by Harper North
Numbness sweeps over me again.
But there’s Sky on the shore, on his back, catching his breath. His beautiful breath. His blond hair sticks to his head, and his pistol lies beside him. When he sees me, a relieved smile crosses his lips, as if his mask of resentment has been washed away.
Behind me, Elias coughs as he walks out of the water. He’s the third survivor.
“Fin.” He slaps his hand down on my shoulder and whirls me to face him. “That was some fast thinking. Maybe half our party made it out.”
“Only half?”
Elias frowns. “Half is better than none.”
My stomach turns at his matter-of-fact tone. Who is this person?
I pull away from Elias and march back into the shallow part of the river, watching the slowing water for any signs of bodies. My throat dries, a lump forming in my throat. A pair of heads float together in the water, and I recognize Emma’s black hair and Reinhart’s neat cut. They’re both alive, as is a young EHC op floating beside them.
Elias joins me at the shoreline and cups his hands around his mouth. “How many made it out?”
“We don’t know yet,” Emma calls back. She coughs and faces us with red eyes as she rises from the water and walks to shore, clothes dripping. Reinhart follows at first, but then his eyes lock on something over my shoulder and he freezes.
I whirl to face the openings pockmarked in the wall. Several dark shapes stand inside them, watching us.
A rough male voice says, “Stay right where you are, or you die on the spot.”
I freeze. The dark shapes remain inside the cave openings. People. My mind goes back to the whispers and the glass of water back at Elysian Beach.
“Who’s there?” Reinhart asks.
“I mean it,” the voice orders. “Stay still. Move, and we’ll shoot. We have weapons trained on you.”
I’ve been in battle long enough to know the man speaking is nervous. That could be good or bad. He also speaks with a strange drawl. Which one of the shadows is him?
“Hey,” I say, “we didn’t mean to land here.”
Behind me, a couple more survivors wade out of the calming river. I flick my hand, telling them to stop, but then the guy shoots. Sparks fly from a cavern on the left, illuminating a brown face and a muscular build. I glimpse a plaid shirt and blue jeans, as well as a copper badge. The bullet misses the two fighters crawling out of the river and instead ricochets off the rock. I wince as our guys scramble for their weapons.
“Stand down!” Reinhart orders. “Stay at the shore and tell anyone else who comes through not to shoot. We don’t know how many of them there are.”
“Plenty,” the man drawls. “Now I advise you to lower your weapons and tell me nice and slow why the Destroyers have sent you.”
“Huh?” Sky asks, inching closer to me. Oh, sure, now he’s coming around.
On the other side of him, Elias holds up his pistol and then lets it drop to the ground. I hear the clatter of Reinhart and the other survivors doing the same.
“If these people wanted to kill us, they would have by now,” Elias says in a low voice.
“Drop your weapon!” the man shouts, and I realize he’s talking only to me now.
My pistol’s in my holster. I don’t remember putting it back there, but I must have while we were ramming the window.
“I have to get mine out to drop it,” I say through chattering teeth.
“Go ahead,” the man tells me. “But try anything funny, and your brain will be feeling the breeze.”
I grimace at his colorful threat, but slowly remove my pistol and drop it on the rocks.
“You need to know we’re not here to hurt you,” I explain. “We don’t even know who you are. We didn’t even realize this place existed until—” I stop myself. I don’t know how much we should tell them yet.
The dark shape in the left tunnel moves and steps into the light. Strong and brown, with curly black hair, the man keeps a strange gun aimed at us. It’s unlike the weapons I’ve seen the EHC or the SNA use, but with twin barrels, it looks just as deadly.
“We are the Originals, the descendants of the Creators, sworn enemies of the Destroyers,” he booms. “Why have you returned?”
Emma clears her throat. “None of us have ever been here before. We swear.”
His head snaps toward her. “I mean, why has your kind returned? We’ve given you no reason to break the treaty.”
Emma looks around at our bedraggled survivors. “I’m certain none of us here are aware of any treaty.”
