Wonder

by Christina C Jones

  So we did.

  For at least another hour, until the beam of Nadiah’s flashlight flickered, threatening to leave us even more in the dark.

  I wasn’t sure what was worse – less light, or the reality of the faltering shaft of light, turning shadows on and off, creating an illusion of movement that made my anxiety spike.

  “Just turn it off,” I urged, when I couldn’t take it anymore. “There’s enough light from just one, and we should preserve battery anyway. Should have thought of that before.”

  Nadiah agreed, nodding as she switched it off. “I don’t think either of us expected to be down here this long. We’ve gotta be almost there by now, right?”

  Before I could reply, something reached my ears – something less than human, echoed in the dark. I put a finger up to my lips, urging Nadiah to be quiet. After a minute had passed with nothing, I shook my head, giving my sister a sheepish grin before I opened my mouth to admit that I had imagined it.

  But no.

  There it was again.

  Louder.

  Closer.

  “Nadiah, run.”

  She didn’t question it.

  She took off, and I was right behind her, my heart feeling like it was getting ready to explode out of my chest. The sound came again, half-screech, half-growl, multiplied as it bounced and repeated through the tunnel.

  “No. No!” I screamed, snatching Nadiah by the arm as she slowed down, dragging her with me until she found her footing again. I didn’t know what the hell was behind us, but I knew we’d come too far for me to turn it down now.

  We have to be close. We have to be close.

  I kept repeating that to myself as my lungs screamed for oxygen I couldn’t slow down long enough to give. We turned a corner, and relief sank my shoulders.

  Light.

  My eyes were bleary with sweat, but I could see it, way, way in the distance.

  We were almost there.

  All my exhaustion caught up with me at that moment, slowing my feet to a lazy stroll. It was quiet around us now, like we’d outrun whatever the hell was behind us. I didn’t have enough left in my tank to keep my adrenaline from switching off.

  I’d used up everything I had.

  “I need to catch my breath for a second,” I explained to Nadiah, who was panting and sweating too.

  She grinned at me and wrinkled her nose. “Fine, lazy. I guess we can slow down for a few minutes for you.”

  I laughed at her teasing even though it made my throat burn – highlighting our glaring oversight of not packing any water.

  “We’re pretty sucky survivalists, you know?” I said, calling on sheer will power to force my legs to move.

  Nadiah looked to me, face still pulled into a smile – a smile that shifted to an open-mouth gape of horror, just before someone – something – grabbed ahold of my backpack, pulling me backward.

  “No!” she screamed, diving toward me as I tried my best to untangle myself from the straps of the bag. She swung the flashlight at something I couldn’t see, and must’ve connected, because a moment later, a deep, wounded scream echoed through the tunnel.

  It wasn’t like anything I’d ever heard before, like freezing cold claws across the skin.

  “Run!” I screamed at Nadiah, as my shoulders slipped free from the straps. I’d thought I was out of energy, but I found enough from somewhere to snatch up the flashlight I’d dropped and take off behind her.

  A hand around my ankle stopped that.

  “Just go!” I insisted, to my horrified sister as she turned, watching me go down. I hit the ground hard as a growl reverberated around us, and Nadiah came sprinting in my direction, ignoring my plea.

  And then, there was a different sound.

  A loud, splintering bang, that lit the whole tunnel for a second and left my ears ringing. The hand around my leg relaxed, but didn’t move, and I didn’t either.

  Couldn’t.

  Somehow, through the ringing, I heard the pounding of heavy footsteps – heavier than Nadiah’s. She was crying – sobbing – but I couldn’t will myself to get up, or open my eyes. I was so damned tired.

  All I could manage was a groan as someone pulled me up from the ground, balancing me in their arms.

  “Aly. Aly, hey. Aly, I need you to open your eyes for me.”

  That voice… and that touch…

  I found something, from somewhere, and used it to peel my eyelids open for just a moment, just long enough to confirm what my body knew.

  Maddox.

