At the end of the day, I was cutting across school grounds to go get some sleep. I felt so drained and exhausted that I only wanted to go lay down, even though it wasn’t sleep I needed. I was starving, and it was really beginning to take its toll. I didn’t even want to smoke, so I knew I was getting sick.
As I passed around a building that I thought was home to the Wolf students, I spotted someone I wanted to have a word with. I tried to forget about my weak state as I approached Victoria, who was walking by herself, with her back to me.
There were many ways to do what I was going to do next, but I decided to take the non-violent approach, as difficult as that was for me. Just seeing her made the anger in me flare, and the heat of it warmed my stomach. Taking a deep, calming breath, I strolled up so that I was walking alongside her.
She jumped at the sight of me, and a little fear passed behind her heavily made-up eyes. She recovered quickly, though, her expression turning into a sneer. “What do you want?” she spat. Glancing all around her, she said, “I see Jackson isn’t here to come to your rescue. Lucky me.”
I had an overwhelming urge to grip her by the throat again, but I clenched my fists tight and tried to ignore it. “I came to call a truce.”
Her pale blond hair whipped to the side and her blue eyes snapped to me. Seeing I was serious, she laughed. “You’re scared, aren’t you? Well, you should be. If Jackson hadn’t jumped in, I would’ve killed you.”
My nails bit into my palms hard enough to draw blood. “Don’t flatter yourself,” I said, as calmly as I could manage. “You could never beat me at anything. I’m not suggesting friendship. I’m saying you leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone.”
Laugher erupted from her yet again. “You’re as much a coward as that little sister of—”
I slammed my fist into her face, cutting off her words midsentence. I just couldn’t hold on to it anymore. I didn’t want to. It felt wonderful to see her hit the ground and know that I had done that to her. I didn’t even feel bad; this girl had it coming. She’d tried to kill me, and now she had the nerve to insult Nelly after I’d tried to make peace with her. I guess I hadn’t really expected this to go smoothly, but I was going to get my message across one way or another. Luckily for her, my strength wasn’t at its best, so the strike didn’t knock her unconscious. I’m sure it hurt like hell, though.
Her nose was streaming blood as I stood over her. The way her eyes lit up with fear, the rivulets of blood webbing her face made me lick my lips involuntarily. A dreaded, welcome feeling came over me. I was once again a hungry predator, that other me pushing itself to the front of my being. I held her eyes and forced the murderous beast inside of me to back down. This wasn’t who I was. It wasn’t the reason I’d approached her.
Swallowing hard, I spoke in a quiet voice. “Consider this your last warning. Don’t test me, Victoria. You have no idea what you’re provoking.”
A look of pure hatred came over her bloody face, but I turned around and walked away. It was harder than it should’ve been. Everything in me wanted to do something terrible and eliminate any future threats.
But this was the third time I’d lost it, and it confirmed my suspicion that I was indeed losing my battle for control. I wasn’t quite sure whether I’d just made a very serious mistake by letting Victoria live. She’d already proven that she was playing for blood.
My mother’s lessons flooded back to me at this thought. Never underestimate your enemy. I hoped that my message had gotten through to Victoria. Instead, I think I only managed piss her off.
Chapter Fifty-Four
I went to my room and promptly collapsed on my bed. I still planned on talking to Kayden tomorrow, but tonight, I just needed to sleep. As usual, I didn’t get what I wanted. At least it was the next best thing.
Nelly came by to visit me.
It was perfect timing, because any later and I would’ve already been asleep. As it was, I barely had the strength to tell her to just come in.
She entered my room, and her hazel eyes lit up with concern. Typical Nelly, always worried about me. She sat down beside me and pressed the back of her hand to my forehead. “Are you sick?”
I shook my head. “I don’t get sick.”
She gave me a stern look. “I know. That’s why I’m worried.”
When she kept staring at me, waiting for an answer, I decided it was time to tell her the truth—as much of the truth as I felt I could. After all, I couldn’t trust anyone if I couldn’t trust Nelly. “I may have missed one too many meals, that’s all,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Her brow furrowed in confusion, but then, she nodded, as if she’d known this all along. “I knew you were lying earlier when you said you’d already eaten. Why the heck would you stop eating, Alexa?”
I smiled at her unwavering refusal to use a curse word, and again, told the truth. “I needed to think clearly.”
“How will not eating help you think clearly?”
I made the decision quickly and told her about my theories. I told her about everything except Soraya and the village, and only because I’d promised Soraya that I wouldn’t say anything. But, I did tell her about Kayden being a Libra.
When I finished, she sat silently, giving me a look that said she was seriously worried about me. “Oh, come on,” I said. “Don’t tell me you don’t think that something strange is going on here.”
Her eyes searched mine for a moment before she spoke. “Of course it’s strange, Lex. It’s a world you never knew anything about, with people much different from the humans we grew up with. It’s supposed to be strange, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.”
I shook my head stubbornly. “What about the fact that everyone here is virtually perfect? I mean, seriously, have you met or even seen anyone who is old or ugly or handicapped or overweight?”
