Rite of Revelation (Acceptance Book 2)

by Sarah Negovetich

  “So how are we going to do this? Just ride down there and demand to speak to Alan?”

  After a day and a half of non-stop suggestions and questions from Patrice, I’m beginning to second guess my vote to let her come.

  “I’m guessing if they don’t know we’re here yet, we won’t have to get much closer before they see us.” I scan the forest around us for signs of guards, but they’re either too well-hidden or not there. “Let’s just make our way toward the boulders where they led us out of town. And remember, I’ll do the talking.”

  Daniel gives me a smile of encouragement. He got over his anger pretty quickly when he realized Patrice would talk my ear off for the whole trip. He muttered something to the effect of ‘you get what you ask for’ before we all fell asleep last night.

  True, it won’t go down in history as my favorite day ever, but I’ll take Patrice’s constant chatter to her sullen sarcasm any day.

  We only travel another fifty yards when a piercing whistle echoes through the trees.

  “Well, there’s a face I didn’t expect to see any time soon.”

  “Mary.” I slide down out of the saddle and rush over to the only person I was actually looking forward to seeing here.

  “You’ve still got the bracelet, I see.” She shakes my hand and waves back at Daniel and Patrice. “What are you doing here? How are things in Allmore? Tell me everything.”

  In another lifetime, Mary and I would be good friends, but some things aren’t meant to be. “I’d love to catch up, but time is a luxury we don’t have. I need to speak to Alan, now if possible.”

  “Let’s go then. If we hurry, we can catch him at home before he leaves for lunch.” She takes off for the village without waiting on us.

  Patrice stays on the saddle, but Daniel jumps down and takes his reins in one hand and my hand with his other. “How are you holding up?”

  I take my time to walk over a log before responding. “Honestly, I don’t know.” I squeeze Daniel’s hand and keep walking. “I’ve been trying to focus on just traveling safely, but now that we’re here, I’m terrified.”

  “I don’t think Alan would actually hurt us.”

  “Not that.” I walk in silence for a minute to put my thoughts together. The closer we get to the village, the more the sounds of the forest fade and give way to human sounds. If I closed my eyes, we could be back in Allmore and that only makes me miss the people back there more. It’s our home now and one of our family members needs us.

  “I don’t know why, but there’s bad blood between our villages. I need to choose my words carefully if we stand any chance of getting this medicine.” I kick a rock out of my path. “They probably don’t have it anyway.”

  “We don’t know that,” Daniel says almost before I can finish my sentence. “We haven’t traded with them in years.”

  “I know, but it would be a miracle for any of these villages to have PAM. And yet, I can’t help getting my hopes up, which scares me for how much it’s going to hurt if they say they don’t have it.”

  The forest floor gives way to the broken roadway that leads into town. Daniel stops just before stepping on and forces me to look at him. “Never stop hoping. Even when the chances are slim to none. Your ability to hold onto hope in the face of almost certain defeat is one of the best parts about you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Hey, I thought you guys were in a hurry.” Mary calls back to us from several buildings down where she waits outside of the cottage I recognize as Alan’s.

  Daniel helps Patrice dismount, and the three of us hurry over to Mary.

  “You can leave the horses here with me. I checked, and he’s still here. You can go on in to see him.”

  I give her a nod of thanks and head inside. Alan and Margaret are both waiting in the living room, seated side by side on a couch that has seen better days.

  “Come in and shut the door behind you.” Alan’s voice is calm, but it’s clear he’s less than pleased to see us again.

  “Alan, thank you for seeing us on such short notice.” I march over and cut right to the chase. “We’re here to see if we can make a trade.”

  “A trade?” Alan leans back and smiles as if he’s enjoying a show. “Riders from Allmore haven’t made a trade here in over a decade. The situation must be getting pretty bad over there if Liam is desperate enough to try trading here. Is the whole village falling apart?”

