by J. L. Weil
Too bad I couldn’t say the same about my father.
“Suit up, Sis. You’ve been assigned your first mission.” Ember tossed me a pile of clothes I recognized as one of the Night’s Guards blue uniforms.
I stared down at the material I’d managed to catch, even though it hadn’t been graceful.
“The hell she has,” Dash growled.
Ember was already dressed, and somehow she made the unflattering uniform sexy. The fabric hugged her hips, cinching nicely at her waist. “Don’t worry, Slayer, you’ve been instructed to keep our little princess safe in the field.”
“Don’t forget about me.” Ryker breezed into the training room with a wicked grin, knowing it would only infuriate Dash.
And it did. “We don’t need help. Charlotte and I are on our own,” Dash stated.
“Too bad, mate.” Ryker wasn’t having it. “You’ve got yourself a squad. Isn’t that right, Ember?”
My fiery sister nodded. “All four of us. This should be a blast.”
More like a disaster. What was my father thinking?
It had only been five days since the attack, and here he was, sending us out as if nothing had changed. I hadn’t gotten the chance to tell Dash about the talk with my father yet. Or perhaps I had been avoiding the conversation, hoping it would just magically disappear.
“Where are we going?” I asked, hugging the uniform to my chest.
“Snowdrift Tundra, to wake the sleeping there,” Ember informed us. I wished she hadn’t added the last part, or maybe she was doing me a favor.
Dash shook his head in disgust. “No way.”
Ember crossed her arms. “Do you shoot down every suggestion that involves my sister?”
“Yes,” Dash barked back.
Ember wasn’t deterred. “What’s the worst that could happen with the three of us alongside her? We’re the best the Institute has.” She had a valid point. How gracious of my father to team me up with the Institute’s finest.
Dash stared at Ember, nearly hemorrhaging with resolve. “She could blackout and never regain consciousness.” A grim possibility. Leave it to Dash to take it there.
“Clearly you’re not a half-full kind of guy,” Ember retorted.
Dash puffed out his chest in defiance. “I’m a realist.”
Her eyes narrowed to tiny slits. “What you are is an overprotective, clingy boyfriend.”
I stepped between them before things took a nasty turn. We hadn’t even left yet and a fight was about to break out. I flattened my palm on Dash’s chest. “I’ll be fine. As long as I keep it to a single ability, there’s no harm.”
“You don’t know that. What happens if you get a vision? You can’t always control those.”
“You’ll be there,” I pointed out.
“I’m not going to spend every day watching you lose consciousness, constantly wondering how long you’ll be out this time, or if there will ever come a day where you don’t wake up.”
He was really worked up about this, but I understood his concerns. After being asleep for a hundred years, that fear of never waking was always present in the back of our minds, regardless of how much time had passed.
“I’m not going to spend another second arguing,” Ember seethed from behind me. “You both agreed to this when you came back here. Now, Charlotte, get dressed.”
Dash pressed his lips together, his muscles under my palm tensing. He was holding himself back.
“It will be okay,” I whispered, staring up into his dark silver eyes.
For a moment, I didn’t think he was going to submit, but eventually, his face softened slightly.
Ryker leaned against the training room doorway, just observing the madness that was my life with a hint of a smile on his lips. “Now that that’s settled, shall we?”
I gave a pointed look at the three of them. “Don’t kill each other. I’ll be back in five.” Slipping into the locker room next to the training room, I changed into my newly assigned uniform. This made me a legit Night’s Guard, but I didn’t want to be one. I didn’t want this stiff getup or the responsibility to the Institute that came with it. My father’s vision for the new world did not align with mine. Actually, his didn’t sync up with the majority’s view.
I twisted my hair into a braid and braced myself for the journey ahead. The tundra was located in the far southeast corner of the Heights. Although I’d never been, I knew it would take days to get there on foot. It would be a miracle if we all came back unscathed. I didn’t know if I was more worried about the dangers out in the Heights, or the strain between my squad.
Dash would do whatever was necessary to protect me… even at the cost of his own life, but I hoped it would never come to that.
After placing my civilian clothes in a locker, I emerged back into the training facility. All the eyes of my misfit crew glanced up. It was clear no one had been talking in my absence. The tension was as thick as tar. “Let’s get this show on the road,” I urged.
At the word “road,” Ryker perked up. “We get to take the ranger.”
I was almost afraid to ask. “What’s a ranger?”
“Only the most badass ATV on the planet.”
Ryker led our small group out of the training room and to the garage, where the few vehicles left in existence were kept. He whipped a burlap sheet off a large object, revealing the ranger. It looked like an ATV but much larger. Scraps of various metals had been welded together to create a covered cab that could seat four people. The tires were monstrous and seemed as if they could handle any terrain the Heights threw at us. My first impression of the ranger: it was a hunk of junk, but Ryker beamed as if it was his baby.
Dash snorted. “You and your machines. If this thing breaks down on us, I’m definitely giving you a black eye.”
Ryker lifted the door to the ranger, a stupid grin on his face. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Boys. I’d never understand them.