I swear I see Reinhart’s jaw twitch.
“Are you talking about the EHC?” I ask.
Reinhart winces.
“I am talking about the Destroyers. The ones who played with their genes until they were able to destroy anyone or anything that got in their way.” He lifts his chin. “Except us.”
“Then we are not Destroyers,” I say. “We are the rebels who—”
“Lies!” a female voice screams. “Destroyers! There!”
At least two dozen men and women rush from the tunnels, all of them wearing the same types of outfit as their leader and pointing the same strange weapon at the river. I twist my neck and see three EHC ops bobbing in the water. Two of them grasp onto rocks while the third one floats lifelessly along into the depths of the cave.
“Wait! They’re rebels in disguise! We can explain!”
“On the ground!” the leader bellows. “Anyone left standing dies immediately!”
I throw myself on the pebbles, shivering violently. Sky lands beside me and wraps his hand around the top of mine. He’s the only warmth left, so I close my eyes and wait for the worst. I hear the splash of the ops throwing their weapons into the water.
“We surrender,” I say. “Please.”
I stare at a gray pebble with black flecks. And then at Sky. He holds me in his blue eyes, biting his lip. I read an apology there.
It might be too late for that now, but no one shoots anyone, and no one else wades out of the river.
“That’s better,” the leader finally says. “I like folks who can follow orders.”
His stitched, pointy boots swing into my vision, followed by others, each pair enveloped by the cuffs of their blue jeans. These aren’t clothes worn on the surface. They’ve been down here a good long while.
“Collect all their weapons. Search them for more,” the leader orders. “We’ll take them home for further questioning.”
A pair of rough hands slide along my pants, finding nothing, and I shudder at the touch. The sounds of wet clothing slapping against skin smacks as the other cave people search our survivors. Velcro pulls apart as they search the EHC ops.
“These are definitely Destroyers, Cal,” someone says. “We better double cuff.”
“Make it triple if you can,” the leader, Cal, barks back. “If they’re Destroyers, they may have magic like the others. Don’t give them a chance to use it. And if they start, shoot them all dead.”
I suck in a breath and have to stop myself from rising.
Lacy and Talen.
My heart races and the cold doesn’t matter anymore.
Sky shakes his head at me.
If these people know we’re friends with the scary people they met, our odds of surviving will drop—a lot. I tense and wait for someone else to blow our cover, but no one says a word. Handcuffs click, over and over. They came extremely prepared to take prisoners. They’ve been tracking us, maybe even since we got here. I understand now that the towel, the ash, the water—it all belonged to them. We invaded their home.
Cold cuffs slip around my wrists as two people wrestle my hands into place. I shake with anger and terror, but I let them. “We didn’t mean to take over your houses,” I insist. “We thought they were empty.”
“We’ll discuss this later,” Cal says. “Up!”
Two sets of hands yank me up. Though I’m strong enough to resist, I let them. The leader stands alone, but there are two of his O
riginals holding onto each of us prisoners. Sky and I exchange glances. His eyes are wide in terror.
“What are your orders, Cal?” a skinny, pale man asks. He has a pallor that takes me back to the mines. Without sunlight, the skin of some turns sickly.
“We take them back to Elysian Beach,” Cal says. He pats a radio that hangs from his leather belt. “They’ve already subdued the ones they left behind.”
“Subdued?” Sky shouts. “Those were mothers and children and… and men with one arm!”
No one responds. These people waited for the fighters to leave the Beach before they took everyone else. How brave.
Any guilt I felt evaporates. Rage boils in my cheeks. Every muscle in my arms tightens, but the cuffs hold as I pull against them. Not one, but three pairs dig into my skin.
Cal waves us into one of the tunnels. “If any of them speak, shoot them.” He clicks on a flashlight and leads the way.
