“Agreed,” Holden said.
The comms went dead, and they all looked at Shay.
“We can’t just leave you here,” Holden said. “You’d be in danger.”
“I created this access point. Maybe I can close it.”
They were reluctant to leave her, but in the end, she insisted. Besides, she pointed out, they were the ones meeting with the enemy. They were the ones in danger.
They crept through the jungle toward the agreed-upon rendezvous point, the moss-covered clearing. Ana felt like a sitting duck. What if that weird laser reappeared? She could fight Adam and a handful of Rockwells, but she couldn’t fight all of her external enemies as well.
Holden put a steadying hand on her back. “It’s going to be okay.”
She looked at him, and she could see he was scared too. “Sure,” she agreed.
When they reached the vines, Holden turned to them. “Let me go in alone. This thing started with me and Adam. Maybe he and I can end it.”
Holden stepped through before anyone could argue. He moved into the center of the clearing and made a show of putting his weapon on the ground. Almost instantly, he was surrounded by four Rockwells—Adam, Zoe, Ivan, and Dizzy.
He raised his arms in the air and turned to face Adam. “There’s no honor in shooting an unarmed man, cousin.”
Adam stepped forward. “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak,” he recited.
“This isn’t the Art of War. Something is really wrong, Adam. The safeties are offline. All of them.”
“I know. I was injured myself, and Zoe broke her arms this morning. Don’t worry. We reset it. Basic field medicine. What I don’t know is if you’re the one responsible for turning the safeties off in the first place.”
“Do you really think I would do that? Xan died!”
Adam’s jaw dropped.
“I thought you knew.”
“We knew he fell. We didn’t—we didn’t know the rest.”
Holden crossed his arms over his chest. “We have to end it.”
“Agreed, but how?”
“Shoot-out?” Holden suggested. “But what if the weapons are impacted?”
“I shot Delphi and Ophelia earlier. They were both fine.”
“True,” Holden agreed.
Adam nodded. “You get Shay. We’ll get Zoe. Meet back in an hour with flags. No tricks.”
“No tricks,” Holden agreed. “And be careful out there.”
“You too.”
It was the most cordial they had been in a month. Ana would have been happy, if only the circumstances had been different.
The hike back to the hab felt endless. They were demoralized and worried. The heat this late in the day was killer. They stopped at the water basin to fill their canteens. Ana’s legs were tired, and the only thing keeping her going was her endurance training.
She sat to rest. She drank deeply from the canteen and wiped her mouth. A few feet away, a flint of metal caught her eye. Nothing metallic should be here. Could it be some sort of trap? She walked over to inspect the object.
When she saw what it was, she let out a scream. It was the warped metal door of the hab. It was charred black, and the edge was melting like a birthday candle. The others hurried over to see what was going on.
“Shay,” Holden gasped.
Everyone ran up the hill. When they reached their campsite, all that was left was a smoldering ruin. The hab was completely destroyed. Pieces of metal were strewn across the jungle floor. The only thing left untouched was their flag, waving proudly in the smoke-filled air.
Ana and Holden took the north, and Baylan and Ja took the south. They spent the next twenty minutes searching for Shay. In the end, they found nothing. If Shay had been inside, then she was dead. There was no question. The safeties were offline. Ana’s eyes filled with tears. How could things go so terribly wrong?
The only thing they could do was return to the rendezvous point empty-handed. They couldn’t even bring their flag. Only Shay could alter the code. And now her entire setup, and maybe Shay herself, had been destroyed. They had to end this terrible game. Before there were none of them left.
Adam, Zoe, Dizzy, and Ivan were all waiting in the clearing. They stood in a straight line, their flag unfurled before them. Their weapons were drawn, prepared for the final shoot-out.
“What kind of trick is this?” Adam called. “Where’s your flag? Where’s Shay?”
Before they could answer, shots were fired from the vines. Dizzy and Baylan froze in a stream of blue light. Zoe, one arm in a sling, grabbed the flag and ran. Both teams splintered, unsure which direction the shots were coming from.
