Arise (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 3)

by L. Stoddard Hancock

  Luka nodded again. “Yes, we were. We grew up together.”

  Saevus put a hand on his shoulder. “Then I am giving you a choice. You decide which Von to kill. Your friend Odette, or your fellow Guardian Lona. The other will be spared.” He paused. “For now.”

  Lona whimpered as Luka stared dumbfounded between the two sisters.

  Finley wasn’t even aware she’d been moving forward until Atticus grabbed her wrist and held her still. She hadn’t even known that he was beside her. He shook his head so shallowly she barely noticed, but she obeyed. She knew there was nothing she could do to fix this.

  Luka raised his Element and pointed it between the two women.

  “No!” shouted Neo, jumping in front of his wife.

  Soren grabbed Neo and pulled him back. Gordon helped hold him still so he was aimed at Odette and Lona, wanting him to see how this played out.

  “Luka, you’d better point that thing at me!” shouted Odette.

  Luka looked at her, his eyes blank.

  “W-what?” whimpered Lona. “No, Luka, please -”

  “Kill me, Luka!” continued Odette. “Kill me now!”

  Luka’s Element drifted toward Odette.

  Lona cried harder. “No, please ...”

  “Luka, I’m telling you it’s alright! If you kill my sister I will never forgive you!”

  “Odette, no!” shouted Neo, struggling to get free.

  “Kill me!”

  Luka’s Element moved a little more toward Odette.

  “Kill me!”

  Lona was bawling, her head shaking but her voice lost.

  “KILL ME!”

  What looked like a streak of lightning shot out of Luka’s Element and hit Odette in the heart. Her eyes locked with his, giving a silent ‘thank you’ before she collapsed to the floor.

  “No!” Neo broke free and ran to his wife’s side. “Odette, no!”

  Lona collapsed to her knees, her hand shaking as she reached out to touch her sister. But, before she could, her father grabbed it and pulled her to her feet.

  “Foolish girl!” he spat, slapping her before dragging her out of the room.

  Neo barely got Odette’s lifeless head cradled in his lap before he was being dragged away. He struggled, screaming for his wife. But then his eyes landed on Luka. His grief boiled into anger.

  “I’ll kill you for this, Luka! You hear me? I’ll fucking kill you! You’re dead to me!”

  Bronson and Chace were grabbed and taken from the room right along with him. Bronson’s gaze never left Luka, who was staring down at Odette. His eyes were just as dead as she was.

  “No one leave the tower,” Saevus ordered. “We’ll be heading outside of the city soon, so prepare yourselves.”

  He walked toward the conference room and the majority of his Guardians followed. Finley tried to run to Odette, but Atticus kept a firm grip on her wrist and dragged her away.

  Luka stood over Odette’s lifeless body. He blinked a few times, looked around and saw that he was alone.

  After listening for any approaching footsteps, Luka went to the desk in the far corner of the room and searched it until he found a pen and paper. After writing something down, he folded the paper, placed it in Odette’s open palm and closed her fingers around it.

  “Wave!” he called.

  A female wave appeared.

  “Find some guards and have them help you dispose of the body. She comes from an important family so don’t parade her in front of citizens. A hole was discovered in the dungeons after the Resistance broke in. Throw her body inside.”

  “It was sealed -”

  “It’s been reopened.”

  A pause. “Yes, sir. But we could always incinerate -”

  “No. I want her husband to see her one last time.” Luka smiled wickedly.

  The wave lowered her eyes and nervously nodded. She left and came back with a guard trailing her. He hoisted Odette’s body over his shoulder and the wave led him to the dungeons.

  As soon as they were gone, Luka made himself comfortable on the couch. “Fucking idiots,” he muttered, putting his hands behind his head and patiently waiting for the president’s order to leave the city.

  • • •

  Odette awoke.

  She gasped for air while clutching her erratically beating heart.

  Alive.

  She was alive.

