Ordinaries

Chapter 18

"Not to be a party pooper," Camila said, munching on more fish for breakfast—once again, courtesy of Noah and Eric— "but aren't we supposed to be figuring out what we're doing tomorrow?"

Lindsey looked up from her own food and sighed, but nodded nonetheless. "That's a good idea," she agreed. "We need to figure out what we're doing now so we can set out. We've got the whole day to travel, and we need to get as far from Ventrice's compound as possible."

"I've got an idea," Eric started, "but it might sound a bit crazy at first. Why don't we just go back the city we ended up in before we were captured? The one Garrett called Ether?"

Camila and Jade both stared, and I could tell Eric immediately regretted the words. "Maybe because that's where we were captured," Jade said. "The Necrose will know where we are."

"But what if that's where we're supposed to be?" argued Eric. "What if that's where the Necrose moved all of the Ordinaries they detained in our Ether?"

"I saw a giant mushroom cloud just before I passed out," I informed him. "Not likely."

"You saw a giant mushroom cloud in the middle of a Taking," Eric pointed out. "Crazier things have happened during Takings. Besides, it's not like Ordinaries could have stayed in our Ether, since it was blown to smithereens. If we can get back into the other one, the Necrose might never know we escaped."

"But it wasn't Ether," Camila said. "Right, Lindsey?"

Lindsey bit her lip. "I don't know. Like I said, I was new with the hunters. Eric could be right, for all I know."

"Not about the Necrose, though," Camila continued. "Ventrice works for them. He's bound to have reported us."

"Actually, that's not true," Lindsey said. Her face contorted, and I could see she was picking her words carefully. "Ventrice and his hunters are...status seekers, I guess you could say. Look at that helicopter." She pointed at the Necrose insignia which was so poorly painted onto its side. "Ventrice wants to have power. Or at least the appearance of it. He doesn't know much more about the Necrose's inner workings and technology than anyone else. But he wants to—and that makes him bitter. So a lot of the time, he doesn't report back to the Necrose. He does his own thing."

Jade grimaced at the helicopter. "Well, it may not be pretty, but the good news is we could probably go anywhere we wanted with that painted on the side of our ride. It would better if we knew how safe it would be to return to that city, though." She turned to Lindsey. "Do you know how to get back there?"

"Yes," she said. "I do." She looked like she wanted to say more, but couldn't quite figure out how to phrase it. She felt me examining her and met my eyes, where I saw reluctance, but also knowledge.

"You know something, don't you?" I scooted closer to her. "Or you have an idea?"

Lindsey gritted her teeth. "Something like that."

"Well, spit it out," said Noah. "There are no bad ideas here."

Lindsey smiled ruefully. "Not even if it involves going to Elys?"

Everyone went silent and exchanged apprehensive glances. Elys wasn't as bad as Ether with surveillance; it didn't have any Necrose cameras as far as I knew. But there was way more Necrose soldiers, and containment officers to boot. Not to mention, getting in probably wouldn't be a piece of cake.