G plants himself in front of Ax. “I don’t believe we’ve met.” Ax thrashes about as his arms are cinched in a cuff band behind his back. A guard pokes him in the spine with a lethal-looking weapon. Ax’s eyes narrow to slits as he eyeballs G. His cheeks pucker. Quick as a flash, he spits at him, splashing fluid all over his face.
I can’t help it. I roar laughing at the look of absolute disgust on G’s face. But my laughter quickly shrivels up and dies.
The soldier imprisoning him slams the butt of his weapon into Ax’s temple. He passes out right away, slithering to a crumpled heap on the ground. I scream obscenities at the solider until G intervenes, stepping forward and gripping my arm. “Keep quiet unless you want some of the same treatment.”
“Sadie.” Jarod’s tone contains a silent warning.
A trickle of blood drips down the side of Ax’s unconscious face, and all manner of murderous thoughts stream through my mind. But I’m not stupid. Reluctantly obeying, I clam up as we are hauled to two massive blacked-out military vehicles, hidden around the back of the red-bricked building. Ax is towed between two guards. He’s still unconscious, his head lolling forward as his feet trail the ground.
Jarod and I exchange gazes as we’re shoved into the vehicle and strapped down. He’s trying to hide his concern, but I know him too well. He’s terrified and that scares the bejesus out of me. Ax is still out for the count, slumped against the window on the opposite side. I glower at the soldier beside him, wishing I could use my ability to shoot laser beams from my eyes.
Shifting my attention to the window as the vehicle powers to life, I’m tossed back and forth, as we move over the bumpy terrain. When we land on more solid ground, I gasp, unable to contain my shock and horror at the waiting eyesore. We travel on quiet, empty roads. Customary alien ships crowd the skies, and only glimmers of dim, hazy sunshine slip through the cracks, creating an eerie dark-and-light-striped canvas over the land.
Everywhere I look, I’m confronted by soul-destroying devastation. Buildings and storefronts are razed to the ground, reduced to small mounds of smoldering, charred debris. Plumes of thick, dense smoke creep skyward in a swirling, wispy sequence. Trees and shrubbery lie askew along the sidewalk, as if a giant swept a meaty hand through the greenery, felling everything in one foul swoop.
As we drive farther along the coast, rolling navy-gray waves surge and retreat, licking the edge of the pavement in silent warning. All bordering walls have been demolished, offering the ocean unlimited access to land.
Anger consumes me as we advance. Inert bodies, in various stages of decay, plaster the road in an intermittent fashion, and the vehicle has to swerve consistently to maneuver around them. Any number of ghastly post-apocalyptic movies spring to mind, none of them even close to matching this sick reality. I’m queasy, and my stomach turns leaden. This is worse than anything I’ve imagined in the weeks since I’ve been gone.
We travel for miles in similar surroundings, and it’s a wonder I can keep my stomach contents down. The vehicle sticks to the coastal road, skirting the edges of the different Sectors, but the landscape doesn’t vary that much. Lone clusters of high-rise housing pepper the landscape every so often, and I spot the odd few storefronts, but apart from that, I haven’t seen much sign of life.
“They all but wiped out the Outer Sectors,” G says from the front passenger seat, opening up conversation. I lift my chin and turn to him. He is blatantly studying me, gauging my reaction. “They’ve killed thousands.”
“So have you.” I challenge him to disagree.
“That was necessary,” he grits out. “The Saven are monsters. I’m not.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” I reply. “And Logan didn’t give those orders.”
“I don’t care!” he spits. “He is one of them!”
I guess now wouldn’t be a good time to share the news that I’m one of them too. Instead, I decide to update him in the hope it might help sway his mind. “Logan has regained control of Saven, and if you give him a few days, he’ll find a way to force the Amaretti into retreat. He isn’t the bad guy you seem to think he is.”
“All Saven are cut from the same cloth. They all deserve to die.”
“Well,” I say, wondering why on earth I’m trying to reason with this madman, “if the Saven shared that view, none of us would be here today.”
“You really should question where your loyalties lie.” A shrill beeping sound emits from the front of the vehicle as he speaks. My heart starts pounding in my chest.