  But how?

  Odette sat up and looked around. She was on a platform in a dark room, the smell of mold and decay entering her nostrils. Above her was a covered manhole, but it was too high for her to reach.

  And then she felt something in her hand.

  She lifted it, finding a folded piece of paper beneath her fingers.

  It was pitch black where she sat. But she saw something further away. A crack in the ceiling, releasing a single beam of light.

  Odette descended a ladder on the edge of the platform. The rungs were weak and rotted but, somehow, she made it to the bottom. She hurried to the light, opened the paper and read.

  There’s a door on the other end of this room. Go out and go left. Avoid SURGEs as best you can. At the end of the hall is an open room with a hover-bike. It’s programmed to keep SURGEs away. Take it, find Xander and warn him. Do not come back. I’ll keep them alive.

  Hurry.

  - Luka

  Odette soaked the letter in the mildewed water so it became mush, then stripped it into pieces until nothing remained.

  She searched the room until she found the door. She knew this room. She’d been there once before, when they’d come for Xander.

  Luka, the sneaky bastard had been playing them the whole time.

  She’d both kill and kiss him for it later. But, right now, she had to hurry.

  CHAPTER 44

  Deryn hovered a good ten feet off of the ground in her boots and kept rising higher. April was wearing a gravpack and rising right along with her. Just in case.

  Dakota watched them from the ground, also wearing a gravpack. Just in case.

  Deryn had told him not to come. She didn’t need a damn bodyguard. Since she obviously wasn’t going to budge on the matter, the snake had gone to Xander and told him everything.

  Dakota hadn’t known they were keeping Xander in the dark about the heads mounted on the wall, but that didn’t make Deryn any less angry at him. She had gotten quite the earful that morning and, when she’d still insisted on going, Xander had stormed off.

  Deryn had never seen him so angry before. At least not directed toward her.

  Yes, she realized leaving the base the day after Sewick’s head was mounted on the wall wasn’t the wisest of decisions, but she needed these boots to work and space in Blackbird was limited. How could she test their limit in a place covered in a low canopy of branches?

  “Do you feel stable?” asked April as Deryn rose another ten feet.

  “I think so. I’m just nervous,” said Deryn, gripping a nearby branch.

  “Don’t be.”

  Deryn rolled her eyes. “That helps.”

  “If you fall, someone will catch you.”

  There were several loud clangs in the distance as Sam used his new gun-sword on a tree. He was having far too much fun with that thing.

  “How is Dax doing with his gravpack?” Deryn asked in an attempt to distract herself.

  “He’s probably the most promising of our students.” April glanced down at him. “But still not ready for a dance party in the sky.”

  Deryn laughed. “That is the ultimate goal.”

  Deciding that she’d gone high enough, Deryn took a deep breath and released the branch she was holding.

  Very slowly, she hovered into open space. She spread her arms to find her balance, smiling when she realized she really was like a bird.

  Deryn only glided around for a short time before returning to the ground. Dakota needed to practice too and his flight-mastering was far more vital than hers.

  While he and April flew through the sky
, Deryn took out the earpiece she’d brought with her. Bronson was supposed to call that morning but he hadn’t. She’d tried contacting him but received no response.

  “Bronson, are you there?”

  Static.

  Fear ran from her head to her chest to her stomach, coiling until she felt sick.

  In the last six months Xander wasn’t the only man Deryn had fallen for. Bronson was her best friend, and the thought of something happening to him made her want to vomit.

  Trying to take her mind off of him, she lay back and watched Dakota and April fly.

  It was odd. Dakota and April had spent the last few nights together, and the previous night it had been just the two of them - much to Autumn’s dismay - but, while flying around, they didn’t flirt or play or anything. They were all business.

  Deryn frowned. She hoped Dakota would find the right girl someday. Preferably soon. While she liked April, she wasn’t sure her casual lifestyle was the right fit for Dakota. Sooner or later he would develop feelings. Ever since they were kids he’d worn his heart on his sleeve, and the serious man she was currently watching just wasn’t him.

