Hero's Revenge (Keepers of Justice, Book 2) (14 page)

I open my eyes. My left side throbs with pain. Squinting through the darkness, I try to move my body, only to discover I’m bound and gagged. As I scan the area, I realize I’m in a dungeon. A dungeon similar to the one I was in with Kale and Stretch four months ago. My heart lurches as it dawns on me that I’ve been kidnapped by the ShadowBlades.

I don’t understand.
Why am I here? As far as I know this wasn’t part of our plan.

Stealth. Where is she? I try to move my head and body to examine my cell, but I don’t see her anywhere. It’s pitch black in here, but I can make out the outlines of two people outside my cellar door. Guards.

My eyes pierce through the ceiling and walls, and I see a group of Blades gathered around upstairs. I’m in some sort of warehouse, different from the last one. A woman with long white hair down her back is at the center of the group. Her face is concealed by a red and orange mask. Vlayne. I can’t understand what she’s saying because she won’t let me see her mouth.

Twisting and turning, I try to free my hands from the ropes, but it’s impossible. I’m still groggy from whatever they shot at me, and all this movement is
tiring me. My eyes droop.

***

Voices rouse me. The guards are talking to a few Blades. All I hear is a humming sound, which is probably due to the drugs they injected in me. I roll to a sitting position and try to make out my surroundings. The cell is empty except for a tray in the corner. The only thing on it is a burnt piece of bread.

I’m not hungry, anyway.

My eyes roaming the area, I see Stealth in the cell a few feet away from me. My heartbeat accelerates. She’s okay. Bound just as I am. She doesn’t seem to be injured. I want to call her name or wave, but those bastards tied me up well. And she wouldn’t be able to see me.

What the hell happened?
Did the Blades discover her true identity? Is that why we’ve been captured?

Is the League safe?

I wish I could tear through these bonds and leap into her cell. Take her in my arms and tell her that everything is going to be okay.

Her eyes are shut and her head sags. They drugged her so she wouldn’t use her powers to escape. If they so much as touch her, I am seriously going to
kill them. Each and every one.

I remain slumped against the wall of my cell as I watch Stealth sleep. The guards patrol the area. They don’t look at me. No Blade has said a word to me, and their queen hasn’t been down here. Odd. The last time she captured
me she bragged about her plans. Why is this time different?

As one of the guards pass, I bang my feet on the floor and yell through my gag. He turns toward me and peeks through the window at the top of the door. His eyes are filled with amusement. I want to punch him. He laughs a loud, bitter laugh before turning around and continuing to march.

My thoughts travel to the League. They must have noticed that Stealth and I are missing. The Elites didn’t follow Stealth because she wasn’t supposed to meet with the Blades until tonight. We can’t be located, since Vlayne is a telepath and is most probably concealing our thoughts. I hate having to worry Samson and Cindy when they’re concerned over Kale.

Kale. I wonder if
he’s…still alive. Am I going to die before saying goodbye? I can’t stand the thought of him waking up and I’m no longer alive.

The hours pass while I sit here. I won’t allow myself to fall asleep because I must be on high alert. The
Blades don’t seem to be doing anything in particular. They just stand around.

I don’t take my eyes off them.

***

The door creaks
open. Light shines in from the outside room and blinds me, making my eyes tear. I can’t see anything, only feel two sets of hands grab hold of my arms and haul me forward. My feet sweep the floor as I’m dragged out of my cell like a sack of potatoes.

I try to wrestle. Try to yell at them to get their damn hands off me. But I’m still bound and gagged. When I twist my neck to glimpse
at my captors, I see two of the men
who were guarding my cell.
As
my eyes adjust to my surroundings, I realize they’re bringing me into another room.

I curse into the gag when I see a girl there, tied to a metal table in the center.

Stealth.

I thrash my arms and legs, but the guards have a firm grip on me. Stealth is lying flat on the table, her eyes fluttering. She must still be drugged. I feel groggy, too, but not as much as I did earlier.

If they lay a single finger on her—

The guards throw me onto another metal table a few feet away from Stealth. One guard cuts the rope around my hands, and before I could attack, they grab my wrists and slam them down, tying them to the bindings attached to the table. I yell through the gag, but it’s futile. They do the same to my legs.

I turn my head to look at Stealth. She’s still lying there, barely moving. She doesn’t have a gag anymore. What the hell are they going to do to her? To me?

I try to call out to her, but it’s impossible
with the gag. She moans softly in pain, and that makes my blood boil with rage. I yank at the restraints. Hard. Feel them dig into my skin. But I don’t feel the pain, not physical. Only the emotional one as I see Stealth tied there, like a sheep about to be slaughtered.

Four ShadowBlades are in the room. The two guards who brought me here and two others I saw upstairs. They stand at the four corners of the room, arms crossed over their chests, legs spread apart. They’re wearing masks, and when I try to peer through them to see their faces, I get nothing. Vlayne must be controlling my mind. Won’t let me see their true identities.