The four of us climbed in, and despite Dash’s reservations about the ranger, I was excited. Not traveling by foot was heaven, and having a mode of transportation felt like huge progress. Ryker steered us from the garage through a dark, humid tunnel that came out at the southeast side of the tower. A four-digit code opened the gate to the Heights, allowing us to leave.
As we drove, the gnarled trees around the white city eventually gave way to a rocky terrain. We traveled over a cliff face, causing chunks of stone to crumble under our weight. When we arrived at the bottom of the hill, I spotted a camp nestled between two boulders before it became shrouded in fog.
A shiver rolled through me as the temperature dropped around us. “Any chance this thing has heat?”
Ember smirked.
Dash shook his head in exasperation.
And Ryker tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel, ignoring me.
I would take that as a no.
This was the first time I’d ventured into the snowy lands of the Heights. Winter had never been a season I appreciated, and the sight of all the white, powdery flakes sent flutters of dread through me. The mist had altered the atmosphere, causing strange climate patterns in the four different regions. I thought the desert had been bad, but this was worse.
“Is it too late to turn back?” I mumbled, my nose pressed to the window, steaming up the glass.
Ember glanced over her shoulder at me from her seat beside Ryker. “If you think this is bad. Just wait.”
“You’re evil,” I replied dryly.
“It’s my goal to corrupt you. That’s what Dash is afraid of, isn’t it?” she threw to the scowling Slayer.
A grim expression shadowed his face. “Do you think anyone will care if your sister goes missing?” he asked me.
I rolled my eyes.
Ember threw her head back and laughed.
“How are we transporting everyone we wake back to the Institute?” I asked.
“The Night’s Guards stationed in the area will escort them back,” Ryker replied.
Dash shifted in his seat, and I knew something was on his mind. I assumed his thoughts were similar to my own—Were these people I was waking up going to be safe?
It took most of the day to reach the tundra, and I sighed in relief when Ryker hit the brakes on the ranger. “Thank you for riding Ryker Excursions. Tips are welcome,” he said jokingly.
“I’ve got a tip for you,” Dash sneered, unfolding himself from out of the ATV.
“Is it going to hurt?” Ryker asked.
“Definitely,” Dash promised.
I got out of the car before fists started flying, stretching my cramped muscles and inhaling a gulp of crisp air. It was sharp, burning my lungs. “Where is the holding house?” I asked, scouring the surrounding area. All I saw was white, white, and more white. Even the trees were—you guessed it—white.
“There should be a hatch just there,” Ryker said, pointing north with his index finger.
“So not helpful,” I mumbled as I looked to where he pointed and saw no discernable landmarks.
Without acknowledging my comment, he trudged through the two feet of white powder to a hill of packed snow. He brushed off a spot with his hand, revealing a door handle. “The snow covers it each night.”
“That’s annoying as hell,” I grumbled. How did anyone ever remember where it was?
With a groan that echoed through the valley, Ryker and Dash opened the hatch. “You ready to do your thing, Red?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” Climbing down a ladder I walked into a dark, narrow corridor with Dash behind me. Ember brought up the rear while Ryker stayed to guard the entrance.
My sister flicked her wrist, lighting up the hall in a soft cast of yellow and orange. Not a bad trick, as long as she didn’t set the place on fire.
My strides paused when we came to a large room. My heart dropped upon seeing the motionless bodies in rows on top of cold stone slabs.
You can do this, Charlotte. Easy breezy.
And then I looked down into the face of a little girl. She couldn’t have been more than five. Her golden hair haloed around her chubby pale cheeks. If my father thought I would wake her, make her an orphan, he was wrong. She was better off sleeping.
Dash placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?” he murmured.
My mind thought back to the day Dash had found me. Would I have been better off still under the spell of the slumber?
No.
Stiffening my chin, I nodded. “Am I just supposed to pick one?”
Ember lit a lantern sitting in a dusty corner. “We actually have a method to our madness. One of our engineers developed a tool that measures the amount of radiation the body was exposed to. Those with higher levels have a better chance at being Gifted.” She dug into her back pocket and produced a tool that resembled a calculator.
“Why does that not surprise me?” I wasn’t sure how I felt about leaving behind those whom the Institute didn’t deem important. But did I really believe it was a good idea to wake up innocent people and send them into my father’s clutches either?
Absolutely not.
I knew, though, that if we had any chance of surviving, we were going to need more people, especially those who had been exposed to the mist and could have abilities.
Ember flipped a switch on her toxic radar, slowly walking around the room as she waved the device over the bodies.
Dash’s lips compressed as he watched Ember do her thing.
“What’s wrong?” Ember asked Dash, noticing his sour face. “Not crazy about your girl locking lips with someone that isn’t you?”
“Is everything that comes out of your mouth corrosive?” he said.
“Yep,” she retorted, making a popping sound with her lips on the p. A green button flashed on the top of her device in rapid succession. “We got a winner. This one is lighting up like a Christmas tree.”
That was my cue. I wedged my way into the other side of the slab, where a woman with long raven hair lay eerily peaceful. Her hands were folded over her belly. I judged her age to be somewhere in her forties. What had she been doing the day the world ended that had exposed her to the radiation? I couldn’t help but be curious about her story. Once she woke up, I wouldn’t have to wonder.