  “Deryn.”

  Deryn shot up and frantically searched for her earpiece. When she found it, she was disappointed to discover that it wasn’t where the voice had come from. She’d also brought one of the Resistance’s two-ways. She groaned and snatched it out of her pack.

  “Xander.”

  “What’s with the tone? I’m not the one who’s been lying to you for days.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t lie. I kept information that wasn’t even relevant.”

  “A lie by omission, darling.”

  She growled at the two-way. “What do you want?”

  “How are the boots working?”

  “Great. I rose twenty feet and flew in open air.”

  “So you can come back now?”

  “No, Xander. Dax is practicing now and then I want to try again.”

  Silence. Then a crackle and a sigh.

  “Deryn ...”

  “Xander, I’m fine.”

  “I know. I just ... I’m fucking pissed at you right now, but I love you and I’m worried and nervous and I want you here with me. I can’t lose you. Please.”

  “I love you, too.” Deryn closed her eyes and pressed the two-way to her forehead.

  She didn’t want to tell him but she was nervous too. Something in the air just didn’t feel right and it was more than Bronson’s silence.

  “When Dax is finished we’ll come back.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’ll see you soon.”

  “Okay. I love you. Will you marry me?”

  She laughed. “Obviously, you fucking idiot.”

  “You know I can’t control myself when you use that language. Hurry back so I can lose control properly.”

  “Goodbye, Xander,” she said, tossing the radio aside.

  When Dakota and April were finished, Deryn told them she was ready to leave. They packed up their things and went off to find Sam.

  It was quite the challenge, dragging him away from the evil tree he was battling. But, eventually, he agreed, giving it one last slash with a laser that nearly cut it in two. He’d been careful not to chop anything down and bring attention to their location, but the poor trees didn’t look good.

  “Maybe practice on rocks next time,” said Deryn, feeling sad that such beautiful, living things had been harmed in such a way.

  It was a long journey back to the base. As they walked, the nervous feeling in the pit of Deryn’s stomach kept growing.

  Something was wrong.

  “Hello! Xander! Deryn!”

  Deryn froze, the color draining from her cheeks as she heard the frantic voice.

  “Please answer! God, please!”

  She grabbed the earpiece from her pocket and placed it in her ear. “Quigley, is that you? I’m here! What’s wrong?”

  “Deryn! I ...”

  He paused and Deryn waited, her heart beating hard against her chest.

  “Quigley!”

  “Guardians came for us. I’m the only one who made it out. I ... Somehow, I got through the underground. I’m outside but I don’t know where to go!”

  Deryn’s breath sucked in. No.

  “How far are you from Utopia?”

  “I don’t know. A mile or two.”

  “Do you know which direction you headed?”

  “Toward the ocean.”

  “Stay where you are. We’ll find you.”

  A pause. “Okay. But you shouldn’t risk coming to find me. Stay behind, Deryn.”

  This again. Everyone in her fucking life didn’t believe in her. “I’ll be fine -”

  “Stay behind!” he snapped.

  “Quigley, shut up. I’m coming to find you and I’ll bring reinforcements. Stay where you are. It’ll be easier to find you if you stay still.”

  Another pause. “Please be careful.”

  “Of course.”

  She took her finger off of the button but kept the earpiece in her ear.

  “Our friends inside were discovered. Only one got out and he’s wandering around somewhere. Dax, I need you to get back to Blackbird and have Talon access the cameras. See if he can find him for me.”

  Dakota shook his head. “I’m not leaving you out here. If they know he escaped then they’re bound to come looking for him.”

  “That’s why we need to act fast.”

  “Then you go back and tell Talon! I’ll find your friend.”

  “Dax.”

  “Deryn.”

  She stomped her foot. “I don’t have time for these damn games! He’s my friend and I’m going to find him!”

