Forsaken

by J. L. Weil

  “How could he do that?” I asked. My father was a horrible man.

  Dash shrugged. “In his twisted mind, he believes this is the way to save what little of the world we have left.”

  “He can’t really believe immortality is the answer. Haven’t we all had enough of mutations?”

  “I definitely don’t want to be injected with zombie serum.”

  Jesus. What if that was what he planned to do? Inject the Gifted with Forsaken blood to make an immortal army? I didn’t know which was more frightening: the zombies or my father.

  “I know what you’re thinking, and I’ve thought it myself.”

  No longer able to stay still, I turned on the bed and swung my feet into a cross-legged position. “We can’t let him do it, Dash. We have to find a way to stop him.”

  He ran his hand over the stubble starting to grow on his chin. “Are you really prepared to go up against your own family?”

  I couldn’t answer him. Right now my heart was filled with so much sadness I couldn’t think about losing someone else I cared about. It wasn’t just my father; there were Mom and Ember to consider too.

  “There’s nothing we can do right now anyway. Neither of us can help anyone in our current state. You need to gain your strength back. I’m going to get you something to eat. You’ve been asleep for hours.”

  Resting my hand on his forearm, I prevented him from leaving just yet. “Are we safe here?”

  His remained stern as he carefully considered his reply. “For now, Freckles.”

  Nodding, I let him roll out of bed, and walk out of the room. “For now” would have to do. He closed the door softly behind him, and I was glad. I didn’t want to see anyone, including whoever was gracious enough to take in two Institute fugitives.

  I should have probably forced myself to get out of bed, but I didn’t, and pulled the covers back over me. At some point, I drifted back to sleep. I hadn’t wanted to—afraid of what I might see if I closed my eyes—but the last forty-eight hours had taken their toll on me.

  When I woke, I saw Dash had come back into the room while I dozed. He had left a bowl of fruit and a glass of juice on the side table. Picking at the food, I forced myself to eat something, yet everything I put in my mouth was tasteless.

  For the rest of the day, grief and despair hung in the air around me, much like a toxic mist.

  Dash handed me a cup of hot tea. “Drink. You’re freezing.”

  I was, but the fact that he noticed meant I wasn’t doing a good enough job of faking it. I didn’t want him to worry about me, but it seemed he was, regardless of my attempt to pretend I was fine.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. My fingers wrapped around the cup, letting the heat seep into my pores. “You never did tell me whose home this is.” I didn’t want our host to think me rude, shutting myself up in their spare room all day and night.

  He sat down on the edge of the bed. “A friend,” Dash answered, being evasive.

  Did he think he could hide me in here forever? “Does this friend have a name?” I blew on the tea before taking a sip.

  “It’s Ryker’s.”

  I almost spit my tea in his face. “Ryker has a house?”

  “Many of the Night’s Guards are assigned housing outside of the tower in the white city,” he answered.

  “If he has this, why does he spend his nights at the Institute?”

  His lips formed a straight line. “I’ll give you one guess.”

  I racked my brain for a sensible answer, but the pulsing muscle at Dash’s jaw finally game a clue. That particular tick was reserved for Ryker when he did something to displease Dash, especially when it came to me. “You can’t be serious. Me?” I pointed to myself.

  A single brow shot up.

  “Why? I don’t understand. What makes me so special?”

  “I can think of a thousand things that make you special, Freckles. I don’t like that he has feelings for you. Trust me, I want to rearrange his face every time he thinks about looking at you, but I tell myself that as much as I hate it, I know he’ll do everything in his power to keep you safe.”

  What was I supposed to say to that? “I don’t think I’m worthy of such protection.”

  He smiled crookedly. “You shortchange yourself.”

  “How is he doing?” I asked, taking another sip from my cup. Ryker and Star had grown close. Losing her would hurt. She would have made him happy. A fresh stab of pain sliced through me. They’d never get the chance to be together.

