WHEN HEROES FALL

by Abby J. Reed

  Brody pushed past me toward the interface. “Talk later!”

  I shoved him away and took the controls, lifting us up and through the gate. The sweet taste of victory filled my mouth. We’re gonna make it!

  Then the 3-dar erupted with beeping. Ships, hundreds of ships, blinked out of the clouds into existence. They filled the gaps between the newly launched fleet ships and the gate. They studded the clouds outside the gate like raindrops.

  We were completely and utterly surrounded.

  I gaped down at the interface. That wasn’t possible. I had scanned the area. There were no other ships out here . . . “I don’t understand. I didn’t smell being pulsed. I put in all the hacking codes. I . . .” My voice trailed off as I saw Brody itching the back of his neck.

  Brody, who magically had a layout of the palace and knew exactly where my Leech was located.

  The soldiers who didn’t shoot.

  The Leech . . . I didn’t smell a pulse because it had been pulsed horas before we even found it. The smell had plenty of time to vanish. That’s why no other ship save Raelyn’s showed up on the 3-dar. They’d been wiped clean.

  It was a trap. But not a trap for us.

  Scorpia’s guns quieted as she took in the hundreds of ships surrounding us. They tightened their positions into a sphere, like a three-dimensional noose.

  We were the bait in a trap for Scorpia.

  Chapter 30

  LUKA

  Mateo should’ve been back by now.

  I found a massive tree split in two near the southern edge of the compound. The leaning trunk was a perfect ladder to reach the split point, which acted as a spiky perch. From here, I could keep an eye on the silvery blanket sheen near the fortress, suggesting most of the mist was concentrated there. Slivers of moonlight hit it, giving an edge to the formless mass. It was easier on my eyes than the lights in the underground. If anything, the mist meant our decoys worked enough to let Breaker and Malani make it near the fortress. And it meant we were prolly not going to get attacked tonight. If Cal was right in Extrats preferring night to attack with camouflage, we had until tomorrow evening.

  I had to buy us more time for Breaker and Malani to get help. If Scorpia was even coming.

  A whole lotta ifs to bet on.

  It was a shot with a broken sight.

  Still, snippets of a plan formed in my brain.

  I shouldn’t have been out here. But Mateo most likely would return from the south. If he needed backup, I’d be here. Felt like a khaim-ass rook all over again, sitting around and waiting for action. At least it gave space for the migraine. It gnawed now, as though my mini’s blade scraped against the back of my skull again and again and again. I glanced north, past the pinkish knuckle bones of the ruined compound toward the second area of mist oozing through the mountain trails like sap from a wounded tree. At this rate, it’d reach the compound again by dawn. If Mateo still wasn’t back by then, he’d have difficulty cutting through the lot of it to reach the underground.

  I spat. Slapped at the wet spot against the bark. Then took out my comm. “Breaker, Malani, you there? Over.” My distorted voice made me wince.

  Nothing. Either my signal still couldn’t leave the valley or they were dead.

  If they were dead, well, so was our last chance. I stretched out my arms, my legs, my calves. Strange. My muscles were tighter than usual.

  Then Malvyn’s sneering face formed in my mind.

  The rage was a cold snap. Not there, then too strong to control. I climbed down from my perch, throwing myself in time at some unfortunate bark as the rage burst free. The pain in my head burst like a bomb. I flung out my fists, pounding the trunk. He did this to us. He trapped us here to die. My knuckles split, bled, but every punch was an attack on the man I hated most.

  Then I slagged, leaned my forehead against the tree. Our entire situation pissed me off and the knife-like stabs emanating from the back of my skull only stirred the freezing fury deep in my veins.

  “I won’t let you hold her if you’re acting like that.”

  I walloped the tree one last time before turning to Yana. The cold inside me thawed. “You’re supposed to be underground.”

  She tsked and handed LuLu over to me. I held my niece in one hand as Yana plucked scraps of bark from the other. LuLu blinked. Her eyes were compound dark.

