Warriors

by Sarah Noffke

  “I,” he says in a low growl. He licks his cracked lips and tries again. “I still remember.”

  “Naturally,” Zack says. “We decided it was best that your memories stay intact. That was what your people voted for.” And there’s an ironic inflection on the words your people.

  A long throaty growl vibrates in Vider’s chest.

  Closing my eyes from his seething stare, I lock my attention on leeching him, drawing in any remnants of the power that once lived in this man.

  My eyes spring open with a clear decisiveness. I direct my attention on Forrest. “His gifts are gone.” Then my eyes swivel to Vider’s. “He’s absolutely harmless.”

  “Great,” Forrest says. “Men, take him away.” They turn Vider and march him down the stairs. He resists only slightly as one grabs the back of his head to duck him into the van. I turn my attention away, knowing he’s trying to deliver one last evil look of hatred at me. That’s his choice but I no longer have to give my attention to his sinister stares. I’m free of him. Quicker than I expected the van is loaded and pulling off onto the main road. It cruises through town and disappears around a corner.

  A commotion at the corner bakery then grabs both Zack’s and my attention. Screaming. I see a flash of red and then the scene comes into crisp focus.

  “What do you mean I don’t have any more credit here?!” a too familiar voice shouts. Dee is being forced out of the store doors, her straggly hair falling down in her pale face.

  The store owner, a tall Middling man, shakes his bearded face at my sister. “We don’t operate on credit anymore. Cash only. U.S. dollars,” he says.

  When Vider was in office his chosen elite Dream Traveler families paid for things using credit. Then the government paid the tab. Now things have returned to a 100 percent currency-based system. Housing isn’t assigned. It’s purchased. Everyone has the right to make money and buy whatever house they choose. And the opportunities to make money for Reverians is also endless since Middlings and Dream Travelers can choose to be whatever they want. No more assigned positions. Middlings can go to school. They can choose their own occupation. Again the buttery words grace the inside of my mind: the possibilities are endless.

  Unfortunately for my sister this new economy is a problem since our father left my mother and her little money. Dee will no doubt be challenged to figure out how to support herself. Mother is currently being cared for by the hospital system since the shock of Father’s death sent her into a state of random ramblings and nonsensical babble.

  I tried to help Dee. To offer to buy her an apartment, but she didn’t even grace me with a reply, only looked at me like I was an alien offering her real moon rocks. I’m sure she would have taken me up on my offer if I had said I’d buy our old house for her to live in, but that mansion will be bought by someone else. I know Tutu had her reasons for staying there, but those aren’t mine. I bought Zack’s house and it’s perfect for the three of us. Nona, Zack, and me.

  Epilogue

  I can tell by the delighted grin on Soon-hee’s face that it was a mistake that Parker’s and my horses were side by side when we arrived at the farm. It’s just that Parker took to riding the horse a little easier than Zack and preferred the faster pace. Zack preferred to slow his horse at every chance. Not wanting either guy to get too far away or behind I rode after Parker and Nona hung back with Zack. She is also a natural at riding, probably due to her fearless nature.

  I’d gotten the horses for the ride to the farm from a small town a few miles north of Austin Valley. It was strange to hike into the little town and realize it had always been there but the protection Vider put around Austin Valley made it so its residents didn’t come into our boundaries and we didn’t trespass into theirs.

  Stiff from the long journey I slide off Em, my golden palomino. I turn to find Soon-hee’s arms open and welcoming. Parker, who has also dismounted, walks straight into his mother’s arms, hugging her with a sweet affection. She continues to hold her arms out, not closing them around her son. She’s flapping her arms at me, waving me into her. Acquiescing to her insistence, I walk forward until I’m in the old woman’s embrace, alongside Parker. Her tiny arms hug around both of us. Then I step back and regard the old woman who’s wearing a proud grin.

  “Boy or girl?” she asks.

  “What?” Parker and I say together.

  “My grandchild,” Soon-hee says, like we’re clueless. “Is it boy or girl?”

