Page 53

Our pilot touches the plane down on a lone runway lined with tall snowdrifts.

“You boys better bundle up!” he says over the headsets we have on. “The wind here’ll freeze the hairs off your nut sacs.”

Olin and I pull stocking caps on. There’s an armored vehicle waiting beside the runway, someone standing beside it in a snow parka with a fur-lined hood.

Bitterly cold wind slaps me in the face as I descend the plane’s stairs. Olin follows, our pilot staying behind to take care of the plane.

There’s no hangar. Not a building in sight. This place feels deserted—probably on purpose.

The man waiting by the driver’s side door of the vehicle sizes me up as we approach. He has a round face and an average build, his dark eyes sharp and assessing.

“Hiro Tanaka,” he says, smiling warmly and reaching his hand out.

“Pax Thatcher.”

I hold his gaze as we shake hands, his grip firm. He shakes Olin’s hand next, giving him a nod of approval.

“I’ve heard good things about you,” Hiro says.

Olin’s cheeks flush and he grins. “Oh. Thanks. I know about you, too. Obviously.”

Hiro inclines his head toward the vehicle. “Hop in. We can talk on the way.”

Olin gets in the back, so I take the front passenger seat. I’m tall, but I still have to grab a handle to step up into the boxy vehicle with armored plating. It has massive tires, so at least we won’t get stuck in the snow.

“Briggs thinks you can do this,” Hiro says to me, wasting no time with small talk.

“I can.”

His expression stays stony, giving nothing away. “You don’t know what the mission is yet.”

“Whatever it is, I’m in.”

“Why?”

I stare out the windshield, holding back the first words that come to mind.

“Are my reasons important?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your reason?”

“I had two daughters. I want a better world for the children who are still here.”

I lift a shoulder in a shrug. “My reasons may not be altruistic, but that doesn’t mean I’m not committed.”

“Could you hurt one of your own parents? Or even kill them?”

I study the trees on the side of the bumpy dirt road, their branches hanging low from the weight of snow and ice. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to leave Blue Arrow Island. Part of me wishes I’d stayed, because then I’d never have to see my parents again.

This is my purpose, though—for Hannah, and for Briar. I was cruel to Briar’s friends, and I didn’t help her when she needed it most, but after the volcano erupted, she still saved my life, and the lives of all the Rising Tiders in my camp.

She shared her camp’s limited resources with people she didn’t know. People who had wronged her. I’ll never be able to fully repay her for that, but helping her and Marcus bring down New America will be a good start.

“Is that my assignment?” I ask Hiro. “You want me to kill my parents?”

“No. But if your life or the life of your partner is in danger, you might have to make that choice.”