Curses came from the cell at Jackson’s back before Axl could say a word, and the other man pounded his fists against the glass. “You son of a bitch! Don’t you touch her! I will rip you to pieces!”
Jackson grinned. “You aren’t exactly in the position to make threats.”
Axl felt broken, hopeless. He could do nothing and he had no doubt that Jackson was just sick enough to follow through with what he promised. In the other cell, the younger man seemed ready to explode, and Axl recognized the emotions on his face. He’d felt them, back in the beginning days of the zombie outbreak when he’d gone to Vegas to rescue Vivian from the Monte Carlo. He’d almost been too late, and just the thought of something happening to her had ripped him in two. The man across from him had that same expression on his face, only he was thinking of Megan.
The door at the end of the hall opened and guards headed toward Jackson.
“Where is she?” he growled, making the men stop in their tracks.
“The family was gone,” the guard at the front of the group said, staring at the floor like he was afraid to look Jackson in the eye. “We checked with the surveillance team. They left in the middle of the night, but there’s no mention of where they went and we haven’t been able to locate them anywhere.”
Axl watched as the sick glee in Jackson’s eyes melted away and was replaced by fury. His whole body was shaking, and right in front of Axl’s eyes, he seemed to transform into something else, something that was more monster than man. Axl found himself taking a step away from the window without knowing why. He had long suspected that Jackson had a twisted side to him, but seeing it with his own eyes was enough to knock the wind out of him.
He took another step away when Jackson practically lunged for the keypad outside his cell. A second later the door was thrown open and Jackson had charged inside. His eyes seemed to flash when he looked at Axl.
The first punch got him in the jaw, and the second in the eye. Axl fought back as best as he could while trying to block the hits that came at him one after the other in rapid speed. He managed to get the other man in the gut, and he thought he got him in the face once or twice, but he was still weak from the drugs and his brain wasn’t working as well as it usually did, not to mention the fact that Jackson was more than twenty years younger than he was.
It didn’t take long before Axl was on the ground with Jackson on top of him. The hits came so fast that he could do little more than raise his arms to cover his face, but even that didn’t help and he soon felt like nothing more than a ball of pain. His eyes throbbed so hard that he was sure they would swell shut, and pain radiated across his skull even when Jackson choose to focus his rage on other parts of Axl’s body. His sides ached and through the haze of pain surrounding him, Axl was able to gather his thoughts just enough to realize that at least one—if not more—of his ribs were broken.
Darkness closed in on him as Jackson’s fists slowed, and then stopped. There was yelling and Jackson was gone, but the pain wasn’t, and Axl ached so much that the black shadow that fell over him felt comforting in comparison. He wanted it to engulf him even though he was certain that if it did, he might never come back. Too bad he didn’t have the strength to fight it…
To be continued with Twisted Fate…
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Acknowledgments
I know you’ve been on the edge of your seat waiting for this book to come out, and the first thing I want to do is thank everyone who was patient and understanding. Typically, it doesn’t take this long for me to write a book, but between my move and getting settled into a new place with four kids, and the ups and downs with my husband’s job while trying (unsuccessfully) to sell our old house, I’ve been stressed, which makes it difficult to concentrate. This book, for whatever reason, refused to come out of me when I wanted it to, so I appreciate everyone who understands that my personal life and family trump their reading schedule. For those of you who didn’t leave reviews for Twisted World insinuating that their reading needs were so much more important than my personal life that it justified taking a star away from their rating, I really appreciate your support and continued excitement for this series. I hope that the completion of this book is a sign that things are finally getting back to normal in my life.
A very special thanks goes to my beta readers: Jan Strohecker, Mary Jones, and Jen Naumann. As always, your excitement to read the book, your willingness to search for typos, and your overall support is invaluable. Thank you!
Thanks to my husband who had to listen to me complain over and over again about how this book wasn’t coming together the way I wanted it to, and to my kids who had no problem making themselves sandwiches for dinner on the days when I was actually able to focus enough to get some work done. My family will always be my number one priority, but I’m lucky enough that they all understand how important writing is to me, and that they are both supportive and enthusiastic of my dream.
I sincerely hope everyone enjoyed this installment, but don’t worry because it isn’t the end. Yet. I will do my very best to get the next book out to you soon, but in the meantime, know that I’m always working.
Twisted Fate
Twisted Book Three
Published by Twisted Press, LLC, and independently owned company.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to person, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art by Kate L. Mary
Copyright © 2017 by Kate L. Mary
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. For permission contact: [email protected]
Chapter One
Meg
The room was deathly still as my family stood in stunned silence, staring at Angus like he was an apparition. Standing in this long forgotten building, surrounded by dusty chairs and cobwebs, I found myself wondering if it could be true, because this most definitely didn’t feel real. It couldn’t be. Two decades had passed since Mom and Dad and everyone else had arrived in New Atlanta, and my uncle, Angus James, had been alive the entire time. He’d been a prisoner in the CDC, used like his life meant nothing, like he was nothing. I just couldn’t believe it.