  Gran.

  She was the first thing that came to mind when I came awake, in the soft, warm comfort of a bed, eyes still closed though I was conscious.

  I was safe.

  Nadiah was safe.

  But Gran, I wasn’t so sure about. My brain flashed to that intercepted call, then continued down the path of worst-case scenario to wonder if Adam Bishop were cruel enough to use her for leverage.

  I was sure I already knew the answer to that.

  I’d expected to wake up in the same bed I’d used last time I was in the Burrows, but this felt different. Smelled different.

  I opened my eyes, giving in to the insistence of sunlight streaming through a window on the other side of the room, filtered only by a sturdy screen that separated the bed from what appeared to be a much larger space.

  This is where Maddox lives.

  Flickers of the night before played in my mind – walking for what seemed like forever, then running, being grabbed, then the gunshot. I hadn’t been lucid enough last night to name it for what it was, but I knew now. Knew Maddox had been the one to pull the trigger, had carried me a long time to get out of those tunnels.

  Knew he’d been the one to hold me up under the hot spray of a much-needed shower.

  I was sore now, my whole body aching as I maneuvered out of the bed. An oversized tee that wasn’t mine draped me in super-soft cotton, but a quick peek between my legs confirmed I was wearing my own panties – clean ones, one of the pairs I’d stuffed in my bag.

  Which meant it had been recovered.

  Good.

  I peeked around the screen, my eyes scanning the room for Maddox. I didn’t see him, but he was everywhere in the cool, eclectic furnishings of the apartment. The exposed brick, the worn leather furniture, barstools at the kitchen counter scuffed to a smooth finish. None of it was shabby, but it was broken in, giving his home a comfortable vibe that let my shoulders relax.

  And honestly, it flattered me, more than I would ever admit out loud, that he’d brought me here.

  Complaint from my bladder drew my attention away from finding him to finding a bathroom, which didn’t take much, with the way the space was laid out. I was standing at the sink, washing my hands, when the door swung open again, and a half-asleep Maddox stumbled past me, his eyes still closed as he stepped up to the toilet.

  “Good morning,” he muttered, pulling himself free of his boxers. A moment later, I was listening to him pee.

  I averted my eyes back to my reflection in the mirror. “Good morning.”

  He finished before I could find a towel to dry my hands, then came to the sink to wash up too. I was still standing there, incapable of asking where to get what I was looking for, when he reached behind the mirror, pulling out a dry towel and holding it up between us.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked, as I accepted the towel, patting the moisture from my hands.

  “Fine,” I told him. “Where is Nadiah? Did Prince make it back safe? We need your help, to get our grandmother out of the Mids.”

  Instead of immediately answering, Maddox wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my body right up against his. “We’ll get to all of that – after you tell me how you’re feeling. Really.”

  I sighed. “Sore. And tired, like I could sleep for days. But relieved, too. To not be in the Mids anymore. More than that though, I’m anxious about my grandmother. And Nadiah. And Prince.”

  “I checked in with Prince,” he
assured me. “Don’t worry – your high school sweetheart is just fine.”

  My eyes went wide. “He told you about that?”

  “Why wouldn’t he?” Maddox shrugged. “Nadiah is with Mos. They both insisted, and last night didn’t seem like the time to press the issue – especially when they’re both grown.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. As long as she’s safe.”

  He smirked. “Yeah, Mos ain’t letting shit get between him and your sister. She’s in good hands.”

  “Fine. And what about Gran?”

  I braced myself.

  Delivering good news about Prince and Nadiah had come easily, but I already knew Gran would be a different story. She was ill, and in a secure facility much too close to the Apex/Mids line to sneak her out, even if she could discharge.

  “You owe Ruby Hartford an arm and a leg.”

  My eyes went wide. “What?!”

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “I got in contact with her after Nadiah sent that message, because I knew it was beyond my reach. You told me Ruby seemed to have a soft spot about your grandmother, so I took a chance. I don’t know what kind of strings she pulled, but your grandmother is safe at the Hartford compound.”

