans are caught off guard.”
Monarch nods and then they hurry off in the opposite direction toward where the street narrows with the other Highers following behind them. I wait until they’re gone before I sit back down behind the car on the ground covered in ash drifting from the burning barrels.
There’s silence between us, neither of us knowing what to say about any of this—about Aiden.
“What do you think Monarch meant when he said that they’d know in a few days what was going to happen to Aiden?” I finally dare ask Sylas.
Sylas shakes his head as he stares out at the dark street in front of us, lined with broken cars. “I don’t know, but apparently Aiden told them everything he knew about Mathew and the cure.” His tone is tinged with anger.
“It wasn’t Aiden’s fault,” I say, because it’s not. I know what it’s like to be controlled like that. “You can’t blame him. Monarch said he programmed him to obey him and not to lie to him.” I always felt that Monarch cared about me. How wrong I had been to believe that. He was and always would be nothing, except a liar. A fake.
A Higher.
“This is bad, Sylas. We can’t let them send their army to that colony. Those people will be an easy target for the Highers and I left Maci and Greyson there… and if they capture Mathew, there’s going to be no hope left for a cure.” I blow out a stressed breath, thinking of poor Maci and how she’s injured. I thought I was keeping her safe by leaving her there, but now I’m not so sure.
“Then we need to leave now if we want to beat them there,” Sylas tells me, his eyes burning with determination. “We’ll have to let Aiden take care of himself.”
“But—”
He holds up his hand, cutting me off. “You have to let him go… you can’t save everyone, Kayla.”
I feel queasy as a memory surfaces in my thoughts.
“You need to learn to let go of your emotions, Kayla,” Monarch tells me, sitting beside me on the floor. “You can’t let yourself become attached to people.”
“But what about Sylas and Aiden?” I ask. “I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
Monarch looks disappointed in me. “There are other things more important than Sylas and Aiden. Much bigger things, and there will come a time when you’ll have to choose your battles; to let someone go. You need to realize that you can’t save everyone. Not if you are going to save the world.” He pauses. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I nod. “Yes, I understand. Getting the cure and saving the world is the most important thing,” I answer robotically.
He gives me a small smile, but his eyes are filled with remorse. “Good girl,” he says and then pats my head
I lean back against the wall as he injects my arm with a needle. I’ve gotten so used to it that I barely feel the sting. My vision grows blurry as his voice fades.
“I just hope you’ll remember this when the time comes,” I hear him say and then I slip into unconsciousness.
I blink my eyes. Sylas is snapping his fingers in front of my face. I shake my head as I look at him.
“Having another memory flashback?” he asks me, brushing ash out of his hair.
I glance around in the steel buildings, listening to the cries of the vampires from somewhere in the distance. “Yeah, and I think you are right. We’ll have to leave Aiden for now.” I hate saying it, but it feels right. “We need to get these papers back to Mathew and help them before the Highers’ army arrives.” I get to my feet and brush my hands down the back of my jeans, dusting off the dirt.
Sylas stands to his feet as I turn around and then we make our way back through the streets lined with barrels and vampires, heading towards Mathew and the colony. We move as fast as we can with the vampires’ screams piercing the air all around us, winding around cars, leaping over them, knowing we have to hurry. My only hope is that we make it back before the Highers’ army gets there.