The Zoya Chronicles Boxed Set

by Kate Sander

  "Why east?"

  Black Eyes shrugged, "Tory had a feeling in her gut for him to go east, so I passed on the message."

  "Really? She's making decisions based on gut feelings?" Carter opened his eyes and shook his head. "I'd be fired in a day."

  "It's different here," Black Eyes said. "Anyway, Tory's gut is different. Her mom's a Zoya. Dropped dead after she was born. Her dad went crazy, joined the Ampulex and was told to kill her. Even the Ampulex are scared of her."

  "Why?"

  "I dunno, I don't know much about all this. But, if I had to guess, it'd be that her mom was a Zoya. Not her dad. Zoya tend to just drop dead. Seems lucky that her mother made it the full nine months before dying."

  "Never thought about it that way before," Carter said. "Anyway, so Tory trusts her gut? No other leads or anything? And people follow her?"

  "Well, I am," Black Eyes said. "She's pretty convincing. And, like I said, her gut tends to be right. Never seen it wrong before, actually. So yeah, Ujarak goes east."

  "Okay, then what?"

  "Then I come over here. It's a bit different for me to make it to this world. I really have to focus. It's like sinking deep into an ocean. Anyway, I come here and talk to Senka."

  "What did you say to Senka?"

  "Well," Black Eyes looked at him with sad eyes, "umm, well she was hurt, right? Like really hurt."

  "Black Eyes," Carter said, noticing her tone. "What happened?"

  "I told her to die, alright? I told her to take the pills and die.”

  Carter exploded to his feet. He tried to grab her by the shirt and haul her to her feet but his hand passed right through. He had to settle for yelling. "How could you tell her to die? I buried her because of you!"

  "Don't put that on me," Black Eyes snapped. It was her turn to stand and yell. "She wanted to die. Her dog had just died. That Tomo lady had just died. Everyone was dead."

  "She didn't need any of your encouragement."

  "SHE WAS GOING TO DIE ANYWAY!" Black Eyes shouted desperately. "You didn't see her. There was an explosion. She was a mess of glass and blood and burns." Black Eyes settled down and sat, looking at the floor. "Tory told me to tell her to die angry. I thought that, if she took the pills and Tory's advice, her pain would stop."

  Carter's anger left as Black Eyes looked at him desperately. "I wanted her pain to stop," she said. "All of it."

  Something clicked in Carter's brain. "Die angry. I heard you on the video."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "The video!" Carter said. He rushed around the living room, looking for something. "I heard you telling her to die angry. Why did you tell her to die angry?"

  Black Eyes shrugged, "I don't know. Tory just told me to say it. She goes with her gut, remember?"

  "Ha," Carter gasped victoriously, holding up his work tablet. "Watch this with me." He pulled up the video of Tomo and Senka in the German compound. Their last moments on this earth, taken by Senka's body cam.

  Carter cringed as they watched Tomo as she was being tied to a chair and force-fed the pills that would kill her. Then, Freudman losing it, because Tomo had on a necklace that had disappeared and that she wasn't scared when she was dying. Then Leo, Senka's dog, attacking, giving Senka enough time to put a bullet in the henchman's head. Senka going after Freudman and the explosion.

  "Why... Why was he so mad she wasn't scared?" Black Eyes asked hesitantly.

  "I always just assumed it's because he got off on fear," Carter said.

  "Okay this might sound stupid," Black Eyes said. "But, I know Tory. She was concerned with where people were. Not really anything else. She wanted to bring them all together again. Maybe that's where anger came in?"

  Carter turned to look at her.

  Black Eyes forged ahead, "Maybe the emotions people feel when they are dying correspond to a place," she said. "It's not the craziest thing I've ever heard of..." she finished with a mumble.

  Carter closed his eyes and breathed deeply, "You're right, it's not crazy. What good is making a bunch of Zoya if you can't find them in The Other Place? They're building an army. Exactly where they want it."

  Carter sat back down heavily. "We will have to check with all the Zoya at the ZTF but I think it has merit. Why else would Freudman have been so mad that Tomo wasn't scared enough?"

  "Does it matter though?" Black Eyes asked. "Like yeah, now we know that emotion leads to where you go, what does it matter?"

