Altruist (The Altruist Series Book 1) (13 page)

“Cate?” Eliath’s rough voice reaches me from down the hall and he and Shoshanna appear. Abel must have called them. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’ve been up for nearly 22 hours, the amount of information I received today, or the emotional roller coaster of this evening but I throw my arms around Shoshanna and begin to sob uncontrollably. I’m not sure what this will do for their faith in me, but right now, I don’t care. I hold onto her fiercely begging her to take this aching heart out of my chest. She rubs my back, attempting to soothe me but after a moment it’s not working and I release my grip. “It was them,” I stammer. “I know it was…” The information pours out of me as if I’m dictating a report, as if the details sear my soul and I cannot hold onto them a single second longer. “This guy, Dante, I had never seen him before and all of a sudden he tried getting me to hang out with him and he has red hair and—”

“Catherine…” Eliath interrupts. “Calm down, let’s just focus on your friend for now. There will be plenty of time to debrief later.” His voice is calming and I begin to feel my heart rate slow. He is right. I need to focus on Asher. I will deal with Dante in my own time.

Shoshanna begins to walk down the hall, searching the room doors. “No one will let us see him, and all they’ll say is that the surgery went as well as could be expected but that he is not stable, and they’re not sure…” At the thought of Asher leaving this world, at the idea of uttering those words, tears begin to stream down my cheeks, the salt nabbing at my tongue and my throat begins to close, refusing to finish the sentence all together. Neither of them acknowledges anything I’ve said and I follow them intently.

The halls are dimly lit, as if at this hour the hospital itself is resting, sleeping, taking in the quiet and relishing in it. I can hear faint squeaks in the distance, a nurse no doubt, her shoes quickly moving against the linoleum surface, but she doesn’t turn down our pathway and we continue on. Each turn that Shoshanna makes is deliberate; if I didn’t know better I’d think she knew exactly where she was headed. And then something hits me—so much in the past day has changed, for all I know she does know exactly where she is going. I have no idea what these people are capable of, what I am capable of, and for a second that scares me. A moment later she finds what she is looking for, the thick door reads Room 1414 and without skipping a beat she gently pushes the barrier forward and we funnel into the room.

I see him there, in the stream of moonlight piercing through the blinds. Casts bind his left arm and leg, bandages and wraps adorn his torso and head, blood seeping through. Crimson liquid dried to his cheekbone. I try to walk towards his bed but Eliath grabs my hand and holds me near his side. I look back at him, searching his eyes,
what on earth could I possibly do to make this any worse
. I feel Shoshanna move past me and stand perpendicular to my friend, my Asher.

“I know this is all so much to take in,” Eliath says. “And if I could change things, if I could have slowed all of this down so that you could take sips of our truth, I would. I know you must be cursing yourself right now, your life, and our world. With all of this, with us, with you, Cate, come so many burdens. It will always be difficult to keep Plebeians, common humans, close to you. They will always be a target, they will always be in danger and they will not be able to defend themselves from anything you bring into their lives. It will never be easy to keep these relationships intact. That being said, I will not tell you how to live your life. I expect so much of you, whether you are truly aware or not, and I will ask much more of you, so I will not interfere with whom you decide to encircle yourself with. I will only ask that you entrust our secret to very few, and that those you do entrust it to, you will prepare; for they will, from that moment forth, be involved in our fight.”

I try to take in what he is saying but the words feel heavy on me and I know that once this sinks in, I will not be the same. Everything is changing, everything. Shoshanna holds onto Asher’s hand and runs her fingers across his brow; her touch is so gentle, like a mother to her son. Her son, Abel, the idea of Abel being in that bed… No. I push the thought out of my mind.

“Cate,” Eliath says, “You will continue to feel all of the burdens of your future, as all our lives, mine included will forever change in the coming years. Soon there will be no going back, no reset clause, and I will be the first to admit that I’m not sure what will happen to us, to you. What I can say though…” I watch Shoshanna peel away the top portion of bandages that cover Asher’s chest. She places her palms flat against his mangled skin and slowly, the faintest of lights begin to appear within the space where their bodies connect. “Is that with all of these burdens, there are blessings. You are capable of wonderful, beautiful things. Your gifts will bring happiness to millions of Plebs around the world. The mere sight of you will restore faith in all Guilders. The sound of your name will strike fear into all Nasai. It is truly unfortunate that our people have warred for so long, but that struggle will come to an end soon and this…” He motions to Shoshanna. “Our true purpose will be able to shine, just the way our Creator intended it to.”

I feel my jaw become slack, and my lips part, the first sign of true amazement. My eyes focus on Shoshanna as if I am just now seeing for the first time. Shoshanna steps away from Asher, looking back towards me, her eyes meet mine and she smiles slightly, as if showing me this great secret. Eliath releases the grasp he had on my hand and I walk slowly towards her, still unsure of what exactly just took place. My gaze on Asher intensifies as I reach his bed. I look to Shoshanna for permission to touch him.

“Is…” My voice is feeble and barely escapes my throat. “Is he going to be okay?” Shoshanna takes my hand in hers and places it on Asher’s chest. It is warm, like sunshine bellowing from her palm and it fills me with comfort.

I smile because the light of every happy moment I’ve ever felt warms my soul. I cannot feel anything but safe. Asher’s eyelids begin to flutter and an unintelligible mumble escapes his lips. My heart quickens and total reassurance surrounds me. I don’t know how I can be so sure, but I know he is going to be fine. As if a weight is simultaneously taken off of my heart and placed directly on my back, I soon realize that though Asher will be able to recover from this, Dante will not.

