white dawn (Black Tiger Series Book 3)

by Sara Baysinger

  And I break. I collapse and he swoops me in his arms.

  “You’re exhausted,” he murmurs. “I’ll take you to your room, and we can talk in the morning.”

  “No,” I say, trying to wiggle out of his arms and failing miserably. “We have to figure this out now.”

  “He’s right, Aurora,” Rain says. “As much as I hate to say it, we both need rest, or we won’t be much help to Ky.”

  Without another word, Mcallister carries me down the hall and up the stairs to my room. He nods at the Defenders at my door, then carries me in. I feel so silly, being carried by a Defender, but I’m not entirely sure I could have made it up here by myself. He sets me down at the edge of my bed, then steps back, leaving room for my maid to tend to me.

  “Is there anything I can get for you, Chief?” the maid asks. “Food? Tea?”

  “Get her both,” Mcallister says. “And a jug of water.”

  I glance at him. “I’m too anxious to eat.”

  “You need to eat if you want energy to figure things out tomorrow.”

  I look down at my hands and the maid leaves to fill the order. I wonder if I’ll even be awake by the time she gets back.

  “Will you be okay for the night?” Mcallister’s deep voice fills the room like warmth from the hearth.

  I glance at him. Remember the way I collapsed in his arms, and humiliation heats up my neck. I stand and slip off my shoes. “I’ll be fine.”

  He steps closer, just barely touches my arm. A strange, foreign feeling explodes in the pit of my stomach. Usually when men touch me, I feel immediately uncomfortable, but his touch is oddly soothing. I have the sudden urge to hug him, to cry into his shoulder because everything I’ve been through this week has been mentally and physically exhausting. But I somehow manage to keep myself together.

  “You’re freezing,” he says.

  I look at him, surprised at the bereft feeling I have when his hand drops from my arm. I never noticed how dark his eyes were. Completely fathomless and full of untold secrets. I’ve seen a lot of sides to Mcallister. I’ve seen his stoic Defender side, the one that escorted Ember around on my camera screens. I’ve seen the laid back happy James in the mega caverns in Louisville. I’ve seen the guard dog part of him who kept me from escaping the caverns, and the side who doesn’t trust me and threatened to kill me if I made one wrong move just weeks ago.

  But I’ve never seen this side. The concerned side. It’s unlike him and it makes me feel safe and terrified all at once.

  “I’ll be fine,” I repeat. “After I rest.”

  He nods and locks his hands behind his back. “We’ll talk tomorrow, then.” He turns toward the door.

  “Thank, you, Mcallister,” I say.

  He stops, turns slightly.

  “Thank you for looking out for me, even when I was on the road with Rain. Even…after my terrible mistake.”

  He looks at me now, and the sorrow in his eyes tugs at my soul. “Are you kidding? It wasn’t your fault. None of this was your fault. This same thing would have happened if Ember distributed the antitoxin. Or Walker. Or the Resurgence. Or the Indy Tribe. You did exactly what anyone else would have done.”

  His words should set me at ease, but they don’t.

  “Has it spread yet?” I ask. “The White Plague?” My voice comes out in a whisper, because I’m not sure I want to know the answer.

  He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something, then closes it, then opens it again. “You need to get some rest, Chief. We will talk in the morning.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  AURORA

  “There’s something I want you to see.”

  Titus's voice wakes me from my sleep. It’s all I’ve been doing since they took Gideon away almost a year ago. Sleep. Wake up. Sleep. Wake up. Sleep. But even my sleep isn’t very deep. It’s in sleep that the nightmares find me. I’ve thought about ending it. So many times I’ve wanted to put an end to the pain—to my life— but something told me to hold on for one more day.

  “Come on,” Titus says, tugging me out of bed. I haven’t seen him much since Gideon was taken away. He stopped visiting shortly after, and I never understood why.

  He strides into the surveillance room, and I follow behind. I haven’t been in this room in a while. After Gideon was kidnapped, I watched every screen, every minute of the day. I would fall asleep in my chair and wake up immediately looking for Gideon. But after months of that, I couldn’t take it anymore. Gideon was gone. Now, seeing the cameras, the memories haunt me. My eyes automatically scan the people, looking for a baby that might be Gideon, but I force myself to snap out of it.

  Gideon is gone. The Resurgence took him and they have no plan to return him.

  Titus points at a monitor. A girl is standing in the prison arena. Her back is turned to the camera and her brown hair is braided down her back. She’s talking to a boy with a newsboy cap and flask in hand. I don’t need to look too closely to know it’s Rain Turner, the brother to Titus's best friend.

  “That’s Rain.” I look at Titus, wondering what Titus is all hyped up about. His eyes have a strange glow to them, an excitement that I haven’t seen since he found out I was pregnant over a year ago.

  “Not him,” Titus says, smiling a little. “The girl.”

  I look back at the screen. “The criminal?”

  “Not just any criminal, Rory.” He presses a few buttons. Another monitor changes and a new screen pops up. I can see the girl’s face now. I can see her clearly. The room begins to spin.

  “It’s me.”

