Q: Good. I loved your first book!
S.C. McMurray: Did you get paid to say that?
Q: Yes, by you.
S.C. McMurray: Oh…Can we delete that from the record?
Q: Sure. I’ll do it later. Anyway, is there anything you want to say to your readers?
S.C. McMurray: Yes! Stay out of jail!
Q: That’s it? No thanks for reading, please share this novel with your friends, rate it and review it on Amazon?
S.C. McMurray: Of course that stuff too, but also, stay out of jail!
Q: Okay? Where can people contact you?
S. C. McMurray: Besides waiting in the bushes outside my house to surprise me on my way to work, you can follow me on Twitter at ignitethepages or on Instagram at ignite_the_pages. I also occasionally blog at www.ignitethepages.blogspot.com.
Q: Any final thoughts?
S.C. McMurray: ----------
Q: Well?
S.C. McMurray: Shush! I’m thinking.
Q: Oh! I get it.
READ ON FOR A PREVIEW OF THE SEQUEL TO ILL-FATED
Prelude
Amidst all the chaos swirling around him, the brawling, the gunshots, the cries for help, all he could focus on was the drop-ship vanishing into the burning red horizon. The slight hum of the ship’s twin engines fading as if it was the last note of a tragic melody.
Tragic, he thought. That is a word for it.
The turn of events was tragic. His parents were dead. Some of his friends were dead. And the person he loved, the person he felt such a strong connection to, was leaving with the very man responsible for all of it….
Now that is tragic.
Standing in the courtyard of Forsythe Prison, where he nearly died, where his friend died and where she had just left him, a memory came, almost as if someone whispered into his ear.
He was a boy, just six or seven and he was still grieving about his parents’ abrupt departure from his life. He had been playing at the park and was walking home to his uncle’s house when he was struck by a rock from behind. He crashed to his knees as something warm and thick raced down his back. Through his concussed haze, he spotted the rock nearby. He grabbed it with one hand and reached his other to the back of his head. Afraid that he would feel the pink goo of brain slithering out of his skull, he touched the wound gently then looked. His fingers were red.
He was still staring at the blood, almost in disbelief, when he heard the laughter. It cut through the air and then through him. He stood to his feet and turned. There were three of them. Pointing and laughing. He stared at them and slowly his hand curled into a fist around the rock as something took over. It began deep inside his stomach and spread out, crawling to the edges until all of his being was focused on the boy in the middle, the tallest one, the biggest one. He didn’t know why he chose him, he didn’t care.
The tall boy was still laughing, his chin cocked into the air as if victory was already assured, when Rillian charged. The tall boy had no time to react. As Rillian got close, he hurled the rock with all his might, striking the tall boy right in the adam’s apple. The boy crumpled to his knees, clutching at his throat, gasping for breath. That should have been enough, but Rillian wasn’t finished. The other boys were too stunned to move and just watched in horror.
Rillian launched himself into the tall boy and pounded his fists against the boy’s face. Cartilage snapped and popped and blood splashed onto Rillian’s hands. He continued his barrage on his neighborhood tormentor unabated as the anger, the pain, and the loss flowed out of him.
He didn’t stop until two adult hands yanked him from behind, successfully pulling him away from the unconscious boy. Rillian’s chest heaved as he wiped the wetness off his cheeks with the sleeve of his shirt. Then he stood motionless as adults swarmed in to help the broken boy. Even at that young age, he knew he should be feeling something. Remorse? Regret? Conviction? But he was numb for a moment. Then it settled on him, an emotion he hadn’t felt since his parents left. He was too young then to realize what it was, but as an adult he now recognized it. It was peace. It was contentment. Because the boy had to pay. A wrong had been committed and the boy had to pay.
Someone must pay.
No, many will pay.
And the one who took her away from me, is at the top of the list.
Chapter 1
Evelyn bent down next to where her father was lying on the floor of the cargo hold. She placed her hand on his chest and felt his lungs expand and deflate. He was alive but unconscious. Lana was sitting next to her mother, leaning forward because the stripes across her back made it too painful to recline. She appeared to be exhausted or maybe it was just the trauma, Evelyn wasn’t sure. Either way, Lana couldn’t keep her eyes open.
Selena sat in the corner of the hold, a gun spread across her lap, glaring at Adam. She wouldn’t dare do anything with Evelyn nearby. But she looked as if she was pondering it.
Not far from where Evelyn was kneeling, Clive was sobbing. It was hard to listen to and even harder to watch. He had seemed so strong, so assure of the risks they all were taking that seeing him like that didn’t seem real.
