“It’ll be before the next Gamble though, right?”
“I think so.”
“Can you promise? Promise you’ll do whatever it takes to make sure ROC never holds another Gamble?”
Moving closer, Rey cups my face in both hands, his eyes gazing deep into mine. I can see his jaw twitch, his expression serious and stern. “I promise. There will never be another Gamble in this world.”
Lacing my arms around him, we stand together on the boulder inches from the nearest ROC air shaft, locked in our embrace, a repeat of a month ago and two miles down before our lives changed so radically.
“Are you ready to go back now?” he whispers into my ear.
I nod and pull away, jumping off the rock and landing on the pine-needled earth. Rey follows and steers me back the direction we came, winding our way through the trees and shrubs.
“Do you remember when we were kids,” he begins, “and we used to pretend we were on the surface?”
“When we’d take all those fake, plastic plants in my suite and arrange them like a forest around the living room?”
“Yeah. And then we use to lay on the floor and stare up through the leaves and talk about how we were going to be the first generation in a century to walk on the earth again.”
“Well, I guess we kind of got some of it correct.”
He laughs. “Yeah. I just honestly never thought those dreams would come true, and now here we are. I wish I could go back to my ten-year old self and tell him to be patient.”
“I wish I could go back to my ten-year old self and tell her the truth. Then we could have runaway to the surface together when we were kids and never had to sit through another Gamble.”
“It’s strange though,” Rey says, “when you think about it. As awful as the Gamble is, had my number never been called, we wouldn’t be here now. We’d be in ROC, probably getting married or something, but we certainly wouldn’t be breathing fresh air and enjoying this grey, overcast afternoon.”
I think about this statement for a moment. I hate the Gamble, always have, always will, but in a way, in spite of everything the Gamble has taken from us, it has also set us free. A part of me has to at least appreciate that much. I guess even the worst things in life have some good quality hidden somewhere. Like Ryder said, you can’t paint the world with black and white.
* * *
While we never had the chance to see the sun today, we still know when it sets, the forest falling into deep, navy shadows and eventually heavy darkness. We brought lanterns with us just in case, but with the clouds blocking any moonlight, the lanterns only offer so much visibility through the trees. We slow our last mile, taking careful steps on our way back to the safe house. One misstep could be a broken ankle.
Keeping my eyes on the almost indistinguishable trail and unsuccessfully attempting to dodge thorny branches and low tree limbs, I don’t see what I smack into. Something hard whacks into my face, reeling me backward as I grapple for my gun.
“What the-?” Rey barks, running into me from behind.
But I’m rooted to the spot, the lantern hanging in my outstretched arm and my other hand halfway to my weapon. My mouth gapes open, eyes wide and heart stopped as I stare in horror at the object dangling before me. I rest a hand on it to stop it from swinging into my face.
Then I see another, and another and as I turn, I realize that someone littered this entire section of the forest with the macabre display. Someone who knows where the safe house is. Someone who knew I left this morning and which way I’d be returning.
Someone who was following me and who created this grotesque scene with the sole intent of rattling my bones and slithering under my skin, a game of psychological terror.
The nauseating, metallic smell of blood hits the back of my nostrils, causing me to gag.
“What are they?” Rey asks with noted disgust, taking in the presentation.
“Mannequins,” I choke, bile rising in my throat. “They’re Sawyer's mannequins.”
And they are. Dozens of them. All with their heads removed, strung up by their ankles to hang from the trees. All of them covered in blood.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“We have to leave!” I command, barging into the dining room where Nole and Charlie pour over Rey’s drawings. “Now!”
Stunned at my entrance, both glance up in confusion.
“It’s Elijah,” I say, my voice on the edge of tears I’m desperately hoping to keep at bay. Along with the panic. If I give in to either and allow myself to fall apart, I’m not sure how long it will take for me to piece myself together again. “He’s here somewhere, hiding in the woods.”
