Rogue (Exceptional)

ROGUE

BOOK TWO IN THE EXCEPTIONAL SERIES

by

Jess Petosa

Copyright –2013 by Jess Petosa

This book is a work of fiction.  Any references to historical events, people, or places are used fictitiously.  Other names, characters, places, and incidents are simply products of the author’s imagination, and any similarity to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights are reserved.  No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any way whatsoever without written consent from the author.

Dedicated to those who read and loved Exceptional, and told me that my ideas were worth continuing.

Table of Contents

EXCEPTIONAL….…………………………..…5

PRAISE……….…………………………….……6

PROLOGUE…….…………………………...….8

ONE……….…………………………………....10

TWO……….….……………………………..…17

THREE…….….…………………………….….25

FOUR…….………………………………...…..27

FIVE…….………………………………….…..36

SIX………………………………………….….47

SEVEN…………………………………………55

EIGHT……………………………………….…60

NINE……..…………………………………….65

TEN…….…………………………………...…74

ELEVEN………..…………………………..….79

TWELVE……..………………………….…….92

THIRTEEN……..………………………….….99

FOURTEEN……..………………………..….102

FIFTEEN………..…………………………….113

SIXTEEN……...……..……………………….123

SEVENTEEN…………………………………125

EIGHTEEN…………………………………...133

NINETEEN…………………………………...148

TWENTY……………………………………..157

TWENTY-ONE………………………………160

TWENTY-TWO………………………….…..166

TWENTY-THREE……………………….......173

TWENTY-FOUR……………………………..178

TWENTY-FIVE……………………………....186

TWENTY-SIX……………..…………………194

TWENTY-SEVEN……………………….…..204

TWENTY-EIGHT………………………..….214

TWENTY-NINE………………………..……217

THIRTY……………………………………...225

EPILOGUE………………………………..…236

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………….....239

ABOUT THE AUTHOR………………….....240

Exceptional

Don’t miss the
first
book in the Exceptional series!

Praise

For Exceptional

"Exceptional takes you to a place where you never want the book to end. Breathtaking, riveting and phenomenal do not even begin to describe the characters you meet. You will not put this book down once you take a step inside its grasp. "
-Kendall Alio

“A fast faced roller coaster ride into a new world with twists and turns you don't expect, with just the right amount of romance and suspense!”
 
- S.A. Jones

“This amazing dystopian needs to be made into a movie. This is the kind of book that you can't put down! Excited to see what book two will bring!”

-LaJuenne' Sherzai-Harding

PROLOGUE

Luke sat at the edge of the lake, his bare feet barely grazing the moss that carpeted the stagnant water.  He was surrounded by cracked concrete and rusted scrap metal, all part of a world lost long ago.  He looked out over the moss, pinpointing the spot where the water resurfaced and shone in the sunlight.  The green vegetation had created a barrier between the shore and the water, and each year the barrier grew thicker.  He watched as the current caused the water to lap up against the edge of the moss.

      In the same way, strange dreams lapped at the edge of his mind.  More and more they were beginning to feel like memories.  That was the only way he could seem to explain them.  Events from the past few months would resurface in his mind, and each time there was a wisp or passing of a shadow over them.  Sometimes the shadow would take the shape of a person; a girl. Other times it would float idly in the distance, beckoning him to come forward and figure out the meaning behind its existence.

      Luke’s dream the previous night had been the most vivid yet.  He had been at the Warehouse sparring Tighe, which was nothing new for him.  But this time he had the sense that he was fighting for something more than just pride.  Something more than just a “win” in the books.  He had been fighting for something important.  The wispy shadow floated behind Tighe, taunting his memories.  He had woken up with a start and hadn’t been able to fall back asleep, a cold sweat dripping down the sides of his head.

      The dreams had to be an addition to his abilities.  He was just beginning to touch the surface of what he could do now that he was going to the Training Center every week.  The shadows had to be premonitions of some sort; there was no other clear explanation.

      A hand fell on Luke’s shoulder and he looked up.  Blonde hair framed her heart shaped face and fell several inches past her shoulder.  Her rose colored lips smiled down at him, but the sentiment didn’t quite reach her icy blue eyes.  She looked worried, and her body language told him she was being cautionary.

      Luke stood slowly and was now the one to look down at the girl.  He stood over a foot taller than her, which was nothing new since she was an Ordinary.  He reached out a hand and brushed a piece of hair from her face, letting his hand travel down her arm and to her hand.  She shuddered slightly at his touch, more out of fascination than nervousness.  He, however, felt nothing.

      “Did you find what you were looking for, Mr. Lukin?” Her voice cracked slightly.

      He nodded, even though he hadn’t. “For now.  We should get back.”

