Broken Skies

by Kay, Theresa

  “Attacks?” Something in his voice tells me that this is serious.

  “The erks,” Flint says. “They’ve been wiping human settlements off the map. Bombs. Guns. Some things we don’t even know what they are. Whatever that thing told you, whatever promises he made you, they’re lies.” When I don’t say anything, he continues. “I don’t know how you came across it, but I can guess it was a single ship doing a flyover? They’re scouting us out.”

  “Scouting us out…” As much as I don’t want them to, Flint’s words make sense. The single ship. The aliens’ heated conversation and their reference to looking for something. Even Lir never really said what they were doing out there. “And Jace? Why would they take him?”

  “I don’t know.” He averts his eyes and shifts us back toward the other men. “But I bet it does. The erk was using you to get back to his kind. Who knows what it would have done when it got you there, maybe even taken you too.”

  I shake my head and back away, the burn of tears stinging in my eyes. Lir has been nothing but nice. We had a deal. He’s my only option. There’s no way he… or is there? Has he even been honest with me? My eyes reach Lir as Flint grabs my arm again. Maybe he thinks I’m being hurt— more likely he’s just worried about losing his leverage— but Lir jumps up and moves toward me, much faster than before. Has he been faking his weakness?

  It’s not fast enough though. One of the men catches up with him and hits him twice on the back of the head with the butt of his gun and Lir goes down to his knees. His eye bore into me, begging me to do something, but my feet are frozen. What if Flint is right? I turn my head away, unable to watch anymore even though I can still hear the sounds of fists striking flesh. I blink quickly to prevent the tears from falling and lean into Flint.

  “Let’s go,” I say. One way or another, I’m going to figure out what’s real and I’m going to get my brother back.

  We stop outside the large building where Dane’s office is and Flint motions Daniel forward. “Take Scott and Michael and put the erk in one of the cells.”

  “Sure thing,” says Daniel. “Come on guys, let’s put this thing where it belongs.”

  Two of the soldiers step forward, Lir’s limp form draped between them. He hasn’t woken since the last time they hit him. The splash of green blood on his collar draws my eyes up to the still dripping wound on his temple. Shouldn’t he have stopped bleeding by now? Should I even care?

  I pull my gaze away and shake my head. Flint wouldn’t lie to me, especially over something that involved Jace’s safety. Besides, this rescue mission will be a whole lot easier with some soldiers behind me. Forget the alien. Forget that he may or may not have saved my life in the woods. Forget that compassion in his eyes on the porch and the feel of his skin under my fingers. Really forget that last one.

  After filling my lungs with a deep breath, I follow Flint up the stairs, without looking back.

  “Enter,” Dane’s voice booms after Flint’s knock and we walk into his office.

  Flint nods at his father. “Sir, there’s been a breach. An…unauthorized outsider was found within the perimeter.”

  Dane’s eyes travel from Flint to me and back again. “And why is she here?”

  “The intruder is an erk…an E’rikon. They took her brother Sir.”

  Dane tilts back in his chair and intertwines his fingers in front of his chest. “And?

  “She witnessed the event. One was left behind.” I move forward, but Flint stops me from saying anything by tightening his grip on my arm. “And it offered to help her in retrieving Jace.”

  “It’s been secured?”

  “Yes Sir. Daniel and two others are escorting it to the holding cells right now.”

  “Am I to take it that the reports I’ve been getting about a landing are true?”

  Flint nods. “Yes Sir.”

  “The reported landing occurred East of town,” says Dane. His eyes swing to me, narrowing. “What were you doing outside, Jasmine?”

  Flint’s fingers dig into my bicep, but his face remains still. His message is clear: I need to watch my words. “Jace left one of his knives at home and I was bringing it to him.” It’s a weak excuse, but at least it is one Emily could confirm if anyone asked.

  “Your brother went out with the hunting party this morning.” Dane leans forward, the leather of his chair creaking softly. “You’re not permitted outside the gates without an escort. Who let you by?”

