Ordinaries: Shifters Book II (Shifters series 2) (22 page)

Chapter 41

A Special Delivery We Wish Nobody Signed For

–TANNER
–

My sister has gone totally insane. If she thinks I’m going to let her put Sol
é
in a group of Ordinaries here in this underground bunker, even if Kai is with her, she is crazy. The best thing for us to do right now is find some neutral ground for our new “war conclave” and come up with a strategy. I am definitely not leaving Sol
é
and Kai alone with these people.

Kae turns to Alice and quietly asks, “I have an Apt?”

Alice nods her head. “Didn’t your parents tell you?”

“I don’t remember my parents.”

Alice and Bryce exchange a hurt look and apologize.

“We’ll meet outside the city,” I tell Piper. “Meet us at the caves.”

“We’ll meet right here!” Piper spits.

“Baccas,” I say, totally ignoring Piper’s argument. “Show us the fastest way out. We’ll meet back at your base. Lee, bring your best strategists, anyone that knows their way around. Do you have maps and plans for the city?” Lee starts collecting papers as I go on. “Alice, call the base and have our people gathered and the ships ready. Bring iPhones to give out. The J’s have the network working. We can communicate without using Shifter systems.”

Kae asks Alice, “Why did she call me a Viper? Seems kind of rude.”

“It’s not mean. It’s what they call your Apt.” Kae looks confused, so Alice goes on, “You know how you kind of hypnotize people?” 

Kae shakes her head.

Bryce closes his eyes and takes a breath. “You know how people always seem to do what you want them to?”

Kae nods, but still confused.

“It’s your Apt . . . your smell . . . whatever,” Bryce says, waving his hand and trying to pay attention to our conversation.

“I smell?”

Lee tells me, “We’ll be there in an hour.” Piper glares at him while he stares her one good eye down.

I turn to Piper and say, “Be there in an hour.” Turning to the others, I say, “Let’s go.”

We walk toward the door, leaving Piper and her group behind.
 

Kae stands in place muttering, “I thought people just
liked
me?”

Kai walks back and pats her on the shoulder, saying, “Everybody loves you. Now come on.”

We go back through the floating glass elevator of doom and traverse the streets. I’m wondering if Baccas and E brought us here in a longer way than they’re going out. I don’t recognize much, and I swear we reach the cave opening in less than ten minutes.

All of the ships are here and the red cave is bustling with activity. E and Baccas stare at the number of Shifter Young and Tyros working together. Groups are gathered around the doors, and I see each ship has a different version of Mona flitting in and out of view. Most look like women, but not all.

Christopher walks up and says, “We let each pilot create their own AI design, something personal. It helps them connect with the ship.”

Ryland sprints to one of the ships and disappears inside. I see Sol
é
watch her and tentatively follow. I know what they’re doing. They’re checking on Clay. Bryce, Kai, and I exchange a worried look. We say nothing and head toward the cave. Alice stays with us. I’m not sure why. Wouldn’t she want to stay with Ryland?

The tween vampire girl is standing at the entrance as we walk up. “Hi, Tanner. Did you like the dome?”

Is this creepy little girl talking to me?
 

“The dome…?”

“Yeah.” She lowers her face and looks up at me like I’m some kind of idiot. “Where they make everybody work.”

“Not my favorite place.”

“Mel.”

“Mel?”

She shakes her head. “My name. It’s Mel.”

I nod, like I really care about her name. Seriously, what is wrong with me? I don’t like this girl!

“I hate it. They make me go every day and sit in that stupid room forever,” she says. “I’ll never go again.”

“Wait,” Bryce interrupts. “Don’t you have to go there? For like air?”

“Don’t care,” Mel says.

“Come on, Mel,” Alice says. “You can’t live very long without clean air.”

“If living means I have to be in there, I don’t want to.”

“Tell you what,” Alice says. “You can stay on our ship so you don’t have to go to the dome, at least as long as we’re here. Does that work for you?”

Mel purses her lips like she’s pondering existence and asks, “Is that where you’ll be?” She pauses. “And Tanner?” Alice nods her head, and Mel says, “I guess I could do that.”

I let out a breath and say, “We’ve got to get ready. Piper and Lee are going to be here soon.”

“Piper’s coming here?” Mel asks, eyes wide. I nod, and she says, “She never comes out.”

“Well,” Alice says. “Tanner can be very persuasive.”

Mel stares at me with her mouth open.

“Mel!” E yells as she walks in. “Come with me.”

She looks toward E, then back at me.

“Mel!” Baccas says, sharply. “Now! E needs you.”

Mel turns and runs toward E, and they disappear into the caverns.

Alice elbows me and winks. “Mel likes you. Looks like you have a new girlfriend.”

I roll my eyes and huff. “You’re crazy. She’s like ten, suicidal, and totally creepy.”

