Page 9 of Honor and Claim

“Say more.” Now I want to hear this.

“Timetable, Cosima. Focus.”

“Right.” I jump up, grabbing my AirPods to put in before changing my clothes. I push over the standing jewelry box my mom got me years ago to pull up the board I have money andother things stashed in. I toss what I need into my bag. “I’m ready.” I pull my hair into a ponytail.

“Head for the tree line and tell me when you’re there. I’ll kill the motion sensors.” I hear Marks clicking away, I’m sure on her computer. I can barely remember my passwords, and this girl can hack anything. I can speak a few languages. Does that count for anything?

Those thoughts are depressing because I know where they’re leading. To the fact that I’m not really great at anything. Especially when it comes to my brothers and Z. They each have their own talents, and as for me, I’m just Cosima.

We both go quiet as I make my way out of my room and down the hallway. I use the back stairway. I want to tell Tova that I’m leaving, but she’s likely still in bed with my brother War, and I don’t want to put her in a weird position with all of this. I’d already done that with the whole shopping trip, and I feel terrible about it.

“Pick up the pace,” Marks orders when I make it out of the back.

“Okay,” I huff, hurrying down the east side of the house and toward the woods. It’s not a short trek.

“All right, you have five minutes once I say go.” How the hell did she know I was at the tree line?

“How did you know I was here?”

“I know everything.” She lets out a playful villain laugh that has me smiling. At least with these shenanigans going on, I can stop thinking about Z for a few moments. I’m dreading when I have to go to sleep; lying down in a bed with my own thoughts sounds brutal.

“Are you now tracking my phone?”

“Not at the moment, but look up.” I drop my head back to see something small way up in the sky.

“Is that a drone?” What else could it be? When I was younger, Z played with them and let me fly them. That often ended with crashing them, but he hadn’t cared. That seems like a lifetime ago. When he was actually sweet and easygoing with me.

“Yep, cool, right? I love these things.”

“How close are you?”

“I’m not there,” she tells me. “Are you ready?” I shift my bag, tossing it over my shoulder.

“Ready as I can be.”

“Go.” I take off on a dead run. “Damn, Cosima. You’re quicker than I thought you would be.”

I don’t bother responding to her. I’m saving my breath. Although I'm not a runner, I learned how to control my breathing when necessary. Thankfully, we all played in these woods as kids, and I still remember them.

That was back when most of the security was done by men. There still are men on the grounds for that purpose, but they don’t do rounds. So unless there is an alert, no one should be out here. I inwardly cheer when I see the end of the tree line come into view.

“Now what?” I ask a few seconds before I break through the trees and onto the gravel road. “Oh shit.” I start to backpedal when I see a car coming.

“That’s me,” Marks says.

“It’s you?” I stop moving, the car coming to a stop. “I thought you weren't here.”

“I’m not.” The driver side door opens, but there is no one inside. “In you go. Hop to it, Cosima.” She claps twice.

“I can’t drive.” Wow, my privilege is showing.

“Get in the car!” I jump inside. The door closes on its own before it takes off.

“The hell?” I sit up, my hand on my pounding heart.

“Welcome to the future.”

“Holy crap.” I shake my head. “Z says these electric self-driving cars aren’t safe.”

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