“Yes, it’s me. I… don’t really know what to say.”
The old woman hobbles toward me. Fig tries to stop her, but she swats the girl away like a fly.
“There is nothing to be said, girl. Here we all begin as comrades. Let the past be,” she says.
Our gazes link, and there is immediate understanding between us. That the terrors behind us no longer matter.
“How did you survive?”
Fig’s eyes still burn at me. “We saw the gas coming, so we suited up. There were still many survivors, but also many dead,” she claims. Brin, surprisingly, nudges her hard in the back.
“That’s enough, Fig,” the brusque man says. The girl stomps and walks away. Brin looks at me. “She knows the incident was as much our fault as anyone’s, but she still cannot accept it. She will come around.”
I nod. It’s still a shock just to see them alive.
“We must go after her. Stay strong, Hunter,” the old woman says. And suddenly I’m alone again, but not quite alone. The faces around me still beam in my direction. They exude warmth and understanding. Loyalty and courage.
I lug myself to my tent. My muscles burn from being on my feet all day. I’ll also need to find whatever we’re using to bathe ourselves here. I think I noticed a steam room. At any rate, I stink.
But when I reach my tent, I’m surprised to see a light already flickering inside. I quicken my pace and flip open the burlap flap-door.
Grier sits inside, perched on my bed. She’s practicing loading and unloading her gun at lightning speed.
“Hi,” I say. I didn’t even talk to her about leaving.
“So you decided to fight,” she says, not looking at me.
“I felt I could offer the most here,” I reply, matching her stoicism. She sighs, dropping the gun on the bed.
“You know, when you were gone I had to pick up the pieces. I thought being you must have been so easy. Even after that Hunt I still held this grudge inside me, I just faked it because it was easier than being angry all the time. Then it was up to me to take the lead, and I was scared shitless. I didn’t realize my anger toward you had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with me. My… inadequacies,” she says. I try to butt in, but she silences me with her hand.
“I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned how to deal with death and hard choices, and I learned that being you isn’t easy. Having so many people relying on me is exhausting. But when we rescued you, for some reason I thought things would go back to the way they were, and I didn’t want that. I wanted the burden. I wanted the responsibility. Is that crazy?”
I move to sit beside her on the bed. “Not at all. It has become a part of you, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re a good leader, Grier. You’re sharp and focused and determined. You belong where you are for a reason,” I offer. She sniffles a bit through a wry laugh.
“So you didn’t leave because you thought I wasn’t good enough to work for?”
I want to slap her for being so silly, but instead I pat her on the arm. “No. I left because I don’t belong there. There’s nothing more I can do. But here I can save lives, maybe save the world. My heart is here know. This is where I want to be,” I say, reassuring her.
She nods, her demeanor remaining as tough as always. She’s not faking it anymore.
“I’m glad you’re back, Piper. We’ve needed you.”
“Asher’s not coming back, you know,” I whisper, trying to hold the pieces of myself together.
“I know.” Nothing else needs to be said.
“I’d better get cleaned up and rested for tomorrow. We’re holding the line well, but there will be more to battle tomorrow.”
Grier grabs her gun and jumps from the bed. She looks at me, possibly seeing me as just another Hunter in her eyes for the first time. Not Ace Piper Madden. Just Piper.
“I’ll let Captain Fife know he’s just landed himself his new second-in-command,” she states, holding her hand out for mine.
I shake it firmly, the grime from my hands rubbing off on hers. “It’s a pleasure to fight with you,” I say with a nod. A smile breaches her lips before she leaves my tent, leaving me with battle plans and explosions and flames burning in my mind.
I lie back on the bed, wishing I could see the sky, and not at the same time.
Somewhere in those stars I know I’ll find Asher, and even though I should give up on him, I can’t.
I’ll keep fighting for him, for us.
Until I stop breathing.
Glittering around me, the Elder Corp ballroom is aglow with hundreds of tiny lights strung around tall pillars. I’m surrounded by hundreds of people; each dressed more lavishly in handsome tuxedos and twirling gowns, their eyes shielded by slender masks.
Music begins to play, swelling the room with gentle crescendos as the people start dancing. I feel a hand on my shoulder and know it’s Tor beneath the plain black mask, gesturing toward the floor. He guides me, his strong hand at my waist until we’re standing in the middle of the floor. Taking my hand in his, he leads me into a slow waltz, swaying with the music.
His scent mingles with my senses, the reliable smell of laundry soap and peppermint reminding me of how it feels to be home, and I squeeze my eyes shut, letting the haze of familiarity wash over me. I miss him right now, wishing he could always be there to save me. The song slows to an end, leaving the dancers momentarily static.