But it was real.
The worst of it didn’t move or make a sound. The one that caused the most pain, the one that wrenched at her heart the most was lying under a white canvas sheet.
His wife was husbandless and his daughter was fatherless, because of Evelyn. All of it was because of Evelyn. The scars that Lana would carry so visibly upon her back, the hate that festered in Selena’s heart, the invisible wounds that would never heal and the loss they all shared was Evelyn’s fault.
She felt in that moment, that she should open the cargo hold and jump out. To escape, to end it all before anymore had to suffer for her sake. But it wouldn’t work. She wouldn’t die. Frankenstein’s monster would live. The price that all men pay would not be paid by her.
That thought stayed with her for the rest of the ride, hovering around her head like a gnat and she didn’t even bother to try and swat it away. Eventually she felt the craft descending and she heard Carlson’s voice boom over the intercom.
“We have reached the safe house, buckle up, it’s going to be a rough landing.”
Hardly anyone moved, as if they didn’t care if the craft crashed and they were smashed into pieces. Evelyn glanced over at Adam, who was buckling his safety harness then took hold of her father’s shoulders.
The craft dropped rapidly and Evelyn stomach heaved. She clenched her father’s shoulders tighter and glanced once again at Adam. His eyes were closed. The craft listed to the side, then leveled out before descending again. There was a sudden jerk as the craft pulled to a stop and Evelyn didn’t stand until she felt the landing gear touch the ground safely.
Lana’s mother, Johanna, strode to the bay door. She covered her nose and mouth and pulled a nearby lever. Hydraulics hissed and the rear of the ship fell open, allowing an acrid stench to fill the hold. Evelyn coughed, as did the others, until she pulled the collar of her shirt over her face.
The air was thick and dark and seemed to wrestle its arms around Evelyn’s body. A circle of lights appeared in the distance, followed by shadowy silhouettes. Evelyn soon realized that the lights were attached to guns and the barrels were pointed right at them. She took a step toward Adam, almost instinctively.
The soldiers stopped, their guns still trained on Evelyn and her comrades. With their black fatigues and bug eyed gas masks, the soldiers were like the monsters that Evelyn had pictured living in her closet when she was child, before she realized the real monsters wore nice suits and lived in posh mansions in Washington D.C.
There was a tense moment and Evelyn felt her muscles tighten until Johanna stepped forward.
“Stand down,” her voice was stern, “my name is Johanna Vue and I am the ranking officer here. We have wounded that need immediate medical attention.”
The soldiers were unmoving. Johanna took another step toward them and spoke with more urgency.
A soldier in the middle lowered his weapon and the others followed suit. A steely voice funneled through the hose of the gas mask.
“Have to be sure, Johanna.” He turned to his men. “Get the wounded inside.”
The soldiers produced gas masks seemingly from the thick air and rushed inside the ship. They slipped one over Evelyn's father then lifted him carefully onto a stretcher. One of the soldier's hurried over to Lana and helped her stand to her feet.
"Be careful," Johanna said, "that's my daughter."
The soldier in the middle, who Evelyn assumed to be Fox, nodded his head.
"So that's Lana, all grown up."
"She's still a kid, Fox, so don’t even think about it."
"Never," he responded. "You know I only have eyes for you."
Selena grabbed a gas mask, slipped it over her face and brushed by the man. Fox followed her with his eyes.
"And her too," he added.
A soldier passed out masks for each person. Evelyn put one on and immediately her lungs felt cleaner. She followed Fox and the others as they moved through the dark. Adam stayed close to her side.
The ground under her feet was squishy at first but hardened as they moved forward down an incline. The path narrowed the deeper they went until Evelyn could reach out and touch cool hard rock on both sides. Eventually they came to a steel door, Fox typed something in on an adjacent control panel and it opened, causing a bright yellow light to fill the space, blinding Evelyn for a moment.
When her eyes adjusted, she noticed that they were no longer walking on rock but metal grating. When the door closed behind them, Fox pulled off his gas mask and Evelyn saw his face for the first time.
Despite the five o'clock shadow, Fox appeared younger then she had pictured him to be, with short brown hair and keen green eyes. He was easy to look at and she felt a strange warm feeling inside when he took a long glance at her. Adam, who seemed to notice Fox’s lingering eye, slipped off his mask and softly placed a hand on Evelyn’s lower back. Fox’s eyes narrowed before turning away. He gestured with his arm.
“Welcome to San Francisco.”
“Or what’s left of it,” Selena mumbled.
