Captured Memories (The Sanction Series Book 4)

by Hayley Lawson

  Captured Memories

  The Sanction Series: Book 4

  by HJLawson

  ~~~

  Ebook Edition 1

  Copyright © 2016 by HJLawson. All rights reserved.

  Ebook Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Author's Note

  Bonus

  Chapter One

  About Norma Hinkens

  CHAPTER ONE

  Skylier

  Madison? Where’s Madison? is the first thought that jumps into my head. The second is Where am I? I quickly glance around the room. I’m in Enoch’s sleeping quarters, and Abaven and Sloft are staring at me. They don’t look pleased.

  I look away, not wanting to meet Abaven’s eyes. Instead I look at Rian, my brother, and his eyes are filled with disappointment. I know why they are all looking at me like this: I disobeyed Abaven when I went to find Gerel on the wasteland. Something happened out there that knocked the life out of me, something that couldn’t be true. There is no way I can bring someone back to life. My head hurts as I try to think about what happened out there… and the crows, all of the crows.

  Whatever happened out on the wasteland with Gerel and her sister Beba, who had been at death’s door, has sapped all my strength.

  “Madison’s sleeping. You haven’t got time to worry about her right now.”

  “But will she be OK?”

  “She’s dehydrated and she’s weak, but good people are taking good care of her.” Abaven throws a bag down onto Enoch’s battered metal table. The noise echoes around the cave's sleeping quarters, reminding me of back home in Cueva. Enoch isn’t here, which I’m glad for; I don’t need any more eyes projecting disappointment at me.

  Are you OK, though? Rian’s mind reaches out to mine.

  I’m fine. Just tired.

  “We don’t have much time. It’s now or never,” says Sloft. I wonder how many Purenet rebels are working for Abaven.

  “Sloft is going to take you to Gavyn,” says Abaven.

  I nod. Gavyn said when the time was right he’d send for us.

  “I wish I weren’t so tired,” I mumble to myself, but as soon as I say it I wish I hadn’t. Here it comes.

  “That is why I didn’t want you to go last night,” Abaven lectures me. “Now is the only chance you’re going to have to rescue your family.”

  Great, now I feel worn out and guilty.

  “What? Now?” I force myself to straighten up. I can’t let Abaven think I’m weak or he will pull me off the mission.

  “Gavyn’s got a plan to rescue our mother and Callie,” says Rian. “But he can’t do it without us.”

  “It’s still all chaos up there,” says Sloft. “Xander has gone to chase Dax, and the Chancellor is still recovering from the Bazi’s attack. No one has admitted that they’ve lost Xander’s Host. It’s too embarrassing. They’re searching everywhere with the hopes of getting Skylier back where she belongs before either of them find out she’s missing. If Xander finds out she’s down here, we may as well walk out into the wasteland right now.”

  Another wave of guilt rolls inside my stomach. I’m putting everyone’s lives at risk.

  Abaven undoes the buckles on the bag but doesn’t open it.

  “Gavyn has been called back to guard duties,” he says, “and cannot leave his post. There’s a brief moment during which he’ll be able to help you: during the change of the guard on the east entrance to the Purenet compound. Sloft will take you there. The meeting is scheduled for one hour from now.”

  I try to remember how long it took us to get from Purenet to Cavern on the shuttle when we first came here. I hope it was less than an hour.

  “Gavyn will cause a distraction that will allow you to get back in unnoticed,” says Sloft. “The moment is crucial. He cannot rescue your family himself because he can only be spared for about an hour before people suspect something is up. They’ve got all the guards working overtime to bring order back to the complex.”

  “What do we do once Gavyn gets us inside?” asks Rian.

  Abaven lifts something out of the bag. It looks like folded cloth, but much thinner.

  “This is a map,” says Abaven. “Made of paper.” I’ve heard of paper. It was something they used to make a lot in the old days. “I can’t give you any tech because it will show up on the censors and give away your position if anyone realizes you’re there and starts looking for you. So this is an old way of carrying a map,” Abaven explains.

  He unfolds it gently and lays it on the table. Rian and I both lean over it, fascinated. It looks like any other map we’ve seen on screens at school, except there are loads of other lines interfering with the main schematic, like the paper had originally been something else and someone had made a map out of it more recently.

  “This is the compound where your mother and sister are being kept,” says Sloft, pointing to a square right in the heart of the Purenet complex. My heart sinks. They seem so far, so out of reach. “Gavyn will meet you here,” he says, pointing to what must be the east entrance. “When you get there, he will explain the route you need to take to find your family, and what to do when you reach them. There isn’t time to go into the details now. Have you got it?”

  “I think so,” I say, not confident that I really have.

  “Yeah, sure,” says Rian.

  Abaven looks at both of us closely in turn. “You do realize that this is going to be a dangerous mission, don’t you? You have to be sure you can pull through if you’re going to have any chance of succeeding.”

