by Tracy Korn
"Don't get all shivery and proud…this is a poultice," Dell says to Jax as he points to his cheek. "It is not anything you broke or swoled," he adds, trying hard not to mumble. Jax tries to push forward, but I wrap my arms around his waist.
"Jax, stop!" I say through my teeth as Liddick crosses to us, and the girl with the drill from earlier leaves Axel's side to rush under Dell's arm. She snorts a laugh.
"Not broke any more thanks to me," she says, nodding at us as she wraps both her arms around his waist too. "But it's definitely swole, and if it settles things any, I'll guarantee that poultice he's sucking on tastes just as rot as that Avo paste smells," she says to Jax, her green eyes darting to his eyebrow as she thins her lips and nods, and I can feel the anxiety behind her smile as the air heats up between Jax and Dell.
"Ripley, they were just trying to get us away from the worm. They were trying to help," Liddick says, turning in so his shoulder is in the middle of Jax's chest.
Everyone watches to see what will happen as Jax studies Dell, his dark eyes hard and his brows drawn in as he shoots a glance at Alec next, who nods.
"She had to dig up the poultice. Dig it up," Alec says, curling his lip and wrinkling his forehead.
After a second, Jax meets my eyes. I nod at him to confirm that everything really is OK, and finally, he lets a smile start in the corner of his mouth.
"Guess we're even, then," he says, and I see the green-eyed girl let out the breath she was apparently holding. I do the same, then nod to Liddick.
Jax offers a hand to Dell, who then takes a step toward him to receive it.
"Dell Marchand. That's Alec, and the instrument of my perpetual aid and torture here is Calliope," he says as the curly haired girl with the green eyes next to him touches two fingers to her forehead in a salute, then winks at me in shared relief. "Sorry about the hijack, but it was that or have you swallowed," Dell adds as Alec chuckles in agreement and offers his hand.
"Worm might just have choked on you, though," Alec says to Jax, and Dell closes his eyes in a long blink, trying his best to keep from smiling.
"Thank you," I say, then nudge Jax in the ribs. He looks at me sideways and exhales.
"Thanks," he says begrudgingly. "Happy not to be worm food I guess." I nudge him again, hard enough this time that he catches his breath and chuckles. "Hey, I'm injured." I roll my eyes, then smile and shake my head as Liddick clears his throat and raises his chin, his eyes darting over my shoulder. I turn and see Fraya standing in the doorway with another toe-headed Vishan girl, this one with huge brown eyes.
"Fraya…" I whisper, and Jax turns on his heel. Fraya brings her hands to her mouth, and I feel like my chest might explode. I look up at Jax, who is perfectly still like he's trying to gauge if he should trust what he's seeing.
"Jax…?" Fraya says in a quiet voice, and in the space of two steps, he is picking her up in a fluid rush, her long auburn hair swinging behind her in an arc as he holds her in the air, then puts her down quickly when he almost loses his balance again. She helps steady him, then wraps her arms around him. "I thought I'd never see you again," she says into his shoulder, her words giving way to a combination of scattered laughter and sobs as he kisses her forehead. My chest constricts, and my throat closes up so tightly I can't even swallow.
Liddick must feel the emotional weight of it too because he moves in behind me and wraps his arms over the front of my shoulders. I would have pushed him away back home, but there's more to it now…we're more, somehow. I lean back against him instead, and we stand like this for several minutes while I try to reset my composure.
"Isn't it funny…" Liddick asks after a few minutes, but leaves the sentence unfinished.
"What's funny?" I ask, and almost have to ask again when he doesn't reply right away.
"It's funny how you don't even realize you're in love with someone…" he finally says just behind my ear, trailing off as an ache spills into my chest. "How you don't even know what that feels like until you think it's too late," he adds, and I can feel my heart beating against his forearm.
Jax clears his throat, then wraps his arms around Fraya again like she might disappear into the floor any second. They stay like this until he leans down and whispers something in her ear that makes her draw back and swat him in the shoulder. She laughs, her eyebrows drawn up in surprise at Jax as the Vishan girl returns with two bowls of soup, then motions for them to sit in the circle with the others.