She seemed to consider this, but then she just smiled one of her pretty smiles. “Well, no… But we age slower, we’re not like humans. And people here like things to look good, so obviously they’d take good care of themselves. That doesn’t mean there’s some kind of conspiracy going on.”
I balked. “Fine, but what about the way everyone here seems to believe that I’m supposed to save them? They wouldn’t need saving if there wasn’t something bad happening.”
Her brow furrowed. “Maybe they just think that because you’re a Warrior. Maybe they want you to exterminate all the Lamia in the world. Who knows? But you don’t owe them anything, and some folks are just plain crazy.”
I stared at her for a long time, unable to believe that Nelly didn’t trust me when I told her that something was definitely wrong here. Also, her arguments didn’t really make much sense, not for Nelly. She was one of the smartest people I knew, and she wouldn’t usually argue for something when so much evidence pointed to the opposite. But mostly, I was upset that she didn’t trust me enough to believe me. Nelly always trusted me.
But Nelly was still eating the food here, and if I was right—and I was beginning to believe I was—she was under the influence of the same thing everyone else was—the same thing that had kept me from seeing things clearly before. I couldn’t be mad at her for this, but it also meant that there was no point in trying to convince her.
“Look,” she added, cutting into my thoughts. “Can’t you just try to be happy here? I know we’ve been through a lot and it’s changed us both… but I’m happy. Jackson’s happy too. The only one who isn’t happy is you, Alexa. You seem to believe that you have to save the world from something, but really, you don’t have to do anything except be a teenager. Who cares what some nut-job wrote down in his diary? You decide what you make of your life.”
I nodded and she smiled, assuming that I was agreeing with her. In truth, I was confirming my thoughts that there was no way to convince her. Not as long as she was being influenced by whoever was behind this. I wasn’t going to ask her to stop drinking the blood and eating the food just so that I could have a partner in my
mission. Besides, if she was happy, I wanted her to stay that way, even if it meant her remaining ignorant to what was happening around her.
“Okay,” I said. “You’re probably right. I think I’m just overreacting.”
She gave me a suspicious look. “Is there something you’re keeping from me, Lex?”
There was no point in lying, Nelly could always tell. So, I avoided the question instead. “Just trust me, Nell. I need you to just trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
She blew out a heavy breath. “Okay, but if you wait too much longer to eat, then I’m going to force feed you.”
I raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Good luck.”
She rolled her eyes. “I mean it, Alexa. You require a lot of calories to keep up with the energy you burn.” She paused, her expression turning to one of hurt, and her next words came out in a whisper. “I couldn’t take it if I lost you, too. Please, I know you’re going to do whatever it is that you’re planning no matter what I say, but be careful. I need you. Now more than ever.”
I pulled her into a hug and smoothed my hand through her hair.
“I’ll always be here, Nell. You don’t have to worry about that.” I sat back down on the bed and rubbed my eyes. “Just let me get some rest. I’m sure I’ll feel better in the morning.”
She kissed my forehead and turned to leave, but stopped when she reached the door. “Alexa?” she said. “If Kayden really does have the power to dim some of that flame in you, let him. I know how you feel about him, and I know it scares you, but remember what Akira said. You’re no good to anyone if you refuse to let it out when it comes so close to destroying you.” She opened the door. “And, Lex, it gets brighter every time I see you. Trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to lose control over it. It won’t be worth this resistance to getting hurt by Kayden.” Then she left.
I rubbed my temples and turned off the lamp next to my bed, letting the darkness engulf me and carry me under. At least when I was sleeping, I could pretend that it didn’t seriously suck to be me.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Today was the day. I was going to go to Kayden’s cabin after school and get my answers. I was going to deal with whatever he told me and jump into any action I could take to help the people who needed me. I was going to be brave and strong and independent and accept the fact that I was a Warrior and everything that went along with it. I was done feeling sorry for myself. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself as I struggled to keep up in my classes.
In Conditioning, I threw up bile after we were made to run laps. It was embarrassing, but I felt too crappy to even care what the other students thought of me. And it’s not like any of them had the balls to make fun of me to my face, so really, what did it matter?
Somehow, I made it through the day, though. And even though my classes had been grueling, the day seemed to pass by way too quickly. Now, it was time to go see Kayden, and I had no intentions of chickening out now. But as I was making my way across school grounds, someone called out to me.
“Alexa,” Mark said with a smile, which turned quickly into a frown as he took in my appearance. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. “I just stayed up too late last night.” That excuse was getting old, I needed to figure things out before people started asking questions.
He nodded slowly, but his face was still wary. “Are you up for a walk to the Council building?” he asked. “If not, I could go grab my car.” I tried not to let my frustration show. “Do you think the queen would just take a rain check this time? I was kind of on my way somewhere.”
His brown eyes filled with sympathy. “The queen didn’t summon you, Alexa.”
My brow furrowed in confusion. “Oh, then why do I need to go to the Council building?”
