The Lost City: The Palumbra Chronicles: Book Two

by L. D. Fairchild

  "I bet you're wondering how I came to be here." Arabella raised her arms to encompass the room, her blood-red fingernails sweeping through the air. Maeve had the impression that Arabella was in charge of a lot more than just this room. She stepped farther into the room, her heels making a staccato tap on the tile floor, echoing through the room like a gunshot.

  She reached Maeve and Gray and studied them as if examining an interesting specimen under a microscope. "You two couldn't just leave well enough alone, could you? After all the work I've done, I'm not letting the two of you ruin it. Except this time, you've enlisted a few more friends."

  Gray finally found his voice. "What do you know about our friends?"

  Arabella laughed, a high, tinkling sound that made Maeve think of breaking glass. She ran one of her long fingernails down Gray's cheek. He winced and stepped back as if her touch burned his face. "Oh, Gray. I know everything about you and your friends. I've been watching you since you ran into Sarge."

  Maeve stepped forward. The men in gray followed her with their guns. Arabella noticed and waved a hand at the men. "You can put the guns down. These two aren't going anywhere."

  "Don't be so sure about that." Maeve struggled to control her shaking hands as she stepped forward again until she was toe to toe with Arabella. Arabella smiled as if amused by Maeve's show of bravado. "How have you been watching us? There are no cameras in the desert."

  Arabella towered over Maeve, topping her by at least six inches. She tapped Maeve's nose and peered down at her. "You're right. Except for when someone is carrying one."

  Gray took Maeve's hand. Arabella took note of the action, clapped her hands and took a step back. "Oh, that's fabulous. You two are a couple. That makes this so much better." Maeve shivered, wishing Gray hadn't given away their closeness.

  Gray drew them back to the original conversation. "How could you know all about us? Sarge is clearly one of your people, but we ditched him in the desert."

  Arabella tapped a fingertip against her chin. "Come now. You're both smarter than that. You can figure it out."

  Maeve reluctantly said the name of the only other person it could be. "Elton. Elton is working for you."

  Arabella clapped her hands together again. "Oh, you're a smart one. I knew you would get it. Would you like to talk to him?"

  Arabella beckoned to a shadow in the doorway, and Elton, his arm in a cast and dressed in clean clothes of finer quality than Maeve could ever hope to own, walked confidently through the doorway. He grinned and raised his good hand in a little wave.

  "Hi guys. Glad you could join us."

  Maeve lunged toward Elton, but Arabella's guards raised their guns, and Gray's hand on her arm pulled her back.

  "Ah, ah, ah." Arabella wagged her finger at Maeve. "We can't have that. Elton is injured. It wouldn't be a fair fight."

  "Where's Thomas?" Maeve said through gritted teeth, still straining against Gray's restraining arm.

  "Thomas?" Arabella pretended to think about Maeve's question, once again tapping that red-tipped finger against her chin. "Oh, your little friend with the dog? He's my guest, although he seems to have lost the dog."

  Maeve raised her eyebrows at Gray. She had assumed that Arabella was behind Emery's disappearance, but if Rufus wasn't here, then maybe Emery was still free. Arabella dashed Maeve's hopes with her next statement.

  "The rest of your friends are enjoying our hospitality as well." She held up a hand and ticked their names off on her fingers. "Tristan. Ginger. Emery. And now you two. The old gang back together again. Isn't it wonderful?"

  "What do you want with us?" Gray asked, still keeping his hand locked around Maeve's wrist. With every mention of their friends, her body had quivered with the need to attack the evil in front of them.

  "What do I want?" Arabella laughed her glass-shattering laugh as if Gray had made the funniest joke she had ever heard. Abruptly, her face sobered, her eyes narrowed and she stepped close to Gray. In a voice filled with hatred she looked directly in his eyes. "I want the five of you dead. It's the only way to get you out of my way."

  The guards raised their guns again, fingers on the trigger, ready to fire on Arabella's signal, but she once again waved them away. "Not yet, though. I have plans for you. Not only will the five of you be out of my way, but I can get rid of that pesky new government in Palumbra."

