by Tracey Ward
“No one.”
“I’ll be living alone?”
Her voice is rising, becoming shrill.
The Captain scowls at her. “I would think you’d prefer it.”
“No.”
“You’ll adjust to it then. Don’t worry,” he assures her briskly, “you won’t be completely alone. It’s not safe enough for that yet. Grayson will be in the apartment next door. He’ll hear you if you run into any trouble.” Captain Fuller turns, tossing a set of keys at me. I catch them easily. “Room 36.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “She’s staying in the Forces building?”
“Can you think of a safer place for her?”
“No, sir,” I answer obediently. “We’ll take good care of her.”
“You. You will take good care of her. She’s your full time job. Don’t trouble any of the other boys with this. The doors are closed but our worries are far from over.”
“I can help with that.”
He points a finger at my face. “You can heal up, that’s what you can do. I’m not throwing you into action before you’re ready only to have you get injured even worse than you already are.”
“For once we actually agree,” Dr. Kanden mutters.
I flex my hands at my sides. “And my command?”
“Let me worry about that. Take care of yourself. Take care of her. Nothing else matters, do you hear me?”
I hear him, but I don’t understand him. I don’t agree with him.
Luckily that’s not what he asked.
“Yeah, I hear you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Liv
My furniture is yellow. Like a lemon. But like Grayson, I don’t care enough to ask for anything different.
There are clothes in the bedroom. Dry goods in the kitchen. A toothbrush and comb by the sink. It’s simpler than anything I’ve ever had before, more basic, but it will work. It has to. This is my home now.
Grayson brought me here an hour ago. He gave me a quick tour, showed me the bathroom down the hall and told me not to go there without him. I’m the only woman in a dorm full of men. He assures me that there are some things that, once seen, can never be forgotten.
He told me our bedrooms share a wall. That if I need to go anywhere I should knock on it twice and he’ll escort me. He’s not happy about that. Not about any of this. His mood has dipped down somewhere dark, and it’s a shame because he wasn’t exactly sunshine and singing to start with.
I thought I’d be happy to get away from him when he left, but I’m not. I’m afraid. Fortified in a stone building surrounded by soldiers with my own personal bodyguard only a wall’s width away, and I’m shaking scared.
It’s not the fear of outsiders. Of being attacked, although I feel it. That is very real. But what has me shivering inside my thick wool coat is the fact that I’m alone. For the first time in my life I’m completely and utterly, perfectly alone.
And I don’t know if I can be trusted.
I won’t go looking for trouble. I won’t go wandering up to the roof, strip off this coat the way I cast off my jewels, and tip toe to the edge. I don’t feel that desperation in my blood, not like I did on the boat, but I remember it. I thought about it; disappearing. About how much easier it was than fighting, than suffocating and fearing. If Gav hadn’t shown up when he did, what would have happened? Where would I be right now? What’s going to happen if I get that feeling again?
I’ll fly, that’s what. I’ll drown. I’ll die.
And there’ll be no one here to save me.
No one but Grayson.
Drawing the coat tightly around my body I wander to the bedroom. I’m pulled like a moth to a flame, like a fugitive to sanctuary. Maybe he’s in the other room and maybe he’s not, but when I lie down next to the wall and nestle my body in tightly to it, I tell myself he’s there. He’s inches away. Two quick knocks, that’s all. It’ll take him seconds to reach me. To burst through the door. To put his hand out and pull me from the water that wants to drag me under.
It’s a small consolation; a stone wall. It’s cold and uncomfortable. It bites at my bones through my thin, dark skin, but I burrow closer. I press my forehead to it, feeling the rough texture drag abrasively against my face, and I sigh with an odd relief.
I fall asleep like that. Like a weirdo. Like a scared little girl.
Like I’ve lost everything, including my mind.
***
Everything is shaking. My body, the bed, the wall under my hands. My head is thrown against it hard, the skin above my eye splitting, sending a rush of sticky warmth over my vision. Everything goes black before bursting brilliant white as pain explodes between my temples. I cry out, but I can barely hear it over the sound of the world crashing. A rumble like thunder vibrates through the apartment, through the cave. The mountain. It feels like the entire building is swaying. Like it’s going down.
I stumble off the bed just as the shaking stops. Oddly enough my stomach liked the motion better than the stillness because when it’s gone I want to vomit. The feeling hits me harder than it has in days. I lurch forward into the living room, looking for a bucket. A trash can. A bowl. Anything to lose it in, but before I make it two steps I’m thrown to the ground by another tremor.
The front door bangs open, bouncing off the opposite wall. I think it’s done it on its own, broken by the shaking, but there’s Grayson; a long shadow spilling into the room, across the floor and my body sprawled over it.
“Get in a doorway!” he shouts, darting into the room.
He lifts me roughly like a rag doll, yanking me in the direction of the front door. He grunts loudly, a small sound like a whimper hiding in the back of his throat.
I try to look up into his face but his hands are on my head tucking it down into his chest as he pins me between his body and the doorframe. He’s curling over me, cocooning me. Clutching me so hard I can barely feel the vibrations anymore. All I feel are his hands, his chest, his breathing coming sharp and frantic through his chest, bursting hot over the top of my head.
