Joan Ascends

Chapter 34: Under arrest

After Justus and I have exhausted all our arguments, I head to Harriet's office. I've put off talking with her about my visions for the future for too long, and I need her advice now more than ever. I can hear raised voices coming from her office all the way down the hall.

Wilde's voice is the loudest. "This is the grand finale we've been hoping for! There won't be a dry eye—Evolved or Throwback."

I freeze when I hear Sun shout back. "This isn't about ratings. This is Joan's life. We have to play this just right, or she'll end up dead."

I've never heard Sun speak in anything other than a measured tone.

"A martyr to the cause," Wilde says, his voice infused with melodrama.

I hear the sound crash, followed by a groan of pain. I enter Harriet's office and see Wilde holding his jaw, his grin nowhere in sight, for once.

Sun is cradling his fist, and Harriet is staring at him like she's never seen him before.

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" I ask, and three sets of eyes meet mine. Wilde immediately looks back down at the ground.

"There's a warrant out for your arrest," Harriet says. "For the murder of Dr. Avery. The Governor and Officer Ben are delaying things on their end for as long as they can. But Strand has footage of what happened. Officer Ben says that it's better if you turn yourself in. He's giving you until the end of the day."

I remember Addie's fear when she realized that the power was back on inside the laboratory. I had thought she was afraid of the security that they'd be sending after us. But maybe she was worried about any violence against Evolved that we would have to answer for. If so, she was right.

"We send her out of the country," Sun says. "Aft can get her a passport. He's smuggled wanted Throwbacks out of the U.S. before."

"Then they'll go after someone I love, instead," I reply. "That's how Lexi operates."

"I didn't know that there was footage of Joan committing the crime. When the Evolved see Joan murdering one of their own, all of the progress we've made will vanish," Wilde says, his tone serious for once.

"He's right," I reply. "No one will see a grieving girl avenging the person who loved her most in the entire world. They'll see a deranged killer choosing to end a man's life, rather than incapacitate him."

And maybe they'll be right.

Wilde nods. "Everyone loves the kids on Just Like Us who have hearts of gold and are just struggling to survive in an unfair world. But when they see the danger that an empowered Throwback population could be capable of, their sympathy will vanish."

"Strand turns Joan into the villain of the story," Harriet says.

Wilde heaves a sigh. "Sun's right. Joan needs to leave the country. There's no salvaging this, even if Joan turned herself over to Strand in a dramatic act of self-sacrifice."

Before I can protest, the sound of voices—screams—reaches us, followed by the thudding of heavy boots running down the halls. A group of Deans burst into the office, and Harriet yanks me behind her, shielding me with her body.

"It's too late for that," I say, moving her aside. "You'll get yourself arrested, too."

In my peripheral vision, I see that Wilde has a camera activated and hovering in the air, capturing everything. I step forward, and a Dean yanks my arms behind my back and handcuffs me.

"I've been deputized to place you under arrest," he says. "Outside these walls you will be placed into Strand's custody."

"I demand to go to the police station," I try to insist.