      He laced his fingers through hers and led her back to the bike that had brought them here.  Two Exceptional Guards sat on bikes about one hundred yards back.   With the news of the Rogues, Aden had required that Luke leave the City limits with Guards at all times.  He didn’t mind.  Recently, he found it hard to feel upset or annoyed over anything his father did, which was unusual.

      That was one of the reasons it was so easy to walk into the ORC last week and finally pick a female to bring home.  His mother had been less than thrilled about it than he would have imagined, but he decided it had to do with all of their Ordinary helpers quitting on the two weeks prior.  Luke hadn’t even seen them leave.  He had come home from hanging out with Pax one night to find their things gone. And the next day, new Ordinarys took their places.  His father, however, had been overly thrilled.

      He helped the girl onto the bike and climbed on in front of her, waiting until her delicate hands circled his waist, her fingers grazing his skin under his shirt.  Again, nothing.

      “Hang on," he said as he pulled out into the afternoon sun.  His words carried behind him with the wind, and he willed the shadows in his mind to go with them.

CHAPTER ONE

2 Weeks Later

Ally climbed down the tree with ease, beating her brother to the ground by at least thirty seconds.

“You know,” Stosh huffed when his feet finally touched the dry brush beneath it. “One of the last times you and I climbed a tree together, you got dragged off into a hostile environment and came out an Exceptional.”

Ally cocked her head to the side and rolled her eyes.  “And look what you got out of it.”

She motioned toward the path where Sabine and the others were waiting for them.  Stosh blushed and punched her in the arm, turning his back and walking away.  He was less gentle with her now that she was at least five times stronger than he was.  She smiled to herself and followed after him.

       They found Sabine leaning against an old oak tree, using an old knife to carve a stick to a point.  Her clothes were ripped, her skin filthy, and her once long, red hair was now trimmed just over her shoulders to make care easier.  It took her longer to adjust to life outside the City since she had grown up there.  The rest of them were used to hard work and living off the land when they needed to.  The whole group showed signs of heavy travel, and had each made adjustments to make travel more simple.

Willow was seated in the middle of the worn-down path, mending a tear in one of her shoes.  Somehow she had managed to grab a sewing kit in one of the settlements.  Theo and Flora stood off to the side, facing each other and speaking in hushed voices.  Cody was seated on a low branch of the same tree Sabine was leaning against, watching her with interest.  Stosh stepped over to her side and set his hand gently at the small of her back, earning one of her small, sweet smiles.

       When they had left their settlement and headed north, it had been just Ally, Stosh, Sabine, and Willow.  The plan had been to travel north for two weeks, and then turn around and take a different path south, hopefully catching up with the rest of the Oak settlement further on.  But when bad weather arose on their third night into the journey, they were forced to walk east and find shelter in one of the settlements on the outskirts.

They had planned to hide out in a storage shed or an old warehouse, but they stumbled upon Cody, a scrawny thirteen year old.  He had seen them approach from his perch in a bordering tree and dropped down in front of them, almost causing Ally to eradicate him on the spot.   She didn’t think sitting up in a tree during a bad storm was an indication of a sane person, so she kept her hands at the ready as he approached them.

“You aren’t from around here,” Cody had said.

For a moment Ally thought they had been caught.  This young boy would tell someone he had seen them and then word would spread to the Exceptional Guards.  Aden would know that they were headed north.  In a way, that was a good thing.  Then they definitely wouldn’t be searching south, where the Ordinarys from her settlement were hopefully hiding.  Ally thought about sending Stosh, Sabine, and Willow off and getting captured on her own.  All of this played through her mind in less than a minute.  By then Cody’s eyes were growing wider.

“You are leaving the settlements, aren’t you?” He sounded so excited when he spoke, and he bounced in place.  “Take me with you.”

       “No way,” Stosh had answered.

       Cody crossed his arms.  “My dad was killed in a mining accident last month and my mom died when I was a baby.  I have nothing left here.  They are talking about sending me into the City for work because no one wants to take care of me. Plus, if you don’t, I’ll tell on you.”

       Stosh had stepped toward the boy with fists raised but Ally stopped him.  He had been sitting in the tree out of dire hope.  She saw it now, the hope that lightning would strike the tree and save him, in a way only death could.

       “He comes with us, but this is it,” she told the others.

       Sabine had stayed silent through it all, clutching to the back of Stosh’s shirt like she had done since they left Oak.  Willow stood idly by Ally’s side.  She still hadn’t spoken since they left the City, and Ally didn’t have the strength to worry about her just yet.  Their group of four became five and they spent the night in a storehouse Cody’s father used to own.  It was falling apart and full of dust, but it served it’s purpose.