  “I know,” I say, trying to sound strong.

  “Like I said, since that Bazi attacked the Chancellor, it’s been chaos up there, but they’re getting things back under control. We still have a little time, but only a tiny window.” Sloft sighs and looks at us.

  Abaven reaches into the bag again and pulls out two miniature guns and a couple of ankle holsters.

  “Strap one of these to your ankle under your trousers,” he says. “We don’t have time to teach you how to use it, but I’ll never forgive myself if I let you go back there without any protection at all.”

  I glance at Rian. He’s never held a weapon before, but I can see him light up.

  “Thank you, Abaven,” I say. I don’t want my little brother to become a killer. What am I leading him into?

  Only use the gun if you have to, my mind says to Rian.

  Don’t worry, I got this. Rian strokes the gun like it’s his new friend.

  “I’ll need to go separately,” says Abaven.

  “You’re comi
ng too?”

  “Yes. Once I’m back inside Purenet, I can access the main computer system to drop the security around the Chancellor’s quarters. That’ll give you your chance if you’re there and ready.” He peers at me with concerned eyes. “You will be ready, won’t you?” he asks.

  “Of course.” I draw myself up. “I have to get them out. Nothing’s going to stop me. I’ll die trying.”

  “You’d better not,” says Sloft, “after all the effort we’ve gone through. Gavyn has taken care of everything as far as he can. You must be pretty special for him to go through all this effort for you. Gavyn has been loyal to the Chancellor and his family all his life, and now he suddenly changes his allegiance?”

  “It’s not me, it’s my brother he’s loyal to,” I respond.

  “Let’s hope that his loyalty to Dax is stronger than his loyalty to the Chancellor, because all our lives are riding on him,” says Abaven darkly.

  “We won’t let you down,” says Rian. I feel strong, like Rian and I can do anything together. An unstoppable force. I reach out my hand and take his, squeezing it. He grins at me.

  Ready? his mind asks.

  Before I can answer or even formulate my next thought, there’s a dull thud in the distance and a shudder that shakes the room. I grab the table in alarm.

  “What was that?” asks Abaven sharply.

  Enoch skids through the brown, stained sheet that hangs across the doorway. “Abaven!” Enoch cries. “Purenet soldiers!” He’s out of breath and his face is white without needing any of the Purenet makeup. There’s screaming outside as feet clatter down Cavern’s tight corridors.

  Sloft leaps up. “Curses, I knew we didn’t have any time left.”

  “Where are they?” demands Abaven.

  “The shuttle gate,” says Enoch, still panting.

  “Stay here.” Abaven takes the dark-brown scarf from his neck and wraps it around his head to hide his identity from the soldiers, leaving peepholes for him to see out of, and exits through the sheet. Enoch follows him, ignoring his command.

  My whole body is tense.

  Don’t worry, Rian says.

  How can we not? I demand.

  Nothing happens for a couple of minutes; we only hear voices, shouting, and some screams that make my fingers curl. My fists are so tight that my nails dig into my palms. What is happening? I creep toward the sheet covering the entrance to the room.

  “What are you doing? Stay back!” Sloft hisses.

  Rian stands by my side, staring down at Sloft. Rian is clearly younger than Sloft, but towers over him, thanks to the strong Cueva genes.

  “I can’t bear it, I have to see,” I say.

  I tweak the sheet aside so that only my right eye peeks out. Enoch’s quarters are on the sixth level, and with only a narrow walkway outside the door, down below feels like a long drop. The main square, where we partied just yesterday, is filling with white-uniformed Purenet soldiers. They look out of place surrounded by the dark-colored stone.

  They must have sent every soldier they had left, I think so Rian can hear.

  What’s happening? What’s going on? he demands behind me, not able to see, but I don’t answer.

  People are still scurrying about below like a stirred-up ant’s nest. With horror, I see that the soldiers’ guns are all charged blue—charged to kill.

  They’re going to shoot someone! I think. And before Rian’s outrage reaches my mind, a girl not much older than me is convulsing on the floor. Rian yanks me back as I gasp out in shock.

  Someone will see you.

  The screaming is louder. All I can see in my mind is that girl’s body just crumpling and thudding to the ground. She hadn’t done anything; she was just running to get out of the soldiers’ way, just like everybody else. After the screams there’s a shocked silence.

  “People of Cavern,” a voice booms through some kind of loudspeaker. “You are under lockdown in the name of the Chancellor.” Sloft is cursing behind us. “You are harboring property of Purenet.”

  “I knew it was only a matter of time,” Sloft mutters miserably, and I’m not looking at him but I bet he’s wringing his hands.

  “You will give it up or you will be killed,” the voice continues.

  And they’re not joking about that, Rian’s mind says. They’ve already shown they’re deadly serious.

  I creep back toward the sheet to see what’s going on. A woman is weeping over the body of the fallen girl.