I squint through the walls and ceilings to search for Vlayne, but I can’t see her anywhere. She won’t let me.

I lie here for a while until I hear footsteps. A few seconds later, Vlayne appears, walking with her masked head held high. She glances from Stealth to me. I thrash against my restraints and yell into the gag. That causes her to smirk.

Her shoes tap against the cemented ground as she makes her way toward me. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you so soon.” She touches my head. I growl and twist my head away.

She moves to Stealth and touches the top of her head. I yell into my gag again, yanking at the bindings. Vlayne releases a sinister laugh. “I’m sorry? I can’t hear you. Perhaps we should remove the gag.” She
motions to the Blade closest to me. He steps forward and slides the gag down my chin.

“Don’t you dare touch her!”

That causes her to laugh again. She strokes Stealth’s hair. “If you give me what I want, there won’t be a need to hurt anyone.”

What’s she talking about?

Stealth stirs. Moans. Her eyes flutter open before closing again. She’s really weak.

Vlayne
returns to my side. Stands over me. “Give it to me,” she demands.

“Give you what? What the hell do you want from me?”

Her eyes fill with fury. She stretches her hand toward Stealth, and my heartbeat races. Vlayne spreads her fingers apart, and Stealth shrieks in pain. Her body rises, like someone is sucking out her brain. Her wails echo across the room, tearing my heart apart.

“Stop!” I
shout.

“Give me the antidote!” Vlayne
’s face is demonic.

Stealth continues to cry out.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What antidote?”

She curls her fingers and pushes her palm outward. Stealth
howls. I jerk at the restraints again. “Leave her alone! I’ll do anything you want. Just leave her alone.”

Vlayne lowers her hand. Stealth slumps down, her head rolling to the side. Vlayne steps closer to me and raises her hand toward my face. The next thing I feel is my brain on fire. I cry out. It feels like my entire body is engulfed in flames. I writhe against the restraints and clench my teeth as I hold back from roaring. My body twists in different directions.

The pain suddenly disappears. I open my eyes and find Vlayne next to Stealth again. I shout at her to stop, just as she lifts her hand and tortures Stealth once more.

“Give me what’s mine!” she says to me.

“I don’t know what you want,” I mutter, my body weakening from her telepathic assault. “Take what you want. Leave her alone.”

My eyes droop. When I force them open, I find Vlayne at my side. “Lower your defenses
and give me access.”

My brain burns again, and I cry out. But I don’t fight her. I don’t know what she wants from me, why she’s invading my mind. But w
hatever it is, she can have it.

When the pain stops, I look at Vlayne. Her
face is filled with even more fury. I’m too weak to do anything, to say anything. My head rolls to the side and I black out.

***

Someone is touching my mouth, tugging on the cloth. I open my eyes and find myself back in my cell. Stealth is standing over me. Before I can react, she places her fingers on my lips.

She must have gotten out of her restraints.

Looking to her right and left, she makes sure no guard is around. She then grabs my hand and we mist away.

We materialize in an unknown area. I’m not sure we
’re still in New York, because all I see are tall mountains and grass. I’m free from my ropes. My head still burns and my body is weak. Stealth presses something into my hand. Some sort of cookie.

“Eat it. It’ll
give you energy.”

I stuff it into my mouth and feel
a little better. I haul Stealth to my chest.

She pulls off.
“You need to run.”

“What?”

She looks around, then shoves me. “You need to run away and hide somewhere safe. My mom’s going to find you.” She clutches my shoulders. “She’ll be here any second. Run!”

I don’t move. Just
stare at her. Her words aren’t entering my head.

Stealth grabs me and crushes her mouth to mine. “Run, Jericho.”

She gives me another shove before misting away. I gaze at the spot she just occupied, as though she’ll reappear. She doesn’t. My heart pounds in my head as her words swirl around inside. Mom? Who was she—?

No. Hell no. She can’t mean...

Vlayne.

All this time Stealth was
n’t helping us destroy the Blades. She was on their side. A double agent.

How
could I be so stupid to trust her?

Dammit, I love…loved her.

No, I can’t think about this right now. I need to get to safety.

I
focus on contacting Scar. Like Kale, he can pick up telepathic messages. I don’t know what Vlayne’s after, but I’ll be safe with him.

I climb down into the New Jersey sewers and head toward Scar and the others. It’s been over four months since I’ve seen my old friends. My old family.

My thoughts flick to Stealth, regardless of how much I try to force them not to. I mis
s her, which is really pathetic and stupid. I want to tear my brain out. I need to get rid of these ridiculous feelings. It was fake. All fake.

She played us all.

I’m an idiot.

I ram my
foot into the wall. Grab my hair and pull. Stifling a yell, I slide down to the ground.

“Ray?” a soft, familiar voice says.
At first I think it’s Stealth coming back for me, but when I raise my head, I see purple hair and brown eyes. Phase.

I didn’t realize I’m outside t
he entrance to the sewer house.

Phase rushes over, crouches down
, and wraps her arms around me. “Scar told us you were coming back,” she whispers against my cheek. “Is this permanent?”

