Stronger (9 page)

How did she know I was hiding here? I crouch down lower.

Her wings fold back behind her, their jointed arches framing her perfect face. The star-like silver flecks in her eyes almost glow in the darkness. “Why do you fear me?”

She wears a slight frown on her alabaster face and it’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. There must be something I could do to make her smile. I’m good at dancing; maybe if I…

I put my hand to my forehead.
Stop it!

“Please come out,” she says. My body moves to obey her, but my foot is wedged in the rocks. “Please, seeing you would make me so happy.”

I want to please her. I struggle to free my foot, to stand when another voice answers. “I’m sorry, Starburst.”

The deep male voice stops me cold. Saves me. Perspiration dots my upper lip and my body shakes. That had been close. That slap from Lee must have damaged my ear insert. Remembering the strange buzz, I cover my left ear. It’s designed to repair itself, but I’ll have to wait for it to reset. I hope I can resist the Orion’s influence until it does. She hadn’t even been talking to me and her voice swayed me. I shake my head to loosen the fragment of compulsion that she’s webbed through my brain.

I’ve heard about their soothing voices, like the music you hear when you’re on the verge of sleep, but I’ve never experienced it like this, up close with a malfunctioning ear filter. This is different, more intense. I sit on my butt, quivering, my hand still cupped over one ear, and finally work my foot free. How did Uncle Charlie manage to start a rebellion with those voices constantly whispering in his ear?

“Bryant, I was hoping to see you here, again.”

Bryant
? I spin around and peek around the edges of my hiding spot. Sure enough he’s there, kicking his foot in the dirt like a young boy. I should have known she’d be talking to him, the one Val worthy of her attention.

“You always know how to find me, don’t you?”

“And to make you smile, I hope.” She giggles and I sigh at the sound. Maybe covering my ear isn’t enough.

“Always.” Bryant’s eyes soften as he takes her hand in his before pulling her into an embrace. I bite my tongue hard enough to draw blood to keep from screaming. This isn’t something I ever wanted to see. Hearing about it was painful enough but seeing him holding my enemy… Bile rises in my throat.

“I apologize.” He steps back and hangs his head, dropping to his knees. She pats his head like she would a pet before running her fingers through his hair.

“There’s no need for that. I can sense your emotions; I know how you feel.”

He takes her hand and presses it to his heart. “I know I am unworthy of your love.”

She pats his head again before wiping her palm on her cloak. “Have any of the girls tempted you from my side?”

He shakes his head. “Of course not. You know my heart. How could they ever compare to the perfection that is you?”

“There was that girl earlier? The one you were working beside?”

“I don’t know who you mean.”

She giggles. “The girl with the pink hair.”

He draws back. “That
Deb
? She can’t compare to you. She doesn’t deserve to breathe your air. You have all my love.”

My heart seems to wither in my chest. She laughs again but my insides are dead, numb, my heart broken beyond feeling. My heart feels like it was just cleaved in two, my secret crush on Bryant meeting a bloody end.

She touches his chin. “What has you so upset this evening?”

He looks away but she forces him to look at her. “The truth.”

The command in her voice washes through me.

“Lee.” Bryant’s answer sounds like it’s ripped from his soul. “His brutality in collecting the rents is troubling.”

She nods, her lips pinched. “You think we’re treating the Debs unfairly?”

She frowns at his hesitation. The sight makes tears gather in my eyes. He shakes his head and bows, his face in the dirt. “No, of course not.”

“This is not the first time you’ve voiced such thoughts to me.”

He somehow sinks even lower. “And I’ve seen how wrong I was every time.”

“Good.” Her voice is still beautiful, but there’s an edge to it now that stabs me like a knife. “Even though you’re still in school, you’re one of our strongest warriors. The people look up to you. Imagine if they thought you were unhappy with us.”

He springs back to his knees and grabs hold of her cloak, kissing the dirty edges. “Never, never. Please forgive me.”

“Always.” She smiles and bends down to touch his cheek, her purple hair falling across her pale shoulders. “But you must be careful.”

