Arise (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 3)

by L. Stoddard Hancock

  Deryn sighed but agreed. She’d barely gotten five feet off the ground and already her back was killing her. The fall was only partially at fault. April had taken the bulk of that.

  Sam pulled up his map, noting the dots representing Nita’s team, all hurrying inward at a fast pace. “Okay, everyone. Let’s move out!”

  Deryn kept her eyes on the ground as they walked, her arms folded in front of her chest so Xander couldn’t hold her hand. She didn’t want his comfort.

  Still, he walked beside her, catching her eye every now and then and giving her a little smile that succeeded in making her feel better. But only slightly.

  CHAPTER 34

  After everyone took their turns with the gravpack in the new location - all but Deryn getting into the air without much struggle - they began the long walk back to Blackbird.

  It was Nita’s idea to stop at the lake, stripping down to her underwear and jumping in before anyone could object.

  Deryn sat on the bank with her knees to her chest, watching as her old friends, and a couple of new ones, splashed around in the water. Sam even did several backflips that had everyone clapping and hooting in approval.

  Xander sat beside her, leaning back on his hands and stretching his neck, trying to get a kink out of it.

  “Why aren’t you going in?” Deryn asked him.

  “Because I don’t know how to swim and the person who promised to teach me is sulking on dry land.”

  She narrowed her eyes and said, “I’m not sulking.”

  “Then what are you doing, love?” he asked with a sideways glance and a smirk.

  “Going over plans in my head. I can hover with my boots using an Element. Why can’t I use that same method to help me fly?”

  Xander raised her eyebrows. “You want to make boots that work like a gravpack?”

  “Yes. If I can. But it won’t be exactly the same. Our technology is different from Sam and April’s. I’m hoping they’ll let me study one of their packs.”

  “I’m sure they will.”

  A long pause passed between them.

  “But you are sulking.”

  Deryn sighed and placed her chin on her knees. “I want to swim.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “But other than my arms and face, none of these people have seen the extent of my scarring yet.”

  “Back to this again?” Xander rose to his feet. “Then perhaps they’d all like a good, long look at my back. It’s a hell of a lot worse than yours, and nice and fresh.”

  He tore off his shirt, followed shortly by his shoes, socks and pants. He stood proudly in his underwear, hands on his hips as he stared down at Deryn.

  “Do you find me repulsive?” he asked.

  She laughed softly and shook her head.

  “Then take off your clothes and get in the fucking water.”

  She didn’t move.

  Xander stepped backwards until his feet left the bank and entered the murky blue lake. “Holy fuck, that’s cold!”

  “It’s best to just jump in!” Nita shouted from where she floated on her back in the center of the small lake. Dakota jumped on her and they both went under.

  Still facing Deryn, Xander took another step back, and then another. Soon he was ankle deep. Then up to his knees.

  “It’s not getting any fucking warmer.”

  “It gets colder the deeper you go,” said Deryn with a grin.

  He groaned. “Well, that’s just great. I’ll be a damn icicle by the time you - SHI ...”

  Xander’s voice cut off as he went one step too far, sinking down into the depths of the lake. Deryn jumped to her feet, but Xander resurfaced and managed to crawl back onto the shallower part of the lake. He gasped for breath but then suddenly became very still.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, stepping forward.

  “I just felt something,” he said, his face going pale. “Is there something alive in here?”

  Deryn laughed. “Obviously! Fish, frogs, snakes -”

  “Snakes!” he screeched, scrambling to his feet and running for dry land, tripping several times along the way. “Snakes are fucking real?” he asked, standing in front of Deryn with far less confidence than before.

  “Yes, but the majority aren’t poisonous.”

  “They can be poisonous?”

  Deryn laughed and nodded. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. I want to go in.”

  His eyes widened. “You want to go in now?”

  “Yep.” She tore off her top. “Stop thinking about snakes and watch me get half-naked. Eyes on my breasts.”

