I grabbed his hands. “They will all be dead in six months.” I didn’t need to tell him who I was talking about.
“You don’t understand. Please. There’s a reason they don’t even talk about the camps in Dunlap. They are worse than you can imagine.” I would take a bet that it was the closest to begging Luka had ever come.
I moved my clammy hand to rest on his cheek. As I focused on it, the cut about his brow knitted together. The first time I had met him, the Magic in his blood had almost driven me mad with desire. I wanted to drain every last drop of his power and bathe in it. Now it was easy to ignore.
“I want to try and do something right for once in my life.”
He examined my eyes for any signs that I was wavering. “When?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Okay.”
“Thank you.” I resisted the urge to lean forward and brush my lips against his. It would have been so easy.
“I’m sorry, Rina.”
“Me too.”
We sat in silence after that.
***
I laid in the dark, listening to Luka’s soft snoring. At the start of the night we had been on opposite ends of the bed, now he was intertwined around me as I lay on my back. His leg was flung over mine and his arms wrapped the whole way around my body. I didn’t think I could move if I had wanted to. With tentative fingers, I traced shapes across his shoulders. He tightened his arms. The movement caused his fingertips to slip beneath the hem of my singlet. The press of his warm skin on my hip sent a scattering of goosebumps down my arms.
“Are you scared?” he murmured into my shoulder.
“No.” I stopped my tracing. To my surprise, Luka didn’t pull away. He just adjusted his hand so that it was resting on the outside of my clothing.
“What’s bothering you?”
I hesitated for a moment before speaking. “My parents would be ashamed of me.” I felt his weight shift but tensed my arms to keep him in place.
“There is nothing for them to be ashamed of.”
“I’m a bad person.” My words were so small and pathetic that I wanted to snatch them back into my mouth. They soured the air.
“I thought Stella helped you understand. Your Magic isn’t—”
“—It’s not my Magic. It’s my actions. It’s me.”
He drew calming circles over my hip. “Few of us are granted the luxury of peace. You did what you needed to in order to survive.”
I had no reply. Instead I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face into his hair. The scent of his power was soothing and I drew it deep into my lungs. His hand was wrapped around my forearm and he squeezed it twice.
“My father taught me this.”
“What does it mean?”
He squeezed my arm again. “Squeeze.” And pressed. “And tap. It’s used in tactical communication because it can’t be mistaken for something accidental. It means I’m here, I’m with you.”
He did it again. Squeeze…tap. I’m here, I’m with you.
The blaring sound of an alarm rang through the compound.
Someone had breached the perimeter.
The siren wailed along the corridors, ricocheting off the walls and into our room. Overhead, the lights begun to flash red in warning. I jumped out of bed. The Elect had found us. Luka had moved faster than me and began throwing me clothes.
“We have to get everyone out!” I yelled over the screaming alarm. When I was dressed, we sprinted down the corridor until we reached the main intersection of the compound.
“Send everyone to the gym.” His voice was surprisingly calm. I didn’t hesitate and sprinted to the first bedroom.
“Get out! Get to the gym!” I screamed, running into the room. Sabrina and Max were half-dressed and moving too slow. With the urgency of my words, they fled. There had been no word from Joshua to stay vigilant, nothing to say that the Elect were closing in on the Compounds location. No one was prepared. I dashed from room to room herding everyone out and down. When the rooms were empty, I sprinted toward the meeting point. The group had gathered. There was almost thirty people all crammed into the small space. Luka ushered me out of earshot.
“Is Loral okay?”
His nod came too slowly. I almost shook him. “Judas isn’t here.”
My eyes widened. “The front entrance will be compromised first. Take everyone out through the springs. I’ll go find Judas.”
“No, it’s too dangerous. I’ll go.”
I grabbed him by the arm. “If it’s the Elect, you can’t fight back. They’ll know who you are. I have to go. I’ll meet you at the springs as soon as I find him.”