We walk through the tunnel for what feels like hours, arms cuffed in awkward positions. My shoulders get sore from the lack of movement, but the walking helps me burn off my anger and think. These Originals have not been modified—I can tell that by the way they move—so we’re lucky they found us first before Cho could sell them his snake oil. If we can manage to convince them we aren’t with the EHC, we may be able to make them our allies instead.
The cave tunnel finally comes out under the electrified tracks. I spot them shining in the light as Cal waves his flashlight above him. We must be standing in the hole we spotted earlier. The tracks hum, but Cal doesn’t seem concerned. He looks up at the tracks and starts climbing toward them like they’re harmless, and until the small power station was turned on, they were.
I have to take the risk. “Those tracks can kill you. Since the power came back on, don’t touch them.”
A gun clicks.
“Wait,” Cal says. “They would know about the world.”
I sigh in relief. “We do, but we’re not Destroyers. Electricity can kill you if you touch too much of it.”
Cal glares at me. “Of course we know that. We’re not savages. The Creators gave us electricity, but then the Destroyers took it.”
“Well, now we’ve given it back. Doesn’t that make us Creators?”
Cal glares at me. “Don’t be impertinent, young lady.”
I scan the tracks. We have three feet between us and them. As Cal shifts with the flashlight, I spot a wooden ladder, hammered together with nails and boards.
“We’ll never be able to climb up like this.” I gesture with my awkwardly angled arms. “Not without touching the tracks.”
“Oh, I get it,” Cal drawls. “A trick to make us let you go so you can attack us. The Creators warned us you would have smooth tongues.”
“We’re not Destroyers,” Sky says. “We’re from the underground, too.”
“Up the ladder,” Cal orders.
“Don’t touch the rails,” I say.
Cal climbs the ladder, missing the rails by inches. He stands at the top and waves. My unseen captors, both women, push me forward. One breathes on my ear.
Without my enhancement, I’d fall off. But my strong legs balance me as I climb, and Cal seizes the sleeve of my shirt and pulls me up to the middle of the tracks. I kneel between the humming rails of death.
“Only a Destroyer can move like that,” Cal says, almost like he pities me.
I stand behind him as the other prisoners climb the dangerous ladder. One by one, we form a line between the tracks. Emma needs help climbing, and Cal grunts, pulling her up, but he has no nasty words for her. He even gives her an approving sort of look.
Then the Originals climb out, lining up behind us with their weapons pointed at our backs. Despite Cal not believing me, no one seems eager to touch the rails.
“Move out,” Cal orders, walking ahead.
He’s going to make us march between the tracks.
Feet shuffle. No one grabs my arm because there’s no room. Escape would mean stepping over the tracks and climbing onto the catwalk without getting shot. Cal knows this, and only Cal’s flashlight shows us where to step. To the sides, I see almost nothing.
Two minutes into the walk, a loud fizzling noise sounds from behind me and a woman screams. A flash of light illuminates the tunnel, and I whirl to find a dark shape twitching on the ground. She still holds her gun, which goes off as her finger contracts around the trigger. Sparks fly off the ground, and the stench of burned hair fills the air. Gasps follow. The woman goes still, leaving only the hum. Her ankle rests on the rail and keeps quivering.
Cal says nothing. His mouth falls open in shock as the color drains from his cheeks. I’ve forgotten that feeling. How others don’t see death on a daily basis.
“It’s hard for us not to die when we don’t have much light,” I say, swallowing the bad taste in my mouth. The burnt hair stench remains.
“We need to get off these rails, or you’re going to lose more people,” Sky adds.
“Yasmine,” Cal breathes, terrified.
“Don’t touch her!” Emma shouts. “She’s still electrified, and anyone who tries moving her will suffer the same fate. I don’t want to see anyone else getting hurt.”
Cal looks over my shoulder at her. Emma, being the only natural with us, might get through to him.
The man gulps and gathers his composure. “Everyone off the rails. I’ll shine a light on you. Climb onto the catwalk, now.” Fierce protectiveness fills his words even as his eyes redden. Cal cares about his people. I feel confident we can work with this.