  She stepped back and said to Elton, "Take care of them. Make sure they're not together or in the same cells as their friends." She turned her back on them and strode out of the room, the tapping of her heels fading as she moved down the hallway.

  "Hello again, friends." Elton motioned with his cast for the guards to take hold of Maeve and Gray. In a flurry of motion, they struggled against their captors until Elton said, "If one of them gives you trouble, shoot the other one. We only need one of them anyway." They both ceased struggling and let the guards bind their hands and lead them out the door.

  In the hallway, Maeve’s captors marched her down the hallway in the opposite direction from Gray. "Maeve," Gray yelled. "I'll find you."

  Before Maeve could answer, her guards turned her down another hallway. "Not if I find you first," Maeve whispered to herself.

  ###

  Maeve studied the bare white wall of her cell as she sat on the uncomfortable metal cot's thin mattress, her back propped against an identical white wall behind her. She had already investigated every inch of the room, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon to aid in her escape. She moved her gaze to her hands, which she clenched and unclenched into fists and wondered about the fate of her friends. She knew Gray and Tristan could take care of themselves, and Ginger was smart and strong. But what had happened to Emery and Thomas?

  She dropped her head into her hands, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She blamed herself for their troubles. Her need to make amends for killing the WG soldier had drug them into this mess. Oh, Emma and John might have made it sound like they needed them to ferret out who in the government was still loyal to the WG, but she knew the driving force behind their mission was to give her a way to work out her issues. She tipped her head backward until the top of it leaned against the wall. She stared at the ceiling and let out a sigh.

  How selfish she'd been. She wasn't the only one of her friends who had faced a devastating situation. Emery and Ginger had watched their mom die. Gray had lost the only family he had. Her problems were different but not more difficult than everyone else's. How had she gotten so caught up in her own problems that she had forgotten everyone else? She lightly tapped her head against the wall. When had she let her friendships become all about her?

  And what about Gray? Maeve tapped her head against the wall again, letting the slight pain of hitting her head distract her from the turmoil in her soul. She couldn't believe that she had let him focus so much of his energy on her. After the initial shock of losing Night, they hadn't really talked much about his feelings and how he was coping. His concern had always been for her. And she had let him stuff all his grief away instead of helping him through it. Those were not the actions of someone who loved him.

  And she did love him. Why hadn't she told him?

  She shook her head in frustration. She had always thought there would be a better time. She wanted the first time she said it to be special, memorable. As she looked around the stark, white cell where she sat all alone awaiting whatever fate Arabella decided to dish out, she wished with all her being that she had told him that she loved him.

  "I'm not waiting any longer," she vowed. "No matter the circumstances, I'll tell him if..." She paused, shook her head and continued, "when I see him again."

  "But I'm not going to see anyone again if I can't get out of here," she muttered as she got to her feet.

  She began pacing the 10-foot-by-10-foot space again. She already knew from her previous circuits that it was twelve steps from the back wall to the door. The scuffed, white tile floor was broken up only by the bed and a steel toilet. A steel sink
protruded from the wall. The walls were smooth and white, and the expanse of the door was broken only by a slot through which the guards pushed a protein bar every few hours. Maeve had no idea how long she had been in the cell, only that she had been there long enough to have been given four protein bars. She had eaten none of them as she couldn't be sure they were safe. Every time the guards pushed a protein bar through the slot, she tipped her head under the sink faucet and drank, knowing that water was essential to her survival.

  As Maeve completed what seemed like her 7,000th lap around the room, no closer to an escape plan than she had been on lap one, a key turned in the lock on her door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  The door opened and two men in gray pointed guns at Maeve. She held her up hands and walked backwards until her back touched the wall.

  "What do you want?"

  Neither man said a word, but the one on the left looked over his shoulder and motioned to someone with his head. The sharp staccato of high-heeled shoes echoed through the room as Arabella appeared in the doorway. With a flick of her wrist, she dismissed the two men who backed out of the door, closing it behind them.

  "Hello, Maeve," Arabella said in her musical, tinkling voice. She took a seat on the bed.

  Maeve said nothing.

  "Oh, come now, we can't have a conversation if you're not going to talk."

