Recruits (Keeper of the Water Book 2) (43 page)

“Jane Austen,” I announce.

Usually meek and mild, Jane looks shocked – maybe even a bit skeptical – about the idea of being put in charge. But I nod my head in support and she returns the gesture.

“I also think that is a wise pick,” Cleopatra adds.

“Too bad neither of you has a vote since you
aren’t
Amazons anymore,” Catherine says. “
We
should be choosing our next leader.”

Catherine glares at me and my first instinct is to argue back. But Cleopatra’s presence makes me remember the importance of keeping a cool head. Instead, I turn to Harriet, who seems to read my mind.

“I nominate Jane Austen to be our leader!” she says.

“I second that nomination,” says the tribe’s newest Amazon, a sultry blonde woman that used to be a famous actress.

Amelia and Mary also voice their agreement and when it’s put to a vote, only the members of the Queen Clan keep their hands down.

“I don’t know what to say,” Jane responds, clearly overwhelmed by the show of support. She quickly gathers her emotions. “I will proudly distribute the water when needed. But nobody is to protect me the way we would a Keeper – I will be treated no differently than any other woman in this tribe.”

It is now my time. I turn toward the tribe to offer words of gratitude and farewell but I’m struck by an unexpected wave of sadness. I open my mouth to speak but the words get caught in my throat. Unfortunately my tears don’t stay welled behind my eyes. My recruits approach me and Harriet picks me up off my feet in a tight embrace, squeezing the air from my lungs. Her grip is crushing and painful but I find myself smiling by the time she puts me down. Mary and Florence wish me the best of luck and Amelia whispers a promise that only I can hear.

“We may not be with you but we’ll do what we can to make sure you’re being watched over,” she says.

I nod. There’s nothing left to do but drink. In her first role as the tribe’s leader, Jane scoops water and offers it to me. I’m suddenly in the same position that Isabella was just minutes ago. I glance over at the infant and feel the slightest twinge of trepidation.

“Maybe don’t make me
quite
as young as Isabella,” I say.

I begin to drink, taking quick gulps before I can change my mind. The water is clean and cold and delicious. At first I feel a blast of youthful strength coursing through my muscles. I look toward my granddaughter, whose mouth falls open in shock as I transform into a younger version of myself. But I continue to drink more and more water until my mind grows cloudy and the faces of those around me no longer appear familiar.

The last thing I see before becoming lost in a haze is a beautiful woman holding an infant, smiling down lovingly at her new daughter…

And now I stare up toward the top of the swamp buggy, where just enough moonlight shines for me to see that mother and daughter. But Cassie is no longer a baby and will probably never realize how much her mother – at least her mother in
this
lifetime – sacrificed for her.

“
I
didn’t cause you to force so much water down my throat. If anyone is to blame for that situation and what’s happened since, it’s
her
,” Cassie shouts as she points at Celeste, blaming her for the past.

“I loved you as my own daughter, in this life and the last,” Celeste says. Her words are muffled through bruised and battered lips, which she likely got while trying to defend the girl who feels so much rancor toward her.

“You betrayed me by choosing Nia over me – or should I say choosing
Sacajawea
over me,” Cassie says. “I’d been with you for hundreds more years but you
always
liked her more, even now.”

“That’s not true,” Celeste says, her voice cracking. “I explained to you then why I chose Sacajawea to lead the tribe. It had nothing to do with personal feelings.”

“
And
you’ve lied to me this entire life about who I really am,” Cassie continues, apparently not hearing a single heart-felt word her mother says. “I had to find out from that fool who wanted me dead – like I would’ve actually let
that
happen. Admit it: raising me has never been more than just a job for you.”

“Please, that’s not true,” Celeste pleads. “I still love you like you were my own…”

“And now John is dead because of your deception. I will never get back the love of my life,” Cassie yells. “For that, you must be punished, too.”

Cassie may sound irate but I guarantee her anger is not as strong as mine. It’s a good thing I’m not atop the swamp buggy with her or I might beat her until she stopped breathing, whether she’s the Keeper or not. Not only am I pissed that she
still
thinks John was the love of her life, but that she shows such cruelty toward Celeste, who was a great mother despite all of Cassie’s flaws.

“I think she’s been punished enough while trying to protect
you
!” I yell.

Celeste suddenly jerks her head to the side and I feel Amelia also turn to look in the same direction. Immediately I sense the same thing that the two of them are thinking: somebody is out there. I look toward the lush trees in the strips of land surrounding the inlet of water that once housed the special water. It’s impossible to see much in the dark of night but I’m certain I spot movement in several of the trees. My protective instincts kick in and I’m about to warn Cassie when I see a wide smile on her face, a cruel smile that makes me more nervous than anyone that could be sneaking around out there.

“Actually, I don’t think she’s paid
nearly
enough!” Cassie says.

The leaden weight of dread sinks into my stomach. Before Cassie even moves, I see the same look of dread cross Celeste’s face. Our eyes meet for a split second and we both know this is going to be bad.

Cassie moves in a flash, plunging her protective arrow into Celeste’s back. Her mother’s eyes go wide.

“That’s for John!” Cassie yells.

Celeste slumps over the edge of the swamp buggy but does not try to fight back against the current Keeper. The sound of Cassie’s maniacal laughter snaps something inside of me. My mother stands still in the airboat behind me, her hand clamped over her mouth. Amelia also watches hopelessly, knowing there’s nothing we can do to help Celeste. I turn to my recruit and pull away the bow in her hand. I have every intention of shooting Cassie but Amelia won’t let me get a shot off.

“She’s the Keeper, you can’t shoot her,” Amelia implores.

