Wonder

by Christina C Jones

  “Yeah,” Dem called. “We were coming in from the garage and ran into Mos. He’s so cute.”

  “Totally cute. Super adorable.”

  “Totally adorable.”

  “Okay, I gotta get into this office,” I said, hauling myself to my feet. I reached to grab my knife, then glanced between Dee and Dem. “I have to have a hard conversation with Ches, and I need to know… you with them, or you with me?”

  Dee laughed. “Maddox, please. We don’t even like Ches, Sula sent us here to keep an eye on her.”

  My eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously, please, Mad,” Dem chimed. “We’re only here because Sula sent us. We don’t even like Ches, we’re just keeping an eye on her.”

  I shook my head. I’d had no delusions they were besties with Ches, but damn.

  Made sense though.

  “Well come on then,” I said, climbing up the first of the stairs that would put us right at her office. “Let’s go.”

  I’d never been with the mean girl shit.

  Even back in high school, where some girls seemed to thrive on the negative energy, talking behind each other’s backs, the fake sincerity.

  Which was why, when Ches presented me with her too-wide smile, saying “I’m so glad you took me up on this offer. It’s important that you and I come to an understanding.” as she showed me into her office, it didn’t mean a damn thing.

  I’d never trusted her, not really.

  Damn sure wasn’t about to start now.

  “I agree,” I told her. “You and I should come to an understanding, since it seems we have the shared connection, you know. Nadiah and Mosley, me and Maddox. There’s no need for tension there, when we could have peace instead.”

  “Oh I agree – there will be peace. Because you and your sister will be in jail cells, or whatever the hell the Apex does with you. Me, Maddox, and Mosley will run the Burrows, as it was always meant to be. Or… I don’t know, maybe we’ll move into the Mids, once the Apex is done with their… restructuring.”

  My eyebrows went up. “Restructuring?”

  “You should know this,” Ches jeered. “The Mids have been a fucking dump for years – the Apex will break it open, sell it for parts, basically. This end of the Burrows… we’re only separated by the ruins. I have every intention of claiming some of that newly available space for myself.”

  “Good luck.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Good luck? That’s what you have to say?” She leaned forward over the desk. “You have a lot of fucking nerve, sitting in my office with your head held high, like you weren’t laid out on my floor, scared as hell, just a couple months ago.”

  “People change. Necessity of this world, isn’t it?” I asked, keeping my gaze level with hers. “According to Maddox, you used to be a good person too.”

  “Oh really,” she snarled, nostrils flared. “You know what, he’s right. Franchesca Catlan, warrior for the weak is gone. It’s just Ches now – ruler of the weak. I’ve been there before – helpless, battered, looked at like I was nothing. Well, nothing but a warm body to be poked and prodded, spit in and spat on. Holes to be used – that’s all.”

  “But you got away from that – you survived. You had people who depended on you, people who loved you.”

  Her snarl shifted back to that wide, ugly grin. “You’re right. I did. But then I saw my chance to make sure I was never the weak one again. And I took it. Just like I’ll take every shred of power that comes my way, until I have what I need to turn the people who used and abused me and everyone else into the ones begging for the pain to be taken away. Nothing will get in my way. But… this isn’t your concern, is it? I’m not surprised that you’ve focused on my story – you’re not the bright sister of the two. You didn’t notice I told you up front – you won’t be here, Alyson Little. I’m delivering you to the Apex today, and once your sister knows, she’ll come running, and I’ll hand her over too. It was stupid of you to walk in here. Not even Maddox will save you.”

  I smiled. “Oh, no, I heard you when you said Nadiah and I were going to jail, I was just curious about your motivation. You’re a fascinating woman, Ches.” I stopped, looking up as a distant, pained scream cut through the air, then shook it off. “All of this, the betrayal, the attempted power grab… it’s all about vengeance, huh?”

  “Well, I won’t lie, the power feels pretty damned good too.”

