Read Online Burn by Sarah Fine and Walter Jury - Free Book Online Page B

silent and grim, but before the flames devour him, his eyes tell me that he doesn’t want to go, that he’d stay if he could, that he’s sorry I have to do this without him. I am always bound, unable to move or change things no matter how much I fight. I watch helplessly as the obelisk rises high, moving like a whisper, and opens its sparkling, swirling portal.
    Everything after that is death and defeat. And even though the inferno never touches me, it burns all the same.
    â€œGive him another shot. I need him alert.”
    â€œDon’t touch me,” I slur, my defiance hardwired even though it feels like I’m swimming in a sea of motor oil and rebar, everything sharp and jagged, the air too thick to breathe. I’m upright, but only because I’m bound to a chair.
    Congers is squatting in front of me as I open my eyes. His expression is stern, and his face is paler than it was before. “Cooperate, and I won’t.”
    It takes effort, but I raise my head. I’m in a windowless box of a room. Buzzing fluorescent lighting above me. Old radiator against the wall. Not a new building, nothing high-tech. I glance at the door, painted metal, covered in nicks and scrapes. I blink, trying to gather my wits.
    â€œI expected your lab facility to be a little swankier,” I say, my consonants a bit more defined this time.
    Congers slides his finger along the bridge of his nose. “We thought it best not to flee straight to a top-secret facility.”
    â€œAnd what exactly would constitute ‘cooperating’?” My hands are cuffed behind the office chair I’m sitting on. My ankles are shackled to its legs. Graham is standing near the door, his gray-green eyes on me. His posture straightens as I size him up.
    Congers glances at the young agent before returning his attention to me. “As you are aware, your father had something that belongs to us. We need to reacquire it immediately, especially given this evening’s unfortunate series of events. Even more unfortunate, we need your help.”
    Fuck you.
Those are the words on the tip of my tongue. But instead, I stay quiet and simply stare at him. Memories are slipping into place like puzzle pieces. We were being taken somewhere for questioning because I’d called too much attention to us in the city. My mom and Christina showed up. And then . . . “Where are they?” I ask.
    Congers’s expression doesn’t change. He’s probably an excellent poker player. “They mean a lot to you.”
    I try to keep my face as blank as his, but between the pain and the images of Christina and my mom flying down that embankment as that
whatever it was
blew their van to hell, I must give something away.
    Congers’s eyebrow arches. “I thought so.” He stands up. “We have them. All of them. And their survival is very much dependent on whether you give me the information I need to access Frederick Archer’s private laboratory.”
    My heart is starting to speed. He could be lying. My mom and Christina could have escaped. Or they could already be dead. And if I give the Core access to my dad’s lab, they won’t just have whatever H2 artifacts his ancestor might have found—they’ll have designs for all his weapons. They’d have access to that satellite controller. They’d have everything they needed to shut down The Fifty permanently, not to mention the rest of the dwindling human population. “I need to see them. Leo. And my . . . Christina.” They would have recognized Christina on the road—but they might not have recognized my mom. And if they don’t have her—
    â€œDr. Shirazi is in our custody, Tate. I don’t bluff.”
    Shit. “If you want me to believe you, I need to see them.”
    â€œWe believe your mother knows how to access the lab, too,” he says. “I wonder which of you will break