  Deryn grabbed her Element, shoved her rucksack into Dakota’s arms and walked off.

  “We’ll tell Talon,” said Sam, taking Dakota’s gravpack and Deryn’s rucksack from him. Sam slipped on the gravpack and April did the same. “Then we’ll search the area from above.”

  Dakota nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Be careful.”

  He and April took off while Dakota ran after Deryn.

  “Put your arm around me, I want to try something,” said Deryn.

  Dakota did as she instructed. She wrapped her arm around his waist and kicked the button on the side of her boots. They shot forward several steps. Then she did it again. And again. She eventually found her groove and flew them through the trees.

  It wasn’t long before they reached the general area where Quigley might be. Deryn stopped and released Dakota.

  “We should separate.”

  Dakota shook his head. “Deryn, no.”

  “I know it’s risky, Dax. I do. But I just want to find him and get the hell out of here. You have a two-way.” She pointed to the radio hanging from his belt. “And so do I. We both have weapons. We’ll keep in contact and, hopefully, we’ll find him before anyone is even sent to assist us. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he said, but he didn’t look convinced.

  Before they separated, Dakota hugged Deryn and squeezed her tightly. She wasn’t the only one who sensed something off in the air that day.

  “I’ll see you soon.” Dakota kissed the top of her head before heading west toward the ocean.

  Deryn headed south.

  “Deryn.”

  She grabbed her regular two-way off of her hip. “Talon, I’m here.”

  “Neetles, Adrian and Everett are heading out now, along with a few others.”

  “And Xander?”

  “We’re keeping him in the dark.”

  Deryn frowned. She hated doing this to him again but he was the one Saevus wanted. If it was risky for her, it was flat out dangerous for him. And, like her, he would insist on coming anyway.

  “A few cameras are down. I’m having our tech team work on it but, for now, I can access infrared and search for bodies.”

  “Okay. He should be staying in one place. Dax is heading west, probably listening to this, and
I’m south.”

  Silence. Then, “I see someone!”

  Her heart quickened. “Where?”

  “Where are you? I don’t see you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Where is he?”

  “A clearing not too far from Redwood. Just to the east.”

  She switched directions, kicking the side of her boots again so she was speeding toward Redwood. They were just lucky there hadn’t been any S.U.R.G.E.s flying around in the last week.

  Or was that unlucky?

  Shit, something was wrong.

  Deryn was pretty sure she knew which clearing Talon was talking about, so she turned off her boots before getting too close to it.

  What if it wasn’t Quigley waiting for her? What if they had captured him too and forced him to say those things?

  He hadn’t wanted her to come find him. Why?

  Approaching the clearing, Deryn walked quietly toward a thick layer of brush. She moved some of it aside and could just make out someone sitting on a large boulder. Their back was to her and their hood was up. She picked up a rock and tossed it against a tree. The person’s head spun toward the noise. Their hood fell slightly back and revealed the frightened face of Quigley.

  Deryn sighed in relief. She went around the brush and through the trees.

  “Deryn,” he said, his face going pale as he looked at her.

  Deryn smiled. “It’s really you.” She ran forward and threw her arms around him. Quigley’s body was shaking as he held her.

  “Thank god you’re safe,” she said, crying into his shoulder.

  “Deryn ... you shouldn’t have risked coming for me,” he said in a voice as shaky as the rest of him.

  “You’re worth the risk.”

  He shuddered. “No, I’m not. Where’s Ruby?”

  “At the base. We didn’t tell him you were out here.”

  Quigley’s grip on her tightened. “It wasn’t supposed to be you.”

  Deryn pulled away and looked at him. “What?”

  • • •

  Talon stood in his room, a hologram of his infrared map floating in front of him. He could still only see the one red spec and it was starting to worry him. Deryn and Dakota should have been visible. And why the hell weren’t the damn cameras working?

  His door burst open and Xander stormed in.