They lurch to their feet, Charlie’s face going pale and Nole’s brow furrowing until his eyes look like tiny bits of black coal stuck to his face.
“How do you know?” Charlie asks. “Did you see him?”
“It’s the mannequins,” I say. “Almost thirty of them, hanging in the forest less than a quarter mile away. He’s chopped off all the heads and covered them in what I am really, really hoping is animal blood.”
I know Charlie understands what I mean. I bet those plastic statues haunt her dreams the way they haunt mine. I’ve already explained to Rey and am prepared to explain to Nole before he speaks.
“We’ll double the guard, triple if we have to. We can send a team to go back to our compound and gather more men.”
“We have to leave,” I protest.
He shakes his head. “We can’t. There are eight people here injured from the battle, Jax included, who aren’t well enough to travel yet. I know the compound isn’t more than a day’s hike, but some of them can’t even walk down the stairs unaided. I won’t risk their health.”
“So you’ll risk their lives?”
Nole tilts his head and subtly raises an eyebrow. “I am not ensuring further damage to their health on the possibility of one man causing more trouble.”
“Then Kelsey needs to go,” Rey says. “He’s after her more than anyone else.”
“No! I’m not leaving everyone I care about behind.”
“Seriously, Kels, you’re going to argue about this? He wants to kill you. Not Jax or Randolph or anyone else here. You.”
“I’m not leaving without everyone here. God knows what Elijah will do if he gets into the safe house and doesn’t find me.”
“She’s right,” Nole says. “I’m not sending our injured members on a trek through the woods, but there’s also no predicting what he’ll do next. I’m sorry to say this in your presence, Charlie, but Elijah is completely unhinged.”
Charlie drops her head, long auburn hair concealing her face. She slumps back into her chair, shoulders sagging as she runs a trembling hand over her face. I know she agrees with Nole, but she’ll never voice it aloud and condemn her own son. I can’t say I blame her. I never wanted to acknowledge my father’s heinous crimes out loud. Doing so makes it more real than I still want to admit.
However, none of that changes the fact that Elijah is a psychopath and that he has fixed all this hatred and rage on me. But I’m not leaving. I can’t leave Rey and Jax behind. Or Charlie or anyone else while knowing Elijah stalks the woods. Nor will I lead him to Nadia and the other Risers. He’s already made it very clear with his display tonight in the woods, where I go, he will follow. And I know he’ll kill anyone who stands in his way.
“Then what do you propose we do?” demands Rey with a scowl.
Nole rubs his chin, fresh stubble scratching against his fingers. “We wait. He’s one man. We can put together a small army by tomorrow night. I’d like to see him try to get through our defenses when he has none himself.”
“So we’re using Kelsey as bait again?”
“Elijah has already decided she’s bait. At least we have the advantage of knowing what he wants and where she is. So, on that note,” Nole says turning to me, “I’m putting you under constant guard. I doubt he’ll attack tonight and that will buy us time to get additional re
inforcements if you’re insistent on staying here.”
“I’m insistent.”
“Then in the meantime, you don’t go anywhere, inside this house or otherwise, without both your weapon and an additional armed companion."
“That sounds miserable,” I grumble. I’ve managed to escape the confines of both ROC and the League only to lose my freedom once again.
“It’s better than dead,” says Charlie, her tone emotionless and face blank. Then she stalks from the room and into the darkness of the halls. Nole stares after her, his face masked with concern. As I observe him, his emotions for Charlie so evident on his features he might as well have written there, it’s the first time I realize he’s perhaps in love with her.
“She’s right,” he adds. “I don’t care if it’s Rey or even Jax with you as long as he’s well enough and you’re both inside the house. Or me even if necessary, but that’s an order. Understand?”
I don’t like it, but it is better than dead, so I grit my teeth and nod.
“Fine,” Rey says, “then I’m playing watchdog first, ok?”
“I’d be shocked if you didn’t volunteer first,” Nole replies, the weariness heavy on his voice. “It’s been a long day. You’re safe here for now. I suggest you both get some sleep.”