  “Good enough to help you sleep at night, knowing you’ve betrayed everybody that ever trusted you?”

  She shrugged. “Necessary sacrifice. Relationships are overrated anyway.”

  “Why am I not surprised to hear you say that?” Ruby stepped from the shadows near the back of the room, blade in hand.

  Ches sprang to her feet. “How the hell did you get in here?!”

  “How the hell do you think?” Ruby purred. “Even your soldiers know who the real queen is around here. They were more than willing to look the other way.”

  “You lying bitch.”

  “Ohhhh…” Ruby’s eyes narrowed as she lifted that blade, pointing it at Ches. “That is rich, coming from your mouth.”

  “What the hell do you want, Ruby? Why are you here?”

  “I’m here to hold court, Franchesca, but just like the second-rate villain you are, you’ve already admitted everything. So I find you guilty.”

  “Of?”

  “Conspiring against my honored guest. Collusion with the Apex. Acts of aggression, bitch. Ohhh,” Ruby moaned. “I have been waiting for this, and here we are.”

  Ches snarled. “Try me if you want to. You might think you’re hot shit because you have that blade, but you take one step toward me, and I’m ending you, like I already should’ve.”

  “Oh you mean this?” Ruby asked, gesturing her head toward that sword. In a smooth motion, she lowered the blade, holding the hilt in my direction for me to take it. When I did, she smiled, then ran a hand over the sleek ponytail she’d had me do for her before we left her compound. Then, she turned back to Ches. “Now come and end me, bitch.”

  I shrieked, jumping out of the way as Ches dove over the desk, fingernails bared like claws. Ruby easily dodged that, pivoting to aim a kick across the top of Ches’ back that sent her to the ground.

  That was where any appearance of a clear winner ended though.

  Ches was up off the ground in a flash, going at Ruby hard, in a matchup that would have been right at home in the cages. Behind us, the locked double-doors to the office rattled, like someone trying to get in, prompting me to push the heavy armchair I’d been using up against them, holding Ches’ people back as long as I could, until the rest of Ruby’s reinforcements made it.

  She hadn’t wanted to wait.

  It never occurred to me that the invitation Ches extended was anything but a trap, and Ruby had agreed. She was the one who’d cooked up this plan, for me to come to the meeting anyway, distracting Ches at the door while Ruby used her powers of persuasion – and the brute force of the knights she’d brought with her – to get into the office from the back entrance before Ches and I made it up the stairs.

  We were here when I got the pager message from Nadiah that confirmed what I already knew.

  Ches was a snake.

  And true to her name, it seemed like she was about to wiggle her way out of a bad situation when she caught Ruby under the chin with a blow that made the other woman crumple. Ches turned to me, her face bloody and sinister, like I was next on her list, which was fine by me. I’d walked in here prepared to do whatever I needed to do.

  But that didn’t happen.

  From the ground, Ruby snatched Ches by the ankles, dragging her down hard. In seconds, she was over her, grabbing her by the arms and yanking with such force I heard something snap from the stress, whatever it was making Ches scream in pain.

  Ruby drew herself to her feet, wiping blood from her eyes before she held out her hand for her blade.

  I didn’t hesitate.

  “I
have been waiting for this day,” Ruby said, kicking Ches over onto her back. “To avenge the woman I loved – the friend I cherished – the person you killed to become… this.”

  “Ruby,” Ches sputtered, crying. “Please.”

  “You don’t have to beg, Franchesca. I consider this an honor.”

  Ruby smiled, then drove the blade through her lost friend so hard that when she stepped back, it remained, blood pooling around it until Ches stopped moving.

  “Rest well, my friend.”

  Nineteen

  Nothing was keeping me from getting through that door.

  When I realized something was blocking it, keeping me from being able to slam my way through it, I wracked my brain trying to think of another option. As soon as it hit me, I turned to head downstairs to the garage, to take the elevator that led to her office.