And now the same people who’d held him captive for all those years had my dad.
There was a part of me that wanted to cover my ears so I could protect myself from hearing everything Angus had been through. I knew my Dad was probably going through some of the same things at this very moment, and thinking about it hurt too much. But I also knew that I had to listen. We were on the run, had fled Jackson and his father through a secret tunnel in Dragon’s Lair, and before we could do anything else, make any other plans or even think about trying to free my dad, we had to find out what we were up against. We needed to hear what was going on in the CDC for real. I wasn’t dumb enough to think it was going to be easy to listen to, but it was necessary, and it would help us plan our next move.
Wherever we were, we were outside the city wall, and even though this place was attached to Dragon’s Lair, it didn’t look like it had been used in years. The windows had been boarded up, allowing only slivers of moonlight in through the cracks, and along one wall sat a cot similar to the ones that had been in the back room of the bar, as well as a table and a handful of rickety chairs. The few candles scattered around cast a soft glow across the dark room, highlighting the emotions flickering across the faces of my family. More chairs and tables that looked like they hadn’t been used in decades were lined up along the wall, just waiting for us to claim them. My uncle Al stood closest, and when he grabbed a couple and moved them toward the table it seemed t
o snap the rest of us out of it. Slowly, as if waking up from a dream, everyone began to move.
Dragon and Helen stayed a good distance away as we settled into chairs, probably because they already knew what was going on—my Uncle Angus had been staying with them for a while it seemed—while the rest of us gathered around the dusty old table. Charlie took the chair her father had set down, and I slid into the one next to her while Al and Lila took places across from us. Parvarti sat just far enough away that she was on the outskirts of our little group. Her expression was calm, too calm considering what we were going through.
We hadn’t really been there for her, I suddenly realized. Joshua had died, leaving Parv alone, and we hadn’t been there to help her through it. I’d been too swept up in what was going on with Mom and Dad to really think about how much my aunt was hurting, leaving her to deal with it all on her own. Even though it wasn’t my fault and my reasons for being distracted were glaringly legitimate, I couldn’t help feeling bad. I needed to make it up to my aunt.
Mom slipped into the chair next to Angus, sitting so close that it looked like she was holding onto him for dear life. When he set his hand on the table, she reached out to take it. It seemed like she needed to hold onto him just so she could make sure he was real, and it made sense. I mean, after twenty years you kind of gave up hope of ever seeing somebody again, and having Angus sitting at the table right now had to feel like a dream.
The old chair wobbled under my weight and every breath I took in filled my lungs with dust, but the minor discomfort was overshadowed by the heaviness in my gut. I had so many questions about what was going on, but I didn’t savor the thought of having them answered the way I should. Dad’s life hung in the balance, and we’d already lost him once. Now, after finding out for sure that he was alive, I was terrified that something would go wrong and he’d slip away again.
Plus, I had someone else to worry about now. Donaghy. The CDC had him, had dragged him out of Dragon’s Lair only a few hours ago. They could do whatever they wanted to him. Jackson could do anything, and his hatred for Donaghy went further and deeper than even I understood. I couldn’t help feeling responsible for how things had turned out. My family had always hated Jackson, but I refused to listen to them. If I’d heeded their warnings, if I hadn’t dragged Donaghy into this, things might have been different. If something happened to him now, it would be my fault.
How this man, a convict and a fighter, had come to mean so much to me in so little time didn’t make sense. We’d only met a week ago, had barely gotten the chance to know each other, but I felt like I’d known him much longer, and the ache in my stomach told me that I cared about his safety almost as much as I cared about Dad’s.
Silence covered the room and grew heavy, stretching out until I could barely stand it, but I couldn’t bring myself to be the first one to talk. Angus’s hand looked stiff under mom’s, but I could detect a slight tremor in it too, and I could tell that he was having a difficult time working up to what he had to tell us. The memories of the last twenty years must have been awful for him to carry around.
“Have you been in the CDC this entire time?” Mom finally asked, watching him closely as if she was keeping an eye out for cracks. She kept her hand on his like she was hoping it would give him strength. Or maybe the other way around.
“Yeah.” The word came out sounding like it hurt him, and when he winced it seemed to confirm that it did. “Sometimes, it feels like it all went by in the blink of an eye, but other times it feels like three lifetimes. Twenty years is a long time, and they weren’t easy years. They was hard years. So hard that there was moments when I was pretty sure death woulda been better then livin’ even one more day in there.”
