Rex Aftermath (Elei's Chronicles) (3 page)

Chapter Two

“Now what?” Alendra paced the room. Elei watched her, his eyes drawn in spite of himself to her soft curves, the silvery sheen of her hair where it hung loose on her shoulders.

Shit
.

Mitt and company had left, promising to talk to more gang leaders and meet again later. The little kids had followed Zoe to the kitchen for breakfast, the din loud even behind the closed door. A wail was followed by a crash.

“Now we wait,” Kalaes said. He stood leaning against a wall, eyes closed, looking worn out.

Worry gripped Elei’s insides. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Sure, fe. Just tired.”

Right.
Kalaes had barely made it out alive from the underworld, Rex pushing back
palantin
in the nick of time. What if
palantin
had flared again? What if the bonding of Rex and
palantin
had gone wrong?

Stop worrying. He’s fine.
Kalaes was probably stressed out over Dain and his accusations. They’d made Elei curious, in spite of himself. What had Dain been referring to? What had happened years back before Kalaes had dismantled his gang?

‘You don’t know the things I’ve done,’
he’d told Elei once. How bad could it be?

Small windows were set high up in the walls, their panes dusty. Ruddy light filtered through, making him think of blood. An image flashed through his mind — Pelia, lying still and bloody in his arms, Kalaes and Alendra, laid out in a deserted street. A girl kneeling by his side with large, gemstone eyes, a wide grin and black, rotten teeth.

Nightmares
. They’d been getting worse since they’d arrived in Artemisia, and the place might have something to do with it. The fact of coming back. Full circle of sorts.

“I don’t trust Dain,” Alendra said, still pacing.

“He swore he won’t betray us,” Kalaes muttered.

“And you believe him?”

Kalaes snorted and opened his eyes. “What choice do I have?” He pushed off the wall. “We’ll need more people. Most of Zoe’s kids are too young for this.”

“Mitt will find us more,” Alendra said.

Elei rubbed his tainted eye; it still pulsed painfully. “I thought more gang leaders were supposed to come.”

“The stick up the regime’s ass has grown bigger,” Zoe said, entering the room. “The damn patrols are working hard, breaking up any gathering, whipping any suspects within an inch of their lives, even the very young. The other gang leaders are... hesitant.”

“But you’re not?” Kalaes asked quietly.

She shrugged. “This isn’t a life worth living. We need peace, and peace comes at a frigging cost. Besides.” She considered Kalaes from under long, dark lashes. “You said you’d do your best to keep everyone safe. I choose to believe you,
soomi
.”

Kalaes nodded and swallowed.

“Without more people,” Alendra whispered, “Mantis’ plan will fall through.”

“And what exactly
is
Mantis’ plan?” Zoe twined a thin braid around a finger, a crease between her slender brows.

Kalaes was staring at her and Elei wondered if he was thinking of his own twin braids, the ones he’d grown in memory of his dead; the ones he’d sacrificed in honor of the living, in a pledge to fight this war.

“The idea was to capture a place that’s important for the Gultur,” Kalaes said, glancing sideways at Elei as if not sure how much to say. “I had a few possibilities in mind. There’s a water source near Dakru City, and a couple of factories we could seize.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Zoe huffed. “How long d’you think we’d hold out with the regime breathing down our necks, right outside their capital — even if we managed to seize a factory or water source?”

“It wouldn’t be for long,” Alendra said. “We distract them only for as long as is needed to launch the real attack.”

“The real attack?” Zoe’s gaze moved from Alendra to Elei, questioning.

He shrugged helplessly. “Yeah.”

“Right. So we hold this place, and for how long, then,
soomi
?” Zoe seemed fond of using words nobody understood, although the lilting, warm tone she used for this one made it sound affectionate.

Unless of course she was being sarcastic. Hells, Elei couldn’t tell.

“A day, perhaps?” Alendra shrugged. “We’ll coordinate efforts with the other groups.”

In theory, it should all go according to plan, smooth and fine. In reality, though, it was never that easy, and every one of them knew it. Besides, they’d already told Zoe too much and it made everyone uneasy. Elei could see it in Kalaes’ narrowed gaze and in Alendra’s tight bow of a mouth.

“That’s the plan,” Kalaes said.

Zoe turned toward Elei, a hand held out, her dark eyes betraying nothing. “And what say you, Elei Rex? Do you find the plan realistic?”

Elei stiffened in surprise. “I find it necessary.”

Silence followed his words.

Then Zoe laughed, a light-hearted sound, and her braids shook. Her hand fell by her side. “Well said.”

“Look, just...” Elei clenched his hands into fists. “Just call me Elei. I’m not...”
A king. Or Rex’s.
“Not what you seem to think I am.”

Zoe tilted her head to the side, her expression thawing, her inky eyes lighting up. The black tattoos twined around her neck like vines. “So tell me, what do I think you are? Or better still: What are you, really?”

Confused, Elei retreated a step and glanced to Kalaes for aid, but his friend was at the window, staring up at the street through the dirty glass. “I don’t...”

“Maybe you don’t even know what you are,” Zoe muttered. “Even after everything you’ve been through. Maybe you need to find out for yourself.”

And what in the hells was that supposed to mean?

Alendra moved to Elei’s side and took his arm, her golden eyes shining like moons. “We need to be on our way,” she said. “We’ll meet in the evening, as agreed. I hope you can help us.”