  I was right at the head of the stairs when the door opened.

  Ruby Hartford walked out first, her face swollen and blood-streaked, but her head was held high. Fresh blood dripped from the blade in her hand as she approached me – she slid the flat part over the black leggings she wore, wiping it clean before she stopped in front of me.

  Aly stepped out of the room behind her.

  Downstairs, there was a commotion – heavy footsteps and shouting – but my attention remained on the two women in front of me.

  Where the fuck is Ches?

  “Maddox Hatcher,” Ruby spoke, lifting the blade and placing it flat on my shoulder. She’d always been good for theatrics, and that hadn’t changed. “As her closest thing to kin, you should know – Franchesca Catlan has been relieved of her position of power over the upper Burrows.” She raised her voice for that last part, for the benefit of the audience who’d gathered on the first landing, blocked by a line of Ruby’s knights from coming any further.

  “She broke the code – engaged in acts of undue aggression, allied herself with the Apex, among other crimes, committed, attempted, and planned. None of which can be allowed to go unpunished. She has been executed. I executed her,” she made clear, quieting the sudden murmur of the crowd. “She will be buried as an honored friend, not a criminal, because I fucking say so. Those of you who cannot overcome your misplaced loyalty to her are free to submit yourselves to the APF at the gate between here and the Mids. Everyone else, you will now serve under Maddox Hatcher.” She raised the blade, touching the sharp edge to my neck, where the kiss print tattoo was. “You should all get these removed or covered.”

  I was too stunned to respond.

  Not by the position and power she’d just granted – neither of which I was sure I wanted – but by her revelation.

  I executed her.

  Meaning Ches was dead.

  Ruby moved past me, tossing a “Let’s go.” at her knights as she went.

  I didn’t look back – my gaze was fixed forward as I forced my feet to move, past Aly, through the doorway, into the office.

  There was Ches.

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

  I dropped to the floor beside her, head in my hands, conflicted. Logically, I understood that this was the natural end for her – the end that made sense. If it hadn’t been Ruby, it would’ve been someone else, soon. Hell, it may have had to be me, considering what I’d been coming this way to say to her. There was little chance that conversation would’ve ended without blood.

  And yet… still.

  Somewhere way, way down deep, a ripple of pain bloomed in my chest. Flaws and all, the fact of the matter was that Ches had saved my life – changed my life. And it had absolutely been for the better.

  She’d become family.

  Not just to me, but to Mos too, and I wasn’t surprised to hear grief in the sharp intake of breath that came when he made it to the door of the office.

  She’d been somebody when neither of us had anyone left. Looking at her lifeless body, I wondered, as I did often lately, who she could’ve been if that “group home” hadn’t pulled her into its’ grips, destroying most of her light. Past the point of repair.

  But then Aly put a hand on my shoulder – intended as comfort, but it was a reminder of who Ches had become. She knew what could’ve happened to Aly and Nadiah – the kinda shit they did when you had no one, when you were just another number in the system. And still, Ches had worked out a plan – had used me, planned to blame the shit on me if it worked – that would put Nadiah and Aly in that position, all for nothing, as far as I was concerned.

  The conflicting emotions made my head hurt.

  “Mad, what should we do?”

  That didn’t come from Mos, or Aly, or either of the twins – it came from one of the people who was supposed to see me as their leader now. For many of them, that wasn’t a shift – they communicated more with me than Ches, reported to me among a few other people she’d declared as generals.

  It was a shift for me though.

  I had no idea what to fucking say.

  “Let’s get this cleaned up.” This time, it was Aly who spoke, threading her fingers through mine as I lugged myself back to my feet. “Her body should be moved and stored respectfully until the cremation and everything. I’ll find out from Ruby what the plans are for the memorial service. Once the order has been restored here at the house, go home. It’s been an emotional day.”

  She delivered those words with confidence, so they moved. No attempt at intimidation, just certainty and kindness, tucking her rightful disdain away.