  He obeyed, watching the delicious lumps bounce as she took off her boots, socks and pants.

  “Don’t enjoy the sight of them too much. You don’t get to play with them for several more hours.” Deryn took his hand and led him back into the water.

  “Well, that’s just not fair. I’m sure we could go to the other side of those trees and -”

  “Let’s swim!”

  Deryn pulled him deeper and deeper, placing his left hand on her right boob so he’d stop looking around for snakes.

  “Relax, Xander. I’m sure it was just a fish,” she said, reaching the point where she couldn’t touch the bottom anymore and letting herself sink until she was nothing but a floating head. “Now, come down here and start swimming.”

  “But -”

  “All you have to do is lightly kick your legs and swish your arms around like this.” Deryn demonstrated, causing light ripples in the water that shimmered like glass in the sunlight.

  She’d missed this. It didn’t even bother her that it was, in fact, very cold. Swimming felt right. Being outside felt right.

  Xander went off the edge with a kerplunk. Deryn grabbed his hand and yanked him back up when he went under. He gasped and kicked a bit frantically before finally starting to calm.

  “I’ve got you,” said Deryn, wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him upright. Once he steadied his breathing and relaxed his movements he did okay. “This is called treading water.” She released him so he could do it on his own. “Now, we’re going to swim.”

  “Learn faster!” shouted Sam. He was about ten feet away, waist deep with April on his shoulders. “We need some real competition for a chicken fight!”

  Nita swung her arm back and sent a large splash of water into both of their faces. “Don’t listen to them! They barely won! I want a rematch!”

  Before Dakota could protest, Nita was swinging her legs over his shoulders. Evangeline and Everett joined the chicken fight while Adrian, Laramie and his teammates sunned themselves on an old dock Deryn’s grandfather had built.

  Deryn turned so she was side by side with Xander. “Okay, time to swim. Follow my lead.”

  • • •

  One hour and nine chicken fights later, they decided it was time to head back to the base. One S.U.R.G.E. had already found them that day and they knew they shouldn’t be pressing their luck.

  Nita scouted ahead, as she so often did, and her team followed her lead, branching out. No words needed to be exchanged, they just did it.

  When they arrived at the entrance to Blackbird, Talon was standing there waiting. Nita was embracing him while the two of them spoke quietly.

  “How’d it go?” asked Sam while April called back all of their flying cameras.

  “Not great. Piz and Matilda are supervising the packing of everyone who’s supposed to leave. Several of them still think they can argue their way out of it.”

  “At least they didn’t rough up that pretty face of yours,” said Sam, giving one of Talon’s cheeks a pinch.

  Talon swatted him away and rubbed at the red mark that was forming. “A couple of people tried, but the majority agree with the decision. There’s been so much animosity in Blackbird for too long and so much division. If we’re going to win this, we need to be a team. A community.”

  The last camera fluttered in and April snagged it. Everett appeared on one side of them and Evangeline appeared o
n the other. Adrian must have still been scouting.

  They waited, none of them thinking too much about it until they heard something moving in the east. Nita was the first to react, taking out her gun and heading off in the direction of the noise on silent feet. A moment later, she shrieked and everyone ran toward her, Talon pushing to the front of the group.

  When they found her, she was standing over a man she had pinned to the ground, her gun held to his head.

  Sewick Blum laughed as Nita cursed at him. “Careful, doll. The last time you had me in a position like this we remained in it for many hours.”

  Nita groaned and whacked him in the head with the butt of her gun. “What are you doing here, Sewick?”

  “Ow!” he cried, smacking her gun away before standing. “I’m just a fucking escort. Don’t abuse the messenger.”

  “An escort for who?” she demanded.

  “For me.”

  A feeling of dread spread through Deryn’s veins as she turned toward the sound of the voice. Soren’s storm cloud eyes were looking right at her. She could always feel them, even when he was nowhere around.

