The Starborn Ascension: Books 1, 2, and 3 (The Starborn Saga)

by Jason D. Morrow

  My eyes travel to Scott and Derek, both of them choosing not to look at me. “No,” I say. “I think I’m going to bed.”

  “Are you sure?” she asks. She raises a steaming mug into the air. “I’ve made hot chocolate.”

  I glance at Scott and Derek’s untouched mugs on the coffee table in front of them. I already know it’s less hot chocolate and more hot water with a hint of chocolate flavoring.

  “No,” I say. “Thank you. I’m really tired. I will see you in the morning.”

  I make my way down the hallway to my room. When I close the door behind me, I know I won’t be sleeping—not with Scott and Derek in the house. With every sound, every creak, I will be wondering what they might be up to.

  Chapter 5 - Waverly

  The piece of metal that Amber gave me was a symbol. It meant that she understands that we are in this together. Though I don’t face the same physical tortures as she, I am here against my will too. Having to look into Amber’s future and see the pain she must endure for the sake of honing my ability is its own kind of torture, and I think Amber understands that.

  Our relationship is unlike any I’ve ever experienced. For a month, she and I have been together and have experienced the hardships of Shadowface’s wrath. But the two of us have never had a chance to talk to each other without someone listening to us, or without the forced conversation typed out on a card at breakfast. But I have seen into her eyes, and she has seen into mine. There is a pain there that both of us can feel. There is an understanding.

  The door to my room finally opens and Peter comes in as he usually does, but this time he doesn’t take a seat or pull out a notepad and pencil. This time he stays at the door, a guard behind him. His stalling makes me nervous, and my mind instantly goes to the metal piece that keeps the latch from closing completely. Did he or one of the guards notice it? Did he see Amber pass it to me?

  “We will not be having the normal evaluation today,” Peter says.

  “Why not?”

  “Someone wants to meet with you.”

  “Who?” I ask, standing.

  Peter pauses for a moment and smiles. “Frankly, I’m quite jealous. Shadowface wants to meet you. I haven’t even had the opportunity to speak with Shadowface in person.”

  Though Peter looks at it as a happy moment that I should be proud of, I can feel my stomach sink. It’s dread mixed with fear. I don’t want to meet with her. What does she want with me anyway?

  I decide to keep the questions to myself as I follow behind Peter and the guard falls in after me. We go through more winding hallways, but we eventually come to a door that I’ve never seen before. Peter pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and opens it. The next set of hallways are very unlike the ship-like, dark, metal corridors that I have grown accustomed to for the past month. These feel more like a hospital, but with the smell of a hotel. The floors are made of polished granite tiles, and the walls are decorated with paintings set above potted plants that have been situated every ten feet or so. I try to count the number of turns we make, but by about seven or eight, I start to question myself. I then think that finding my way back here would not be a priority. Tonight, I’m escaping and I’m never coming back so it doesn’t matter.

  The three of us reach an elevator. Once inside, I’m surprised to see Peter punch a lower level button. I had figured we would be going up toward the surface, but instead we go three more floors underground. I was unconscious when I was brought here, so I don’t remember any of the lavish hallways or even an elevator. Seeing all of it and having walked so far, it feels like this building has to be huge. I can’t help but wonder where we are. Perhaps it is a converted hospital. That would certainly explain the size.

  When the elevator opens again, we are greeted by a hall that is dark and bare. It’s nothing like the hallways that lead to the area where Amber and I are forced to have breakfast every morning. We step out onto carpet, the color impossible to determine because of the lack of light. Every ten or fifteen feet there is a soft, dim light hanging from the ceiling. It’s just enough to know where we need to go, but not really enough to feel comfortable with the surroundings. I get the sense that someone or something could pop out at us at any second. It brings up old feelings of being in places where a greyskin could come at me and I wouldn’t have time to react. It’s a place I would normally avoid.