  “No, nothing like that.” I shake my head and force my voice to stay calm. Daniel places a hand on my shoulder, and that helps me keep the frustration from leaking in.

  “Then why did he send you here to beg me to trade?”

  “We need some medicine, you big—”

  I jerk Patrice’s wrist and startle her into silence. Alan is infuriating, but we can’t risk ticking him off.

  “One of our villagers has cancer. We’re looking for PAM or Dador de Vida.”

  Alan stands up and Margaret mirrors his action. “We don’t have it.”

  His words wrap in a fist around my heart and squeeze until it stops pumping. I tried not to get my hopes up, but I failed. And now I’ve failed Ana, too.

  Daniel squeezes my shoulder and steps forward a bit. “Maybe we could check with Marcus. It’s possible he has some stashed away and you just don’t realize it.”

  “I would know if we had a Territory product laying around our storage shelves. We don’t have it, and even if we did, I’m not sure I would trade you for it.”

  Patrice makes an indistinguishable sound next to me. Something between a squeak and growl.

  “Liam made his choice when he left. We’re done here.” Alan marches over to the door and walks out without even looking back.

  Margaret follows him halfway to the door, but stops to look back, her face riddled with a mixture of emotions. “How is Liam? Is he…is he the one who’s sick?”

  My voice has deserted me so I shake my head back and forth. How could I possibly explain to her that even though Liam isn’t the one who’s dying, a part of him will be lost forever if we can’t save Ana?

  Margaret nods and follows Alan out of the house.

  And just like that, we’re back at square one.

  There’s nothing left to do now but go back home and wait with everyone else.

  Twenty-Three

  Two weeks gone. Two weeks since we got back from Arbor Glen empty-handed. Two weeks of Ana getting weaker without the medicine she needs. Two weeks of practically sleeping in the PE office because in here I don’t have to see the panicked and hopeful faces of everyone waiting for the riders to return. I don’t have to see Liam.

  A sharp knock on the door disturbs my study of the Noteboard listing our next supply run. I rub my hand across the back of my neck. “Come in.”

  Daniel slides the rest of the way into the room and leans against the chair where Ana should be sitting. We both stare at the empty seat. I turn away and refocus on the list.

  “So you are alive. I wasn’t really sure since I haven’t seen you in ages.” Daniel smiles. Not a little grin, but the full-face smile that lights up his rich brown eyes and makes my heart beat a little faster.

  “I know. Staying busy is the only thing keeping me sane. I’m re-routing our next supply runs to account for the lost time to search for Ana’s medicine. I have to make sure we don’t come up short of supplies once winter hits. There’s so much to do, and this stupid hunk of rock keeps going on the fritz and deleting my work so I have to start over.” I toss the Noteboard onto the desk and lean back in my creaky chair.

  Daniel taps on the screen, but the old batteries revolt. Undeterred, Daniel opens up the charging port and blows a few puffs of air into the machine. Another few taps and he has it up and running. “Probably just lack of sunlight messing with the power supply since you haven’t been outside in forever. I could juice this up for you if you want.”

  “You have more important things to do,” I say, taking the Noteboard back. “Now, if you could just creat
e a network that works between the villages, but stays hidden from the network the Territories use, you’d be my hero.”

  “I’ll get right on that,” he spins my chair around to face him, “but first you need a break.”

  “No, I don’t.” I tap the maps on the table. “Ana is counting on me to keep this place running until she gets better.” She has to get better.

  “Rebecca,” Daniel reaches over and takes my hands in his, “you’ve done everything you can to help her. You have every rider and a half dozen volunteers out there looking. Plus, Eric.”

  “Plus, Eric? Are you coming around on him?”

  “We’re not best friends, but I guess he’s not the worst guy on the planet.”

  “Aren’t you full of surprises.”

  “Come on, you can bring the Noteboard on a walk and let it recharge for a bit.”

  I stare at our joined hands. We’ve done so much together. “Okay, a minute.”