His tone was grave when he spoke. “Because the man who tried to kill you is going to be executed today, and you have a right to be present.”
I was so shocked that I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. How could I have forgotten about this? Maybe my hunger strike was playing harder with my head than I realized. Mark placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “You are not required to, of course. If you don’t want to see—”
“No,” I said, cutting him off. “I’m coming. Let’s go.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
When we reached the Council building, I was panting and covered in sweat. We passed through the large foyer, but didn’t go up the staircase. Instead, Mark led me to a door I’d never noticed before, tucked underneath the staircase. It looked like a janitor’s closet, but when he swiped his key card and opened it, it revealed a set of stone steps leading down.
The bottom of the staircase wasn’t visible from the top, and I hesitated before entering. Mark placed a gentle hand on my back and urged me forward. We descended the dark stairway, illuminated only by flickering candles lining the walls. When we reached the bottom, there was only one way to go: left. As we headed down that hallway, I found it more and more difficult to hide how freaked out I felt. It was just set up to be scary, resembling something you would find in medieval times.
The hallway ended at a large opening that looked into a room filled with people. Warriors, dressed in their black uniforms, lined the stone walls, and the Council members and queen sat in chairs that faced a large stone in the center of the room. Just like the staircase, the only light in the room was provided by what seemed like hundreds of candles lining the walls.
The man to be executed was wearing the same blue suit he’d had on the night of my ceremony. It was dirty, and his face was gaunt and pale, like he hadn’t eaten in a long time. For obvious reasons, I was able to sympathize with this. He was standing near an enormous stone with two warriors standing on each side of him.
When the queen saw me, she gestured for me to come take a seat beside her. I glanced at Mark, who nodded and went to take up a position on the wall. Pushing my head up, I walked as steadily as I could and took a seat beside her.
“Hello, Warrior,” she said, after I sat down.
“Hello, Your Majesty.”
She placed a hand over mine, and I tried not to flinch. Her hand was cold and smooth, much like her voice when she spoke. “You’re brave to come and bear witness to this.”
I nodded, my gaze fixed on the man in the blue suit. His face looked so defeated, and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. His head jerked up then, making me jump a little. His eyes met mine for only a moment, and a small, sad smile came over his face. Then his head fell back down onto his chest, as though it was too difficult for him to hold up the weight of it.
A man I didn’t recognize walked to stand before us and then climbed to the top of the stone. His face was hard and his size imposing. When he spoke, it was in a deep baritone, the kind of voice that can’t be ignored.
“We are here today to be witness to the execution of Henry Lavine,” he began. I swallowed hard and tried not to tremble. “He is being punished for the attempted assassination of our queen and of a citizen of Two Rivers,” he continued. “If anyone here feels that this is unjust, speak now.”
The room was silent, and I felt my heart beating out of my chest. I wished I hadn’t come here. The man on the stone hopped down and gestured to someone else, who walked up and handed him an enormous axe. Its shiny edge glinted in the flickering candlelight. The four warriors guarding Henry grabbed him and forced him to lay his head against the large stone marred with deep red splotches. The announcer gripped the axe, and Henry’s eyes widened in absolute terror. He struggled, but it was no use, he couldn’t escape the hold the Warriors had on him.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, and opened them just in time to see the man raise the axe high over his head. Inside me—my head or my heart, I couldn’t be sure—something shifted.
“Wait!” I shouted, jumping to my feet.
My adrenaline was running so high that I could’ve fainted right then and there. For a moment, I thought it was too late. It took me
a moment to realize that everyone was staring at me. The man holding the axe slowly brought it down to his side and waited for me to speak, just like everyone else in the dimly lit room.
As crazy as it sounds, I almost started laughing. I couldn’t seem to form any thoughts for a few seconds, but finally, I said the only thing I could think of. “Don’t kill him.”
Everyone remained frozen. When no one responded, I cleared my throat and tried again. “We don’t have to kill him. Can’t we just sentence him to a life in prison?”
It was a Council member who spoke then, and if his blond hair and blue eyes were any indication, it was Tommy’s father. He looked like Tommy, only older and not quite as handsome. His voice was sharp and condescending when he spoke. “You are out of line, young lady,” he spat. “His fate has already been decided.”
The queen held up a hand to him. “Hold your tongue, Thomas. I would like to hear what Alexa has to say.” She flipped her icy blue eyes to him. “And I will not have you forget that she is a Sun Warrior, the only one in existence, and she will be addressed as such.”
Thomas looked scandalized and shot me an inscrutable look before turning his eyes to the ground. Turning her gaze back to me, the queen nodded for me to continue. For a second, I just stood there in shock, but I took a deep breath and continued. “I apologize for interrupting… but as one of the targets of his crime, I would rather see him sentenced to a life in prison, not death.”
The Queen seemed to be considering this, but it was another Council member who spoke. She had a muddy-brown hair color and plain brown eyes. She looked just plain altogether, but I remembered her from that first meeting I’d had with the Council when I’d arrived here.
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