“What’s happening?!” I cry.
“Earthquake!”
“When will it stop?!”
He grips me harder. “When it’s done.”
It feels like forever before it subsides. But even though the world is stable my body remains erratic. I feel like crying but I can’t. I can barely breathe. It’s then that I realize I’ve taken hold of Grayson’s shirt, balling it in my fists. I’m pulling him to me as much as he’s holding onto me, and my nose and mouth are muffled by the cloth of his shirt. By the breadth of his chest.
My aching fingers unclench unwillingly as I force myself to let him go. I lean back into the doorframe, his hands guiding my body to it. The one he held to my head drops to my shoulder. The other is inside my coat, gripping my hip. Stripping my breath.
“Is it over?” I whisper.
“For now,” he breathes back, his eyes scanning the hall behind me. It’s quiet, still. Like we’re afraid to reawaken the beast who shudders the world. “There’ll be aftershocks, but they’ll be smaller.”
“They can’t be much bigger.”
“Sure they can. That was small compared to what we’ve seen before.” He looks down at me, his face going dark. “Ah hell.”
“What? What’s wrong? Is there another one coming?”
“No, it’s you. Your head.” He reaches out to gingerly touch my forehead. I wince, waiting for a rough touch that never comes. His fingers on my skin are feather light. “Does it hurt?”
“Barely.”
“It’s bleeding pretty bad, but the head does that.” He glances down at his shirt with a sigh. There’s a smear of blood across the white material where my face was pressed against him. “Well, that’s ruined.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t sweat it. I have others.”
I’m shocked when he pulls the shirt off over his head. He balls it up before pressing it firmly to my forehead.
I breathe in sharply at the sudden sting. At the sight of him half naked in front of me. Images of a beaten and bruised boy unconscious on the floor flash in front of my eyes. The sound of my own screams echoes in my ears, shadowed by my father’s labored breathing. Haunted by the boy’s silence.
I have to remind myself that he’s not here, that Gray isn’t going pay for this.
I actually tell myself I’m safe.
Footsteps pound through the building. Above us, in the stairwell. It sounds like everyone in here is on the move, and they’re in a hurry.
Grayson grabs my hand, guiding me to take over. “Keep that over it until the bleeding stops, then I’ll clean it. In the meantime stay right here in this doorway. Don’t move. I’ve gotta go into my apartment real quick but then we’re out of here.”
“Why? Where are we going?”
He points to the ceiling. “Do you hear that?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s the Forces second shift mobilizing. Everyone from this floor is first shift. They’re already at work all over town. Second shift will go to the hospital to back them up down there.”
“And we’re going with them?”
“We’re gonna try.”
Grayson disappears into his apartment, leaving me alone. I close my eyes. I fight the churning feeling in my stomach that hums like angry bees at war. Duking it out over a piece of sickly sweet fruit that’s rotting in my gut.
The ground begins to shake again, gentler this time. I clench my eyes closed harder, my free hand grasping the doorframe behind me, but it’s over before it began. Nothing more than a shiver.
“Hey.”
My eyes snap open. A guy is standing at the other end of the hall. He’s in the same uniform Grayson wears, his blond hair smoothed down flat and shining against his scalp. His sharp eyes scan me quickly.
“You’re the Eventide, aren’t you?”
I nod stiffly, pressing Grayson’s shirt tighter to my head.
He takes a slow step forward. “I hear you’re sticking around.”
“My ship is gone. I don’t have much of a choice.”
“Your ship,” he muses quietly. He takes another step closer. “What’s your name, Eventide?”
“Liv.” I clear my throat, going for more gusto. More anything, really. Whatever it takes to stop him from coming any closer. “My name is Liv.”
“What happened to your head, Liv?”
“I hit it on the wall.”
“You sure it wasn’t the headboard?”
I frown. “Excuse me?”
He smiles. The look is feline. Fluid like his steps. “It’s only a joke.”
“It’s not a funny one, Holster.” Grayson comes out of his apartment pulling his uniform closed. He buttons the dark shirt with nimble fingers, his eyes intent on the guy. “What are you doing down here?”
Holster turns his smile on Grayson. “I’m making sure it’s all clear.”
“It’s empty.”
“Doesn’t look empty.”
“Looks can be deceiving.”
Holster chuckles carelessly. “I just wanted to make sure our guest was safe and sound.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about that while you go do your job,” Grayson pronounces succinctly.
“I thought you’d want the back up.” He looks past Grayson, his eyes practically glowing like the Cheshire Cat on the worn pages of my favorite book. “It’d be a shame if anything happened to that little brown body.”
Grayson surprises me when he takes a menacing step into the guy’s space. He looks down his nose from the inch or so he has on him, his back straight as an arrow.
“Nothing’s ever going to happen to her,” he promises darkly. “Not on my watch.”
Holster’s creepy calm demeanor fractures, his eyes going tight at the edges. “You’re crowding me,” he growls.
“Wouldn’t be if you were downstairs. Head out.”
