Eos (The Eos Dawn Series Book 1)

by Jen Guberman

  He held it, running his fingers over the smooth wood before he turned the locks slowly, one after another, leaving the last one unturned.

  “You,” he said, holding it out.

  I smiled at him. Before turning the final key, I bent down and kissed his forehead. Zane smiled, revealing reddened teeth. I felt a weight in my stomach upon the realization of the physical damage the officials and Raine had done to him.

  “What are you waiting for?” He chuckled weakly.

  I turned the fifth key and pulled the lid of the box open. Inside the box was a silver device. The handle was twisted metal, with three circles on it, each filled with a different color stained glass—blue, green, and purple. There was a tiny dial along the metal edging, and the part of the Skeleton Key that was meant to fit into locks was a thin, smooth silver rod covered in tiny holes.

  “Zane,” I said, staring in awe at the Key. “We did it.”

  “Lot of good it’ll do us here,” he said. “They used an ID card to get in.”

  “I have a plan.”

  Zane raised an eyebrow and looked plainly at me. I pulled out the vials and his eyes grew wide.

  “When they come in to take us, I’m going to throw the acid at them, then we have to run. Don’t stop running until we get to the door Fabian brought us through. He used a key on it instead of his ID, so the Skeleton Key should work. Then, we keep running some more until, when we look back, we don’t see Fallmont anymore.”

  “How about those ruins we spent the night in before we came here?”

  “Perfect. The main point is—we need to keep moving. Do you think you can?”

  “Yes. I just need to rest for a little bit.”

  “You have time. Raine said they weren’t moving us until morning, so we probably have at least a few hours. Get some sleep. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”

  He nodded lazily.

  “Here,” I said, sliding next to him on the floor and patting on my lap. “Just lay your head on my lap. It’s gotta’ be better than the floor.”

  “Thanks,” he said, smiling as he nuzzled his head into my lap and fell asleep.

  ◆◆◆

  When we get out of here, I want to find Fortitude, and I’m going to release as many exiles as I can.

  I kept reciting those plans in my mind over and over for a couple hours until I heard the chime of the scanner outside.

  “Zane,” I hissed, shaking him by the shoulders. “Wake up.”

  Zane’s eyes fluttered open, and he hurried to push himself up.

  “Can you stand?” I asked, pulling out the vials.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I don’t feel quite as bad now.”

  We got to our feet just as the door swung open. Before I could even make eye contact with two officials, one of which was holding our belongings, I tossed the contents of the vials at their faces, and there was a horrible hissing sound as the officials began to clutch at their faces while screaming.

  “GO!” I yelled back at Zane. “Don’t stop running!”

  We took off sprinting through the door, snatching our bags and daggers from the one official and shoving them aside as we ran. The officials began calling for help as we kept running through the hall, turning down another hallway.

  “How do we get out?” Zane asked, struggling to keep up.

  “I don’t know. Just try anything!”

  We ran past hallways full of doors with scanners, only going through those without. Eventually, we reached a staircase. Which floor is this? I looked around in the stairwell, spotting a plaque with the number 3 on it.

  “Down!” I shouted at Zane as I ran clumsily down the stairs.

  When we reached the first floor, we burst through a set of doors, setting us in the bank room from when we were with Fabian. There were different people this time both behind the counter and in line in front of it. Some of the people looked at us with fear in their eyes as we stood there, daggers in hand and wild looks on our faces before we took off sprinting out the main doors of Fallmont City Hall.

  I started to turn backward to see if the officials were following us, but Zane yelled up at me.

  “Don’t look back! It’ll slow you down. Keep going until we get to the guardroom!”

  I kept my eyes focused ahead of me as we ran toward the city’s wall, staying close to it until we could see the guardroom along the wall. I pulled out the Skeleton Key and slid it into the lock. Remembering what Mr. Montgomery and Zane told me about how the Key worked, I twisted the dial until I felt that the Key was firmly in the lock. I turned the Key and reached for the doorknob. It worked.

  I opened the door and ushered Zane inside, closing the door behind the two of us. I dug a water bottle out of my bag and took a swig, passing it to Zane.

  “Drink a little. Once we catch our breath, we can head out and keep moving,” I said, handing him the bottle as he began to chug. “We’ll go to those ruins from last night and figure out where to go from there. We’re going to find Fortitude.”

  Zane nodded.

  We were silent for a moment, filling the room with nothing but our heavy breathing.

  “Ready?” I asked, standing by the exit door while toying with the Key.

  “One second,” Zane said, drawing close to me and pulling me toward him.

  I looked up at him, his arms around my waist as he learned down and kissed me. I felt my palms and face grow warm as I closed my eyes and kissed him back.

  “Ready,” he said, a smile on his face as he loosened his grip on me.

  I pushed the Skeleton Key into the lock and turned.

  Click.

  TURN THE PAGE FOR A SNEAK PEEK AT THE SECOND INSTALLMENT IN THE EOS DAWN SERIES.

