“No. What does that have to do with the explosion?”
Alia felt suddenly wary. “Who are you?”
“I’m…My name’s Diana.”
“Diana what?”
“Why does my name matter?”
Why? Because even if this girl lived on a remote island, everyone knew the Keralis name. That was part of the problem.
How had Diana gotten to the wreck site so quickly? What if she’d known about the bomb on the boat? Alia gave her head a little shake and was rewarded with a stomach-churning wave of dizziness that left her panting. She pressed her head against the cave wall and waited for it to pass. She wasn’t thinking straight. There was no reason for a girl to try to kill her, then save her life and stuff her in a cave. “People hate my parents; now they hate me.”
“I see,” said Diana in understanding. “Did your parents slay a great many people?”
“What?” Alia cast her a sidelong glance. “They were biologists. Bioengineers. People get weird about some of the work they did in genetics and the Foundation’s politics.”
Diana’s brow furrowed, as if she was attempting to parse all of this information. “You think that’s why someone attempted to take your life?”
“Why else?”
The girl said nothing. Alia felt another tide of nausea roll through her. A cold sweat broke out over her body. “I need a doctor.”
“There’s no one on the island who can help you.”
“A clinic. A boat back to Istanbul or the nearest port.”
“It’s just not possible.”
Alia stared at Diana, feeling her panic slip free of its leash. “Then what’s going to happen to me?”
Diana looked away.
Alia pressed her palms to her eyes, humiliated to find tears threatening again. She didn’t understand what was going on, only that she’d never felt more tired or scared. Not since she was a kid. How had things gone so wrong so quickly?
“I never should have left home. Jason said to stay in New York. He said it was safer. But I wanted this so much.”
Diana drew another blanket from her bag and tucked it around Alia. It smelled of sage and lavender. “What did you want?”
“It’s stupid,” Alia said.
“Please. I’d like to know.”
Alia closed her eyes again. She felt too weak to talk, but the guilt and shame were stronger than her fatigue. “There’s this summer-at-sea program for biology students. You get college credit. It’s really hard to get into, but I thought, I’ll just apply and see what happens. But then they accepted me and I realized—”
“How very much you wanted to go.”
“Yeah,” Alia said with a small smile. She felt it fade from her lips. “I lied to Jason.”
“Who is this Jason?”
“My older brother. He’s a great brother, the best brother. He’s just overprotective. I knew he’d say no to the trip, so I told him I’d been invited to Nim’s parents’ place in Santorini. You don’t know how hard it was to keep everything secret. I had to get a visa, get all of these medical approvals, but then I was just doing it. I ditched my bodyguards at the airport, and I didn’t call Jason until I was about to board the Thetis in Istanbul.” Alia released a sob. “He was so angry. I swear, I’ve never heard him raise his voice, but he was yelling. He forbade me—forbade me from going. I hung up on him.”
“Does he command you frequently?” Diana asked. “Many men enjoy having authority over women. Or so I’ve been told.”
Alia snorted, but Diana looked serious. “Well, sure, but Jason’s not like that. He was just worried about me, trying to keep me safe. I thought if I could show him that I could handle this on my own, he’d have to stop babying me.”
Diana sighed. “I understand. My mother doesn’t think I can handle anything on my own, either.”
“Are you kidding? You saved my life. You carried me to a damn cave on your back. You seem pretty capable.”
“In my family, among…my friends, I’m the weak one.”
“You don’t seem weak to me.”
Diana gazed at her for a long moment. “You don’t seem weak to me, either.”
Alia blew out a breath. “But Jason was right. If I had stayed in New York, if I’d just listened to him, no one would have died. I should never have left home.”
Diana frowned. “If you’d stayed home, maybe others would have been harmed. Your friends or your family.”
“Maybe,” Alia said, but the thought brought her little comfort.
“And you had this dream,” continued Diana, “to study, to garner accolades.”
“Well, college credit, at least.”
“How could it be wrong to wish to prove yourself?” she asked, a fierce light in her eyes. “You were not wrong to dare.”
“Jason—”
“Jason cannot protect you forever. We cannot spend our lives in hiding, wondering what we might accomplish if given the chance. We have to take that chance ourselves. You were brave to board that boat.”
“I was stupid. Everything that happened just proved Jason right.”
“No. You survived the wreck. When the waves came, you held on. Maybe you’re stronger than you think you are, than anyone thinks you are.” Diana stood. “Maybe I am, too.” She offered Alia her hand. “We have to get you out of here.”
“I thought you said—”
“I know what I said. Do you want to get off this island or not?”
Alia had no idea what had caused this turnaround, but she wasn’t going to look a gift giant in the mouth. “Yes,” she said eagerly. She took Diana’s hand and rose slowly, trying to fight the surge of dizziness that overtook her. “What do we do? Do you have a boat or something?”
“It’s more complicated than that. I’m going to need you to trust me. The people here…There are terrible risks, and the things you see…well, if we make it out of this, you can never speak of them again.”
Alia raised her brows. Was this girl messing with her, or was she a little nuts? “Okay, sure.”
“Swear by what is most dear to you.”
Maybe more than a little nuts. “I swear on Jason and Nim and my shot at an Ivy League school.”
Diana cocked her head to one side. “It will have to do.” She turned her back to Alia and said, “Climb on.”
Alia groaned. “Do we really have to do this again?” She wasn’t feeling particularly spry, but there was something humiliating about jumping on someone’s back like a five-year-old.
Diana shrugged and said, “See for yourself.”
After her first terrifying glance down, Alia had deliberately avoided the entrance to the cave, but now she gathered the blankets around her shoulders and peered over the edge again. The drop to the rocky boulders below looked even steeper than it had that morning.
Holding tight to Diana’s hand and the ragged rock of the cave mouth, she looked up. Somehow the sheer cliff rising into the stormy sky seemed twice as terrifying as the drop.
“We’re going to climb that?” she asked.
“I’m going to climb that.”
“With me on your back?”
“You’re very light. I wonder if you have a calcium deficiency.”
“My calcium’s just fine.”
“Your muscle tone is poor, too.”
“I prefer the pursuits of the mind,” Alia said loftily.
Diana looked doubtful. “Most philosophers agree that mind and body must be in accord.”
“Is that like four out of five dentists?” Alia asked. Besides, she doubted most philosophers ever had to play dodgeball in the Bennett Academy gym.
She sighed. Even at her best, the climb would have been close to impossible for her, and she was definitely not at her best. She eyed Diana warily. Alia had never thought of herself as short, but next to this person, she felt about as statuesque as a miniature schnauzer. It wasn’t just that the girl was tall; she was sort of majestic. Like a skyscraper. Or Mount Rushmore, but less craggy.