  But there he was, standing not even ten feet away from her with his Element pressed against Adrian’s back.

  Everyone’s guns came out, both Xander and Talon moving so they were in front of Deryn. She let Talon remain where he was but grabbed Xander’s shoulder and maneuvered him so he was behind her. When he protested, she said, “I’m not the one he wants to kill.”

  Xander didn’t argue further but he was far from pleased.

  Poor Adrian looked more annoyed by his hostage situation than afraid. He frowned at Nita and said, “Sorry, boss.”

  “I have no intention of hurting him. I simply want to guarantee that no one shoots me dead before I get a chance to say what I came here to say.” Soren used the muzzle of his Element to push Adrian forward a few steps.

  Talon stepped in their path, causing Soren to halt. He finally took his eyes off of Deryn and looked at his old friend.

  “We don’t care what you have to say. Let him go and get the fuck out of here within the next ten seconds or forfeit your life.”

  “Just listen to me, Talon. I’m still on your side.”

  “You were never on my side!” Talon screamed. “If you were then you never would have laid a hand on my sister! My baby sister who you promised me you would get home safely! You fucking liar!”

  Talon grabbed a rock from the ground and tossed it at Soren, successfully hitting him in the forehead. But Soren barely flinched, keeping his gun arm steady.

  “I admit, I made a bad judgment call -”

  Deryn laughed loudly, causing all heads to spin toward her. “Is that what we’re calling rape these days? A bad judgment call?” she asked, crossing her arms and looking Soren square in the eye. His nose and cheeks flushed but he didn’t back down, keeping her gaze as his throat bobbed.

  “I kept you alive.”

  “I’ll admit, you had a hand in keeping me breathing, but you certainly didn’t keep me alive. By the time I escaped, I’d been dead inside for years.” She looked at the scar on his throat and smiled. “I promise you, I was aiming to kill, and it is only by some miracle that you’re standing here now.”

  Soren looked like he’d just been struck by lightning.

  Deryn hoped her words would put an end to his delusions.

  “Let me prove myself to you.”

  Apparently not.

  “To me?” Deryn asked with a laugh. “I’m not the one whose approval you need. Talon’s in charge.”

  Instead of moving his eyes to Talon, Soren instead looked at Xander. While he may have been behind Deryn, he was still standing protectively, one hand on her shoulder and the other on his gun.

  “Keep looking at me like that, Sorey, and I’ll rip out the rest of your throat,” threatened Xander. “Or, better yet, I’ll leave you in pieces just like I did your brother.”

  Soren lifted his eyebrows. “You say that like I care about what you did to Veli. When I heard he was dead, all I felt was relief.”

  “Then why were you always loyally by his side?” asked Xander.

  “My brother was a bastard, but he cared for me. In his own way, at least. And he did whatever I asked without much question. I wanted you to do your fucking job and find Deryn, so he came up with an elaborate plan to make it so.” Soren finally looked at Talon again. “What do I need to do to prove myself?”

  Talon narrowed his eyes and said, “For starters, you can stop pointing your damn weapon at one of my men.”

  Soren sighed and put his Element away. He gave Adrian a little nudge, letting him return to the group.

  “And that’s my cue to get out of the line of fire,” said Sewick, blowing Nita a kiss before disappearing into the trees.

  April moved to follow him but Nita held out her arm. “Leave him. He’s annoying but harmless.”

  Soren crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Next?”

  Talon took his gun out of its holster and aimed it at Soren’s head. “No next. Even if you were delusional enough to believe you weren’t hurting Deryn, you still killed Reynard.”

  Soren crinkled his forehead. “Who?”

  “A guard and one of ours. He was found hanging in the forest with burns from the ‘toxic air’.”

  Soren cocked his head and smiled. “Oh. Him. Stupid little shit was shooting his mouth off to the other guards, trying to find people who were disloyal to the president. Several guards reported him to me. Veli and Eamon said the same. They guessed who he was and wanted to torture him, hoping he’d reveal your hideout. So when I heard he’d left on a mission outside I took care of it. Don’t worry, I made it quick.”

