Arise (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 3)

by L. Stoddard Hancock

  “You’ll see,” said Talon, smiling over his shoulder at her.

  “Am I allowed to make a guess?” asked Xander.

  Talon shrugged. “Fire away.”

  “I’m not sure of the coordinates, but if your escape route in Willow was any indication, I’d say your base is in the trees.”

  “Good guess,” said Talon, his smile fading. “I don’t suppose you shared your suspicions with -”

  “Of course not. Though I doubt I’m the only one who thought it. A number of Guardians and guards saw your people retreat that day.”

  “That escape route isn’t connected to our base. It’s way on the other side of the forest,” said Nita.

  “Also, it’s much, much lower,” added Talon.

  The couple smiled at each other.

  “I’ve always loved these trees,” said Deryn, staring up at the lush, green canopy above them. “It took them centuries to get this large and still they grow. They survived a nuclear war that nearly destroyed humanity, barely touched by something so powerful.”

  “You can see it though. A ways up,” said Talon, pointing to a spot on one of the larger trees to their right. “The slight deformation. See the ripples.”

  Deryn stopped and looked. She stroked her fingers along the foreign curve in the tree. “It barely lasted before it became normal again.” She sighed and pressed her palm against the old wound. “I’m sorry we hurt you.”

  Not long ago, Xander would have laughed at someone speaking to a tree like that, something he had always considered to be an inanimate object, but not anymore. Deryn’s words struck him in a way he didn’t understand. Humans had hurt and nearly destroyed the world. President Saevus wasn’t wrong in thinking it might happen again. There very well might have been other societies out there who would want to control them.

  But didn’t every person deserve the chance to see a beautiful girl connect with something so old and powerful? Something that had outlived so much and would continue living long after they were gone.

  Deryn looked at Xander and smiled, and he knew that image of her - being outside, touching that tree, being happy - that image would stay with him forever.

  “Do you want to feel?” she asked, holding her hand out to him.

  Xander looked at Talon, who waved him forward.

  Adrian stayed close but let him walk on his own. Deryn took Xander’s bound hands and lifted them to the ripple in the tree, letting him feel and understand the pain that had happened to the world so long ago.

  “What would happen if you cut it right there?” he asked.

  “Nothing. Everything toxic is long gone. The rings in the stump might be a bit distorted but it’s still just a tree,” she answered.

  Xander nodded. He peeled off a small piece of bark, right where the ripples were, and put it in his pocket.

  “A souvenir?” Deryn asked, smiling.

  “Yes,” he said, feeling no shame in it.

  Adrian took hold of his binds again and they continued on their way.

  It wasn’t long before they reached one of the largest trees Xander had seen thus far. Everett and Evangeline were leaning against it.

  “We sent the guards up top on a break so everything should be clear,” said Evangeline, standing upright.

  “Perfect. We’ll want to head straight for the medical ward since our prisoner isn’t in the greatest of conditions. It was cleared of all patients two weeks ago,” said Talon. “The moment we’re through and settled, Adrian, I’ll need you to find Harper and bring her to us. Emphasize the importance of her discretion.”

  “You got it,” said Adrian, giving a small salute. He shoved Xander forward, but apologized when his ‘prisoner’ stumbled on his hurt leg.

  Xander was nudged until he stepped onto a bed of leaves underneath a shield of branches. The moment everyone was standing on the same group of leaves, Evangeline pulled one of the branches and a platform hidden underneath the brush shot them into the air.

  They were catapulted high into the trees, Xander shaky on his feet when he glanced over the side and saw how far away the ground was getting. He’d never realized how tall trees were before.

  “Is this thing safe?” he asked, nearly falling on his ass when the platform came to a sudden halt.

  “It’s never collapsed before,” said Nita. “But there’s a first time for everything.” She winked before stepping off first.

  Deryn was next, her eyes traveling over the incredible sight in front of her. She and Dakota had made a treehouse when they were younger, and this was an oversized version of it.

