by Jenn Vakey
She smiled at that. “Like what you're doing for your sister?”
I nodded, because that was exactly what it was like. I would give my life if it meant keeping Lillith safe. “Things are crazy right now, but it will get better. I promise. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him as happy as he was when he brought you here.”
She considered my words for a moment, then gave me a small smile and nodded.
“You should get back,” I said. It wouldn't be long before people started worrying.
“Can I watch you more?” she begged.
“Five more minutes, then we go back.”
She smiled.
CHAPTER NINE
RHYDIAN
I was walking out of the meeting hall after listening to everyone talking about the preparations for the arrival tomorrow when I caught sight of Evanly running around. She looked worried.
“What's wrong?” I called out, catching her attention.
She stopped and turned to face me, her blue eyes filled with concern. “One of the kids is missing,” she answered.
I took a breath, trying to stay calm. Already knowing the answer to my question before I asked it. “Which one?”
“The new one,” she said, causing my chest to tighten and my head to spin. “Linley.”
I groaned, clenching my jaw tightly. Of course she was missing. The child was beyond stubborn. Why would she do what she was told and stay put? “I'll find her.”
I turned on my heels and walked as calmly as I could around the yard, looking between buildings and around any place that I could think of that she could have slipped away to explore. When there was still no sign of her, I forced my panic down and moved a little faster toward the house I had assigned them. Nothing. Where could she be?
Think. She had been cooped up for three weeks, which meant she probably just wandered off. Where would she go?
By the time I had searched both the clinic and the dorm, it was growing more and more difficult not to give into my worry. So I told myself I would check one last place, or with one last person, then I would sound the alert.
I could hear the sounds coming from the training field as I neared it that told me Leeya was there. Not that there had been any question. She was always there.
When I rounded the corner and the full field came into view, I found myself letting out a slow, relief filled breath. Linley was there, sitting on the side of the field as she watched Leeya train. I didn't know why I hadn't checked here first. Between the bond they seemed to have and the fact that she had heard me talk a lot about Leeya, it was the one place that really made sense that she would come to.
That belief was only strengthened when I saw the look on her pretty little face when I walked over to her. It was something close to awe. Seeing it on her made me remember what it had been like when I first came here years before. I had seen Sentry train in Eden, but there was something so different about watching the people here do it. It was empowering in a way that even being a prince hadn’t been.
“You had people worried,” I said calmly, yet sternly, as I sat down next to Linley. “You can't wander off like that without telling someone.”
She didn't take her eyes off of Leeya as she used the bastons on the dummy. I knew what the others had told me, but I was actually amazed at how much she had improved in the two weeks since I'd seen her train last. She was so much faster, her hits stronger. There was something oddly graceful about the way she moved that was almost mesmerizing. She was so focused on landing her blows that I doubted she even knew I was there.
“I know,” Linley said, breaking me from the trance Leeya’s movements had pulled me into. I took advantage of it and turned my gaze to my sister. “Leeya already told me. She also told me that you're not really boring and that you love me.”
I didn't even know where to start with that, so I decided not to touch it at all.
“Why didn't you tell me the two of you had met?” I asked instead.
Linley flashed me a sly smirk and shrugged. Then she leaned over and whispered, “She misses you too.”
My eyes moved quickly to Leeya, pain moving through my chest. I wanted to ask her what they had talked about, but I didn't think I really wanted to know. Especially since I wasn't sure how I even felt about them talking about this whole situation. I also couldn’t let go of that lingering suspicion that Leeya was somehow using my sister.
“Do you think she's going to stay here after the Tainted are rescued?” she asked, still keeping her voice low.
I dropped my brow, turning to face her again. “Why wouldn't she?”
She shrugged, her expression a little tighter now. “Because she's hurting. If I were her, I wouldn't want to stay.”
“She told you that?”
Linley sighed and shook her head. “Not really. She’s a lot like you. She changes the subject when she doesn’t want to talk about it. She tries to hide it.”
So many questions about Leeya's actions had crossed my mind recently, mostly related to whether or not she would try to get to the Tainted alone. I had never considered she would leave here when it was done. My sister had a point, though. I knew she was sad. If she felt anything like I did, I knew that didn't get any better seeing me around. Maybe that was why she kept trying to get me to tell the others what she had done. So they would banish her and she would have a reason to leave. To get away from me. I didn't really know how I was supposed to feel about that. Seeing her, being around her, just reminded me of the pain she had caused me. Would it be easier for both of us if she actually left? Would I be happier if she did? Able to really let go?
“She's really pretty,” Linley said.
“Yes, she is,” I admitted. There was no denying that. The girl was stunningly beautiful. Even more so when she was training, fighting.
“I'm what?” Leeya asked, spinning around to look at us. There was no surprise there, meaning she had known I’d joined Linley in watching. That I had to be impressed with. She had seemed so focused, yet she was still aware of her surroundings. It was a sign of a good fighter. If she kept this up, she would earn herself the title of one of our best.
