by Ciara Knight
Ryder stepped between us but Malvak shoved him away and grabbed me in his grubby hands.
“Oh, but there is. I be making sure me people still worship me. I be taking a wife. One of the Triune.”
Chapter Twenty
I shoved Malvak away from me. “I won’t marry you.”
He grabbed Raeth and stuck a blade to her throat. “Then she dies. I tell the others it be an accident.”
“People won’t believe that,” Dred interrupted.
“Trust me. They’ll believe me.”
Ryder leapt at Malvak, but Dred yanked him back. “He not be joking. That blade’ll tear her from ear to ear before ya get to her.”
Raeth’s eyes grew wide.
I scanned the area as heat surrounded me, my powers igniting into a ball of fire.
Dred shook his head. He’d stop me. I slanted my glance at the weapons in the case. If I could find a way to get to them before they could stop me...
The captain pressed the blade deeper into Raeth’s neck. “Ya won’t be using those weapons, girly. They not be working. Prototypes.”
“You’re no better than the queen or the general.” I couldn’t let Ryder and Raeth die if there was something I could do to save them. “At least this time my sacrifice will earn their freedom.”
“What ya speak of there girl? I said nothing about their freedom.”
“Then this talk of marriage is a waste of time and breath.” I hated the word marriage. It meant nothing more than a contract that gave a man power over me. The idea of his meaty hands groping my body nearly made me vomit.
“No. I won’t let you—” Ryder pushed free of Dred and took me into his arms.
“Don’t be touchin’ me bride like that or I cut off ya hands.”
Ryder pushed my hair from my eyes and I lost myself in his gaze for a moment. “Don’t do this. We’ll find another way.”
“There is no other way. You need resources and transportation, not to mention a way out of this place.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“Ya think ya be escapin’ me kingdom? Ah, not likely there, mate. Agree to ya terms there, girly. Ya be my wife and I free ya friends.”
I’d fled from one heartless wretch into the arms of another. Why was it always marriage or slavery? “How do I know you speak the truth?”
“I give me word as a Scavenger.”
Ryder had talked about always choosing a Neumarian no matter the price. This was my chance to do that, and make up for what I did to Raeth four years ago. To make a choice to save instead of mutilate someone. I had the power to free them. How could I not? “Deal,” I rasped.
Malvak let Raeth go and she raced to my side. Ryder wrapped his arms around both of us.
Malvak’s deep laugh echoed through the room. “Enjoy ya self. This be the last time ya be touching me bride. Prepare the girl for me wedding. I’ll be tellin’ the people what be goin’ on.” Malvak marched from the room and Dred followed quickly behind, leaving the three of us alone.
Reality hit and my shaking legs wouldn’t support me. As I pushed Raeth into Ryder’s arms, I slid down the wall, pulling my knees to my chest. I shivered at the memory of his foul breath against my face. I’d come so far, risked my life, only to end up betrothed to a man just like the general—heartless and evil.
Ryder released Raeth, who had returned to her own world, bouncing her ball, then sat by my side and took my hand in his. “I won’t let you do this.”
“There’s no choice. It’s your only hope. This is bigger than the three of us. Your people back in the Mining Territory suffer. They won’t survive much longer. You have to get to Old Chicago, pick up the contact, and make it to the coast in order to help the rebellion.” I remained firm, despite the voice in my head screaming to run.
“Don’t care. None of it matters if an innocent life is taken. We’ll find another way.”
Innocent?
“Don’t care if we all die here. It’s wrong to let this happen.”
“What happened to you sacrificing your own life so that we would be enslaved instead of dead? At least in my plan, you two get out of here.”
“That was before.”
“Before what?” Something different reflected in the way he looked at me. His face appeared less tense and his body leaned more into mine.
Ryder rose and paced the floor. “Just watch, I’ll take Dred down when he returns. Then you and Raeth make your escape. It would be better to die than to see that monster’s hands on you.”
He’d never give up. Fight to the death to save my honor. That was who he was, a fighter. I’d been cornered. The decision made for me. I had to stop him before he did something stupid.