  “I have a right to wait for my husband.”

  “You should go back inside. It’s risky enough with me out here.”

  “Risky enough to punch trees?” She tore a length of fabric from the end of her tunic and wrapped it around my hands with a too-tight knot. The bandage was too stained to see the blood seep through. She patted a knife at her hip. “I’m armed. Don’t worry. I checked for Extrats.”

  “How did you find me?”

  “I saw you leave for one of the hatches. And I know you well enough to look for high ground.”

  I toed at the clod of grass at my feet. The grass grew more vibrant here, an angry shade of red. The tree above it, before it had been halved, had grown a little taller and more full than its neighbors. Was I so desking predictable?

  I stuck my pinky into LuLu’s fist. I grinned at her stubborn grip.

  Yana studied my toe scruffs and the damaged tree. “Don’t tell me you need a motivational speech.”

  “No.” I wiggled my pinky. Would LuLu grow up with a bad attitude like Brody’s? Would she grow up and be able to visit a hundred Bazaars? Would she be able to grow up at all? “I have something to fight for.”

  “That’s good. ‘Cause I don’t give speeches.”

  I snorted. Good thing Cal came to me for encouragement, not her. I stood next to Yana, one eye on the wind whisking through the angry grasses, another eye on the southern border, another eye on the tree I punished. “He’s not coming.”

  “He will.”

  Neither of us moved.

  Throb throb throb.

  Her gaze lingered at the base of the tree I had perched on, at the ripped-up ground that once overgrew with flourishing plants. “You sorry you did it?” she said.

  “Never.” I rubbed my thumb over the back of LuLu’s hand. “Thanks for helping me bury him.”

  “First kill. First burial. You needed the help.” Suddenly, she nudged me. “There.”

  My muscles clenched tighter. I squinted at where she pointed. A figure was definitely on the horizon, moving toward us. There wasn’t enough light to see if it wore skin or metal. I held out LuLu and unsheathed a mini. “Take the baby.”

  “It’s him.” She broke into a run, leaving LuLu in my arms. “It’s him!”

  “Yana, wait—”

  The figure split into four, each leaning on the other. I’d never seen Extrats do that. I sheathed my mini. Then, Yana was in Mateo’s arms, showering him with kisses. He was grubby and all his clothes were the same color as a mead stain. A couple shallow cuts and bruises. Otherwise in good shape.

  My legs and arms suddenly relaxed. I examined the back of my bicep. Glanced down at my quads. I hadn’t taken any stimulants or relaxants in cycles. Why was my body reacting like this?

  Mateo jogged over, gesturing to the three newcomers. “Nobody from the western village survived. But I found them in the woods to the south.” He planted a kiss on Lulu’s bow.

  Three. Only three survivors, too weary to even introduce themselves.

  I handed over LuLu to Yana while Mateo removed a sack stuffed with plants. “I found some of the herbs Cal wanted,” he said. “The western village had a garden with some of them.” His fingers came free, filled with roots and flowers. I recognized a couple of them. I’d mixed the dried versions while on the ship. They helped.

  Well. At least the trip wasn’t a complete waste then.

  “Can I have some of th
ose?”

  Mateo looked at me, expectant. What was he wanting, a hug? A clap on the back? That was Breaker’s move, not mine. When I didn’t move or ask again, he held out the bag.

  As I rummaged through the pickings, the final piece of my plan clicked into place.

  I pinched the smallest amount possible and gestured for them to follow me. “Let’s get everyone in order.”

  Together, we walked away from my father’s hidden grave.

  Chapter 31

  TAHNYA

  “She’s got the ship!” Jupe flung his hands over the interface, battling an unseen force. “She’s always had the ship!”

  Clamps shot across the sky toward the Leech. Most missed, but a few buried into the Leech’s side. The ship rocked and I grappled with the ladder for a better hold.

