Reckoning (20 page)

“It’s a taser. Take it.”

I slipped that into my pocket too, then we slowly made our way from behind the Jeep.

Agent Davis finished the phone call and swung to face me. He waved his hands at the destruction around him. “Did you do this?”

I started to tell him no, but then one of the mangled Jeeps exploded a second time.

Everyone hit the ground, covering their heads with their hands. Once the dust settled, Agent Davis scrambled to his feet, his face red. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. His lips pulled back to expose his teeth. “You have blood on your uniform.”

I looked down. It was Adler’s.

The agent glanced at Rick. “Take her to the hospital and have her checked out. We wouldn’t want to anything to happen to her.”

Rick clamped his hand around my elbow. “This way.” He led me to the only remaining Jeep, and I got in beside him.

“Who were the humans firing at us? Military?”

Rick shook his head. “Independent contractors.”

“A polished up term meaning assassins for hire.”

“Yes and no. They’re part of the Enforcers. We usually send them into hostile situations in foreign countries rather than keep them stateside.”

“When the war is over, if the humans win, the ones in charge have no intention of letting us go about our lives, do they?”

He frowned and navigated around the base to the hospital. The Jeep lurched as Rick bumped the front tires against a parking block. Finally, he said, “No.”

“Then what are their plans for us?” I got out of the Jeep and waited for him.

“I don’t know yet. I’m working on finding out.” He joined me, and we walked to the front of the hospital.

The doors swished open, but Rick didn’t walk in with me.

“Room 223,” he said.

I didn’t wait for him to leave, but went into the hospital and down the hallway, following the arrows until I reached the empty nurse’s station. Looking around and seeing no one, I walked to the room and pushed open the door. My stomach tightened when I saw who was in the bed. I rushed over and flung myself at him.

“Easy,” Stone said. Dried blood crusted in a wide line on his neck. One wrist was handcuffed to the bed railing.

I pulled back to look at his face. “What have they done to you and who did it?”

“You don’t want to know the details, but Agent Davis was the ringleader.”

“How’d you get caught?”

“I didn’t.” Stone looked offended at the idea. He shifted in the bed, then groaned. Touching the tip of his tongue to a split in his lip, he winced, then said, “Someone dumped me unconscious beside the base. The humans found me when they patrolled.”

“You left me in the Void.”

He massaged his wrist where the handcuff rubbed it raw. “Riley said Ide was waiting outside the Void to kill you.”

“I know, but you should have told me.”

“I knew how badly you wanted to escape to get Maisy. I figured you’d blow me off and take your chances against Ide. Riley was right, Juliet. The only way to get Ide off the hunt was to let him think you were dead.” He rubbed a hand down his face. “Riley’s not my favorite person, but I think we need to heed whatever he says. I saw things at the castle.” He looked worried.

“What things?”

“Ugly things. Ide is crazy as hell. Besides torturing and killing others, he’s obsessed with the scrolls. Passages of the predictions that have already come to pass were highlighted and hung on the walls. Like he’s constructing a sort of follow-the-future map.” He plucked at the hospital sheet, then said quietly, “There are rumors going around that you’re going to betray Riley.”

“Going around where?” My muscles tightened.

“The base. One of the Supernaturals slipped in and told me.”

“Do you believe I betray him?” My voice wavered. I wanted him to say no, because I guess I thought that would mean I succeeded in my destiny, yet found a way to save Riley.

“Do you believe it?” he countered.

I felt the whisper of darkness I’d had to fight hard against as the hours had passed. Almost as if my power was shutting down my emotions to enable me to do what had to be done. I wished I could tell Stone the truth so he wouldn’t think I was a monster. Saving the world didn’t technically qualify as betraying someone if it meant I broke the curse in the Untolds and saved Riley as well, did it? My goal, my hope, was to save his life after I killed him. Actually going through with the killing part… I’d rather be tortured to death myself.

“Juliet, look at me. You’re a good person. Full of amazing love, even toward those who don’t deserve it.” He licked his cracked lips. “But your power isn’t like the rest of ours. It has an edge. Almost as if it’s…alive.”

Fear snaked through my veins. I didn’t fully understand my power. I could remember being six years old crying, afraid to go to sleep, afraid my power would kill me in the night.

He shifted, tilting his head to one side. “Is there something I should know?”

I reached for the handcuffs keeping him pinned to the bed. I couldn’t speak of the Untolds to him anymore than I could Riley. “Of course not. I’ll break this, and we can get you out of here.”

“Whoa.” Stone clapped his hand over mine. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m right where I need to be. I’m going to help Riley.”

Maybe it was petty given the scheme of things, but Stone being on Riley’s side was a betrayal. He was my friend and he was supposed to have my back. Siding with Riley meant he’d be working against my mission.

I wasn’t about to let him stay on the base and be someone else I had to worry about. Plus, I couldn’t let him get in my way of doing what I had to do. If he suspected, he’d try to stop me. My lips tightened with anger at the thought of him thwarting me. “Don’t be stupid, Stone. What if Agent Davis kills you?”

The door swung open and Rick appeared. “What are you doing here?” he demanded. His eyes willed me to understand and play along. Two of the men who’d fired at me at the field edged into the doorway.

“The doctor told me to go into room 221, and I walked in to find it already occupied.” I shrugged. “There are no numbers on the door.”

Rick motioned me forward. He gripped my wrist and put a band around it, but didn’t close it. He slid his fingers beneath it and when he let go, the band was colder and heavier than the one I’d had. “Training’s over for the day. Because of what happened on the field, Agent Davis put the base on lockdown. All prisoners must return to the barracks.”

As I passed Rick, the pocket where I’d stored the cell phone and the taser bumped against him. He could tell I had it. I saw it in his eyes. He said nothing.