  “The Hartford compound… meaning she’s here? In the Burrows?!”

  He nodded again. “Yeah. You say the word, we’ll swoop Nadiah up, take you to see her.”

  “You’re serious?” I pressed, and he laughed.

  “Yes, I’m serious. I’m also serious about you eating something before we go – y’all were in that tunnel for damn near six hours, and Nadiah said you hadn’t eaten before you started.”

  The news about my grandmother had lifted the weight from my shoulders, replacing it with a blanket of relief. Now that I knew my people were safe, there was room for other discomforts – like hunger pangs.

  “Were you in here the whole time?” I asked, following him out of the bathroom, into the kitchen, where he directed me to sit down.

  “Yeah, I was passed out on the couch. You wouldn’t have seen me unless you came all the way over here,” he told me, gathering things from a full refrigerator and full cabinets.

  Luxuries.

  In just his boxers, with his hair loose – and sexy – he made breakfast for us, immersing me in the aromas of scrambled eggs and bacon, and fresh tomatoes – a delicacy, as far as I was concerned. I pulled my gaze away from that visual to investigate the dull ache in my ankle.

  I almost wished I hadn’t looked.

  I sucked in a breath at the sight of the dark bruise that wrapped the lowest part of my shin and spread lower. The bruise itself wasn’t so bad – it was that it was a clear handprint, blue-black against my skin.

  “Looks nasty.”

  I glanced up to find Maddox standing over me, a plate in each hand. He put one down in front of me, placing the other at the next seat before he went back to grab something else I hadn’t had in a long, long time.

  Orange juice.

  “What the hell was that thing?” I asked him once I’d taken a deep gulp. He put a pitcher of water out too, pouring me a glass I downed in one long drink, making up for last night’s lack of water.

  “That thing?” he said, as he sat down.

  I nodded. “Yeah, that thing that grabbed me. The thing you shot,” I reminded him.

  A grim, close-mouthed smile turned his mouth up. “Wasn’t a thing, sweetheart. It was a who.”

  “What?!” Suddenly, all that liquid was like lead in my stomach. “You’re telling me that the growling, and screeching came from a human?”

  He sighed, sitting back. “Yeah. You live underground long enough, the lines get blurred.”

  “Live underground? Why would anybody do that? And why the hell did Prince send us down there if it sounds like you knew there was danger?”

  “There shouldn’t have been,” Maddox answered. “Those people go down there to get away from the world, or escape, or hell, I don’t know. What I know is that they rarely bother anybody unless they feel threatened, even though the tunnels are their territory. They stay away from the main vein you and Nadiah were supposed to be on.”

  My eyebrows went up. “Supposed?”

  “Yeah. You guys got turned around somewhere, somehow, but you were way deeper than you were supposed to be when we found you. It should’ve taken a couple hours, max, for you to make it down here. When you didn’t, we came looking.”

  “So that was the light we saw up ahead? A flashlight?”

  “Yeah.” He sighed. “Man, you don’t understand how relieved I was when we spotted your light. I wondered why you were bouncing it all over the place, and then I realized – you were running. And then you were down on the ground.”

  “And then you shot it.”

  He nodded. “Calculated risk. Mos had insisted on me taking this night-vision gear shit he’d found in some military surplus boxes. It paid off. It was too far away to get a good shot in the dark otherwise, and I had to act fast. Very fast.”

  “I’m glad you did. Even though I feel bad,” I told him, as he picked up his buzzing pager from the counter to check it. “Because I guess we were in their territory. Strangers, stomping through their home–”

  “Nah,” Maddox waved me off. “You know earlier, when I said y’all got turned around “somehow”…?”

  “Yeah. But I don’t remember any place where that could have happened, except this one spot that was collapsed, but that was something that looked like it happened ages ago.”