He nods again, his eyes not moving above the hem he still clutches.

She tugs her cloak free. “Smile, dear one. I’m not angry.”

His instantly smiles. She brushes her lips against his, the corners of her mouth pinching. Her wings unfold and with a bend of her knees, she pushes off, rising into the sky. The crystal chimes of her flapping wings fade as she climbs toward the ship above her.

Watching her go is painful, like something beautiful has been taken from me. I rub my eyes and shake my head. Some rebel I am.

Bryant stares after her, his hands folded behind him, posture perfect, shoulders thrown back, legs hip width apart, eyes on the sky. He rubs the back of his neck and over his close-cropped hair. My chin drops to my hand and I take in every detail of him. The warrior, my childhood playmate, the man in love with an Orion.

The image of him clinging to Starburst like a lovesick boy makes me glad I skipped dinner. A ground shaking thud makes the pebbles underneath me roll away.

A thump and then another quake of the earth has me on my feet.

A roar shatters the silence, raising the hair on my arms. Something’s racing up the trail. When it reaches the top, I stumble back, my throat locking around a soundless scream.

A grizzle!

It shakes itself and opens its jaws, venom dripping from its sharp teeth. The poison quills along its spine catch the moonlight where they poke through the ridge of thick black fur. Its roar washes over me, sending my hair flying behind me.

Rearing up on its hind legs, it stands ten feet tall. At least. Dropping to all fours, it thunders toward me.

I run, covering my head with my arms. The earth shakes as the beast nears. Without slowing, the grizzle passes by me, knocking me into the rock I’d been hiding behind.

I stand up in time to see Bryant, feet spread apart, facing the approaching animal. A knife is in his hand, but the six inches of steel look small compared to the scythe-like claws of the grizzle. As the beast tackles him, Bryant jabs the knife into its throat, and rolls onto his back, using his legs and the beast’s momentum to push it past him. The grizzle ignores the blade jutting from its neck. It must have missed the arteries.

Bryant stands, but slowly. A deep gash on his thigh is flowing red. The grizzle turns and roars, its jaws gaping wide enough to envelop Bryant’s head. The beast charges. Bryant is going to die.

Drawing on speed I didn’t know I possessed, I sprint toward him, tackling Bryant to the ground and rolling him out of the way. Ending on top, I twist around, my back pressing into a stunned Bryant’s chest. He tries to sit up, but I throw myself back into him as the animal swipes at us with its deadly paw. A scream explodes from my throat as the claw tears through the flesh of my cheek. Warm blood oozes down my face and neck. The poison burns as it enters my bloodstream.

From flat on his back, Bryant grabs a fist-sized boulder and hurls it at the beast’s face, hitting it in the eye. The grizzle retreats a step, shaking its head. I push to my feet and place myself between the mighty warrior still sprawled on the ground, and the animal. Blood obscures my vision as I tighten my hands into fists, breathing hard.

Bryant springs up, another rock in his hand. He throws his stone but the animal swats it out of the air. I grab Bryant’s hand and force him behind me. Despite the danger, his eyes focus on where our flesh touches for a split second. I’ve broken a rule. I’m not allowed to touch a Val.

The grizzle roars, rising up on its hind legs, dwarfing us. Its paw swings toward Bryant. I shove him out of the way and try to shield myself from the swiping blow. The long, sharp claws skewer my hand before the impact sends me onto my back, ripping my hand free. My eyes struggle to focus as the grizzle looms over me, its face near mine. It opens its enormous jaws and roars in my face, battering me with a blast of hot, foul breath and venomous drool.

My uninjured hand tries to push the grizzle away, grasping at its thick, matted fur. My hand slides up, but hits something on the side of its neck. Bryant’s knife! My fist seizes on the blade and twists it free. Pulling my arm back, I plunge my fist between its gaping jaws and thrust it upward into the roof of its mouth.

The animal jerks, its eyes rolling up into its head. I force my feet up and use them to shove the dying animal sideways to keep it from crushing me. I roll away, and scramble to my feet.