  "Maybe we can send someone over there," Carter said. "Maybe we can beat them at their own game."

  24

  Tomo

  The stench was overwhelming.

  She was getting close to her target. Senka, that Zoya who her mother had told her to hunt.

  The Forsaken would do more than hunt her. She'd rip her limb from limb, slowly and carefully. Mother had told her to. So she would do it as best as possible.

  "But... You know Senka," a little voice said in the distance. "You love her. She's like your little sister."

  The Forsaken shook her head. It didn't matter if she knew her. She had to feed this hunger, this burning deep desire. She had to. It was the only way, her only future.

  She'd rip her limb from limb.

  Then she'd move on to the people following her. Two women, a child and a man. The Forsaken knew two of their scents. The other two were foreign. It didn't matter if she knew them or not.

  Mother had given her the command to kill. Once Senka was dead, she could kill anyone she'd like. She could feed this insatiable hunger in her gut however she wanted.

  "But this isn't you," the voice piped up, a little louder than before. "Senka loves you. You love her. It was you and Senka and Carter. You were a team."

  The Forsaken growled. This voice was annoying. Always wanting her to starve instead of feed. Mother said she would kill the voice. That was Mother's job.

  "Maybe Mother is lying to you," the voice said. "Maybe she can't kill me. Because to kill me would be to kill you."

  "No," Tomo said, shaking her head. "No. Must kill Senka. Must. She told me to."

  "Since when have you ever done what you've been told," the voice said. "Shit, it was always Senka getting you out of trouble. Also, good thing you married your boss or you would have been court martialed a long time ago."

  Married.

  Amanda.

  The picture of Amanda the day she'd proposed popped into her head. She'd been nervous all day. And Amanda was never nervous.

  "What is wrong with you?" Tomo had asked her after a lovely dinner.

  "Nothing," she'd said with a sidelong glance. "Just distracted, I guess."

  Tomo had brought her in and kissed her neck. "Can I offer a distraction from the distraction?"

  Amanda had laughed. Then had gotten on one knee. In the middle of a downtown Toronto night. No place special. Kneeling in a puddle.

  "Marry me."

  It was the most romantic thing that had ever happened in Tomo's life. Her girlfriend, the clean cut leader of her top secret military group, was kneeling in a puddle, begging her to marry her.

  Of course she'd said yes.

  Tomo cracked her neck and opened her eyes, looking at her surroundings. She was on the edge of a forest next to farmland. In the distance, she could see two figures walking along a path towards her.

  She knew that walk.

  Tomo smiled. Senka was here. They'd be able to take on the Ampulex together. And get this bitch out of her head.

  "Now Tomo," Malin said in her brain.

  "No," Tomo moaned.

  "We talked about this, young lady. You belong to us now. You are an Ampulex. You cannot be trusted to make responsible choices for yourself, so we have to make them for you."

  A vision, bright and clear flashed before her. Amanda was on fire. She was in a hospital gown and burning.

  "NO," Tomo reached for her. Amanda's beautiful hair was burning off. Screaming in pain. The flames engulfed her.

  "HELP ME!" she screamed.
<
br />   "I'm trying, baby," Tomo moaned. Reaching forward, wanting to help. Wanting to take her away, but never succeeding. Amanda was beyond her grasp.

  "WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME?" Amanda begged. Her skin was turning black and blistering.

  "Baby, I'm trying," Tomo gasped. She sank to her knees and covered her eyes. But Amanda burning was still there behind her eyes. Screaming in pain, her face was melting, showing bone underneath.

  "Enough," Tomo moaned. "Make it stop. Make it go away."

  "Will you do what you are told?" Malin's voice said sweetly in her ear.

  "Yes," Tomo said. "Just make it stop."

  Amanda was gone in a flash. The fog returned to the world around her, as did the smell. Senka's stench filled her nostrils and made her gag.

  Kill.

  Rip. Tear. Kill.

  She'd rip Senka limb from limb, then feast on the remains.

  It was what Mother wanted. And Mother always got what she wanted.

  25

  Senka

  "Trudging," Senka said suddenly out loud.

