Stirred Cinders (Fallen Ashes Book 1)

by M. J. Reed

  My breath started coming to me in short gasps. I grabbed at Wyatt’s shirt and hastily tried to unbutton it, but I popped several of the buttons off in the attempt. Wyatt didn’t seem to care. He kept massaging between my legs, making me tremble with the building tension. Each brush of Wyatt’s lips and fingers electrified me. Goosebumps raced along my arms, and my toes curled. I was teetering on the brink of ecstasy when a loud noise brought our fun to a halt.

  My front door shuddered once, then split down the middle. Several enforcers burst into my house. I guess the doctor called security. I thought. Wyatt and I disentangled ourselves as a squadron of five security officers tromped toward us. This is it. They’re going to take us to level seven. I clung to Wyatt for protection, even though I knew that there was nothing either of us could do.

  Chapter 23

  “I knew you would be nothing but trouble.” Wrenna Greer sneered at me as she pushed me into a cell. “And you,” She hissed at Cora, shoving her in behind me. “I should have known you weren’t good enough for my son.” Wrenna shot us one last icy glare before storming back down the hallway.

  Cora’s father, Miles, had followed Wrenna down to the cells with us. He hadn’t spoken since he was informed of Cora’s arrest, but as Wrenna walked away, he paused and looked his daughter in the eye. “You haven’t learned anything from me about sacrifice, responsibility, or duty.” He growled at her. “You’re no daughter of mine.” He spat on the ground and turned to follow Wrenna.

  I wrapped my arms around Cora’s shoulders. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, trying to soothe her. “Are you alright?” I had known that Cora’s relationship with her father was strained, but I would never have expected Miles to disown his own daughter.

  “No.” She said. She shook a little, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or the stress of being arrested. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she offered me a hopeful smile. “But I will be. Eventually.”

  I hugged her, and rubbed her arms with mine, trying to keep her warm.

  The prison appeared to be filled with cells intended to house between one and six prisoners. Each cell was separated from the other cells by metal bars. The only way in or out of a cell was through a security gate connected to the main hallway.

  I could see some of the other prisoners through the bars of our cell. Even in the dim light, I could see people sitting quietly on the concrete floors, crying, relieving themselves, or sleeping in piles of rags. A few doors over I could see a cell that was occupied entirely by children.

  “What do you think they did to wind up in here?” I asked a shaken Cora.

  She shook her head. “I have no idea.”

  A voice cut through the darkness. “At that age, they’re probably in for either petty theft. The real question is, what are you two doing in here?”

  Wait, I know that voice. “Sade?” I called, looking around for the source of the voice. What is she doing down here?

  “Dr. Ward reported us to security for accessing his private files and, well, assault.” Cora chimed.

  Sade, who was locked up a few cells over, shook her head. “He didn’t. His neighbors heard a fight in his unit and called emergency security. When the enforcers got there, they found alcohol all over his floor and stashed around his house, so they arrested him.”

  Sade paced over to what I had initially assumed was just a pile of rags tucked into the corner of her cell. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I realized that it wasn’t a bundle of rags, but the crumpled form of Dr. Ward.

  “They beat him until he told the enforcers what happened between you three, and then they threw him in here,” Sade explained. She clucked her tongue in concern as she checked on him. “He’s sick, and I’m worried about him.”

  “He’s an addict. He’s detoxing.” I said.

  I wanted to be angry at Dr. Ward, but instead, I felt sorry for him. Maybe, Cora’s empathetic personality is wearing off on me.

  “He is.” Sade agreed. “Why were you two at his house?”

  “I wanted to know if he changed my match,” Cora said, sounding a little embarrassed. “You told Wyatt that he changed a few of them.”

  Sade favored us with a sly smile. “Yeah. I can see why Wyatt would have passed that information along.” She said, pointedly examining Cora and I. We were still huddled together, and my shirt was missing buttons from my encounter with Cora earlier. “I imagine the two of you would have been unhappy with Cora’s match, no matter who it was.”

  I blushed and moved to disentangle myself from Cora, but she leaned against me, forcing me to stay close to her. I guess if she doesn’t mind, I don’t either.

  “What are you doing in here anyway, Sade?” Cora asked. “You must have done something pretty bad if they imprisoned one of the Charr’s.”

  Sade burst into laughter. “I got caught with contraband during a search I was supposed to be helping conduct. Can you imagine that? Most embarrassing moment of my life!” She said, still chuckling. “But, I always imagined I might wind up in here,” Sade admitted, her convivial disposition fading. “I just didn’t think my being sent here would be such a public spectacle.” She frowned. “Or, that I would be arrested in front of my father.”

  “I’m sorry,” Cora said.

  I knew Cora was still upset about her own father, but she seemed to be recovering from our arrest. She wasn’t shaking anymore, and the color had returned to her face. If Cora can recover from this, she can recover from anything.

  “Don’t suppose you know a clever way out of here?” I asked Sade.

  “I don’t know about clever, but-” Sade replied, trailing off.

  “But what?” Cora asked.

