The Fractured Empire (The World Apart Series Book 1)

by Robin D. Mahle

  And not just me, I realized when I looked around. Whatever had happened back in the vault must have transported every living person in the vicinity here. My father and the three Red Sons were blinking in confusion. Clark and his brothers had already taken on a guarded stance. No one said anything for a moment.

  At my back, there was a small, ornate stone building, like the crypts common in the western islands. It was flanked on either side by statues that towered nearly as high as the trees, giving the appearance of guarding the structure. It brought to mind the smaller versions of those statues guarding the necklace. Everything seemed to come back to Levelia, even here.

  My father glared at Clark, who had stepped closer to me. Everyone had their swords out, but no one was attacking, so that was something. It was my father who spoke first.

  "We have you outnumbered. Now, I know you're skilled, but best-case scenario, at least one of you comes away injured. There's no need for that, Boy. Walk away and leave my daughter unharmed."

  "Don't you mean, leave the necklace unharmed? How is it that you're the most powerful man in the country, but I was the one who had to keep Addie safe from your men?" Clark's words stung, but I watched my father's reaction closely.

  Not a single emotion graced his face, aside from a narrowing of his eyes when Clark called me by the outdated nickname.

  "I am not the most powerful man in the country, and there are things going on that you don't understand."

  "All the same, she stays with us."

  "She has a voice," I cut in sharply, "and has no need of either of you to make her decisions. I will stay with Clark and his brothers," I said firmly.

  I was still furious with Clark for not divulging whatever his real motives had been in breaking into the vault. Apparently, it had been too much to ask that someone put me first. Still, I couldn’t deny that in the entire time we had been in this mess together, he had never let any harm come to me. After seeing him barge into the vault, I wasn't sure I could say the same of my father.

  For the first time since arriving in the clearing, my father focused his attention on me.

  "I'm afraid I can't let that happen." He held my gaze, perhaps trying to communicate something with his eyes, but I had heard enough.

  "I had hoped they were wrong about you. That I was wrong about you." My voice was barely audible, but it didn't crack.

  "Very well," he replied. "Bring me my daughter," he said to his men.

  My jaw nearly hit the floor when Xavier was the first one to jump to meet them. Clark spun around. He grabbed my arm with one hand and shoved open the crypt door with the one holding the sword.

  "Stay in here," he said, propelling me forcefully, if not roughly, into the room.

  I stumbled into the dank space.

  How dare he stick me in here!

  I reached for the door as he heaved it shut and attempted to wrench it back open, but the heavy stone wouldn't budge.

  Lovely. Maybe they’ll all kill each other, and I’ll just die stuck in here. I wondered if the pig-headed man had thought of that.

  I screeched in outrage, then kicked the wall. Ow! It sent a reverberating pain through my recently-healed ankle. The pain brought with it a little clarity.

  As I sat down to nurse my now-injured foot, I realized Clark had wasted precious seconds and turned his back on his enemy to get me somewhere safe. It would have been sweet if it wasn’t so maddening.

  What can I do out there anyway? I reasoned. If the last few days had proved anything to me, it was my utter uselessness in a fight. I sighed. Hopefully, he would come out of this alive so I could kick him with my remaining good foot.

  I went to inspect the damage to my big toe when it dawned on me that I could see better than I should have been able to. There were tiny ancient lanterns lining the walls, emitting a faint glow.

  Does someone come here regularly to keep up with it?

  The grass and roots growing around the feet of the statues outside had led me to believe not.

  I suppose if this is a Levelian tomb, this is evidence of their advanced technology, far beyond what we have achieved.

  Though, why anyone from Levelia would have a tomb here was beyond me. I limped over to get a closer look. Perhaps the lamplight wasn't powered by oil. It didn't look like electricity either, though. The rest of the small space appeared to be empty.

  Then what is this lantern doing here?

  I was still staring into one of the glowing orbs when a voice sounded behind me.

  "It's quite the mess we're in, isn't it?" Nell's tall frame took up so much of the limited space, I wondered how I'd missed her entry. The lamplight illuminated dark circles under her eyes, contrasting with her wan face. Her voice came out breathy and exhausted, and even her proud stance was lessened by drooping shoulders.

  "What are you doing here?"

  "I saw the blue light and assumed it was you. I've been looking for you everywhere. Why didn't you stay at my house? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" Nell sounded sincere, but she had fooled me before.

  I backed up a little. "I don't, actually. I don't know much at all about you, apparently."

  "That isn't true. I know it feels that way, but I told you as much truth as I could under the circumstances. Neither of us has been entirely open."

  Her accusation hit home. But my keeping my personal life to myself was not the same as Nell hiding the fact that she had teleportation devices. Nor was it the same as sticking with me with this necklace, for which everyone was willing to kill me for. I told her as much.

  "No, you're right. I've handled everything so badly." She sagged against the wall and hit the floor. Her head sank into her knees, the epitome of defeat.

  I had never considered myself to be a particularly soft-hearted person. Whatever her mistakes, though, this was the same girl who had marched into my house and piece by piece, wrestled me back from grief's hold. I hadn’t been grateful enough to her for that, but I could start with a little sympathy. I hobbled over and sank down beside her.