Luka pulled me close and pressed the hilt of his blade into my hand. The weight felt unfamiliar in my palm. It was engraved with a complicated crest I had yet to ask him about.
“Don’t hesitate.”
I met his intense gaze and gave him a curt nod before sprinting back toward the kitchen, keeping close to the walls. I wondered how long it would be until they found the entrance. How had they found us? The alarm light went out, plunging the area into darkness.
It hadn’t even occurred to me that Luka might have been the reason. The thought made me stumble, but I kept running toward Judas’s room. The line of thinking caused hot shame to well within me. He had earned my trust. The alarm went silent. The walls seemed to warp and move in the sudden quiet.
“Judas?” I hissed. It would be my luck that he had found his way back to the group when I was searching for him.
Judas was helpless. He had blanched at the very idea of sparring. If he came up against someone he wouldn’t stand a chance. I needed to find him before anyone else did. I snuck down corridors, dragging my fingertips along the edges. My ears still rang from the alarm. I flattened myself against the wall and used Luka’s knife to slice my palm. There was a flash of a shadow coming from further up. My power buzzed with anticipation, ready to strike out.
It had to be Judas. The door to the compound was so heavily barricaded, there was no way it could be breached without me hearing it. Luka’s warning reverberated in my head. I couldn’t take the risk. Before I could attack, Judas’s worried voice came from the dark. “Lilith?”
I straightened, the tension leaving my body. “It’s me.” I rounded the corner toward his voice and sprung a small flame in my palm. “We have to leave.”
“Rosie’s in the kitchen. We have to go get her.” When he came into view, his eyes were wide and frantic.
“Did you see anyone else?”
He shook his head. It was good enough for me. “Stay behind me.” I kept my voice low and crept along the passageway.
I extinguished the flame.
I hissed at Judas. “Where is she?”
“She was right in there.” He was so close that I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. Before I could round the corner into the kitchen, my blood turned to ice in my veins. Something wasn’t right. Goosebumps rose on my arms and I sliced my hand to ready my power. The uneasy feeling grew until eventually I spun around to check if Judas was still behind me. I was tackled. The back of my head smashed the floor and a heavy figure sat astride my chest. I saw stars. Before I could strike out, something cold and familiar clamped around my neck. My power went silent and I howled. The shock brought me back to my senses and immediately I bucked the man from my waist, reversing the position, I held the dagger to his throat.
In the flickering candlelight, I stared down at Judas.
“Take it off,” I spat into his ear. His struggles were futile, even collared he was no match for me.
A cruel laugh left his lips. “And let you kill me?”
My mind raced. I didn’t want to believe it was Judas. The betrayal was heavier than the weight of the collar. Judas took my lapse in concentration to try and wiggle free. It was fruitless. Although muscled from working in the fields, he had no mind for combat.
“I’ll kill you anyway.” I pressed the blade into his neck to let him know just how
serious I was.
“I don’t think you will.”
Before I could smash the handle of the dagger into his temple, I froze in place. I had been so certain we were alone, certain that I would have heard anyone breaking in the door. I hadn’t even thought that perhaps the enemy had been welcomed in by one of our own. In the struggle we had fallen into the kitchen which was lit by a number of candles. I hadn’t noticed the figures in trademark red standing around the outskirts of the room. Elect enforcers, armed to the teeth, slowly circled us. I had been so focused on Judas I hadn’t seen them. What has he done?
I pressed the dagger to his neck and felt his warm blood drip through my fingers. If I was captured, he would go down with me. Before I could slice the dagger across his artery, a small figure was pulled to the forefront of the crowd.
Rosie.
Her eyes were filled with tears and her small frame vibrated. The sight turned my blood cold.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“Let her go.” My voice was deadly calm.
“Once you release Judas, she’s free to leave.”
I reluctantly opened my stiff fingers and the knife clattered to the ground. Judas scuttled away from me like the cockroach he was. I spat toward him.
“You’ve got your mutt, now hand her over.”