  “And what about the other guard he was with?” asked Talon, his gun arm not wavering.

  “If I killed one then I had to kill the other,” answered Soren with a shrug. “I couldn’t leave a witness. It had to look like a Resistance job.”

  Talon huffed and lowered his gun. It may have been heartless, but Soren’s reasoning made sense.

  Deryn watched the Guardian closely. She hated that she knew he was speaking the truth. His tells were one of the many things she’d learned about him over the years. The way his fingers curled when he was lying, or how his eye twitched when he was stretching the truth a bit. But Soren was steady.

  Talon and Soren watched each other for a good, long while. Eventually, Talon sighed and put his gun back in its holster.

  “If it’s a test you want then fine. I have one for you.”

  Soren’s mouth opened slightly, the only indication of his eagerness.

  “I hear you have a personal slave now. Bring her to me. Prove you could’ve gotten Deryn out whenever you felt like it.”

  Deryn’s heart fluttered. He remembered what they’d told him about Fiona.

  “That’s not fair,” said Soren. “My slave isn’t watched nearly as closely as Deryn -”

  “Then it shouldn’t be a problem getting her here. You have one week.”

  “Elvira will wonder where she’s gone.”

  “Not my problem,” said Talon. “Now get the hell out of my sight before I change my mind.”

  Soren’s eyes saddened. He nodded and looked back at Deryn. “I like your hair,” he said. He gave Sam and April and their colorful hair a brief glance before turning away.

  “How did Sewick find us?” demanded Talon before he got very far.

  Soren shrugged. “You know he doesn’t share that sort of information with anyone.”

  “And I expect you to make sure he never does.”

  “I heard that!” shouted Sewick from somewhere deep in the forest.

  Once they were gone, everyone returned to the base. The moment they all stepped off of the lift, Deryn went to Talon and hugged him as tightly as she could.

  “Thank you,” she said, crying as her brother hugged her back.

  In just one week, Fiona Quigley was going to be free. Sure, she was a pain in the ass
and would probably fight tooth and nail to stay with Soren, but she wouldn’t win. And then Bronson and Quigley could finally get the hell out of Utopia. That only left Luka.

  Before long, the five of them would be a family again.

  CHAPTER 35

  Chace Moffett crouched beside the plants that grew atop the roof of a rundown apartment building in Outer City. He wore a gasmask and gloves while handling the leaves of his priest plants, which were ready for harvesting.

  It had been pure dumb luck when he’d finally found the place Veli Tash had rented for him while his mind-control chip was installed. On Chace’s way back from a solo trip to the Black Market, he’d passed the building at the same moment a woman exited. She smiled and said hello when she saw him, an obvious familiarity there, and then she held the door open so he could go inside. His apartment had been on the top floor, the only door without a name on it. There were no plants inside so he’d tried the roof.

  Like the priest plant he’d given to Veli, all of the leaves had been frozen in their non-toxic state, thank god. If he hadn’t done that then the whole neighborhood would have been infected by then.

  Not wanting to risk leaving it there, he’d unfrozen the leaves and returned the next day with his mask, gloves and several glass vials. Once the leaves were picked, he ground them up with a mortar and pestle he found in his apartment and very carefully placed the green mush into the vials. He didn’t have a specific plan for the poison that caused people to confess their deepest secrets while killing them slowly, but it felt safer in his hands.

  Once the last leaf was harvested, he took out a lighter and burned the plants one by one, trying to keep the flames small so no one would notice smoke rising from the roof. As the last plant withered to ash, he stared out at the setting sun. Ever since Deryn and Xander’s escape, S.U.R.G.E.s had been roaming the streets at all hours of the day, especially when it was dark. He needed to get back to their hideout soon, or else he’d be stuck in that cockroach infested apartment for the night.