  Scattered throughout the hallway are a few doors, offices or rooms for what, I cannot imagine. We make a few more turns until we come to the end of one of the hallways. There is a set of double doors with a guard standing in front. He carries an automatic rifle and stares us down as we approach. When I look at Peter’s face, I can tell that even he seems a bit nervous.

  The three of us stop a few feet away from the guard and Peter becomes my spokesperson.

  “Hello Taylor,” Peter says. “Shadowface has requested the presence of Waverly. Here she is.”

  The guard looks me up and down and then nods at Peter. “I’ll take her from here,” the guard on the left says.

  My escorts take a couple of steps back, leaving me standing by myself in front of Taylor. I glance back at Peter who remains motionless. The expression on his face is one of eagerness and curiosity. He wants to see Shadowface. He wants to know her. I bet he has no idea that I know more about Shadowface than he does, though it’s not much. The thought gives me a sense of power over him, but it is a false sense. If anyone here is powerless, it is me.

  “You can go inside,” the guard says.

  I take a deep breath and try not to let my hands shake. I’m not exactly sure why I’m nervous. It’s not like she’s going to do anything to me, right? I’ve seen a vision of tonight and I’m in it. That means Shadowface intends no harm for me in this meeting. I find little relief in my rationalizations as I reach for one of the doorknobs and twist. I walk through the first door and find myself in a foyer. Another set of double doors stand in front of me, this time without a guard to hinder me. I have to take another deep breath and reach out for the next doorknob and twist. This time when I open the door, the light within blinds me.

  I’m forced to squint as it feels like the light engulfs me completely. Why is it so bright in here? The squinting doesn’t seem to be enough and I can feel a headache coming on. But as my eyes become accustomed to the light, my headache fades and soon I even feel comfortable.

  “Not a bad trick, is it?” a voice calls out from my right.

  My head snaps toward it, but I don’t see the source at first. The room I’m in is huge. It’s not unlike the room I’ve been in for the past month, though the furniture is much more luxurious. Black leather sofas and chairs are positioned in various places, and there is even a fountain made to look like a waterfall over rocks on the opposite side of the room. The ceiling must be at least twelve feet tall and the fountain is half that. To my right, I search for the source of the voice and find a woman leaning against a large, white-metal desk. She wears a black trench coat as if she’s about to leave for a stroll, but she seems to have been waiting for me.

  “What trick?” I ask, taking a short step forward.

  “The light,” she says. “You make the way here very dark, and the moment a person steps into the room, I’m the one with the first look. With the lights so bright, I was able to see you for a good ten seconds before you even realized I was here.”

  “Sounds like you’re afraid someone’s going to kill you,” I say.

  She slides off her desk and begins walking toward me, her hands in her coat pockets. “When you’re in a position such as mine, you’re always afraid someone will try to kill you.”

  As she comes closer, I can see her face more clearly. Apparently, this is the same face my sister saw that day she hid away in Elkhorn three years ago—the face that was with a mysterious man. Her blue eyes are piercing. Her hair is straight and blonde and is cut off at her cheeks just like my sister described her.

  “My name is Olivia,” she says. “It’s a pleasure to fin
ally meet you.”

  “I know who you are,” I say.

  Olivia lifts an eyebrow. “Are you about to say Shadowface?” Her grin flashes her straight, white teeth. “Come, have a seat.” She motions toward the desk to the right.

  I take in the room around me, my eyes finally able to comprehend all that is here. The lights actually aren’t so harsh now that I’ve been in here a minute or two. The entire place is spotless and almost everything is pristine white. There are a few doors in the giant room, no doubt leading to personal quarters or bathrooms. Olivia walks around to the other side of the desk and sits. I sit across from her, looking for something out of place, something that might give me an insight to who this woman really is, but there is nothing. No photos, no books to take her mind off things. But I don’t really need to know what kind of person she is. I already know that she works with scum raiders—people like Scarecrow who killed my Lucas. I know what my sister saw, and how this Olivia might have had something to do with the greyskin virus. This is why I don’t want to be here. This is why I feel dread.