“Are you still in a place to give orders?”
“Do you wanna test me and find out?”
Holster hesitates, his jaw flexing under his pale skin. He holds his ground for a moment longer before finally stepping away. He doesn’t say a word as he backs slowly down the hall, turning halfway down and sauntering to the door. He takes his time like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Like there isn’t a small army already taking to the streets that are blazing with alarms.
We don’t speak or move until the heavy door bangs shut behind him.
The hallway feels instantly lighter in his wake.
I look at Grayson warily. “I wasn’t sure you needed to protect me from people until just now.”
“No,” he agrees grimly. “Me either.”
Chapter Nineteen
Gray
Holster is a dick. I’ve always thought so. But now he’s not just a dick, he’s a threat. One I’m going to have to keep a careful eye on. It makes this thing with Liv more real than I wanted it to be. I thought I’d stand guard as people stared, as they whispered and pointed at her, but after a couple weeks it would die down. I assumed everyone would forget about her and go on about their business. Looks like I was wrong.
“What are the sirens for?” Liv asks as we hurry down the stairwell.
She’s holding on to me for help in the ‘dark’, her small hand surprisingly strong where’s it’s clamped down on my arm. I gave her less than a minute to change into clean slacks and a t-shirt from the stock in her room. There were shoes too, ones that fit her far better than the boots she borrowed, but I put her back in the big coat. Her small frame is dwarfed inside it. It doesn’t matter, I’ve gotta hide her skin as much as I can because we can’t take the long way to the hospital. We’re going to have to run right down the street in plain sight of everyone, a move that Captain Fuller would probably lose his mind over if he saw it happening, but I haven’t heard from him telling me to stay put in the apartment yet. Until I do, I’m on the move. I’m doing my job.
“Roll call,” I explain about the sirens. “They’re waking everyone up.”
“Who could sleep through that earthquake?”
“You’d be surprised.” I push open the door at the bottom of the stairs, looking out into the back alley. It’s all clear. I turn to her, about to tell her to run, when I catch sight of her head. It’s already bruising, turning purple around the edges of the cut. “How’s your head feeling?”
She reaches up mechanically, her fingers gingerly testing the area. “Has it stopped bleeding?”
“Yeah, but that bruise is gonna be nasty. You look like you’ve been in a fight.”
“Does it at least look like I won?”
“No,” I chuckle.
She giggles, light and nervous. “That’s too bad.”
“It definitely will be for me when the Captain sees it. One day out in the world with me and you’re already bruised and bullied. I’m not doing the best job keeping you safe.”
“I’d be worse off without you.”
“Yeah,” I agree grimly. “Holster’s going to be a problem.”
“He’s not going to be the only one, is he?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
She nods her head, her eyes on the alley behind me. “Well,” she sighs, “are we going or aren’t we?”
“Do you want to?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“You do,” I hear myself say. “If you want to stay here we will. If you’re not ready to face everyone, we won’t.”
Her eyes shift to mine, golden and vulnerable. “Do you mean that?”
“I do.”
Even if I don’t like it.
I’m relieved when she shakes her head. “I don’t want to stay. You said people need help?”
“They will.”
“Then we have to go.”
“It’s going to get crazy,” I warn her. “You have to do what I say and you have to stay close.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Good.” I reach out, pu
lling her tiny hand into mine. “Let’s go.”
We take the alleys for as long as we can, but eventually we have to cut down the main street. It’s either that or take twice as long weaving around town. It’s not worth it. Not with what’s at stake. Right now the hospital is being flooded with wounded, minor and severe. First shift Forces will be bringing people in all day as they scour the city for damage. Water lines will have broken, power lines will have snapped, and it’s all hands on deck from every career field in the cave until every issue is resolved. It could take as little as four hours. It could take as long as three days.
The streets are crowded, full of chaos. People are shouting over the sirens. They’re running in every direction. We have to weave and dodge to avoid being trampled, to keep from being run over by the trucks pushing through the crowd. Someone bumps into Liv, sending her sideways into me. Between the running and the impact I feel breathless from the pain in my ribs, but I push us forward. And Liv never falters.
In the madness no one notices her. We’re moving too quickly, there one second and gone the next, but no one has time to take stock. We get to the hospital a few minutes later, both of us panting and gasping for breath. She’s in good shape. She kept up without complaint. Meanwhile I’m seeing shadows on the edge of my vision and my ribs are screaming in angry protest. I clutch my side, pinning my arm forcefully to it to try and stop the ache. It ignores me.
“It’s your side, isn’t it?” Liv asks breathlessly, her eyes on mine. “That’s where you’re hurt?”
I stand up straight, wincing. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s his ribs,” Dr. Kanden calls out. She’s at the door to the hospital, ushering in a man with a little boy in his arms. “He cracked them out on the boat.”
Liv is watching me, her eyes growing larger and larger with understanding and insinuation. With all the things she thinks she knows about the storm, but no one does. No one but me. And that’s how it’s going to stay.
“Where do you need us?” I call out to Dr. Kanden.
“You’re here to help?”
“Yeah, of course. Why else would we be here?”