Fox glowered at Selena, “I know it's not what it used to be baby, but after the Chinese unleashed their arsenal of chemical weapons on us what'd you expect?"
Selena scowled back. "Don't call me baby."
He smirked. "Okay Dear," then held up his gas mask. "When the steel door is shut we are safe, the air inside is filtered but prolonged exposure to the air outside is fatal. Do you all understand?”
Evelyn slipped off her mask and nodded with the others.
“Where are we exactly?” Adam asked.
Selena stopped abruptly and turned around. “Why should he tell you, Senator’s son?”
Adam stood unblinking but didn’t respond.
“If it were me I would have left you outside to fend for yourself," Selena sneered. "Maybe then you could figure out where we are.”
Johanna stepped between Selena and Adam. “Stand down Selena, he’s with us.” She glanced at Adam and produced a small remote the size of an ink pen from her pocket. “Besides, if I even get an inkling that he is going to betray us, I’ll kill him.”
Fox, who seemed to be amused by the whole exchange, chuckled to himself. “A killing device. Clever, Johanna.”
Johanna nodded in the direction of Adam. “It was his idea.”
Evelyn stepped closer to Adam and whispered, “You put one of those things in you?”
Adam nodded quickly. “Yes, it was the only way to prove that I wasn’t trying to trap them.” Evelyn glared disapprovingly at him. He shrugged. “Would you have trusted me otherwise?”
Evelyn didn’t answer out loud because she wasn’t sure if she still could trust him and she understood why Selena didn’t.
The situation passed leaving a trail of tension behind, like bread crumbs leading them down the hallway. They followed Fox through a long corridor to a set of swinging doors leading to a room that reminded Evelyn of her high school's cafeteria.
Fox stopped in front of the door. “Cookie is making chow, anyone hungry?”
Carlson almost growled. “I’m starving. Haven’t eaten in days.”
“Chow down Carlson, but don’t eat us out of house and home, we are due for a shipment soon and I know how you pilot types are.”
“You know what they say,” Carlson said, “You can’t drive a helly without a belly.”
Fox laughed. “Ain’t that the truth?”
Carlson pushed his way through the double doors leading into the cafeteria. “If you need me, you know where to find me.”
Selena followed him along with the other SPC soldiers leaving Evelyn standing with Adam, Clive, Johanna and Fox. As soon as the doors swung shut Johanna spoke.
“So Fox, have you heard from Command?”
“Perhaps.” He took a long hard look at Adam. “But I’m not saying anything in front of him.”
Clive spoke up. “He got us out of that prison.”
Evelyn glanced at Adam. He looked surprised that Clive was standing up for him.
“But he also put you in that prison,” Fox replied.
“Look Fox," Clive said, "he’s on our side now, even if he doesn’t want to be. There is no way in hell that Thatcher will take him back after what he did at the prison.”
“He’s right,” Adam admitted, “I’m a fugitive just like you.”
Fox looked passed Adam to Evelyn. “And the girl?”
“She’s the girl that Dr. Larkin sent us to find,” Clive answered.
Fox arched an eyebrow. “So she’s the one that started all of this trouble.”
Evelyn felt a sudden pang of guilt, like someone was twisting a knife in an already existing wound.
“This trouble was started long before she came around,” Johanna said.
Clive crossed his arms. “And now we have to deal with it.”
Fox lowered his eyes to Joanna's level and spoke slowly, "Can we trust him?"
Johanna glanced at Adam and took a deep breath. "We scanned him for hidden communication before the prison break and he's clean. And if he does try anything..." she paused and took a quick glance at Evelyn, “I will not hesitate to active the kill device."
Evelyn thought about the device. If Johanna, or someone else, were to activate it, Adam would die and she would be powerless to stop it. She shuddered.
"So you trust him?" Fox asked again.
Johanna nodded.
Fox shrugged a bit. "Hell, we may need him anyway."
"Why?" Clive asked.
Fox grinned, like someone privy to valuable to information.
Johanna leaned forward earnestly. "What did Command tell you?"
Fox reached into a pocket and pulled out a thin rolled up piece of paper. It took a moment for Evelyn to realize that it was a cigarette. She'd read about them at school and how dangerous they were to our nation's unity. Fox pressed the cigarette between his lips and then lit it with a silver lighter as he said, "You aren't going to believe this."
Clive and Johanna spoke in unison, "Believe what?"
"They finally said it." Fox inhaled deeply, the end of his cigarette lit up and then he exhaled. “They finally said it’s time to fight back.”
Coming Soon for Amazon Kindle
Ill-Fated (Ill-Fated Series Book 1) Page 32