As Rey and I leave the dining room and head for the main staircase; a wide, ornate, wooden behemoth of thick treads, carved railings and what I think was once burgundy carpet. It twists around the entry hall and up into the second and third floors of the mansion.
“I should let Jax know I’m back,” I say.
“Are you going to tell him about Elijah?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll see what sort of shape he’s in.”
Climbing the stairs to the second level, I veer right toward Jax’s room, Rey on my heels. I give him a weird look. “You’re coming with me?”
Jerking a thumb at his puffed-out chest, his face grows overly serious. “Bark. Or something like that. Watch dog, remember?”
I roll my eyes. “Ugh, fine.”
Peeking around Jax’s door, I see him sprawled on the bed, arms and legs spread wide and mouth hanging open.
“Maybe you should leave him a note?” Rey suggests.
“I don’t know how to write. Nor do we have anything to write with.”
Rey surveys the room. “Ok, then hold on, I’ll be write back.”
I groan at the lame joke even though it elicits a small grin on my lips. “Clever. Aren’t you supposed to be my guard and like, stay at my side every moment?”
“Elijah isn’t in the house now and I’ll only be a minute. Technically, you’re with Jax right now, so he’s currently your guard,” Rey calls over his shoulder as he heads for the staircase. "And he's sleeping on the job. He should be ashamed of himself.”
Shaking my head and smiling to myself, I quietly slip into Jax’s room. Immediately I notice that he must have gotten out of bed earlier. The random assortment of antique objects on the dresser have been arranged into a neat row, all evenly spaced and placed shortest to tallest. The curtains on the windows have been adjusted so they are all open exactly the same amount. He even managed to move a small table and chair on the other side of the room to center them between two windows.
“Glad to see you’re feeling better,” I whisper, noting that more color graces his cheeks and he no longer wears beads of perspiration caused by the fever.
“Back,” Rey announces softly, tip toeing up beside me. He places a yellowed, crumpled piece of paper on top of the dresser, scrawling a few words and then handing it to me.
Made it back safely. See you in the morning.
-Kelsey
“Thank you,” I say, folding the paper and placing it on the night table sitting next to Jax’s bed where he’ll see it when he wakes up. Rey plops the pen beside it.
“He looks better,” he says.
“Yeah. I think he’s going to be ok.”
“I’m still shocked he saved my life.”
Nose wrinkling, I turn to gawk at Rey. “Why? Why wouldn’t he?”
Rey thinks for a long time, eyes flicking over Jax’s unconscious body. “Because I can’t say I would have done the same for him. And I’m sorry because I know that makes me an awful person, and maybe, in the moment I really would have done the same thing he did without giving it a second thought, but when I think about it now, I don’t know. It would be less… complicated if one of us had died. Then I hate myself for even thinking about that because the only person I actually want dead is Elijah.”
At first, I’m shocked, then I’m furious that Rey could even think about wanting Jax dead, but when I see his face and how conflicted he is, I find my anger dissipating.
“You aren’t a bad person, Rey. How many times did you have your name in the Gamble to help others? It’s just your emotions. We all have to deal with them and even though they’re sometimes illogical or even insane, they can still form decisions we make. That’s how I ended up on the surface after all. Besides, I think you’re right, if your roles had been reversed, in the chaos of the moment, you would have done the same thing Jax did. Like I’ve told you, I ometimes I wonder if you both aren’t the same person separated into two different bodies.”
Rey nods and presses his lips tight together. “Gross.”
“Yeah ok, you ready for bed?’
“Extra ready. I am falling asleep standing here.”
Making our way down the hall, Rey follows me to my own bedroom, smaller than Jax’s with windows facing west. I’d prefer they face east because I want to see the sunrise every day, but as long as I can see the sky, I’m happy.