  Titus bursts out laughing. “No. That’s our sister. That’s your long lost twin, our mother’s favored daughter.” He laughs again and looks back at the monitor, at the girl now walking away from Rain.

  “That—that’s Ember?” I ask. I can hardly believe it. All this time, after Mother’s execution, we were beginning to think Ember was dead.

  “That’s her alright,” Titus says. “Ember is heavily involved with the Resurgence, as we well know.” He looks at me, serious now. “She wants us both dead so she can take the throne. But we caught her. And if all goes according to plan, she’s going to die this weekend.”

  That news is supposed to make me happy. We’ve been looking for Ember for years. So why do I feel like everything about killing my sister is so wrong?

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  AURORA

  I’m not ready to face the world’s problems when I wake the next morning. I know the issues are urgent.

  Patricians want me dead.

  Proletariats are dying.

  But after sleeping on everything that happened last night, it’s like the whole situation came into perspective—Titus’s cruelty, the Patricians’ privileges, the Proletariats’ deaths before they even had a chance to live—and I’m not scared anymore.

  I’m pissed.

  My brain is collapsing, my rage is standing in the center of my mind, striking matches to every conscious thought, and I’m going mad. Blind-ragingly vengeful. I went from very little human contact to exhausting myself in the heart of my country, only for all my work to get trampled on, and I’m done. It’s time to flip this government on its head and show these shoddy Patricians what they could have avoided. It’s time to bring Titus back in the form of Aurora.

  What very few people know is Angry Aurora is not a lioness to cross. Because for sixteen years I have been plotting. I have been planning and scheming and dreaming and wishing, and guess what? I have all the power in the world now, and I’m going to make it rain.

  I call my maid in and have her fill the bath with steaming hot water and lavender. Once she leaves, I undress, step into the bathtub, and sink beneath the surface of the water, allowing the heat to bleed into my muscles. I feel it chase the chill from my bones and the demons from my head. Every last drop of fear evaporates with the steam until all that’s left in my blood is fearless recklessness.

  I allow
my face to break the surface of the water, and I breathe.

  Titus lied about too many things. He had me believe for years that the Resurgence took Gideon while he knew where my son was all along. He actually had the balls to visit me, watch me mourn, and hear me pour my heart out. He had the gall to attempt to comfort me. His lies are now making his own people suffer. His lies have turned his Patricians into power-hungry gluttons and his Proletariats into rabid, mindless creatures, and he’s going to pay.

  I’m not much of a killer. But I’ll kill Titus myself once this blows over.

  Breathe. Breathe it all in.

  I gave Titus a chance. I allowed him to live even after he told Rain where Gideon was. I was going to give him another chance to prove that he could change. I was going to allow him a few more weeks to show me the Titus I grew up with was still in there.

  He’s not. That Titus is dead. This Titus is never going to change. He thinks about himself and only himself and because of that, he’s going to lose. He’s going to die. He’s going to be burned on the very Rebels Circles he created.

  Exhale back into the universe.

  As for the rest of Ky. I did everything in my power to please the Patricians. I did everything in my power to please the Resurgence. And as far as I can tell, they can all go to hell.

  Today is a new day, a clean slate, and I will not bend over any longer.

  Because I am a princess cut from onyx.

  I am a queen sharpened from steel.

  I am power.

  My life is my own and no one can control me.

  Titus was right about one thing: I have to be ruthless to lead. He had good reason to eliminate all who questioned his authority. It’s the only way to keep control.

  No more smiling sweetly at the Patricians. No more meeting their requests.

  no more

  no more

  no more

  They want to kill me? I will kill them. I will fill their homes with the remaining Proletariats—the ones who didn’t die of the White Plague. I will gut this country of every Patrician who doesn’t want me as their leader.

  I roll onto my stomach, prop myself up on my elbows, and stare at the water, the bubbles that have fizzled into foam. Pressing my hands together, I lift praying hands through the water’s surface and watch the foam separate, break in half. And I weave my fingers together. I make a prison with my hands and I lock everyone inside who has hurt me. I count them one by one, list them all by name, every one of them will be eliminated from this country.

  Breathe in. Breathe it all in.

  Power. Freedom. It’s mine. It’s in my hands.

  No more fear, Aurora.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  AURORA

  Mcallister is at my door, already dressed in his Defender uniform when I step out of my room. Did he even sleep last night?

  I smile too sweetly, try hard to cover up the vengeful rage burning in my bloodstream. “Are you ready to answer my question from last night yet?”

  I’m half-afraid my question is too biting, and I almost feel bad, but only respectful admiration shines from his eyes. He takes his place beside me as we walk down the hall to breakfast.

  “The White Plague is breaking out at an uncontrollable speed,” he says.

  The raging fire grows.

  “We are trying to lock down the affected areas,” he continues. “All the counties you distributed the antitoxin to.”

  “With Defenders?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who have never been vaccinated?”

  He looks down. “Yes.”

  “So they’re going to get sick now.”

  He nods. “Yes.”

  “Have you found the historical records yet?”

  His eyes light up. “Yes. They’re waiting on your table so you can look through them while eating breakfast.”

  “There will be no time for breakfast. Debrief me now on what you and Walker learned.”