  Dash gave a one-shoulder shrug. “He puts on a good front, but I can tell he’s sad. And very pissed off.”

  “How long are we safe here? Isn’t he taking a great risk by hiding us?”

  “Ryker likes to live on the edge.”

  “He won’t be living at all if he is executed.” I refused to put anyone else in danger. No one else would die because of me.

  Dash took my chin in his hand, and determination lit his silver eyes. “We won’t let that happen.”

  The sentiment was genuine, but life rarely went as planned. “We can’t go back to Diamond Towers.”

  “I know. We never should have. It only made things worse.”

  Two choices loomed over me. I could run and keep running with Dash. Or we could fight back. “My father needs to be stopped,” I whispered.

  “Do you hear what you’re saying? You want to kill your father?”

  “Are you telling me you don’t believe he should die?”

  His fingers raked through his hair. “Charlotte, I—”

  “You can’t. The Institute must fall. What they’re doing to people is wrong.” If we were meant to live forever, we’d all be born as vampires. Immortality wasn’t the natural order of things. And what I didn’t want to admit to myself was that I had sympathy for the zombies that were being mistreated in the hands of the Institute as well. I didn’t understand it fully. Maybe it was because they viewed me as special, and I also believed there was more to them than people thought.

  Why couldn’t that be revealed in a vision?

  “And how do we take down an entire tower of guards?” Dash asked.

  My breath lodged in my throat. “I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ryker looked like shit. He hadn’t shaved in days, and his eyes were bloodshot. I could tell he hadn’t slept. Star’s death had hit him hard, and nothing I could say would make it better.

  What if he hates me?

  I stopped in the hallway, afraid of the condemnation I might see in his eyes. The floor squeaked under me when I shifted my weight, causing him to glance up. No chance of hiding now.

  “Hey,” I said, stepping into the room, trying to be braver than I felt.

  He blinked, focusing on my face. A delay hampered his recognition of me, as if he’d been a million miles away before I interrupted him. “You’re awake.”

  Guilt swamped me. I should have checked on him sooner. Ryker was my friend, and his pain was as real as mine. “I don’t know what to say to you. Do I thank you for risking your neck for me again? Should I apologize for what happened?” I poured all my emotions out on the table, unable to stop the words from flowing.

  While my mouth flapped, Ryker walked up to me and enfolded me in his arms. The simple action spoke volumes, and the rush of emotions that suddenly came over me robbed me of speech. “You don’t have to say anything,” he whispered.

  My body relaxed, and the tears I thought had dried up threatened to spill again. I somehow managed to keep them at bay, but my eyes were glistening when he pulled back to peer down into my face.

  Dash stood in the doorway, giving us a moment.

  “I am sorry,” I said. I needed him to know that I never intended for Star to get hurt.

  “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I’ve been sitting here racking my brain, trying to figure out how I failed. How did I not know about the underground lab? I’ve spent months spying on the Institute, and
yet I never once got word of anything about a hidden lab. How did I not know she was missing? Or in trouble?”

  He was beating himself up as hard as I was, and it wouldn’t do either of us any good. Star wouldn’t want this. I brushed away the tears on my cheeks. “We have to stop blaming ourselves. I’m tired of people getting hurt, which means it’s time we fought back.”

  “Charlotte has a plan,” Dash offered, walking out from the shadows and into the room.

  “It’s more of an idea.” I quickly downplayed Dash’s words.

  “Plans have never really been our thing anyway. So, we’re really doing this? Going after the Institute?” Ryker asked, an edge of disbelief in his tone.

  The three of us stood in a circle at a corner in the room, and it felt as if this pivotal moment was fated. I gave them each a long look. “I think it’s overdue, don’t you?”

  “Damn right it is,” Dash barked, pounding his fist on the wall.

  Ryker crossed his arms. “Let’s hear this grand idea of yours.”

  I took a deep, steadying breath. “I saw something in one of my dreams, and I think it might be worth testing out, but I’ll need both of your help.”

