The Divide (The Divide Series Book 1)

by Kaitlyn Kroner

  I smiled. For his sake. Something didn’t feel right. Something nagged at me. “Why not now?”

  “She said she had things to do today and wouldn’t have time to talk with us. She said she had important information to give us. We made plans of meeting up and then went our separate ways.”

  My smile dropped from my face faster than a bullet. I turned away from him before he could see my frown. Something didn’t add up. What were the chances of him bumping into Emma and then have someone tailing him? If we had arrived last night like as planned and met up with Emma, wouldn’t she have given us a place to stay and any information we needed? No, something was very wrong. Gregory seemed so sure it was the right Emma. With everything she’d told Gregory about Aileen, she sounded authentic. Why did my gut scream at me to not trust her?

  Gregory and I started walking again. I stayed silent, lost in my thoughts, but I could feel the lightness radiating off of him. I didn’t want to burst his happy bubble, but he needed to be cautious. Now wasn’t the time to get sloppy. “Hey Gregory,” I said, looking over at him.

  “Yeah?”

  “How can we trust this Emma person? Doesn’t it seem like it was more than a coincidence that you had someone following you right afterward?”

  Gregory was quiet for a few minutes. I watched as a frown appeared on his face. After a while, he spoke. “I don’t know. Maybe we’re just thinking too much into it because of everything we’ve been through. Maybe not. But we won’t know until we actually meet up with her.” He didn’t seem all that concerned about it, which, of course, made me even more nervous. The last time he had been like this, I’d ended up trapped in a house and making plans to escape.

  “And you want to do that?” I asked.

  “What other choices do we have?”

  “None, I guess,” I said. Aileen told us it was important to meet with this person. That she would help us get back to Gildonia.

  We walked forward in silence. Gregory eventually led us over to the left side and stopped in front of a door. He pushed it opened, and we both made our way through. It was small enough to be a janitor’s closet, which it probably had been at one point. Gregory shut the door behind him, and we were engulfed in darkness. Sliding my hands up on the wall, I used it to help me sit down and I could feel Gregory do the same as he sat next to me, our thighs touching. The zipper on the duffel bag squeaked as it opened, a light appearing a few seconds later. Gregory sat the flashlight down in front of us, then proceeded to take out food and water. We ate and drank in silence.

  My eyes started to droop as the food settled in my stomach. I leaned over and put my head on Gregory’s shoulder, sighing. At first his body stiffened, but then it gradually relaxed. I shouldn’t have been putting myself in this position, but I was tired of sleeping on the floor.

  “So what do you want to do about tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I think we ought to be careful when we meet her. Stay on our guard.” I slid my eyelids shut.

  “Okay.”

  “Are you going to keep yapping, or can I sleep?” I asked through a yawn.

  I might not have been able to see him, but I knew he rolled his eyes. “You’re quite crabby when you’re tired.”

  I ignored him and let the darkness cloud my vision.

  My knees were slightly bent, and my hands were positioned up in front of my face as Gregory and I stood facing each other. Gregory came at me, and I moved my arms quickly to block his hit. Pain zipped down my arms. I wasn’t doing very well.

  When we woke up, Gregory told me it was best to start practicing every morning. That way, if we got into any entanglements, I’d be able to kind of protect myself. I agreed. We ate and then started practicing. I sucked. Gregory was kicking my ass. One time he literally kicked at my ass but not hard enough to hurt. I was drenched in sweat and ready to take a break, but it seemed he could go on forever. Bruises were already forming on my arms. At first, Gregory didn’t want to hit me. He wanted me to attack him. I disagreed. If he didn’t hit me, how was I supposed to know what it felt like? And how was I supposed to learn how to block if he wouldn’t come at me? We argued for over an hour before Gregory gave in, mumbling something about my “stubbornness,” and, of course, I reacted by jumping on his back. Gregory kept pointing out everything I was doing wrong and showing me over and over again how it needed to be done. He didn’t lose his temper once. I, on the other hand, was thoroughly frustrated. When I tried to punch him, I couldn’t get enough force behind it. I was too slow, and he easily blocked it.

  “Now this time, when I come at you, duck and kick my leg,” he said.

  I nodded my head. He came at me fast. I tried to duck in time, but I was too late. He grabbed my waist and tackled me to the ground, a loud thud bouncing around the small room. I gasped as my breath whooshed out. His legs pinned down my legs, and his hands grabbed my arms and pinned them over my head. I blew out an irritated sigh. “I’m never going to get this.”

  Gregory smiled down at me, and my eyes narrowed at him. “It’s going to take time before anything becomes familiar to you.”

  “I want to know it now.”

  “I know, but it doesn’t work like that,” he said. He got off of me, holding out a hand to help me up.

  “Well, it should.” I wiped off my pants and placed my hands on my hips.

  “We should stop for today.” He moved toward our bags.

  “What? Why?” I walked over to him, my hands on my hips. “I’m nowhere near ready.”

  His brow furrowed. “Why are you so impatient about this?”

  “I don’t want to go to Emma’s place unprepared.”

  “Do you really think something will happen?”