  He shook his head. “Nah.” He held up the pager. “Just heard from the scouts – that section was just recently collapsed, and on purpose. It would’ve been hard to tell in the dark. Apparently they’ve decided not to allow passage that way anymore. They didn’t feel a need to tell anybody.”

  “Wow… is that a big deal?”

  “Not really – not used enough to consider it a real loss. The only reason Prince sent you that way is that it was better cover – coming over the ruins would’ve been too open, and trying to get you through a division checkpoint would’ve been suicide. Nobody wants to be underground without a damn good reason – like it being the last option. Ches will turn it into a big deal though.”

  Ugh.

  Just the sound of her name agitated me.

  “Eat your food,” Maddox urged, changing the subject. “Then you can get ready, we can grab Nadiah, and go see your grandmother.”

  I nodded, taking a deep breath before I looked down at the plate – the freshest food I’d had since the last time I was here.

  “Yeah. Sounds like a great plan.”

  Fifteen

  I should have known Ruby would live like this.

  Seeing her at court, on her throne, was one thing, but her home was another.

  Vast double-doors had welcomed us into the front entrance – an extravagant display of black-and-white marble. Twin staircases led up to a landing – pure black, adorned with blood red carpet that spilled down the stairs to the entry. On one side, the banister at the end was carved into a life-sized chess piece – a handsome king, wearing a fearsome expression. On the other side, a beautiful queen, bearing a remarkable resemblance to the woman we were waiting to greet.

  Floor-length windows lined the circular entry, flanked with red embroidered panels that seemed to pour from the ceiling, pooling on the floor in arranged piles. It was all impractical, and gorgeous.

  “Well. The two of you are just glowing, aren’t you?” Ruby asked, from the landing at the top of the stairs. “I know Maddox has gotten ahold of you, and you,” she aimed at Nadiah, “Are right about the same age as Mos, right?”

  Speaking of gorgeous and impractical.

  “Hello to you too, Ruby,” I said, standing from the plush velvet benches where we’d been instructed to wait. Maddox had brought us here, but hadn’t come inside – something I’d have to ask about later. For now, I had one purpose.

  Checking on my grandmother.

  Ruby smiled at me as she headed dow
n the ‘queen’ side of the stairs. “Forgive me – I don’t mean to be immodest. I’m just happy for you – good dick is an age-old remedy that not everyone has the good fortune to discover.”

  “We are not discussing this with you Ruby, we’re here to see our grandmother,” I told her. “Just point us in the right direction, and we’ll be out of your hair.”

  “Of course.” I didn’t see her give any cue, but a maid stepped out from somewhere. “Nadiah, Pamela here will show you to your grandmother’s room. Aly, you and I have things to discuss first.”

  “Go ahead,” I assured my sister with a nod. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Nadiah hesitated a moment, then followed the maid into the depths of the house, while Ruby moved forward, into my personal space.

  “Since you brought up hair, I’ve got a bone to pick with you, Alyson Little.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “What might that be?”

  “Well, going to the salon to have my hair done was one of the highlights of my week. I despise the Apex, but my position requires a certain level of attendance there.”

  “Your position?”

  She nodded. “Diplomatic, inherited from my late husband. You didn’t think peace between the Burrows and Apex was just kept on its own, do you?”

  “Honestly, I hadn’t considered it.”

  “No one does. They think I go flitting off to the Apex just for the hell of it, not realizing that it’s my influence that keeps their experimental drones out of our skies, and the APF out of our backyard. They see the throne, and the blade. But none of the politics of it all.

  “So that’s what you are? A politician?”

  Ruby sat down on the deep red bench, with all the elegance of a woman who knew a crown belonged on her head. “I feel like politician is such an ugly word, when you consider the history. There’s a reason the election system failed, and the power ended up in the hands of those who were strong enough to simply take it.”

  “Are you suggesting that the current system is better? Where the world is ruled by rich sociopaths?”

  Ruby threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, honey, the world has always been ruled by rich sociopaths. Some of us are just less awful than others.”