Saven Defiance (The Saven Series Book 4) (24 page)

Life is for living.

For moments like this.

My breathing regulates as I start to actually enjoy myself. Extending my arms on both sides, I fully embrace the sensation. Elation is an unexpected but welcome feeling. It’s as if I’m flying. Light as a feather. Carefree and unburdened.

Distant shouts become more discernible as I race closer to land. “The brake!” someone shouts, and I reach up, fumbling. Trying to peel the hair out of my eyes is no easy feat, but I manage to clear a wide enough space to identify the correct lever, and I pull on it with every ounce of strength I possess.

Crashing into something solid, I plummet to the ground. Someone makes an “oof” sound. Blood thrums in my ears, and my heart still pulses with excitement. Sturdy hands lift me up, holding me steady while I regain my balance.

Scraping the bird’s nest out of my eyes, I beam at the inquisitive eyes checking me out. “That was freaking awesome!”

Izzy roars out laughing as the guard releases me. “Sorry for smashing into you,” I tell him, noticing his muddy clothing.

“No problem. It’s not like I need to feel my butt or anything.” Winking at me, he rubs his behind in an obvious gesture. Thank the stars the boys are still on the other side and aren’t witness to his flirtatious behavior.

A masculine yell prickles my eardrums, snatching my attention. I whip around. Ax is careering toward us at great speed, and the others scream “brake” at him too. He manages to land with much more grace and elegance than I did despite his strapping form. We grin manically at each other.

Sauntering toward me, with a shit-eating grin on his face, he says, “You know what that reminded me of?”

“What?” I quirk a brow.

He starts picking bits of debris out of my hair. “Diving off the cliff in the Felanga Nature Reserve. You were always so fearless. You used to take a blind running jump and leap into the air. Granted, you did scream your head off the entire drop.” He chuckles, as his fingers continue plucking crap out of my messy hair.

“Get away from her!” I jump back at the fury in Logan’s tone. Ax is thrust forward as Logan forcefully shoves him, and he knocks into me, sending both of us sprawling to the ground. At the last second, Ax flips me around so I land on top of him instead of flat on my back. His arms hold me firmly at my waist, and we both moan as we slam into the hard ground.

Gingerly, I lift my head up. “Are you hurt?” I survey the swirling pink hue of his eyes, mere millimeters from mine.

He stares at me in a way that is most definitely not socially acceptable. “It was worth it,” he rasps.

I’m whipped off him super-fast. Logan deftly hands me to Rylan before pinning the full extent of his rage on Ax. Logan’s fist snakes out, tracking a path toward Ax’s face.

“No! Stop!” Wriggling out of Rylan’s grip, I seize hold of Logan’s jacket and tug him back. Losing his balance, he falls back, and I take my second tumble in minutes. This time, my back lashes against solid earth as Logan’s heavy weight flattens me to the ground.

I groan as a sharp pain hacks up and down my back.

“What in the hell?” Haydn asks. My eyelids twitch open in time to see him shake his head in consternation. The others look at us as if we’ve lost our minds.

Haydn helps Logan up and then extends his hand to me. I let him pull me up, moaning quietly as my back protests the motion. “You’re hurt?” Logan flits to my side, a tormented look on his face.

“Yeah,” Ax sneers, climbing to his feet. “Thanks to you. You’re an idiot.”

“Say that again.” Logan turns around, and they face off.

“I said, you’re an idiot.” Ax flexes his knuckles as Logan takes a step forward.

Ignoring my aching muscles, I jump in between them, raising my hands and pushing against both their chests. “Stop it. No fighting!” I glare at Ax. “This is totally immature.” Logan snorts in a superior manner, and I spin my head around. “I meant you, too.” Now, it’s Ax’s turn to look smug. “You are both making fools of yourselves, and it is completely unwarranted. Grow up.” I shove them both, gently this time, no sense in risking a third tumble, and stalk over to where Fern and Izzy are standing.

The girls get me out of my harness, and Haydn wordlessly collects all the straps and secures them in a heavy metal box, which is then sent back over the other side. The boys are sulking, and I give them a wide berth as we set off again. Haydn hands out energy bars and bottles of water. His eyes connect with mine, and for a second, I spot a softness in his gaze. It’s the kind of fond look he used to give me when we were best friends. In a flash, the look is replaced with a hostile sneer, and I look away, wondering if I imagined it.