  Sade sighed. “I know Departure’s master security codes. I can get us through these doors, and open the hatch to get us out of the city, but we would still have to contend with the enforcers on our way to the exit. I don’t know that we’d make it out.” She paused for a moment. “And that’s assuming my father hasn’t changed the master access codes yet, which he may have.”

  “I think I’d rather try and fail than be stuck down here,” Cora replied, sticking out her chin determinedly.

  “It could be the last thing you live to fail at. Are you really willing to take that risk?” Sade asked with a frown.

  “We are,” I said, giving Cora’s shoulder a squeeze of support.

  Sade raised her eyebrows but didn’t comment. “There’s one more thing,” Sade said, glancing down at a barely conscious Dr. Ward. “I want to take him with us. He’s had a tough time the last few years, and I doubt he’ll pull himself out of the hole he’s dug for himself without a change of scenery.”

  I looked skeptically at the man on the ground. “I’m not sure we’ll make it out with him in tow.”

  “I know,” Sade answered hastily. “And the longer we stay here and wait for him to recover, the greater the odds are that my dad will change the master access codes, but I’m not leaving without him.”

  Cora and I shot one another a look. “Well, if we can’t leave him behind, and we can’t afford to wait, I guess we had better give this a shot,” I said, trying to look more daring than I felt. Cora beamed at me, making me feel a thousand feet tall. No matter what happens, I’m going to make sure Cora gets out of here.

  Sade nodded, reached through the bars, and began punching numbers into the security door to her cell.

  Chapter 24

  “Quiet!” Sade hissed for about the thousandth time.

  Most of the noise is coming from Dr. Ward, who Sade supported on one side and Wyatt supported on the other. We had to stop and let the doctor retch a few times, but somehow we made it out of the level seven together, in spite of all the noise we made.

  Of course, part of the reason we were able to get away is that Sade suggested that we free all of the prisoners in the holding area to distract the enforcers. Sade’s either thought about this a lot, or she’s naturally good at inciting chaos. Possibly both. We could hear sounds of yelling and scuf
fling feet fading behind us as we made our way up the stairs.

  “How much further?” Wyatt asked. He bore the doctor’s weight more easily than Sade, but he seemed disoriented.

  Even though I’m trying to act confident, I’m a little lost too. I’ve never been this far below the surface, and the city layout is different on the lower floors. The streets are narrower and dirtier; the houses are smaller, and packed closer together; and instead of helpful signs directing us to different areas, graffiti lined the walls. I had no idea it was like this down here. No wonder my father is so afraid of this part of the city!

  “Just one more floor until we get to the freight elevator. After that, we can bypass the elevator controls and go straight to the first level.” Sade puffed.

  She and Wyatt redoubled their efforts the help Dr. Ward move along, nearly carrying him up the stairs. For his part, the doctor looked more alert and less pale. He was still weak, but Paul kept his feet under him, and our little group made our way up the stairs impressively quickly. We had just reached our floor when we heard the alarms go off.

  “Shit!” Sade swore loudly, abandoning her attempt at stealth. “One of the enforcers must have gotten to the emergency alarm. It won’t take them long now to figure out that we’ve gone missing.”

  “If they haven’t already.” Said Wyatt, shifting the doctor so that he had a better grip on him. “We need to get moving.”

  “You can leave me if you need to.” Dr. Ward said offered. He looked from me to Wyatt, and finally, let his gaze come to rest on Sade. “So much of what has happened here was my fault. You three don’t deserve to get stuck here because of my mistakes. Not after all I’ve done.”

  I couldn’t pretend that I wasn’t angry about the part Dr. Ward had played in the Matching Ceremony throughout the years, but when I looked at him, I saw a man who was genuinely remorseful, and who needed our help. I shook my head. “You’re as much a prisoner here as any of us, and we’re all getting out of here.” I turned to Wyatt and Sade. “Let’s go,” I ordered, trying to look brave.

  Sade didn’t argue. She led us through the dimly lit corridors towards the elevator. I saw an enforcer down one of the hallways we passed, but he appeared to be struggling with a priest and a man I recognized as a member of the hydroponics department.

  “What’s going on there?” I asked, pointing the fight out to Sade and Wyatt.

  “I have no idea,” Sade said, taking a beat to watch the scene unfolding down the hall. “I guess the whole city’s gone crazy.” She turned back to us. “But we’ve got our own problems.” She said. “Let’s keep moving.”

  We continued down the hallway, hearing the sound of more scuffles unfolding on our floor as we moved. “Seriously, what is going on? There’s no way the prisoners were able to cause this much trouble alone.” Wyatt said as we made our way towards the elevator.

  I wanted to speculate with Wyatt, but just then we heard someone shout, “They’re over here!” Followed by the pounding of feet running toward us.

  “Hurry! We’re almost there!” Sade panted. But even as she spoke, we could hear our pursuers gaining on us.

  We could see the elevator just ahead, but the enforcers following us were too quick. The three security officers, dressed in the same heavy boots and cargo pants that Sade wore, reached us just as we arrived at the landing outside the elevator. The two younger enforcers were thin, muscular, and angry looking, but the third officer scared me much more. Constable Wrenna Greer, who dashed towards us at the rear of the group, was bearing down on us with her gun drawn.