RILEY

The colors painting the part of the sky I could see from the window of my barracks reminded me of Mallen’s eyes. No one knew the depths of love I had for the old Guard. Or how many times he’d protected me from my father’s wrath simply by his well-timed arrivals. At nine years old, I’d brought a half-starved dog into the castle. Fed him chicken scraps using one of the royal dishes, and my father had discovered it.

Mallen had immediately taken the blame, taken the punishment, and taken in the dog. He’d kept him in his own quarters and nursed him to health. Then he’d found a home for the dog far from my father’s quick temper. I straightened my shoulders and lifted my hand in a salute to him.

From my viewpoint, I watched the humans scurrying about, searching the base. They were spooked. Not knowing what caused the Jeeps to explode made them afraid the bogeyman had arrived. I knew the explosions were the work of Adler who’d rigged the vehicles with a quick slight of hand.

“Excuse me, sir?”

I turned to find Adler waiting, impatiently shifting from one foot to another. He pushed his hand through his hair to shove the blue-tipped ends away from his face. Humans colored their hair to hide gray, to look younger, or to express their creative nature. When a Tazavorn used hair color, it was a message. Blue stood for loyalty. Green meant safety. Red symbolized danger and war as well as strength and power. The thought brought me up short. When I’d first met Juliet, she’d had red highlights in her hair. I frowned, not understanding how I’d overlooked that.

“Sir?”

I blinked. “Yes?”

“I secured a copy of the armory code. We’ll enter tonight and destroy the weapons, then fuse the door so they can’t open it. By the time they’re able to figure it out, it’ll be too late.”

“Good. Then we’re on schedule.”

“Yes, sir. The humans wanted a war, they’ve got a war.” The bloodthirst gleamed in his eyes.

“Did you have any luck locating Henry?”

“Negative. He’s gone underground, but I did get a report back with photos, sir.” Adler pulled out a Corresponder he’d swiped from the castle and flipped through a set of images. “I scanned them for you to see.”

I took the Corresponder and scrolled through image after image of Henry talking to Agent Davis alone, away from the base. In one image, he was passing a dagger to the agent. I recognized it as one of the royal daggers. The handle was decorated with my family crest and inlaid with precious jewels. The last time I’d seen any of the daggers, they’d been locked away in a case at the castle. They were symbolic of passing the throne from one king to another. I couldn’t understand why Henry would give them to a human.

“We found two Jeeps in a garage. With the one left from the field, that makes three.”

“Take out two of them the morning of the attack. We’ll need to have one to take us to the White House. In the meantime, remove supplies and place them at the end of the fence for the Guards to retrieve.” The Guards would take the humans’ resources and use them to care for the needs of my people waiting in the woods.

“Yes, sir.” He started to leave.

“Adler? Find the dagger.”

“I can search Agent Davis’s office tonight.”

“Do that.” I walked toward the bunk bed.

“Sir… Mallen left information with me in the event of his death. I can retrieve it and bring it to the base tonight.”

“Fine.”

Adler moved toward me. “He said to give this to you first.” He handed me a small gold medallion with a ruby in the center. I smiled in spite of the lump forming in my throat. The old Guard believed in an old wives tale that the ancient Shimea Prime medallions contained the power of protection. I didn’t share his belief, but it was nice to have a piece that meant something to Mallen.

“If I may point out an observation?”

I pulled my attention from the medallion. “Go ahead.”

“Whatever Mallen wanted had to be significant for him to give his life trying to reach you. In my training protocol, I learned the only time a Guard puts himself in the line of enemy fire is to save the life of the king. I believe he wanted to warn you. Someone’s trying to kill you, sir.”

Chapter 16

JULIET

Back at the barracks, Nixie greeted me with relief and a surprise hug. “I was afraid they’d taken you to interrogation.”

“No.” I kicked my shoes off. Feeling decades older than my seventeen years, I climbed onto my mattress.

To my surprise, Nixie climbed up beside me and let her legs hang off. She swung them back and forth. “Are you going to meet Adler at midnight?”

I groaned and rolled over onto my stomach. The phone and taser pressed into me and hurt. I rolled back over to dig them out. I needed to hide them where they couldn’t be found. I ran my hand along the back end of the mattress. Pulling hard, I ripped a small hole and slid the phone and taser inside.

“You should meet with Adler. It’s probably important,” Nixie said, looking too innocent.

“You know what it’s about, don’t you?” Though I wondered what he wanted, my mind was on meeting up with Riley. I couldn’t wait to be alone with him, yet I dreaded it at the same time.

Turning her head, she peeked down at me, then put her hand against her chest. “Me?”

“Wait… Did you want to go with me to meet Adler?”

“Oh. Well, if you need help, then yeah, sure. I’ll be there for you.”

I laughed and a Supernatural girl in the bunk across from me snapped, “I can’t imagine what’s so amusing. Our people are dying. My little brother is locked up in the prison sector. He’s only twelve.”

“Juliet’s sister is locked up, and she’s younger than him,” Nixie fired back with a surprising show of spirit. She glared at the girl.

“Sorry,” the girl said. “I haven’t seen my brother since they brought us in.” She turned her head away, the picture of sorrow and defeat. I hated it. Hated to see my people, such proud Supernaturals, living like cowering dogs.

The band started itching my wrist, and I scratched at it. The itch became worse. I grabbed the band to push it up a fraction of an inch to I could scratch the skin beneath it.
What the
…? I slid my fingers beneath it and a small key fell out. I quickly covered it, hoping no one else had seen it. It was one of the prison sector keys. I closed my hand around it. Rick had given me the key to the children’s cell. I wanted to kiss it.