Adam caught up to Holden and Ana. “This was a dirty trick,” he shouted.
“It’s not us,” Holden panted. “Shay’s missing. Someone blew up the hab.”
Adam looked at Ana for confirmation. He saw her tear-stained face and nodded. “Okay. We have to get out of here. Forget the shoot-out. Just take our flag. Black mark be damned.”
Holden reached out a hand and grabbed Ana’s forearm. “Your adviser,” he started. His eyes glazed over, and he froze in midstep.
Ana crinkled her brow in confusion and waved a hand in front of his eyes. “My adviser? What about her?”
There was a rustle in the trees ahead. Ana looked up and saw someone she never expected—Madame Bali. She was wearing camouflage and holding a large bow and arrow aloft.
Ana took a step toward her. “Thank God you found us! We thought they were going to leave us in here to die,” she called.
Madame Bali’s usual prim expression had been replaced with pure hatred. She looked Ana in the eye and loosed her arrow. It zipped through the trees, aimed straight for Ana’s heart. Ana was too shocked to move. She braced for pain.
It never came.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Holden frozen, watching his vision play out in his mind. Adam dove forward, pushing Ana out of the way. The obsidian and titanium arrow plunged deep into his chest. Adam let out a low grunt of pain and fell to the ground, clutching the hilt of the arrow.
Ana heard rather than felt herself scream. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.
Madame Bali nocked a second arrow and prepared to fire, but she never got the chance. Ja came charging toward her. She saw him before he made contact and managed to dodge just in time. Seeing she was outmatched, she fled into the jungle. Ja pursued, nipping at her heels.
Ana fell to the ground next to Adam. To her relief, he was still breathing, and his eyes were still open. She cradled him in her lap. “Adam! Adam, are you okay?”
He didn’t answer. He was going into shock. Blood oozed from the wound. Should she remove the arrow, or would that just do more damage?
Holden gasped as he unfroze. The vision was over. “Don’t touch the arrow,” he warned. “It’s poison.” He dropped on his knees beside Adam and Ana. “Oh my God. Adam? Adam, can you hear me?”
Adam didn’t respond. His lips were turning blue. Holden cut Adam’s shirt open with his knife. The wound was dark blue, and the color was spreading. Adam’s hands were beginning to shake. Whatever the arrow was tipped in was working quickly.
“Help!” she shouted at the sky where the spectators were sitting outside the dome. “Help us!”
“Nobody is coming,” Holden rasped. “We have to end the game. I’ll find Zoe and get the flag. It’s the only way.” He reached for Adam’s hand. “Hold on, cousin.”
The blue was spreading. Unless Zoe was sitting inside the clearing holding the flag, Holden wasn’t going to be quick enough. Adam was going to die. He was actually going to die.
If ever there was a time to show the family gift, this was it. Ana held her hands out over Adam. She closed her eyes and began to bargain. Please let this work. Please. She opened them. Nothing happened.
And then she remembered. The petal!
It was a risk. If Adam realized what she was do
ing, he would know her secret. He would know she did not have the gift. At least, not yet. If anyone outside the dome saw, she would be labeled an impostor. But there was no other choice. She had to do it. Adam was dying.
She dug in her pocket, hiding the petal in the palm of her hand. Then she leaned over Adam. If the audience could see this, she hoped they would think this was a touching emotional display. She didn’t have to pretend to cry, tears were already streaming down her face. She pressed the petal into his mouth.
Nothing happened. The blue continued to spread. His whole body was beginning to convulse now. Finally, he lay still in her arms.
She remembered a heart-aching melody her mom used to sing when she was very little. For some reason, she wanted to sing it for Adam. No, she felt compelled to sing it for Adam. So, she did, while she hunched over him and rocked him in her arms.
Adam coughed, and she looked down. The blue on his lips was receding. His cheeks were regaining color. The petal was working! She grabbed a handful of grass from the ground and pulled the arrow out, careful to avoid its poison. The wound began to close.