  I didn’t know what would happen once we met up with this Emma person; it could be a nice chat, or it could be a fight. But every time her name popped up, I kept thinking back to what had happened the day before. It was way too coincidental. I didn’t want to go in unarmed. I knew we had weapons, but that might not be enough. We needed strength too. “Honestly, I don’t know. I just feel like something will go wrong. Like maybe we should forget about going to see Emma and just run.”

  “Where would we go?” he asked. He stood staring me down with his hands on his hips.

  “I don’t know.” I started pacing the small room. “But somewhere. What about Destonia? No one would think of us going there.”

  Gregory shook his head. “I’m sure the rebels and the army are both there. Emma is our only choice.”

  “Why?” I snapped. “Why is she our only choice? Why can’t we make our own choice for once?”

  “Because we don’t have choices!” he yelled back.

  “Yes we do!” I shoved him, but he only moved an inch. “We can run and go find somewhere else to stay. We can find a different way back to Gildonia. We don’t need anyone’s help. It can just be the two of us. I don’t trust easily. I’m just now starting to trust you. Who knows when I’ll trust her?”

  “You’re being ridiculous.” He shoved his hands through his hair.

  “How am I being ridiculous?” I gritted my teeth. My body tensed as heat flushed through every limb and made its way up my neck.

  “How exactly would we do it? Do you plan to walk there? The trains have to be crawling with soldiers by now. I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on walking all the way back to Gildonia. It would be months before we even stepped foot there again. We need help, whether you like it or not.”

  “We could take a bunch of food with us,” I said. I actually liked the idea of walking. Maybe by the time we arrived, the fighting would be over and everything returned to the way it was before.

  “We wouldn’t survive,” he said bluntly.

  “How do you know? How do you know we’ll survive now?” The more he disagreed with me, the more I wanted to hit him.

  He stared at me for a long moment. “I’m going out.” He walked past me and to the door. “You might want to get some rest. We’re seeing Emma tonig
ht.” With that he walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

  So that was that? I didn’t even have a choice in the matter? Why didn’t he just go by himself, then? I sat down against the wall. Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes; I believed we could do it. We could have a nice walk. Get to know each other better. Find out what really irritated him so I could have a weapon to use against him when he pissed me off.

  ***

  I had to keep running. I looked back behind me. The shadow was closing in on me. I raced forward, faster. Keep running! My lungs burned, and my legs were tired. I tried to keep moving, but my legs were slowing down. The shadow was on my heels when I looked back around. I looked forward just in time to see the wall I was about to crash into. I couldn’t stop the momentum of my run in time, and I slammed into it. My head banged on the concrete, snapping backward. My body dropped like a bag of potatoes. My head pounded, and as I gently put my hands on my head, I flinched.

  I kept my eyes closed tightly. I wanted to cry, but no tears formed. I tried to keep my breathing even.

  “Mia, get up off of the floor,” a voice said behind me.

  I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. I turned around and faced Kieran. “I’m glad you decided to turn yourself in.”

  I blinked slowly, trying to get the stars out of my vision. “I didn’t?” It came out more like a question than an answer. Where was I? I looked around. I was back in the four-by-four cell I’d been in last time. Haven’t I always been here? No. How did I just answer myself? Because you’re sleeping, and I’m you. I clutched my head. I was crazy. I’d officially lost it.

  “Of course you did,” Kieran said, peering at me. “You wanted to save your father, so you decided it would be best to become my wife.”

  Wife? What? Where was my father? This is a dream. “I don’t understand.” I wasn’t sure who I was talking to—Kieran or myself.

  “Well, maybe if you stopped throwing yourself at walls, you would remember better.” Kieran chuckled to himself. “Now it’s time for the ceremony.” He walked toward me, grabbing my arm.

  “What ceremony?” I tried to yank my arm back. His fingers dug into my skin, his nails drawing blood.

  “Don’t play dumb.” He dragged me with him toward the other side of the wall.

  I tried to keep my feet firmly on the ground, but he was much stronger than me. “No!” I leaped forward and punched him in the face. His hold weakened enough on my arm enough that I was able to pull it out of his grasp. “Don’t come near me!” I shrieked. I put both hands up in front of me. Position yourself like how Gregory showed you. Who was Gregory? You know who he is, you just need to wake up! Like now! How? I don’t know. Try ramming your head against the wall again.

  “This was our deal,” Kieran said. He walked toward me, holding his hand out.

  I looked over at the wall. Would I wake up if I did what I’d told myself to do? I ran past Kieran and went headfirst into the wall.

  I jolted up. My head pounded. The room was dark, guessing I must have fallen asleep earlier. Gregory wasn’t there. I looked around the room and wondered if Gregory had come back earlier or if he had been gone the whole time. Just as I was thinking it, Gregory walked through the door. Shutting it behind him, he sat down against it; holding two large paper bags in his arms. He wouldn’t look at me.

  “How long have you been gone?” My throat burned as I talked. I needed water.

  “I came back about three hours ago, and you were dead asleep,” he said, going through the bags and avoiding my gaze. “So I went back out to get some stuff.”

  “What did you get?”

  Gregory pulled out some dried meat, chips, and an orange soda, handing them over to me. He pulled out his portion and started to eat. “Well, food, a different pair of clothes, and some things for the road.”