  "Yeah, I've made some doozies myself lately." The ridiculous word in the serious situation made me giggle.

  "Did you hurt your foot?" She turned her head and peeked at me from the corner of her eye.

  "Kicked the wall. Like I said, not my finest hour, either, love." I laughed again, and this time she laughed with me.

  Soon there were tears streaming down our faces. All these years, I had been mourning a sister, but whatever Nell's faults, I had gained one as well. I leaned into Nell.

  "I hate you for lying to me," I whispered.

  "I hate myself more," she responded.

  "Fair enough." I blinked away the moisture from my eyes. We were both silent a moment.

  "Speaking of not your finest hour, is it true you're engaged to the prince?"

  "Really, Nell? That's what you want to talk about right now? How about, where are you from, and am I wearing the necklace that killed my family?" I sat up and leveled her with my gaze.

  She gasped.

  “Is that what you’ve been carrying around with you the past few days? No, of course not. If that necklace had caused the explosion, all of Central Island would have been demolished, not just a chunk of it,” she said earnestly. “I suspect it was a lesser crystal, though how it got here remains a mystery.”

  My shoulders sagged with relief.

  “And as for where I’m from,” she continued, “I thought that was obvious by now. I’m from Levelia.” She said it matter-of-factly.

  When no surprise overtook me, I realized she was right. It was the answer I had been expecting, despite how far-fetched it would have seemed before.

  "Everything else I told you was true, except I didn't live with anyone. I've lived on my own all these years. A determined girl with a teleport bracelet can accomplish a great many things. I bribed my way into the school, so I could have access to better resources, because I've been trying to find my way home."

  I looked pointedly at h
er bracelet.

  She followed my gaze. "My teleport is short-range. There is no way to teleport into Levelia, anyway. It's shielded. Then, someone found that necklace. It's one of the only known ways to find my home island, though not many people know that. Especially since the world seems to have forgotten about us entirely," she said a little bitterly. "I swear, Adelaide, I never meant to put you in danger. I just made all the wrong calls in my panic to keep the amulet safe." She looked distraught, and I realized I believed her.

  "Now,” Nell settled back against the stone. “We don't have anything better to do while they're out there fighting. I could teleport you somewhere, but I'm assuming you'd refuse to go. You may as well tell me about your upcoming nuptials.” She smirked at me.

  "Fine. I agreed to marry him before the museum. That's why I was there. I didn't tell you, because I didn't want your judgment."

  "Or because you didn't want me to talk sense into you. Maybe it was your own judgment you were afraid of." That rang truer than I felt like admitting to.

  Maybe it was time for some honesty on my part as well. "You're probably right," I said.

  She gasped dramatically at my admission.

  I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I admitted it. It doesn't matter now. I thought maybe I could get out of it, but then all of this happened.” I gestured around us with a vague wave of my hand. “Perry announced it, I'm assuming to help keep me safe. That was nice and all, but I'm not sure what to do now."

  "What made you want to change your mind?" she asked. I involuntarily looked toward the fighting.

  "Oh," she dragged the word out. "I see." But she didn't really.

  And for some reason, here in this dim tomb, tucked away from the world, I felt the need to get it all out. So, I told her everything. I started with Clark taking me from the museum, detailing the nights we spent together. I told her how betrayed I felt when we were in the vault and ended with him sticking me in this tomb.

  "So, you see, I think he cares about me, but not in that way. He stopped things that night on the boat."

  "Oh, Kensington." Nell's face was etched with pity.

  I turned my head away. I had never been one to wear my heart on my sleeve or play the fool in a relationship, and I didn't like the feeling. She surprised me, though.

  "I know you're used to everyone wanting something from you, but did it occur to you he stopped out of respect?"

  "So, you don't think Perry respects me?"

  "I think Perry is a product of his upbringing and the society we live in. He respected you enough to not take that decision from you, and that was something.” She chewed on her bottom lip, a sign she was deliberating over her words. “However, I think if he truly loved you, he wouldn't have let things happen that way." She sighed. "But then, you don't love him, either, so that situation was something else entirely. I don't know if Clark loves you, or if that's even an emotion that can form in such a short period of time, but it's clear he cares about you.

  “You can't wrap up all of someone's feelings and put them in the box you want them in. Just because someone doesn't jump you the first chance they get, doesn't mean they don't want you or like you in that way. And, as for the vault… people make mistakes, Kensington. You should understand that." Nell gave me a meaningful glance.

  I mulled over her words for a moment. I had always equated those feelings with physical relationships. Every man who had ever wanted to be with me had jumped at the chance to own that part of me, not that I was always willing.

  Which brought my mind somewhere else I had refused to let it go. Why had I been so willing with Clark? And how much of my feelings for him are wrapped up in the situation itself, the freedom of being away from my life, the exhilaration of danger and intrigue and feeling anything at all after all these years?

  I couldn't be sure. I told Nell that, too.

  "Well, I don't see you mooning after the tall, dark, and grouchy one, and he's got plenty to look at," she commented.