My mind tells me she’s right but my heart reminds me that I don’t care.

“Oh I can shoot her, I just can’t kill her!” I say.

I try to wrestle the bow away from Amelia and go so far as to nearly push her over the side of the boat. But I’m suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled off of my recruit. When I turn, I look into the crying eyes of my mother. For the first time, I can see her as the same frightened young woman who was kidnapped to the jungle and agreed to raise me all of those years ago.

“Celeste sacrificed too much of her life for a cause – we
all
have – so you can’t hurt that girl… that
monster
,” she says.

She’s not even an Amazon – and has every reason to wish ill on Cassie – but my mother is the voice of reason and her words calm me, or at least stop me from trying to hurt the Keeper. I haven’t needed Katina to be my mother for so long but now I realize how lucky I am to have my granddaughter. Unfortunately I don’t have long to appreciate her.

“What is she doing?” Amelia asks next to me.

I turn back toward the swamp buggy and watch as Cassie waves her arm in the direction of the trees. I don’t know who she could be signaling but I know something catastrophic is about to happen. I realize how exposed we are in this position and I’m about to tell Amelia and my mother to be careful when Cassie quickly drops her arm.

My senses are on high alert and I hear the slightest
creaking
sound of several bowstrings being pulled back. A familiar
whoosh
follows and my peripheral vision catches a blur of movement coming from the trees. My reaction time to danger is normally lightning quick but I’m weakened and battered and can’t move faster than a speeding arrow.

Neither can Amelia. The arrow crashes into the pilot’s chest and she collapses in the boat. I want to help her but I’m suddenly in full survival mode. I grab Amelia’s bow and one of the arrows I dropped on the airboat’s floor. I aim in the direction of the trees but don’t get off a shot before another arrow
whizzes
toward us from the other side of the inlet. This one strikes my mother in the side. She remains standing for several seconds, staring down in shock at the arrow sticking out of her, before she finally cries out in pain and goes down.

I still don’t spot anyone out there but I fire an arrow where I think they could be. I see the shadow of a body plunge out of a tree but I run out of time before I can grab another arrow. A third arrow finds its mark as an explosion of pain rips into my shoulder, not far from where John’s soldier shot me just days ago. The bow clatters from my grip and pain saps all energy from my legs. I fall to the airboat’s floor, which has become quite crowded. My mother cries softly while Amelia sits there, unmoving, looking down at the arrow in her chest, unable to do anything but blink and take labored breaths.

“That’s what you get for messing with me!” Cassie’s shrill voice says.

But I’m looking up at her as I hear the words and her mouth remains closed behind her smile.

“She set us
all
up,” Jack chuckles weakly as he barely clings to life.

Jack will never survive Amelia’s shot but the arrows stuck in Amelia, my mother and me haven’t penetrated nearly so far. It’s clear that our attackers didn’t learn to shoot from me. The arrows in my shoulder and my mother’s side aren’t as immediately life threatening as Amelia’s wound but we’re all in bad shape. I might be able to summon the energy to stand and fire off another shot but I doubt the three of us could survive another volley from our unseen assailants.

I know it’s crazy but another reason I don’t want more arrows flying is because I’m afraid one could fly wayward and hit Cassie. I wanted to shoot her myself a moment ago and now I’m worried for her safety! But no more arrows fly and I watch as five or six human forms descend from the trees. They make their way around the inlet’s strip of land and approach the swamp buggy parked nearby. Most of the women carry bows but the one leading them holds a pair of short swords.

“You didn’t think
Amelia
was the only one of us watching, did you?” Catherine the Great calls out to me.

Isabella’s second-in-command smiles down at us; I’ve never wished for Harriet to be here more than I do now. But Catherine and the other members of the Queen Clan don’t jump into the airboat to finish us off. Instead, they climb the ladder to the top of the swamp buggy.

“Where’s Elizabeth the First?” Isabella asks upon greeting her long lost allies.

Catherine slowly shakes her head. “Sacajawea got off one lucky shot. It hit Elizabeth in the throat and she fell from the tree – died on impact. Nothing I could do to save her.”

The other members of the Queen Clan look shocked but the news appears inconsequential to Cassie, who takes a bow from one of the other women.

“Sacajawea and the others will suffer slowly for what they’ve done,” she says.

She aims an arrow at me and I’m certain this will be my end. But she doesn’t shoot at
my
airboat. The other Amazons join in and nearly a dozen arrows are fired into the fan of the second airboat, smashing it to pieces as well. Cassie stands triumphantly atop the swamp buggy, arms folded, glaring down upon her dying enemies.

“You may have taken John from me but as you slowly bleed to death, know that I
will
reclaim my spot as Keeper despite all you’ve done to stop me,” she says. “I
will
execute the other Amazons that plotted my downfall and I
will
use the water to build a super army and destroy anyone who stands in my way of taking over the world. My trusted queens who’ve remained loyal to me during my absence will be rewarded with power greater than any empire they’ve ever ruled – that is their reward for returning for me.

“And the four of you who’ve opposed me can do nothing but die in agony and ultimately become gator bait.”

Cassie sits in the swamp buggy’s driver seat and revs the engine. She slams on the gas, causing the buggy to skid as it turns, the force of acceleration causing Celeste’s limp body to plunge over the side and splash down into the swamp. Cassie sees her mother’s body fall but only pumps the breaks for a split second.

“Make that the
five
of you who’ll be gator bait,” she says with a heartless laugh. “At least her death was a bit quicker.”

The swamp buggy’s monstrous wheels continue to spin as the huge vehicle speeds away, the destruction of the Amazons likely going with the evil Keeper…