  After relaying my half-baked plan, I was surprised that they waited until I was finished to voice their opinions. A brief pause followed. Maybe they weren’t going to go ballistic after all. And then their outrage started. Their reactions were identical and predictable.

  “No! Absolutely not.”

  “Are you freaking insane?”

  Dash made a face. “I love you, but this plan of yours sucks.”

  “It’s the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Ryker agreed. “Ever,” he added, as if one “ever” hadn’t come across strongly enough.

  Dash grabbed my hands, as if explaining a complex world to a small child. “Your plan has a one hundred percent chance of failure.”

  That wasn’t quite fair. “Dash, I have to try,” I insisted. “If not to protect the world from the chaos my father will unleash, then for Star, Krysta, and all the others the Institute has murdered.”

  “I’m not questioning your motives. No one more than me believes the Institute needs to be disbanded, but I don’t think this is the way to go about it.”

  I sat down in a huff on the couch. “Do you have a better idea? If this works, it would be a game changer.”

  “And if it doesn’t, you die,” Dash snapped back at me. “You’re gambling on a possibility you don’t even know is going to pay off.”

  “What other choice do we have?” I nearly shouted.

  Dash’s nostrils flared. “We cannot risk the only bargaining chip we have. I won’t play games with your life, Charlotte.”

  “That makes two of us,” Ryker interjected, offering his opinion.

  Indecision flooded me, and I gnawed on my lower lip. “With both of you there, we could control the situation.”

  Ryker paced the room, cracking his knuckles. “You’re a fool if you think you can control the Forsaken.”

  “Maybe, but I can no longer believe anything my father has said about them. We don’t know that they are as dangerous as he led us to believe. And if we don’t do something, more people will die.” That much I knew was true.

  Dash pivoted so he stood directly in front of me. “Their deaths are not your fault, Freckles.”

  Perhaps, but his reasoning didn’t stop the guilt.

  Krysta was dead. Because of me. Because of my gift.

  My chest heaved while I attempted to regain a semblance of composure. “My father is the one responsible. I wanted to trust him, but I should have known better. I have to do this, Dash.”

  His warmth reached me as he sat down next to me, placing his arm over my shoulders. “Just because you had a vision doesn’t mean the future is set in stone. It doesn’t mean it will happen that way.”

  “Just say you’ll help me.” I knew I was wearing him down.

  He said nothing, and as time ticked by, I grew almost certain I would have to do this behind his back, but then he shocked me. “Fine. But we do it my way or not at all.”

  Ryker stopped pacing to face us. “You guys are going to get yourselves killed.”

  “Are you in, or not?” Dash challenged him.

  A slow, wry grin crossed Ryker’s face. “Who else is going to make sure you both live to see the Institute crumble to the ground?”

  For the first time in days, I felt a glimmer of hope. Justice might be possible after all. And I would have to live with what I must do. Whatever the outcome.

  “Remind me what genius suggested we put this suicide mission off until midnight?” Ryker’s voice drifted through the stalks of weeds and cottonwood trees.

  “Keep it down, unless you want the Night’s Guards up our ass,” Dash hissed, swiping his blade cleanly through the air and chopping a branch out of our path.

  “Not particularly,” Ryker replied, giving me a mischievous look.

  It had taken us six days of lying low and monitoring the Diamond Towers’ perimeter, to get the window we needed to infiltrate the Institute from Ryker’s house in the white city.

  Despite wearing long sleeves and pants, the seeds from the trees still managed to get inside my clothes. The itchiness was unbearable, but going through the Fields of Agony was our only way back into the Institute’s territory. The access point we sought was one of the least guarded, because no one was dumb enough to go voluntarily into the fields.

  Except for us: three Gifted with a gargantuan bone to pick with the Institute.

  The seeds from the cottonwood trees in the Fields of Agony had tiny fibers within puffy white balls that irritated the skin. In very small doses, it only caused uncomfortable rashes, but the more exposure to it, the deadlier the symptoms.