Ember and Dash stood on the other side, waiting in case something went upside down. I didn’t know how a person would react from being woken up, but my mind could conjure a slew of horrifying situations. Closing my eyes, I leaned down. This better work. Just think about her waking up.
As I pressed my warm lips to her cold ones, I swore everyone in the room held their breath. I pulled back, clenching my fingers around the edge of the stone slab, willing her to open her eyes but, at the same time, hating myself for damning her to a world of peril.
Ember was the first to break the silence. “Shouldn’t there be fireworks or streamers?”
I stared down at the woman’s face, a knot forming in the bottom of my gut.
Nothing had happened.
Chapter Six
Frustration ate at me. I wanted to stomp my foot. Scream at the universe. “Why didn’t it work?”
Ember held her hands up in the air and then dropped them in a gesture that mimicked her words. “How would I know? I’m not the one with four abilities, but contemplating having a hissy fit is not what we need right now. Try again on someone else. Maybe this one is defective.”
I rolled my eyes but moved to the next slab—a man in his twenties. This time, I didn’t bother to look at his face and quickly pressed my lips to his. Disappointment wriggled its way inside me again. The man didn’t so much as twitch a single muscle.
The flame in the lantern flickered. “Don’t tell me we came all the way out here for nothing,” Ember said. All attitude. No tact.
Dash frowned. “Shut up and give her some space.”
Ember’s features pinched together. “I don’t think any amount of space is going to make our princess get the deed done.”
“Neither of you is helping,” I snapped, my frustration spiking.
“Maybe your heart isn’t into it,” Dash suggested. “Before, when you woke me up, how did you feel?”
Frantic. Desperate. Scared. Emotions I wasn’t feeling at the moment.
This posed a problem. In my heart, I didn’t know if I believed in my father’s mission. Was that what was holding me back? Why did my abilities have to be so stubborn and unpredictable?
If we came back without any soldiers for my father to make into his little minions, he would be pissed. I gnawed on my lower lip, considering my choices. Dash and Ember stared at me with expectancy.
This was turning out to be a crap day. And to think on the way here I’d been enjoying getting out of the Institute for a few hours. I was lost in my internal war when a sound rudely interrupted my battle.
Hissssss.
Dash and Ember stiffened as I flinched at the sudden noise. “Did you hear that?” I whispered.
“Don’t move,” Dash said, clenching his teeth together. His eyes roamed the room, taking stock, and something in his gaze instantly instilled fear within me.
My body froze except for my eyes, which I cast downward to where Dash looked. I wanted to cry. A long, scaly, and slimy thing slithered over the ground near my feet. Its forked tongue tasted the air, darting in and out of its triangular head.
Snake! my mind screamed, and I immediately had to stamp down the urge to jump on top of the stone slab.
Dash and Ember turned toward each other. “Riper,” they both gasped.
I didn’t like the sound of that. The snake-like creature wound itself around my ankles. I stopped breathing. FML.
Cool, slick, leathery skin brushed against my legs, activating my squeamish senses. “Dash?” His name tumbled from my lips in pure panic, my voice quivering.
“Freckles, stay calm.” I could tell from the fierce scowl on his lips that I was in serious hot water. Even Ember looked ready to bolt, but Dash grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stay by
his side. “Stick to the shadows,” he instructed her. “And don’t make any noise. They’re blind and rely on sounds to navigate.”
Flames crackled at the end of Ember’s fingers. “I remember… no matter how much I want to forget.” My little sis must have a history with ripers. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you think it would be if she tried to run?” Ember asked Dash.
“At least a twenty,” Dash said.
She angled her head to the side. “Hmm. I like the odds.”
“Ember!” Dash and I both hissed.
“It was just a suggestion. You need to come up with a better one, Slayer, before your girlfriend gets shredded.”
Dash’s gaze laser-focused on the riper. “I’m working on it.”
“How much time do you think she has? Five minutes max?” Ember estimated.
They were stressing me out, and when under pressure, I made rash decisions that would probably cost me my life. With my mind whirling with images of being gnawed to tiny bits by a mutated snake, I concentrated on low, easy breaths without moving. This wasn’t how I pictured dying—not that I spent a lot of time dwelling on the morbid details of my death.
“Ember and I are going to inch our way toward you,” Dash informed me in a steady tone.
Great. Now they were going to put themselves in harm’s way to save me. I let my hand curl around the hilt of my dagger, power radiating inside me, just waiting to be unleashed. You’re not powerless, I reminded myself.
By the time Dash and Ember crept to the end of the stone slab, the riper had twined his body up my right leg to just below my thigh. Casting a quick glance downward, my eyes connected with the beast’s.
Holy shit balls.
Bright milky white eyes stared right through me, its tongue flicking in and out. I swallowed, rather loudly, and it opened its mouth, revealing a row of very nasty and pointy fangs. Prickles of terror spread like a thousand needles over my skin.
Screw this.
No blind snake is going to eat me alive.
I made my move.
But so did the riper.
In a race to see who would strike first, it all happened at once. I hesitated for a split second as I struggled with my approach. But that moment of indecision would cost me.