Unless he’s killed Talen and Lacy. Then he dies.
The flashlight glares in my face as I step over the rails. Two of the Originals cup their hands to give me a boost up to the catwalk. I exhale in relief once we’re all up.
Elias leans close to me and whispers, “Good job, Fin. Make them trust us.”
And then his lips brush my cheek.
I bite mine, flinching and pulling away. Sky stands next to the wall, looking into the darkness ahead. His mind is on his mother and Cia. I join him, bumping my shoulder against his since our hands remain tied, trying to make Elias vanish into the dark. Sky bumps me back, and somehow, I know things are going to be different now. Maybe not the same as they were before, but not like they have been.
“Keep moving,” Cal orders. “No one makes a sound. Stay where it’s safe. There might be more Destroyers out there.”
My legs quiver by the time I board the yellow rail car. One of the Originals stays behind in the small station to send us off. Instead of hope, dread fills me. When I finally get back to the Beach, I’ll know Lacy and Talen’s fate.
The fifteen-minute trip doesn’t last long enough, but at the same time, it lasts forever. I try to ignore the disappointed look Elias sends me as I sit beside Sky, hands still bound. Right now, I have bigger worries than figuring out where Elias got the idea that we were a thing that might happen.
The car stops, and I get off to find far more of Cal’s people than I thought there would be. Maybe four dozen people wait for us, adults and children. Everyone wears jeans and plaid. Copper badges shine everywhere. A quick scan and I calculate there are at least two hundred adult Originals.
We step off the train. A blond girl shrinks back as I pass. I try to wave with my bound hands, but it’s no use. Her mother pulls her back into the crowd as if I could infect her. We’re paraded through the parting crowd and through the entrance to the Beach. The water shines, but I feel no hope this time. Why would they let two people as dangerous as Talen and Lacy live?
On the beach, the civilians we’ve left behind sit in a large group, surrounded by many more gun-wielding Originals. I spot Starla and Cia among them. Children, all in plaid and copper badges, run around the prisoners and gawk as if they’re captured animals. No one stops them.
Then a bare spot in the middle of the crowd catches my eye. I squint.
Lacy and Talen lie on their backs in the sand, limp and unmoving.
CHAPTER 6
NO.
No, no, no.
A deep horror balloons in my chest as I run forward. My throat closes. I don’t want to see, but my legs betray me and carry me closer to Lacy and Talen. Both lie on their backs, on display like trophies. Examples. The sand threatens to throw off my balance as kids look at me and scatter. A scary Destroyer has arrived.
I reach the ring of captives and wade through seated bodies. Cia looks up at me with wide, terrified eyes. I know what she’s wondering, and she’s too afraid to ask out loud. Did Sky survive? Is her world still intact?
At least I can deliver one good thing. “Sky’s okay,” I whisper.
Beside her, Starla smiles. I can’t see past her to Lacy’s and Talen’s forms. Cia collapses against her mother, and a wave of jealousy washes over me. I have no one to rest on.
Footsteps follow me. “Fin. Let me look first,” Sky offers.
“Sky!” Cia shouts.
“I’m here, Sis. I’d ruffle your hair, but my hands are tied.”
Sky comes up beside me, hands still behind his back. The guards watch us from the concrete steps with their shotguns—that’s what I heard someone call them—ready, but they make no move to stop us. What are bound people going to do? And who wants to blow someone’s head off in front of their children?
Sky nods to me with shining eyes. He’ll be my wall between me and the worst. He bites his lip as he waits for my answer. We lost Drape together, and though Sky didn’t know him for as long as I did, they still bonded. He doesn’t want to feel that pain again any more than I do.
But if it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t all be down here.
“I’ll look,” I rasp, turning away before I lose my nerve.
I step around Sky’s family and make my way the last few yards across the sand.
Talen and Lacy lie together, heads lolling toward each other. Talen still sports the makeshift bandage around his thigh. Lacy’s face is pale with a greenish tint. A lump rises in my throat.