  Flint lets go of my arm and steps forward, angling his body slightly in front of me. “I did Sir.”

  “Leave us, Jasmine. I need to speak with my son alone.”

  “There’s no time…uh, Sir,” I say. “We need to go get my brother now. The longer they have him—”

  “No!” Dane’s fist slams down onto his desk, the vibration toppling a cup. “You need to do what you’re told. There will be no rescue mission Jasmine. Your brother is stupid enough to let himself be captured, then he suffers the consequences. I have a town to protect and I can’t spare any of my men to go traipsing off after your wayward brother.”

  Heat fills my body and I clench my fists, driving my fingernails into my palms. Losing my temper is not going to work here. “Send me. I will do it on my own.”

  Dane laughs. He actually laughs like my brother’s situation is some sort of joke to him. Then his eyes harden and his lips curl over his next words. “You are not permitted to leave.”

  So much for not losing my temper. “I will leave if I want to!” I can’t help yelling, but Dane doesn’t even react to the volume of my words.

  “You know the rules. You know what you agreed to when you accepted my protection.” His voice is even.

  “No, I know what you coerced my terrified brother into agreeing to for me when I was catatonic,” I say through gritted teeth. “I didn’t agree to anything.”

  “I don’t need your agreement, Jasmine.” Dane smiles. “Do you need to be locked up to ensure your cooperation?”

  I open my mouth, a scathing retort resting on my tongue. Are all humans this petulant… Do I really think I’m going to argue Dane into agreeing with me? If I get locked up there will be no one to rescue my brother. I force my shoulders to drop and look down. “No, Sir,” I say softly. “I’ll behave.”

  “Good. Now leave us.” A patronizing smile slithers across his face.

  I shuffle out of the room, keeping my head down except for a glance at Flint as I walk through the door. His face is pale and his body tense. He and Jace are friends, but is that enough for him to stand up to his father? Either way, I’m not waiting around for someone else to do something. Whether Lir is using me or not, he’s really my only ally right now.

  Step one, get Lir. Step two, rescue Jace. Sounds simple enough, right? Stupidly so. How in the hell am I going to get to Lir, much less get both of us past the gates without being noticed?

  I walk back toward my house, head down, potential scenarios swirling through my head to be examined and then discarded. I could just leave without him. It’s not like I’ve never gotten past the gate guards before, but what would happen once I reached the city? There’s that barrier and I won’t be able to cross it without him, at least that’s what he said. He doesn’t have any reason to lie though…right?

  If only I knew who to trust. If there were only one person is this stupid town who…

  “Jax!” The whispered exclamation pulls me from my thoughts. Emily steps out from between the houses on my left. “What is going on?”

  Great. Just what I need. “Nothing, Emily. Don’t worry about it.”

  She rolls her eyes, purses her lips and exhales. Her obvious exasperation stops my forward motion. I’ve never seen Emily any less than perfectly composed and cheery. “Look Jax, I know what you think of me…of us, but there’s a lot you don’t know.” When her gaze meets mine, there’s something new in her eyes, a hardness I don’t recognize. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I might be able to help.” When I don’t respond, she cont
inues, “Come with me. I’m not asking you to trust me blindly, but at least let me try to help you.”

  My muddled brain manages to direct my head to nod. I’m stuck anyway, might as well see what assistance she may have to offer.

  * * * * * * *

  Emily leads me toward the girls’ dormitories, where single girls with no adult male relatives are required to stay until being Promised. Thankfully, I never ended up there. When we arrived here, Jace made it clear that he refused to be separated from me and he fought for us to be assigned one of the smaller houses near the gate even though we weren’t of age at the time. Maybe if I had been placed with the other girls I might be different now, better? More likely, I would have never recovered without my connection to Jace pulling me back into myself. Without him there to chase away the nightmares…I would have never slept.

  When we reach the front doors, Emily smiles at the man standing guard. “Hello, Seth. I’m just bringing Jasmine in so she can join our sewing circle today.”

