by Kyle West
She explored for an hour, discovering treasures in the rubble. Jewelry, glass bottles, paper money. The last was useless, but some people liked to collect it. She found a small, thick book and pocketed it in her backpack. A gift for her brother, maybe.
It was around this time, exploring Macy’s fifth floor, that she became aware of the fact that she wasn’t alone.
She stood still, breathing as softly as possible while the hairs stood on the back of her neck. She was beginning to think she was imagining it, but then she heard the voices, muffled and quiet. Her first instinct was to run, but of course that was foolish. Makara’s thoughts returned to the basement of Angel Command and the ghosts said to haunt it, and if there were ghosts, they would surely haunt this dark place, too. With as many people that died after the Rock fell, the world was bound to be covered with ghosts.
From her own experience, Makara knew monsters existed, and she felt herself starting to shake. She wrung her hands, feeling as if something were missing from between them, something she couldn’t quite place.
But Makara didn’t think these voices were ghosts, after listening a little while longer. Ghost voices usually faded in and out, and you weren’t sure if it was your imagination or reality. These voices were reality, and she was definitely hearing them. If she ran, they would hear her, too, and she might even get caught. She wasn’t sure why she thought these voices constituted a threat. Raine, after all, was still in the process of taking inventory of the mall himself, and these voices could just be men, exploring like her.
She thought about calling out, but that wasn’t wise. Decent people didn’t skulk around in an empty department store in the dark, and these people didn’t seem to be trying to make their presence obvious. They’d be talking much louder if that was the case.
Against her better judgment, Makara crouched and crawled forward, to hear better. Makara’s heart pounded; she knew this was stupid. Even with how well she could see in the dark, she might bump into something and give herself away. Even the smallest sound would betray her.
And yet, she felt herself inexplicably drawn forward. She strained her ears to listen.
“We’ve been waiting for months,” the man said. “Now’s the time.”
Makara couldn’t place the voice, but the next voice reminded her of Ohlan. She wasn’t sure it was him, but she ascribed the voice to him anyway.
“It’s not time. How many times do I have to say that before you believe it?”
“I wonder,” the man said. “He will not be pleased with your lack of progress.”
Ohlan grunted. “He’ll be even less happy if his grunt tries to spook me into jumping the gun.” There was a pause. “You ever played chess?”
Makara felt her skin prickle. It was Ohlan, all right. He loved chess and often talked about it. It couldn’t just be a coincidence.
“No,” the man said. “I don’t see what has to do with . . .”
“Raine and I played, growing up. Raine is all about the short game. I’m all about the long game.”
“The longer Raine’s in charge, the worse it’ll be,” the man said.
“We’re playing a game, my brother and me. Maybe it doesn’t seem like that to you. But I can’t have him suspecting me of anything. All he needs is a pretext. The smallest pretext. If he does that, then all this will be for nothing. If I’m hanging by my throat, what good is that to your boss?”
“You’ve been saying that for months,” the man, so soft that Makara could barely hear. “Lord Black will hear of it.”
“Lord Black must play by the rules of the game as much as any other man,” Ohlan said. “Were he here, I’d tell him the same thing.”
“You wouldn’t kill him, then? For what he did to your brother’s wife?”
On that point, Ohlan was silent for a moment. Makara waited, hardly daring to breathe.
“My brother is the one responsible for that. Only he deserves the blame. I see Raine as nothing more than an actor in this farce. Men like him come and go in a flash, like a flare in the sky. His flare is rising. But all things must fall.”
“He seems like he’s pretty strong to me.”
“Of course,” Ohlan said. “Raine isn’t to be underestimated. It can’t be something so simple as killing him. For all his faults, the people are loyal to him. Someone would rise to take his place. Green, perhaps. I’ve thought of that before. Green would make a more dangerous enemy. I can’t use Green. Eddie doesn’t have the gumption, while Shaw and Miles don’t have the brains.” Ohlan guffawed.
“Carin wants Raine out of the picture. The longer he stays alive, the more time the Angels have time to recover. Carin can’t allow that.”
“Your solution is to make a martyr of him?”
“Anything is better than waiting.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Cyrus. Most of the time, waiting is the best thing you can do. My brother doesn’t make mistakes often. Just like in chess, you play a solid game and wait for the blunder. Then you strike, and before they know what’s happening, things are out of their control. They are forced into a bad position, taking trades they never wanted to make. Then they lose pieces. By then, it’s too late. Watching their eyes, when they realize they’ve been bested, outsmarted . . .” Ohlan sighed. “There’s nothing like it in the whole world.”
Makara racked her brain but didn’t know anyone named Cyrus. With a start, she realized that they were now moving, the footsteps heading closer to her.
She backed away as quickly as she dared toward the stairway. She stopped, and there was moment of painful silence. Had they heard her?
Makara only relaxed after Cyrus spoke again.
“What do I tell Lord Black, then?”
“You tell him what I told you last time.”
“He doesn’t have another few months, Ohlan. He wants results.”
