Neca’s clearly disappointed in my lack of transparency. But at some point, if we get out of here alive, we’ll return to the academy. Graduation is the only path through which I can defeat Toltec. I’ll continue to fight him until I grow strong enough to force him out. Until then, my feelings for Neca must remain dead.
I crack a second chemical stick and the two of us mirror each other on opposite sides of the cave—he on one side of the crates and me on the other. Together, we shuffle along the substantial length of the manmade shaft.
“I think we’re going in the wrong direction.” I run my hand over the course wall of the cave. “The quality of the digging seems to be getting sloppier as we go. That means the entrance is probably back the way we came.”
“Wait, what’s this?” Neca rushes forward and places his chemical stick on top of a smooth metallic container that is instantly familiar.
I recognize it as a stasis pod—just like the kind Turon placed Zorrah in. My head spins. “I don’t think we should—”
“Look at this! This proves it!” Neca shakes a piece of parchment in his hand.
I rest my hands on my knees and slow my breathing. “Proves what? What are you talking about?”
“There is a resistance, and Centavo’s a part of it!” Neca crawls over the crates and shoves the piece of paper into my hand. “He wanted us to find this. It explains everything.”
I take the paper from him and hold my chemical stick in front of it. I gasp. The handwriting is unmistakable. I know what I’m looking at instantly. But how?
“Don’t you see?” Neca continues, “When Centavo found out who we were, he had us brought down here, and he left this for us.”
“It’s a page from the book my mother and Centavo were making together.” I have to say the words out loud to make sense of them.
Neca grips my shoulders a little too tightly. I wince at how tender the left one is. Neca is too ecstatic to notice. “There’s no other explanation.”
I shake my head. “This only proves Centavo has been here.” I hand the page back. “Maybe he’s been supplying people outside the city, but that doesn’t mean there’s an organized resistance. These supplies might have been stolen by simple outlaws, the same outlaws who imprisoned us here.”
“No way.” Neca clamors over the crates toward the other side of the shaft. “That paper wasn’t left out for us by outlaws. It was left out by Centavo. And Centavo would only fight as resistance, not a common raider. Of that I’m sure.” Neca jumps down onto his feet. “I’m also sure he left the paper on this strange container for a reason.”
“Wait!” I lunge forward, an irrational fear swelling within me.
“What?” Neca freezes, his hand just above the chemical stick he left lying on the stasis pod.
I’ve no idea why I’m panicking. There must be thousands of these pods, both empty and in use. “I don’t want you to freak out,” I say.
“I’m freaking out because you’re freaking me out.” Neca slowly grabs the chemical stick.
“It’s just that, I’ve seen these before. They’re stasis pods.” I place a hand on the foot of the pod.
Neca is nearest the glass window at the head. He raises a brow, waiting for me to explain further.
“For people—for immortals.”
“I understand that part. Izel mentioned them once. She explained it as a kind of sleep for immortals. What I’m confused about is where you’ve seen them.”
“No Admittance.” I hope the two words will be enough to satisfy him.
He nods slowly. “Okay, I still want to know why Centavo left the page on this particular pod.”
“He probably knew we would see it there.”
Neca shakes his head. “He wants us to look inside.”
“We probably shouldn’t mess—” but it’s too late. Neca places the glowing chemical stick on the glass and leans close. At first, his response is even. I breathe deeply. The pod must be empty.
Then Neca jerks his head away in shock. He stares at me, eyes frozen wide, mouth open.
“What?” My hands tremble as a tingle radiates out from my palms. “Is there someone—”
“Zorrah.” Neca blinks. “It’s Zorrah.”
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this scene of Boundaries, Season 2 of The Green Ones. I’ll be publishing FREE daily scenes from The Green Ones until…I die…or something terrible happens. Seriously, I’ve got over 100 scenes written so far, and I’ll be writing more until the story reaches its natural ending. You are totally welcome to read the entire story for FREE! If at any point you decide you would rather finish the story in ebook or print format, just click the buttons below and you can do that as well. If you enjoy reading the serial releases, BUT you would also like to support me as a writer (my kids need wine!) please subscribe to my premium content for bonus scenes, exclusives, and insider access to my process. And of course, I’d be grateful if you would share this post with any of your reader friends who you think would enjoy The Green Ones. Happy reading!