Fox Forever (Jenna Fox Chronicles 3)

I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing. It’s more than loyalty. He loves Raine. He loves her like a protective uncle. I shake my head, still in disbelief. “Why do you portray yourself as such a hard-ass?”

“That’s my job. I’m not a chatty Tour Bot the way Dot was. And if you must know, I don’t have the ability to smile. It was not considered a necessary add-on for my job—rather, a hindrance. But trust me, it’s far more debilitating than having no legs, especially when one comes to care for the Eater and Breather one is assigned to look after. But you above all others should know about limitations.”

If he carried me up the stairs, he saw the BioPerfect oozing from me. He knows everything, including my unique limitation. He could have turned me in at any time and gotten me out of the way. But word gets around. I never would have guessed that he was a Bot like Dot, one with hopes for being more, maybe even with hopes for Raine to have more.

“Now I suggest you hide yourself because Raine will be coming through that door in approximately twelve seconds. I hear her on the stairs. If she sees you before I can lock the door, she’ll run, and there won’t be a second chance to arrange a meeting like this.”

I move, hurrying to a black corner just a few feet from the rooftop door.

The door swings open and Raine emerges.

“Hap, what are you doing up here?”

He tells her he was checking her ladder for wear and then dismisses himself, exiting through the door she just came through. She hears the click of the lock and pulls on the door handle but it doesn’t budge.

“Hap?”

This is my cue. I step from the shadows.

“Hello, Raine.”

She spins around, her eyes wide, her mouth open as she catches her breath. She turns and lunges for the door, hitting it and calling for Hap. I grab her from behind, pinning her against the door to quiet her. She struggles under my grip.

“Ten minutes,” I whisper in her ear. “That’s all I ask. Ten minutes to explain. Are you afraid to give me even that?”

“I owe you nothing. Not even ten minutes. You’re a liar.”

“Are you sure, Raine? Are you one hundred percent sure about everything? You said you wanted the truth. I think that’s what you’re really afraid of. The truth. Because I’m willing to give it all to you right now. Everything.” My lips touch her ear, slide to her cheek, my breath warm against her skin. “Do you really want the truth?” Her chest heaves. Seconds tick past. Her arms relax beneath my grip.

“Ten minutes,” she whispers. “That’s all.”

I release her and she turns to face me. I motion to the seat beneath the ivy-covered arbor. “I’ll stand,” she says.

“Fair enough.” I walk over and take the seat myself, dropping my pack at my feet.

She stands there, waiting and rigid, but even in the dark I can see her eyes fighting to maintain distance. She’s still walking a tightrope, trying to keep her balance in her safe little rooftop world. I wonder which way the truth will push her.

“Why are you wearing that coat?” she asks, her voice dripping with disdain. “You look like one of those—”

“You said you wanted the truth—here it is. This is me, Raine.” I pull the collar up around my neck to drive the point home, the way the land pirates would. The way I imagine Karden would too. “This is the real me. Warts and all. And this is only a fraction of what I was afraid to tell you. I hope you can handle all of it.”

She looks at me, unresponsive, still waiting in her usual defensive style like nothing can penetrate her armor. We’ll see.

“You were right. I’m a spy. A Non-pact. One of those animals you’re afraid of. I was sent here by an underground Resistance movement to get information. Everything about me is fake. My background. My family. That apartment isn’t even mine. All a ruse to get in good with you because your father has information the Network needs.”

“You used me.”

“Yes, I did. And I’m not proud of it. But I had a good reason.”

“A good reason?” she snaps. Her top lip lifts in disgust. “The things you said and did. You use someone like that and—”

“My ten minutes!” I snap right back at her. “The truth is hard to hear, a bitter pill, right? Do you want to hear it or not?”

She lifts her chin and is silent. I continue. “I had good reason because there’s a man the Secretary has imprisoned—”

“My father’s sent a lot of people to prison. He’s the Secretary of Security in case you haven’t heard.”

“This man’s in a secret prison, Raine. He stole some money. A lot of money. Not for himself but to fund the Resistance. And there are a lot of people who want that money, including the Secretary and LeGru. But the money all disappeared into a foreign account before anyone could get their hands on it, and with half the account numbers missing, no one can find it. That’s why they’re keeping him. They’re still trying to get it out of him. He’s been in that secret prison for sixteen years. It’s an unofficial one hidden beneath the city that the Secretary—”