TESTED
By Janelle Stalder
TESTED
Copyright 2014 Janelle Stalder
Published 2014
Amazon Edition
Cover Design by Mae I Design and Photography
Ebook Formatting by White Hot Formatting
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Other Titles
To My Readers
Quote
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Coming Next
Excerpt
Excerpt Chapter One
Excerpt Chapter Two
About the Author
ALSO BY JANELLE STALDER
EDEN SERIES
EDEN
(BOOK ONE)
EDEN-WEST
(BOOK TWO)
EDEN-SOUTH
(BOOK THREE)
EDEN-EAST
(BOOK FOUR)
NEW WORLD SERIES
SWITCH
(BOOK ONE)
MASKED
(BOOK TWO)
STAND ALONE
BRUSH STROKES
To my readers,
Thank you for all your love and support for this series!
Enjoy!
xo
Janelle
There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear.
Ben Jonson
CHAPTER ONE
New Berlin, 2040
It was the sound of their laughter that would haunt her always. The physical pain could almost be forgotten, but the humiliation of their obvious enjoyment was like a burn inside her brain. A wound that would never fully heal. Missy sipped on the steaming cup of coffee she cradled in her hands, her eyes staring off unseeingly. Flashes of that day still floated through her mind, no longer from the nightmare that woke her in the early hours of the morning, but now true memories from the event that seemed to have shaped who she’d become.
Giving herself a mental shake, she stood and started to prepare breakfast for the others. No one else was up at this time, but she knew they’d start to trickle down into the kitchen shortly. Cooking kept her busy enough that her mind wouldn’t wander and made her feel like she was helping out in some way.
Roman Adamson, the former second in command to Ludwig Tennebris, the New World leader, was now living with them, his loyalties no longer lying with the tyrant. It was hard to believe, but it took only one look at the way he treated Charlotte’s sister Bridgette to see how much she meant to their former enemy. The man was clearly in love. It made Missy want to sigh and hope for the same for herself in the future, but she was no dreamer. Things like that only happened in romance novels. There was no such thing as knights in shining armor, riding in on a white horse to save her from the sad life she lived.
Not that her life was horrible. On the contrary, she had a home and a family that loved her, which was more than most people could say. At least the roof above her head didn’t leak, and they had food to put on the table. In this world, nothing could be taken for granted.
That didn’t mean she wasn’t lonely though. The world might be a harder, rougher place, but she was still like any other girl. When she was alone with her thoughts, she still dreamt of finding someone to love, someone to shine some brightness into the dark. Of course, in order to find that person she’d have to actually open herself up to other people. She snorted as she began chopping the potatoes for a hash. Not likely, she thought. Her dream still hovered on the edges of her thoughts, reminding her just why she couldn’t stand the thought of being with a man anymore.
Tyler. The name hit her out of nowhere, just like it always did since the large Scotsman had shown up with the others. Missy instantly pushed it away. Thinking about him only made her anxiety worse. It had been two weeks since she had watched him be knocked out and thrown into the back of an unmarked white van. Everyone had wanted to rush out and look for him, but unfortunately they were forced to lay low due to the overwhelming presence of soldiers in their area now.
The crew had crashed one of Ludwig’s parties to retrieve Bridgette who had been masquerading, literally, as Weapon X, the persona Charlotte had employed when she worked for the New World leader. From what Missy had heard, since she hadn’t been there herself, it hadn’t gone well, and in the process Ludwig had seen them all, making it difficult for anyone to walk the streets right now. The last thing they needed was for someone else to get picked up.
Her sister, Phoenix, was getting restless though. She wasn’t the type who could stay locked up inside a house for long. Missy knew it was only a matter of time before they started venturing out again. A couple of their contacts from the streets had been keeping them informed about anything that was going on, but no one knew anything about the mysterious white van, or Tyler’s whereabouts.
It was a stressful time, even more so since Roman’s revelation on the day he had suddenly appeared at the house to reunite with Bridgette. As far as anyone in New Berlin knew, all of North America had been destroyed during the war. When the wave of bombings had started, communication to the outside world had been instantly lost. Television, internet, telephones – all were a thing of the past. They now knew why.
According to Roman, Ludwig had timed his attack on Europe right as there had been a massive Tsunami in the United States of America, something they were only just beginning to hear about before power was lost. The natural disaster wiped out most of the country and even a good portion of Canada, leaving any survivors with no choice but to move inland as far as they could. Roman said the leaders there had been so preoccupied with their own destruction that they weren’t even aware of what was happening in Europe until Ludwig was already in control of most of it.