  Oh, you stupid girl. I’d seen my father initiate too many traps of his own that I should’ve recognized the moving parts.

  The ship tugged backward. I pressed against the ladder to keep from falling. Outside, Scorpia’s ship fired as she, too, realized what was happening. Why didn’t she cross through the antiship net and flank? She couldn’t, not without leaving us behind and defenseless.

  I grasped at my neck for the dirt that was no longer there. Images filled my mind from all the stories Malani had told me about. Now that not just the Queen, but everybody, had seen me open the gate, they’d open me up, just like they did her.

  A deep, crackling fear split across my stomach.

  Brody—he was screaming, fear stamped on his face. They’d kill him. They’d kill him and Jupe just for a chance to get at me.

  I can still save them.

  I heaved back up the ladder. Ice wind slapped my face, colder than anything I’d experienced on Scarlatti. My breath hung in my mouth. The ships. There were so many. Too many.

  Save them. Save them.

  And if I fail?

  You can only try, girl.

  I forced the song from my throat. My veins filled with that joy, that elation, and I flung the melody at the nearest ship. The song slammed into its side like a spear, piercing through the hull. The ship spun, limp, and fell toward the water.

  Shots fired.

  DON’T SHOOT rang over the comm—the Queen’s voice.

  I flung the next melody, hooking the next ship and flinging it into another. They crashed, filling the air with smoke and metal. Fire blazed, blinding me. When my gaze cleared, I grabbed for the next ship, pulling the Leech upward as I pushed it down. The Leech shook as the grappling hooks embedded in our walls.

  Scorpia saw my plan. Her guns fired as I aimed, clearing a path for us to the gate. Her ship dodged lightly as grappling hooks hurled at her hull.

  Ship after ship after ship I threw into the ocean, yanking us centi by centi toward freedom. More ships rose from Atina and filled the skies.

  So many and just me.

  I was barely Elik. I didn’t know how to use this power. It was terrifying and otherworldly and I didn’t know what I was doing and I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t enough to save them. My voice went hoarse and cracked. In that sec, the cables tightened, yanking us away from the gate. A bolt of lightning shot out to my left. No, not lightning.

  A grappling hook pierced Scorpia’s ship.

  I reached out anyway and—

  An explosion rocked the ManKiller. Heat seared my face and I ducked inside the Leech. Scorpia veered sideways, plummeting past us toward the water.

  “No!” I yelled. I flung out one last melody strand but it wasn’t enough. It’d never be enough.

  The ManKiller barely missed the edge of the palace island as it buried itself in the water and the lowest ice shelf.

  My veins quivered and the melody melted away.

  The Queen just killed Scorpia and I was barely even Elik and the Leech plunged backward to the palace. It spun. The net overhead—freedom—wrenched out of reach. I screamed, wrapped a melody around Brody and Jupe, pinned them to the ship. We smashed into the landing pad.

  My arms contorted free of the ladder. My back crunched against the cabinets. My vision darkened. My song-grip on Jupe and Brody shattered.

  I knew nothing.

  And then—

  A ringing in my ears. Brody’s voice. Jupe’s.

  A bright light. Another flame. No. Someone cutting open the ship.

  The sides peeled open like the skin of a fruit, exposing us and what remained inside. I willed my body to get up and run, but my legs wouldn’t move. Lightning pain seared my back but turned to blissful numbness from my waist to my toes.

  Figures rushed in, hands on my torso. I screamed, but no sound come out. Someone cradled me, carried me out of the ship into the cold. Why couldn’t I feel my body? Why wouldn’t it obey me?

  We were dumped outside on the ground at the Queen’s feet. I sprawled on my front. Brody next to me, bloody. Jupe in shock, also bloody. Both seemed otherwise unharmed.

  Fear and pain, so much pain, coursed through my system. I tried to move, tried to curl into myself, tried to hum, tried to reach for anything, but there was so much pain and my body still wouldn’t respond.