  An entire city dwelled in those trees. Several huts soared in the distance, some of them three stories high. There were pathways paved with the dim light of lanterns, only small hints of the setting sun peeking through the thick canopy of leaves above them.

  This was it. The place she’d dreamed of finding since she’d first heard the Resistance had been formed. This was home.

  CHAPTER 11

  “How did you make all of this?” Deryn asked Talon.

  “It was easier than it looks. The hardest part was finding the right location, but once we hollowed out this area I designed an entire city, large enough that we could take people in if necessary. It’s not ideal. Preferably we’d like to live on the ground, but I suppose we have to finish this war first.” He smiled at her. “S.U.R.G.E.s are incapable of flying this high. That’s why we chose such tall trees.”

  “They are?” she asked, glancing back at Xander.

  The bound man shrugged. “I don’t know their exact limits, but they’re at least capable of flying over Utopia’s shield.”

  “And this is higher than that,” said Talon.

  Xander cocked an eyebrow. “Higher than a hundred-floor tower?”

  “That’s right.”

  He grabbed a nearby railing with his bound wrists, looking like he was going to be sick.

  “Any guesses on our city’s name?” asked Nita.

  Deryn thought about it. “Is it named after a tree, like all of the Outsider villages?”

  Nita smiled and shook her head.

  “I don’t know then.”

  “We call it Blackbird. Talon chose it.”

  Deryn looked at Talon and smiled. “That’s a good name.”

  “I thought so.” He smiled back, though it did not reach his sad eyes. “We should get moving. Dinner is ending soon and someone could walk by and spot us at any moment.”

  “Does everyone eat together?” she asked.

  Talon nodded. He led the way through the maze of pathways hidden in the trees. Evangeline and Everett stayed behind, since they had promised the guards they’d sent off that they would man their post.

  They walked across rope bridges and along wooden planks. Through small cottages lined with doors that Talon explained were bedrooms or community rooms. It was incredible what they had built in such a short amount of time. He said that everyone had been scattered before the base was created, making it difficult to plan any raids on Utopia. It had been livable for almost two years and made everything so much easier.

  It wasn’t a terribly long walk to the medical ward and Deryn realized they had barely scratched the surface of Blackbird. The moment they were inside and Xander was sitting on one of the beds, Adrian ran off to find Harper, his healer girlfriend who was apparently the best of them. And that wasn’t just him being biased, or so he claimed.

  They locked the door while he was gone, not wanting anyone to come in. Deryn crouched by Xander’s feet and took a good look at his injury.

  “You’re a mess,” she said, glancing up at him.

  “Kind of like when I met you. Like I told you before, full circle.”

  She tried hard not to smile but failed.

  “Oh my god, my legs are aching,” said Nita, collapsing into a nearby chair. “Did you all know I climbed one-hundred floors earlier?”

  “Ninety-two,” corrected Talon. “Plus another six, I guess.”

  Sh
e punched his arm. “Enough with the ‘tude. You’re lucky I did or you’d all be prisoners right now. Or dead. Not sure which is worse.”

  “How exactly did you manage to get into Saevus’s tower?” asked Deryn, sitting beside Xander.

  Nita’s cheeks reddened. She glanced at Talon. When he caught her eye she quickly looked elsewhere.

  Talon watched her, studied her. His eyes widened. “No.”

  Nita groaned. “Maybe.”

  “Dammit, Neetles! The last thing we need is to be indebted to that bastard!”

  “He found us and just took us inside! What was I supposed to do? Say no?”

  “Yes. I mean ... no. I don’t know!” Talon growled and turned away, rubbing a hand down his face. “Sewick. Fucking Sewick,” he muttered.

  “Sewick Blum,” said Deryn, the memory she had been trying to grasp earlier finally taking form. “He had photos of you,” she said to Nita. “Wanted posters in his house. He didn’t have them for anyone else.”

  “What were you doing in his house?” asked Nita. She thought, then went pale. “He didn’t -”

  “No!” Deryn said quickly. “No, not that. I just went there to steal something for Xander.”