The jovial, earlier atmosphere has all but vanished thanks to the drama. I’m still seething when Logan risks dropping back to walk with me. He opens his mouth to say something. “Don’t. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

He runs his hands through his wind-tangled hair.
“I’m sorry. I overreacted. It won’t happen again.”

I grit my teeth instead of responding. I’ll still too wound up and fearful I might say something I regret. Instead, I open the line and let him feel everything I’m feeling.

He hangs his head.
“I do trust you, I do. It’s him I don’t trust.”
I attempt to swallow my frustration.
“He had his hands on you, Sadie! I saw red.”

“If Rylan or Alex were removing crap from my hair, would you have reacted so violently?”

“Of course not. But it wasn’t Rylan or Alex. It was him.”
He refers to Ax as if he’s the second coming of the Antichrist.
“Close. Real close.”
He smirks slightly.

I forgot that we are still connected, and I snap the line back.
“Not funny in the slightest.”
I move to stomp ahead of him, but he snags my arm and holds me back.

“I’m sorry. That was out of order. I’m trying to deal with my jealousy, but I’ve no experience of this. Plus, he lied to my face for years. I can’t forgive him for that.”

“All I’m asking is if you could try to not overreact. Please.”

“I’ll try harder. I promise.”

“You better mean that.”
I stab him with a serious look.
“Because there’s no place for emotional outbursts here. We’re on an important mission, and we can’t afford for anyone to be distracted, least of all you. You need to shelve whatever feelings you have toward him, and concentrate on what we are here to do.”
I can’t believe I’m the one saying this to him. He is ordinarily the more responsible one.

We trudge on for a few more hours, across the bare mountaintop. The wind is still fierce but dropping along with the daylight. Conversation gradually returns to the group, and while the friction hasn’t been completely eradicated, it is definitely thawing. My aching back throbs, but I say nothing. Logan doesn’t need much encouragement to baby me, and I’ve had enough unwelcome attention today as it is.

We reach a small concrete structure, and Haydn leads the group through it and out beyond onto a steep spiral open-air staircase. A curved malleable roof covers us overhead as the staircase winds round and around, descending the outskirts of the mountain. It’s a little more sheltered, and the atmosphere is a little warmer.

Darkness crawls over the sky like a ghostly predator as we continue our descent. Arriving at a small steel-encased bridge, we trek across another, smaller, abyss below. Reaching the other side, we start to climb, and my muscles cry out in silent argument. An involuntary groan trickles through my lips, and Logan tenses at my back.
“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry.”
His contrition feeds through the line. Reaching back, I squeeze his hand.
“It’s forgotten.”
I’m magnanimous, but now that my fury has ebbed, I want to put the whole embarrassing debacle behind us.
“Is it much further?”

“
No. It’s just on top of this mountain.”

“On top of the mountain? Great, I’m gonna be blown away.”

He chuckles.
“It’s a protected village. You’ll be perfectly safe.”

“Why couldn’t we have landed on
this
mountain?”
I complain an hour later, when it seems like I’ve hauled ass up a trillion steps. My calf muscles are locking up in protest.

Logan chuckles again.
“It would have drawn too much attention. Travel within sectors is monitored remotely via the STSS, and we couldn’t risk detection. The ship brought us to the furthest possible point. Don’t fret, we are almost there, and you
are
going to let me take care of you once we’re settled.”

“Your Neanderthal-Man setting is cranked to the max these days.”
I’m glad we’re conversing silently considering my breath is now snaking out in heavy dog-like pants. My legs are close to collapsing, and I’m basically dragging one leg in front of the other.

Logan comes closer, leaning into me, offering silent support. His lips brush the sensitive spot under my ear, and I tingle all over.
“I feel even more protective of you since our bonding. I hate that you’re suffering. It tears me apart, and I want to destroy the world for inflicting pain on you.”

It’s dramatically endearing.
“Are you sure you weren’t a teenage girl in a former lifetime?”
I tease, rolling my eyes.

“Mock me all you want, Alma Sadie.”
He trails one finger across my exposed neck, and desire pools low in my belly
. “But you won’t be complaining later when I’m attending to your every need.”

