There was a loud thump from behind.
I swung around, expecting Olden to be standing over us with a baseball bat. Instead, it was … my mouth fell open.
“Tell me you are seeing that?” I managed to splutter out.
“If by that you mean the large blue stone which seems to have magically appeared in the center of the room…” Lucy didn’t even sound surprised.
We were getting good with the strange.
I stepped closer. “Is this a joke? What are the odds the very stone we’re looking for would just appear?”
She laughed. “This fits perfectly for the weirdness lately.”
I reached forward, hesitantly, to pick up the stone. I was waiting for the hitch here. I paused a moment before my hand was about to graze the smooth side. Taking a deep breath, I scooped it up. It was warm, as if humming with its own life-force. Holding it close to my chest, I glanced around waiting for the ambush. The room stayed quiet.
Lucy laughed and started humming her favorite ‘end of day’s’ theme song.
The stone was heavy, about the size of a large baseball. A dark, depthless blue. There was an odd indent on one side, but the rest was perfectly round. I jumped as a swirl of color spliced through the deep blue. I sucked in hard, the dusty air tickling my throat. This was so not a stone. This was ... well, not a damn stone. I could feel it to the depths of my being: this was power.
“That’s freaking gorgeous, Abbs. We should cut it up and make jewelry.”
I shook off my sudden premonition and threw a light-hearted smile at Lucy. “Of course you would want to take our one chance to escape and turn it into a fashion statement.”
The girl should have been born when there was still a fashion or design industry.
Luckily my sweats had some decent pockets – I stored the stone. I didn’t want to waste time dealing with it until we were out of Olden’s lair.
Glancing around the room, I flipped the end of my braid over my shoulder.
“Let’s get out of here. I don’t particularly feel like rumbling with Olden.”
Lucy snorted. “I think she’s going to know we were here.” Her sarcasm was not needed. The hundred-dollar bills coating the floor painted a clear enough picture.
“She’s got to be involved with the gangs.” A niggling thought was annoying me. “Head of a compound – millions of dollars – you thinking what I am, Luce?”
She nodded. “Yes, Abbs, I believe I am.” She looked around the room before turning in my direction again. “Actually, I don’t have a clue.”
I snorted and continued. “I always knew there was a reason I didn’t trust Olden with directions to the adult compound.” I clenched my hands together tightly. “The bitch sends us to the gangs. It’s the most logical explanation.”
Comprehension and horror dawned in Lucy’s eyes.
“Are you saying that when we turn eighteen, she directs us toward the gangs? Why haven’t the resistance discovered this? They pay her to look after us, oversee our training and education, and still they never notice that not one of her girls ends up in the adult compounds.”
My anger was burning inside of me, threatening to spill over. “It’s not really surprising. The adult compounds are even more secretive than ours. One junior compound is nothing in their great scheme.” It was disgusting. “And on that lovely note, let’s get back to our bedroom and get this stone safe. We’ll have to deal with Olden later.” God I hoped I got to deal with her.
We left without a backwards glance. The halls were still empty. We were back in our room in no time. I placed the stone into an inner zipper of my pack.
“Well, Abbs, we have the stone. Now what?” Lucy had shouldered her pack. “I’m standing by for our next instructions.”
“Very funny, Luce. You’re determined to turn this into a ninja mission.”
“Hell, yeah, might as well have some fun with it. And I am dressed all in black. What better reason for my lack of color palette?”
“We need to get out of here now. Sorry, I know this is your worst case, but we’re going to the streets.”
She shrugged. “The alley can be our home base until we figure out what to do.”
I nodded. “Good idea, but we can’t wait around there for too long. If Ralph doesn’t show up within, let’s say, two days, we bail on New York. It’s just too dangerous.”
“Word. But we have to warn the other girls before we leave.”