  “You went into Sewick Blum’s house to steal something?” said Talon, turning back around. His angry eyes moved to Xander. “And you let her?”

  Deryn knitted her brow. “I’m sorry, let me?”

  “I actually told her to skip his house,” said Xander, holding his hands up defensively. “But she’s got a mind of her own, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

  “Skip his house, meaning there were other houses,” said Talon.

  “Yes, but the Guardians were all occupied,” defended Xander.

  “It was important. They were blackmailing him and I took care of it,” snapped Deryn, grabbing a nearby pillow and tossing it as hard as she could at her brother’s head. He easily caught it. “Stop treating me like I’m so fucking fragile. I went in there today, same as you, and I held my own.”

  Talon fluffed the pillow and sighed. “You’re right, you did. But you’re my sister, my baby sister and I have the right to feel protective of you.” He tossed the fluffed pillow back to her.

  She caught it and huffed, holding it in her lap and fiddling with the corners. “Fine. We’re getting off topic, anyway. Neetles, why does Sewick have wanted posters of you and you alone?”

  Nita groaned again. “Remember when I used to come back to Eagle and visit you after becoming a guard? I talked to you about this older man I’d gotten involved with, to kill the time until Talon saw me as more than just his little sister’s friend.”

  Deryn scrunched her face in disgust. “Sewick Blum was that man?”

  “Yeah, kinda,” said Nita, fiddling with a strand of her hair. “Well, not kinda. He was that man. But it was never anything serious. And then after all the shit went down and the Resistance was formed, I kept in contact with him, so he would be our mole on the inside. All was going fine and dandy until ...” She bit her lip and glanced at Talon.

  Talon stared back at her and sighed. “Even though they weren’t exclusive, he took the dumping pretty personally, especially when he found out I was the other man. He never liked me much.”

  “It’s all just about fucking possession. He felt like I was his and Talon stole me.” Nita rolled her eyes. “Needless to say, he stopped being our mole, became completely faithful to Saevus and now we’re stuck with that shit, Sable Bai. Their initials are the same so we didn’t have to change the code name. Son Bitch.” She grinned.

  “The first Son Bitch did more than stop being our mole,” added Talon. “He sent us -”

  “You.”

  “- he sent me on several fake missions in an attempt to get me captured. I’m lucky to be alive.”

  “That son bitch,” said Xander with a faint smile.

  Nita laughed. “Were you always funny? I don’t remember him being funny.” She looked at Deryn, who shrugged.

  “I remember him being a jerk. If he was funny it was at our expense.”

  Someone started jiggling the doorknob.

  “Talon, it’s Adrian. I have Harper with me.”

  Talon unlocked and opened the door. Adrian walked in holding hands with a pretty girl with tan skin and dark hair in a high bun. Deryn didn’t recognize her, even though she looked about their age, and the majority of people their age had been forced into guard training.

  “Were you discreet?” asked Talon as he shut and re-locked the door.

  “Yes. I caught her leaving the mess hall. No one saw me.”

  Harper spotted Deryn and smiled. She released her boyfriend’s hand and stepped forward, grabbing Deryn in a tight hug. “It’s so great to finally meet you,” she said, sounding quite genuine. “I’ve heard so much about you over the years from everyone. I feel like we’re already friends. And you.”

  Her gaze moved to Xander and her arms surrounded him.

  “Thank you for saving Adrian,” she said, hugging him even tighter than she’d hugged Deryn. When he flinched, the cuts on his back agitated, she pulled back, wiping away a tear. “Sorry. I’ve been waiting a really long time to do that.” She straightened up, becoming the embodiment of professionalism. “Who am I looking at first?”

  “Deryn,” answered Xander.

  “No,” Deryn snapped. “You’ve been tortured more recently, therefore you go first.”

  “That’s a terribly sad way to phrase it,” said Adrian.

  “That’s reality. Besides, there’s really no reason to check me at all. I’ve been recovering since Xander found me in early September.”