I feel a figure nearing my back, and feel Tor’s muscles clench. A man, tall and lean with shiny black hair and an extravagant purple mask stands beside us, tapping Tor on the shoulder.
“May I cut in?” he asks. Tor looks at me with confusion in his eyes, but I nod that it’s okay. He steps away from me and I’m whisked away by the masked man, his every move as graceful and lethal as a tiger’s.
“What are you doing here?” I ask quietly. There is an edge creeping through my body as a slower song is played.
“Seeing what all of the fuss is about at this soiree. It’s almost perfect, isn’t it? The bright lights and fancy music, the pretty dresses. The masks are a great touch, aren’t they? This way no one can see who I am,” he replies. He holds me closer, his fingers applying gentle pressure onto my back. I can see Tor in the crowded table area, his eyes never leaving us as we twirl about the room.
“We can’t do this,” I protest, trying to push him away from me, the closeness of his body almost intoxicating, “you need to leave.”
“When will I see you again?” he whispers into my ear. His breath is warm and sweet, leaving a soft tickle on my neck. “Tonight, after this is over,” I reply.
“Tonight, then. Remember, Piper Madden, you belong to me, no matter who you’re dancing with,” he says, pulling away from me. Before he leaves I lean into him, my lips just grazing his earlobe.
“And you belong to me.”
When the music ends, I find Tor sitting alone at the bar, nursing a drink sloppily in his hand. Guilt stabs me, slicing gashes in my gut. I can’t do this anymore.
“Hey,” I say, sitting beside him. He looks at me, and it takes him a moment to realize who it is. “You’re drunk,” I state.
“So you noticed,” he mutters. “Who is he?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, heart pounding.
“I mean the guy you were dancing with, whispering with. Is that where you’ve been when you disappear? With him?” he slurs. He slams his drink on the counter, and the bartender eyes him warily.
“Tor, I just escaped the Harpy City,” I exclaim, keeping my voice as low and level as possible. He just rolls his eyes.
“Before that, I mean. Don’t try to tell me you’ve been working all this time. I’m in the task force now, I’ve seen the logs.”
“I was scouting.”
“Right. And that’s why you haven’t been over, or called me, or even made any effort to talk to me. I asked you to move in with me and you just laughed it off like it meant nothing to you!”
“Tor, let’s not do thi
s here,” I warn, but he shakes his head almost violently.
“No. We’ll do this here. I know there’s someone else, Piper. You don’t need to hide it anymore. Just tell me who he is. Tell me what I’ve done wrong,” he pleads.
I squint my eyes closed, but hot tears still spill out from them. The betrayed look on Tor’s face makes this all too real. I’m not living a fantasy anymore.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. You’ve always been an amazing boyfriend—”
“Have? So you already refer to me as past-tense. Well, wake up, Piper! It would have been nice to know you didn’t want to be with me anymore. Or did you just forget about me? You were off in your own little world like always, not caring about who you step on!”
Everyone turns their eyes to us.
“Please, Tor. Please stop. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you,” I sob. “I just want things to be okay.”
He takes another swish of his drink. “Well things aren’t okay, and they won’t be okay. I thought you were the one for me. I never even glanced at anyone else, and here you are, having a little affair like you’re in a goddamned fairy tale. You think the rest of us don’t talk? You think David hasn’t notice how much you’ve changed lately?”
My face pales at the mention of my brother. Could he have told someone that I’ve been talking to Harpies? This could be my life at stake.
“I just want to laugh right now. I mention David and suddenly everything changes. You’d do anything for your precious David. I don’t care if he’s your brother. You need to learn how to be your own person. You know what? I don’t even want to look at you right now. Leave. Go find your pretty boy or your brother to protect you. I’m done.”
I stare at him for a moment, but I know there’s nothing I can do or say to make this better. I feel exposed, like I’m going to throw up. There’s only one person I can talk to right now, and I have a hunch where he is.
“Goodbye,” I whisper to Tor.
He doesn’t watch me leave.
Just as I’d thought, I find David in the clearing in the mountains. He stands up when he notices me. His eyes are bloodshot, his pupils dilated. He’s been shooting that Corp drug too much.
“We need to talk,” he says. He’s not angry, but deep concern lines his eyes.
“Tor broke up with me,” I say. David looks surprised for an instant, but then the thought seems to leave him.
“I need to talk to you about something else, something bigger than all of this.” Cold wind rushes by, sending my hair flying behind me.