It had taken them years to recover, giving Ludwig more than enough time to
take over Europe and make it impossible for them to send any help once their army was back up and running. Roman said Ludwig kept the sky and borders so heavily armed there would be no way for anyone to send in help.
The barrage of questions that had bombarded Roman after he explained all this was insane. Missy remembered only half listening as everyone questioned him about just how many other countries were still alive. There was more of the world’s population alive than they had thought, something no one could ever have seen coming. Although why, Missy didn’t know, considering how deceitful the New World leader was. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that he had lied to them about the rest of the world.
While everyone shouted overtop of one another, Missy had sat there in a daze, her mind stuck on the image of Tyler slumping helplessly in those men’s arms. Pete, Trent and Seamus had run out of the house as soon as Missy had come barging into the kitchen with the news, but they hadn’t found a thing. At that point no one knew what to do, and two weeks later they were no closer to a solution with either situation. They still weren’t certain how to get into contact with anyone across the ocean, or how they were going to track down this elusive van.
“Something smells heavenly,” Phoenix said, sauntering into the room. Missy didn’t know anyone else who was as chipper and energetic in the morning as her sister. Phoenix stopped just behind Missy, her chin resting on her shoulder as she breathed in loudly. Missy chuckled, swatting her sister’s hand away as she reached for a potato.
“You’re going to burn yourself,” Missy warned.
“It would be worth it,” Phoenix said with a grin.
“I’m sure you can wait another ten minutes until they’re done.”
Sighing dramatically, Phoenix poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the large table that took up most of the kitchen. They relaxed into a comfortable silence as Missy tossed in some vegetables.
“I think I’m going to go out today,” Phoenix announced, breaking the silence. Missy only nodded. “Aren’t you going to tell me no?” she asked with a snicker.
Missy looked over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised skeptically. “Would you listen if I did?”
Her older sister’s grin widened. “Nope.”
“Then no, I’m not going to tell you no.” Missy turned back to the food, stirring it. “To be honest,” she said, “I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long.”
“Me too,” Phoenix admitted. “I’m more surprised that I haven’t killed someone yet. It’s one thing to be stuck inside, but to be stuck inside with all these people?” She shuddered. Missy smiled, knowing exactly who Phoenix probably felt like killing the most, although she was starting to wonder if her sister really did hate the tall, blond, stubborn, Trent McKay as much as she said she did. “We need to get a lead on Tyler,” she was saying, breaking into Missy’s thoughts.
Missy felt herself stiffen at the mention of his name. Two weeks. That was a hell of a long time for someone to be kidnapped. What if whoever took him had killed him already? Or worse…Missy’s gut wrenched at the thought of someone torturing the burly Scotsman.
“And just how do you plan on doing that?” Trent asked, walking into the kitchen. Missy forced herself to remain relaxed around the men. It was hard, but she was finding the longer they were here, the easier it was starting to become. She still didn’t like to be left alone with one of them, but she wasn’t quite as nervous as she had been when they’d first arrived.
“I’m going to go out and ask some of my contacts,” Phoenix snapped back.
Missy turned to see Trent sitting across the table from her sister, his mouth pressed into a hard line.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.”
Her sister balked at his demand. “I can do whatever I want, hot shot,” she replied.
“Not with that hair you can’t,” he argued. “You’d be picked up in minutes as soon as one of the New World soldiers spotted you.”
Phoenix touched the ends of her bright red bob, her eyes narrowed at the man across from her. Missy was tempted to laugh at the look of outrage on her sister’s face. No man, in their entire life, had stood up to Phoenix the way Trent constantly did. It was almost entertaining to watch. Even their father gave in to her sister’s every whim.
“I’ll wear a hat then,” she said in a defiant tone.
“Smells good in here!” Seamus shouted, shooting Missy a grin. She timidly smiled back at him before turning around. “Why do you two already look like you want to kill each other?” he asked, flopping down on the bench.
“Because we’re awake and breathing,” Phoenix replied sweetly. Seamus snorted, but Trent remained rigid in his seat, his face set in an irritated look.
“She wants to go out today,” Trent said, looking to Seamus. “Tell her it’s a bad idea.”
Seamus leaned forward, his arms braced on the table. “First of all, you’re taking the piss if you think she gives a shit what I have to say.”
“Damn right,” Phoenix said.