One of the enforcers shoved Rosie toward me. She stumbled and I wrapped my arms around her. Heaving sobs racked her frail body and I smoothed her hair in an effort to keep her calm. I knelt in front of her and took her cold hands in mine. Tears wet her face and there was a bruise starting under her right eye. I leant close to her face.
“Listen to me, Rosie. You have to run as fast as you can to the meeting spot. Do you remember it? You need to find Noah and tell him what happened.” I wiped a fresh tear from her cheek. “Can you do that for me?”
Her nod was jerky and unsure. It would have to do. I stood and faced the enforcers. Rosie and I were in the centre of the large space, we were too exposed. I tucked her behind my body.
“I’ll come peacefully if you let her leave.”
“She’s free to go.” The man closest to me spoke.
I turned to Rosie once more and tried to keep the fear from my eyes. “It’s going to be okay.” With a shove, she stumbled toward the entrance of the kitchen. She would find Luka. He would make sure she got back to Sylvia no matter what. The small girl seemed to stumble, her body moving too fast for her feet. As she entered the threshold I heard the unmistakable twang of an arrow. I leapt toward her. The crazy wisps of her hair caught in the dim light. I wanted to brush them back into her braid. Her shoulders bunched as the arrow buried itself in her back. Her bitten-down nails scrunched into fists that did not break her fall.
“Rosie!” The scream ripped from my mouth.
My legs gave way under me and I scrambled toward her. She looked so small crumbled face-down on the floor. I snapped the shaft of the arrow and gently rolled her onto my lap. Her dark eyes searched mine frantically. I bit my tongue and let blood fill my mouth. I hauled my power to the surface and desperately tried to push it past the constraints of the collar. My Magic buzzed like a swarm of wasps under my skin, but I could not access it.
I tucked the stray strands of hair back behind her ear with shaking fingers. She gasped, her arms lolling uselessly at her side. “It’s okay Rosie. You’ll be okay.”
“Lili,” she managed to gasp. “I’m scared.” Her mouth opened and closed as if she was trying to suck in oxygen through torn lungs. I pressed hard on the wound, but it made no difference. The blood coating my hand was so warm.
“I’m here. I’m not leaving, Rosie.”
The child clutched my shirt in her small fist and screamed. She gasped and moaned, and I could do nothing to help her as more and more of the too warm liquid spilt over my hand and onto the floor. Then she was quiet and it was worse. I rolled her onto her side and stood.
Tears wet my face, blurring my vision, but it didn’t matter. I knew my enemy well enough. Deep, cloying rage buoyed from within me. It didn’t need power to fuel it. “What have you done?” My voice was as sharp as a knife’s edge.
Judas stood shoulder to shoulder with the other enforcers. He hadn’t even glanced down at Rosie but flicked his slimy eyes toward me. His mouth lifted in a grin.
“You can imagine my surprise when I saw the Elect’s Hunter waltz into the compound towing you behind him.”
“What have you done?” I repeated, my voice hoarse with rage. It was the only coherent thought I could manage. He shrugged. I hated men that shrugged.
Rosie is dead. I am not.
In a swift movement I collected the dagger from the floor and flung it at the nearest enforcer. The hilt stuck out of his chest. He looked confused for a moment before tumbling to the floor. The remainder of the enforcers stormed me. Two of them lunged at once, one had a short sword. I kicked his wrist. He dropped the blade and I scrambled for it on the ground. They would all die. With a scream, I thrust out wildly. They needed to pay. I had killed two before a long sword slashed across my rib cage. Three more went down in a tear of rage and teeth.
“Don’t kill her!” someone screamed. I didn’t care. I couldn’t feel any pain.
Someone struck out at my lead hand and the sword clattered to the ground. My fingers wouldn’t respond. It didn’t matter. None of them had weapons anymore as they circled me. I was tackled and my face smashed into the dirt. I struggled frantically under the weight of the enforcer and screamed obscenities into the dirt. Eventually I wiggled out from under him, but two more were standing in front of me. I struck out again. If I died here I would take as many with me as I could. I used instinct alone as my flesh hit theirs. Pained moans came from one of the enforcers and he was crouched on all fours after I had delivered a particularly nasty blow between his legs. I managed to grab onto a knife and slice wildly, their screams a balm to my soul.