  “Hold it right there!” A tall, young enforcer shouted, grabbing ahold of my wrist. I yelped as he dug his dirty nails into my skin, and held me tight in his crushing grip. His face was red, and he was panting from the exertion of chasing us. His eyes were wide, and his mouth curled into a snarl.

  I was paralyzed, too afraid to twist free, to run, or to fight back. Fortunately, I only had to look into those frightening eyes for a second before Wyatt jumped into action. He took a swing at the tall enforcer, sending him reeling back onto his heels.

  The other young enforcer rushed to join the fight. Without thinking, I pushed the woman as she ran towards the fray, throwing her far enough off balance to send her toppling to the ground. With one member of the security team on the floor and the other losing a fight with Wyatt, I felt a rush of hope, but it was short-lived.

  I heard a gunshot echo across the landing. Sade uttered a scream of rage. I whirled around to see her grappling with Constable Greer all by herself. She shoved Wrenna against the wall, pressing her arms outward and preventing her from aiming the weapon at anyone. Wrenna, who stands several inches taller than Sade, lunged forward, headbutting Sade and knocking her back. She swung her now free arm around and pointed the gun at Sade.

  “No!” I yelled, my voice bouncing from wall to wall as my scream echoed down the corridor.

  Sade sprang forward. I expected her to try to wrestle the gun away from Wrenna, but instead, she put one hand on the outside of Wrenna’s elbow, holding it in place, and forced Wrenna’s lower arm outwards with her other hand. Wrenna’s arm bent backward at the elbow with a sickening crunch, but her screams were masked by the sound of the gun firing again.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. Sade had acted quickly enough that the gun wasn’t pointed towards her when it went off, and with Wrenna’s arm broken Sade had the advantage. I wanted to help her as she fought to relieve Wrenna of her weapon, but I could hear the officer I had tripped pulling herself to her feet behind me.

  I turned to see her rising, glaring at me as she struggled to right herself. Oh, shit. What do I do? I looked around frantically for a weapon and seized a glass bottle from a nearby recycling bin. I held it by the neck and smacked the rising officer on the head as hard as I could. Much to my surprise, the bottle didn’t break, but the young woman did fall back to the ground. She made no effort to get up again.

  Wyatt! I whirled to see what had happened to him, only to find him standing above the large guard. His breathing was labored from the fight, and his knuckles appeared to be bleeding, but he looked otherwise alright.

  “You okay?” He asked. Wyatt rushed over to me, and ran rough hands over my arms, inspecting me for injuries. His muscles seemed even more defined in the aftermath of his fight. Wyatt’s inspection of me was brief, but feeling his eyes sweep across my body gave me a thrill. Satisfied that I was alright, he swept me into his arms. I could feel his heart hammering in his chest, and his hard, knotted muscles holding me close. He kissed me, and for a moment all the chaos of the fight fell away.

  “I’m alright. We should get going, though.” I said, gently grabbing his hand and weaving my fingers between his.

  Sade was kneeling on the ground, trying to help Dr. Ward to his feet. Wyatt and I broke apart and went to help her. We didn’t realize anything was wrong until we were right on top of them.

  “No,” Sade whispered, gently shaking the doctor by the shoulders. “Wake up.”

  Dr. Ward didn’t move, and he didn’t breathe, but he did bleed. The crimson life seeped out of him and pooled on the floor surrounding him. One of Wrenna’s bullets had found the doctor’s heart, and broken Sade’s.

  I heard the sound of more boots running towards us.

  “We have to go,” I said quietly, still in shock from seeing Dr. Ward lying dead on the floor. I felt tears welling in my eyes, but I knew now wasn’t the time to let them spill.

  Sade had moved past the denial stage of grief, straight to anger. As she stood, I could almost feel the rage radiating from her. “You fucking bitch.” She said, addressing the whimpering woman lying in the fetal position nearby. “I was going to get him out of here! I was going to help him!” Sade kicked Wrenna in her broken arm, and Wrenna screamed.

  The boots were closer now, and they were moving fast. More enforcers rounded the corner at the end of the hallway and raced toward us.

  Wyatt grabbed Sade by the shoulders from behind, pu
lling her backward. “Cora’s right. We need to go.” Sade didn’t resist, but she did need to be guided onto the elevator.

  Wrenna didn’t say anything, but she did pull herself onto her knees. Her nose was bleeding, and her arm was broken, but even with her injuries Constable Greer still looked dangerous.

  Sade shook with rage as she punched her security code. More security officers were rushing down the hall towards us as the door to the elevator closed, and we began our ascent to the first level of the city. Sade and Wrenna didn’t break eye contact until the elevator doors had closed.

  Chapter 25

  I should have taken Wrenna’s gun. I thought, inwardly kicking myself.

  The upper level of Departure was vacant. I wasn’t entirely surprised. The only permanent residents here are members of my own family, and most ordinary citizens will have already reported to their homes, or assigned stations, in response to the emergency alarm.