  "Hm?" Ujarak asked from in front of her.

  "We're trudging. That's the word I was looking for."

  They were indeed trudging. Their horses had died yesterday, just too famished for them to save, so they were walking across the country of Anzen. Keeping the forest to their left, they tried to make decent time by sticking to paths made by farmers. This area hadn't been inhabited for a while and nature was slowly reclaiming the paths and farms.

  It made for slow going.

  Trudging.

  "Do you need to stop and rest?" Ujarak asked, worried.

  "I'm not a fucking invalid," Senka snapped, puffing more than she should be during an easy walk. "I'm not even like three months pregnant. I'm not even showing."

  Ujarak smartly kept silent.

  Senka felt it. Kai's hackles raised. to her left in the trees. Danger.

  "Ujarak …"

  Behind.

  Senka turned and dove forward, the sword passing over her back by a fraction of an inch. Unsheathing her tantos mid-dive from across her back, she turned to attack.

  And stopped.

  Stopped dead.

  "T... Tomo?" she said softly.

  Her best friend, her partner, her family. She was there, standing in front of her. Her long red hair, usually kept neatly tied up in a bun, was messy and free. Gaunt, clearly underfed and exhausted, Tomo kept her eyes lowered.

  "Tomo?" Senka asked again, reaching out. "Tomo it’s me, Senka. You know me..."

  Tomo raised her head. Her eyes were milky white. Snarling, she raised her katana and attacked. Ujarak was running at them, coming to Senka's defense.

  "No!" Senka yelled, dodging the katana as Tomo swung at her head. "No! I know her."

  Tomo attacked with a fury that Senka had never seen before. Swinging and cutting, she was aiming for a kill.

  Senka could fight well. She and Tomo had always been evenly matched during their ZTF training. But Senka was more ruthless and would often go for the kill. Tomo wasn't like that, she'd aim to injure.

  Apparently times had changed.

  Senka spun, narrowly avoiding the swinging sword and kicked, nailing Tomo in the chest. It barely caused her to step back. She snarled at her again.

  "Tomo!" Senka yelled. "Kogo Tomo Hachiman, Blood Empress of Anzen! Remember who you are!"

  A guttural yell and Tomo started swinging again.

  "She doesn't know you!" Ujarak yelled. It was the most intense fight he'd ever witnessed. The women were moving so fast that he could barely see them, so he wouldn't be able to swing his hammer even if he wanted to. Too much of a risk of hitting Senka. Frustrated, he hung back, watching for an opening so he could pin the woman Senka called Tomo. "She's a Zoya. Zoya don't remember!"

  Senka dove again, slashing with a tanto at Tomo's knee. She pulled the short sword at the last moment, and only scratched Tomo, who didn't even seem to feel the knife passing over the side of her leg.

  "I remember!" Senka countered, launching herself backwards and barely getting a sword up to block a head high thrust.

  I remember, she thought. Why do I remember? Senka blocked and countered, trying to protect herself and Tomo while figuring out what was going on.

  She wasn't going to lose Tomo again. There was no way in hell.

  "My ring!" Senka yelled at Ujarak. Jules' ring. When she didn't have it, she couldn't remember. In a quick movement, she retreated and dove, pulling the chain off from around her neck.

  "Catch!" She yelled and quickly tossed the chain with the ring to Ujarak, who deftly caught it.

  "We need to get that on her so she remembers."

  Pain, through her right bicep that made Senka curse. In her distraction, Tomo had been able to unlock her katana from the two tantos and cut Senka in the arm.

  "What?" Ujarak yelled, staring at the ring that Senka had tossed to him looking utterly confused.

  Senka saw her opening. A quick spin and she kicked Tomo in the chest. Tomo stepped back and slightly dropped the tip of her sword. Senka spun and kicked again. And again. And again. The flurry and the power generated gave Tomo no time to recover. Senka jumped and kicked her with two feet into the chest, causing Tomo to fall backwards.

  Ujarak saw his opening and jumped in to help Senka, who was sitting on Tomo's right arm, trying to wrench the katana out of her grip. Ujarak jumped on the other arm as it was repeatedly punching Senka in the head.