“What happened?” David is still wearing his tux from the ball, but the collar is undone, his hair dishevelled.
“It’s just… something isn’t right. Not with Rupert, or you. Even Rassler’s been hiding something. My world is falling to pieces.”
“David, I—”
“No. Please don’t. I don’t want to hear your excuses. Pie, I saw you with him. I was out looking for you when he dropped you off. I saw you kissing a Harpy!” His tone escalates as he speaks, and I back away from him.
“I’m sorry,” I choke. He wrenches his hands through his hair.
“Why?”
“I love him!” I scream back.
“You can’t love him!” he shouts. “He’s a monster. A Harpy!” He paces back and forth, his blood boiling over. I feel like tearing my own hair out.
“David, would you listen to yourself? What has the Corp done to you? They’re not monsters. Not all of them.”
“Lies!” he screams. “The Harpy Prince, Pie? You had to pick the Inherent?”
“It’s not like that!” I shout in return, “Do you honestly think we choose who we love? I didn’t choose this, nor do I regret it. We can live in harmony. I know we can.”
He lets out a sardonic chuckle, then turns and glares. “There can be no harmony. I can’t believe how selfish you are. He’s my enemy. Our enemy!” He grabs me by the wrists and no matter how hard I struggle, I can’t break free. We wrestle and spit at each other until I gain enough leverage to kick him squarely in the chest. On impact, he sputters as blood drips from his lips.
“Oh, shit! David, I’m sorry,” I babble as he drops to the ground. His skin begins to corrode, his face cracking up like a broken mirror.
“Don’t trust them, Pie,” he whispers. The last expression on his face is one of near-relief as his body crumbles away.
Ashes on the wind.
15
The Wasteland glows before me as the sun sets, the clouds turning into bright fuchsia and orange streaks across the sky. I reflect on everything that has brought me to this point. That final moment with David, how I dyed my hair, took off, hid in corners in the Underground, running from everyone I knew. Running from Mom. But not before Rupert found out. The chips he’d planted in us had recording devices. He heard everything, brought both me and Asher in, with Ciar’s permission, and erased our minds.
But it didn’t work. It didn’t keep us apart. But maybe in the end it didn’t matter. Because we’d be apart anyway. He must have known that. It was probably all a part of his master plan.
Another faint glow appears before me, but this one sharpens, turning from white to green, and finally into the body of a young woman with white skin and hair. At first I think I must be hallucinating after too many long hours in the battlefield, but then Io speaks to me.
“He will return,” she says. The wind whips her hair around her, like a light silver flag.
“How do you know?”
“Because I know. He will return, and you will need to make the hardest decision you have ever faced. This war is your test. The battle is your practice ground. All that has come before is preparing you for what is to come.”
“Can you be a little less cryptic?” I ask. Io smiles, and it warms me through to parts I’d thought would be cold and lifeless forever.
“Piper Madden, the fight is just beginning. The real war starts now. Asher is a big part of it, and so are you. You need to be ready,” she says.
“Why are you helping me? Why do you stay locked in those cells when you can teleport wherever you want?”
She comes closer to me, grabbing my hands in hers. Her eyes peer into mine, like she’s searching for the next clue to the future within me. “I can only leave for a short amount of time. My body is tethered there, but my soul is not. I help you because you will end the war. I help you because you are my sister.”
I don’t know how she can be my sister. My mother never had another child, and even if she did, she would never bear a daughter like this. Io was created, doesn’t she know that?
“You don’t have to rely on my words. Here, this is my gift to you. In it you will find the fire that you’ve lost. We are all counting on you, sister,” she says. She pulls some folded paper from within her smock and hands it to me. I take it, rubbing the old paper with my fingers.
“What is it?” I ask. She smiles again, a knowing smile that could mean anything.
“Open it and you will find out. We will meet again.”
She glows with light and then disappears as quickly as she arrived. Alone again, I flip open the papers, scanning through them quickly.
And with that, I know. Everything makes sense now. The war, Harpies, me. This changes everything.
I look out at the sky, my hands shaking, my heart jumping, my adrenaline bursting. I just want to scream.
I will kill Rupert Elder with my own bare hands. I will strangle every last breath out of him, and I will enjoy every second of it. I’m going to kill him and change the world.
I’m going to kill my father.
Lindsay Leggett is a writer, editor, horseperson, and dreamer. She collects hobbies, and enjoys coffee, amazing worlds, and time well-spent in the woods. Find her at www.burningtree.ca
Also by Lindsay Leggett
Flight (Flight, Book One)
The Nightmare Room (As L.A. More)
Wasteland (Flight) Page 14