  Daniel pulls me out of my seat, down the stairs, and past a chipper Carol out into the street. The sun is high in the sky, heating my cheeks, and a warm breeze ruffles the blond hair that is finally growing out. I’ve spent so much time inside the trade office, looking for an answer to getting Ana her medicine, I didn’t notice the turn in the weather. Spring is over, and summer is in full force.

  Constance is out in front of the children’s building playing a game with the younger children. I don’t recognize it, but there’s lots of running and laughing. Nellie is among the kids, laughing along with the rest, too young to understand how sick her mom really is.

  We move down the main street, and other signs of summer stand out. The colors are brilliant. None of the tame spring flowers, unsure if they should emerge from winter hiding. Flowers bloom in boxes hanging in front of almost all the windows. Despite the humid heat, the grass taking root wherever the roadway has given up is bright green and calls out for someone to run around barefoot.

  Allmore may not be as well kept as the Territories, but it’s better in almost every other way. If we were there, the children wouldn’t be allowed to play outside in front of the building. They would be tucked away playing some orderly game where their laughter wouldn’t be a nuisance. And there wouldn’t be so much variety in all the flower boxes. Not because the Cardinal ordered everyone to be the same, but because no one ever wanted to stand out. I didn’t understand it before the PIT, but everyone is the Cardinal’s prisoner. Even if they don’t realize it.

  Daniel leads me off the main road and down several side streets into the area that has more houses and fewer offices and store rooms. “Are you ready to tell me where we’re going?”

  “We’re there.” Daniel stops in front of one of the older buildings.

  The door is missing, but a new one is resting to the side. The brick walls look sturdy, and the siding is in good shape, but in desperate need of some paint. Daniel climbs the stairs of the porch, and I follow him up and into the front room. Dust covers the floor except in a few places where footprints have disturbed the thick layer of grime.

  “The building crew has been working on this place ever since they finished Thomas and Constance’s place. They had to repair some of the walls and the floor was in pretty bad shape. There’s still more work to be done, and then Frank and I will come in and get it all wired up.” He walks over to the hole that should be a window, and the sunlight paints his dark skin in shades of shadow and gold. “Thomas and Constance live right next door.”

  I turn in a slow circle to take in the room. It’s small, but a fireplace on the far wall makes it feel homey. In the corner, there’s a dusty chandelier that could one day be gorgeous. The wood mantle is mostly intact, and I run a hand over the top.

  “Does this thing actually work?”

  “It’s just for looks. These were all converted to solar furnaces before the town was abandoned.” Daniel pulls back a faux brick to reveal a small panel of buttons. “Everything is controlled here, but there’s no power yet. Besides, Thomas said they have to clear out the ducts to each house when they renovate or the whole place will fill with smoke.”

  I nod and walk out of the small room and down the hall. There’s a kitchen to the left, just the right size for a little table to sit and go over trading orders. The bedrooms are bare, but I can imagine them with some simple furniture and cheerful curtains. I stare out the window hole and imagine sitting on the porch watching the sunset like two perfectly normal people, living a perfectly normal life.

  “So what do you think?”

  “It’s amazing.”

  Daniel leaves the window and stands with me in the hallway. “Can you live here? Or, I mean, do you want to live here…with me?”

  I stare up into Daniel’s warm, brown eyes. Everything about coming here has been difficult for us. Cramped living quarters, getting adjusted to a new way of living, and then, with Ana sick, me spending all my time in the PE office. But this is what we deserve. A place for us, just us. Because Daniel was right. We have to live our lives.

  “I love you, Daniel Whedon.” I grab his arms and pull into him, my head nuzzled into the little hollow of his chest that fits me perfectly.

  “And I love you, Rebecca Collins.” He pulls back. “Though, I was thinking, maybe it’s time to ditch the Collins. I take the vows we made back in the PIT seriously, but that was the best we could do then. We can do better now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Daniel gets down on his knee and takes my hands. “Let’s get married. Here, with our friends and everyone we love. Let’s have a ceremony and cake and all of it.”