“What is that?” Jarod asks, leaning forward and straining against his harness.
“It detects drone activity from ten miles out so we can maneuver around it.” Swiveling in his seat, he fixes Jarod with a disillusioned look. “You’ve no idea how disappointed I am in you, Jarod, and I’d like to know how you manipulated my son into fleeing with you.”
“I wasn’t the one manipulating Vin.” He angrily gnashes his teeth.
I’m slammed back in my seat as the vehicle starts powering up a steep hill. Wheels screech and roar as the driver navigates the dangerous terrain. We’re tossed from side to side as we drive over rutted surfaces. Ax’s head knocks against the window, and he lets out a low moan as he comes to. Nausea churns in my belly, and I clamp my lips shut.
Eventually, we grind to a halt, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Doors slam open and shut as we are removed from the vehicle. G leads the way to the edge of the hill as we follow suit. The soldier is gripping my arm so tight I fear he’s stopped all blood flow.
G glances over his shoulder as we approach. “You need to see this.” His gaze is focused solely on me as he brandishes his arms out in front of him. “Look what they’ve done.”
The view that lies in wait below us is truly a gruesome sight. I swallow the anguished lump in my throat as I survey the destruction in front of me. From this elevated position, most of New York is laid out before us like a twisted, macabre painting. The circular outer edges of the state are flattened with little exception—virtually everything has been wiped out, trampled into nonexistence. I wonder if any of the stars have survived beyond the people taken underwater and those who still reside on Saven.
Sparse pockets of residential housing emerge from the razed landscape in the Outer Circle, but it’s the only sign that any part of my community survived. No Sector has gone unpunished. While large segments of the Core and Midi Circles still seem reasonably intact, other parts have been obliterated beyond recognition.
Heaps of rubble compete for space on the streets with overturned, mangled vehicles, shattered glass, chunks of burned, jagged debris, felled trees and shrubs, broken road signs, and the occasional lifeless body. Amber-hued waves of sunlight kiss the devastation underground like a mocking lover. Daybreak brings no restitution with it.
No Sector has been unaffected, and it will take considerable effort to come back from this. I look away with sad, heavy eyes. A multitude of thoughts flies across my mind.
Why didn’t we fight back in time?
How did the president get captured by Dante?
And, more importantly, where is he now?
The people need leadership, now more than ever.
“Shocking, isn’t it?” G acknowledges. “Will you still defend him? Protect him?”
“You don’t know him like I do. Logan would be appalled at this,” I protest. “He’d hate this as much as I do.”
“But he’s done nothing to stop this.” G’s expression is part incredulous.
“Neither did you!” I retort, thinking of how he chose to annihilate his fellow humans rather than rally with the government to fight back. “You waged war on your own people instead of protecting them, yet you have the nerve to accuse Logan of taking no action!”
That strikes a nerve if the pulsating muscle in his jaw is any indication. “Do you know what you stand on?” he asks, deliberately ignoring my comment. “See for yourself.” He takes my hand, surprising me with his gentle hold, and st
arts leading the way. I attempt to pull my hand back but he resists. “Don’t fight me.” His look is solemn. “Retaliating will get you nothing but a sore head. Ask your friend.” A largish bruise has already starting forming on Ax’s temple. Our eyes meet and his hold considerable concern.
G brings me to a gaping opening hollowed out in the center of the hill. Swarms of flies surround the hole, filling the brooding air with a symphony of buzzing. The most God-awful smell smacks me in the face, and I heave as noxious odors waft up my nostrils. G sucks in his cheeks and pinches his nose.
“Oh. God.” Jarod rasps, sinking to his knees as he keels over and pukes. Shivery tremors rock my body as I force myself to look. Extending deep into the ground is a mass grave. Mounds of dead, decomposing bodies are carelessly piled atop one another. Vultures and small animals scavenge the remains. My gaze lands on the body of a lifeless, naked young woman resting on top of the pile to my left. Her soulless eyes stare blankly at me within a face that has been gnawed almost to the bone. Flesh-eaten stumps occupy the space where her arms and legs once were, and the skin has been shredded across her torso. Tiny bite marks are visible on any remaining skin.