  While I try to contain my laughter and twist my face into a vapid smile, Emily bats her eyelashes at him. Seth returns her smile and waves us through without pause. Feminine wiles really do come in handy.

  Once we’re out of earshot, I pause. “We’re not really sewing, right?”

  Emily laughs and shakes her head. “No, I’m not expecting you to sew. I know better than that.”

  I follow her up the stairs until we reach the third floor. She leads me into one of the rooms off a large common area, shutting the door behind us.

  “Now tell me.” She sits on the bed and folds her hands in her lap.

  I pace back and forth in the small space, putting the right words together before I speak. Keep it simple. Don’t give away too much. “The aliens took my brother. There’s one locked up in the holding cells. I need him to get into the city to rescue my brother.”

  Emily’s eyes have widened and she blinks quickly. “Wow. I can’t say that’s what I expected you to say.”

  I shrug. “Can you help or not?”

  She crosses her legs and leans forward, resting her chin in her hand. “I know I can get you past the gate. With all the hubbub surrounding the festival tonight, that will be no problem.” She raises her eyes. “Getting your alien friend out of lock up might require a bit more planning.”

  “Festival?”

  “Really? Do you pay attention to nothing around you? The fall festival is tonight,” she says. “You know, food, dancing…the fall Promising ceremony.”

  “Oh yeah, that.” I smile sheepishly. “I definitely don’t pay any attention to that.” Emily giggles and raises her hand as if to touch my arm, but quickly lowers it again. “So why are you doing this? I haven’t exactly been very nice to you.”

  “I know how you feel about this town and its restrictions…Did you ever stop to think that others might share those feelings? Do you know how I ended up an orphan, how I ended up stuck in these dorms with guards by the door and people watching my every move?”

  I shake my head, moving to sit down on the bed. Emily’s body tenses for a moment and she shoots me a look I can’t interpret.

  “My mother was Promised to one of Dane’s cronies. He was twenty years her senior and not a nice man. Five years later, she fell in love with a trader, my father. He managed to smuggle her out of town and they lived on the run for nearly two years.” Emily takes a deep breath and stares out the window. “Dane had some of his soldiers hunt them down. They killed my father and dragged my mother back to Bridgelake. She was eight months pregnant.

  “Her Promised husband welcomed her back… with closed fists. She had me and we lived there with him until I was ten. He’d always hit her, but the first— and only— time he went after me, she killed him. Dane had her executed. And there I was, no male relatives and too young to be Promised.” She turns to face me, her eyes shiny with tears. “My father was killed for having the gall to go up against Dane. My mother, for disobedience. Do you really think he’s not going to continue taking his revenge out on me?”

  My mouth opens, but no words come out. I break away from her gaze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” I say.

  “It’s okay.” Her head down, she twists her hands in her lap.

  “Why didn’t you just say all this to start with? What’s with all the sewing circle stuff?”

  She raises her eyebrows. “They are always watching. Not everyone, but most of the soldiers and at least half the others. Dane rules this town and those that aren’t bowing down to him are terrified of him. I could tell you weren’t exactly itching to be indoctrinated into Dane worship, but your brother is best friends with his son. You’re pretty chummy with him too.”

  I shrug when she glances at me. “I’ve known Flint forever. He and my brother were friends before we even moved here. He’s almost like another brother to me.” When her brow furrows, I rush to explain further. “Doesn’t mean I agree with everything he does. And I certainly don’t agree with the way Dane runs things.”

  Emily nods. “I couldn’t take the risk of revealing myself without feeling you out first. It was the only excuse I could think of.” Her mouth turns up at the corners and she shakes her head. “Who knew you’d be so against anything sewing related.”

  Our laughter fills the room and warmth seeps into me. Jace is my brother and I love him, but there’s something different about laughing with another girl. Despite our differences, Emily and I share some common ground and the fragile threads of friendship forming between us give me hope. That, plus she talked about my brother in the present tense and she’s willing to help me when no one else would.

