ARC: The Almost Girl

by Amalie Howard

  “I don’t know who to trust, Cale,” I answer honestly. “Everyone has lied, even you. The only one who hasn’t lied to me is Caden. I don’t know what’s truth or not.”

  “I knew you’d take his side,” Cale sneers, his face twisted in an ugly grimace. “He told me, you know, your father. About what you were doing in his house. With him.” I feel myself color, heat blooming in my cheeks, followed by horror that my father knew I was there, somehow saw what Caden and I did. I should have known that he’d have cameras in the house. He is far more paranoid than he used to be. I kick myself mentally for the tenth time for being so foolish and reckless.

  My eyes narrow. “Where is he?”

  “Taking care of some personal business at the lab,” Cale responds in a sly tone. “I am sure it will be a very sweet family reunion, don’t you think? Now give me what I want, Riven, or I will take away what you want.” He jerks his head in Caden’s direction, nodding to the guards, who step forward obediently to restrain him.

  My heart slides downhill at the betrayal. I’ve been such a fool.

  “So Murek isn’t after the throne?” I say in a soft voice. Cale smiles widely, shaking his head. “He’s your tool,” I breathe. “You use him just like you used me.”

  “Well,” Cale murmurs conversationally so only I can hear him. “Father and I had different ideas about the monarchy. I thought he was far too soft with the people. When my lungs started failing, he started asking questions. Pointed questions. I think in the end, he knew that I wasn’t his real son.” He spreads his hands wide. “So I took care of him.”

  “You murdered your own father?”

  “Technically, my uncle did it, but yes, it was at my behest.” His eyes are cold and dead like the monster he had become. “Don’t worry, the reptiles took care of him quickly, I heard.”

  “You’re insane,” I whisper.

  “Ah, the dreaded insanity,” Cale mocks. “That’s another thing I need your friend for. As brilliant as your father is, it’s not like he can create a whole new perfect brain for me.”

  Appalled, I can only stare at him. “What does he get out of helping you?”

  “Why, you, of course.” Cale rolls his eyes skyward. “Must be some skewed father-daughter thing.”

  Despite his sordid insinuation, I breathe a sigh of relief. Cale doesn’t know about me… about what my father had created. And of course my father didn’t say anything, because he had something to hide… something he knew that others – like Cale or Murek – would desperately want.

  Me.

  A part of me prays that Aurela circumvented whatever confrontation awaited them, but I know it’s a hope beyond hope. If he knew she was coming, he would have been prepared with a thousand Vectors. She’s probably already dead. The only tangible thing left to negotiate is Caden’s safety.

  “Cale, if I give you the chip,” I begin, “will you promise to let Caden return unharmed to the Otherworld?”

  “No!” Caden hisses, wrenching against the unbreakable grip of the Vectors.

  “Yes,” I say. “You belong there. You never belonged here.”

  “Riven, I have nothing to go back to. I belong with y…” He falters. “Here.”

  Loud clapping interrupts our exchange. “Isn’t that so touching? The captive fell in love with the captor.” Cale turns to me. “You’ve done your job well, General. So yes, you have my word that he will be allowed to leave unharmed as soon as I have the chip.”

  Saccharine treachery drenches his words. If he can murder his own father without a second thought, he will never let Caden go once he gets his hands on the only proof of any claim to the throne. We’re at an impasse – Cale staring at me with persuasive eyes and Caden staring at me with fury in his.

  “I’ll tell you where the chip is right now if you let him go.”

  “No, Riven!” Caden shouts, but I ignore him. “Don’t do this. Don’t let him do this.” My heart feels like it’s splintering inside my body but I know it’s the only way. It’s the only way for me to keep Caden safe from Cale’s insanity.

  I’m so sorry, Cade.

  “So where is it?” Cale snaps waving his arm impatiently.

  I deflect his question with one of my own. There’s no way I can give him the chip here in the castle with us under Vector arrest. Neither Caden or I would have a chance. “What happened to you, Cale? Things used to be different. You believed in Neospes and rebuilding what your ancestors started.”

