“Surprise,” Cole managed. “Can we come in?”
Dalton’s eyes darted back up to Leona.
“It’s not really her,” Cole confided.
Eyes shimmering with tears, Dalton backed away. “Come on in.”
Chapter 19
DALTON
Cole paused in the doorway. Everything in his life had been ripped away from him—his home, his family, his school, his neighborhood, and his friends. He’d even lost the other unlucky kids who had come here with him from Arizona. The Outskirts was a huge place. He might never have found anyone from his former life.
But here was Dalton! An honest-to-goodness piece of home! Seeing his best friend forced Cole to recognize how truly isolated he had felt. He was a stranger in a foreign land, but the sight of Dalton made much of that recede into the background.
Cole stepped into the room. Skye followed, as did Jace, who closed the door.
Dalton tried to say something, stopped, then tried again. “It’s really you?” He glanced at Skye. “It’s not a trick?”
Skye dropped her disguise, looking like herself rather than Leona. “No trick,” she promised.
Dalton’s smile radiated joy. “I knew it!” he exclaimed, pumping his fist. “I knew you’d come, and I can’t believe it! It didn’t seem possible, but I kept hoping.” He ran to Cole and hugged him.
Cole hugged his friend back, relief washing over him. Whatever else happened, at least he had found Dalton. In many ways, it was more than he truly expected to accomplish.
Cole ended the embrace first. He realized he hadn’t ever hugged his friend before, but it hadn’t felt weird. So far from home, Dalton seemed more like a lost brother than a buddy. He felt like family.
“I worried you were dead,” Dalton admitted. “You went to the Sky Raiders. Everyone said it was incredibly dangerous.”
“It was,” Cole said. “But I got free. Now I’m part of the resistance. We’re going to get you out of here.”
“How’d you guys get in here?” Dalton asked. “The security is amazing.”
“Skye has connections,” Cole said.
“Must be good connections,” Dalton said. He centered his gaze on Cole. “You actually came for me. I knew you would try.”
“You have to decide quickly if you’re coming with us,” Cole said. “We left the real Leona unconscious.”
Dalton sucked in a terrified breath. “Really? Oh, man, she is going to be mad.”
“Lots of people are going to be mad,” Cole said. “We have to hurry. Now or never. You’re coming, right?”
Dalton hesitated. “This is really sudden.”
“I know,” Cole said. What if Dalton was like Jill? What if he wanted to stay where he was? Cole tried not to panic. That wouldn’t happen. This was Dalton. “You’re probably comfortable here. But you’re working for the bad guys.”
“I get it,” Dalton said. “It’s just that the bad guys run everything. If you’re on their side, they treat you all right. I’m a slave, Cole. I’m marked.”
“So was I,” Cole said, holding out his arm with the freemark.
“How’d you do that?” Dalton exclaimed. “Seemings won’t hold over slavemarks. At least not the way they reinforce them in Elloweer.”
“The resistance is stronger than you know,” Cole said. “There’s a lot going on. I’ll fill you in. But we have to go now.”
Dalton took a steadying breath. He looked to Jace. “I’m Dalton.”
“I’m Jace. We’re wasting time.”
“Dalton,” Skye said. “I’m a member of a secret resistance organization. We’ve helped hundreds of slaves find freedom. We can help you.”
“You’re one of the Unseen?” Dalton asked.
“Yes,” Skye said.
“All right, Cole,” Dalton said. “I’m with you. What’s the plan?”
Cole grinned, then looked to Skye.
“Can you make yourself look like me?” she asked.
“With a little time,” Dalton said. “Pretty much all I do around here is make people look different all day. I get lots of practice.”
She pointed at him, and suddenly Dalton could have been her twin. He went and looked in the mirror on the wall. “That was fast,” he said. It was weird to hear his voice coming from Skye’s form. “Awesome work. You’re good.”
“Can you replicate it?” Skye asked. “Do you see how I did it?”
“I think I can copy it,” Dalton said.
Skye waved a hand, and he looked like himself again. Dalton closed one eye and scrunched his face. Within a few seconds, he looked like Skye.
“Whoa!” Cole exclaimed. “You did that?”
“Not bad,” Skye said. “Can you do it faster?”
“Maybe two seconds,” Dalton said. Though he looked like Skye, he still had his own voice. “You want me to bring it back up after every scrubber?”
“That’s the idea,” Skye said.
“How are we getting out?” Dalton asked.
“The only way I know,” Skye said. “The same way we came in.”
“Not through the tunnel by the flamingos,” Dalton said.
“Why not?” Skye replied.
Dalton gave a nervous laugh and shook his head. “The security is unbeatable there. A whole section of that hall works like one big scrubber. Plus, the alley is a nightmare. We’d get caught for sure.”
“Do you know another way?” Skye asked.
“There are lots of ways in and out of the Silver Lining,” Dalton said. “The head people don’t want to come and go through all the security. There was a really good way open until last week, when they caught some slaves using it and shut it down. I know one other way some of the guys use to sneak out sometimes.”
“Have you used it?” Skye asked.
“No,” Dalton said. “A few slaves I know like to sneak into town. I didn’t think it was worth the risk just to goof around.”
“It’s unguarded?” Skye asked.
“Just one guard station,” Dalton said. “Somebody sabotaged the scrubber. It works, but they weakened it. If you concentrate hard enough, you can hold your seeming together. You just have to look like somebody with access, and you’re through.”
“Can we get there?” Skye asked. “Are there many scrubbers along the way?”