Elude

Not Getting Arrested Now

"Oh." Nox smiles at me. "I understand."

Caelan yawns loudly, breaking her focus. "I'm going to go to sleep," he says.

"Yeah, where?" Nox asks.

He shrugs. "Upstairs somewhere. There are spare rooms."

"Really?" I ask, exasperated. "What happens if Matan or Jake get out? Or someone breaks them out? They could easily get to us if we're in a room."

"You really want to sleep in a cell?" he asks.

"I've done it before," I say. "It's not too bad. The walls are thick and soundproof, and it's somewhat nice."

"That's how a criminal thinks," Caelan calls after me as I go up to the most secure cells. One of them is open, so I step inside and shut the heavy door.

I try the handle. Locked. I'll be safe in here unless Caelan secretly wants revenge. I messed everything up for everyone, but us two got the worst of it.

I get in the bed and fall asleep, as I'm pondering what would happen if Jace broke in...

• • •

I wake up when Caelan opens the door, Nox waiting behind him. "Sleep safe?" he asks.

I scowl and walk out. "You have to be careful," I say.

"And what did being careful get you?" Caelan asks. "A missing leg and being locked up for six years?"

"I'm alive," I say. "And also the ruler of Allegan. Not being careful got you a bullet to the chest!"

I go back downstairs and check that both Jake and Matan are safe. They are, but both refuse to look at me.

I meet Caelan and Nox by the main door. "So," Caelan says. "What now."

"It wouldn't hurt to put Jace and Winter in the prison too..." I suggest.

"No way are we doing that," Caelan says.

"Fine," I say. "Let's go to Ashendale, and find Reilly." I turn to Nox. "Do you want to come?"

She shakes her head. "I'll be fine here. You guys should go without me."

I'm slightly puzzled as we get into the hovercraft. Maybe she's not as bad as I thought.

It could just be my tendency to find everyone annoying. Knowing myself, that's probably it.

I ease the hovercraft into the sky, and we'll be in Ashendale soon. The internal torment continues.

Do I kill Reilly or keep her around? What if she doesn't hate me after all? Who would lead Ashendale if I did kill her? I could.

I could rule the country.

Then go farther than that.

But those are thoughts for another time. My stomach knots when I come to my conclusion. I'll do what I have to.

Hopefully it doesn't mean getting rid of Caelan, I think as I land by the mountains of Imperium. I've suffered from the guilt of it once.

We both exit the hovercraft and I look around. Someone immediately approaches us.

"Name, sir?" he asks me.

"Matt Green," I reply, noticing that the grass is a very vibrant green.

"Connor Price," Caelan says. The officer nods and jogs away, probably to alert someone that we're here.

"Price?" I say once the guy can't hear us. "Really?"

"That's coming from 'Matt Green'," he remarks.

"We just have to hope that he didn't recognize us," I say.

"I didn't think about that," Caelan says. I start walking towards the entrance of the Generals' quarters, the gun bumping against my leg.

A door opens suddenly and Reilly steps into the hallway. Her eyes flit down to my gun, then up to my face. "Oh," she says. "Oh." Suddenly she pulls out a knife. I grab the gun and hold it out.

"Don't move," I suggest in a harsh tone. "You'll regret it."

"You wouldn't," she says.

"You left me to die that night," I say. "And you wouldn't have cared at all, so why should I?"

Her eyes narrow. "You can't do it."

"I can," I say. "I can and I will."

"Not that," she says. "You can't take over all of the territories. It's against the nation's very principles. Who knows what would happen if you eliminated those rules?"

I laugh. "It's not can I or can't I, it's will I or won't I." I try to hide my uncertainty. Am I really that predictable...?

"Matthew, don't," she says.

That makes up my mind. She's not that big of a threat in the grand scheme of things. Why don't I leave her to suffer the way she did to me?

I aim for her heart, then pause. "Get someone to Ashendale," I say. "Reilly Whittaker is ready to be taken back to the prison." Then I shift the gun and shoot her leg so she can't walk away. Without looking back, I walk hurriedly away. To leave her alive, that's not like me, but my goal is to make them all pay for it.

That's my new plan, that's it!

Take over all of the territories so nobody can question me.

"Caelan," I say as I walk, "I need your help. We're going to go to Allegan and find politicians whose loyalty to us is strong. Then we place them in the Legislative and Judicial branches. The chief executive will have all power."

"You know, Matthew," he says. "She's right. You can't do that. Oh, and in case you haven't noticed, I'm the politician here, not you. You're a war general, not a diplomat."

"I can't trust you, can I," I say. "You won't help me."

Then he smiles slyly. "That's exactly WHY I'm going to help you. But we need a contract first."

"So you can't back out on me?" I ask him.

"The opposite," he says. "I trust you, I do, but we don't want anything to happen."

"Okay," I say. "We have Allegan, Ashendale, and Enderlin. Where to next?"

"Cyress," he says, "which will either easy or hard, depending on who has more power-- Winter or Eve. What do we do about Exlyn?"

Exlyn is the territory Jace founded. He brought it up by essentially nothing and its people aren't going to stray from his rule easily.

"We could save it for last and overpower them once we have everyone else under our control," I suggest. "Or we could get it out of the way now so they aren't a threat. Jace will do anything to stop our plan from happening."

"How are you going to choose?" he asks. "Because honestly, those both sound like things you'd do. Overpower them by force or eliminate all possible threats."

"This is supposedly what I'm good at," I say. "I think it's best to lock Jace up now. We can't exactly kill him. I'm not getting arrested now."

"What about the people in the Dome?" he says, and I stop talking.