  “I’m sure I already know what you think about me,” she says. “You have your opinions set in stone, but I wish that you would hear me out before you make me an enemy.”

  “Nothing you say can change what you’ve done,” I say. The words that pass by my lips surprises me. I’m not sure where the confidence comes from. The worst thing she could do would be to kill me, but I already know that isn’t going to happen. I’ve seen the future—at least until tonight.

  “But you don’t know what I’ve done,” Olivia says. “You only know by what other people have told you.”

  “I know that you’ve employed raiders. And because of those raiders, the person I cared about most in the world was killed in cold blood. I know that you tracked us down to Elkhorn because we had some Starborn blood that you wanted, and that you didn’t care who died as long as you got it. I know that you’ve kept me here against my will, forcing me to watch as grown men torture Amber day after day.” I take another deep breath. “I know that you have something to do with the greyskin outbreak. I don’t know to what extent, but I would say having any association with its beginning is bad enough.”

  Olivia’s eyes never leave mine and as I finish my little speech, her lips curl into a smile. “Sounds like you’ve been spending too much time with Jeremiah Adams. He tends to talk too much.”

  “None of the information I just told you came from Jeremiah,” I say.

  Olivia’s eyes narrow and then go back to normal—the movement so quick that I barely notice it. “Interesting.” She taps a finger on her desk and finally smiles again. “I wish you knew the whole truth of it all, but coming from me it will not mean much to you.”

  “Probably not.”

  “I want to gain your trust, Waverly,” she says.

  “You expect to do that by keeping me here against my will?”

  “I keep you here because the solution to some problems is worth the sacrifice of your comfort. Your Starborn power has the potential to help the world.”

  “So why not just take my blood and be done with me?”

  “Because I am not evil, and I don’t wish to hurt you. I would rather cooperate with you.”

  “You work with raiders,” I say.

  “They are some of the best scouts. They know areas without us having to learn them. Never did I employ them to do harm. That was their choice. It was a necessary risk for me to take, and I know that it didn’t turn out well for everyone.”

  “You torture Amber every day.”

  “Amber is a murderer,” Olivia answers. “She volunteered for this assignment in exchange for clemency. She knew she would face harsh conditions. We do things to her to test your ability because we needed to see how you interpret the future.”

  I want to ask if that included rape, but I don’t want to give away something that might impede our escape tonight.

  “None of this changes the fact that you attacked Elkhorn,” I say. “I watched as your man, Samuel, shot down innocent people.”

  Olivia shakes her head. “Lies. I authorized no such attack. I do not even work with anyone named Samuel.”

  I don’t really know how to come back at this. Is she just lying to my face? Probably. I can’t really argue with someone like that.

  “I have many enemies,” she continues. “Many claim to be working for me, when in fact, they are not. I wouldn’t doubt if the person in charge of the entire attack was Jeremiah himself.”

  “Why would Jeremiah attack Elkhorn? For the Starborn blood? He could have just stolen it from me.”

  “To gain more allies against me,” she says. “Jeremiah is an evil man with evil intentions. I’m just trying to keep this world together.”

  “But what about the fact that you had something to do with the virus?” I ask. I have to be careful here. This woman has all the power in the world. If Remi is still alive, I don’t want to give Olivia a reason to go after her.

  “Another lie made up by Jeremiah?” Olivia says, shrugging.

  I shake my head. “I won’t tell you who told me, but I trust this person completely.”

  It’s the first time Olivia’s eyes break from mine and I can tell that she’s racking her brain for who it could have been. Finally she shakes her head. “I wish you would tell me. Perhaps it’s just a lie that has spread among the people.”