I took a long deep breath and braced myself. “I’m not innocent.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“I was there when they tortured Raeth four years ago. I stood by while they took her leg.”
Raeth sucked in a quick breath and scurried next to me. “N-no. Shhh.”
Raeth had heard. Fallon was right. She checked out, but still heard what was going on around her. She put her finger over my lips but I batted it away.
Ryder looked down, brows furrowed. “What did you say?”
My insides twisted and turned. I wanted to fall on my knees in front of him and beg forgiveness, but I wouldn’t. This was my chance to make up for what I had done. If Ryder hated me, he would leave and save Raeth. It was justice that I remained and paid for my crimes.
“It was after my father was killed. I was brought to a mother I never knew I had. I’d been raised by my father in the Resort Territory and I thought that was the reality of the world. For eleven years I lived like no other Kantian, Neumarian, or human had ever lived.” I sniffed. “My father loved me and everything was perfect. I assumed my mother would be like him, only she was nothing like anyone I’d ever met.”
Ryder fisted his hands, refusing to meet my gaze, and stared at the wall over my head. While relieved he didn’t look at me, I swallowed hard and continued.
“After a few months of brutal reconditioning, the queen and the general felt safe taking me with them. I was twelve, like Raeth, when she was captured during my first trip to the Mining Territory. The queen was experimenting on Neumarians, something about perfecting a weapon to ensure the safety of all those who survived the war. I didn’t want anything to do with the research. That drove her to send me for more reconditioning.” I thoughtlessly stroked my cheek. “She thought that if she forced me to watch and participate I would toughen up. She thought I was weak and pathetic.”
Ryder punched the wall then shot up, pacing the floor. My heart raced.
“One day, I was ordered to a prison cell. That’s when I met Raeth. I hadn’t seen anyone my own age since I’d boarded the ship.”
Raeth tugged at my sleeve. “S-stop, no need to d-do this.”
Ryder glanced at Raeth. “You knew? You remembered her and you wanted me to save her anyway?”
“Y-yes.” Raeth grasped my arm. “P-please, S-Semara. You’re my b-best f-friend. Don’t do th-this.”
“No, you fantasized about our friendship, made it into something it wasn’t.” For once I wished Raeth would check out, so I wouldn’t have to face the pain in her large brown eyes.
Ignoring Raeth’s pained expression. I focused on feeding Ryder’s hatred. There would have never been a chance between us anyway.
“I sat by and watched as they removed her leg, then—” My voice cracked. “I dumped her body in the middle of the Wasteland.”
Ryder raced back and grabbed me, sending Raeth to the side. Her whimpers tore at my heart.
“It’s not true. I know what you’re doing.”
“It’s true. I’m the one that threw her out like garbage in the desert.”
Dred’s unmistakable heavy steps drew close. My mind spun with theories of how to escape. No, this was where I belonged. I wouldn’t risk their lives to save my own. There was no future for me. A S
lag princess, disowned by my mother, and an outcast.
Ryder shoved me away and pulled at his hair. “You tortured my sister to the brink of insanity then allowed me to rescue you, risking her life again?”
“N-no. Sh-she didn’t ask to b-be s-saved. And sh-she s-saved—”
“I opened the gangway and rolled her body out,” I said, fighting back the sobs of regret.
Ryder marched over and slammed his fist against the wall next to my ear. His eyes cold and distant. “Tell me it’s not true.”
“I can’t,” I whispered.
Dred entered and cleared his throat. “Not much time. Ya need to follow me. Malvak’s not be keeping his word. He’s going to enslave Semara after the wedding and kill the wee one and ya. This will put the people of Oasis back under his control. I’ve got to get ya out of here while he’s busy. It’s ya only chance.”
No. I’d just confessed to save us. How could he offer help now?
Dred looked back down the hall.
“You’re risking your own family by doing this,” I said.