“Secondly,” Seamus continued, ignoring her, “I’m almost inclined to side with her on this.” He held up a hand as Trent got ready to argue. “Look, we’ve been holed up in here long enough. If we don’t start doing something, we’re all going to go crazy. We have no idea what Ludwig or Douglas is up to, we have a whole army that could possibly help us that we need to find a way to contact, and we have one of our men out there, having God knows what done to him. There’s really no other choice but to go out and start getting something accomplished.”
“How will we accomplish anything when we’re lying dead in Ludwig’s fucking interrogation room?” Trent replied.
“A happy morning I see,” Lake said as she walked in, Pixie following silently. Sam and Vi were close behind, Sam’s loud voice filling the kitchen as the three at the table sat in tension.
“What’s wrong here?” Sam asked, sitting down beside Seamus.
“Phoenix wants to go out, and I’m supporting her,” Seamus answered.
“Thank God!” Sam hollered. “Where we off to then?” she asked, looking to Phoenix. Her body visibly hummed with excitement. Missy smiled, thinking how childlike Sam looked at the mere prospect of going outside. She’d once been like that – before. Now being inside was her only comfort.
She placed the food in the middle of the table just as Bridgette, Roman, Charlotte and Pete walked in. Bridgette instantly grabbed the stack of plates from the counter, setting one in front of each person. Missy smiled at her in thanks. She liked Charlotte’s older sister. She was nothing like her’s. Where Phoenix was loud and opinionated, Bridgette was quiet and thoughtful. As Missy went to grab cutlery, she noticed Roman watching Bridgette as she made her way around the table, his eyes never leaving her. The emotion she saw there tugged at something inside her.
“Pete, talk some sense into your best friend please,” Trent said. Missy looked away from the two lovers, and focused back on the task at hand.
“Mate, I’ve only just woken up. Give me a few minutes before I have to play referee between you two,” Pete replied.
“What’s going on?” Charlotte asked.
“They think it’s okay to go out today,” Trent explained.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Roman said.
Trent threw his hands up in there air. “Finally! Someone who agrees with me,” he said. “And it’s Roman Adamson of all people.”
Bridgette gave him a warning look before sitting down beside her man.
Roman ignored him as he went on. “The increase in soldiers is only because Ludwig suspects you are here. He’s specifically searching for any of you. If you get caught…” He let the unspoken words hang in the air amongst them. They’d be dead, Missy realized. There would be no coming back if they happened to get caught. And now that they’d made themselves known to the New World leader, the stakes were higher than ever before.
“Well, be that as it may,” Phoenix said, sta
nding up from the table, “I’m still going out there and finding out what the hell is going on in my territory. We’ve been keeping this place safe for a long time now, and I’m not about to stop.”
“No one is asking you to stop looking out for your people,” Charlotte said.
“We’re just as anxious as you to find Tyler, if not more,” Pete added. “If we start going out into the streets again, we’re going to have to be very careful.”
“We?” Trent said through gritted teeth. His palms slammed the table top making Missy jump. “Jesus, don’t tell me you’re going to walk out that door too. Has everyone here gone mad?”
“How can you sit here while your friend is out there somewhere?” Phoenix said, her cheeks flushed with anger.
“That’s right, Princess, my friend, not yours! And I’m no good to him if I’m dead!”
“You’re no good to him if he’s dead either!”
The room fell into a tense silence. Missy placed her fork down silently, no longer hungry. She watched as the muscles in Trent’s shoulders and arms slowly relaxed as he stared at her sister. Finally he took a deep breath, his eyes breaking away from her to look around the table before nodding his head slowly.
“Fine, we’ll go out today and start asking questions. But you had all better get dressed up in some sort of disguise so you don’t get caught, or I swear to God when I find you again, I’ll kill you myself.”
“You sure have a way with words,” Pete said with a grin.
Trent practically growled at him. “Shut up.”
The kitchen door slammed open as Garrett walked in, his long, blond locks in complete disarray around his face. Baby blue eyes took in the room as each person looked over at his sudden arrival. “What did I miss?”
CHAPTER TWO
Being out in the streets again was like a breath of fresh air – literally. Phoenix couldn’t remember a time when she had felt more confined and restless as she had the past couple of weeks. It wasn’t like the Archers to stay hidden away, but of course things were drastically different now. Ludwig Tennebris was officially aware of them, and had seen their faces. He didn’t know anything else, but it would have been obvious to him that their group wasn’t in-league with Douglas Hatchers’.
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