Slumping to the ground beside Jarod, I vomit the contents of my stomach. I’m too horrified and emotionally numb to cry. But, thankfully, my brain is still functioning on some level. While my face is shielded from G and his men, I quickly connect with Logan and explain our predicament. Warning him to stay a million miles away from here, I ask him to get word through to Rylan and Vin.
I push Logan out the minute I’m hefted off the ground lest G spot any telltale signs on my face. “This represents only a fraction of the casualties,” G confirms as he pulls me back toward the vehicle. “They incinerated thousands when they first attacked. Nothing left of the human body but tiny piles of ash.” He shakes his head sadly. “This group was less fortunate. They were tortured and experimented on before being tossed into that pit like garbage.” He buckles me into my seat. “Still think he’s a saint?”
“I never said that,” I protest.
“All Saven are accountable for the sins of their leader, irrespective of who that might be.” He slams the door shut in my face and climbs into the front passenger seat.
Mercifully, he is quiet the rest of the journey, leaving me to mull over my thoughts. Discreetly opening up my connection to Logan, I attempt to feed him images of the trip, hoping he’s receiving something and that he can locate some identifiable markers to pass onto Rylan and Vin.
I don’t know what G has in store for us other than it’s nothing good.
I don’t plan to stick around long enough to find out.
I don’t remember how or when I was rendered unconscious, but when I wake up, I’ve the mother of all headaches, and I’m chained to a chair in the center of a long, rectangular room. Low lights flicker on and off overhead, casting strange patterns over the gray stone floor. The air is thick and stifling, and I’m hot and clammy under my suit. There are no windows, no fresh air or sunlight, and only one way into the room via a thick, impenetrable steel door.
Someone moans beside me, and I whip my head left and right. Ax and Jarod flank me, one on either side. They are also coming to.
“Give them some water,” G instructs someone from the shadows.
I take grateful sips of water as a soldier holds a bottle to my mouth. Running my tongue over my parched lips, I try to ignore the gnarling emptiness of my stomach.
Ax, Jarod, and I trade wary expressions as the soldier retreats to the back wall, joining a couple of other muscle-heads awaiting further instructions from G.
“I need two things from you, Sadie,” G says without any fussing about. I’ve always admired his bluntness. “Cooperate and I’ll let you live. Refuse me and it won’t be pleasant. There are no more second chances.” He sits ramrod straight in the chair.
I glare at him but remain quiet.
“Firstly, you will deliver the exact coordinates to planet Saven.” He drums his fingers off the arm of his chair. “Secondly, you will record a pre-written message for Logan.” He waits expectantly.
Tossing my hair over my shoulders, I pierce him with my most hateful glare. “Firstly, I don’t know the coordinates, and secondly, screw you.”
He sighs as if I’m an impudent child. “Immaturity doesn’t become you. I don’t enjoy harming women, and I don’t want to hurt you, but you won’t stand in my way.”
I clench my jaw and shoot my worst death-glare at him. “I won’t help you to kill anyone. Do your worst.”
Ax shoots me an irritated look before aiming his gaze at G. “I’ll give you the Saven coordinates provided you agree not to hurt her.”
“No! Ax! Please don’t!” My tone is laced with panic. “He’ll decimate the planet and probably kill all of us in the process.”
For a moment, he looks conflicted until some indecipherable emotion overpowers all sense of logic and reason. “I can give you tons of intel in exchange for allowing Sadie and me safe passage off this planet before you take action. If you want control of the galaxy, I’ll give up all the other planets. I even know details of how your son intends to stop you.”
Jarod curses while I stare at Ax in shock. I can’t believe this—that he’d stoop so low. Irrespective of the fact he’s doing it to protect me, it’s selfish and unforgiveable. “I won’t go with you,” I counter, recapturing his full attention. “If you make this deal, if you do this, you are dead to me. And I’ll kill myself, the first opportunity I get.” It’s not an empty threat.
“I don’t care. You’ll be mine again, and I’ll lock you up if I have to in order to stop you from harming yourself.”