Tears were still falling down her cheeks, happy tears now. They soaked his T-shirt.
He opened his eyes and looked up at her. “It’s okay,” he rasped. “I’m okay.”
“I’m sorry,” she cried.
The blue poison continued to recede, and color and warmth returned to Adam’s skin. Ana and Adam clutched each other as if the world were ending.
34
The Crown
The dome dropped. Somewhere, Holden had won the challenge.
The true night of Obsidian fell around them. The only lights were the artificial ones hanging over the stands and the flash of cameras and devices as spectators ran onto the field. The scene was not what they expected. Scared, injured teens began to pour out of the jungle, running toward the safety of the lights.
Ana could hear an announcer shouting, “Something unusual is happening on the ground floor of the dome. Jeanie, what’s going on down there?”
Zoe Rockwell’s voice reverberated throughout the space. “The safeties are down. Someone interfered with the challenge.”
The reporter leaned in, taking a closer look at Zoe. “What happened to your arm?”
“Broken. I told you the safeties are down.”
“But,” the reporter stumbled. “We didn’t see that. How could we have—wait, I’m getting new information from our technical team. The footage we saw may have been tampered with.”
The crowd buzzed like an angry swarm of wasps, demanding details and discussing this new information.
“Please standby.”
Ana and Adam were oblivious to the world around them. They didn’t care what the reporter had to say or how many people were watching them. They were still together on the floor of the jungle, locked in a tight embrace.
Medics rushed over. “What happened?” they asked.
“He was poisoned,” Ana said, wiping her eyes.
To her surprise, her voice echoed in the air around her. She looked up and saw a reporter hovering nearby.
The medics pulled Ana and Adam apart. Ana let go, grateful to give Adam over to their superior care. What if the petal was only temporary? What if the poison began to spread again?
The medics seemed to wake Adam to his surroundings. He pressed a kiss to Ana’s temple and stood, reassuming his usual posture. He turned to the medics. “No need to manhandle me. I’m fine.”
“We really should check you over,” they insisted.
Ana nodded. “Go. Let them check you. Please.”
He allowed himself to be led to a nearby emergency medic station.
The reporter standing next to her repeated, “Adam Rockwell has been poisoned. He appears, however, to be in stable condition. He’s walking on his own and is being checked over by the medic team.”
Ana realized she and Adam had been on camera the whole time. Projected larger than life in the air above her head.
With Adam gone, the reporter closed in on Ana. A microphone was thrust in her face. “Ms. Halt, tell us what happened in there.”
“I—” She froze.
What had happened? Madame Bali had tried to kill her. Her own adviser. But why? Why would she do it? Ana didn’t know why. She couldn’t fathom why, but her mind was beginning to fill in how.
No one had more access to her than Madame Bali. She could freely come and go from Ana’s dormitory. She had read and filed all of Ana’s paperwork. She knew Ana’s friends and family. She knew her schedule and plans. She controlled Ana’s information via the daily briefings. She cooked Ana’s food. Ana had let this woman into her life totally and completely.
She felt like a fool.
Hadn’t Samuel been wary of Madame Bali when they first met? In fact, hadn’t Madame Bali tried to keep Ana and Samuel at arm’s length? She hated Samuel’s late-night visits and Ana’s trips to the town. In fact, she was the only one who knew Samuel was in the capital. The only one who knew where he lived.
She had betrayed Samuel. She had informed on him. Ana was sure of it.
Then, there were the attacks. Who had access to Ana’s satchel bag that contained the poisoned sheers? Who could have easily planted the poisoned chocolates, bugged bracelet, and the listening devices?
“Ms. Halt?” the reporter prompted.
Ana struggled to find the right words. There were people depending on this, depending on her. Madame Bali was still somewhere out there. Ja could be in danger. Shay could be dead. Xan was dead.
“My adviser tried to kill me. She almost killed Adam Rockwell. She was in the dome tonight. She interfered with the challenge and turned off the safeties.”