  He lets go with one hand and reaches into the pocket of his jacket. When he pulls his hand back out he unfurls his fingers in front of me to reveal a small orange.

  “Back in the PIT, you told me that growing up you loved standing at the Airtrain station waiting for the shipment of oranges to come in. That smell of fresh citrus announcing the train was your favorite memory of home. But I want this to be your home and for this moment right here to be your new favorite memory.”

  Of course Daniel would remember something so simple. Only a brief moment, no more than a few minutes of conversation when I was nothing more than the girl who was set to pretend-marry Eric. But he remembers.

  I can’t talk through the tears, so I just nod over and over again like a small child. This man, this beautiful man is everything I could never possibly deserve. He stands up again, and we stand in the front room of our future house, arms wrapped tightly around each other. Neither of us speaks, but it’s not uncomfortable. We both know exactly what the other is thinking, so we don’t need words right now. The orange scent reaches around to tickle my nose, and I squeeze my eyes tight to lock in this minute. I want this to be my new favorite memory, too.

  The door bangs open and Constance rushes in, her wispy hair plastered to her head. “Rebecca, come quick.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “It’s Eric.” She leans against the door frame to catch her breath. “He’s back.”

  Twenty-Four

  I fling open the door to the infirmary and have to pull up short to avoid running into Doc. “Where?” I grab Doc’s arm, squeezing tighter than I intended. “Where are they?”

  “Eric and Ethan are upstairs.”

  I shout a ‘thank you’ over my shoulder and dash for the door that leads to our temporary housing. Several voices float down the stairs, but I can’t make out the words over Daniel and me running up the treads two steps at a time. In the dorm, the curtains are pulled completely back from the beds and Eric lies side by side with Ethan. Elizabeth and Patrice are there and turn at the sound of our hurried steps. It’s clear from their grim faces that the news isn’t good.

  Eric sits up in bed, though he’s slumped back against a small mountain of pillows. His face is a mask of gashes and purple bruises. Patrice fills a glass with water and shoves it under his nose. “One more glass. Doc says we need to get as much fluid in you as possible.”


  Eric takes several large gulps and lets his head rest back against the pillows. Next to him, Ethan looks just as bad, but his eyes are closed and his chest rises and falls in the steady rhythm of sleep.

  I slide up next to Elizabeth and flinch a bit when she grabs my hand. I haven’t seen her face so pale since we lost Molly.

  “E, stop looking at me like I’m a dead man walking.” He shakes his head at Patrice’s offer of another sip of water. “Doc says I’m just a little dehydrated and beat up. Nothing a bit of rest and water won’t fix.”

  “What he said was you’re both lucky to be alive and we have to watch for organ failure and internal bleeding, so can it with your ‘I’m just fine’ speech.”

  “Fine. Why don’t you go sweet talk the kitchen staff with your sunny disposition into getting me some broth while I catch up on my sleep?”

  “Fine. I will. Don’t die while I’m gone.” Elizabeth lets go of my hand and reaches out to squeeze her brother’s leg.

  Patrice sets the water down and gives him an identical squeeze on the arm. “I’ll go with you. Just in case you need help with the sunny disposition part.”

  Elizabeth rolls her eyes at me and heads toward the stairs. Patrice steps around the bed, but pauses, placing a gentle hand on my arm. “I want you to know that I don’t blame you anymore for my Rejection.”

  “What?” I glance at the guys, and Daniel is staring at Patrice, his mouth hanging open. But Eric is smiling at her, nodding his encouragement. I’d bet my best wall map that this little apology is Eric-orchestrated.

  “I’ve been a pain for the past few months, but I know now that the Cardinal is the one I should blame. I hope you can forgive me and the two of us can start over. If Daniel loves you, then you can’t be all bad.”