I gape at the stranger beside me with new revulsion. “You can’t mean that. Please tell me you don’t mean that.”
There’s a brief flicker of hesitation, of indecision, in his eyes.
G chuckles. “It seems you’ve quite the list of admirers, Ms. Owens.” I scowl at him, not even remotely amused. He turns to Ax. “Tempting and all as that offer is, I’ll have to decline. Only she can do this. I want to look into Logan’s eyes as he dies.”
“I will never help you.” I jut my chin out insolently. “I’ll never betray Logan. Never.” I spit venom with my words. “No matter what you do to me.”
“Famous last words.” He clicks his tongue as he gestures at the bulky, beefed-up soldier at the end with dark hair and a matching manner. “Proceed.”
I grit my teeth and push my nervousness aside. I hold my chin upright as I’m forcefully hauled out of my seat. The soldier tugs my restrained hands up over my head. Lifting me up, he fastens my wrists around a hook hanging from the ceiling. A protracted aching pain stretches from my wrists to my underarms, and the muscles in my arms vibrate and tremble with exertion as I dangle a few feet off the ground. Ax and Jarod protest loudly until one of the soldiers seals their mouths shut with a band of tape.
The soldier presses a little button on the side of my restraints, and a succession of precise pricks poke into the flesh of my hands, breaking skin and penetrating bone-deep. I bite down hard on my tongue to stop myself from shouting out. Sweat pumps out of my forehead, slicking my face as it rolls into my eyes and mouth. I thrash about, mid-air, as tiny trickles of blood lick the skin on my arms. Blinding pain blurs my vision.
Next, the soldier rolls his sleeves up to his elbows and readies his fists. Determined eyes lock on mine as his first strike hits me square in the jaw. My head whips back painfully, and murky stars form a new filmy layer across my eyes. The latest wave of fiery adrenaline floods my system, to no avail.
Landing blow after blow to my face, the soldier steps back momentarily to survey his handiwork. Stinging pain sears the flesh on my face, and something warm leaks out of my nose.
Sounds of struggling beneath me indicate Jarod and Ax aren’t prepared to sit idly by and do nothing.
“That’s enough. For now,” G instructs from farther away.
I collapse against the soldier
as he unhooks my arms and deposits me back in my chair. Stringy, sweaty strands of hair stick to the sides of my blood-soaked face as the soldier drips water into my mouth. I guzzle it greedily.
“No!” G is arguing furiously with someone. Focusing my vision, I spot him at the open entrance, conversing with someone in the corridor. “It has to happen like this. I’ve waited far too long to exact my revenge.”
The door snicks shut as he stomps toward us, his lips curling in anger.
Still winded, I perk up in the chair, suddenly remembering things Vin and Jarod have both said about him. Acute realization dawns. “This is personal for you.”
CHAPTER 25
It’s a statement, not a question. “Why? Help me to understand, and maybe I’ll see things differently.”
I won’t but it’s worth a shot. I’ve reopened the Eterno connection, and I’m feeding images of our location to Logan, hoping that Vin will recognize this place and come get us, because otherwise we won’t be leaving any time soon.
Surprisingly, he doesn’t need much encouragement. “You’re right. It is personal. I don’t ordinarily share this with anyone but … you … I think you’ll be able to relate to this.” Standing up, he turns and faces the row of soldiers. “Leave us.”
He calmly retakes his seat while his soldiers obey. He only starts to talk when the shrill clanging of the door closing confirms he has privacy. “You understand what it’s like to have your life ripped out from under you thanks to alien manipulation, don’t you, Sadie?”
I shiver in the hot room as he stares intently into my eyes.
He knows about me!
How?
My mind is cluttered with possibilities, but I need to keep him talking. “Yes, I do. You clearly understand my story, so what’s yours?”
The lines on his face soften as he takes us back in time. “I was five, going on six, when it happened. Too young to properly understand.” A look of heartfelt anguish spreads across his face. “My mom was my everything, and they took her from me. She didn’t return home from work one night, and I never saw her again.” He stares off vacantly, lost in the throes of the past. Jarod looks at me with a perplexed frown.
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