  I laughed. "You seem to know a lot about it. Were you lying when you said your mother died when you were young also?" I asked.

  When her eyes turned down and her face fell, I wished I could take the words back. I knew that look. She hadn't been lying about her loss.

  "No," she said, confirming what I had already realized. "I wasn't lying. We're just more open about all that in Levelia. By ten years old, I would have heard countless stories about sex and relationships from my cousins or aunts or friends of the family," she finished quietly.

  Just then, a high-pitched robotic sound broke through the solid stone walls. I had only heard that sound once before, in the bowels of Wesley's hideout.

  "And that's my cue," Nell said. "I'm going to try to hold the monster off. I still have no idea how anyone came by that tech on this side of the world, though I suspect my uncle had something to do with it. That's a story for another time, though." She sounded confident, but her knees were shaking as she got up.

  How dangerous is this thing?

  "Maybe I'll have a little help this time, though." She reached for my necklace, and I didn't stop her. She punched in a few of the symbols, and I heard a rumbling outside. In a rare display of affection, she kissed me on the forehead. "Stay safe, Kensington." She went to touch her bracelet again.

  "Wait!" I cried out.

  She looked up expectantly.

  "You should call me Addie," I said.

  Nell smiled and nodded before she dematerialized, and I was left to wait and fester in my uselessness.

  The Renegade

  I had been in and out of consciousness for days following my warehouse meeting. All I knew was constant, searing pain and my brothers' voices. Xavier's ministrations had been delivered with gentle hands and frantic, angry words.

  "Don't you dare die, you selfish arse," he would say while placing cooling towels on my head.

  I wanted to tell him I wouldn't, not to be such a worrier, but I couldn't get the words out. My eyes wouldn't even open. I didn't know how much time passed that way before I finally felt lucidity return to me. With it came even more pronounced waves of pain, and I almost wished the darkness back.

  Xavier was passed out on a cot next to the bed I was lying on. Gunther was sitting in a chair, half asleep. He shot up when he saw my eyes open, and there was water being held up to my lips before I could blink. I took some in slowly.

  "How long?" I croaked when he removed the glass.

  "Six days. Xavier has probably slept fewer than six hours in that time, so I don't want to wake him now." It was too late, though. Xavier was up and on his feet, relief etched in every exhausted line of his face. Then, his eyes burned into mine.

  "Let this go, Clark. Promise us here and now, no more endangering yourself for answers we may never get. Swear it."

  I could see the white edges of a bandage on my collarbone in the corners of my vision. There was white-hot, throbbing pain from there all the way up to the bottom of my cheek. My brothers looked wrecked. For all this, I had nothing to show for it. I nodded. "I promise."

  Chapter Thirty

  Clark

  Xavier helped me push the ancient stone door closed, then we turned to meet the Red Sons. The Director himself had pulled out a sword. That made me want to cut through the Red Sons that much faster to go after him directly. I hesitated.

  Could I kill Addie's father for what he had done to mine? I barely know her. Why should I care?

  But I did care. I didn't think I had it in me to take away her last remaining family member, even if I thought she would be better off without him. It was a moot point right now with a Red Son unsheathing his sword and advancing between The Director and me.

  The formation of blue particles in the clearing distracted us all. I wasn't nearly as shocked this time to see Nell materialize.

  "Adelaide?" she asked, eyes darting around. She looked like hell, like she hadn't slept since we had last seen her. I gestured to the crypt wordlessly. She made to tap her strange bracelet but stopped f
or a moment.

  "I saw some men in creepy snake masks when I stopped to check further out," she gestured behind her before disappearing into a cloud of blue dots.

  She had to be referring to the masks worn by the men at the museum, and before that, the man who nearly took my life.

  How much worse can this situation get? At least Nell should be able to take Addie somewhere safe.

  I returned my attention to the men who were now looking to The Director for orders. He was staring off in the direction Nell had pointed with something like fear in his eyes.

  "Director?" one of the Red Sons asked.

  "Ignore the boys. Don't let those men get my daughter," he said, almost like he actually cared about Addie's wellbeing and not the power she wore around her neck.

  So, we’re fighting on the same side now? Who exactly is the lesser of these two evils?

  The men were in our view now. Ten of them walked toward us in an eerie silence, swords at the ready. We lifted our own swords in response. I guess that answered that question.

  Well, I might fight with them at my side, but never at my back. I maneuvered myself to keep the Red Sons in my line of sight.

  Gunther had his own sword drawn, and I wished I had shoved him in the tomb with Addie. It was too late for that now, though.

  He can fight, I reminded myself. Though he didn't train as often as we did, father had taught him the sword as well. And he usually has a bag of tricks up his sleeve. Literally. I have to trust him.

  The masked men advanced. We met them. Steel clashed against steel. After a series of blows and parries, I felled my first opponent, but the fight was far from easy. Another took his place, and he went down as well.

  One hung back like he was waiting for something. That's when I heard it, the mechanical sound I had heard only once before. It was the thing that had attacked at Wesley's. Not just one like it, but the same one. There were singed parts from the explosion, which didn’t seem to have hindered it at all.