“I hope so, too,
soomi
,” Zoe whispered. “I really do.”

***

What had Zoe meant? Elei pushed his hands into his pockets as they waited at the door for Kalaes to join them. He was Elei, a mortal, working with the resistance because he’d been thrown into this war and told to fix everything. Infected with Rex, his friends kidnapped and tortured, his safe places taken from him. Forced into battle.

Though you promised the kids of Teos
, a traitorous voice whispered in the back of his head. Promised to help them, to change things. Isn’t that why you descended into the underworld to find weapons? Wasn’t that your choice?

Yeah, true.
But he’d done his part. Couldn’t do much more.

Kalaes came out, his hood pulled low over his eyes, and they slipped through the streets, hiding in shadows. None of them spoke as they moved through the filthy alleys and back streets. Rats skittered along exposed
nepheline
pipes, their beady eyes curious. A whistle rang, and Elei hoped they weren’t about to be jumped and robbed. He huddled in his jacket, shoved his hands deeper inside his pockets. Their building was right around the corner.
Almost there.

Kalaes lengthened his stride. Soon their building came into view, a gray stack of apartments.

There was a stillness about the place: a sense of wrongness. Nobody was around. Even the beggar who’d set up shop by the broken infopole was gone.

To buy cigarettes, probably. You’re being paranoid.

Yeah, what else was new?

But Rex screeched inside his head as they came to the entrance. Colors leaped from the surroundings, Rex scanning everything in layers, red, yellow, blue, green.

Elei backed away, glanced up at their window, not sure what he expected to see.

“What is it?” Alendra whispered, her face shadowed, her hood drawn low. Her chest pulsed crimson in Elei’s eye.

Kalaes groaned and stumbled. He tugged his jacket open. “Netherhells. I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Shit.
If Kalaes’ parasite was reacting as well, chances were something was really wrong. Elei turned his attention back to their window on the fourth floor and red caught his eye.

Five hells. A pulse.
Someone was inside.

“Let’s go!” Elei grabbed Kalaes’ arm and Alendra’s hand and hauled them away from the building.

They ducked into a side street, their footfalls sounding way too loud in his ears. Whoever was up there had probably set up sentinels around the building. Had they been spotted?

Gods, he hoped Cat had left the apartment, that he hadn’t been hurt.

He dragged them on, barely aware of Alendra asking what in the hells was going on and Kalaes muttering about demons of the deep, until they reached a busy street market. Mingling with the crowd would conceal them.

Kalaes cursed under his breath, his steps unsteady. Still not used to the pulsing colors and the change in perspective when Rex took over, or was there another problem? He had to ask him.
Later
.

An eating booth came into sight and Elei zeroed in on it. A tarp kept out the chilly wind he barely felt. A tarp was good; it provided much-needed cover. He dragged the others behind it and shoved them onto a low bunk.

“Stay low,” he whispered and slid next to Alendra, pushing his hands through his short hair, tugging.
Oh gods, Cat.
Was the furball okay? Had the Gultur killed him?
Shit.
How did this happen? How did anyone know where to find them?

Kalaes sank down, his face pale. “Hot damn. This parasite’s killing me.”

A chill went through Elei. “You’ll get used to it.” He’d infected Kalaes to keep him alive, and it had worked; that was all that mattered. Side-effects were unavoidable.

Of course, Elei had carried cronion, relative of Rex, since he could remember. He was accustomed to its ways, its strength, its effects, to the alien passenger who took over the wheel whenever danger was afoot.

Kalaes was now getting his first taste.

People moved around the stall, a living wave, and Elei kept his face down, his heart hammering. The owner of the stall came around to tell them they had to order or leave, his mustache muffling his words, and Elei sighed. Adrenaline pounded in his veins and he didn’t think he could stomach anything.

He slipped around the table and approached the counter, doing his best to keep his face hidden.

The owner watched Elei from watery blue eyes as he asked for water and slices of blue algae bread. He brightened when he saw Elei’s coins. “I also have fried fish and K-blooms—”

“No,” Elei snapped.
K-blooms. Sugar.
His mouth watered and Rex sent pangs through him, demanding he take them.
No.
“Just water and bread.”

He counted out the dils and pushed them across the counter. Then he carried the water and bread to their bunk, feeling as if he had a target painted in red on his back.

“How did they find us?” Alendra mumbled, taking a cup and downing the water. Her golden eyes flicked sideways, checking the other customers.

“Probably someone recognized us.” Kalaes stopped rubbing his eye and took a piece of blue bread. He waved it in the direction of their building. “You heard what that girl said. Our faces are plastered all over town.”

“Or someone from the meeting betrayed us.” Alendra stared into her empty cup.

“Dain?” Elei shot Kalaes a questioning glance.

“Dain wouldn’t do something that pissing stupid,” Kalaes said, but his voice held a smidge of doubt.

“He thinks you abandoned him,” Alendra said softly.

Kalaes frowned, fingers clenching on the bread, mashing it. “I didn’t, dammit. He knew where to find me. I sent him my address with Maera. He never came to visit.”

They sat in silence, the market sounds rising around them like a wall, drowning the pulse drumming in Elei’s ears. Or maybe Rex was satisfied he wasn’t in any immediate danger and was letting up. A reprieve.