  She considered launching herself at Arabella, her eyes flitting to the door, wondering how long it would take the guards to come crashing back through it. Arabella seemed to read her mind.

  "I wouldn't try it if I were you. You would be dead in seconds and would miss out on the amazing opportunity I'm about to lay out for you. Why don't you have a seat?" Arabella smoothed the bed next to her with her long, red fingernails.

  Maeve shook her head. "I'd rather stand."

  "Suit yourself. Don't you want to know why I'm here?"

  Maeve shrugged. "Do I?"

  "I'm about to offer you the chance of a lifetime. Granted, if you take it, yours will be a short lifetime, but it's a pretty good offer considering the circumstances."

  Maeve crossed her arms over her chest and widened her stance. "If you're just going to kill me anyway, why would I take your offer?"

  Arabella scanned her from head to toe and back up. She crossed her legs and dangled one high heel from her toes.

  "Why indeed? What if I told you you could save your friends?" Arabella's eyebrows arched above eyes as hard as stone.

  Maeve let out a bark of laughter. "Why would I believe you?"

  Arabella shrugged. "You make a good point. I've not given you much reason to trust me, but you might just have to take your chances." She uncrossed her legs, leaned forward and said in a loud whisper, "It's the only chance you've got."

  Maeve stood motionless, her mind whirling. Several minutes passed in silence, during which Arabella examined her fingernails and Maeve considered her options. Finally, Maeve said, "What would I have to do?"

  "Ah. I knew you'd come around."

  Maeve just stared at her.

  "We would inject you with the virus, of course, then drop you on the outskirts of Palumbra. You infect the government leaders with the virus, and Palumbra is back in my control." Arabella clapped her hands together, the sound echoing in the small chamber. "Simple, yet effective."

  "But the virus isn't contagious unless you're injected on purpose."

  Arabella gave her an assessing look. "Figured that out, did you? You might have been in the lab too long before we found you." She grinned. "No worries. Just today we created a special formulation that is much more contagious than the one we used here in Bellus. So, what do you say?"

  Maeve stood silent and motionless. Arabella wanted her to trade her own life and the lives of the people in Palumbra for the lives of her friends. She closed her eyes and wrestled with the impossible choice. Finally, she opened her eyes and said, "Emery gets the antidote."

  "What?"

  "Emery gets the antidote," Maeve repeated. "I won't do it unless Emery gets the antidote. And you let my friends go before you inject me."

  Arabella stood and shook her head. "Now we can't do that, sweetheart.”

  Maeve refused to give up. “Then it’s a no go. I won’t do it. Kill me now.”

  Arabella’s eyes narrowed, and Maeve could feel the hatred emanating from her. She huffed and said, “Fine. You can watch us drop them off in The Beyond.”

  "The Beyond?" Maeve stared at Arabella. "They won't last two days in the Beyond. No one even knows what's out there."

  Arabella smirked. "Well, not no one. It's the best offer you're going to get. At least your friends will be alive."

  She stared into Arabella's emotionless eyes. "Take Emery and Thomas to the oasis before you inject me. They're kids. What kind of trouble are they going to cause?"

  Arabella threw her head back and laughed, a high-pitched screech that hurt Maeve's ears. "Are we talking about the same Emery that almost single-handedly took down the WG? No chance."

  "Emery gets the antidote. Thomas gets left at the oasis. My friends get dropped off in the Beyond. Before you inject me."

  Arabella tapped her blood red fingertip on her chin. "Why would I give you anything? I hold all the cards."

  Maeve shook her head. "You obviously need me or you wouldn't be making this offer. My guess is you've created a virus, but you don't want to shoot a missile at Palumbra. Either you don't have missiles or you want this to seem like it just happened. Then you can swoop in with the antidote and be the hero. With the government in Palumbra gone, the people will once again look to you to lead them."

  Arabella's eyebrows drew together, and her forehead creased. "Well, aren't you the smart one. I could, of course, just inject one of my men with the virus and send them to Palumbra. But that would be such a waste of good personnel, and there's something poetic about using you since you were so involved in my fall from power."