I don’t know what to say
because I don’t know the answer.

She and I
were good friends when I lived in the sewers. She was upset when I left, and she seems so happy I’m back. But I can’t make promises I can’t keep.

“Ray!” Blaze runs toward me and hauls me to my feet. Pulls me into a hug. “What brings you back?”

He holds his beer bottle out to me. It’s tempting to take it. Hell, it’ll help drown out my problems for a little while. But I wave it away.

Soon more of my old friends hurry over and drag me into the house, slapping my back, shaking my hand, hugging m
e, and welcoming me home.

With Blaze’s arm slung over my shoulder, we enter the living room and sit around the couches.
Some others grab more beer bottles. Phase sits in the chair near me.

I
look around. One of the members here has the ability to mold earth and transform it into the interior of a house. The place resembles the previous sewer houses they’ve been in. No one here likes change. There are a few faces I don’t recognize. Probably others who have been rescued from the streets, as I had been.

“What’s up?”
Blaze asks.

It isn’t a good idea to inform them of the real reason I’m here.
There’s no need to freak them out. Scar’s a smart man and feels it’s safe for me to be here. His telepathy is almost equal to Vlayne’s. Prior to my coming here, he told me, telepathically, that he pushed Vlayne’s hold on my mind out of my head and protected me with his own telepathic shield. I only hope it’s strong enough. I don’t want anyone here dying on my account.

Scar
also told me that he informed Samson and Cindy of what happened and that I’m here and safe. They probably learned of Stealth’s true identity and reprogrammed the Tower’s security system to not allow her near the premises. Unfortunately, the League can’t track down the Blades because the warehouse I was held at is not their headquarters and they most likely left.

I look around
some more and realize that everyone is waiting for an answer. “Had enough of the Keepers.”

Blaze laughs. “Yeah
, I figured living with them was no fun. All those rules you gotta follow.”

I don’t say anything
as I gaze at the gray carpet. I think of Kale and how much he wanted me to stay, regardless of how much I wanted to flee. If he dies while I’m here, I’ll never forgive myself. I don’t know how long I have to be in hiding, but I need to say goodbye.

“Hey.” Blaze rests his
hand on my arm. “Heard what happened with that Stretch kid. You okay?”

I nod.

“And we also heard about Kale. Sorry. Anything we can do to help?”

Not unless
they can regenerate his brain cells. I shake my head.

The room grows silent
, except for the sounds of beer being slurped.

“Where’s Scar?”
I ask.

“In his room,” Blaze says. “Not to be disturbed.”

Good thing, because I’m not really in the mood to talk to him, or to anyone. I need to be alone. To think. And forget. “Any free rooms?” I ask.

Phase stands up. “I’ll show you.”

I follow her down the narrow hallway to where the bedrooms are. There are many, to house all the fifty people living here. As I walk, the smell engulfs me. I’m not sure what the smell is, but it’s always here, no matter how many times we move. It smells like home. Like I belong.

I don’t, though. I can’t go back to living here. Yes, I feel like an outsider back in the Tower, but I can’t go backward, only forward. This place with these people is part of my past.

“Here,” Phase says, opening the door to the last room in the hall. Just like my previous room. I liked to be alone in a corner. Isolated.

“Thanks.” I enter. The walls are painted gray, as was my last room. Black was my first choice, but I woul
d wake up terrified of the dark and I had it repainted.

“You like it?” Phase asks.

“Looks like my old room.”

She
sits down on the bed, which takes up most of my room. She runs her finger across the bedspread before her eyes lift to meet mine. “Every time we move, I paint it this color. I knew you’d return.”

I lower myself onto the floor near my bed. “I’m not here to stay,” I say, slowly looking up at her. Her face fills with disappointment and she breaks her gaze from mine. Doesn’t say a word.

Phase never accepted my decision to leave. We didn’t talk for a week. Then the day before I left for the League, she told me I wouldn’t last two days there and would run back to the sewers.

She was right, in a way. My first
month with the Keepers was difficult. I couldn’t adjust to the rules. No drugs. No thievery. No fighting. If not for Glen who helped me sober up and for Kale and Stretch for befriending me, I would have done exactly as Phase predicted.

“How long, then?” she asks.

I glance at the walls. There are no windows here. I miss watching the moonlight shine into my room. It calmed me during those sleepless nights.

“Not sure,” I say.

“Where will you go? Back to the Keepers? You have nothing there. Nothing. Everything you know and love is here.”

I don’t say anything as I stare at
the sewer dirt on my sneakers.

“Everyone wants you here.
We miss you. I miss you.”

I shut my eyes. “I know.”

We used to be close. She helped me get through my problems. I was happy. But it didn’t last long. I needed more. I couldn’t live that way for the rest of my life. It was time to move on.

“I’m a little tired,” I tell her. “We’ll catch up later?”

She nods, gets up, and turns to me. “I’m glad you’re back. Maybe you’ll want to stay this time.”