I watch them follow her as I lean my head back against Liddick's chest and let my breath come out in a few ragged exhales, overwhelmed with the deluge of happiness pooling around everyone.
They're really here, they're really safe again, I think, feeling the scruff of Liddick's jaw brush my temple.
"See? Everything is going to be OK," he whispers, and suddenly, the tension of what has happened in the last week seems to dissipate. I feel my throat start to close up again, but this time with gratitude that I'm standing here right now with the knowledge that the people I care about are safe and sound, but then I realize…it's only some of them.
As quickly as it comes, the warm, happy feeling I just had freezes in my chest as I hear echoes of Alec's words in my mind…swallowed…worm…and I pull away from Liddick, terrified all over again. I scan the faces around us for Zoe and Veece, and rush over when I see them ladling soup from the cook pot.
"Zoe, the people who went after the rest of our friends…they should be back by now."
CHAPTER 14
The Circle
Zoe's face blanches for a second until she forces a smile.
"Could be awhile before they're back. Ty and Jesse went along, so there's bound to be some extra adventuring involved," she says. "Could be a day or more."
"A day or more? The rest of our group was just down that tunnel!" I flare, pointing to the fissure we all came through.
"They're with Kesh." Veece holds up his hands, apparently to calm me down. "She'll bring everyone back."
"We need to warn them so they don't fight," I say, then try to deploy my helmet in the hopes that Arco might be listening to the comms, but Liddick stops my wrist.
"If they can hear your voice while they're still near the falls, whatever is in that water can too, remember?" he asks, and panic wells in my chest.
"We need to go back there," I say, turning toward the fissure, but he stops my shoulders.
"Hey, hey…just calm—"
"Liddick, get out of my way right now," I insist, but he only sets his jaw and takes a deep breath.
"You know I can't let you go back there, Rip."
"You know you can't stop me!" I answer.
"At least give them a chance to come back. It's only been a few hours. Getting everyone set to rappel those falls will take time," he says quickly, then calls after me when I turn toward the fissure again. "If they're not back by morning, I'll go with you, all right?" he adds, moving his hands to his hips as his dark eyebrows draw in.
My stomach churns with indecision, but then I meet Zoe's eyes, which are alert and worried. She looks away, and again I feel like she's hiding something.
"Cal said there were sharks pulling people down here. What are those?" I ask. She turns to face me, completely resetting her expression to carefree and casual.
"I'll tell you all about it after we—"
"Hybrids," Dell interrupts, sitting next to the cook pot. He drains the rest of his soup bowl, the poultice no longer bulging in his cheek as he flips his feathered hair off his forehead. Zoe closes her eyes in a long blink and shakes her head as Liddick narrows his eyes.
"Sorry, what?" he asks. Dell sets his bowl down with the others and folds his hands when Zoe glares at him.
"Don't give me the hair eye—say it or don't, but quit dancing," he says to her. She looks to Veece, who just shrugs as if there's no other choice at this point.
"This again!" Cal says, walking up to the cook pot to ladle soup into his bowl, then takes a place in the circle next to Vita and the Vish
an girl he was talking to when we first came in. He shakes his head at us before lifting the bowl to his mouth, and something about the petty tone in his voice hits me like a campfire spark. I react just as suddenly.
"Look, you promised Vox you'd help us, right? So help us. What are tunnel sharks? The truth."
Cal's eyes widen at Veece just before he laughs, holding his bowl in one hand as he jerks his thumb at me with the other. Dell clears his throat and pulls Cal's attention back.
"Go on. Tell her what happens if we try to go home. What happens if we hit daylight…real daylight," Dell says, trying to inhale the final few drops of soup from his bowl.
"You know that's just our genetics," Veece offers, but Dell only laughs.
"Right. Genetics…from the Bestower," he nods, narrowing his eyes and pressing his lips into a line.
"Why can't you let it go? We saved them, and you, vig-rhovo!" Cal says through his teeth as he sets his bowl next to him and gets to his feet.