  A hollow laugh. “Didn’t you get the memo? They aren’t really my ancestors. I’m merely a by-product of him.” Cale’s hands are shaking with rage as he points to Caden. “That doesn’t mean that I’m any less than he is, but the sad truth is, everyone will think that way. As soon as I understood what I was, I knew that I had to get rid of him for good.” His face is tortured, and my chest fills with an unfamiliar ache. He is my best friend – one for whom I’d sworn a blood oath to protect. “Do you know,” he continues bitterly, “my father tried to banish me? Murek was the one who told me, who saved me. So my father had to die. It was him or me.”

  “Cale, you can’t trust Murek. He’s a snake. He’s always been a snake. You know that. You know what he’s planning with the Vectors and the Otherworld?”

  A slow, cunning smile rolls over Cale’s face. “Of course I do. It was my idea.”

  “What?”

  “I will be greater than any king of Neospes, and when we take the resources from the Otherworld, I will rule them too.”

  “Listen to yourself, Cale. This is madness. The Guardians will never stand for it. You know what happened before, when people jumped back and forth centuries ago. We were decimated by disease. Our very existence was nearly derailed.” I’m almost screaming now. “There’s a reason the anti-eversion laws are in place… a reason the Guardians exist.”

  “The Guardians?” he mocks me, laughing cruelly. “What Guardians? What do you think the Vectors have been doing all this time? Surely you didn’t think they were only looking for either of you?”

  “What have you done, Cale?” I say. I can’t keep the horror from my voice as I remember what Aurela said about Guardians randomly dying. “The Guardians are neutral. Untouchable.”

  “By whose authority? The Faction?” Cale scoffs venomously. “Some obscure group of universe overseers from a thousand years ago?” His face is contorted with malice. “They’re just humans whom the Vectors have killed with no penalty whatsoever. The Faction or whatever they’re called is a made-up entity. I’m the king. I call the shots.”

  His face is manic, and it’s clear Cale has completely lost his mind. His thirst for power has consumed him. But even though I know it will be of no use, I still try one more time. “Cale, what you are doesn’t define you. It’s who you are inside, who you make of yourself. Trust me, I know.” I want to tell him the truth about me, but I know that I can’t. “Being the master of two universes won’t make you happy. It won’t make you whole or feel any less broken. You are what you are. The choices you make are the things that define you, and this isn’t you. I know you.”

  “You know a ghost.” Cale’s jaw clenches and his eyes darken to a stormy green. “We’re done here. Where’s the chip?”

  “I can’t give it to you,” I say. “I know you’ll never keep your word. I could always tell when you were lying, and you are now.”

  “So be it,” Cale says, his face hardening even more. He nods to the guards, who escort Caden through the door into the main hall. “They kill him if you so much as twitch toward me, Riven,” he warns. He glares at me to follow, a twisted smile curving his lips in warning. He knows that I’m itching to take him out now that we’re alone. But there’s too much at stake, and with Caden’s life hanging in the balance, I can’t risk it. I grit my teeth and follow Caden through the doors.

  The great hall is full of Vectors, and the chemical smell of them all is almost suffocating. Murek is standing next to a bloodied but alive Sauer, and staring at me with a self-satisfi
ed smirk on his bulbous face. I send him a clear message of my own – if I get within an inch of him, his life will be mine. This time, I smile.

  “You see,” Cale whispers in my ear. “I know you just as well, Riven. I knew you would say no to me, so I have something very special planned for you.” Cale walks to the throne at the end of the hall, where the two Vectors are waiting with the restrained Caden. I don’t meet his eyes. I can’t meet them, because I need to be strong for whatever is coming next. Murek bows respectfully as Cale takes his place on the throne.

  “Lord Murek, please bring out our special guest.”

  I am prepared to see Aurela bound and gagged, because there’s no one more important to me than Caden other than her, and for the moment, he’s safe. It would be amusing if they had somehow put back together the commander I’d destroyed earlier. Folding my arms across my chest, I paste a bored expression on my face.

  But nothing prepares me for what comes through those doors.