–
RYLAND–

As soon as we return to our ships and relative safety, I sprint toward the nearest one. I’m not sure whose it is, but as soon as I go in, it clears out. Apparently, my face showed I wanted to be alone.

Sol
é’
s fluttery body sways behind me like a leaf blown by the wind. Her soft eyes are full of a thousand sorrows, sharing not only my sadness at Clay’s fate, but the grief of a thousand mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and lovers from the past, present, and future.

I reach for the console, my fingers looking long and thin, shaking and dirty like a beggar’s. I feel like a beggar. I am begging. I’m begging for the news I so long to hear. It wasn’t a vision; Sol
é
was merely frightened, sick, dreaming, anything other than seeing the future.

Before I can even brush the screen with my fingers, the ship seems to react to my commands. Perhaps it did. Mona, or whatever AI this ship has, no doubt knows what I need.

Cooper’s face flashes across the screen. She’s grinning from ear to ear, and my heart soars. She would not be smiling were Clay hurt or . . .

“Cooper,” I barely breathe out. It’s a sigh.

She smiles back at me. “Hey, Ry, what’s up?”

I freeze, unsure of what she could mean by that. Of course, she has to know what I mean. She has to understand why I’ve called.

“I . . .” start to stutter.

Sol
é
pushes past me, eyes wide with terror. “Where’s Clay?”

Cooper grins. “He’s fine. He just got back from a hugely successful run. He actually met up with a ship from Seven. We’ve supplied them with weapons, and they’ve given us soap. You wouldn’t believe how gross we are.”

Sol
é
shakes her head, eyes searching some invisible painting before her.

My stomach twists.

“Please, you have to call for him. I need to talk to him,” I say in a panic. I don’t know why but fear rises in me like bile, and I feel a hole growing where my heart should be.

“Okay,” Cooper says, still grinning.

Before she can press the call button on her radio, a boom rocks the room she’s in. Dust falls around her, and my heart screams in my chest. She stares around in shock as screams fill our ears.

I look to Sol
é
, and she simply deflates. I watch her shoulders fall, and her face slump in defeat.

“What’s happening?” Cooper screams into her radio.

For a long, painful moment, nothing happens. Only static.

Then, a voice says, “Those—”

“Coop?” a second voice says.

“What happened?” Cooper screams into the radio. “Are we being attacked? Any casualties?”

The first voice screams, “The package was a bomb!”

“Coop,” the second voice says, and I realize it’s Greg. “Cooper, are you alright?”

“Yes,” Cooper says. “Are there any casualties?”

Another long pause.

My heart stops beating. I already know. I already know, but I have to
hear
.

Greg answers slowly, “Clay was right there.”

“Is he dead?”
Cooper yells.

She looks at me with horror-filled eyes.

“Coop, there’s nothing left.”

Chapter 42

A Long Needed Rest

–TANNER–

I’m startled by a horrible scream. I look at Alice. She’s as shocked as me. I look toward the ships, and several people are running toward a commotion. They’re ready for another attack, ready to fight.

“Can you see what it is?” I yell to Alice, to Bryce, to anybody.

Bryce shakes his head. “I can’t see.”

“Oh my God!” Alice screams, as she starts running. “It’s Ryland!”

“What?” I feel the familiar rush of adrenaline, and the world freezes. I dart through the crowd and break my shift as I reach the group. I force my way through and see Sol
é
kneeling on the ground, holding my sister. Ryland is heaving like she’s vomiting. Between each retch, she screams in pain, wailing uncontrollably.

“Ryland! What happened? Are you okay?” I ask, scanning the group and trying to figure out what happened to her. The faces are shocked and confused. Nobody’s fighting. There’s no attack.

Sol
é
looks up through glassy eyes. Her cheeks are streaked with dust and tears. She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. She can’t talk. She looks as if she’s carrying the pain of a thousand lost souls as she tries to hold my sister.

I kneel beside her and shout to the crowd, “Back up! Give her some air!” I meet blank stares. I stand and shout, “Back off! Now!” I spot Bryce and yell, “Get Corey!”

He turns and runs.

Kai pushes several guys and yells, “You heard him! Back off!”

They finally do.

I drop to my knees by my sister. She’s rolling around moaning, making incoherent sounds. I try to hold her but she rolls out of my arms. I grab her shoulders, but she doesn’t look at me. “Ry!” It’s like I’m not here. “Ry! Are you okay? Where are you hurt?” She looks at me and says something I can’t understand. She rolls away and sucks in several breaths.

A calm voice recites, “It seems there has been an incident.”

I look up to see an AI woman flickering in the opening of the ship. “What kind of incident?” I look back to Sol
é
for answers. She’s too busy with my sister.

“There has been an explosion. There is at least one casualty,” the sterile voice states.

I look at Sol
é
. She sucks in a breath. “We were talking to Cooper . . .” she says. “There was a flash . . .”

“Clay?” I ask, already knowing the answer. She already told us something was going to happen to him. I knew it was impossible, but I hoped she was wrong about this one.