  A horrified expression drips down Parker’s face. “No, it’s not like that, Umma.”

  “Then what’s it like?” she says. “I’m not well versed on how American relationships work.”

  “Well,” he says carefully. “It’s not like anything. Em and I are just friends.”

  “Friends.” She says the word like it means something dirty. “Have you taken off your clothes in front of each other? That helps,” Soon-hee says.

  Parker shakes his head. “We are friends. Just friends.”

  Soon-hee opens her mouth, probably to protest, but Parker holds up his hand to silence her. “And Em is in love with Zack.”

  “That boy over there who can’t ride horse?” Soon-hee says, pointing in Zack’s direction.

  “That’s the one,” I say, watching Nona try to help him. “I better go intervene before he gets himself hurt.” Zack keeps pulling the reins in the wrong direction and his horse is now going in a haphazard circle. Instead of helping, Nona is actually doubled over on her horse laughing, her freckled cheeks red.

  “Whoa, now, girl,” I say to the horse, grabbing her bridle. I halt her gently and look up at Zack, who’s out of breath and wide-eyed.

  “Thanks,” he says, pulling his leg around and sliding down a bit awkwardly.

  “I think with some practice you’ll be a pro,” I say to him, as he braces his wobbly legs by resting both his hands on my shoulders.

  “I’m not joining any rodeos anytime soon,” he jokes, and his eyes part from mine as something over my shoulder catches his attention. “Is that…?”

  I follow his line of sight. “Yes, that’s the house Rogue built.” I spy the same look of amazement on Zack’s face that I must have had when I saw this house the first time.

  “It-it-it’s perfect,” Zack stammers out.

  I take his arm and wrap it around my shoulder, hugging him into me. “That’s what I said too, because it is.”

  The Craftsman-style house that stands before us truly has no flaws. From the top of the A-frame roof to the bottom of the front porch it’s impeccable. Rogue’s passion to create a home where he could feel safe and content is evident in so many details. This was the first place where Rogue was free from his father and he made it a monument to the happiness he long desired.

  “I want to say that it’s hard to believe that Rogue built this all by himself, but then I remember exactly who Rogue was,” Zack says, his eyes on the mossy green house.

  “He wasn’t your normal kind of guy,” I say, my fondness for Rogue prickling my chest.

  “He was exceptional,” Zack says, now sweeping his eyes over the barn and fields where the animals graze. “He did all this?”

  “Well, not the garden,” I say, noticing that Soon-hee has kept it protected from the winter temperatures. “Rogue couldn’t grow anything to save his life. Good thing he had his apportational ability or he might have actually starved to death.”

  “Hey, Em,” Nona says, racing up to me. Her eyes are on fire with enthusiasm. “There’s a stream, and a field with these animals, and hiking trails, and that’s just what I’ve found by looking around briefly!” She doesn’t breathe once as her words spill out in an excited rush.

  “Goats,” I say, allowing her smile to infect me.

  “Huh?” she says.

  “The animals are goats and they love to play. The little one is named Jasmine and she’s awful at hide-and-seek.”

  “I. Get. To. Play. With. Goats!” she says, her eyes wide with excitement. I want to hug her rig
ht now, but I refrain. “I’m going to go explore some more!” she says, turning around and skipping off.

  “Don’t go far,” I call to her.

  “Yeah, yeah,” she says flippantly over her shoulder.

  I turn back to Zack, who’s wearing the most unabashed grin I’ve ever seen on his face, and I’ve seen a lot of his smiles. “Thanks for bringing me here, Em.”

  Still at his side, I snake my hands around his waist and squeeze him into me. I’m overwhelmed with how right this feels. I questioned at first if it was too soon to take Zack to Rogue’s house. But I came to the decision that there was no better place for our healing to begin. Being with Zack has already mended the heart that broke when Rogue died. We are mending each other’s hearts as we have done for all our lives. There is no weirdness being with Zack after Rogue, only love.

