by Peach, Hanna
Now she might never know. She might die without knowing he was sorry. She might die hating him. This thought he couldn’t bare.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Lukas spoke. “Someone has betrayed us.” Lukas’ lips were white as he pressed them together. “Otherwise how would Michael know where the castle was?”
“But who? Everyone was cleared.”
After the last culling, the FreeThinker communities had implemented a policy to investigate their newest community additions before accepting them. The locations of the other communities were kept secret, even among community members. Only a select few including elected Chiefs knew them and even then, not a single FreeThinker knew them all. Potential members had to be vouched for or verified before they were granted a residence. Informants were contacted to verify the story of any potential FreeThinker to avoid spies from being able to infiltrate their community and betray them as happened at the last Rogue culling. Tobias had been sure that there were no traitors at their community. He had been sure.
But he had been wrong. He had been fooled. They all had been.
“The stories of past Society members had been checked out,” Jordan continued, “There were no inconsistencies.”
“What if she was never part of the Society?”
Jordan’s blood ran cold. ”What are you talking about?”
“Cleo.”
Jordan’s head spun as his insides reacted violently against this. “No.”
“Think about it,” Lukas continued. “She’s new to our community.”
“There are others who are new to our community.”
“She worked in Purgatory for Lady Bluesette for−”
“Her past career choice does not make her a spy.”
“But it gave Michael potential access to her.”
“We don’t even know if Michael ever went to Purgatory.”
“Her cover was thin to begin with. Do you really buy her excuse for leaving Purgatory and wanting to reside with us? She just happened to have a change of heart and wanted to leave her old life behind? After decades working as a whore in Purgatory, she just decides to come good?”
“Shut up. You don’t know her reasons for leaving. You don’t know anything about her.”
“What? And you do?”
“Alyx vouched for her…”
“Alyx barely knew Cleo when she vouched for her.”
“Alyx wouldn’t have vouched for Cleo if she couldn’t be trusted.”
“I’m not saying she would. But what if Alyx didn’t know Cleo was working for Michael?”
“Alyx would have seen past it.”
“Would she? Like she saw past her old friend, Passar, betraying her?”
Jordan grit his teeth. He couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t. Or did he just not want to believe it…
All those nights he sat by her side, talking, seeing the real Cleo underneath. Was it all just lies? Could she have fooled him too?
“No,” Jordan said firmly. “It’s not Cleo. She wouldn’t…”
“Oh God. Don’t tell me… You have a thing for her.”
“I do not have a thing for Cleo.”
“You do. How could you? She’s not one of us.”
“Why does that even matter?”
Lukas drew back. “Do you really think that a Seraphim and a mortal can really be together?”
“But Vix and Xiang, Alyx and Israel…”
“Israel’s going to die one day, Jordan. So will Xiang.”
Jordan clenched his jaw. “Cleo didn’t betray us. End of discussion.”
“We’ll see.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Well, don’t we have a surprise for you?”
Alyx felt the point of a blade in the back of her neck.
Tii’la’s blade.
“Tii’la?” Her blood went cold.
“You… You better do what he says.” Tii’la’s voice came from behind her and it was trembling slightly. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Tii’la had betrayed her. Tii’la had volunteered to join her on her mission to recover the Amulet with this purpose. Tii’la had told Michael where the missing Amulet piece was. This was how Michael knew exactly where and when to send Varian and Do’hann. This was why Tii’la had been “deweaponed” so easily against Varian when they had been ambushed. What else had Tii’la told Michael?
“Listen to your friend, Alyx,” Varian sneered.
Alyx squeezed her fingers tightly around her blade. “You don’t have to do this, Tii’la.”
“I’m sorry,” said Tii’la. “I do. Let go of your weapon.”
Reluctantly Alyx released her fingers. Her sword dropped from her hand to the ground with a clatter.
Tii’la moved around Alyx to stand beside Do’hann so that the three of them stood facing her: Tii’la, Do’hann, then Varian. Tii’la reached into her pocket for the real Amulet, the real Amulet that Alyx had trusted her with.
“Please. Don’t,” was all Alyx said, but those words were filled with desperation.
Tii’la pulled out the real Amulet and handed it to Do’hann, who, with a confused look, handed it to Varian.
“What’s this?”
“She gave you a fake one,” Tii’la said. When Tii’la turned her eyes back to Alyx, there was pain in them. “I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice,” Alyx said. “It might be a choice between two terrible things, but you always have a choice.”
“Tricky little bitch. I should have expected something like this.” Varian scowled at her as he dropped the fake Amulet and placed the real one around his neck.
Alyx glanced around the lab. Her eyes landed on the door back into the maze on the other side of the room. She had to make a break for it. But that door was too far away and Tii’la and Do’hann were too close. She’d never get to it in time.
“I have the Amulet and I have my way out. Looks like I have no use for you now,” Varian continued. “Kill her.”
Tii’la looked horrified. “B-But you said you’d let her go.”
“I lied.”
Alyx was out of time. The choice was try or die. She sprung aside, kicking up off the ground with as much force as she could. She flipped sideways through the air, her focus on that door. She heard a commotion behind her, a thud and a clatter.