  And they listened to her.

  Didn’t question it.

  She pulled me away from commotion to cover her hands with mine, and squeeze.

  “Hey. I know she meant a lot to you. I am so sorry,” she said, staring up into my face.

  I shook my head though. “Nah, I’m sorry. I told you you would be safe here because I trusted her, and that was a mistake. You were put in danger because of me.”

  “I knew what I was walking into,” she told me, with a little smile. “Not gonna lie – I was scared as hell. But I knew I couldn’t keep running, so here I am.”

  With a deep, exhausted sigh, I wrapped my arm around her. “My brave girl from the Mids.”

  She laughed. “You know what? I accept that.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  “You want to know what else is the truth?” she asked, and I nodded.

  “What?”

  She grabbed my hands again and pulled. “You should let me get you home. You look like you could use some rest.”

  I dragged myself to the meeting with Ruby.

  I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I knew it was coming. A few days after the memorial service for Ches, the summons arrived, and I went.

  “You’ve grown into an incredible young man.” was far from the first thing I expected out of Ruby’s mouth when I sat down in her office, but it was what she had for me. I’d known her a long time, but this was the first time I’d met with her alone since she’d stepped into the leadership role after the death of her husband.

  So really, I didn’t know what to expect at all.

  “Uh, thanks,” I said, not knowing what else to say to something like that. Ruby must’ve known, because she grinned.

  “You’re welcome, Maddox. And I hope you view this promotion as the honor I intended for it to be. I had my own sources, inside Franchesca’s operation – I know that you’ve been a trusted advisor and voice of reason, even when she decided not to listen. I know that your peers respect you. They already saw you as a leader – they know you value their lives, in a way Franchesca did not. You’re young, yes. But it’s a good fit for you.”

  I ran my tongue over my dry lips and nodded. “I understand why you’d think so Ruby, but I have to be honest – I have no desire to deal with the drugs and guns and shit. I don’t want to look over my shoulder, or harass people about paying what they owe, none of that.”

  “Then don’t,” she shrugged. “That was what Ches dealt in – no one says you have to. If you choose not to, that
is fine by me, and I am almost certain that Blue would be more than happy to pick that end of the business up. You’d still have the club and the restaurant, still have the legitimate import business with the spices and such, and that barbaric fight club, or whatever the hell you call it.”

  My eyebrows went up. “You’re serious?”

  “Absolutely. Maddox – I don’t give a shit if you and your people start a dance crew and charge for shows – just make sure my cut of whatever you do is on time, keep the crime down in your area, and represent the people of the upper Burrows when it’s time to make decisions. Ches got greedy, but that’s all that was ever required of her. It’s all that will ever be required of you.”

  “Ches showed up to represent us?”

  Ruby snorted. “Hell no, she couldn’t show her face near me in public. I cast her votes myself,” she admitted with a shrug. “But with you in that position, we can return to the way it should be. Mosley and Nadiah have been working with my techs, and almost have a Burrows-wide network in place, so we’ll have electronic communication soon, like the Apex and the other divisions. Work out a plan for me and submit it for approval.”

  “I can do that,” I agreed. “But I wanted to ask you something.”

  “About Ches,” Ruby stated, rather than asked.

  I nodded. “Yes, about Ches.”

  “Okay. Go ahead.”

  “Aly told me about the conversation that happened in the office. Told me what Ches gave as her reasoning, behind this mess.”

  Ruby smiled. “Ah, yes. Righteous vengeance.”

  I nodded, and took a moment. “Yeah. Do you buy that?”

  Like me, Ruby considered her words before she answered. “I do, Maddox. I didn’t know Ches before the horrors she endured – horrors you both endured. I met her after, and I fell in love with her spirit. That undeniable strength she had – a quality I didn’t have, and wanted for myself. A survivor, ‘you’ll never take me back there again’, mentality. A blessing and a curse.”