Well, hot, damn. I’m not going to argue with him on that.
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
My chest heaves, and this time it’s nothing to do with exhaustion.

We emerge from our love-bubble when the sound of shuffling and apologies trickle down from above. Rylan is descending the steps toward us with a serious look on his face. Goose bumps spring to life on my arms.

“What is it?” Logan asks the instant he reaches us.

His gaze alternates between us. “It’s a message from Earth.” He looks hesitantly at Logan.

“You can say whatever you need to in front of Sadie.”

“It’s for you,” he says, watching me. “From Jarod. He says you need to return home right away.”

Attempting to smother the lump in my throat, I force myself to remain calm. “Can I see the message?” I hold out my hand. He looks to Logan again, raising his brows. Logan shoots him an approving nod. Digging into his pocket, he retrieves a square black box and presses a few buttons. A tiny holoscreen opens up, and Jarod’s strained face stares out at me.

Purple shadows hide in the dip under his bloodshot eyes, as if days have passed since he last slept. A fine coating of stubble is spread over his chin and cheeks. His dirty gray shirt is ill fitting, hanging loose around his shoulders.

He looks like he’s been to hell and back.

Perhaps he has.

“Sadie, I hope you’re okay.” He sounds on edge. Pausing briefly, he draws a long breath. “Things aren’t good here.” He scrubs a hand over his prickly chin. “You need to come back, as soon as you can. Everything is falling apart, and things with G, well, let’s just say what he’s planning next may very well signal the end of the world. Myself and Vin, and a good few others, have gone underground. Even the president went into hiding. The aliens aren’t slaughtering us anymore, but they have taken control of many key cities and states. Now they prowl the streets ensuring we obey. But they’re biding their time, I can feel it. Something big is going down. Logan needs to put a stop to this!” His voice raises an octave, and I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever seen him so rattled.

“I’ll send my coordinates to Rylan so you know where to find us. Send me an ETA and I’ll be waiting.” Air whooshes out of his mouth, and a dart of pain mixed with indecision glimmers fleetingly across his face. “I found her.” His tone sends slivers of ice shooting through my veins. “You need to come home.”

The recording dies out, and I’m rendered immobile, the image of Jarod’s stricken face still haunting me. Full-blown panic ties my stomach into knots. Sobs build at the base of my throat and one slithers out. “Angel.” Logan envelops me in his arms. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”

“How can I not?!” I screech as heart-wrenching emotion gets the better of me. “You heard what he said. And, more importantly, what he didn’t say.” I fist my hair in my hands, wrenching until I feel a harsh sting.

“Ssh, baby, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” He smooths a hand up and down my back, but I don’t derive any comfort from it. My body is a twisted mass of emotional stress, and I’m wound so tight that the slightest twinge threatens to send me plummeting into the deepest, darkest hole, the type that no one escapes from. At least, not with their sanity intact. My brain is a vortex of roiling anxiety and mounting panic thanks to Jarod’s cryptic statement.

I found her.

But he didn’t say
alive
.

“If she was alive, he would’ve said it.” My eyes are wild as I look at Logan’s concerned face. “He wouldn’t want to tell me she was … if she was …” My voice fades to a whisper. Logan kisses my forehead. I force myself to keep it together. “If she was dead, he wouldn’t want to tell me like this. But if she was alive, he’d want to reassure me of that fact. But he didn’t say that.” Despite my best efforts, a tear sneaks out of my eye.

“She could be injured,” Logan says softly. “And he wouldn’t want to tell you that in a recording, either.” He swipes his thumb under my eye.

Pounding footsteps accost my ears. We turn as one into Haydn’s inquisitive stare. “Is there a problem here?”

“No.” Logan isn’t giving anything away.

“My father is on the platform. He’d like to meet you.” Even in my disorientated state, I can detect the telltale choked-up emotion in Haydn’s voice. I want to be happy for him—to be reunited with his family after all this time, when he thought he would never see them again, is monumental—but I’m totally numb. I can’t even get my limbs to move, and Logan and Rylan practically carry me up the last few steps.

Logan activates our connection, and I welcome him in, allowing his love to soothe the pain, to try to build me back up. While I appreciate that he’s trying to put a positive spin on things, he can’t hide his feelings from me. He fears the worst as much as I do.