  The Queen leaned over us with a self-satisfied smirk. It was more terrifying than any of my father’s smiles. “Thank you for giving me everything I wanted. Not only did you help me lure my daughter here, but thanks to you I know exactly where this little Scarlatti is.” She turned toward her guards. “Take her, kill the boys.”

  “No!” The word took all my remaining energy. I couldn’t sit up or roll over, but I managed to tip my head, just a little, so my voice bounced off the landing pad. “If you kill them, I will tear down this entire place. With me in it.”

  The Queen pursed her lips. “Even without a broken back, you could not save yourself.” Was that what this pain was? A broken back? “And you think you could tear down the palace?”

  “Not. The palace.” I breathed through the pain. Focus, girl, focus. “Atina.” An entire city built from ice had to have supportive structures in place. Some of those structures had to be metal.

  The Queen, in an almost Scorpia-like way, narrowed her eyes at me. I could tell she doubted me, doubted my ability. Fine. I doubted too. I was a lousy Elik. But my trick with the ships in the sky forced her to hesitate. She couldn’t risk that I could still work against her. “Very well. Put her on my ship. Take the boy. Kill Jupiter.”

  I dragged my gaze to Jupe. He was pale, mouthing no no no over and over.

  His name in my heart was a whisper handed over to the storm winds.

  Hands on my torso again. This time the pain was so bright, too bright, overwhelmingly bright. My vision tumbled and morphed Brody’s wrestling body with the gouges on the landing pad and the wrecked ship. I tried to turn my head to Jupe. Tried to see—

  Was that a shot? Stars, oh stars, was that a shot?

  The last thing I saw was light shining in the shape of reddrops.

  Chapter 32

  MALANI

  Breaker’s rough snoring woke me. My dreams weren’t filled with nightmares, but the joy of flight and the subtle way Breaker’s body glowed in the dark. I traced the outline of his muscles, his side exposed to air, remembered his arms holding me in a cocoon of safety. He was soul-meltingly lovely, like the peaceful gray after a light spring shower before the suns broke. So kind and gentle and thoughtful. My heart swelled so much I could barely breathe in case it floated away. How could my ribcage contain something so large? I placed a kiss on his neck.

  I slipped into the bathroom and tried the faucet. No water. I cleaned up best I could and prodded my wing. The wound looked so much better. In a couple horas, I’d feel comfortable flying with extra weight again. I swiped a hand through my dreads, re-knotted the hair tie, then paused in front of my reflection.

>   The young woman in the mirror looked the same as the young woman from monsas ago, except some of the hollowness was gone and my eyes were brighter. I no longer looked a ragged thing. Was I truly a different person now?

  I didn’t know. Ever since I left the fortress, I’d spent all my energy stitching and re-stitching myself together, holding all the pieces of my soul to keep from fraying apart. Who was I if I didn’t have to keep stitching? Who was I if I didn’t have to keep holding myself together?

  I glanced toward the closed apartment door.

  We didn’t have much time to spare. But I needed to know.

  I slipped the map out of Breaker’s pocket, double checking the route. My tongue clucked. Thought so. We’d have to pass by it anyway. Breaker rolled, taking the top blanket with him since I no longer provided body heat. My heart tugged. I should wake him from the nap, bring him with me, but this part I needed to do by myself.

  He’d understand.

  I laid the map out so he’d know where I’d gone.

  I walked back the way we’d come. A glance into the core showed no Extrats lurking. Hopefully they hadn’t found another way in yet. The staircase below was mostly intact for several levels. Should be easy enough for Breaker while on the bike. My wings spread and I dove lower and lower into the Heron fortress.

  My nose filled with the rank, stale air as I landed on the same level where I bullied Breaker into helping me escape. Ash filled my mouth. Any sec now, the guards would step out of the shadows. Any sec now, they’d tackle me and pinion my wings and—

  Pain and pain and pain and—

  No. No. No. They were all dead.

  Useless, baggage, nothing. Used and used and used.