  No. This isn’t just a lie. My sister wouldn’t just make up the fact that she was hiding in a closet at the University at Elkhorn when she saw this woman. She had been with a man. They talked about the virus and how it was supposed to spread. If this information had come from Jeremiah or anyone else, I might have been able to dismiss it as a lie, but this came from my sister. She would have no reason to make something like this up. I can tell that it’s Olivia’s goal to make me take her side, so I have to use this as my anchor whenever she is being most persuasive. I can’t give in to whatever it is she wants from me.

  “My purpose is to create a network,” Olivia says. “This world needs people to strive for a mutual benefit.”

  “And you get to lead it,” I say. “I’m sure we’ll all be calling you Queen Olivia someday.”

  “Quite the contrary,” Olivia answers. “I want the people to work for themselves. I want the world to be free under one umbrella—one network. We are all survivors of the same catastrophe. It’s time to end the suffering and find a means to a better world. And it all starts with people like you.”

  “Why have you made yourself into this Shadowface? What’s the point?”

  “To protect myself,” she says. “At one time it served to keep me safe. Now I’m getting to a point to where the network can’t grow without people knowing who I am. That’s actually what I called you in here for.”

  I shift in my seat a little. “Go on.”

  “Next week I’m setting up a meeting with all the settlement leaders who are currently in the network,” she says. “I’m going to tell them my identity. I’m doing it in person to let them know that I’m finally ready to sit down with them and work with them individually. Closely.”

  “What does that have to do with me?” I ask.

  “I want you to see the future,” she says. “I want you to look ahead and tell me how the meeting is going to go. I want to know if there will be any trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “The kind where I end up dead,” Olivia says. “As I’ve expressed before, I have enemies, and a meeting to expose myself to the public makes it dangerous for me.”

  “And you want me to look into the future?”

  She nods. “Yes.”

  “So, if I see you dying, you realize that I can lie to you about it, right?”

  Olivia scowls briefly. “But what would that gain you? I want us to be able to cooperate together. For the betterment of humankind.”

  “And what does that gain me?” I ask.

  Olivia stares at me for a long moment. It’s hard for me to k
now what she’s thinking. Any expression she releases is so quick, so brief that I barely see it.

  “Eventually you’ll be allowed to leave here,” she says. “You will go back to your life as it was.”

  I’m instantly struck by the coldness in her words. She knows that I have no life to return to. And it doesn’t help that the life I did have is probably gone because of her. But it’s not like I can just say that. She’ll deny that the greyskins were her fault. She’ll deny that the raiders she employed killed Lucas. She’ll deny her part in the fight against Elkhorn that ended with me shooting Ethan in the back. Olivia paints herself as a saint, and there is no one to say differently. Part of me wonders if she truly believes that she isn’t responsible. Another part of me wonders if she is telling the truth and I’ve been lied to or misinformed. What if Jeremiah truly was the one who orchestrated the fight at Elkhorn? What if my sister had been mistaken about the woman she saw? Three years is a long time.

  But then, why wouldn’t I try to gain Shadowface’s trust? Wouldn’t that put me into a good position? Even if she did use me for her benefit, I could use her too. She doesn’t know what I see when I look into the future. Only I know the images that pass by. I could look at anything. I could discover the answers by looking into her future.

  “I don’t understand why you trust me,” I say. “The future is limitless.”

  “I fully expect you to look into my future and see things that I might like to keep private,” she says. “That is the nature of your ability. But it is also your guarantee that I keep my word. I’m not lying to you.”

  “It’s dangerous for you,” I say. “I will see things that you might not have decided to do yet. You may have no plans to kill me, but what if I see a vision of you trying to kill me? Obviously I’m going to try to stop you—to change the future.”

  “It benefits you to know, right?” she asks.

  I sit for a moment, not knowing what to think. Yesterday, I had only ever heard of Shadowface. Today, I’m sitting face-to-face with her while she is ready for me to see into her future. Either she doesn’t know what this truly means, or she’s being completely genuine. That, or she has some plan up her sleeve that I am unable to perceive.