“Get out of the way, you oaf,” she heard Do’hann say.
“Sorry,” said Tii’la.
Alyx didn’t look back. She flew through the air towards her only possible means of escape with every shred of speed that she had. She slammed against the door, her hand finding the handle and pushing it down. She tumbled through back into the maze.
Alyx heard the sound of metal slicing through air behind her, then felt something brush against her hair. She heard the sound of metal swallowing the sharp edge of a blade as the sword that almost took her head embedded in the door. There was male swearing behind her.
Alyx kept going, never stopping to look behind her as she flew deeper and deeper into the maze. The clicking of gears started and the tunnel rolled. But she kept going, one part of her brain focused intently on trying to keep a mental “map” of where she was, otherwise being found by Varian and Do’hann would be the last of her worries.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ana heard the commotion as it spread through the castle. She stuck her head out of her room. From the halls she could hear the sounds of metal against metal and of screaming. She grabbed the arm of a seraphelle rushing past her door. “What’s going on?” Ana demanded.
The seraphelle’s eyes were red and wide with fear. “They’ve come to kill us all! Get out while you still can.”
They?
Ana let go of her and the seraphelle fled down the corridor screaming. Out of the corner of her eye, Ana saw a shadow moving along the floor. Someone was coming up the circular stairwell down the end of the hall and was almost to this landing. Ana turned her head, her breath caught in her throat.
She co
uld barely believe her eyes. Yael was coming up the stairs. She must be hallucinating. But his foot stepped solidly on the landing and his huge body almost blocked all the light from the slim window behind him.
“Yael,” Ana cried. Her feet started moving her towards him of their own accord. “My love. I thought I’d never see you again.”
Yael’s gaze locked onto her. Please, she prayed, please recognize me. But his eyes remained dead without recognition. “I don’t know you.”
Ana’s heart dropped into her stomach and she skidded to a halt meters from him. “Yael?”
Yael’s mouth pulled up into a snarl. He raised his sword and swung it. She stumbled back, tripping on an uneven stone in the flooring. It saved her life. Yael’s sword missed her by inches. She fell like a vase, her heart shattering as she hit the ground. She had lost him, again.
“Yael, please. You know who I am,” Ana said as she shuffled herself back along the cold stone floor, her heels slipping on the edges of her long skirt.
No emotion flickered across his face as he advanced towards her. “I do not.”
“You do. How then do I know your name?”
“It matters not.”
“We love each other. You love me, you just can’t remember. But you can. Just look deep inside you.” If he just looked deep enough, surely their love would shine through any memory loss he may have suffered through again.
He flinched but he kept advancing. “It’s a trick.”
“It’s not.”
“They told me to be wary of tricks. You must be a sorceress. A devil woman.”
His dark eyes sparkled with deadly purpose. Yael was lost to her forever. He would kill her here and not a shred of remorse would ever pass through his mind. Whatever mind of his was left.
“Please, Yael. I love you.”
He stepped out onto the hem of her skirt, pinning her. Her hands slipped on the stone. His eyes narrowed. “This was fun. But the game’s over now.”
He lifted his sword again.
Ana squeezed her eyes shut, throwing up her arms to cover her head. She held her breath as she waited for death, praying it would be quick and painless.
Ana heard a roar to her right and a clang sounded inches from her head. She was still alive. In shock, she opened her eyes. A sword was crossed out in front of her, blocking Yael’s sword from coming down upon her head. Holding that sword was Lukas. Lukas, who had appeared from the open door to her room that she and Yael had stopped right in front of.
“Get away from her, you brute,” Lukas yelled. He kicked out at the side of Yael’s knee. Yael cried out as Lukas’ foot struck. He stumbled back down the hall, away from Siana. Lukas stepped out to follow him.
“No,” Siana cried, jumping up and grabbing the back of Lukas’ shirt. “Don’t hurt him.”
“He tried to kill you,” Lukas said, whirling around to face her. “You’re lucky I got here in time.”
“Look out!” Siana screamed as Yael appeared behind Lukas swinging his sword again. Lukas turned and raised his sword just in time to avoid being cut.
Siana could do nothing but watch as these two seraphs attacked each other, both of them throwing themselves behind every sword swing. Their grunts of exertion became louder as each strike landed blow by blow, each getting more and more bloodied as the fight went on.
“Stop,” Siana begged. “Please stop.”
There was a horrible squelching sound of metal tearing into flesh. Everything stopped. Both men froze.
Oh my God. Someone had been hurt. Badly.
Who?
Siana found Yael’s gaze over Lukas’ shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise. For a second she thought that he finally recognized her. His eyes deadened.
“Yael,” his name slipped from her mouth in a whisper. He slipped to the floor off the end of Lukas’ sword.
Oh my God.
Lukas had killed him.
The man she loved was dead.
Dead.
Bile rose in Siana’s mouth and she turned, collapsing on her knees just in time to be sick on the floor.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The ball of heated magic cut through the air like a knife and it was coming straight for Israel’s head.