Dell stands too, then suddenly pulls open his shirt. He holds his palms out to his sides, which stops Cal's advance. The muscles in his chest and stomach are silhouetted by the torchlight that has darkened from green to orange, but not enough to mask the scars and burns over his torso, including one the size of my palm over his hip. He holds out his hands, then points to a long vertical scar down his side. "This is from your Bestower. Tell them about that," he adds.
"That's enough," a man's voice from behind us suddenly makes me jump and whip around. He's Vishan, and maybe 10 years older than Vita with sharp, sculpted features like Tieg's. His clothes are the same light-colored shirt and dark canvas pants as the other Vishan, and his electric blue eyes fall hard on Dell, who stares right back at him. Veece pushes a hand through his white-blond hair and turns his eyes to the ground when a Vishan woman with the same tribal coloring and markings follows the man in from the fissure. "Dress yourself," the man says quietly, but firmly to Dell, who stands his ground for a second more, then buttons his shirt and stares fresh daggers at Cal.
"Tell them about what?" the woman asks Dell. Cal straightens his collar, then looks around at the handful of Badlanders and other Vishan staring at him.
"Scars…is how it started. We were talking about the Vishan map," Cal answers the woman after a pause, then gestures to his face before nodding to Veece, who sighs.
"These are Vox's friends. They have the same questions she did about our markings," Veece adds, trying not to disagree, but it's clear he's not happy about it. The woman's eyes narrow until Vita crosses in front of us with two bowls of soup, forcing the woman to acknowledge her.
That's not what—? I start to tell Liddick in my mind, then see that they're trying to hide what we were really talking about. Liddick meets my eyes and nods.
"I was just two steps from sending them to the Wall to read the Origin story, but now that you're here, you can explain the symbols to our guests. Come and sit; they've only just arrived," Vita says, directing the man and the woman to the circle behind her, then turning a warning eye on Cal and Dell while the man scans us.
"Yes, at the Gathering," he nods to Vita, then looks around the room. "Where is the rest of their group?" he asks, and my stomach falls at the thought that Arco and everyone else still haven't arrived.
"Kesh went with a group to the lip of the falls to collect them. These two, plus the one Ada was treating, had already made it down to the pool. Veece's scout party brought them back before there was…trouble," Vita explains, and the man's face relaxes as he smiles proudly at Veece.
"Welcome," the man says to us. "You have met my son, then." Our eyes dart to Veece, who smiles and lowers his eyes for a second before looking back up at us.
"This is Jove Singer, my brother-in-law, and our council leader," Vita says quickly, nodding to the woman with him and then to another man coming through the fissure. "This is my sister, Flora Singer, and that is Carr Shepherd—Cal's father. They are two of our council elders," she adds as the man moves to take a seat in the widening circle in front of us. I do my best to smile as he passes, but without hesitation, Liddick angles his head and then introduces us to the man and woman.
"Liddick Wright, sir…ma'am," he says, nodding to Flora. "This is Jazwyn Ripley. Ada treated her brother, Jax, and well, you've already met Fraya," he says, nodding across the enormous cave to her and Jax with his trademark charm, which is almost foreign to me after all we've been through lately—a relic of the life that seems so far in the past now. "Thank you for taking us in—it's definitely been a long day," he adds cooly. I try to keep the look of amazement off my face, then suddenly wonder where my bowl of soup went.
The woman smiles at Liddick—and of course she does—as Dell and Cal look around checking everyone's reactions.
"It is our way," Jove says in response to Liddick's master of all occasions commentary. "Your group will join us, and we'll celebrate their safe arrival. Kesh is our best tracker," he adds, holding his arm out for Flora before moving to sit by the other man at the far end of the circle.
"Please be comfortable," Flora nods to us, then touches her forehead to Veece's before she takes Jove's arm. When she moves out of earshot, Cal jerks his chin at Dell, and they both head to one of the far corners of the cave. Veece follows them, waving us along while Vita continues serving bowls of soup to the other Vishan adults who begin filtering through the fissure. When I gesture for Jax and Fraya to come with us, Alec notices and makes his way through the circle toward us.