Chapter 14

The soles of my boots click loudly against the asphalt, slick with evening rain, as I run towards my house. My dad must have an address for Adam and Miranda. My heart beats uncontrollably as my legs propel my body faster and faster. Images of my family, friends, race through my mind and I feel pure, unadulterated anger pulsing through my veins.

“Cate!” I hear Abel’s voice call from behind. My pace quickens as I exit the city center and head south towards Ward 3. “Cate! Stop! You don’t know what you’re doing.” His plea fades into the background of my mind.
I know exactly what I’m doing
. A guard shack 30 meters from my position enters my view and I slow, cautiously inhaling, trying to regain composure as to not raise any suspicion. I readjust my currency pin, making sure that it is perfectly placed on my jacket
, a sign of respect to our magnificent council.
The pledge running through my mind, a pledge that every citizen recites each morning so that we will always be mindful of how we are taken care of so graciously.

Approaching the soldiers, I straighten my posture and begin to roll my sleeve up so that my chip can be scanned. I catch the eye of the young soldier working the gate as I patiently wait in the queue. He is short for a Class 2, their genetic makeup tends to promote height, but he is muscular with brown hair, neatly parted to the left, and faded freckles on his face. He smirks at me as I approach.

“Hi Cate.” He smiles shyly as I offer my forearm to him to scan.

“Hey, Ben, you finally got an assignment I see.” I try desperately to make my voice chipper, masking my intentions for the future hours.

“Yeah, I mean it’s nothing glorious, but it’s better than working security at the stockyard, even if that means having my brother as my commanding officer.” He shrugs and I feel the chip beneath my skin vibrate and see my identification flash on the screen behind him.

The gate lifts but I linger for a moment. “How is Joseph? I haven’t seen him since, well…” I hesitate, not exactly knowing how to broach the topic of their father. I don’t know what I would have done if my father was a freedom fighter. I do know, however, that I am not strong enough to have turned him over, like Joseph did. I wonder if he regrets it, or if the promotion he received for turning his father in to the council was worth it to him. The Council turned him into a hero of sorts, the poster boy of model behavior. Joseph was trotted out in front of the city center and given some shiny medal that the rest of us are expected to respect but the thought of it makes my stomach turn.

“He’s good, I think.” Ben lowers his gaze for a brief moment, but then remembers the onlookers and begins to motion me through the checkpoint. “I don’t see him much.” His voice is cold and stern with a resumed sense of purpose.

“It was nice seeing you, Ben.” I smile, holding onto his arm for a moment. I cannot imagine how he can look at his brother.

Rounding the corner, I see the familiar red door. The house is dark, the street is quiet, and my stomach drops. Ominous fear creeps beneath my skin. I lick my lips and slowly raise my arm to the scanner and the door creaks open piercing the silence. I reach my hand towards the left wall, feeling for the motion sensor and waving my arm in front of it, but it fails to activate. Darkness. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, clicking the torch application, a sliver of light emits into the dark space. “Mom? Dad?” I whisper, as if not to disturb the foreboding house.

Making my way up the stairs, I shine the torch into Max’s room, and then Sophie’s. Nothing. I head to my room and pull a grey duffle bag from my closet and quickly begin to toss clothes and my laptop into it.
Everything is about to change
, Eliath’s words echo in my mind. I scan the room,
the box
, sitting on my nightstand. Its dark outline meets my gaze. I pick it up and cradle the box in my hands, breathing slowly. With nothing to interfere, I feel an unmistakable energy surging and I feel strong.
Dante,
his name runs through my mind. Quieting my mind, I hold onto the power that is flowing through me, focusing on my prey.

CRACK.
The sound of breaking glass startles me and I jump, nervous.
Someone’s here
. Slowly, I walk towards the hallway closet and step inside. Loud, heavy footsteps make their way into the kitchen beneath me. I hear cupboards slamming as the trespasser rummages through drawers. I focus intently on the movements until a second pair of footsteps catches my attention—they are slightly lighter, faster, and making their way up the stairs. I swallow hard, preparing myself for inevitable discovery. The second stranger moves past my position and towards my bedroom. I lean into the back of the closet and wood boards creak beneath my weight. I stop, refusing to allow a single muscle to move and hold my breath but I know it’s too late even before I see the second figure stop in the doorway and turn towards the closet. I ready myself, and as the door slides open and I swing. His palm catches my fist and a second palm covers my mouth as the figure moves into the small space alongside me and slides the door silently closed.

“Dammit, Cate.” Abel’s voice is rough and low. My eyes close and I inhale deeply as he peers through the slanted wood door. “Listen, have you gotten a look at whoever’s downstairs?”

“No,” I say. “I was in my room packing when I heard them come in.” His silence is enough to clue me in on the severity of our situation.

“Okay, look, they’re searching for something. I’m thinking it’s a scout, which means that we should be able to get out of here undetected. But you have to stop whatever it is you came here for and you need to listen and follow what I say.” I’ve never seen him like this before, his bright smile has disappeared and his hand, clutched to mine, is panicked.

“Okay,” I mutter, surrendering to him.

“Scouts don’t normally travel alone, there’s likely one or two more either in the house or outside. I want you to head to Max’s room, there’s a window in there that faces west—”

“Wait, I need my bag, I left it on my bed, and there’s this box on my nightstand.”