  “Are you going to introduce me to your boyfriend, who isn’t my son,” Soon-hee says, her hands on her hips. Beside her Parker rolls his eyes.

  “Soon-hee,” I say, pulling Zack in her direction, “this is Zack. Zack, this is the kind woman who’s been keeping an eye on the farm.”

  “And after all my efforts, are you kicking me out in the cold? Are you taking over your farm so you can run it back into the ground?” the old woman says, but there’s a smile in her tone.

  “Umma,” Parker says, disapproving.

  I wave him off, accustomed to Soon-hee’s sharp humor. “You can sleep outside or in the barn if you like,” I say, “but you’re welcome to stay in the house as well. We’re just here for a little vacation. I thought you could use the company anyway.”

  “Where are all you going to sleep?” she says, sounding put out.

  “To be honest,” Parker says, “I don’t care where I sleep. I’m looking forward to dream traveling freely again.”

  “I’m with you,” Zack says, a broad smile on his face.

  “Em! Em! Em!” Nona screeches behind me.

  I spin around, instantly panicked that she’s hurt. The smile plastered on her face puts my fears to rest. Nona grabs my hand and yanks me in the direction of the woods. She’s panting as she says, “You’ve got to see this. Zack, you come too.”

  “Where are we going?” I ask, unable to keep the laughter out of my voice.

  “You’ll see,” Nona says, her fingers tightening around mine. “And I’m fairly certain you haven’t discovered this yet.”

  She pulls me to a hiking trail that I have explored a hundred times, but I don’t say anything. When we’re a few yards down the path Nona unexpectedly tugs me off the trail and through overgrown brush. I turn to give Zack a look of confusion, which he shares with me.

  After almost tripping on roots and vines I turn back around. We’re now well off the trail. Signs of the approaching spring are showing as sprigs of green grass poke up from the composting leaf-strewn ground. “Where were you exploring and what were you looking for?” I ask Nona.

  “Treasure,” she says, plainly. “You have to go off the beaten path to find it and that’s exactly what I did and look at what I found.” She stops abruptly on a sandy patch of earth. Her excited finger points at a giant oak tree. But that’s not all. Specifically she’s pointing at an inscription on the tree. Of words. And as my eyes trail over them the backs of my knees weaken. A tenderness I can barely breathe past dwells in my heart. The words in front of me and the story of how they came to be here is beautiful and also bewildering.

  Carved into the old oak is:

  Em + Zack = Forever

  I love you two.

  Take care of each other.

  Rogue V.

  My disbelieving eyes look from the tree to Zack’s face. Again he shares the same expression of confusion as me.

  “When do you think he did this?” Zack asks, staring at the tree in awe.

  “It looks fresh,” I say. “Maybe right before he died. Did he say his vision of us together was recent?”

  “Yes,” Zack says. “When he told me about it, he said he’d just been getting the flashes of us in the future.”

  “I wonder how far into the future he saw,” I say.

  “Hard to tell with Rogue,” Zack says. “He knew so much from his clairvoyant flashes. I’m not sure he told us half of it.”

  I turn and face Zack. Nona, as she’s prone to, has snuck off without a sound, leaving us alone. He takes a step and leans down so our foreheads touch.

  “Do you think we can make it forever?” I ask.

  “I’ve already loved you my entire life,” he says, “so without a doubt, yes.” And he covers my mouth with his, kissing me with a tender need. His lips have the gift to unbridle the purest of sensations within me. I peel back and turn around, pulling Zack’s arms around my chest as I do. Hugging him to my back. With a raw ache in my chest I stare at the marked tree. It stares back at me with a memory I don’t hold but somehow see of Rogue making this engraving.

  “He was such a good man,” I say, and wonder if this vision of us here now is a vision Rogue saw of the future. It sends a warm chill across my chest.

  “He was the best,” Zack agrees.

  I step forward out of Zack’s arms and graze my fingertips over Rogue’s name etched into the bark.

  “We love you,” I say. “Always.”