  “Even so, I’d like to check you,” said Harper, grabbing what Deryn recognized as a stethoscope off of a nearby counter and polishing it on her coat. “Most of the girls I’ve seen who were slaves have had more internal damage than they realized.” While she spoke professionally, it was hard to miss the sadness in her eyes. “Xander, I’m going to need you to take off your coat and shirt.”

  Xander moved so his feet were flat on the floor and Harper untied his wrists without asking for permission. She then helped him take off his clothes. Unable to stop herself, she gave him a onceover and wolf whistled. Even Nita stretched her neck a little to give him a gander.

  “You see, baby? These are the kind of abs I was talking about. Maybe later, Xander could teach you his exercise routine.”

  Adrian stuck out his tongue at her. She smiled and blew him a kiss.

  “It’s a shame about your pretty face. You’re lucky it didn’t get you in the eye,” said Harper, running a finger along the clotted gash on Xander’s brow. “So, darling, while I’m looking at him why don’t you tell me what you’ve been doing these last couple of days, seeing as you told me you were going out on a very basic mission and came back with a plethora of wanted criminals in less than satisfactory conditions.” She glanced sideways at her boyfriend, her eyes sharp and fierce.

  “I thought it was basic, baby,” said Adrian, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “It’s not my fault Deryn took us all hostage and demanded we help her free her imprisoned Guardian boyfriend.”

  “Oh?” said Xander, perking up as the cold stethoscope pressed against his chest. “I haven’t heard this story.”

  While Xander was stripped down to his boxer shorts and inspected - Adrian, Talon and Nita all turning the other way so as not to invade his privacy - everyone together told the story of how slight skill and a lot of damn luck helped them rescue Xander from his impending demise.

  “So where are you from?” Deryn asked Harper while the young healer worked on Xander’s injured leg.

  “You mean because I wasn’t one of you lucky people who got to train to be a Utopian guard?” she asked with a wry smile. “I’m from a village far enough away that we got warning before the guards came for us younglings, so we all went into hiding. It was called Driftwood.”

  Deryn and Xander shared a look. They knew the story
of Driftwood. They had probably heard it a dozen times from Bronson and Quigley, who grew up there. All of the Outsider villages were fairly small and it was likely Harper knew them. And Fiona, Quigley’s younger sister and Soren’s personal slave.

  “Of course, there isn’t much left of it now,” continued Harper as she applied a compression wrap to Xander’s ankle. “It was one of the first villages to go once the war started. Many of us left once we heard about the failed mission at Eagle Center, but others, the majority, thought that since Driftwood wasn’t involved it would be left alone. Those people are all gone now.”

  There was no sadness in her voice, just simple fact, as if she had told that story a million times before and had grown numb to it.

  “How old are these gashes?” asked Harper as she moved from Xander’s leg to his back.

  “You know, I’m not sure. Hey, brother Leon, when was it again that you allowed a bunch of idiots to come into the city and try to kidnap me again?” Xander asked Talon.

  Deryn rolled her eyes. He was exhausted and in terrible pain, yet still found the strength to be the prick she had come to love.

  “It was New Year’s Day,” answered Nita. She then turned to Talon. “I really find him funny.”

  “That makes one of us,” said Talon.

  “Two of us,” corrected Harper. “That mission should never have been approved, and I told you all that before you left. And, apparently, you managed to get your target a good whipping because of your actions. Congratulations.”

  “The women around here are all so much smarter than the men,” said Xander while Harper cleaned his wounds. They had become irritated again during his imprisonment, since lying on his back was the only way he didn’t have to stare directly at the horrific hologram he’d been forced to watch. Over and over ...

  He winced as she worked on a particularly painful cut.

  “Sorry,” said Harper. “While I understand you have spent the majority of your life in a sexist regime, surely even you must realize that women are the more rational of the sexes, and that rationality makes us smarter.”

  Harper moved to his wrist, removing the temporary wristband so she could get a good look at the wound.