  Excerpt copyright © 2019 by Jennifer Guberman.

  CHAPTER ONE

  I distinctly remember the smell of cinnamon.

  I remember the sounds of gunshots and yelling.

  And I remember the feeling of sweat on my neck.

  When Zane and I escaped Fallmont with the Skeleton Key, we sprinted as fast as we could until we had reached the ruins of a blackened village. We managed to find the Skeleton Key box in Fallmont after finding keys to open it in each of the five exile towns: Avid—the dump town for thieves, Bellicose—the caverns for the aggressive, Clamorite—the waterfall grotto in the mountains for the unruly, Delaisse—the abandoned factories for the druggies and vandals, and Equivox—the lake town hidden in a crater for the liars.

  It was growing dark by this point, and we hadn’t eaten since before we reached Fallmont. Thinking back to the sweet smell of cinnamon and other spices from the food carts of the city, my stomach began to growl angrily. Squatting down on a mound of rubble, I rummaged through my leather bag, pulling out a piece of crumbling, stale bread. Upon closer observation, the bread had tiny specs of green mold. I picked out the moldy pieces and devoured the slice, holding out a second slice for Zane.

  “Thanks, E,” he said, taking the bread and sitting next to me. He turned the bread over in his hand for a moment, looking at the green specs before biting.

  Not wanting to think about anything, I sat there silently, resting my elbows on my knees and my chin in my palms.

  “So,” Zane prodded awkwardly.

  “What?” I grumbled, exhausted.

  “Fortitude?” he asked, a little garbled. His mouth was still blistered from the acid the officials tortured him with when Raine had interrogated me.

  “Really, Zane?” I scoffed.

  “What?”

  “Does now really seem like the right time?”

  “Is there ever a right time for anything we do?”

  I sighed.

  “No. But can’t we just rest for the night?”

  “Of course, but we have to keep moving in the morning. We don’t know if officials from Fallmont are still looking for us.”

  I nodded sleepily as I stood, making my way toward one of the ruined cottages. I peeked my head inside to inspect it, shrugged, grunted, and fl
opped onto the floor after pulling my blanket out of my bag. Within minutes, I was asleep.

  “Wake up,” I heard Zane mutter the next morning, prodding my side with a finger.

  I threw the blanket over my face as I moaned.

  “We have to keep moving,” Zane reminded me. “Not only do we not want to get caught here, but we don’t have enough food and water to last us forever.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  Zane pulled out a map, stretching out on the floor next to me.

  “Skylar said Fortitude was past Bellicose, toward the ocean, right?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “Didn’t she also say something about a purple light?” I reminded him.

  “I think so.”

  “So, where are we, and where are we headed?”

  “We are somewhere in this area,” he pointed to a blank space on the map near Fallmont. “If we head straight west, we shouldn’t run into any cities or exile towns. But at some point, we have to work our way south.”

  I stared at the map, contemplating. While I focused on the map, Zane nuzzled up against me, kissing my shoulder. I turned and looked at him with a straight face before turning back to the map.

  “I mean, the map doesn’t show much of what’s beyond the cities and towns, so I don’t really see what other options we have,” I said, folding up the map.

  After a quick breakfast, Zane and I started the trek to the west. We were silent most of the day, stopping occasionally for breaks in various ruins. Despite the warmth of the air, puffy clouds blocked the sun and spared us of intense heat.

  “Let’s make sand angels,” Zane spoke up during a silent moment while walking.

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  “What? You mean like people used to make in the snow?” I asked.

  Zane and I have never seen snow, at least not in person. The New Territory never gets snow. Before the war, when the country was populated all throughout, there were people who lived in colder areas, and they would get snow. I thought the concept of wanting to play in frozen water to be unappealing, to say the least.

  “Yeah! Oh, come on. We could use a break, and our normal breaks are boring! Let’s do it!” Zane smiled warmly.

  I rolled my eyes and huffed at Zane as he flopped onto his back, sending up a puff of sand.

  He began frantically sifting his arms and legs across the fine sand, stopped, and stretched out his arms.

  “Help me up?”

  I walked over and pulled him to his feet as he turned to admire his work.

  “It doesn’t look like an angel,” I said, squinting at the ground.

  “It looks… like a potato…” Zane said, confused.

  I grinned.

  “It worked!” He beamed.

  “No, it didn’t! You said it yourself!” I said, pointing to the potato hole, a smug grin spreading on my lips.

  “No, I mean my plan worked! You smiled!”

  “Okay, fair enough,” I said, my smile fading. “Let’s keep moving.”

  After some time walking through emptiness, we came across some ruins, like the others we had crossed before, except in slightly better shape. Some of the buildings still retained the natural red color of their bricks. A couple of the buildings still stood fairly untouched, with fewer crumbling walls.

  Curious, I approached one of the buildings with the door still in place. I went to turn the knob, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “Zane,” I said. “This one is locked.”