The crowd rumbled.
From the council’s floating box, Sir Arkwright’s voice thundered loud enough for all to hear, “Someone get the damn video. Now.”
The reporter held a hand up to her ear, listening to her audial implant. “Our technical team has verified that the footage was indeed tampered with. They have managed to find and decode the last few minutes in the dome. Let’s watch.”
Ana leaned her head back to watch the footage play in the air above her. Holden, larger than life, was frozen. She could see the fear in his eyes. His mouth was partially open as if he wanted to speak. It was the moment he had his vision.
Then, the whole terrible scene repeated before Ana’s eyes. Madame Bali stepped into the clearing. She raised her arrow and fired. Adam dove in front of it. Ana dropped to her knees. She cradled Adam in her lap. Ja followed Madame Bali. Holden went to search for Zoe and the flag.
In the present moment, Ana waited breathlessly. What about the petal? Would the camera see? If not, she could pass off Adam’s recovery as the family gift. Save herself and maybe, just maybe, Samuel too.
Above her, video Ana leaned over Adam. Her body was wracked by sobs, and Adam was fading away all over again. It was difficult to watch. But the petal was obscured from view. All the spectators could see was her curved spine, and dark locks of hair creating a curtain around her face. Then, her song began to play. Every shake and tremor in her voice reverberated through the still crowd.
Watching the playback, Ana’s emotions threatened to overcome her. A tear streaked down her face.
The clip ended, and the feed was live once more. It zoomed in on General Rockwell who was on ground level now. He had left the Council Box. His jaw was clenched, and he was assembling a security team to lead into the jungle. Presumably to begin the manhunt for Madame Bali.
“Ms. Halt, can you explain to our viewers what we are watching?”
Ana ignored her question. “General Rockwell?” Her voice reverberated over to his position twenty yards away.
He turned to face her.
“Tell the security team to look for Shay Noble. She’s missing. There was an explosion in the hab. That’s where she was last seen. Also, Ja Rockwell pursued Madame Bali on foot. He could be in danger. And” —her voice cracked—“someone will need
to retrieve the body of Xan Rockwell.”
General Rockwell gave a sharp nod, and he disappeared with his team into the foliage.
The stands exploded with noise. It was one thing to try and kill Ana. Most of the families wanted her dead anyway. But two Rockwells and a Noble targeted. Unthinkable.
The reporter continued, “As you can all plainly see, the crowd here on Obsidian is in an uproar! Anabella Halt, who we have with us right here, claims three other students are at risk. And that, in fact, one of them may be dead. A security team has just entered the jungle to begin the search for survivors. More on that story as it develops.”
She returned her attention to Ana. “Now, Ms. Halt, we’ve all just watched the heroic actions of Adam Rockwell, the son of General Rockwell, as he took an arrow for you. What precipitated this display?”
“Adam is…a brave guy.”
“A special guy?”
Ana blushed but simply shrugged.
The reporter pressed forward. “And the seemingly miraculous recovery of Adam Rockwell. Can you tell us more about that?”
Ana took a deep breath and focused. This was important. Really important. Not just for her. If this went well, it could help Samuel too.
“I healed him using the gift.” She turned toward the Council Box and continued. “Some have questioned my place here, but tonight I have proven I belong. I am Anabella Halt, daughter of Bellaton, Princess of the Southerly Province, and sole heir to the Halt family council seat.”
The stadium was quiet. Unlike the townsfolk at the parade, these were members of the seven families and their closest allies. They may not challenge her claim, but they weren’t quite ready to celebrate either.
Ana wasn’t done yet. “The woman who did these things was a coward. I think you will find there are others like her. Others who would risk our friendship and the peace of our world. I need a new adviser. Someone I can trust. I name Samuel Jacobs, a loyal friend of my family, of whom few remain.” She paused and then took the plunge. “I officially pardon him of all the false charges laid against him.”
Seven Crowns (Bellaton Book 1) Page 26