  Murek walks back into the hall with a malicious, triumphant smile. At his side is a Vector, but it’s not just any Vector. This Vector is slim in stature and has the face of someone I love.

  Someone I loved.

  Shae, my heart breathes her name. What have they done to you?

  My stomach plummets and the world spins out from beneath my feet. I’m backing away with an outstretched arm, my other hand clapped to my mouth. My eyes are burning. As if from a dense fog, I hear Sauer’s pained shriek. I feel wetness on my cheeks – everything hurts, and I’m choking.

  “No,” I gasp.

  “Yes,” Cale shouts, clapping.

  My sister is a Vector.

  “Come on, Riven; let’s see those infamous skills of yours,” Cale crows.

  “You are a monster. You’ll never rule Neospes. I will kill you first. I’ll kill you all.” I’m screaming as I’m keening, my rage and pain making me berserk. Now I understand why he’d let me keep my weapons. I can hardly see through the cloud of fury that’s flaying me, but somehow my eyes meet Caden’s. Although his pain is as great as mine, maybe even greater, there’s something else there… a silent glance that slivers through the haze in my brain.

  Do what you must.

  And everything disappears – all the anger, the hurt, the aching sadness – all of it, and it’s just Caden anchoring me to him. Caden is my past, my present, and my future. He is my world. He’s the only whole thing in all of this broken madness, reminding me of everything that’s true… everything that is real.

  My sister died in the Otherworld. I grieved. I mourned her.

  This is not my sister.

  Cale and my father have made a mockery of what she was. They’ll pay for that too. They all will. I leave the war paint of tears on my face – they’re for her.

  Grimly, I turn to face my opponent, ignoring the long dark-blonde braids and the curve of her cheekbones. Instead, I focus on the milky eyes that are nothing like her vibrant full-of-life ones. Her arms are long and slender, no longer full of caring. They wield a deadly staff with double-edged blades at both ends.

  “Hello, Riven,” it says in her voice.

  Reeling, I don’t see the first blow coming until the last second, and I duck, but the edge of the blade clips my temple and forehead, just missing my eye. Blood splatters along the floor following the arc of the staff flying upward, and drips down my neck.

  She’s a talking Vector, like the Commander earlier, nothing more.

  “Miss me?”

  This is not my sister.

  Gritting my teeth, I pull out the sword – the Artok sword my real sister had made for me – from its sheath, swinging it upward just in time to meet the blow of the staff coming toward me. The force of it ricochets up my arms. She’s strong… stronger now. I have to tell myself again that this is not Shae. It’s a Vector… a tough Vector that has her face and her voice, but one that will never fight with her heart, or her skill.

  So we dance.

  Most of my moves are defensive. I’m watching her movements, learning what’s been programmed. We circle each other, the violent sound of steel clashing echoing in the huge hall. We could be exhibition sparring in the training field. I need to change the game, to get her to slip up. I step in, ducking under one of her strikes, my foot colliding with her chest so hard that she staggers backward, but it doesn’t stop her. Advancing, I whip the sword up to catch her across the chest, but her Vector suit is in armor mode and deflects the strike harmlessly. She lunges toward me as I spin and crouch, throwing my leg out to catch her in the back of her knee. She stumbles but rights herself with the inhuman grace only a Vector has. She smiles, cocking her head to one side.

  “You left me to die,” she says. “You didn’t even try to fight. You wanted me to die.”

  Her words are worse than her blows. Guilt chokes me.

  I left my sister to die.

  Grinning, she comes at me again, swinging that staff of hers in a circular motion like a fan. I weave and bob, but I can feel the air of the blades whipping far too close to my face. I’m disoriented, disabled by her barbed taunts. At the last second, she stops, the weapon in one hand, her dead eyes holding mine.

  “You killed me,” she whispers, and then twists to kick me in the ribs. Payback. The sick crunch of bone snaps wetly and I double over, only to feel the flat of her weapon crashing against the back of my head.

