The Girl Who Dared to Think 2: The Girl Who Dared to Stand (The Girl Who Dared #2)(2)

“I know your voice, now,” I replied, bristling with impotent frustration at the fact that I was being forced to have this conversation while dangling between them. “Surely that won’t help.”

I was acting more confident than I felt. The fact that he was admitting to following us, or that he might need to in the future, made me afraid. I had been certain no one had followed us back to Sanctum after I had first met with Lacey and Praetor Strum, the head of Water Treatment. We’d been so cautious! But then, how had they found us? How had they known where we were—and where we were going to be?

And why would they need to follow me in the future?

I thought of Eric. They knew his face, because he’d gone with me to that first meeting. Had they followed him, too—and when he’d been with Zoe? What about Quess and Maddox—had they even made it out of the Medica in one piece? Leo had said as much, but now… how could I be certain, with how quickly they had found me?

There were too many unknowns, and my active imagination didn’t help. My mind began to reel at all the possibilities, each one worse than the last. I was going to freak out before we ever got to where we were going—and that would make me useless.

I needed to focus and try to stay in the moment.

“Well, the next time I’m set to tail you, I’ll do my best to refrain from speaking.” The line was delivered dryly, and achieved more chuckles from the people around us. I fumed.

“Seriously, keep the bag on, but let me walk,” I said. “This is ridiculous, and I—”

“Shut up,” the voice ordered in a brusque whisper that was low and thick with urgency. “We’re nearing a public area, and we need to keep you hidden. The entire Tower has heard about what you’ve done: a second raid on the Medica, killing the Champion of the Knights. You need to remain quiet if we’re going to help you through this without getting caught. We’re almost there, and we have a ride for you. Lift her up, lads.”

I felt myself rise, thanks to the increased pressure of their hands, and then a surge of vertigo hit me as they dropped me. I flailed, certain they were throwing me right into the plunge, but the fall was short, the landing soft. I had a second to sit up and start to feel around before my hands were roughly seized and yanked behind my back.

“Seriously?!” I demanded, struggling against the hands holding me firmly in place.

“The bag remains, and if you keep talking, I’ll undo it enough to gag you. Now stop fighting us, and submit.”

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to put a cap on my temper, and relented somewhat, although it stung my pride to do so. Still, it was better than enduring the humiliation of a gag, so I bit my tongue and waited. I could be compliant for now, but if they tried one thing…

They bound me quickly and efficiently—the knot not too tight, merely tight enough and high enough to elude my fingers no matter how much I twisted and turned them. I still had circulation, which told me that this was not their first abduction.

I was pushed onto my side, and then something landed on me with an “oof.” I froze as what felt like an arm and a leg shifted on top of me, sliding around and groping, and then wriggled as the hand grew too close to a private area.

“Grey?” I asked, my voice a harsh whisper.

There was a pause. “I’m not sure if I should respond to that.” I breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of Grey’s voice, but then remembered that it was Leo who was answering, and I could hear the question in his hushed words.

“Yes,” I said, pitching my voice low so we couldn’t be heard. “You absolutely should—if we start going around calling you another name…”

I paused. Now that I thought about it, I supposed it didn’t really matter. No one would have any idea that Leo was inside Grey—they’d have no reason to suspect anything, other than someone who preferred a nickname. A damned odd one, certainly, but nothing worth being alarmist over.

But then I thought of Devon, and the other two legacies who had been with him in the room before we had attacked them. I wasn’t sure what had happened to them after our fight—I was certain we hadn’t killed them. What if one of them had been conscious while Leo was downloading into Grey? What if they had heard something about Leo?

Devon himself had asked about Leo, before Leo killed him. He had heard me talking to him in the Medica. What had he asked? Something about it being a sentient, or another dummy replicate program? What did that even mean?

And if he had heard something, did that mean the other two had? I wasn’t sure, but now suddenly I was completely coming around to the idea of making sure we called him by Grey’s name.

“Liana?” his voice asked, and I realized that I had trailed off mid-sentence and fallen silent.

“I’m still here,” I replied. “I was just thinking about those other two men who were in the room with us. They might’ve heard me use your name. We definitely have to be careful.”

“I agree. So, um. Do you know what’s happening to us?”

I opened my mouth to reply when suddenly things began to fall down onto us. I tensed at the first one—a heavy-feeling object that draped over my hip and legs. Then another fell, and another, until I was covered in them. When something fell on my hands, I immediately began to touch whatever it was, eager for some sense of what was happening to me.