  "Emery gets the antidote, and the others go free.”

  Arabella stood silent then threw up her hands. "Fine." She tapped on the door, a signal for it to open.

  "Let's go tell your friends, shall we?"

  Maeve stood next to Arabella, her hands bound behind her, in a large, open room with a high ceiling. The floors and walls were the same stark white as her cell, but the walls were decorated with art, although Maeve thought it was a stretch to call the shiny, twisted pieces of metal art. The room was empty except for Maeve, Arabella and Arabella's two guards, who stood with their guns pointed at Maeve. The door at the other end of the room opened, and Emery stumbled through, her face pale.

  Sweat dotted her forehead. She struggled to put one foot in front of the other then fell to her knees where she stayed, unable to push herself off the floor with her hands bound behind her back. Maeve took a step toward her.

  "Ah, ah, ah." Arabella held out her arm in front of Maeve to stop her from moving. "She'll be fine in a few minutes."

  Maeve glared at Arabella but made no further attempts to go to Emery. Ginger and Tristan came through the door next, accompanied by two guards, one of them sporting the beginning of a bruise around her eye. Ginger hurried over to Emery, and Arabella raised her eyebrows at the guard in a silent question.

  "That one." The guard pointed to Ginger. "Took a swing before we could get her hands bound."

  Arabella nodded. "You can punish her later."

  The guard grinned. Maeve's head swiveled toward Arabella. "But you said..."

  Arabella cut her off. "I didn't say what condition I would leave them in."

  Maeve let all the hatred she felt for Arabella show in her eyes and gritted her teeth. She worked the bonds binding her hands.

  "Oh, come now." Arabella waved her hand in the direction of Tristan and Ginger. "I promised to leave them alive. You should be happy with that."

  "Where are Gray and Thomas?" Maeve said through her gritted teeth.

  "They're coming."

  Gray stumbled through the door next, sh
ooting a glare at the soldier who had given him a rough shove from behind. His shoulders slumped in relief when he saw Maeve standing next to Arabella. "You OK?" The soldier gave him another shove for talking.

  Maeve simply nodded, not wanting Gray to draw the ire of the soldier again.

  Finally, Elton walked through the door with his hand on Thomas's shoulder. Thomas winced as Elton gave his shoulder a squeeze, then shook his hand off and ran to stand next to Gray. To Maeve's relief Thomas's hands were unbound. Arabella really didn't see him as a threat. Thomas looked back toward the door as if waiting for someone else. She wondered if he was looking for Rufus. She hadn't seen the dog since he had stayed with Emery, and Arabella hadn't mentioned him. Maeve hoped at least he had gotten away.

  The guards moved Tristan, Gray, Thomas, Ginger and Emery to a spot a few feet from where Arabella and Maeve stood. Emery leaned against Ginger who supported her as best she could with her hands tied behind her back. Arabella clapped her hands like a child who had just been told she could have a second helping of dessert.

  "I'm so glad you could join us. Maeve and I have come to an agreement."

  Gray's worried eyes met Maeve's. "What kind of agreement?" he asked, his eyes never leaving Maeve's face.

  "I have agreed to let the five of you live. Isn't that nice of me?"

  "You've never been known for being nice," Tristan said derisively. "What's the catch?"

  Arabella stuck her lower lip out in a pout. "You think so poorly of me. Why I've agreed to give Emery the antidote and to let the rest of you live. What's not nice about that?"

  Ginger straightened at the news that Emery would get the antidote. Then she swung terrified eyes to Maeve. "What did you promise her?"

  "Go on, Maeve." Arabella stepped back as if to let Maeve have the floor. "You should be the one to tell them."

  Maeve's hands trembled behind her back. She prayed her friends wouldn't do anything rash and make her sacrifice worth nothing. She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders as her gaze passed over her friends: Emery who was so sick and had suffered so much already; Ginger, her best friend; Tristan who had become a leader and a friend in such a short time; Thomas, whose life she had changed without even knowing it; and Gray. Her eyes glistened. They had had so little time together, but they had meant so much to each other. Maeve gave a little nod as if verifying something for herself, sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly to calm her racing heart.