“And so do I,” Ohlan growled dangerously.
Makara didn’t stay to listen longer. She headed for the steps, walking slowly until she was sure she was out of earshot.
Then, she ran.
Chapter 22
MAKARA RAN FASTER THAN she ever had in her life. She only felt relief as she entered the main concourse of the mall, where electricity had been rigged and people milled about on each of the three levels. She felt safe only when she lost herself among the crowd.
The Angels’ new location had attracted lots of people. Though it had been only a few months since the move, the number of people under the Angels’ purview had almost doubled.
Makara searched the crowd for any face she might know, but everyone here was a stranger. Newer people were given homes further out from the main hub, so Makara jogged deeper within the mall, forcing herself to slow down. A few cast glances her way, but she mostly passed through ignored.
Raine was most likely in his office, which had been set up in an old department store on the opposite side of the mall. She took the steps of the defunct escalator two at a time, and within moments, she was racing toward the entrance of his office.
Or at least, she would have been, had there not been two thickly muscled guards barring her way.
“Can’t let you in, Makara,” one of them said. “Raine’s orders.”
“It’s important,” Makara said. “Mark, right?”
“What’s this about?” the other guard asked.
“I can’t tell you why, but I need to see Raine right away.”
“He’s in a meeting,” Mark said.
“When’s it over?”
He shrugged.
Makara chewed her lip worriedly. She knew Raine would want to hear her news immediately, but she was old enough to know that she couldn’t even trust his personal guards with what she’d heard. There was nothing to do but come back later.
She stalked off, going to the railing and staring over the side at the concourse below. She looked in the direction from which she had come, half-expecting Ohlan and Cyrus to show up, whatever he looked like. But of course, neither did
.
There were other ways to get to her destination. The mall had multiple ways in and out, so there was a chance some of the other doors weren’t covered by guards. The only one she could guess would be left unguarded were some of the exterior doors that had once been fire exits. She could only hope, with the power on now, that it wouldn’t trigger any sort of alarm.
Not just anyone was allowed outside, but Makara had her ways. There were way too many entrances for guards to cover them all. Blocking off the superfluous entrances was one of Raine’s priorities, but he hadn’t gotten around to covering them all yet.
If Makara could go back to the abandoned part of the mall and leave though one of the stores, then she could wrap around to Raine’s office. It meant going outside, which was always dangerous, but it was important that Raine got the news as soon as possible.
Makara walked down the escalator until she was on the ground level. She moved quickly through the mall until the sounds of people were a low din behind her. She turned into a store which she knew would lead outside. She navigated the broken shelves and aisles of what had once been a supermarket. She found the exit easily enough; through the broken glass came the slanting rays of red sunlight. There were just a couple hours until sunset but getting to Raine wouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes.
She ducked carefully through the door, which still had shards of glass sticking to its frame, and was soon outside. She looked at out at the reddened ruins beyond, and then checked in the direction of the department store in which she had overheard Ohlan. She saw nothing out that way, so she turned right, edging along the massive mall.
On her left was a vast, open space covered with dust and debris. Half-buried in the rubble were the frames of rusting cars, which Makara knew must have been sitting there since Dark Day. She couldn’t help but feel exposed as the cold wind blew. She quickened her pace.
After just a few minutes, she reached the department store Raine was in, turning right through a revolving door. She gave a push, and the door spun easily enough. At least, until it got caught on something, but by shouldering as hard as she could, Makara pushed the door the rest of the way through. It spun so quickly that she tripped, and before the door could trap her, she used her momentum to dive forward into the building.
She grunted, then stood to brush herself off. A quick scan revealed no one in sight, though she could hear voices coming from the mall up ahead. Hearing that sound oriented her. There should be an escalator nearby.
She walked through the wide-open space, her boots barely making any noise on the white-tiled floor. She nearly jumped when she saw some guards sitting on some couches nearby, but they seemed to be focused on their card game. They didn’t even look up as she walked by, though surely, they knew she was there. Apparently, the guards inside didn’t have orders to kick anyone out who was already in.
With newfound confidence, Makara walked up the escalator to the second floor. Another guard passed her on the way down, even nodding at her as he did so. Once she reached the top of the landing, she turned up a final escalator, and upon reaching the top, saw the backs of the guards that had originally told her she couldn’t enter. They were facing out toward the mall at the department’s entrance, chatting away. Makara had to stifle a giggle at the thought of them turning around and seeing her.
Growing serious, she went deeper into the store, and heard Raine’s voice, though it was too far for her to make out anything. She walked until she came to an open door, where inside there was a round table surrounded by chairs, each filled with a different council member.
As she stood in the doorway, Raine paused in the middle of his sentence, his eyes widening a bit at seeing her. Makara was about to speak when she noticed someone most unexpected at Raine’s side.
Ohlan.
“We’ll be done in a minute, Makara,” Raine said. “Go find your brother.”