Flopping on a tattered sofa in one corner, Rey kicks his feet onto the armrest, wads a pillow under his head and shuts his eyes. I do the same, falling into my own bed. It’s too warm for a blanket so I kick it off and close my eyes, listening to Rey’s calm snores.
But I can’t seem to fall asleep as easily as he did. Thoughts of Elijah scream through my brain. The fact that he found our safe house, he was less than a half mile away, the idea he could be prowling the woods, watching and waiting to make his next move.
I hate the man, but I’ll give him credit for being smart. Whatever he plans, we won’t see it coming, we can only hope we have enough manpower to stop him. Charlie and Nole will increase security and I have no doubt more Risers will arrive by tomorrow night, if not sooner depending on when Nole sends others to retrieve them. But will it be enough? Nole said that Elijah's just one man, which should make him easier to defeat, but one man is also a lot harder to catch.
I must fall asleep eventually though, because the next thing I know, I’m being gently shaken awake.
“Kelsey,” a voice murmurs, a hand on my shoulder.
I blink, eyes needing a moment to adjust to the darkness filling the room. I must have only been asleep for a couple hours, the night only half over.
Rey is still collapsed on the far couch. Twisting my head, I look up to see Jax hovering over me. In the moonlight through the window over my head, I can see his eyes sunken from fatigue and stress, but his complexion slowly returning to normal.
“Jax? What’s wrong? Do you feel ok?”
“Yes, yeah. I’m fine. Look, did you leave me this note?”
“What?”
“This? I just woke up and it was on my night table. Has your name at the bottom.”
He holds out the note Rey wrote for me, still folded in half.
“Yeah. I didn’t want to wake you up.”
“What did you write?” he asks, blue-green eyes watching me carefully and I sense a hint of anxiety in his tone.
I sit even straighter, an uneasy churning in my gut. “Rey wrote it actually since I don’t know how, but it said that I was home safe and I’d see you in the morning.”
“Anything else?”
“No. I mean, my name, but that’s it. Why? What’s going on?”
Jax passes the note forward. I take it, my hands quivering sl
ightly, and I inhale a tense breath. Sliding the page open, I squint to read it in the hints of moonlight from through the window. I see my original note, but below, written in a scrawl completely different from Rey’s, someone has added:
PS- I’m watching you
Below are three sets of numbers. I don’t recognize them right away, reading them a second time. When the realization of what they are sets in; the barcode numbers off of mine, Rey’s and Jax’s arms; and knowing the only way in which all could have been accurately obtained, I scream. An ear-splitting sound that vibrates through the house, loud enough to wake Sawyer’s lifeless mannequins swinging from the forest trees.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“It doesn’t change the fact that eight of our team can’t travel,” says Nole. He stands at the head of the massive dining room table, palms flat on its surface and head bowed. Spread around the table sit myself, Jax, Rey, Ryder, Camrie and two other people I recognize but whose names I'm unsure of. Candles and lanterns are dispersed through the space, creating more shadows than light in the large room. Given her relationship with Elijah, which is slowly making its way around the house, Charlie opted out of this meeting. Nole says its because she’s too worried she can’t be impartial. I think it’s because she can’t bear the thought of listening to our ideas around murdering her son.
“I hope you’re not counting me in that eight?” Jax demands.
Lifting his sharp gaze, Nole fixes it on Jax. “I am because while you might be well enough to sit at this table, you still look like crap and couldn’t possibly manage to hike through the woods given that you survived a near-fatal gunshot less than a week ago.”
Sitting back against his chair, Jax folds his arms over his chest and scowls. “Even looking like crap I’m still the best-“
“Stop it,” I hiss in his ear, leaning over the arm of my own seat and toward him. “This is serious. Don’t go picking a battle of wills with Nole right now.”
By the look on his face, which I have to agree has grown more pale and gaunt since earlier, I can tell he has some witty, ridiculous response clamoring around his brain, but he keeps his mouth shut.
The Choice (The Gamble Series Book 2) Page 17