  “Don’t you have the Key?” he asked. “See if it’ll work on that door.”

  I dug the Key out of my leather bag, turning it over in my hands as light glimmered off of the silver and through the three pieces of green, purple, and blue stained glass at the Key’s head. I inserted it into the lock, twisted the tiny dial on the Key, and turned until I heard a click.

  The door opened, revealing a room with faded brown couches, a dusty wooden table, and a few dishes scattered around the room. The walls were a pale blue, and the carpet was a stained cream color with sand tracked throughout the house. Zane followed behind me. I turned into the kitchen while Zane brushed dirt off the couch. I looked at the sink, which had water puddled in it.

  “Zane,” I hissed quietly toward the living room.

  A moment later, Zane poked his head in the kitchen door.

  “What?” he asked as I frantically signaled for him to lower his voice.

  “I think there are people here,” I whispered, my eyes wide.

  “What? Where?”

  I shrugged, pointing to the water in the sink. “It hasn’t evaporated yet. It’s recent.”

  Zane pulled out his dagger and I pulled out mine as we split up to search the house. Zane and I cautiously opened doors to closets and bedrooms until suddenly, I heard a shriek.

  I turned, the hair on my neck standing on end as I held my dagger out defensively, creeping toward Zane, who stood in a doorway, blocking my view.

  “Who are you?” I heard Zane demand of someone inside one of the rooms.

  “W-we aren’t here to hurt anyone! P-p-please!” a female voice whimpered.

  We?

  “What are you doing here?” Zane asked, still holding out his weapon.

  “Wait a minute… You aren’t officials, are you?” The girl’s voice grew confident. “You aren’t carrying a gun.”

  “No, we aren’t officials,” Zane answered. “What are you doing here?”

  “We escaped from some of the exile towns. We found each other while looking for shelter in the ruins. We aren’t looking for trouble.”

  “How do I know I can trust you?” Zane asked.

  “Why do you need to trust us?” a man grunted.

  Keeping my distance behind Zane, I could only see beyond the doorframe enough to make out the man who spoke. He was heavy-set, with peppered hair and a bushy beard.

  “They don’t have to trust us, Trent, but there’s no harm in allies,” the girl chirped.

  Trent snorted, crossing his arms.

  “Search us! Our bags,” the girl continued, and there was a collective thump as bags were dropped. “We don’t have weapons. We don’t have much of anything. The houses here still had some canned food we’ve been living off of. That’s it—I swear.”

  Zane entered the room, still wielding his golden dagger distrustfully. I could hear him undo zippers and clasps as he searched bags briefly before speaking again.

  “Okay. You can’t be too sure. I’m sorry for scaring you. My girlfriend and I escaped as well.”

  Girlfriend? When did we decide this? And why is he willing to trust them so quickly?

  “I understand. My name is Cindee—”

  “Wait,” Zane interrupted, turning to me and beckoning me over.

  I stepped into the room, which was clearly an old bedroom, and saw eleven new people staring back at me.

  “How…” I trailed off.

  “It’s a long story,” a girl with freckles and two blonde braids replied. She must be Cindee.

  I looked at Zane, my mouth open in shock.

  “I’m Cindee,” the girl with braids repeated. She looked about Lamb’s age. “I’m from Clamorite.”

  I looked at the rest of the group. There seemed to be a variety of people—younger and older, male and female.

  “This is Bexa from Bellicose, Trent and Persephone from Equivox, Eve, Braylin, and Gwenn from Clamorite, Yulie and Brenur from Delaisse, and Cameron and Astraea from Avid,” Cindee introduced.

  “I’m Zane, and this is Eos,” Zane gestured to me. “We’re both from Avid.”

  “Why’d you leave?” I asked.

  “We could ask you the same question,” Trent retorted.

  “Yeah, but I asked first.”

  “We didn’t like our situations. I’m assuming it was the same for you. Just because we’ve committed crimes doesn’t mean we define ourselves by our crimes, and it doesn’t mean we get along with other people just because they
committed the same crimes,” replied Eve, a short, thin girl with spiked black hair and notable dark circles under her emerald eyes.

  Brenur, a dark-skinned man with wide-set eyes, thick arms, and broad shoulders spoke up.

  “Yulie and I left because she—” he started before Yulie, a woman with tan skin, a furrowed brow, and silky brown hair, glared coolly at him. The height difference between the two was so huge that I couldn’t help but to stare. I was about average height, whereas the top of Yulie’s head hardly reached my nose, and Brenur easily towered over me.

  “Did you all expect there to be something greater out here?” I spat bitterly.

  “Yes,” Cindee replied quickly. “Even if there are challenges, sometimes change is necessary. Eve, Braylin, Gwenn, and I all left together. We knew we weren’t going to be facing it alone. We came across the rest of the group over time. Some of these people were together, some by themselves. But they all couldn’t bear being exiled anymore.”