I was also glad now that Linley had been whispering.
“Getting better,” I responded.
Leeya kept her eyes on me, but I could see in the struggle she was putting into not reacting that she knew I was lying. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was even the tiniest flash of hurt there. She didn't call me out on it. Just took a deep breath to gather her composure, put the bastons down, and walked over to the punching bag further back on the field.
“You know she can tell when you're lying,” Linley scolded.
I smirked, hiding the twinge of guilt that look of hers had left me with. I might be angry, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hurt her. “I know, but it was better than telling her the truth.”
“I like her.”
I sighed, flipping my finger through her hair. “I know you do.”
Linley groaned and pushed me away. “Are you going to help her get her sister back?”
“Of course I am,” I answered.
She looked up and met my eye, more serious than before. “Just because it would make her happy?”
My heart raced, denying the thought.
“When did you get so nosey?” I asked instead of answering. Leeya couldn't hear us now, but that still wasn't an answer that I even wanted to give Linley. Not even one I wanted to give myself. I had no reason to go out of my way to make her happy. Not after what she had done. Yet at the same time, I knew that I had to give Lillith back to her.
Linley answered my question with a smile.
“We should get you back,” I said, looking down at my watch. I hadn't told Evanly that I'd found her. She was probably still freaking out. “You're supposed to be with the other kids. Making friends your own age.”
“Leeya said I could watch,” she argued.
“I said five more minutes,” Leeya called out from where she still stood across the
field. My heart skidded to a halt. I quickly thought back over everything we had been talking about when I thought she couldn't hear us. What had she heard? “And your five minutes are up.”
Linley groaned, but I couldn't take my eyes off of Leeya. She stood rooted in place for a moment looking back at me, then turned and started punching the bag again.
I chastised myself for not considering she could hear us as I stood and held my hands down for my sister. Then we turned ourselves and started walking back toward the school house.
“You should really just tell her you aren't mad at her anymore so she can stop being so sad,” she said, almost sounding annoyed.
“As you pointed out, she knows when I'm lying.”
“Fine, then tell her you are mad so she'll know you're lying.”
She was such a determined little thing, but she didn't know what she was talking about. She couldn't understand this without knowing everything that had happened.
Part of me wanted to just tell her so she would stop pushing. That would be selfish. I might be mad at her, but I wasn't going to do something to intentionally make things even harder for Leeya. Besides, I'd be taking one of the few people Linley trusted away from her.
Evanly looked so relieved when I dropped Linley back off with the rest of the kids. Before going, I told her that she wasn't allowed to leave again before someone came to get her.
Then I walked back to the dorm to grab a shower to clear my head. Feeling the water running over me always relaxed me. I couldn't seem to get there this time, though. I tried not to, but I was worried about what Linley had said. Would Leeya really leave Alkwin? It wasn't something that I could actually ask her about. I didn't even know how I would feel about it, which meant I had no idea what reaction I would give to her response.
Was Linley right about me not really being mad at her anymore? I wanted to be mad at her. If I was mad, then there wasn't any chance of her using me again. There was no denying that I was having a hard time feeling it when she was around, though. Should I just let it go?
Or should I let her leave Alkwin so that we could both just move on?
CHAPTER TEN
LEEYA
I couldn't shake the mixture of feelings I had after Rhydian and Linley left. I knew he was lying to me, but I wanted to believe he wouldn't have said anything bad around his sister. That was hard to really believe, though, when he told her that lying was better than telling the truth.
I could see that panic in his eyes when he realized I had been able to hear him. Maybe even some guilt. Whatever it was, I doubt I would have liked hearing it.
Maybe it really was better if I just left and started over somewhere else. I had to admit that I would actually miss Linley when I was gone. I liked her sass, that attitude. In a lot of ways, she actually reminded me of myself. Had she not been a royal, that mouth of hers would have ended up getting her in trouble in Eden. Just like mine had.
I was just getting ready to head back to the dorm after my training when I saw Joury come running out of the woods, worried and out of breath.
The sight alone was enough to trigger my fight instinct. Brace me for danger.
“What's wrong?” I asked quickly, moving to meet her.
“Patrolling. Sentry at archway. Have a woman,” she said between pants. She sucked in a deep breath and held it for a moment, then continued. “They're trying to use her to get in.”
I ran to where I had left the bastons and picked them up without waiting for her to say anything else, then started toward the tree line.
“What are you doing?” she yelled, her worry turning into a full panic.
“Making sure they don't get in,” I called back, stopping just long enough to face her. “Find Rhydian. Make sure he gets Linley somewhere safe. Then get people ready in case they get through.”
I turned before she could argue, hearing her call my name as I started running toward the archway. I didn't add the last part of what I meant. In case I can't stop them and they took me down.
I moved fast, hoping that I could get there before it was too late. Before they either found a way in or grew impatient and hurt the woman with them. I’d seen what some of the Sentry were willing to do to women. The thought sent a shiver through me, pushing me to move even faster.