  I perked up. Was he going to agree about finding a different way? “Things for the road?” I tried to say it as nonchalantly as I could, but it came out way too excited.

  Gregory finally looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Well, you may have had a point earlier. So, I got some stuff for the road: more food, water, and some medicine. It’s for plan B.”

  I stiffened. “What’s plan A?” Something you’re not going to like.

  “I still think we should meet up with Emma. She’s our best bet. But if we get a bad feeling from her, we’ll leave.”

  “How would we do that?” I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice.

  “I was thinking we leave our stuff behind here. No one knows we’re down here, so we won’t have to worry about anyone taking it. We’ll still meet up with Emma, but like I said, if things feel off, we’ll come back here. We’ll wait it out and then find a way back to Gildonia.”

  I grumbled about ditching plan A but sucked it up.

  “I take it you’re happy with the plans,” he said sarcastically.

  I nodded my head. “I don’t have any other choice, do I?”

  “Nope.” He took a bite of his dried meat. “Now we should eat. We’re meeting up with Emma in a few hours.”

  “Why so late?”

  “It would be better if very few knew of our presence.”

  “I’m glad you thought of that.” I bit into the meat, almost moaning. “I never would have.”

  “She actually told me it would be better to do it that way,” he said.

  I frowned. I didn’t want to do anything she wanted us to do, but I didn’t want to start another argument with him, especially if we were to be on our way soon. “Okay.”

  “You’re not happy about it, are you?” he said.

  Damn. “I didn’t say anything.” I stuffed chips in my mouth. I looked at Gregory, who just rolled his eyes at me. “So, where are we meeting up with her?” I said between bites.

  “In that alley where you had a panic attack.”

  I looked over at him, my eyebrows raised. “Wouldn’t, I don’t know, men who have been looking for us be there?”

  “They should be gone.”

  If I were one of those men, I would have stayed put. People always go back. “Right.”

  “She’ll be waiting for us there. Then we’ll go with her to her place.” He wiped off his hands and went for his drink, taking a long pull.

  “Why couldn’t she just tell you how to get to her place? It seems like it would’ve been better that way.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “She said she knew the best way to get there without being noticed.”

  I bet she did. “I still would’ve liked to just meet her at her place. We could have scooped out the area first and seen if it was a trap. Now we’ll never know.”

  Gregory smiled at me.

  “What?” I asked uncomfortably.

  “You.”

  “What about me?” I pushed my hair behind my ears.

  “You’re adapting to the runaway lifestyle.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  Gregory shrugged. “I think it’s good. Not the whole running-for-our-lives situation but that you’re easily adaptable. Well, not that easily adaptable, because you complain and stomp your feet when you don’t get your way.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t stomp my feet.”

  Gregory reached forward and lightly touched my face. “Whatever makes you feel better.”

  I stilled at his contact. His eyes bounced back and forth between my eyes and lips. I licked them nervously, tasting the salt from the chips. His thumb moved softly over my bottom one, and I stayed perfectly still. What was he doing? I had this sudden urge to kiss him. His mouth parted as he concentrated on his thumb as it swiped back and forth on mine. I moved an inch closer and ruined the mood. My soda spilled all over me, and I jumped up from the cold liquid seeping through my pants. I stood up and jumped around as I tried to dry myself off. Gregory went back to eating and ignored me.

  After I’d determined I was dry enough, I sat back down, but this time opposite Gregory. He kept his attention on his food. I really wanted to
know what he was thinking.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I looked up at him, my heart racing against my chest. Was he sorry he almost kissed me? Was his very first apology to me going to be for almost kissing me? “For what?”

  “For how your life has been. No one should’ve had to go through what you’ve gone through.”

  I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip of the orange soda. “Is it really a surprise that people would retaliate against a Leader?”

  “Not that,” he said.

  “Not what?”

  “I’m sorry you were born to a cruel father. Someone who was supposed to be there for you, protect you, and love you. I’m sorry that you had to live in fear for most of your life. You should never be afraid of your own home. Family’s everything. Family’s supposed to be there for you, always. I’m sorry you never knew what it was like to live in a happy home, where parents showered their children with love. Love from a family is different from all other types of love. Love from a family is a love that will be with you forever. It’s a love that, no matter how many fights you have with them, will always be there. And I’m sorry.”

  Tears formed in the corners of my eyes. I blinked a few times until I knew I wouldn’t shed any. Where was this coming from? I almost wanted our fighting back. “It’s not your fault.”

  “I know, but I have that love. Grew up with that love. And you’ve never experienced it. It pisses me off to know you grew up terrified of what would happen next. No child should be terrified of their own home.”

  I looked down. “I don’t have a home.” It was true. I didn’t. I had never thought of Gildonia as a home. My home was always with Agathy, and she was gone now. I only had myself. And Gregory. I looked up at Gregory. His beautiful lips were frowning. “I lost my home when Agathy died. I only have myself. And you. I don’t want to lose you.” No matter how many times he’s pissed me off or annoyed me.

  “You won’t,” he said.

  “Then I want you to make me a promise.” I sat up.