Glitter, the pink haired waitress that had only recently come into my life, was sitting on the other side of him, and she scooted her chair closer when his voice shook. He looked her way and his expression softened. He was the one who reached out and took her hand with his free one, but she seemed to welcome it. Almost as if she needed to make sure he was there just as much as he needed to be close to her.
Glitter was Angus’s daughter. I still couldn’t believe it. It made no sense. He’d been locked in the CDC for the last twenty years. How had this happened? I could only think of one way, but the idea was so sick it made me shudder. The scars that ran up the inside of her arms, the ones that I had attributed to drug use when we’d first met, seemed to confirm my suspicions, especially when Angus moved and I saw the same scars in the crooks of his arms. The two of them looked like walking pincushions, and I had a sick feeling that was exactly what they were. Exactly what my uncle had been for the past twenty years.
“What did they do to you?” Lila asked, drawing my attention away from the scars dotting my uncle’s arms.
“Lots of things.” He cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder at Dragon and Helen. “You got a drink or a cigarette?” He shook his head and looked down, and when he spoke next it seemed like he was talking to himself. Like he hadn’t yet gotten used to the fact that there were other people around to talk to. “Need somethin’ else to focus on. Twenty years. That’s a hell of a lot of memories.”
“Angus,” Mom said, squeezing his hand. “It’s okay. We’re with you now.”
“Here.” Helen held a cigarette out to him.
Angus returned Mom’s gesture before pulling his hand out from under hers. When he took the cigarette from Helen, he was blinking, almost like he was fighting back tears. His hand shook as he slipped it between his lips, and he closed his eyes when Helen lit it, inhaling slowly as if he needed to focus on the act so he didn’t lose his mind.
“It all hurts,” he said, the smoke coming out with the words and his eyes still closed. “Every single memory.”
When he opened his eyes, his gaze narrowed in on Mom’s hand, still resting on the table. How must it look to him? Not the same as he remembered, that was for sure. At the moment her hand looked bony and frail, and the Vivian he’d known hadn’t been a weak person. I’d heard the stories about how they’d come to be here, and I knew my mother had been strong once. She was the one who’d kept on going even after she should have given up. The one who had pushed everyone in those early days. That person had slipped away over the last three weeks though, ever since they took Dad, and it had seemed like that old Vivian was on the verge of disappearing altogether. It was the drugs they’d given her, logically I knew that, but even now that she was off them she didn’t seem like her old self. It was like a part of her had gotten lost when Dad disappeared.
“Can you tell us what’s going on in there?” Parvarti asked when the silence had once again stretched out for too long. “There are a lot of holes that need to be filled.”
“I’m sure for you too,” Mom said, reaching out to him but stopping with her hand halfway to his. “So much has happened.”
“Yeah.” Angus’s hand shook again, and he clenched it into a fist like he didn’t want us to see it. “The beginnin’ is blurry, but I remember comin’ through Atlanta and seein’ the wall. Tryin’ to get here. I remember bein’ bit over and over, and pieces of them takin’ us to the CDC. It was bright and there was people everywhere, but none of it’s clear. There’s a big hole after that.”
“It’s okay,” Lila said, her voice soft and soothing in a way that reminded me of how she’d spoken to me when I was a small child. “Just take your time. Tell us what you can.”
“I will.” Angus stuck the cigarette between his lips and inhaled again, slowly this time, closing his eyes and savoring it.
I held my breath and waited, but before he could say a thing a bang echoed through the room. We all jumped, but Angus barely moved. When he opened his eyes though, his gaze went to the front door. At one time it had had a window in the center of it, but it had long ago been covered with a board that now seemed less secure than it should be considering what lurked just on the other side. Around me, everyone reacted, whether it was pulling their guns like
Al and Parv or getting to their feet like Mom. I stood too, my hand already moving to my bag where the gun I’d gotten on the black market was stuffed. I hadn’t told anyone about it, although I wasn’t sure why, and its existence suddenly made me feel more secure about my current situation.
“It’s okay.” Dragon’s deep voice boomed through the room as he headed to the door.
I watched from where I was standing, not sure what was happening but certain that we could trust Dragon. He stopped in front of the door, which led to the outside, to the world beyond the wall that was infested with zombies and yet was—ironically—a lot safer than the one I’d grown up in. Still, I tensed when he pulled it open.
A gust of muggy air blew in, bringing with it two men. I recognized them right away. Al and Lila’s son, Luke, and Jim, the man I’d met for the first time only a few days earlier in Dragon’s bar. Back when I’d still thought my Uncle Angus had died twenty years ago and when I was certain my dad had joined him. Before I learned who Jackson really was and before I’d realized what Donaghy could mean to me. So much had changed since that day.
“Jim?” At my side, Mom’s body relaxed when she realized that she recognized the man who’d just stepped into the room.
Less than a second later, Aunt Lila was on her feet and moving toward her son. “Luke!”
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