  I drop like a sack of stones, pain rocketing through my body. The sword skids across the room. Everything is swimming through my blurred vision as I crawl to my knees. It feels like I’m moving through quicksand, and the booted foot comes far too quickly, smashing me in the side of the face. Color explodes like fireworks inside my eyelids, and blood fills my mouth as my entire body flips up and over from the force of her kick.

  I cough, spluttering blood through loose teeth.

  Cacophonic laughter echoes around me. It’s Murek, his face lit up with glee. Cale is sitting on the edge of his throne, something hungry in his expression – his desire to punish me is more than personal. All eyes are on us, even the rest of the dead Vectors standing silently around the hall’s perimeter, but the only ones I care about are fixed on me. I can feel Caden’s strength, willing me to get up.

  I can’t.

  You can, his eyes say.

  I shake my head. She’s too fast, faster than any Vector I’ve ever fought. She’s invulnerable.

  You’re faster than any human.

  It feels like the words are Caden’s words, but I know the conversation is entirely in my head. Still, he’s right or I’m right. I’m faster than any human. I’m like them, only better, a reverse-engineered reptile.

  I turn over, spitting a mouthful of blood to the floor and pulling my arm underneath me. The suit’s armor is already on, but I enter a sequence on the wrist-pad engaging synchronous mode. The suit will attune to me, and I with it.

  I’ll fight fire with fire.

  Somersaulting to my feet, I feel myself powering up, the nanobes inside of me responding to the energy from the suit. I am reptile. The smile that opens across my face is the Vector’s only warning before I launch myself toward her, running at full speed and drawing my ninjatas from the harness.

  One I toss in Cale’s direction, and I see the momentary shock on his face. But it’s not meant for him. I don’t even turn around to hear the satisfied thud of steel into flesh or the thump of Murek’s dead body on the ground. Instead, I’m leaping, launching myself like a missile to the abomination in front of me.

  Her staff goes flying and we both fall to the ground, rolling. The smell of her and formaldehyde fills my nose as I straddle her chest. This time I stare into the milky blue eyes.

  “You are not my sister,” I hiss, and slam the remaining ninjata up through her chin into her head. Blue fluid spurts out.

  Her leg swings up and over my neck, thrusting me forward, but I jump easily to my feet. So does she, her staff back in hand. The blade is still stuck in her neck, the hilt of it protruding ou
tward. She starts the spinning trick again, but this time I stand my ground. The blade whips so close to my hair that I see wisps of it falling to the ground. I bare my teeth in a grin.

  “No,” I say, grasping the staff in the middle and stopping it mid-motion, my gloved fingers closing on hers. The armored suit is a fluid extension of me, unbendable and unyielding. The Vector tries to pull it away, but now I am as strong – or stronger even – than she is. I move closer, looking deep into the Vector’s eyes that once belonged to my sister, because I know he’s watching remotely.

  “I’m coming for you, Father.”

  And then I lean back and kick the hilt of the ninjata sideways so that it rips across the Vector’s spinal column and clatters to the floor in a spray of blue. There’s dead silence in the hall for an instant as the Vector falls to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Caden flip up and over, twisting the arms of his captors. He slams their heads together, and they crumple to the ground. Grabbing the wounded Sauer and tossing him over his shoulder, he darts toward me in the center of the room.

  “Restrain the prisoners!” Cale screams to the Vectors surrounding us, and suddenly pandemonium erupts as we’re rushed on all sides.

  There’s no way in hell we can win. But we won’t go down without a fight. I’m going to take as many of them as I can with me. I feel Caden’s fingers slip into mine, and I squeeze. We lock eyes, and I know that we’re in this together. Sauer stands weakly next to us, the crossbow in his hand already firing into the oncoming horde. With a deep breath, I raise the staff I took off Vector Shae and prepare to do battle.

  But then the unexpected happens.

  Every single one of the Vectors stops in their tracks, their arms and weapons falling to their sides, eyes going blank and dull. The remaining human guards back away in confusion. There’s no way they will take us on without the Vectors.

  “What happened?” Caden asks, his voice loud in the unnatural silence. Even Cale is staring at us in the middle of an unmoving mob with his jaw on the floor.