  I focus on the woman, blocking out all other sounds. “What are you talking about?” she asks. She lifts her head defiantly to challenge the nearest soldier. “We don’t have anything belonging to Purenet here. How could we? We just work, eat, and sleep.”

  The soldier’s gun flies forward and the butt connects with her head. She’s knocked aside like a bag of rags. She gives a small yelp.

  “You are harboring escapees, Host Skylier and Games-Selected Rian. They are highly dangerous and must be returned to their owners in Purenet immediately. Failure to do so will result in punishment of Cavern. You will be given one hour to consider your response.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Skylier

  The loudspeaker shuts off, and the soldiers about-turn before marching out of the square. A few heads look up toward our sheet and I pull back out of the way.

  “What are we going to do?” I ask Sloft. “They’ll turn us over to the soldiers. They’ll have to.”

  “But we’re one of them now. They can’t,” says Rian, but I can tell he doesn’t really believe it. His eyes are wide with fear.

  “Just because you’ve gone and gotten your hair done like them doesn’t mean you’re one of them,” Sloft’s words are cold. “They don’t know you, and you haven’t earned their loyalty.”

  “That’s not true,” says Abaven, striding into the room and making me jump. “They all know what it’s like to be Skylier and Rian, to be rescued from Purenet. Each person here has their own horror story from Purenet. Just because they don’t know theirs, doesn’t mean they don’t understand.”

  “What’s going to happen?” I ask.

  “Our plan to rescue your mother and sister is ruined. Things have moved quicker than we suspected, and our window of opportunity has passed.”

  My heart sinks. This is my fault. If only we’d been ready to go when Sloft came for us. If I hadn’t insisted on going out last night… Last night, when we rescued Madison and Beba. So stupid. No, I made the right decision! I had to help Madison and Beba; if I’d left them I would have been just as bad as the people of Purenet, pretending that things that are happening have nothing to do with them.

  “How could they know we’re here?” I ask.

  Gavyn, Rian’s mind tells me. I knew we couldn’t trust him. He’s sold us out.

  “We will need to make a new plan,” says Abaven, looking grave.

  He could have handed us in already. This is horrible. My mind finds Rian’s. We should never have left Purenet.

  We had to. It was chaos. We would’ve gotten killed if we had stayed there.

  “The Committee is ready,” says Enoch, poking his head around the sheet door.

  Abaven nods. “Good.” He turns to Rian and me. “I have to go. We need to discuss the best course of action. Sloft, we’ll need you. Everyone else stay here. Enoch, look after Skylier and Rian.”

  “Committee?” I ask. “Aren’t you the leader here?”

  “Yes, but mine isn’t the only voice that counts.” Abaven and Sloft duck behind the sheet back onto the narrow walkway beyond.

  “Enoch, what’s going on out there?” I ask. I can feel the little bubbles of panic welling up inside me, but there’s nothing I can do to stop them coming.

  “People are scared,” he says. He looks tired and suddenly a lot older. He finds a chair and collapses into it. I turn to Rian.

  Rian, we have to.

  No, it’s too risky.

  “They’ll protect you, though,” says Enoch, giving a smile that looks l
ike it’s intended to be reassuring. He seems sincere, but how could they defend us? Sloft’s right: They don’t even know us.

  “We have to hand ourselves in,” I say. The thought is terrifying, but all of a sudden I know it’s the only way any of this can be solved.

  “You can’t!” Enoch exclaims. “You can’t go back to the life you had in Purenet. They’ll make it a living hell.”

  If you go, I’ll have to go as well, says Rian.

  I can’t make the decision for both of us, but Rian, we must.

  “If we don’t go back, they’ll kill Callie and our mother,” I say out loud.

  Go back to the Games... after all this?

  Yes, you’re the best Cueva has ever sent. You’ll win.

  “We’ll rescue your family,” Enoch insists. “Abaven will have a plan. He always does. He’s a genius. He’s faced tougher problems than this and won.”

  “Maybe Abaven is brilliant,” I find myself saying. “But he’s not the Emperor, controlling everyone. Even Abaven can’t beat all of Purenet’s militia.”

  “I bet he can,” grins Enoch, some of his color finally returning to his face.

  We’re silent for a minute, and I pace up and down the room, unable to just sit and let some committee make this decision for me.

  “We thought we had a chance with the chaos over the stabbing of the Chancellor, but now they know we’ve escaped,” I say. “Even if they don’t actually know we’re here, they have our family hostage. The longer we stay in hiding, the more chance there is that they’ll kill our mother and Callie.”

  “They don’t know—” Enoch starts to say.

  “It doesn’t matter what they do or don’t know. Xander wants me to be his Host and will do anything to keep me under his control. It’s not just about losing some property; it’s about punishing me.”

  The only hope I have of keeping them safe is to go back and be Xander’s Host. You have to see that.

  “You can’t put yourself through that,” says Enoch, horrified.