  And then I turn to find Zack gazing thoughtfully at the tree, a sweet sentiment in his denim-blue eyes. I slide my hand in his and pull him back toward the path. Back toward the house Rogue built for us.

  The End

  Hi! This is Sarah Noffke and I hope you enjoyed this book. Whether you did or didn’t, a review would really be great. Reviews can keep a book alive and an author writing books. Please take a moment to write a review here. Thank you sooooo much!

  Acknowledgment:

  I’d like to start off by thanking my readers. After book two, Rebels, many of you had a lot to say about the ending. Of course, people were disappointed. But you also gave me a lot of encouragement and that was absolutely necessary. That book almost broke me in half. And then I went on to write this book and the little bit not fractured in me did break completely. This book has been a hell of a ride to write, but I had so many of you encouraging me that it pushed me when I wanted to quit. Thank you to all my readers. I still can’t believe at times that you all like my books and keep reading them. Thank you!

  Thank you to my beta readers Colleen, Heidi, Kelly and Kimberly. I don’t know what I’d do without your help. Well, actually I do. I’d be a padded cell because I would have lost my mind already.

  Thank you to my family. I’m so fortunate to have your support and love and I’m grateful for it all.

  Thank you to my friends. I really have the best group of friends. Hell, you all were my first readers and without you I wouldn’t have sold a book initially. Thank you for cheering me on.

  Thank you to the people of Southern Oregon. I love that place. I love you people. Really some of the best people anywhere. Anyway, I really took the inspiration from that place and those people for this book. It is my dream place and I love it more than any other.

  Thank you to Band of Dystopian Authors and Fans on Facebook. You all are the most supportive, tight-knit group. Really great people, and again I probably wouldn’t have sold many books if it weren’t for you all. And thank you to Katy for running the launch parties and being all-around awesome.

  Thank you to my editor Christine LePorte. You said you were pissed about the ending for the second book, but still gave me so much encouragement. I think you’re not only my editor, but also my shrink at times. I loved getting your feedback after finishing this book. And really, my books shine because of you.

  Thank you to Andrei Bat. This is probably one of my favorite covers. I’m astounded by your creativity at times. You are truly gifted and I’m grateful that your gifts are a part of my books.

  Thank you to the awesome bloggers who I couldn’t do this without. Heidi, Melinda, Shemelle, Jordan, Anna, Katy, Katie, Shannon, Krista, Chelsea, Kariny. You all are f
antastic and make my job easier and way more fun.

  Thank you to Ribka Catherine Natauli Siborutorop for participating in the dream travel location contest. Thanks for the idea to use the Charles Bridge in Prague.

  Thank you to Dominic and Maja for moderating and running the Goodreads fan group. And thank you to the members! I love the fan art, the questions, hearing about your experiences and just the opportunity to interact with you. I still can’t believe I have a fan group. Seriously pinch me.

  Thank you to the many musical artist who without I would have been stuck. I did something different for this series and made one playlist for the entire series, instead of one for each book. It really helped me to stay immersed in the world of the Reverians. The list is so long but here’s the artist who really inspired this book and series: Blind Pilot, Hurt, Snow Patrol (seriously, Gary Lightbody if you want to serenade me every single night for the rest of my life, well we can discuss that. That kind of sounds like a proposal…don’t tell my husband), Mumford and Sons (Wolf = Vider), Above and Beyond, Sara Bareilles, Lana Del Rey, Imagine Dragons, Kris Allen, John Newman, and Big Data.

  Thank you to God or the gods or whoever runs this show. Seriously, I’m constantly amazed by the ideas I get and how they have such complexity and weave in and out of the books. The Parcae was one of those moments in this book and I have no idea where it came from. Actually, I think I do. I think it was you.

  Thank you to my husband. I couldn’t do this without you. Your support it monumental to the success of these books. And I love sharing them with you. Probably my favorite part of writing them.

  And the final thank you goes to Lydia, my amazing and inspiring daughter. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t think I’d have the courage to write. Actually I know I wouldn’t because I didn’t seriously start until after you were born. You continue to be my muse. I love you.