  He doesn’t miss a beat. “The plagued can’t swim, which is why Ky is surrounded by rivers—to keep the plagued out of the country during the first outbreak. If we work fast, we could dig a moat down the middle of Ky to trap the plagued on the other side.”

  I grit my teeth. “There will be no time for digging. I need you to come with me to Titus's quarters. He knows everything. It’s the only good quality about his leadership—he actually took the time to research our history.”

  “Excuse my questioning, Chief, but do you think Titus will offer up anything you need to know? Even I couldn’t get the information about Gideon out of him.”

  He has a point. “Have one of your Defenders fetch Rain.”

  When we arrive at the lobby, he sends one of his Defenders off to get Rain, then accompanies me down to see Titus. I don’t trust Titus enough to see him alone. He will, no doubt, try to kill me. He could compel any Defenders just as easily as I could, so Mcallister is the only bodyguard I can trust right now.

  I step in front of Titus's door. I’m not nervous like I used to be when I faced him. I don’t feel anything.

  I punch in the code by the door and it slides open. Titus is asleep on the bed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Titus sleep. It’s strange, not seeing the constant aura of defense on his features or the hatred that constantly radiates from his eyes. His face is calm, almost peaceful in deep sleep. How this room must torture him. He’s always kept himself busy, always had social occasions to host and parties to attend. Now he’s stuck in his room with nothing but his horrible actions to keep him company.

  I almost feel sorry for him.

  “Should I wake him?” Mcallister asks. He stares at Titus in disgust.

  “I’ll wake him.” I step toward Titus, a certain courage I’ve never felt around him coursing through my veins. I grab a pillow and slam it on his face. He jolts upright, his green eyes darting around the room. I’ve never seen him look this startled before. Or lost. It’s refreshing.

  Finally, his eyes settle on me. His hair is flattened on one side, his cheek imprinted with the designs from his pillow. He looks at Mcallister and scowls, then looks at me again.

  “Rory,” he says, his voice sleepy but still holding that mocking tone. “That’s not the way I expected to be woken by you.”

  I want to slap him, but I attempt to remain levelheaded, keep some shred of my dignity.

  “I wish I could say I’m happy to see you made it home safely,” he’s saying, “but that also means I’ll be stuck in this pit until your next excursion.” He lips twist into a mirthless smile, and he moves to the edge of the bed. He’s wearing the black pants and white T-shirt I brought him on my last visit. “I suppose politicians didn’t succeed in taking you down, hm?”

  Of course he knows about the politicians. He has to know even more than I do with his cameras. I nod at Mcallister. “Have a Defender remove his surveillance cameras after we’re done here.”

  A ghost of a smile appears on Mcallister’s features. “Yes, Chief.”

  A look of uncertainty crosses Titus's features. Like he just realized he lost full control of his pet tiger. I grin. He tries to smother his uncertainty with a yawn. He stands and stretches his arms above his head. Mcallister stiffens by the door, his hand on his gun.

  “You gave me the White Plague instead of the antitoxin,” I snap.

  He smirks. “Did you really think it would be that easy to undo everything our ancestors did?”

  “I underestimated you. My mistake. But let’s face it, Titus. No one is heartless enough to spread a disease and watch their people go down in flames. These are your subjects too. So tell me how the shoddy rot I can get rid of the plague, or Rain will torture it out of you.”

  “Cutting straight to the chase, hm?” He sighs and stares at me with a look akin to pity. “You could just return me to my throne, and I could solve all these problems myself.”

  “And return the citizens to their place of slavery?”


  “Well, it’s a preferable place to be than dying, don’t you think?”

  I remember the faces of the people I freed. I remember their tears of joy, the celebrations through the streets, the parents embracing their children. I remember Chale and his description of the fogginess he felt, and how crisp and new the world seemed to him after he took the antitoxin. Chale, who died of this hybrid vaccine Titus gave me.

  “No.”

  “No?” Titus tilts his head.

  “No. I think, if they had the choice, they would choose to die with their minds Patrician-clear than to return to that foggy place where they couldn’t even make decisions for themselves.”

  Titus frowns. I think this might be the first time I’ve seen him at a loss for words. Titus, who is always one step ahead, in complete control of every situation, is left speechless. This long-anticipated conversation is clearly not going at all how he expected. Maybe I should help him out a little.

  “You can tell me how to fix this,” I begin, “and I won’t kill you.” His eyes widen. He stares at me like he’s trying to figure out if I’m telling the truth.

  “If you kill me,” he says, “you’ll never find a solution, and more people will die.”

  “And I’ll have one less problem to worry about.”

  His eyes snap. “You would never kill me.”

  I step closer. I lift my hand and grip his chin between my thumb and forefinger like he’s done to me so many times to let me know how serious he was.

  “I would kill you in a heartbeat,” I whisper.

  Even Mcallister looks sharply at me.

  Titus searches my eyes. His throat convulses in a hard swallow. “What happened to you? You’re not the sweet little Rory I mentored.”

  I slap him. “You didn’t mentor me. Krin did.”

  He places his hand on his jaw, not daring to look at me now. “Krin might have been Father’s biggest mistake.”