  “So, where do we start?”

  “The festival begins in an hour,” Emily says. “First, we’ll work on you learning to have a conversation without looking like you’re about to vomit. I can distract the guards, but you‘ll have to play your part too. Then, we get dressed.”

  “Dressed?”

  She motions toward my clothes and I smack myself in the forehead with my palm. No wonder people were staring at me. I’m still wearing the pants from earlier.

  * * * * * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Emily no longer falls over laughing at my attempts to flip my hair and bat my eyelashes. She still giggles a little though. It will have to do. Emily turns her attention to my clothing.

  “I don’t suppose I can just wear what I have on?” I ask.

  Emily laughs. “Everyone’s going to be dressed up. You need to blend in, be more girly. I think you’re going to have to borrow some of my clothes.” My face twists into a grimace and she laughs again. “A dress won’t kill you. Besides you don’t have to wear it all evening, just until you can get to your own clothes.” She swings her feet over the side of her bed.

  It takes her a moment to select a dress from the closet, but when she does my quick intake of breath causes her eyebrows to raise. “You like it?”

  I hate to admit it, but I do. She’s selected a dark green dress made in a soft, flowing fabric. It’s not a work dress and certainly not a dress made for anything practical, but it’s beautiful. Long enough to brush the middle of my calves, fitted in the top and flaring at the waist. I slide into it and marvel at the feel of the fabric swishing around my legs.

  Emily smiles warmly. “It looks beautiful on you,” she says when I study myself in her mirror. “It was always much too long for me.”

  She walks up behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder. I inwardly cringe at the touch, but don’t let it show on my face. Emily is being astoundingly nice to me and I don’t want to insult her. I am finding it easier to be around her though. My breaths stay even and my limbs stay relaxed, so that’s progress I guess. “Thank you,” I say.

  “May I do your hair?”

  I nod, too stunned to do anything else, and she leads me to a chair in the corner.

  It’s a strange sensation for someone else to brush my hair. Since my mother died when I was born and I lived out in the woods with only my father and Jace
, I’ve never had any female companionship. Jace would have laughed if I asked him to brush my hair.

  I find myself actually enjoying the sensation of Emily’s quick fingers braiding and twisting my hair and I relax into the soft touches with my eyes closed. She steps back to admire her work in the mirror and I open my eyes. She’s left a few wispy tendrils down to frame my face and has used tiny braids to pull the rest of it back from my face and create an intricate twist on the crown of my head. I’ve never seen anything like it. “Wow.”

  Emily claps her hands. I’m beginning to get the impression that she’s rather pleased with herself. “Oh Jax, I always knew you were gorgeous. Your hair is the perfect shade of red to set off this dress.”

  My face heats with a blush and I turn away from the mirror. “So what exactly are we going to do?”

  “Dane keeps a spare set of keys to the holding cells in his office.” She waves off my questioning look and continues, “He will be officiating the Promising ceremony tonight and that’s going to be when you go in. We’ll meet up once you have the keys. The entrance will be guarded, but I’m known for delivering food to prisoners and we can make it seem like you’re just keeping me company or something. Depending on who’s on duty, one or both the guards will look the other way.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “Yours won’t be the first prisoner to have a little help escaping the holding cells.”

  “Thank you Emily,” I say. “For all of this. For everything.”

  “You’re welcome.” Her eyes bore into me and she swallows. “Just promise me, once you’ve gotten Jace, you’ll come back here. There aren’t many people strong enough to go against Dane, but I think you and your brother are. There’s something special about you two. Even Dane knew it. He hadn’t let any young male outsiders inside in years— until he let your brother in. He hasn’t forced you to work and didn’t force you into the dormitory. He wanted you here so he’s let the rules slide for you. I don’t know what that means, but…” She reaches over and grabs my hand. I don’t even flinch. “I think with your help we could change things here.”