“We saw it happen,” Sol
é
sobs. “He’s gone, Tanner.”

“Oh my God, Ry. I’m so sorry.”

She rolls onto her hands and knees then curls into a fetal position with her face on the ground and screams, slamming her hands down several times. She pushes herself up and stares at the ground, quivering for a moment. She rubs her arm across her face, leaving a dusty smudge across her cheek.

I back off as she stands, staring at the group.

Bryce and Corey push through the group. “Here he is,” Bryce breathlessly says.

Ryland looks at our older brother. He stares back open-mouthed. She sweeps her eyes around the onlookers, trying to fight back involuntary sobs.

I lean into Kai and quietly say, “If she runs, stay with her. No matter what.”

Kai scrunches his eyebrows together and looks at my sister. He looks back and gives me an almost imperceptible nod.

“I’m so sorry, Ry,” Alice says, as she walks up to wrap her arms around her best friend.

Ryland throws her hand up and chokes out, “No.”

Alice stops short and pulls her arms back. She gives her friend a pleading face as her jaw quivers.

“I need to be alone right now,” Ryland says. “I’m sorry, Alice.”

Ryland looks at me and drops her eyes. I feel a rush of wind blow past me, and she’s gone. I look over and see Kai has also vanished. “Keep her safe,” I mutter to myself. I know Kai cares about her. Even if he won’t admit it, I know he loves her. I know she loves him, too.

“Well, we’re here,” Piper says from behind us. “Let’s get this over with. The less I have to breathe this wretched air, the better.”

We all turn and stare at her.

“Well?” she says, turning her palms up.

Marcus explains, “We lost someone today.”

“Yes. Annnnnd?” she asks, elongating the word. “We lose someone everyday. The colony doesn’t stop turning.” She looks at Quinn, the leader from Six since Miles was killed. “Quinn, what are you doing with this group of buckleads? Is Miles here?”

“Miles is dead,” Quinn says flatly.

Piper shrugs her shoulders like she was just told dinner would be late.

“I promised Miles I would come for Leah and Wave. Do you know where they are?”

“I do.”

“Do you mind sharing?”

“Let’s see how this alliance works out; then, we’ll see what we can do.”

“You owe it to Miles.”

“I don’t owe Miles anything!” Piper spits. “You forget. I was sent here while Miles sat back and watched!”

Quinn steps forward. “You know there was nothing he could do. He had to watch as they took his wife and daughter. He would have done anything to stop it.”

Piper shakes her head and looks around. “These yours?” she asks, motioning toward the ships, totally disregarding Quinn’s argument.

“They’re ours,” I tell her.

She nods. “Not bad.”

“Not b-bad,” Viktor stutters, holding his wound. “They’re p-perfect.”

“We’ll see. Let’s get started. So where are the new council members?”

“This is Sol
é
,” I tell her, motioning toward Sol
é
.

Sol
é
wipes her tears and offers her hand to shake. Piper ignores it and asks, “And the other?”

“I’ll be filling in today. Kai is out on official business. He’ll be in shortly,” I lie. I really have no idea where Kai and my sister are or when they’ll be back.

Baccas motions toward the cave. Piper nods, and we walk toward the entrance.

–RYLAND–

I don’t know where I am. I only know that Clay’s arms are around me. He’s holding me as I shake and shudder. He’s comforting me.

He carefully wipes the hair from my face, arranging it behind my ears. Then his warm lips touch my forehead, burning me with their heat.

I don’t know how he’s here, holding me. I can’t understand it, but I thank every heaven that exists for his presence. His warmth surrounds me in this barren, poisonous place.

When my tears finally run out and my throat is raw from crying, I look up to see his face one final time. The look there is full of concern, but something about him is wrong.

His hair is so pale, a silvery blond, no longer full of the sunlit color it once was. His eyes are no longer a deep, rich blue. Now they are gray, like a stormy sky. His features are too sharp.

“Clay,” my voice croaks out in a harsh whisper.

“I know,” he soothes. “I’m sorry.”

I frown back at him. “Why?”

“I don’t know, Ry,” he says. “Sometimes these things just happen.”

His face twists into a mask of pain. “I’m so sorry,” he says. “I shouldn’t have volunteered him to stay. It should’ve been me.”

I don’t understand what he’s saying. It was
him
. He’s gone now. He’s gone because I left him behind.

And then he really is gone, and I realize it’s Kai, not Clay, holding me. He’s cradling me like a child, trying to take away the pain he thinks he’s caused. He blames himself yet again for this, just like he blames himself for his parents.

“No,” I say, touching his cheek with my hand. “He stayed because he wanted to. He stayed to fight.”

Kai shakes his head.

“Kai, we can’t lose you.”

He looks at me, eyes full of tears.

“I can’t lose you.”

He pulls me into his embrace and holds me until I calm and finally fall asleep in his arms.