Bryant is on his back, unmoving. His head rests on a rock where a rivulet of blood trickles to the ground.
Oh no!
I stagger to his side.

He’s unconscious, but breathing. I collapse in a heap next to him. My breath comes in painful gasps and blood seeps from my mangled palm. The gaping wound on my face burns, and the oozing blood mixes with tears and snot, a disgusting mess that slides down my neck and onto my shirt. Blood stains my other hand too, but I don’t know if it’s the grizzle’s or mine. I wipe it on the one clean spot I can find on my pants.

Trying to stand, I find that I’ve twisted my ankle at some point and my skinned knee is poking out the hole in my pants. Dirt and sand are embedded in the raw flesh.

But despite all my pains, I’m conscious and Bryant isn’t. I bend to check his pulse, clenching my teeth at the protest in my body. Even over the bitter tang of blood I can smell the scent of his soap, the same he used as a little boy. His heartbeat is strong and his breathing steady. His scarred face is relaxed, peaceful. He looks even more handsome without the stern creases that usually cross his forehead. With a feather touch, I trace the scar over his left eye, barely breathing. I’d dreamed of moments like this, but never believed I’d have this opportunity.

I can truly die happy. I reconnected with Ty. I killed a grizzle saving Bryant.

My heart racing, I move my hand down to the pink ridges of the burn scar on his arm. Placing my palm lightly against his skin, I caress the area, focusing on the slick ridges and divots as they pass under my fingers and palm. His head twitches and I pull my hand back as if I’d been burned. He’s coming to and if I don’t move, he’s going to wake up and find a Deb bleeding all over him.

I push away from him. He can’t find me here. I’m supposed to be dead. What if they trace my new identity back to Ty? Maybe Bryant would understand. Maybe he’d… He’s no longer my childhood friend. He’s a Val, one in love with an Orion.

I know he saw me, but… I struggle to find hope in this situation, hope for some way to make this all right. After all, what choice did I have? Let him die?

There’s so much I still can’t explain. How did I defeat a grizzle? How am I alive with my gaping wound? How was I able to move so fast when I’d barely made it up a hill? Was it my training with Uncle Charlie?

Bryant moans again and his eyes shift under the lids. Head injuries can cause memory loss, can play tricks on the victim. I take a deep breath and some of the escalating tension melts away. Yes. He’ll probably forget about me being here. Vals don’t remember Debs. He couldn’t even remember me when Starburst asked about me.

He’ll probably think he dreamed me up. After all, Debs could never make it up a trail this high, and none of them could have faced a grizzle.

A grizzle!

Where had it come from? I thought they were extinct.

Yet, there one lies, ten feet tall with razor sharp claws that cut through my skin like scissors through cloth. Adrenaline still rushes through me. What had I been thinking?

I hadn’t. It should have killed me with the first strike of its paw. But it didn’t and I have no idea why. I have to get away from here. Away before Bryant wakes up, before he starts asking questions, ones that could lead back to my brother.

My ankle almost gives out when I stand, but I force myself to move. The trip back down the mountain is even slower than the hike up. Pain accompanies each footstep. I hum the classical music that plays at work and pretend each step is just a rung on the ladder to come down. Mind over matter. It works for the most part, but still I cling to every boulder I can, panting for air, resting my forehead against it before pushing off and hobbling to the next one. The snow appears otherworldly in the night, its beauty at odds with my pain and labored breathing.

My slow progress gives me lots of time to contemplate what I’ve done. Did I expose Ty and his connections to the rebellion for the sake of a boy I used to know? A boy helplessly in love with the enemy? Acid coats the back of my throat and I force it down. Bryant will forget. After all, it sounds crazy that a Deb saved him and killed a grizzle. No one would believe it. Especially not him.

And if he does come looking for me? There are thousands of Debs, nameless, faceless drones to the Vals. They’ll never connect the new me with the old me. And it happened so fast, he’d never connect the girl he met before with the Deb who saved him.

When I can go no further, I drop to a bench and hope for the oblivion of unconsciousness.