In the flurry, a second group of enforcers had come up behind me. A potion smashed into my back and my body was on fire. I collapsed into the ground as electricity raced through me, the burning pain indescribable. I couldn’t scream, only a low groan came from my lips. Judas crouched beside me, his white pants had blood stains on the knees. He stroked my hair. I wanted to yank it out at the roots so he could never touch it again.
“At first I had thought you were an innocent, a tool used by the Hunter to get an in with the rebellion. I even grew to like you. But when the collar was removed, I saw you for what you truly are.” My body wouldn’t cooperate, my mouth wouldn’t form any coherent words. “A monster.”
“Lu..ka.” I managed to spit out.
Judas began laughing, the hollow sound echoing through the room. I rolled over, my body still a dead weight. The rest of the enforcers joined in on the joke. One of them stood over me, placing his boot on my bleeding gut. He pressed down. Every nerve in my body was on fire. I searched for Rosie, keeping my eyes on her now slack face and empty eyes.
“The Hunter won’t come for you. He’s the Elect’s most loyal subject. He was using you.”
The heavy boot from the enforcer slammed down on the side of my temple and everything went black.
Chapter Nineteen
Instead of Luka’s soft, rhythmic snoring, I awoke to a haunting silence, the type that only occurs within an empty space. My moans of pain were muffled by a foul-smelling mattress. My senses were assaulted with the rancid smell that permeated my pores. My body felt like it had been hit by a train. The memories of what had happened the night before flashed in my mind and my hands flew to my neck. The metal was freezing cold under my fingers.
Collared.
Terror threatened to overwhelm me before a second more horrible thought came to my mind.
Rosie.
Her tiny body crumbling as the arrow struck her in the back. Rosie’s pallid face and lifeless eyes stared back at me, accusingly. I had failed her. A wave of torrential grief washed over me. The tiny innocent girl had been struck down
where she stood, her life snuffed out before it even had a chance to begin. Did the Elect take her body or did they leave her in the dirt? Her mother would never know what happened to her. The compound had been breached. No one would ever return. It would be too dangerous. I couldn’t think of her laying there alone on the dirty kitchen floor.
Everyone that had a hand in taking her life would die.
I opened my eyes and took in my new surroundings. The cell was tiny and dark. There was no window. The only light came from beyond the thick bars, a place where I could not see.
There was a bucket in the corner, and the thin, slimy mattress that I had been deposited on but nothing else. The bricks were decayed and covered in moss, water dripped from the roof. The freezing air bit at my exposed limbs. I climbed to my feet and shuffled over to the bars that now held me prisoner. I shook them, violently. The thick, rusted metal shrieked in protest but they did not budge. I tried to look outside the bars but they were too close together to get my head through.
The hall to my right seemed to go on forever, a yellow flame lit the sloping corridor every few meters. A steep staircase sat on the other side. Perhaps it led to the outside world, I couldn’t see in the dim light, no matter how hard I strained my eyes. I threw myself at the bars, crying out in frustration. I needed to tell Sylvia what happened to Rosie, to beg her forgiveness. The movement caused a sharp pain to burn across my chest. I fell to my knees and swallowed a scream. Crawling back to my tiny mattress, I inspected the painful cut just below my breasts, it ran from one side of my chest to the other. Lowering my thin singlet, I collapsed and cradled my head in my hands. The darkness enveloped me in its cold embrace. Everything and nothing folded into me, constricting my lungs until I was gasping for oxygen and fighting off the urge to vomit. There was no way out. No one would know where Rosie had died. Hysteria and guilt began to beat at the inside of my skull and I clawed at my face trying to distract myself from the overwhelming emotions.
The Sanguine Door Page 21