  “Have I ever mentioned how much I hate nature?” I whispered.

  “This was your idea, remember?” Ryker responded snarkily.

  The reminder wasn’t necessary. “The idea was mine, not the execution. That was all you and grumpy pants.”

  The dungeons seemed like the last place we should be going, considering recent events. If caught, we’d be doomed. I understood the risks we were all taking on a theory that may or may not prove beneficial, but this was all we had at the moment.

  And it had better be worth it.

  “You’re sure this side of the tower will be unmanned?” I asked for the umpteenth time.

  “Yes, for ninety seconds,” Ryker assured me yet again. I couldn’t help but be a nervous wreck.

  “Ninety seconds. Could be—”

  Dash slammed me up against a tree trunk, covering me with his body. “Don’t move,” he said in my ear. Ryker hid behind a tree across from us.

  Someone was coming.

  Just then, I heard the sound of voices traveling by the edge of the field that had alerted Dash to the sudden danger. Two guards’ footsteps drew closer, and I stopped breathing.

  Please don’t be stupid. Walk away.

  I didn’t want more lives to be lost, even those of the enemy, but I also knew that was wishful thinking. War wasn’t without loss. And whether the Institute was aware yet or not, war was on the horizon, and it wouldn’t be long until it marched right onto their doorstep.

  Most of the guards serving in the ranks of the Night’s Guard were there not by choice. Fear kept them at Diamond Towers.

  Dash gave Ryker a nod, who returned one in a silent exchange, and as the two guards approached, they never knew what hit them. Thud. The bodies fell to the ground.

  Stepping out from under the cover of the trees, the three of us carried on, leaving the fallen guards behind. None of us had given much consideration to the guards who would cross our paths on this mission.

  I was pretty sure those two were still breathing. Let’s hope we could keep it that way. Killing more people wasn’t on my agenda for tonight’s task.

  After breaching the fence, we made it inside the dungeons relatively easily. Maybe too easily. The same thought ran through all
of our minds: we could be walking straight into a trap. Since our last break in, they had beefed up security in the dungeons, adding more guards. It was to be expected, but I had one thing the Institute didn’t.

  Dash Darhk.

  “Time to get this show on the road,” he stated, stalking down the corridor, and rendering guard after guard unconscious. He could have done way worse, but his show of restraint proved he wasn’t the weapon the Institute wanted him to be.

  When we turned the next corner, a halo of green shimmered over the cold floor. We had reached the corridor where my father kept the Forsaken. Ryker and Dash watched either end of the passageway while I approached the cage slowly, my eyes never leaving the zombie’s. Caught up in his black gaze, it was as if I stared straight into the darkness of his soul. What I saw there had me second-guessing my decision to come here. My heart hammered against my ribs, and sweat dripped down my sternum. Every so often, the Forsaken’s attention flicked to the two formidable forces flanking me. Dash and Ryker would make anyone nervous, living or dead.

  “Do you remember me?” I asked it softly, careful not to make any sudden movements that might startle it. Or was it a him? Either way, I was no longer sure how to proceed.

  The zombie came forward, his head tilting from side to side.

  When it didn’t immediately body-slam the glass, I took that to mean yes. “I’m here to help you.” Or so I hope, my brain said sarcastically.

  “Releasssse,” it hissed.

  Well, that I could understand, and whether or not he and I were on the same page, he had a point. I couldn’t very well test my theory with him behind glass and bars. “Let him out,” I instructed to my two sidekicks.

  Neither of them moved, instead they gawked at me as if I’d demanded they kick a litter of puppies. Dash shook his head. “This is where I draw the line. We got you here as planned to get information, but we’re not letting that thing out.” He glared sharply at the Forsaken. “And holy shit, it speaks.”

  “Then all this would have been for nothing,” I argued, pleading my case. “How do you expect me to do my thing if I can’t touch it?”