  Pressed onto the ground, Tomo let out a snarl and tried to bite her captors.

  "Put it around her neck," Senka gasped. "Hurry."

  Confused, but too smart to argue, Ujarak took the hit and put one arm out. Tomo took the bait and bit down, hard. Ujarak strung the chain around her neck.

  Tomo's eyes flashed back to blue and she unclenched her jaw, letting a relieved Ujarak remove his forearm.

  "Tomo?" Senka asked. Tomo looked around herself, confused. Trying a different apporach. "Charlie? Dr. Charlie Penner?"

  Tomo looked at her, breathing hard, eyebrows furrowed.

  "Your name is Dr. Charlotte Penner," Senka continued calmly. Both she and Ujarak were still sitting on the woman's arms, making sure she didn't move. Ujarak's forearm was slowly dripping blood from a large bite wound, but he seemed not to notice.

  "You're married to Amanda Nguyen," Senka said. "You were my partner in the Zoya Task Force. Carter was our handler."

  Tomo locked eyes with Senka. "A-A-Amanda?"

  Senka smiled, "Yes. You are married to Amanda."

  Her eyes softened. "I'm m-married to Amanda," she said with a smile.

  Ujarak looked at Senka for approval and she nodded slightly. They both rose warily, releasing the woman's arms. Senka offered her hand. Tomo took it and Senka pulled her up to her feet.

  "Senka," Tomo said, smiling at her, relieved. "Senka. I was looking for you."

  Senka smiled back, "I was looking for you too …"

  The arrow came from behind them. Senka was so distracted she didn't hear it coming.

  Tomo looked down at the arrow vibrating in her chest.

  "Oh..."

  Falling to her knees, Senka sank down with her and caught her.

  "No, no, no." Senka said. "No, Tomo. Not again. I can't lose you again."

  "Don't.... Don't look them in their eyes." Tomo gasped. Blood was leaking from the corner of her mouth. Senka wiped it lovingly away. "He makes you scared. She steals your mind."

  Senka had no idea who she was talking about.

  "Amanda," Senka said softly in her ear. Tomo looked passed her and breathed in deeply.

  "Amand..."

  Her eyes went dark.

  Senka placed her head down, eyes blazing.

  "Sen-"

  "Stay with her,' she snapped at Ujarak. A yell echoed from the trees. "Atta be, Kai," she said softly and ran hard to where the scream was coming from. Senka was fast on the best of occasions. Right now, she was furious. Anger bred speed.

  It didn't
take her long to catch up to the offender. Back against a tree, he held his hands up, trying to keep a snarling, snapping Kai at bay.

  "Nice kitty," the man said.

  "Kai," Senka barked. Kai stepped back and sat down, still staring at the man.

  "Why?" Senka demanded, walking quickly.

  "They made me," the man stammered. "The Ampulex. They told me to follow her and to kill her if she didn't kill you."

  Senka held up a tanto.

  The man paled. "No! No! They have my family. If you don't do exactly what they say they wipe your mind. They make you their slave. I had to or I'd never get my family back."

  Fire burned in her stomach.

  "You made your choice."

  Senka spun and caught the man in the chest with her tanto, tearing upward and wrenching it out violently.

  He died quickly.

  Senka spat on his corpse.

  Kai let out a warning rumble. Senka turned to face the person she knew was behind her.

  "Drop it," the familiar face said to her, arrow drawn, pointed directly at her chest.

  Senka smiled.

  "Been a while, Tory."

  26

  Amanda

  She felt the loss.

  It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. From dead asleep, she was awake gasping for air.

  "Tomo, no," she sobbed, holding her head in her hands.

  Dreams often show the truth, and Amanda didn't doubt that this was the case.

  Tomo, calling for her, with an arrow in her chest.

  Dead in this world. Dead in The Other Place.

  The only family she'd ever had, her only love, her everything.

  Dead for good.

  Pain. That's all she could feel. Exhaustive, complete, consuming. Her heart was breaking, and it left a very real physical pain in her chest. All she needed was for this pain to end.

  Pressing the call button to summon the nurse, she lay back down in her bed. She desperately wanted to remember her wedding. How utterly perfect her wife had looked in that dress.