“I be no better than a slave if I don’t do what’s right. Whatever goes on between ya two, let it go for now. No time to be fightin’ if ya wish to save the wee one.”
Ryder pulled away with a deep snarl still on his face and took Raeth’s hand. “Come on, Raeth. Time to get out of here.”
No, I’d just accepted my fate. Confessed my sins, resulting in hatred from the one man who ever had a gentle touch. “Dred, leave me here. I won’t risk your family.”
“You won’t risk his family, but you’ll torture and try to kill mine?” Ryder twisted a dagger of condemnation through the center of my heart.
I steadied myself and walked past him and Raeth to Dred’s side.
A chill pierced my back. I knew his ability to manage his anger was only because of Raeth.
Dred handed my clothes to me. “Change, that dress’ll be noticed.”
With no time to waste, I stepped behind a half-wall and quickly ripped the dress from my body and shoved back on the soft pants, undershirt, and vest.
Dred took my hand and led us down a winding stair case in the corner of the large factory. “Dred, listen,” I whispered so Ryder couldn’t hear my words. “We can manage if you tell us where to go. Tell Malvak we overpowered you. The whole Triune thing. Then—”
“No, I’ve stood by too long and watched innocent people die. Ya might not believe it because he be power hungry, but he would give his own life to save Oasis. He believes in a dream of a better life. I only know what is here, but he speaks of the old world and how he plans to rebuild it. Once the Neumarians and Slags finish hashing things out.”
“The Neumarians are not the ones fighting. The queen ordered their extinction in the Mining Territory. She blew the entire town to bits. If there was a way to join forces, we could all stand a chance to live free again.”
“Ya be a strange one, pretty face. How can ya be a princess of Slags, yet have powers of a Neumarian?”
“All I know is my dad was Neumarian and my mom was a Kantian. He never told me though. There’s a lot he never told me.” Sadness crept in despite the danger that lay ahead. Why hadn’t my father prepared me for how life existed outside the Resort Territory? Why hadn’t he ever warned me about my mother? He never said a word, not even a hint about them being married. Neumarian and Kantian.
“Get down.” Dred yanked me to his side. His dark muscles glistened in the light of the luminary.
We edged further down a corridor and exited behind the skywalk. The sun had fallen in the sky, the orange moon shining its stead, revealing a small walkway.
Dred barely managed to shimmy down the path sideways. “Ya ship be docked at the end of this. We must climb the wall. I will stall long enough for ya to get out of range.”
“No, you can’t. He’ll suspect and kill you.” I didn’t know why, but this man with a conscience was someone I could understand, a person who had faced many wrongs in his life that he only wished to make right. I didn’t want to see any harm come to him.
“Gonna stand there all night, or is this a trap like I suspected?” Ryder accused.
“Ryder, he’s risking his life,” I snapped.
“It be okay, he has reason to suspect me. Promise, no trap.” Dred said.
I shuffled behind Dred. Malvak’s voice boomed somewhere overhead. I pressed my sweaty back to the wall and listened to him announce the union between the two of us until Ryder nudged me forward. When we reached the animal pens, the smell of pig and manure choked me. I stifled a cough.
Dred handed me a small swatch of cloth. “Here, this helps.”
I pressed it to my nose, wishing I still had the desert mask.
“There’s the stairs. Ryder ya first. I’ll hand the wee one to you then the princess.”
“W-what about th-the electricity?”
“Powered it down.”
Raeth smiled at him.
Ryder narrowed his gaze. Dred bent down, picked up a pebble then tossed it at the wire. No spark.
Wind whistled through the long narrow path. We froze. The stink of our fear surrounded us. People mingled out in the courtyard, but I didn’t hear Malvak’s voice, which made me more anxious to escape.
Dred gave me a quick knowing glance and grabbed a cloth from a box near the animal pen. “Take feed bag and place it over the wire.
Ryder snatched it from Dred’s hands then climbed the ladder with caution, put the feed bag in place, swung a leg over the barbed wire, and stepped over cautiously. He sat on the other side of the wall and looked below then signaled for Raeth to follow.