When the archway finally came into view, I could see the two men still standing there. They were yelling at a woman, demanding that she get them in. I hadn't seen her before, she wasn't one of ours. She was older than the typical person who came to Alkwin, dressed in a Distributor uniform. That must have meant she had come into her abilities after her test. Not one they had been holding with Lillith and the others.
There was a pang of disappointment at that thought, knowing we weren’t likely to get any information out of her. That is, if I was able to get her away from these men.
“I'm not Tainted,” she cried out, almost pleading for them to believe her. She was lying, though. I could feel it twisting within me.
“You can yell at her all you want, but it isn't going to get you anywhere,” I called out, slowing to a walk as I neared them.
Both of the Sentry quickly met my eye, then their gazes moved behind me, as if looking for my back up. Underestimating me simply because I was a woman. I bristled, but kept myself from issuing a snide remark about it. This would be easier if they didn’t see me as a threat.
“I'm alone,” I told them, taking slow steps toward them. “And like this woman, I'm not Tainted, so I can't give you access to the city. Sorry. And for the record, grabbing a random Tainted person off of the streets of Eden wouldn't help you anyway. Only one who has been granted access to Alkwin can give it to someone else. That's just how the wards work.”
A lie, but not one they would be able to call me on. We had been lucky so far that Eden hadn’t managed to get their hands on a Tainted person willing to grant them access. I guessed that attempting with one of the ones they held captive in the city would have been too much of a risk.
Couldn’t let us find out about them, after all.
“So we should just kill her then?” one of the men asked, looking at me expectantly.
I crossed my arms, which wasn’t an easy feat with my bastons still in my hands. I hadn't taken the time to grab the straps for them.
“An innocent woman who I'm fairly positive has never done anything to hurt anyone?” I asked, shooting them a judgy glare. “It's funny how Eden paints us as the evil ones when you're the ones who kill innocent people.”
They stiffened some, but neither thought my comment warranted a response. It wasn’t like they could really defend themselves on the point.
“I'll make a deal with you,” I went on without waiting for them to even try. I didn’t want to hear their excuses, lies. “I'll fight you for her.”
Now they just looked amused, although still a little hesitant. On one hand, I was a woman. They didn’t see it as even a possibility that I could put up a decent fight. Not if I wasn’t Tainted. At the same time, they had no way of knowing if I was being honest about not being Tainted. That I wouldn’t just use some ability against them.
“No tricks, no Tainted powers. I win, I get her and you walk away. You win, you let her walk away, but you get me.”
“How does that equate to us winning?” asked the man on the left. “You've already said you can't give us access through the wards.”
I smiled, and not a friendly one.
“Because I killed Adler,” I responded. As soon as the words left my lips, I knew nothing would ever be the same. Even if I won, everyone would know now.
They both straightened at that, their looks turning to anger. It was the one on the right that spoke this time. He was younger, probably only a year or two older than myself. Thankfully he wasn’t someone I recognized. I couldn’t risk them going back to Eden and taking my transgressions out on Dallin. And it didn’t get worse than killing a member of the royal family. “And here you were telling us that we were the ones that killed in
nocent people.”
“Adler wasn’t innocent,” I volleyed back, angry myself. I lifted my shirt to show them the scar I had on my side. “He shot me first when I was unarmed and defenseless.” I looked back over my shoulder, making sure no one was around before I continued. I knew it wouldn’t be long before others came, and this wasn’t anything I wanted to be overheard. When I was certain I was alone, I turned back to the men. “Then he tried to kill the man I love. So I stopped him. Truthfully, I didn't even mean for him to die. Not that that matters, right? So, you fight me for the girl.”
They exchanged a look, almost as if they were having some psychic debate. But I already knew what their answer would be. When they looked back to me, the one on the left spoke again. “And what's to stop us from killing you right here for your crimes against Eden?”
I shrugged and answered the only way I really could. With the truth. “I don't care at this point. If it's my life for her life, then you have your deal.”
“You really expect us to believe you killed Adler for the sake of love, but you have no problem dying for a stranger?” The left guy stated, then started shaking his head. “This is some kind of trick.”
I shook my own head, taking a small step toward them. I could see how it sounded unbelievable. No one in the middle of some great romance would so willingly give it up. Those were the actions of someone with nothing to lose. I needed for them to see that. “I already lost him. So no, there's no trick. Just a fight. I also give you my word that if I win, I won't actually kill either of you. It's not our way here.”
They looked at each other again, then they both nodded.
“Okay,” I said, my eyes shifting between the two of them. I knew the risk here, the possibility that I might not come out on top of this one. They were both much larger than I was, and it wasn’t like Sentry to shy away from fighting dirty. I couldn't let them kill her, though. I couldn't let them use her to get through the wards and hurt the people in Alkwin. And if I died… well, then at least it would be to save someone innocent.