Israel didn’t have time to counter-attack the magic. He just had to move. Israel leapt aside, narrowly missing being hit. He landed on his side on the forest floor with a thud. His breath whooshed out of him.
Sparrow ran through the trees towards him, a stricken look on his face as Piki flew alongside him. That swallow went everywhere with him, it seemed.
“It’s okay. I’m okay,” Israel said, forcing himself to remain calm. He pushed himself up, ignoring the dull pain in his right side, and brushed himself off. Sparrow stood near him, his arms limply by his side, his eyes wide with guilt. “I’m okay. Sparrow. Really.”
Sparrow had a long way to go in terms of training. Even now he couldn’t gain even the slightest control over his power. As the boy grew ever more frustrated, his power became even more erratic. “But maybe we should call it a day,” Israel said.
A figure appeared between the trees in the distance. Whoever it was stumbled, as if they were weak or hurt.
“Hey,” Israel called out. “Are you okay?” Israel shielded his eyes from the sun and squinted. It took a second for him to recognize the female FreeThinker. It was Tii’la.
But Tii’la had gone with Alyx to Atlantis. She was back, hurt…and alone. Oh my God. His heart began to beat in his ears. Israel momentarily forgot about Sparrow, forgot about training, forgot about everything else. As he sprinted towards Tii’la, his footsteps thudded along the ground and his breathing pulsed in his ears in time with the only thought in his head.
Where is Alyx?
As he neared he could see that Tii’la’s clothes were torn, her hair was wild. Her clothes were covered in blood. There had been a fight. With whom?
Where is Alyx?
“Help me,” she croaked as he neared. Tii’la’s knees gave out. Israel lurched forward and caught her just before she hit the ground. Her arms went around his neck, holding her tightly to him. Her grip was surprisingly strong for someone so weak. He lowered her to the ground before pulling back so he could study her. Her eyes were wild, darting around the place. She could not meet his gaze.
“Tii’la, where’s Alyx?”
“I…” she tried before her eyes rolled back into her head.
“Stay with me, Tii’la. Come on, stay with me.” Israel shook her, a growing frustration making his hands shake just a little too hard. Her eyes fluttered open. He tried again, “Where is Alyx?”
He caught the sadness in her eyes as they filled with tears. The look stabbed him as if it were made of needles.
“I’m…” she whispered, but Israel didn’t hear what she said.
“What?” Israel lowered his ear to her mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
After hiding for a time, Alyx moved through the maze carefully, working backwards from the instructions, pausing each time the gears clicked and the tunnels moved around again. Up ahead Alyx saw the round circle of light signaling the start of the maze. She was almost through.
She decided the best thing for her to do was to go all the way back through the maze and out the original entrance. She couldn’t risk going back through Raphael’s lab. Do’hann might still be there waiting for her. Or Tii’la.
Alyx could still barely believe that Tii’la had betrayed her. Tii’la must have been planted by Michael from the very beginning; Tii’la fought alongside them against Samyara to gain her trust. And gain it, she did. She had just been faking it, Alyx thought bitterly.
But she knew, deep down, that Tii’la hadn’t been faking their blossoming friendship. She had seen the pain and guilt in Tii’la’s eyes as she pointed her blade at Alyx and handed over the real Amulet.
Tii’la had been the reason that Alyx had escaped. She shouldn’t have made it through the
door into the maze in time. But Tii’la had gotten in Do’hann’s way as he chased after her.
Tii’la had said she had no choice. But why?
Why did she have no choice?
What did Michael hold over her?
Alyx had no answers. She felt like she might go mad if she focused on the things she might never know. She just had to let it go. And get the hell out of here because soon Michael would have the complete Trinity Amulet. Which means that all he would need was Israel…
Alyx felt the pull of her Guardian bond. Oh no. Please no, she begged as she slipped into Israel’s head.
Israel held Tii’la, on the ground before him. She was covered in blood.
“I’m sorry,” Tii’la whispered.
The hairs on his neck rose. He felt a prick, like a needle on the back of his neck. She pricked him with something. Israel’s blood felt crystalized. What had she done? Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted two figures moving out from behind the trees.
Israel recognized one of the two dark figures as one of the Michaelea warriors that Alyx and he had escaped from in the sewers. The other had a thick neck and a face etched in scowl lines, his muscles bulging through his warrior’s uniform. He did not look friendly.
Israel felt his vision starting to shudder as whatever Tii’la injected him with started to take effect. There was a whimper beside him. Oh God. Sparrow. He heard Piki twittering and fluttering, obviously in distress.
“Run, Sparrow!” Israel yelled.
Sparrow didn’t move.
“Go. NOW!”
Sparrow jolted into action and ran, his face pale and full of terror.
Israel felt his muscles seizing as he tried hard to push away from Tii’la’s grip. She had betrayed him. She had betrayed Alyx. The two Seraphim began to close in, their swords pointed at him. One had a rope slung over his shoulder. Israel fought against Tii’la, managing to clock her in the jaw with his elbow. Her arms let go of him and for a second he thought he might be free, but she quickly wrapped her legs around him instead. He was rapidly losing strength.