High Society (The High Stakes Saga #3)

I nodded. “Please.”

She removed a bag from her backpack. “I’ll have to sedate you.”

“I can handle the pain.”

“Maru—”

“I want to be lucid,” I interrupted, my voice stretched as thin as I felt. “I never want to forget another moment of my life, even if it’s painful.”

“Okay, then you can watch the live, streaming feed from the Haven during the procedure to occupy your mind. We’ll need something for you to bite down on, too.” She reached in her backpack and grabbed a bundle of white fabric. “And you’ll need this.”

It was a tech suit. In one of the darkened bedrooms, I undressed and tugged on the too-tight suit, then made my way to the kitchen. Yarrow worked by candlelight, but she worked fast. With a wooden spoon clenched between my teeth, I cried, panting as she cut me open. Not only because of the pain, but because of the video feed that showed thousands of humans thriving in what looked like a neighborhood, helping one another, actually smiling. And it was all because of the monsters we were told to hate.

Yarrow threaded wires into my veins, wove and inserted circuitry between muscle and sinew, until it fused with my body. She didn’t even have to stitch me up. The suit was already working to accelerate my body’s response and the incision began to close on its own, my skin knitting together without a blemish.

“I wish I had their upgrades,” I posed ruefully.

Her eyes widened. “That’s another thing I meant to tell you.”

Just then, Enoch’s device buzzed on the table. I picked it up to read his message. I’m in the alley out back, he had written.

I looked up at Yarrow and showed her the message, pressing a finger over my lips. I walked to the bedroom and retrieved my clothes, pulling them on top of the suit. I grabbed a nearby pen and pad of paper, and scratched until the ink came out. I’ll see you to the Haven. Then I need to jump. Don’t tell him what I’m planning.

She nodded rapidly, her expressive brown eyes wide. I grabbed her hands and mouthed the words Thank you.

She’d risked everything to help me.

I slipped Eve’s letter into her bag as I gathered our things. She would keep it safe for me. Eve wanted it burned, but a fire here was too risky. Even the smallest amount of smoke would be noticeable in an area believed to be abandoned.

She grabbed the notepad and scrawled: Only I can track you. I’ve protected and encrypted your data so many times, the techies would spend months unraveling it all. No one will know you’ve jumped or where / when you are. They’ll eventually notice the missing tech, but I think you’ll be home before they realize what’s happened.

I nodded.

Kael has been letting them jump on their own, but directing when and where they land. He has the ability to move them through time at his command, and he has the ability to terminate any or all three of them at any time. I’m afraid if he finds out the tech is missing, he might be able to hack in and terminate you as well. I’ll do my best to cloak your data and keep him away from you.

My stomach sank.

“Thought you should know,” she whispered. “I need to tell you more later.”

I nodded and guided her to the back door, where I slid the furniture out of the way and peeked into the alley.

Enoch stood there alone, a few feet from the door. “Are you ready?”

“We are,” I answered, holding the door open for Yarrow.

Chapter Ten

Eve

Titus ran beside me through the fields and into the woodland between Asa’s plantation and Enoch’s. “Thanks for not ditching me,” he finally said, breaking the tension in my shoulders loose.

“I wouldn’t do that. We don’t leave each other behind, right? Teammates to the end?”

“Teammates to the end,” he confirmed with a smile.

To the east, we heard the sloshing of boots coming from a nearby creek. Titus drew a stake. Mine was already clutched in my hand.

The vampire heard us coming. He was standing in the middle of a wide, shallow stream, facing us. His eyes were sharp and they caught on my stake and then Titus’s. “You expect that splinter to protect you?” he taunted. He smiled, baring his fangs. Moonlight glistened on the water as it moved lazily around him.