She blinked in disbelief. There was no way Ohlan could have gotten here this quickly after she had left him there in the store. She couldn’t help but stare at him in disbelief, and Ohlan gave a smirk, as if he knew what she was thinking. Did he know?
“All right,” she said weakly.
She turned around and walked from the room. She didn’t know whether to feel confused or frightened. She didn’t know how Ohlan could possibly be there. Ohlan never really named himself, and neither had Cyrus named him. Had she just been mistaken?
No. It had to have been Ohlan.
She decided to ask Raine later if he had been at the meeting the whole time. He needed to know that his brother planned to betray him.
Chapter 23
WHEN MAKARA GOT HOME to the apartment, which had once been a small store on the mall’s third level, she immediately told Samuel everything that had happened with Ohlan, along with seeing him in the meeting with Raine not fifteen minutes after the fact.
Makara kept waiting for him to answer.
“Are you sure it was him?” he said, at last.
“I know what I heard, Samuel,” Makara said. “It was him.”
Samuel gave a slow nod and went right back to thinking.
“What are we going to do, Sam?”
Samuel opened his mouth to speak but stopped short. Whatever he had been about to say, he decided it wasn’t worth saying. Samuel always chose his words carefully, a habit which was driving Makara crazy right now.
“I don’t know, Makara. Raine must be told, obviously. What worries me most is that an agent of the Reapers got in here in the first place. Cyrus, you said? That means they know we’re here already. I supposed that was bound to happen eventually.”
Makara nodded impatiently. “They were talking about killing him, Samuel!” The idea, said aloud, seemed ridiculous. But Raine was a powerful man, and he had enemies. One of which, apparently, was his own brother. “There are lots of unsecured entrances to this place. I’ve explored the entire complex pretty much. For all the ones Raine has blocked there are plenty more. I find new ones almost every week, and not all of them are on the ground level. There’s the whole basement section that I’m still exploring.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t do that anymore,” Samuel said. “At least, not alone. With all the ways into this place, it’s a little convenient for the Reapers that we moved here. There is more space, and it is deeper in Angels’ territory, but what does that space matter if it can’t be controlled?
“What about Raine?” Makara pressed. “What do we tell him?”
“Are you absolutely sure it was Ohlan?”
“He all but said his name. It was the same, gravelly voice. I’d recognize it anywhere.”
“Then how was he able to join Raine so quickly?”
“I don’t know,” Makara said. “He must have while I was outside trying to get back in. If that’s the case, then I barely missed him.”
And if Makara was truly unlucky, then either one of them might have seen her when she left, if they also left soon after.
She pushed that thought away. “I still need to ask Raine if Ohlan was at the meeting the entire time. If so, then I don’t know what to think.”
“Do you think Ohlan suspects you of anything?”
Makara thought about it. He had looked at her curiously when she walked into the meeting, but there was no telling whether he thought something was off. Ohlan was an intelligent man, so Makara wouldn’t put it past him to be suspicious, even when there was no real reason to be. What Ohlan had noticed, without doubt, was her reaction upon seeing him in the meeting. Makara had always been uneasy around Ohlan, so perhaps that might be written off.
Then again, her gut told her she had reason to worry.
“We should wait first,” Samuel said. “Until tomorrow, at least. If we go back now and Ohlan sees either of us, it will only make him suspicious. If he suspects you, then surely he’ll be making a note of your actions.”
“You think he’d watch me?”
“Possibly. Not directly, of course, but he always has lackeys who foll
ow him around. People who are more loyal to him than Raine. We can’t be too careful, Makara. We’ll just stay home tonight.”
She hated the thought of being watched. “I was supposed to see Raine tomorrow, anyway. I thought we were supposed to be living with him.”
“So did I,” Samuel said. “We’ll go together tomorrow. Once Raine knows, that’s when we can take action.”
Makara nodded. Despite Samuel’s confident words, she could only wonder if it would be that easy.
Chapter 24
THE NEXT MORNING, MAKARA ran to Raine’s office before remembering that running would only get people’s attention. She forced herself to walk, and no one talked to her aside from two middle-aged women setting up a fruit stall in the center of the concourse for the daily market.
Makara stopped, feigning interest in the wilted fruit and vegetables being offered, but otherwise made it through the market quickly so she could get to the end of the concourse, the entrance to the command center. This early, it was empty save for a few guards making the rounds.
Samuel was going to come later. They were probably being overly cautious, but if anyone had an eye for detail, it was Ohlan. Samuel had even suggested Ohlan probably had spies working inside the mall, and if so, he was probably keeping tabs on anyone close to Raine. That would include both Makara and Samuel.
Thankfully, it was normal for her to go see Raine on her own. Makara couldn’t think of a reason anyone would find it suspicious. Even so, Makara couldn’t help but be nervous. She felt as if she were being watched, and she resisted the temptation to look around to see if the feeling was true.
By now, dozens of people filled the market. Some were arguing and haggling. Several people watched as she walked by, and Makara couldn’t help but wonder whether they worked for Ohlan.