The Hunt - Megan Shepherd Page 0,78
about their plan, and he rubbed a hand over his chin.
“You really think Leon can pull it off?”
“It’s our best shot.”
“Then I want to come with you. And Mali too.” Lucky dropped his voice, though it was just the two of them. “I still don’t trust him.”
“He told me something that might change your mind.” She glanced toward the door, making sure they were alone. She told him about the ship in hushed excitement, about what it could mean and where they might go. But his eyes didn’t light up the way hers had.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered. “I thought this was what we all wanted.”
“What about the Gauntlet?” he said. “And proving humanity’s worth?”
“That hasn’t changed.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering how this conversation was getting derailed. “All I’m saying is that after the Gauntlet is over and we’ve won freedom for all these people, we’ll have choices. The Kindred won’t be able to stop us from going home, and now we might have the means to do it.”
But his eyes stayed dark. “What about Pika and Makayla and everyone? Will they be able to go back with us too?”
She blinked. “I don’t know how big the ship is—”
“And what about the other humans in the other menageries? There are hundreds. Maybe more. And there are other stations too.”
“I get what you’re saying.” She tried to keep the tension out of her voice. “But I never agreed to take everyone home. Isn’t freeing them enough?”
At her exasperation, his expression softened. “I’m not trying to give you a hard time. What you’re doing takes a lot of bravery. But when you made the decision to run the Gauntlet, you made a decision to stand up for humanity. That doesn’t end as soon as the last test is finished. You can’t flip the system on its head and then walk away to let everyone else pick up the pieces.”
She wasn’t sure what to say, so she paced tightly, trying to process his words.
“I know that isn’t easy to hear,” he continued. “I made a commitment too, to take care of these animals. As much as I miss home, I can’t break that commitment just because I want to sleep in my bed again and eat a real pizza.”
“Home is about more than that,” she said testily. “And you know it.”
“You’re right—we have everything on Earth. Family. Friends. But there’s one thing missing there.”
“What’s that?”
He paused. “Something worth fighting for.”
Cora dropped her hand from the bridge of her nose and, for a second, felt a little dizzy.
His face softened. “Listen, I didn’t mean to—”
“Haven’t we been through enough?” she interrupted. “Cassian picked us because we were all misfits back home. Our lives were broken. Your mother’s death. My time in juvenile detention. Nok being trapped by that London agency, and Leon’s family in prison, and Rolf’s parents’ expectations. And what do we get for all of our suffering—locked in this prison for the rest of our lives.”
She was suddenly aware she was shouting, and dropped her voice. “You can’t ask us to sacrifice more. We need this. After we win the Gauntlet, we’ll have a chance to go home and make lives for ourselves that are a little less broken.”
Warm tears had gotten netted in her eyelashes. She pushed them out roughly with shaking hands. Lucky’s face was unreadable; only his eyes gave any hint of what he was feeling.
“I don’t want to stay here, Lucky.” Her voice broke.
He drew her into his arms. She pressed her face against his chest, surprised at how fast his own heart was beating. “I know,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes, after the Gauntlet. We’ll see how much chaos there is, how people deal with freedom. I’d never deny you a chance to go home if that’s what you really want, and I wouldn’t ask anyone else to give that up either. But just so you know”—he pulled back to look into her face—“I’m staying.”
She jerked back in surprise. “Lucky, be reasonable.”
“I’m serious. Working with these animals has reminded me of who I used to be. I went a little crazy in the cage, I know, but I’m not that person now. I’ve taken responsibility for these animals, and that might not seem like a lot, when you’re trying to free our whole species, but that’s dozens of living creatures who need me. I can’t run away from them. I don’t want to. I’m staying where we’re needed, whether you beat the