Raeth struggled with the angle of her mechanical leg. It wouldn’t bend far enough and Dred gave her a push from behind, helping her up each step. She managed to make it over the barbed wire with both of their help.
Dred returned to my side.
“Come with us,” I said.
“I can’t abandon me family.”
“I knew you weren’t evil. I think we could be friends if we had a chance.” I longed to have another friend in life, especially now that Ryder would never let me be near Raeth again.
“I believe the same, pretty face.”
I flung my arms around his middle and he pulled me close.
“Let’s get ya to ya ship before Malvak discovers ya’re missing.
I climbed the steps and waited for Ryder to offer his hand but he’d already helped Raeth to the ground, leaving me behind.
“Don’t worry. Don’t know what ya said to him, but he’ll forgive ya. He’s sweet on ya.” Dred winked.
Heat rose to my cheeks. “Me? I think you’re mistaken.”
“Nothing gets by me. And ya feel the same.” He winked.
“Please.” I maneuvered over the wire and half way down the ladder. “He hates me and always will.”
“I don’t believe that.” Dred threw one leg over the wire and pointed. “Ya ship be down there.”
“Get them!” Malvek shouted over the loud speaker.
A mind numbing sizzle shot down the wire indicating someone had turned the power back on. Before I could warn Dred, he jolted about like a turkey getting its neck broke. His large body fell limp against the wall, his leg hanging from the wire.
“No!” My heart pounded so loud I couldn’t hear the electric current anymore. I grabbed the ladder, but Ryder pulled my hands free. “You can’t help him now.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Ryder shoved me to the side and climbed the few rungs to Dred hanging upside down on the ladder. Ryder pressed his hand to Dred’s chest then slid back down. I clutched the ladder, but Ryder’s arms were like vices around my middle. “No more time. I restarted his heart.”
I kicked and dug my heels into the ground, but he dragged me to the ship.
“He m-might be okay,” Raeth tried to comfort me.
I thrashed in Ryder’s arms but he shoved me into the co-pilot seat and hit the hatch button, cracking the glass.
�
�Why didn’t you just leave me behind? I know you wanted to,” I lashed out.
“Ryder. Sh-she didn’t t-tell you everything.” Raeth grasped the steering handles.
Ryder turned and glared at me. “Not the time. Sit down. Know you didn’t want Dred to die. But if you don’t help, he sacrificed himself and his family for nothing.”
I swiped my tears so I could see. Connecting with the reconditioning of my youth, I grasped the throttle with my shaking hands and straightened to my perfect princess posture, storing my grief into another little compartment deep inside.
We zoomed away from Oasis. The Scavengers would be close behind, and if we didn’t put enough distance between them, we would never make it.
Raeth flew the ship low, skimming the dunes. Hopefully we’d blend with the sand and the scavenger ship would stay high, away from the sermechtapedes.
I checked the nav and entered the coordinates to Old Chicago.
Ryder shook his head. “Malvak will be on top of us any minute.”
“We change our course th-then.” Raeth pulled up on the handles sending us straight up to maneuver over a tall dune.
“Can’t. Only have enough fuel to reach Old Chicago from here. No way we can alter our course,” Ryder warned.
“We wouldn’t have to alter it far,” I said, my throat so tight I wasn’t sure anyone heard me. “Only enough to hide.”
“See anywhere to hide? We’re in the middle of the Wasteland.” He sounded cold and distant. His eyes darted to me, but quickly refocused on the path ahead.
I ignored his tone and glare. “We cut the engine. Glide down from the top of a dune to the bottom. Without the engine hum, the creatures under the sand won’t know we’re there.”
“Glide down?”
“Yeah. I think I can manage my powers to keep us from crashing.”
“We don’t have much ch-choice,” Raeth reminded him.
“Go for it,” Ryder agreed.
Raeth banked right. She focused on the next long rise and soared high into the sky.
“Now,” I said, pressing my palms to the dashboard, one hand still sensitive from the last time I’d tried this.