"Well, it's plain there's more happening than can be sorted in the right now, so you'll just have to go easy with it for tonight and trust we'll catch you up, wise?" Zoe says to us under her breath, casually glancing over her shoulder to make sure the older Vishan aren't paying attention.
"Look, no offense, but your politics and whatever that scar thing was about is your business. I just want to know what's out there—what's really out there with our friends. Why aren't your people back yet, and why aren't Jax's nanites working?" I insist, trying to keep my voice low as we all come together near the far stone wall.
"Vahg om," Cal says, then shakes his head at Veece. "So just say the right now version because as soon as the soup is gone, it'll be time to gather. We can tell the rest after that," he says, exasperated. Dell crosses his arms over his chest and sighs.
"It's more than the worm, but there is a worm, so don't get fancy ideas about going off to that pool when everyone tucks up tonight, wise?" he says with a nod.
"Fine, yes—what are tunnel sharks?" I press.
"Creations…from the mountain. They're people, but not all the way," Dell answers as Cal shakes his head. Fraya's eyes widen and my stomach lurches.
"Look," Zoe says, glancing at us, "it's hard to say this all on the quick, but when we told Vox about how we saw something that looked like a worm when it dragged us down through the sand—"
"Wait, what? Dragged you through the sand?" Jax interrupts, likely trying to reconcile this with the stories of the Badlands…about the cannibal Badlanders who…
Who aren't actually cannibals…Liddick thinks, jacking into my thoughts again. He covers his mouth as he studies Zoe—I have to find out what his problem is with her.
"Still interested?" Zoe says, jerking my attention back.
"Sorry…keep going."
"Right, so when we told Vox—more accurate, when Dell told her it was Biodesigners and Molecular Coders who made experiments like the tunnel sharks and let them loose, she had to go up there herself. Said she knew someone who got pulled through the sand too and—"
"And before you get all set to follow her as soon as everyone is asleep, understand that most people here think Dell is cooked on account of being out in the Rush so long. It's not a place to—" Cal stops abruptly when Dell lunges at him. Alec grabs Dell's shoulders, and Veece steps between them.
"Stop before you get a guard set on you tonight!" Veece says through his teeth, looking from Dell to Cal.
"You just remember that I told Vox not t
o go—the Rush is no place for a sandy, let alone the mountain," Cal continues. "There is no Motherland, or any biodivers, or related worm makers in that cooker," he adds to Dell, then pulls Veece's shoulder back so they face each other. "And because your father's council let her go without at least proving her blood with a treatment, she's probably already dead!"
Veece bristles and moves close enough to Cal to look straight down on him.
"Vox had one of their dive suits—and you know what would have happened if we had treated her," Veece says quietly with a quick glance at the older Vishan.
"Would that have been so bad? She didn't have anyone topside to—" Cal starts, but this time I cut him off before I realize it as the memory of Vox's tattoo story comes back to me from that first day Gaia paired us as roommates—of how each of her lines was part of the map of her travels.
"Wait, her dad…" I turn to Liddick, then to Jax and Fraya before addressing everyone. "She told me how her father took a group out to look for the people responsible for a trap she fell into one day in The Badlands, but none of them ever came back."
"You told her it was Biodesigners and Molecular Coders who made the worms and tunnel sharks?" Liddick asks Dell. "You used those words?"
Dell nods, and it all comes together.
"She thinks there's another Gaia…" I say, meeting Liddick's eyes. "She thinks it's in that mountain—that if our families are there, maybe her dad is too…"
"Why wouldn't she just wait for us, though? Why did she go ahead?" Jax asks, still squinting.
"Wouldn't you want to leave right now to help someone you loved?" Liddick asks, darting a glance at Fraya to remind him of his impatience to go after her the day she disappeared in the cave. Jax takes a deep breath and nods once, then pulls Fraya more tightly against him as Liddick turns back to Dell. "Is that what's in the mountain? Another Gaia?"
"Last I saw any advertising for Gaia was before I got pulled under a year ago, and this place didn't look like that."